Washington Elementary School
Parent School Connection March 2023
SAVE THE DATES
March 1-3 Read Across America Spirit Week
March 6 IREAD Assessment begins
March 9 Title I Parent Meeting
March 14 Pi Day
March 14 Girls Championship Game at Central HS
March 15 ELearning Day
March 16 Boys Championship Game at Central HS
March 27 - March 31 Spring Break
FROM THE DESK OF WASHINGTON’S SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER L. GARY-JONES, BA, MSW, LSW, ACSW
Greetings, Washington Cardinal Families!! Spring is upon us, and we need to continue our work together to assist our children in learning how to recognize & manage their feelings and emotions. Washington’s S.E.L. & Character Trait focus for March is designed to assist our students in learning how to be aware of and identify the different emotions they feel. In addition to learning how to best handle those feelings in more effective ways!! The definitions for Sensory-Motor Integration & Alertness are as follows:
· Sensory-Motor Integration: The ability to have body awareness & recognize sensations in the body.
· Alertness: Being aware of what is taking place around me, so I can have the right responses.
As parents and adults, we understand that feelings and emotions can be a lot to handle about many different situations in life!! We often have to take a step back and really think about how we want or need to address the different things that we face on a daily basis, and our children are no different. As they continue to grow, we have to help them to know that feelings are natural, and they will experience different emotions at various times. The key, however, is to learn how to handle those feelings & emotions in an effort to get the best outcomes. We have to lead by example, and teach our children to recognize what their feeling, anger, sadness, frustration, happiness and/or joy, and then how to express those feelings appropriately. In order for them to understand how to engage in appropriate feeling expression, we have to teach them to be aware of what they are feeling on the inside and then asking for what they need at that time. We want our scholars to be able to get their needs met in the most effective ways possible, and that means we have to work together!!
Please join us and take the time to talk with your children, our scholars, about the importance of them recognizing how their feeling and then being empowered enough to reach out & ask for what they need. We desire for our scholars to be behaviorally & academically successful, which means they need to know that feelings & emotions are a part of life. The ultimate goal is for them to be able to identify the feeling, put a name to those feelings, and then engage in critical-thinking to regulate those emotions. Teaching our children how to be responsible human beings with their feelings, helps them to gain a better understanding into who they are and how they can contribute something positive, no matter what circumstances they may find themselves in. Positive life habits will most definitely result in academic, behavioral, and adult life success!! Always remember that your influence, as a parent, is the first & most powerful example our scholars have that shapes their attitudes, beliefs and values!!! We will always appreciate your partnership, and let’s keep the “Home + School” connection as strong as possible!!
THANK YOU MS. GARY-JONES!
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS
PI DAY - MARCH 14
PLEASE CONTINUE WITH OUR IMPORTANT INITIATIVE CONNECT 15
A commitment to take 15 minutes a day to CONNECT with your child and do something that will benefit them educationally (read aloud, listen to them read, practice addition/multiplication facts, review sight words/high frequency words, etc.) Note: The request/focus area comes from your child's teacher.
CONNECT 15 helps to refresh and maintain what your child has learned. It will help them tremendously on their upcoming tests as well as prepare them for next year.
CONNECT 15 helps students that are behind to catch up to their peers. Out teachers are taxed with teaching new skills and state standards that must be addressed in a particular timeframe that often leaves minimal time to review as much as they would like. However, with your help/support of your child, you can CONNECT with your son or daughter for 15 minutes giving them what they need to review or maintain. CONNECTing 15 minutes a day goes a LONG way!
Ms. Hiller - Kindergarten
Mrs. Bandura - 2nd Grade
Ms. Robinson - 4th Grade
BLACK HISTORY MONTH MUSIC PROGRAM
READ ACROSS AMERICA
Read Across America Washington Guest Readers
Thursday, March 2, 2023
A Big “Thank You” to our guest readers: Mrs. Medina, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Kolavo, Mrs. Surufka, Mrs. Gutierrez, Mrs. Juscik, Mrs. Rosado. Ms. Sliger, and Ms. Bircher.