Welcome to Washington

This month you should get the Peoria Public Schools info in the mail. It has almost everything you need to know for the beginning of school including great instructions for registering online!

Backpack Peoria is on Saturday, July 27th, at the Dream Center from 9am to 12pm.

Online Enrollment for all District 150 students opens in July and closes in August, before school starts. You will need your Family Access username and password. Please make sure to fill out and hit save on all forms. Instructions are available in our 'Virtual Backpack.'

Our school supply list was given to all students and is also available under the Students & Parents tab.

Before buying school clothes, please revisit our dress code under the "About Us", "Our Policies", "Student Uniform Policy".

Reading is a skill, and the more you use it, the better you will be at it!

Please schedule Doctor and Dentist appointments during the summer, so as not to disrupt the school year. Make sure to get your Sports Physical when you get the School Physical, so that students are ready for anything.

There are Festivals on the Peoria Riverfront this month.

Keep yourself active but cool by hiking the shaded trails at Forest Park, walking or riding the Rock Island Trail to Junction City or the ice cream shop in the Heights, or catching a cool breeze off the Illinois River down at the Riverfront.

July is National Ice Cream Month! Take a walk up to your neighborhood ice cream shop(Palarte, Emo's, Theo's, Emack & Bolio's, Ice Cream Shack, Lou's, etc) or maybe you can make your own with online directions.

Please help us to have the most students participate in Peoria Public Library's Summer Reading Program by joining and reading during the Summer Reading program in June and July. Make sure to let the Washington Librarian know that you participated when you see her on the first day of school!

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Headlines & Features

Peoria Public Library Summer Reading

Help Washington win again!!! Washington has had the most Summer Readers for 24 years and we want YOU to help keep our streak alive. Sign up beginning in May for the Peoria Public Library Summer Reading Program and read all summer long. Even if you are going to be away for the summer, your sign-up counts as long as you read books somewhere!

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Registration Hubs and Backpack Peoria

Registration Hubs will be open on July 25th, August 7th and August 10th at Kellar, Harrison, Glen Oak, and PHS. Families can come to register and fill out important forms for their student(s) and ask any questions they may have. Registration can also be done at home or the public libraries by accessing an internet-connected computer and signing in to Family Access on the Peoria Public Schools website. All families are welcome to attend the Backpack Peoria Event at the Dream Center on July 27th, 9am-2pm. Backpack Peoria gives families the chance to learn more about their schools, meet Principals and staff, and ask questions.

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Online Enrollment Verification Begins in July and Ends in August

In May: Schedule any dentist or doctor appointments for the summer. K, 6, 9, 12, and transfer students may need dental, physical, or eye exams. Any student interested in Sports needs to get a Sports Physical as well. Before June 1st: Confirm that you have your Family Access username and password or get it from the secretary. In July: Make sure to complete online registration through Family Access. You will need to have your username and password in order to log in. Fees may also be paid online through Family Access. You can register from any computer with internet access, or at one of our registration hubs. Manual, Peoria High, Richwoods and Glen Oak hubs will be open in late July/early August. Online student registration can be completed through the online enrollment verification process by logging on to Skyward Family Access and clicking on the Enrollment Verification link. Instructions are available in the "Virtual Backpack" or by clicking here. Enrollment Verification allows us to confirm or change the info we currently have about your student(s) and also allows us to contact parents when necessary.

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School Supply Lists, Registration Information and More

A "Back to School" mail packet for the new school year will be mailed to all returning families the 2nd week of July. The packet includes information about registration hubs, health requirements, first-day compliance reminders, school supply lists, letters from your principal and Superintendent Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat and much more. You can also access all of the packet information by visiting www.peoriapublicschools.org/enrollment. Please also click here for links to supply lists, dress code, etc.

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1st Day Compliance Requirements

Students not in health documentation compliance by the first day of school, will not be allowed to start the school year until all requirements are met. Families are strongly encouraged to schedule health appointments now, so that documentation can be prepared and turned in to your school, avoiding first day compliance issues.

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Student Pick-up and Drop-off Guidelines

7:05-7:30am and 2:00-2:40pm, CARS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE FRONT PARKING LOT and students may only be picked up and dropped off in the North Parking Lot located near the ball fields. For student safety, only buses may drive in the Main Parking Lot during these times. Thank you for your cooperation in helping keep our students safe. After these times, students must enter or exit the building from the foyer near the Office. Students may not wait for rides at the Crossroads or outside, but instead need to stay in the foyer until they see their pick-up person or the Activity bus.

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Study Skills

Knowing how to study is an important skill to have. Students who use strategies to understand and remember what they read, such as underlining important parts of the texts or discussing what they read with other people, perform better in class and on tests. One of the biggest differences between top students and everyone else was that when they study, they take practice tests. Only 11 percent of students do this, but they perform better because they are studying in a way that goes beyond memorizing material. Also helpful is to create a study timetable & stick to it-- first include things you like/need to do on your schedule and then work study time in after. This method naturally ensures that you are doing things you like to do every day in addition to studying, so you don’t burn out and give up. These kind of balanced schedules are easier follow. Here are some ideas and strategies to help students learn more:

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“Bigs & Littles Game Night” Makes for an Exciting Evening at Washington

On a Friday night in September, approximately one hundred students gathered in the gym to get to know their new classmates at Washington. After introducing all of the new students, mostly 5th graders with a few 6th, 7th and 8th graders, students rotated to multiple game stations, which included Catch the Bacon, Who Am I, popsicles, and more. "Bigs and Littles" is a mentoring program designed to help new students ease into the rigors of middle school life and help all feel welcome here at Washington. What a great chance to make new and lasting friendships!

