Our Mission
To challenge all students to achieve their full potential through engaging, responsive, educational experiences that inspire innovation, critical thinking, and collaboration.
In an effort to save paper, we will not be printing lunch menus this year. Please follow this link to know what is available for the day. Students will be given the choice of three entrees each morning, and a color-coded lunch ticket will ensure they receive the correct meal.
Important Upcoming Dates:
A Message from PTO: We are participating in Box Tops for Education. The process has changed quite a bit from having to turn in physical box tops. The process has now gone completely digital. Please visit the website to get more information!
If you missed any newsletters, you can find them here!
Washington Weekly
This week’s cycle days:
Monday, May 19: Day 2
Tuesday, May 20: Day 3
Wednesday, May 21: Day 4
Thursday, May 22: Day 4
Friday, May 23: Day 1
Principal’s Press
Hello!
We have reached our final week of school! What a year we’ve had! Our kids are fantastic and we’re sad to have our first graders move on, but we’re also excited for their new opportunities! We got to meet our new Kindergarten class this past Wednesday and I think we’ve got a great group coming. It’s an exciting time for our kids with lots of fun events! We hope you have a great summer!
- A reminder that we will dismiss at 11:10 on Friday, May 23rd, our last day of school!
- From our friends at the Charles City Public Library:
- The Charles City Public Library is conducting a community survey as part of their strategic planning process. The survey results will help shape service priorities for the next five years. Please pick up a copy of the survey at the library, at City Hall, or fill it out by following http://tinyurl.com/2025CCPL.
- From the Charles City School District:
- Our school district has requested a Needs Assessment Survey conducted by the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB). The survey is designed to help us assess our strengths and areas of improvement, focusing on improved student achievement. We want your opinions and judgments in response to the brief survey linked below. The survey takes an average of 9 minutes to complete. All responses are anonymous.
Just click the link below, or paste it into your browser and follow the instructions. Thank you for your participation and for helping to guide improvements for our students.
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/YtMQmYnPCk
- Charles City will again be participating in the Summer Food Service Program! Please see this document for details. Here are the menus:
- If you’re the parent of a rising second grade girl (current first grader), please see this handout about summer basketball and volleyball camps!
- If you are interested in Little League Softball, please check out this flyer!
- Preschool Families: Please add the following dates to your calendars!
- Wednesday, May 21st, 5:30 - 6:15: Preschool Graduation @ Washington!
- Thursday, May 22nd: Final school day for preschool students (due to half day on Friday, May 23rd)
- Preschool registration is now open! This year, we will have students five days per week, from 8:10 - 1:10, and we will continue to provide transportation at the end of the day to any DHS-registered center in Charles City. We have listened to concerns about half-day preschool and the child care required to meet your needs. We’re hopeful that this new schedule will be a “win-win” for families and teachers. Please reach out with any questions you may have and please feel free to pass this information along to anyone with an incoming preschool student! (Not a fan of QR codes? Register here.)
- Kindergarten registration is open and you can register using this link!
Have a great week!
Joe Carney
Counselor’s Connection
Hello families! I hope your student’s school year is going well.
I have quite a few parents asking me “How can I teach my child coping skills? They are emotional and I don’t know how to help them.” If you have wondered something similar, look no further. I will be adding weekly tips for teaching your child coping skills in our weekly newsletter. Here is this week’s tip.
Name It to Tame It:
The simple act of identifying and naming feelings can help us feel a little better. Help your child with this by phrases like, “I see you’re upset right now. Are you feeling worried? Or frustrated?” Model this for your child by naming your own emotions out loud from time to time. You can also help your child to understand clues in the body about feelings. For example, butterflies in the stomach or a face feeling hot. These are things I am working with students on quite often. I hope you might find some success utilizing these few small tips.
