Washington District 50 Schools

Tentative softball tryout date: Wednesday August 5th 11:00-1:00. Pitching/catching practice: August 3rd and 4th 1:00-2:00 Bring your own equipment, if you have any, and a water bottle.

Dear Wildcat Families, The IESA has sent out an updated statement regarding fall sports. It states that Baseball and Softball may begin to hold tryouts/practices on Monday, August 3rd. At this time we are asking our coaches to set a TENTATIVE tryout date/time on or after August 5th so that administration may discuss and plan for how to best move forward with the changed guidelines. We will send out communication next week with guidance and expectations for our Wildcat families. We appreciate your patience as we work through this process. Please be advised that sports physicals will still be required before an athlete is eligible to tryout. You may read the IESA's announcement and plan in its entirety at https://www.iesa.org/ Thank you! Jennifer Miller Athletic Director

District 50 Latchkey Program currently has openings for mornings and afternoons. The program opens at 6:30 a.m. and will close at 5:30p.m. We will also be offering full days, the first four Fridays (August 14th, 21st, 28th and September 4th) due to no school. Rates are as follows: Monday thru Friday enrollment -$4.00 per hour Less than 5 days- $4.50 per hour If attending on the Fridays listed above the rate is - $30.00 per day (breakfast, lunch and snack provided on full days) Weekly fees are based on a reserved schedule. Please contact Connie Wort at 745-3625 with any further questions.

Energy and other assistance available for families! Link: https://www2.illinois.gov/dceo/CommunityServices/HomeWeatherization/CommunityActionAgencies/Pages/HelpIllinoisFamilies.aspx

Parents, as you are prepping for back to school and purchasing supplies....your child WILL be able to bring a backpack and a lunch box for cold lunch, if they would like.

There is less than 1 week to complete registration through Skyward before school begins. Please make sure to complete the registration for all returning students before next Tuesday, we still have 1/3 of our students not registered. Any questions call the offices for assistance.

Wildcat parents, As previously posted we are saddened by the IESA announcement to cancel the fall 2020 baseball and softball seasons. A decision on girl's basketball will be made in August. You can read the full release from the IESA below: The IESA Board of Directors held a special meeting on Thursday, July 23. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss fall sports and whether those activities could be held in accordance with the current limitations placed on schools and activities by the Illinois Department of Public Health. After much discussion, the Board unanimously approved to cancel the regular season and IESA state series in the sports of boys and girls golf, boys baseball, girls softball, and boys and girls cross-country for the 2020-21 school year. There are no plans to try and re-schedule the activities or conduct them later in the school year in part due to if and when high schools in Illinois play their contests. Girls softball practice was scheduled to start July 27. The baseball and cross-country seasons were scheduled to start August 3. The Board delayed any decision on girls basketball. The first day of girls basketball practice is scheduled for August 31. The Board will meet again in late August to make a decision regarding girls basketball. The Board did review and approve a plan submitted by the Speech Advisory Committee that allows schools to hold their own speech contest during the upcoming school year. Schools that participate in speech will receive information at a later date. No decisions regarding any other activities were made. We know that there will be many people within the school system who will applaud this decision and there will be many who will be strongly opposed. At the forefront of the Board decision is that the activities must be conducted within the current limitations that have been placed on the schools by the IDPH. In particular, the mandate that there can be no physical contact between athletes and that students must be socially distanced (6 ft. of separation) makes the administration and conduct of games and contests very difficult and in some cases impossible to adhere to the mandates. While there are plenty of youth league baseball and softball teams playing games and tournaments this summer, many are not adhering to the same stringent guidelines. Because summer leagues and travel ball are taking place, this may make the decision of the IESA Board of Directors seem odd. The difference is that schools will be held to the IDPH mandates and the youth summer contests are not. It would make little sense for IESA to move forward with these activities that would require schools to be in direct conflict with mandates by state agencies that have regulatory control over the schools. COVID-19 has changed the world. However, this decision is not the end of the world. It is not the news that most students and parents want. At the end of the day, we work with junior high and middle school students. They are not professional athletes; they are not college athletes; they are not even high school athletes. They will not be missing out on any college scholarships. These are mainly 12-14 year old kids who will have many more opportunities to participate (perhaps even later this school year in other activities). We recognize that athletics play a huge role in the lives of students. Activities, despite their importance in the development of students, can never take precedence over the health and safety of those same students as well as the health and safety of contest officials, game management, and parents/fans who attend contests. The IESA Board of Directors made a difficult decision but in the end they simply felt that there are too many unknowns to proceed safely at this level of play.

