An Easy Way to Raise Money for Washington!

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Jumpstart on Spelling!

Students can get a jump start on this year's spelling words by visiting SpellingCity.com. Students are able to practice spelling, play games and take tests over each units' spelling words on this interactive website.

Each units' list can be found by clicking on the link, "Find a list," located at the top of the main page. Type in "Washington" and the units will be listed. Choose any week's unit and get started! Not every unit is posted yet, but they will be when school starts!

Registration is August 7th!

Red Oak Students to Register Thursday, August 7
School Begins August 19

The Red Oak Community School District will register all students in grades pre-kindergarten through grade 12 on Thursday, August 7. All grade levels will register at the Inman Primary School Cafeteria. Hours of registration will be 8 am to 8 pm. School office staff, school counselors, and selected school teachers will be available to register everyone, help parents/students complete forms; answer questions about bus transportation needs; and collect fees. School Administrators will visit the Registration Day site at Inman and will be available to address any concerns from parents or guardians or students. All school offices will be open for students and parents who need to make a visit to one of the schools (other than Inman Primary) on Registration Day.

Special School Early Dismissals for the 2008 – 09 School Year

The Red Oak Community Schools will observe a major change in the school calendar for the new year. Starting August 27th, classes will be dismissed two hours early every Wednesday. The two hour early dismissal will allow the district’s teachers to participate in professional development activities that will improve the teaching/learning process for all students. The Red Oak Community School District has adopted a system of improving students’ learning through Professional Learning Communities. After studying ways to improve district schools for the past year, it was determined that quality teams of teachers working together to increase student learning would have a significant, positive effect for students. Teachers collaborating together to improve learning; teachers learning new strategies for the teaching process; and teachers developing new curriculum programs; - all would require more time than the once per month early dismissals experienced in the past. In order to accomplish the professional development work, the Red Oak Board of Directors accepted the staff’s recommendation to dismiss early every Wednesday of the school year. The only Wednesdays that will not see an early dismissal include those weeks where other vacation days are in effect or during parent-teacher conference weeks. Parents and guardians are encouraged to closely look at the new school calendar in order to plan adequately for child care and supervision.

School Registration Fees Remain the Same – Lunch Prices Increase

The Red Oak Board of Directors have authorized registration fees to remain the same for one more year in spite of huge increases seen this past year in books and instructional support materials. The prices of lunches will increase by 10 cents. This is the first price increase in over five years. The Directors have requested that food prices be monitored and watched carefully during the school year in case other changes are needed.

Registration fees for the 2008 – 09 school year are as follows:
Grades Kindergarten to 5 $25
Grades 6 to 8 $30
Grades 9 to 12 $36

School Meal Prices for the 2008 – 09 school year are as follows:
Breakfast:
K-12 grade student per day $1.10
Adult per day $1.50

Lunch:
K-3 student per day $1.80
4-12 grade student per day $1.95
Adult per day $2.50
Extra milk $ .35

Other Fees for the 2008 – 09 School Year:
Students Activity Ticket $40
Adult Activity Pass $50
Family Activity Pass $150


Red Oak School Days Times, Early Dismissals, and Vacations
School times for each school remain the same for the 2008 – 09 school year.

The times for each attendance center are as follows:
Inman Primary School
Classes begin at 8:15 am each day & classes end at 3:07 pm each day

Right Start Pre-School at the Webster Building
Classes begin at 8:10 am each day & classes end at 3:15 pm each day

Special Pre-School at Inman Primary School
Morning session begins at 8:10 am and ends at 11:10 am
Afternoon session begins at 12:25 pm and ends at 3:15 pm

Washington Intermediate School
Classes begin at 8:25 am each day & classes end at 3:10 pm each day

Red Oak Middle School
Classes begin at 8:10 am each day & classes end at 3:10 pm each day

Red Oak High School
Classes begin at 8:15 am each day & classes end at 3:07 pm each day

Supply List for 2008-09

During the week of July 14th, the supply list will also be found at the Red Oak K-Mart, Red Oak Pamida, Shenandoah Wal-Mart and the Atlantic Wal-Mart. If you have questions, please contact the school. With generous donations from community organizations, individuals and parents, we are able to keep extra supplies on hand for families that cannot afford to purchase all of the materials needed for school.

4th Grade:

• Box of 16 crayons or larger set
• 8 oz. bottle glue or glue stick
• Pair of pointed scissors
• Lead pencils - 2 lead, sharpened
• 2 large boxes of facial tissues (Ms. Chelsvig's class needs 1 box)
• 8 notebooks (single subject spiral, wide lined)
• Pencil pouch
• Set of colored pencils (8), sharpened
• 12 inch ruler with centimeters and inches (no fold-up rulers, please)
• Red checking pens
• 4-5 different colored highlighters
• Eight 2-pocket folders with 3 hold prongs in solid colors
  (Ms. Chelsvig & Mr. Haufle's students do not need these folders)

5th Grade:

• Box of 16 crayons or larger set
• Large glue stick
• Pair of pointed scissors
• Lead pencils - 2 lead, sharpened
• 2 large boxes of facial tissues
• Set of colored pencils (8), sharpened
• Loose leaf, college ruled notebook paper
• 5 single subject spiral notebooks
• 5 pocket folders
• Two 8 oz. bottles hand sanitizer

Red Oak R.O.C.K.S.

Respect Our Community Kickoff to Summer!

The Red Oak Chamber and the Y.E.S. Mentoring Program
teamed up for a clean-up day in our community on June 21st. We had nearly 50 volunteers to assist in pulling weeds, mulching and picking up trash along Broadway. We had a generous grant from Boost for Families and seven wonderful sponsors that allowed us to provide every volunteer with a t-shirt and free lunch! We will do this event every summer so please join us next year if you did not do so this year!


Y.E.S. Mentoring/Washington Intermediate
904 Broad Street
Red Oak, IA 51566

Thank you to our current sponsors:
Allensworth Heating and Cooling
Great Western Bank
Jones Mechanical
KCSI 95.3FM
Parker Hannifin Corporation
Red Oak Glass Awning
First Covenant Church

Iowa Core Curriculum

On April 25, 2008, the Iowa legislature approved mandating the Iowa Core Curriculum for all students in grades 9-12 by 2012 and grades K-8 by 2014. The Iowa Core Curriculum (also known as Model Core Curriculum) provides local school districts and nonpublic schools a guide to delivering instruction based on consistent, challenging and meaningful content to students. The curriculum identifies the essential concepts and skill sets for literacy, mathematics, science and social studies, as well as 21st century learning skills (civic literacy, financial literacy, technology literacy, health literacy, and employability skills). Governor Chet Culver signed the bill into law on May 1, 2008.

To hear a podcast about the new Iowa Core Curriculum, click here. In this Iowa Department of Education podcast, Director Judy Jeffrey talks about the Iowa Core Curriculum.

The Power of Summer Reading!

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