If you think there is anything I can do to help increase your child’s success at school, please call me at 641-257-6570 EXT 4053 or email me at
Thank you so much! Sandy Thomson, CCCSD Elementary School counselor
Library Activities
Can you believe we have almost completed the school year? Incredible! We are gathering all of the library collection to close out the year. Please ask your child(ren) if they have all of their school library books into the building library. If you happen to see a book with a barcode on it, please send it to school.
Please help us to help your child(ren). Summer is a time to enjoy a break from school. It is also important to include reading skills during the break. If you do not have a public library card and are wanting to have your child check out the books from the fabulous library in Charles City, please let us know. We have some printed off and can even take them to the library for you. Not only does the public library have printed books but offer ebooks if you have Internet access and a device. Through Central Rivers, students have access to over 3,000 ebooks! Check out this link on how to access ebooks and other resources through Central Rivers: Washington Summer Reading Flyer.
Finally, the Lincoln library will be open from 9:30-10:30 on Wednesdays during the month of June. We want to continue reading during the summer. If you have a child attending the summer reading program at Lincoln or wanting your child to continue to enjoy reading, please encourage your child to come check out a book!
A Note from Art
There are many art classes available at the Charles City Arts Center in the month of June! Make sure to check it out!
Stay up to date on the happenings at the Charles City Public Library in the month of July, because… DRAGONS!
Follow our Facebook page: Comet Creators: Charles City Art Rooms for art pictures, activities and other fun events happening this summer! I will try to post weekly!
Physical Education
Being that next week will be our last week, we will be having a “Free Day”. I will set up several things for the students to do. They will be able to choose any or all of the activities they would like to do. I will be watching to see if they can stay active the whole class. This is part of Standard 4 in which they are choosing to engage in physical activity and can choose activities that bring them joy.
I hope everyone enjoyed a lot of what we did this year and learned something new. I know I enjoyed my second year as a PE teacher and am still learning new things, even at my age. Don’t forget to exercise, drink plenty of water and have fun this summer. See you all in August or perhaps at the ball fields.
Nurse’s Nook
This is our final week with students! Our health team has enjoyed taking care of your student this year. Whether it be a bumped head, insect sting, stomachache, medication administration, or management of a chronic health condition, we want to thank you for letting us be a part of your child’s academic success. We look forward to next year!
If your child has medication in the health office, please pick up any remaining medication by Friday, May 23rd at 12:00pm. Any controlled substances, such as ADHD medication, will be properly disposed of by the police department.
According to Safe Kids Worldwide, a leading children’s safety organization, the summer season represents millions of emergency room visits by children 14 and younger due to unintentional injuries. Please read their top tips to help keep your child safe this summer.
- Stay hydrated: If your kids play outside on a hot day, have them take frequent water and snack breaks. Children often ignore signals of heat exhaustion, so you may need to require breaks. Buy the kids fun, reusable water bottles to keep them motivated to drink up! Avoid sugary drinks and pop.
- Designate a water watcher: Drownings can happen in an instant. If you need to walk away even for a moment, assign an adult to actively watch your child when they are near a body of water.
- Always check water conditions. Before rafting or boating, always check the forecast before going out on the water. Have all children, even those who can swim, wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket, even if the water is calm.
- Sunscreen! Sun is harshest from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Children under one year old should avoid direct sunlight during this time. Make sure to constantly reapply during these hours. Set a good example and apply it on yourself as well.
- Never leave a child alone in a car. In just 10 minutes, the inside of a vehicle can become so hot that it can be deadly. Even if you roll the windows down, it’s never a good idea.
- Don’t play with fireworks. They’re fun to look at, but fireworks can be extremely harmful if they aren’t handled by an adult. Sparklers get hot enough to melt metal and should never be handled by a child under three years of age. Fireworks are the cause of life-threatening injuries and burns every year.
- Fire safety. Don’t leave children unattended near grills, campfires, or bonfires. Keep a bucket of water or fire extinguisher near the area when there is a fire burning. If your child is burned, run cool water on it for five minutes; never put ice on a burn. If it begins to blister or looks leathery, take your child to the emergency room.