Washington Elementary School

Washington Elementary School News

Student fees among 2008-09 Community Finance Committee topics

[district news]

Posted on 9/23/2008 by Bernadette Tramm
The District 64 Community Finance Committee (CFC) will help review student fees this year as part of an ambitious schedule of studies, according to Superintendent Sally Pryor. Over the summer, the CFC reported to the Board of Education on its 2007-08 activities and received Board direction on a 2008-09 slate of projects for its four subcommittees.

More than 30 local residents and staff members serve on the volunteer advisory group, which will return to work officially on Thursday, September 25 at 7 p.m. at the District 64 Educational Service Center. Full text of news release (PDF)

All Welcome at Strategic Plan Meeting October 6

[district news]

Posted on 9/22/2008 by Bernadette Tramm
The Park Ridge-Niles Board of Education recently authorized the development of a new strategic plan to guide District 64 schools well into the next decade. To kick-off this effort, the Board has scheduled a special Committee-of-the-Whole on Strategic Planning on Monday, October 6 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the auditorium at Washington School.

All members of the community are invited to come and learn more about the planning framework and timeline that will be followed as the process gets underway during the 2008-09 school year.

“The development of a strategic plan is an exciting opportunity for a community to come together to create its vision for the future education of its children,” according to Superintendent Sally Pryor. “Our goal is to conduct this process in a totally open, inclusive manner to ensure strong community involvement,” she added.

Facilitator Dr. Howard Feddema of the Cambridge Group will conduct this awareness session for the Board and the community to describe how the planning process will unfold this year. He will lay out the framework and discuss why this specific approach is being followed. He will talk about the different components of the strategic plan and present an overview of how those components will be developed. Time will be reserved for an in-depth Q & A session to ensure that all questions from the Board and those in attendance are addressed.

“Knowing that this new strategic plan will impact our schools and community for many years to come, we encourage interested parents, staff and community members to join us for this kick-off awareness session,” Dr. Pryor added.

Information from the meeting also will be summarized on the District 64 Web site.

“Raising Good Adolescents” is Focus of Fall Parent Ed Series

[district news]

Posted on 9/15/2008 by Bernadette Tramm
Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 is offering support this fall exclusively for parents in the community navigating through the ‘tween years with their adolescents. Sponsored by the Civil Behavior Parent Committee, the “Raising Good Adolescents” workshops will offer strategies to help local parents maintain communication and stay involved as their students test their independence and gain maturity moving through grades 5-8.   The workshops are open to all parents in the community.

Parents may attend one or all three Wednesday workshops; no registration is required. The sessions will be held at Emerson Middle School, 8101 N. Cumberland, Niles, from 7:30-9 p.m.

Bob Campbell, co-director of the Willow Wellness Center, will lead the first two evenings. Each will feature a presentation, small group discussion (divided by age of students) facilitated by a trained leader, and time for questions.
•   September 24 – “Are You the Kind of Parent You’ve Always Hoped to Be?” Topics include: learning to say “no” – kind and firm parenting – control vs. letting go – respectful involvement – don’t give up.
•   October 1 – “Who’s Pushing Whose Buttons?” Topics include: examining thoughts, feelings and actions: yours and theirs – pushing each others’ buttons – encouragement.

The final evening will be led by Char Wenc, author of “Parenting – Are We Having Fun Yet?” and “Cooperation – Learning through Laughter.”
•   October 15 – “Risky Business?” Topic: recognizing and responding to at-risk behavior.

Parents do not need to have participated in the “Raising Good Kids” program offered previously for elementary school parents.

Hearing on 2008-09 Budget Set for September 22

[district news]

Posted on 9/15/2008 by Bernadette Tramm
Park-Ridge Niles School District 64 Board of Education will conduct a hearing on its 2008-09 final budget on Monday, September 22 at 7:20 p.m. at Jefferson School, 8200 Greendale, Niles, prior to adoption at its regular meeting that evening. A tentative budget was adopted on July 14. The tentative budget may be viewed on the District 64 Web site (www.d64.org) and also is on display at the District 64 Educational Service Center, 164 S. Prospect Ave., as well as the Park Ridge and Niles Public Libraries. Full text of release (PDF)

Mid-Day School Crossing Guards to be Discontinued on October 6

[district news]

Posted on 9/9/2008 by Bernadette Tramm

Acting with the support of the District 64 Traffic Safety Committee, Park Ridge Police are going forward to eliminate school crossing guards at mid-day, beginning Monday, October 6. The final day for crossing guards who assist a few elementary school students traveling home to lunch will be Friday, October 3.

“This change is for the lunch hour only; crossing guard schedules remain the same before and after school,” according to Superintendent Sally Pryor, who reported on the shift at the September 8 District 64 Board of Education meeting. Principals and PTO representatives from all the elementary schools concurred with the decision, Dr. Pryor noted. Middle school students remain at school for lunch and are not affected.

To prepare for this transition, elementary schools are working closely with the students and their families who are not enrolled in the elementary lunch supervision program to make sure they are aware of the change.

“If a crossing guard normally assists the child on their route home, they will be added at no charge to the existing kindergarten bus routes at the noon hour,” Dr. Pryor announced.

The proposal was brought forward at the August 21 Traffic Safety Committee meeting by Park Ridge Police Lt. Bob Hanson, who shared the results of an informal survey of guards done in May-June that identified only nine students being assisted by guards at the noon hour. In addition, Lt. Hanson noted that it has become increasingly difficult to find persons willing to become guards due to the mid-day commitment.

District 64 to Focus on Improving Reading Achievement in 2008-09

[district news]

Posted on 9/8/2008 by Bernadette Tramm
Improving the achievement levels of the “whole child,” particularly in reading, will drive the efforts of District 64 schools this year, according to Assistant Superintendent Diane Betts, who reported to the Board of Education at its September 8 meeting. Ms. Betts shared the District’s goals for student learning during the 2008-09 school year, which include improvements in instruction, updates of literacy-related parts of the curriculum, and comprehensive reviews of two programs. Full text of release (PDF)