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Betina Fleming Wins PNC Classroom Grant

Washington Gifted School 5th/6th grade teacher Betina Fleming won $1,000 for Curious? Research and Write On!! The grant money will be used to upgrade classroom technology so students can conduct research and process materials for written assignments.

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7th Grade Students at Washington Learn from Community Mentors

Washington hosted a variety of community mentors who helped 7th grade students with their cross-curricular research papers on Peoria issues. These generous individuals met with students and explained the ins and outs of various local problems and projects including school safety, transportation and roads, environmental concerns, business development, Peoria Park District initiatives, and funding both for the city and for the school district. After meeting with their experts, students used the information they learned in their Peoria Issue research papers and listed their interviewees as one of their information sources. Thank you to our community mentors: Mr. Cesar Suarez, City of Peoria; Mr. Steve Montez and Mr. Tom Miller, Peoria Park District; Ms. Anna Ghidina, IDOT; Mr. Josh Joseph, Soil and Water Conservation; Ms. Denise Moore, Peoria City Council, Mr.Joe Dulin, City of Peoria; and Ms. Dickerson, Peoria Downtown Development Corporation. They all illustrate how by working together we can make our home of Peoria even better. Thank you for helping our students research and solve a Peoria Issue!

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Learning Anywhere and Anytime Process

In the event of inclement weather or emergency situation, Peoria Public Schools has put into effect "Learning Anywhere and Anytime". Students were sent home with letters explaining the process in January 2019. Please emphasize with your student the need to complete assigned work from teachers, whether through teacher websites, learning log, assignment notes, packets, or tasks that every teacher gives to students. These assignments are required to be turned in to each teacher in advance or upon return to school in order to count towards attendance. If work is not turned in, the dates will count as an absence. If you do not have internet access these days, written work is sufficient. Teachers are available on-line between 9:00-2:30 for any clarification or assistance needed. Students who do not check in electronically or do not return their learning logs will be counted as absent. Please click for detailed information.

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Dress Code Update

All special "College Colors, spiritwear, or uniform-free" day information will come from the principal. We have reviewed our code, investigated other equivalent schools, received feedback, and assembled a panel of students, parents, staff, and teachers to update the Dress Code. Parents and students, please review the updated Dress Code from the handbook. The updated Dress Code will be effective beginning November 2017. Any violation of the code results in a referral to the principal. Repeated violations will warrant parent contact and loss of privilege/referrals. We have had a lot of confusion and questions about the jean policy at Washington and want to make the policy straightforward. Policy on jeans is as follows: - Jeans are not allowed to be worn at school with the following exceptions: individual picture days in fall and spring, spirit week and designated-free dress days. If in doubt, always clear with home room teacher or principal before jeans are worn. - On the days jeans are acceptable, absolutely no ripped jeans are to be worn. - If jeans are worn on a day that is not listed in exceptions above, students’ parents will be called to bring uniform pants, shorts, or skirt to school for student to change into. - If ripped jeans are worn any school day, parents will be called to bring uniform pants, shorts, or skirts to school for student to change into.

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Former Washington Student Opening for lovelytheband!

On March 26, 2019, Peoria's own Blank Stairs will open for lovelytheband at the Monarch Music Hall 8102 N University St, Peoria. This is part of lovelytheband's finding it hard to smile tour. The Blank Stairs are a rock band consisting of 5 high school students from Central Illinois playing an awesome mix of pop and rock tunes. Cami Proctor is a singer/preformer in the Blank Stairs and went to Washington for all four middle school years, participating in Speech, Drama, and more. She is now in high school at Richwoods. The Blank Stairs performed at Washington this year and we were all really impressed!

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Renaissance Home Connect for Parents

Parents- We are hoping that you will soon begin using Renaissance Home Connect as a way of monitoring and encouraging your child’s reading practice. It can be a valuable tool for monitoring your child’s progress. Research confirms that parental involvement in a child’s education is a strong predictor of student achievement. Thank you for your involvement in your child’s education. What is Renaissance Home Connect? Renaissance Home Connect is a tool that connects the school and home to keep parents informed of their child’s progress in Accelerated Reader, and encourages the child to practice reading at home. How does Renaissance Home Connect help me improve my child’s reading progress? • You can view your child’s progress toward reading goals and view all books that your child has read and quizzes your child has taken. • You can access an online search tool, AR BookFinder, to search for books using various criteria, including author, subject, or reading level. • You can receive emails that reveal results for Reading Practice Quizzes and provide links to the website where you can check progress. The same login and password that your child uses at school will work at home with Renaissance Home Connect.

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Veterans and Active Duty Military

Thank you once again to the Veterans and active or past service members who came to Washington last Thursday to speak to our classes. We truly appreciate the time you spent with us, and the opportunity to learn from all of you. Thank you so very much….and thank you for your service! We welcomed members of our Armed Services, past & present, to speak to small groups of students about the significance and importance of Veteran's Day. We had a speaker for each of our classes during first period that day. We began with a small welcoming reception at 7:40 in our conference room and then a student escorted the speaker to the classroom. Washington thanks you for your service!

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