April 2025
Dear Wildcat Family,
Happy April! Spring is starting to sprout and we await its full bloom. We are excited about the learning and events our students are experiencing this month and the opportunities we have to celebrate their successes.
We are breezing into the RICAS testing season.
RICAS testing for grades 3-5
ELA – April 2nd and 3rd.
Math April 30th and May 1st
NGSA (Science 5th grade only) May 13th and 14th
It is very important that students are here at school and participate in this testing. Past experience shows that students who take the assessments with their class perform at a higher level than those who take a make-up test at a different time. If you need to schedule appointments for your child within the testing season, please check our testing schedule to confirm what days grade levels are testing.
Getting to school on-time and starting the day with classmates is extremely important to social/emotional well-being. Starting the instructional day with everyone in your class increases achievement!
We want students to be able to demonstrate the great skills they have learned this year. Here are a few tips to help students during testing:
- Eat a good meal the night before and a nutritious non-sugary breakfast the next day.
- Be sure to get a good night’s sleep. Oversleeping is usually caused by staying up too late.
- Plan to get up with enough time to eat breakfast and get out of the house with minimal stress.
- Get exercise after school that helps reduce stress and recharge the brain.
- Turn off all devices two hours before going to bed. This makes it easier to get a good night’s sleep to help with test performance the next day.
- Pack your child’s backpack the night before to avoid last minute organizing and stress in the morning.
As we enter the final stretch of the school year, we encourage students to continue to demonstrate kindness and respect toward their peers and teachers. We are focusing on reinforcing positive student behavior through our schoolwide ROAR expectations: Be Responsible, Be On-Task, Be Accountable, and Be Respectful. We encourage families to have conversations at home about these values and how they can be applied in school and beyond. Recognizing and celebrating positive behavior helps create a school culture where students feel safe, confident and motivated to achieve.
As always, know that you do not have to wait for a parent forum or parent conferences to call if you have questions, concerns, or needs. We are here to serve our children and families. Please contact your child’s teacher, the office staff, or me if you want to set up a meeting to discuss any issues that arise. As always, THANK YOU for being our partners in this important work helping your child to enjoy learning and preparing for a bright future.
Warmest Regards,
April L. Flowers
Principal, Winters Elementary