Washington Elementary School 1608 East Locust Davenport, IA

March 2014
Dates to Remember:
Monday, March 3
Book Fair
7:30-3:30
Washington Elementary School
1608 East Locust
Davenport, IA 52803
This March is a short month; a little over 2
½ weeks, therefore we need to “pick up
the pace” and accelerate our teaching and
learning…..….
PTA Meeting
6:00 pm
Merchant Market
10:00 am-2:00 pm
Washington Gym
No School
Spring Break
March 13-21
As we begin to “pick up the pace”; What are
the strengths you noticed in your child?
What are some areas they still need to
grow? How can we work on these areas
together? Please contact your child’s
teacher and begin this dialogue (ex.
Whether it is on the playground after
school, In the planner, By e-mail, Over the
phone, or At a scheduled “face to face”
conference). We look forward to our continued “partnership” to help your child
meet their fullest potential.
School Resumes
Monday, March 24
Math Riddle of the Month:
Q: What has three feet but
no legs or arms? A: A yard.
Friday, March 28
Educationally yours,
End of 3rd Quarter
2-hour Early Dismissal
12:45 pm
www.davenportschools.org
From the Principal’s Pen
Tuesday, March 4
Saturday, March 8
563-322-0905 Phone
Mrs. Diana Allen
March 4- Come join us for
our monthly PTA meeting!
We will be in the library at
6pm! Come join the fun and help
us finalize our Merchant Market!
March 8- Come join us for
a fun day of shopping at
our Merchant Market Vendor Fair from 10am to 2pm, in the
gymnasium. We will have local
vendors on hand as well as baked
goods for sale and a raffle! This
will be a great local event and all
proceeds help support your Washington PTA!
March 28- PTA Sucker Sale!
Bring your quarters!
Attention!
Change for March
Principal
Wednesday, March 12 will
be a regular Wednesday
dismissal at 1:45 pm and
Third quarter has been extended to Friday, March 28, due
to the 5 snow days.
Friday, March 28 will be a
2-hour early dismissal at
12:45 pm
Finn’s Facts
Child Chat
Dear Washington Families,
Attendance
Since returning to school after winter
break, we are back to 20+ children tardy to
school each day! It is very important that you
get your child/children get to school each
day on time! We know you can do it!!
I have some tips to share that might
make getting to school on time each day a
bit easier for you!

Check the weather forecast and help your child
choose clothes, coat, and shoes

Place your child’s backpack with homework by
the door which you leave in the morning.

