Principal Message
Hey IRE Families!

The weather is starting to get warmer and we are all starting to bask this amazing sunlight. As we get into warmer temperatures, we take advantage of all of the outside play and with all of that fun play, we encourage students to bring their water bottles.

Second, not only will we be working hard outside, we are working hard in the classroom as well. March brings an important moment to celebrate progress. We have been constantly improving our approach to literacy with using systematic, explicit phonics instruction. We do this literacy work with our supplemental curriculum UFLI (for phonics) and Heggerty (for phonological awareness).

Because of this hard work, the support from our families at home, and thoughtful implementation by teachers and teacher-leaders, we are proud to share that 85% of our 2nd grade students are on grade level with phonological awareness, 90% of our 3rd grade students are on grade level with high frequency words, and 87% of our 5th graders on grade level with phonics.

These are terrific results, and we are excited to share more about the growth of each, individual child with families as we come closer to sharing progress reports in the coming weeks. More to come, so stay tuned! Thank you for all that you do to support our school community, and enjoy the sunshine.

Best,
Tyler Dockins, Principal

Washington to provide summer grocery benefits to eligible families
Beginning this summer, Washington will provide grocery benefits through a program called Sun Bucks to help families with eligible school-age children buy groceries during the summer. Families will receive $120 per eligible child. Families that qualify for free or reduced-price meal benefits for the 2023-24 school year will be eligible to receive Sun Bucks. For more information visit: https://www.fns.usda.gov/sebt
SDM Bus Exceptions
If making an exception in School Dismissal Manager (SDM) that involves riding a different bus than usual (or riding the bus when usually parent pick up), please be sure to include the address of the destination in the exception notes. Our drivers are committed to getting each student to the right place, and this step helps significantly. Thank you
Gravel Parking Lot
If arriving before 3:25 (1:05 on early dismissal days) for parent pickup, please pull all the way through and park in the gravel lot and walk up to pick up your student. This helps traffic flow and keeps our fire lanes open. With the sunny weather upon us, this is a terrific option for pick up. If you would like to stay in your car, please arrive as close to 3:40 as possible. You can also park early in the gravel lot and re-merge into the pick up lane.