Washington Families,

Every day at Washington School, I am reminded of how lucky I am to be working with such a wonderful group of professionals. The

teachers and staff consistently demonstrate their dedication to addressing the academic and social-emotional needs of our students as

they work toward achieving our school’s mission. Please remember to thank your child’s teacher(s) for all the time and energy they

dedicate to educating our students. Hopefully you’ll have an opportunity to do so during parent-teacher conferences this week! I also

consider myself lucky for the parent and community support we have at Washington Elementary School. We recently conducted our

Bear Fun Run fundraiser, and once again our school community was very supportive of our fundraising efforts. The final count isn’t in

yet, but I believe we will be close to reaching our goal of $10,000! Thank you all for your support of our students and our school!

Many of you completed a survey recently to share your interests related to the district’s plans for future facility improvements with the

School Board. An interest to maintain a neighborhood school at our current location was clearly the most popular option. I believe the

feedback provided through this process helped influence the decision of the Board to select two options for final consideration, and

each of the options include pursuing a plan to build a new Washington School on the existing Washington property! Thank you to

everyone who took the time to complete the survey and to those of you who attended the parent engagement meetings. I believe the

School Board has demonstrated a commitment to finding solutions that will meet the long term needs of the school district and our

community, but it is important to continue to be involved in the decision making process. The School Board will host a public hearing at

the October 10th school board meeting to gather further feedback from the community before narrowing their decision down to one

option. Community support is needed to make any facility improvement plans a reality, so your feedback is important. Please consider

attending the meeting on October 10th at 5:30 p.m. at the administration building (101 N. 14th Street) to participate in the discussion. I

look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,

Brian Zamarripa, Principal

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

2 3 4 5 Count Day-please come to school! Crazy hair day

6 7 No School-Elementary only

8

9 10 11Cowgirl Peg comes to visit 8:30-2:50

12 Delayed Start-School begins at 10:15

13 14 15

16 17 No school-district wide

18 No school-district wide

19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

Looking Ahead

November 9th-Delayed Start-School starts at 10:15

November 18th-End of first Trimester

November 21st-No school district wide

November 22nd-25th-No School-Thanksgiving Break

Culture Corner:

A message from Sean Covey:

The time has come to teach social-emotional skills in schools. Meeting with education officials around the

world, the desire to teach more than academics is global. Whether in India, China, Indonesia, Brazil, Sweden,

the Netherlands, or other places, I hear the same question: “How do we teach students the social-emotional

competencies they will need in the work-place today and tomorrow?”

Recently while doing a 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens training with a group of young men, I realized how

lacking they were in people skills. They were unprepared to carry on a conversation, work in a team, or even

get along well. For years, little to no time has been spent teaching these essential foundational skills in

schools—until now.

With the passing of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the idea that there is more to educating a child

than academics has finally brought to light this absolute need. There is now a broader definition of student

success. The law specifically refers to “nonacademic” factors as indicators of accountability. The law also

points out the need for improving “instructional practices for developing relationship-building skills, such as

effective communication.” “Social and emotional competencies aren’t ‘soft skills.’ They are the foundation

for all the other skills. If we want a tolerant society, a compassionate society...we need to teach the skills

that create that society—the social and emotional,” said Ohio U.S. Representative Tim Ryan.

With the passing of ESSA and the focus on social-emotional skills, the 7 Habits are the perfect solution. The 7

Habits are a research-based, proven, widely adopted framework that establishes social-emotional

competencies. They are globally accepted and have a decades-long history of tremendous-ly impacting

individuals and organizations.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

First, the independent skills of the Private Victory teach self-control, responsibility, self-management,

initiative, goal setting, time management, and planning. Then, the interdependent skills of the Public Victory

teach listening, communication, empathy, compassion, synergy, teamwork, and collaboration. Finally, Habit

7 teaches balance and the importance of personal renewal. As Jim Collins wrote in the forward of the 25th-

anniversary edition of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Covey found a similar pattern in personal

effectiveness: first build upon a strong core of principles that are not open for continuous change; at the

same time, be relentless in the quest for improvement and continuous self-renewal. This dialectic enables an

individual to retain a rock-solid foundation and attain sustained growth for a lifetime.” You have a great tool

in your hands. The 7 Habits, part of The Leader in Me, helps meet the demands of today and tomorrow by

teaching the social-emotional competencies students need to be effective in school and in life.