Try setting a timer to go off 5 minutes prior to
leaving time to encourage everyone it is time to
leave for school!
Winter Weather
We have less than 3 weeks in March
(before and after Spring Break). Please make an
effort to show your students how important
school is to you in order for them to be
successful. Since it is still officially winter,
please encourage your children to dress in
layers while we are getting through the
days with many weather and temperature
changes.
I look forward to a successful close to the 3rd
quarter of learning and growing for all of our students and families here at Washington Elementary
School.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Finn
SAM (School Administrator Manager)
Feelings and Friendships
For our classroom lessons, this
month, we continue to work on
emotional awareness and control. Younger students are working on identifying feelings – both
their own and others. Older students are working on identifying
the type of problem and ways to solve or COPE
with the problem.
A topic I often find myself discussing with our students is friendship disagreements and what we
call “relational aggression.” Relational aggression is behavior that is intended to harm someone
by damaging or manipulating his or her relationship with others. (For instance, “I’m not you’re
friend anymore because…”)While most times we
think about this between girls, relational aggression is no stranger to boys as well. Methods of
relational aggression may include: exclusion, ignoring, spreading rumors, verbal insults, teasing,
eye rolling, taunting or cyber bullying.
Many times, this conflict comes
from hurt feelings if a friend has
chosen someone new to play
with and someone is feeling left
out. We talk about what it
means to “share” friends with
others as well as making new
friends as well. If your child
comes to you with similar concerns,
acknowledge their feelings and let them share
why they are feeling that way. Talk about what
they can do or “control” in the situation to help
make things better. Also ask them what they
may need help with. The strategies that they
learn, practice and use today will only help them
as they grow and mature through junior high,
high school and beyond…
If you have further concerns/questions about relational aggression and your student, please let
me know, and we can discuss additional support/
interventions.
Shannan Child
Counselor/Crisis Interventionist
Spring B
reak Sch
No Scho
edule
ol
Thursda
y, March
13
through
Friday M
arch 21
School r
e
sumes o
n
, March
24
Monday
February Heroes of the Month:
Washington School Night @
Kalea Young, Saveon Gray, Hannah Jaques, Ainsleigh
Clendenin, Darian Kae-Bostic, Calee Jaques, Cavali Dixon,
Mackenzie Johnson, Madison Allee, Heaven Thomas-Brown,
Amaya Bublitz, Trinity Bates, Jesiah Ruby, Mario Williams,
Morgan Carkhuff, Harmony Thomas-Brown, William Thomas-Brown, Nasir Walker, Becky Bollinger and Mr. Stage.
Davenport Public Library
Downtown Branch at 321 Main Street
Monday, March 3rd
Hours 5-7pm
*Story time, scavenger hunt, check out books,
DVD’s, CD’s
*Gift cards for first 10 Washington families who
sign in.
*Come check out all our local library has to offer!
Mark Your Calendar!
*Parking is free on the street or the corner lot at
4th and Brady.
Kindergarten Roundup
Thursday, April 17, 2014
12:30 pm OR 5:30 pm
For children turning 5 years old
by September 15, 2014.
Need to bring with you:
Birth certificate
Proof of Immunization
Proof of Address
Dental Screening form
Starting March 1, families of incoming Kindergartners
are invited to pick up and submit forms to the school
office to begin the registration process.
5th grade orchestra students
performed solos for the DCSD
Solo Festival at North High
School this past
weekend. Students prepared a solo and performed in front of a judge who critiqued their
performance and assigned them a rating. All of
the Washington 5th graders who participated
received a top rating and a blue ribbon. Congratulations go
to MacKenzie Brown, Abby Johns, Autumn Kirby, Emma
Johnson, and Darrius Stoglin. Some of the students will
perform their solos on the Washington stage at Literacy
Night on Feb. 27.
4th grade students have also been working hard preparing
music for a group performance at Washington on Literacy
Night. Both 4th and 5th grade students have been challenged
to do extra practicing for the Jungle Bungle Practice Contest. The party for those students who completed the practice chart is Wednesday, March 5th from 5 to 7 PM.
Washington Elementary School
Merchant Market
Date: Saturday, March 8th
Time: 10:00 AM-2:00 PM
Looking for opportunities for your 10-15 year old
this summer? Visit www.havlifefoundation.org
The Havlife Foundation provides grants for students in the arts, music, and athletics.
Their mission is to eliminate lost potential.
Call 563 676-1830 for more information.
Over 30 vendors!! Many of your favorite brands (Mary
Kay, Lia Sophia, Pampered Chef, 31 Bags, etc.) plus
handmade vendors as well. Raffle table and
Bake Sale table to
benefit the Washington
PTA. Now accepting baked goods donations for the Bake
Sale table.
The Learning Commons Snowflake contest ends on Friday, February 28th. There is a lot of reading going on at Washington and the snow is piling up on the Learning Commons windows. We will celebrate our success on Wednesday, March
12th with a Crazy Hat and Hair Day. Students and Staff may wear a crazy hat or hair to school that day and the room with
the most snowflakes will get to dye and style Mrs. Walton’s hair. Results of the contest will be in next month’s newsletter.
Washington students and their families are invited to a night of fun, food, and learning. On Thursday, February 27th from
5:00-7:00 pm, Washington School is sponsoring an evening of reading, science, and math activities and a soup
supper. There is no charge for this event, but donations to the “Scholastic All for Books” program will be accepted. Our
goal is to put a new book in every student’s hand this spring. Students must be accompanied by an adult.
Hands-on literacy activities will be going on in the gym, the computer lab will be open for families to explore internet resources, and
the Spring Scholastic Book Fair will be open in the Learning Commons. Soup and cookies will be available in the cafeteria (food and
activity supplies are available on a first come, first serve basis). Orchestra members will be sharing some of their music during the
evening and a special guest will be making an appearance.
If you can’t make it to the Literacy night, the Book Fair will be open on Thursday, February 27 th from 7:30 am
to 3:30 pm and Friday, February 28th & Monday, March 3rd from 7:30 am to 3:00 pm. You can also visit our
Book Fair webpage and order books online – go to http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/
washingtonelemschool3 .
Thank you for your continued support of the Learning Commons! If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Walton at waltonj@davenportschools.org.
Congratulations to Abby Johns. Her art work will be on display at City Hall for the next year.
She will attend a special reception with the Mayor and have her art recognized for
youth art month during City Council March 5th.
We will also have 10 Kindergartners representing Washington at the Achievement Service Center. The
following will be on display for 3 months on 3rd floor by the Board Room: Michael Rouda, Amir Brown,
Adrianne Neeley, Aviyela Saldivar Recio, Logan Jacobson, Gavin Hicks, Kalea Young, Jason
Sampica, Hayden Eastman and Amirah Hester. Each Kindergartner created an animal in its environment showing texture. Many people attending board meetings will enjoy seeing these colorful watercolor crayon resists.
Beginning March 5th we will also have several students art work on display at North Park Mall located by Express for Men. Be
sure to check out all the amazing artworks representing Washington artists.