From the Desk of Mr. Barry

From the February 2008 Washington Intermediate Newsletter (click to visit)

Starting 2008 Off On the Right Foot!
If your house is anything like mine after the holidays, it may be hard for everyone to get back into a routine! Students return to school after being on different sleeping, eating, studying and playing schedules. It usually takes a week or so to get back on track and get focused on the task at hand. I was very impressed with how our students returned from the holiday break and got back to work so quickly and so efficiently! They deserve a pat on the back!

Mid-Year Testing
The students took our mid-year (winter) reading comprehension and fluency (rate and speed) assessments the first two weeks of January. We measure these two reading areas three times a year to monitor progress. As a building, we saw an average growth of over 8 months since September. This was twice the normal growth for 4 months time between tests and I am proud of the students and teachers work with their reading comprehension skills. Your child’s individual growth will be shared with you during our February Parent-Teacher conferences on February 25th and 28th.

After School Math
A note came home this earlier in January with the final 6 dates for the After School Math program and an explanation of our year end Math Celebration and Contest. We are asking students who want to participate in the May math contest to attend 4 of our final 6 after school dates. All students will be welcome to attend the celebration in which we will hand out certificates, awards and crown our Washington Math Team Champions. Last year the students had a blast and we hope to repeat the success and fun this year! Remaining dates as of now are Feb 12 & 26; March 11 & 25 and the May 6th Celebration.

Pain Free Fundraiser!
Before break, we received a $15 check from the Goodsearch.com. This money came from searching done from the www.goodsearch.com site by staff, parents and anyone else who indicated “Washington Intermediate” as the charity of their choice. The $15 may not seem like much, but it was only for 3 months time. We hope to increase our numbers this year! This is one fundraiser that does not cost anyone a dime! Visit the site, search and bookmark it for later use! More information is listed on our website (http://wistigers.blogspot.com). If you have questions, do not hesitate to call, email or stop in my office.

Student Advisory
The students at Washington Intermediate collected, organized and delivered nearly 600 food items to the local food pantry the week before break. It was quite a group effort as every class collected over 30 food items and one class, Ms. Linn's, collected nearly 200 food items on their own! The November and December Student Advisory groups helped load the food items into Mr. Barry and Mr. Maurer's vehicles. Then, the 5th grade Student Advisory students helped take the items to the food pantry near the Square and unload all the items. Mr. Barry is extremely PROUD of each and every student at Washington Intermediate for taking part in this program. It is a very CARING act of kindness before the holidays.