Welcome Back!

We are excited for the school year to start. There have been some great things taking place this summer that will only enhance the learning environment for our students. I want to thank our staff, who work tirelessly throughout the summer to prepare for this school year. Without them, things wouldn't go nearly as smooth.

Significant work will be ongoing throughout the school year at our HS site. We are building the new additions onto the two-story HS wing, an addition on the north end of the old JH building, and another gymnasium East of the varsity gym. This work is part of the first phase of the bond issue that the community passed in 2022. This phase will be completed during the 23-24 school year. The second phase will occur throughout the 24-25 school year and will modernize the old JH building (East building). We will move the MS to the new site for the 2025-2026 school year.

The district will continue implementing Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) for our students. MTSS is a comprehensive and ongoing framework that employs data-based problem-solving and decision-making at every level of the educational system to support students' needs. In short, staff members look at data to discuss where our students are in the three areas of academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs and devise a plan to help them.

The district will focus on the third year of Capturing Kids Hearts (CKH). CKH is a program that will help our staff make better connections with students and provide more social-emotional help for our students. We are training all of our new employees on this program also. We want all of our students to feel welcomed in our district. This program helps us focus on creating relationships with all students and providing them with a safe and caring environment.

Stewart Elementary- Mike Marsden will be in his second year as the Stewart Elementary Principal. Mr. Marsden and the Stewart Elementary staff look forward to the students returning to school and getting to know all the students in their classrooms.

Lincoln Elementary- Lincoln welcomes a new principal this coming school year. Olivia Foglesong was hired to replace Mrs. Lund and comes to us from Muscatine, Iowa. Lincoln will have the most new faces in the district regarding teaching staff, with the retirements we had last year. We are excited about the staff members that we have hired who will be working with your students.

Washington MS- The MS has a new principal in Jesika McLaughlin. Mrs. McLaughlin has worked in the district for several years as a special-education teacher and a special education instructional coach. She is replacing Mr. Mayer, who retired from the district last year.

Washington HS- The HS has a new principal in Ed Rathjen. Mr. Rathjen is coming to us from Davenport. He is replacing Mrs. Beenblossom as she moved to the Curriculum Director position to replace Mrs. Thode, who retired from the district last year.

I want you to know; that the Washington Community School District Staff is dedicated to providing a robust, responsive, and engaging experience. Thank you again for trusting us with your most precious commodity!