It is with a heavy heart that we must announce the cancellation of the IESA baseball and softball seasons for the 2020-21 school year per the IESA.

Hey District 50 Families, In case you didn't receive the Wildcats Return to School Plan yesterday, here it is for your review. If you did not receive the initial message, please login to your Skyward and make sure you have the correct email address attached to your Skyward account. Pop in and register online for us too if you can. Return to School Plan: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11d5WO0FlXvkdTe7esd2wUfSSd8bNXJ_C/view?usp=sharing Registration link: https://skyward.iscorp.com/WashingtonD50ILStuSTS/Session/Signin?area=Home&controller=Home&action=Index

We have about 2.5 weeks until school starts, and about half of our students have successfully registered. If you haven't already, please register your child online through Skyward. Also, you may want to check back and make sure you submitted the registration successfully!

Softball team store is open! https://d50softball.itemorder.com/ If you want to wait until after tryouts, no problem! The store is open until Aug 2nd. Thank you for supporting D50 Softball!

Our official registration dates have now passed and it was great to see some new and old faces (even if they were masked)! Even though those dates are over, new student families are still welcome to come and register at either building between 8:00 a.m.-1:30pm each day. Current families still have access to registration via Skyward (contact us if you need help). Have a great day,

Softball open fields are cancelled for today (Tuesday July 21st)

Softball Tryouts are Monday July 27, 2020 Any student trying out for any school sports is required to have a current sports physical on file! Email Nurse Hedge with any questions [email protected]

Just a reminder to get those physicals, immunizations, dental and vision screenings scheduled and turned in if you have not already done so. Please see the attachment below for grade specific health requirements. The start of school will be here before we know it! As always any questions, please email Nurse Hedge [email protected]

FREE MATERNITY CLOTHING AND DIAPERS. PLEASE SHARE!! Summer clothing blowout... Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Winter clothing available. 🔴 Any 10 clothing items for $20 This includes two piece outfits as one item. $0.50 onesies. $10 formula. Buy two get one free on flowers and bows Buy two get one free on all blankets. Newborn through adult clothing available. Lots of new equipment just in.... The Baby Shoppe 1800 N Knoxville ave Peoria Il 61603 309-685-5027 Call or text. Open 10-7 Monday through Saturday. Sundays 11-4

Skyward will be down beginning Saturday, July 18th at 12:00 p.m. (Noon), and continuing until 12:00 a.m. (Midnight) Saturday, July 18th due to infrastructure upgrades. Family access and online registration will be unavailable during this time.

Back to School Supply Giveaway!

New District 50 Family Alert! Don't forget that our new student registration will be open at both buildings from 8am-2pm tomorrow (Friday, July 17th). Kindergarten-Third grade is at John L. Hensey (304 E. Almond Drive) and Fourth-Eighth is at Beverly Manor (1014 School Street). If you have a new student or you know of new neighbors, please spread the word. We will have spaces for paperwork to be filled out on site with appropriate distancing in place and ask that you wear a mask before entering and while in the building. Have a few items handy: -Birth Certificate -Proof of Residency (such as utility bill, lease, bank statements, etc.) Thank you and we are excited to meet our new families tomorrow. **Registration for Returning families is still available via Skyward or can be done at the building on Monday, July 20th from 3pm-7pm. New families can come during this time as well if you cannot make our date tomorrow.

Softball open field is cancelled for tomorrow. We will resume on Friday.