Carleton Washburne
Monday Memo - December 6, 2021
Washburne Families,
We are writing today regarding a topic that is at the forefront of the mind of our middle school students, and therefore frequently a topic of conversation for us: social media. While social media is something that students use outside of school, it infiltrates the work we do in schools on a daily basis. Students are heavily impacted by social dynamics taking place on these sites. While we recognize it is each family’s choice as to how they handle social media, we do want to point out that currently, the age to have an account on these sites is 13 years or older. Many of our students are younger than 13 and have accounts.
An article was recently published in The Atlantic about the danger of social media to adolescent girls (“The Dangerous Experiment on Teen Girls”). It discusses the undeniable evidence that social media is negatively impacting girls’ mental health. After reading this article, we felt it was important we follow the call to action it made to school principals:
“Right now, families are trapped. I have heard many parents say that they don’t want their children on Instagram, but they allow them to lie about their age and open accounts because, well, that’s what everyone else has done. Dismantling such traps takes coordinated action, and the principals of local elementary and middle schools are well placed to initiate that coordination.”
This is our first step to initiate a larger conversation with the community surrounding this topic. We have already begun a partnership with the Skokie/Washburne PTO. We want to encourage parents to consider taking the time to read the aforementioned article. Together with the PTO, we are also planning to bring a series of three documentaries about the impact of social media and digital communication on adolescents to families. The first film in the series is called Like, and it will be available to view in the comfort of your own home the week of January 9th. We will be showing the film to all students in grades 5-8 at school on January 13th. Students will participate in discussions and reflection about the film during advisory that week, as well.
We will offer viewings of two more documentaries, as well as opportunities for conversations with educators about the films, in February and May. We look forward to embarking on this important opportunity for learning and reflection as a community.
This a serious topic, but not meant to be a scary one. We want to collaborate together to support our students and ensure they have the skills to navigate the online community. We believe our partnership together between home and school can make a difference in our children’s lives surrounding this topic.
Take care and Be Well,
Andrew Fenton, Betty Weir, Ben Horwitz, Larry Joynt
Skokie and Washburne Principals and Assistant Principals
Trimester 1 Report Cards Available Thursday
Trimester 1 report cards will be available at the end of the day on Thursday, December 9th. Families can access report cards in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. We will notify you when they are available to view on Thursday afternoon.
You can see step-by-step directions for how to access report cards using this link.
If you have any questions, please reach out to parentportal@winnetka36.org.
Common Recommendation Form
As a reminder, if you are applying to other schools there is a Common Winnetka Teacher Feedback Form that parents need to sign and return the first page to Sharon Callahan (sharoncallahan@winnetka36.org) in the Washburne Office to begin this process. You can then send the Common Teacher Feedback Form, Linked Here, to each teacher.
Saturday Intramural Basketball Program
The intramural basketball program is set to begin on Saturday, December 11 from 12-2 with our team formation day. This house league program is open to all Washburne kids. The season will start with games on January 8th and go through Spring Break. We will not have our program on January 15 or February 19. Registration is done online and can be found here. If you have any questions, please contact Andy Becker at AndyBecker@winnetka36.org
Window to Washburne
Welcome to Window to Washburne! Each week, we will be highlighting some of the learning taking place in our classrooms.
Pride of Lions is back for 2021-2022! Each year, Ms. Nelson and Ms. Summerville select 20 new young adult books that are of high interest to our students. You can see the complete list of choices by clicking this link. Starting this past week, students visited the resource center during language arts class to learn about this year’s selections as well as how Pride of Lions works. Students can earn prizes as individuals and as a team for every book that they read. Copies of the books are available at school; however, parents can also find additional copies of each book at the Winnetka Public Library or at The Book Stall.
Kudos to Ms. Nelson and Ms. Summerville for continuing to plan this exciting program and promoting reading across our building.
What's Happening in Related Studies
New art classes have begun! All classes this week have been making their own sketchbooks with paste paper covers. Paste papers are decorative papers made by carving designs into a paint / papier mache paste that has been brushed onto paper. Students use various tools to carve designs into the paper. They use those papers as the covers for their book, add paper and then glue up the spines. Students will keep their notes, sketches, and pattern pieces for their work in their sketchbooks, they will take them home at the end of the trimester.
Thursday evening saw our Washburne and Skokie Band students perform in person for the first time in almost two years. It was a wonderful concert, and we couldn’t be more proud of our students and our band directors who tackled the challenges of playing an instrument in the middle of a pandemic.
District 36 Food Drive
Carleton Washburne School is participating in a district-wide food drive to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Students and parents can drop off items in boxes located in our main office.
Here is a list of the items that are the most needed:
Peanut Butter
Canned Beans
Canned Chili
Canned Soup
Canned Stew
Canned Fruit
Canned Vegetables
Canned Fish
Items can be dropped off until December 10th. Thank you for your support.
District News
Technology Department Announcement
Change in District COVID-19 Testing Program Partner
Online Registration Open for Incoming Kindergarteners & New Students for the 2022-2023 School Year
The new student registration process is completed in three steps:
Complete new student pre-registration forms online beginning November 18, 2021.
Provide the original or certified copy of your child(ren)'s birth certificate and a parent photo ID. Scanned copies or snapshots of these documents may be uploaded during online registration or can be submitted in-person at the District Office, by appointment.
Provide proof of residency and paper registration forms. Click here to view the list of documents that will meet these requirements. For your convenience, all required documents may be uploaded during online registration.
Children will not be considered enrolled until both the online and paper portion of registration has been completed and residency documentation is verified. If you have any questions, please contact the District Office at 847-446-9400.
Parent Education Sessions from District Partner Family Action Network (FAN):
For upcoming events, access FAN’s website here.
From our Partners at The Alliance for Early Childhood:
Upcoming Dates
Tuesday, December 14: Board of Education Meeting @ 7:15pm
December 20-January 2: No School, Winter Holiday
Monday, January 3rd: School Resumes