Warm regards,

Sean Covey

PARENT LOCKDOWN & REUNIFICATION INSTRUCTIONS

IN THE EVENT OF A MAJOR INCIDENT AT YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL WE MAY HAVE TO INITIATE A LOCKDOWN AND/OR OUR

REUNIFICATION PROCESS. IF THIS IS THE CASE, YOU WILL RECEIVE NOTICE OF THE EVENT FROM OUR DISTRICT “NOTIFY ME”

SYSTEM. PLEASE SIGN UP FOR “NOTIFY ME” IN YOUR PARENT PORTAL.

DURING A SCHOOL LOCKDOWN:

HERE’S WHAT YOU DO:

STAY HOME UNTIL INSTRUCTIONS ARE PROVIDED

STAY INFORMED. WATCH AND LISTEN FOR INFORMATION

ASSURE YOUR PARENT PORTAL CONTACT INFORMATION IS UPDATED

FOLLOW DISTRICT INSTRUCTIONS AS COMMUNICATED

STAY CALM AND BE PATIENT

HERE’S WHAT NOT TO DO:

DO NOT GO TO YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PICK YOUR CHILD UP AT THE SCHOOL

DO NOT CALL THE SCHOOL

DO NOT PANIC OR GET UPSET AT STAFF

**********************************************************

TO BE REUNIFIED WITH YOUR CHILD AT OUR REUNIFICATION SITE:

HERE’S WHAT YOU DO:

STAY HOME UNTIL INSTRUCTIONS ARE PROVIDED

STAY INFORMED. WATCH AND LISTEN FOR INFORMATION

ASSURE YOUR PARENT PORTAL CONTACT INFORMATION IS UPDATED

HELP WITH CONGESTION BY HAVING ONLY ONE PARENT/GUARDIAN COME TO THE SITE

BRING YOUR PICTURE IDENTIFICATION TO REUNIFICATION SITE

FILL OUT REUNIFICATION CARD AT THE SITE

STAY CALM AND BE PATIENT

HERE’S WHAT NOT TO DO:

DO NOT GO TO YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL

DO NOT SEND SOMEONE TO PICK UP YOUR CHILD WHO IS NOT LISTED AS A PRIORITY

EMERGENCY CONTACT IN PARENT PORTAL

DO NOT PANIC OR GET UPSET AT STAFF-WE ALL HAVE THE SAME GOAL

*WE ALL SHARE THE COMMON GOAL OF SAFELY REUNIFYING STUDENTS WITH PARENTS*

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE PARENT REUNIFICATION PROCESS PLEASE VISIT OUR SAFETY

LINK AT WWW.CANONCITYSCHOOLS.ORG OR CALL 719-276-5715.

Just a Reminder!

October 5th-Count Day-Show up and be counted!

Crazy Hair Day

October 7th-No School-Elementary

Only October 12th-Delayed Start

Picture Day is October 14th!

“Say Cheese!”

October 17th-18th-No School District wide

“Say Cheese!”

Acceleration Acceleration occurs when students move through traditional curriculum at rates faster than typical. Among the many forms of acceleration are grade-skipping, early entrance to kindergarten or college, dual-credit courses such as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs and subject-based acceleration (e.g., when a fifth-grade student takes a middle school math course). Many researchers consider acceleration to be “appropriate educational planning. It means matching the level and complexity of the curriculum with the readiness and motivation of the student”

Howdy Ya’ll! Cowgirl Peg is goin’ to stop

in and pay us a visit next week on Tuesday, October 11th. Cowgirl Peg

Sundberg is an author who reached her two life goals in becoming a ranch

owner for rescued horses and a writer of children’s books. We’ll be sharing a little magic about each of her stories

throughout the week. For those that are interested, order forms to purchase

autographed copies will be sent home on Monday, October 3rd. These orders

along with your money must be received by Thursday, October 6th.

Students are welcome to dress the part of cowboys or cowgirls for her visit!

Author Visit

BUILDING OUR LIBRARIES

Our libraries are growing again!

Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Hilburn are busy ordering new

books and getting them processed to be added to our

shelves. We love to have new material to offer to our

students and we remind them to be “user friendly”

with them all. Please remind your student to keep

their book in a safe place where pets or younger

siblings won’t get to them, not to eat or drink while

they’re reading to avoid spills and to return them on

time so they can be enjoyed by someone else.

Each 3rd, 4th or 5th grade student is allowed to have

three books checked out at once, but if they have one

that’s overdue, they will not be able to check out

another book until the late book is returned.

This same “late book” rule is in place for

kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students, as well.

Thank you for sharing our libraries!