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Field Trip Information

Aug29

At Maria Montessori Academy we feel that “going out” experiences, aka field trips, are vital to your child’s educational experience.   Buses are extremely expensive; therefore, we rely on parent drivers.  The more certified parent drivers we have, the more field trips we can take.    If you are interested in being a certified parent driver you will have an opportunity to become one at back to school night.  The fee is $60 which covers the cost of the background check and fingerprint scan.   Your certification is good for 6 years.

If you are currently a certified driver, please drop me a line so I can add you to my list.

Being a driver does count toward your 40 hour annual family requirement.

Again, we appreciate all the volunteer time you provide to support your student’s education.

 

 

Fat Boy Fundraiser

May13

We have a great opportunity to kick start our current 5th grade students’ efforts at fundraising for their trip to Alliance Redwoods.  Stock up on Fat Boys Ice Cream sandwiches for all your summer entertaining needs.

Please see the details below.

FatBoys-Fundraiser-Details

 

Order Form

FatBoys-Order-Form

 

Thanks for supporting our school!

 

 

 

 

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jog

May4

We made it! Our 6th graders were phenomenal, they worked so well together, and they grew so much. It is amazing what happened in such a short period of time.

We have a very busy week this week. Tomorrow we will be coming back together as an entire class with some team building initiatives, Tuesday we have a field trip to The Leonardo Museum, and Wednesday we have our language arts SAGE test.

Our train leaves the station at 8:09. Please have your students to the Ogden Front Runner station by 7:45. If you are late, we will not be able to wait and your child will need to be taken to school. Children should follow our regular dress code. If they have an MMA t-shirt, they may wear this for the trip. Please pack a sack lunch that does not require heating. We will not have access to a microwave. No electronics are allowed. Children may bring a book or card games to pass the time on the train.

I’m looking forward to reconnect with all the students this week.

~Cheers

California Here We Come

Apr27

The day is finally here. The 6th grade students are heading out to their annual field-trip to Alliance Redwoods. Last week proved a little challenging for everyone, trying to maintain focus while being extremely excited for the trip. I sensed a little envy from our 4th and 5th level students, but that’s to be expected, and they have their 6th grade field trip to look forward to.

I will be joining the 6th levels as a chaperone. Your children will be in the capable hands of Ms. Kari as well as Ms. Heather, Hailey’s mom. I will be back in the classroom Monday, May 5th, ready to finish out our year. Which brings me to my next point. We have a field trip planned to the Leonardo Museum Tuesday, May 6. I know that it is a quick turn around for our 6th level students but we wanted to be able to fit in a whole class field trip before the end of the year, and boy it is coming fast! Watch for a permission slip to come home with your students this week. The trip will not cost anything, we have obtained a generous grant from the USOE that will pay for admission to the museum, as well as pay for the workshop. Ms. Kirsten’s class will be accompanying us as well.

Important dates:

May 6th: Leonardo Field trip
May 7th: Language Arts SAGE
May 14th: Math SAGE
May 21st: Science SAGE

We also have a meeting for our 5th grade students and their parents somewhere in there. Details to come. This meeting is mandatory for all 5th level students who will be returning next year as 6th grade students. This meeting will introduce expectations for fundraising for their 6th grade field trip as well as required volunteer hours.

Please plan on attending a parent teacher conference the final week of school. Conference times will be available to sign up via WeSignIn after we return from our 6th level field trip. Just as last session, these will be group conferences, led by your child. At this conference we will discuss their accomplishments as well as summer school work expectations so that they all return ready to hit the pavement running.

As a reminder, your children need to be practicing SAGE at home so they are familiar with the functionality of the program. It is quite different from what we have seen in the past. You can go to this link https://login1.cloud2.tds.airast.org/student/V27/Pages/LoginShell.aspx?c=Utah_PT

Sign in as a guest, select your student’s grade level, and allow them to work on the practice test. Since we have completed the writing exam, this can be bypassed. The language test is next in line, so I recommend this be the focus for the week. Thank you for following up with your child so they can be as prepared as possible. At this time, we do not have access to computers in the classroom so the only practice they will have is at home. It is imperative that they practice at home. We also have our IXL account, which will be good practice for math skills. Your students should spend at minimum 20 minutes each night on SAGE and IXL. Their passwords and user id for IXL are in the back of their planners.

See you next week!

~Cheers

In the Home Stretch

Apr14

I’m not sure about you, but for me, this year has flown by.  I can hardly believe we are down to the final 7 weeks of the school year.  It has been quite a whirlwind in room 24.  I am so excited to see the progress your kids have made this year.  They have grown so much, both academically and emotionally.   I’m so proud of them and how they have all carved their own niche within our classroom.  Students who were quite shy at the beginning of the year have come out of their shells and students who don’t know what a shell is, still don’t know what it means to be shy, but they lend their boisterousness to make our classroom the menagerie that it is.   I love them all.

Because it is the end of the year, that means testing.  Our class begins  testing next Wednesday, April 23rd.  Please be sure your children are accessing the practice tests at home.   Because lower elementary is also testing,  students do not have much computer time in the classroom.  When I say “much”, what I mean is, next to none.  It is important that they become familiar with the ins and outs of the program, so if you have a computer with internet access at home, please allow your children time to access the website.

This week we are wrapping up a unit on Science Fiction literary analysis.  We will be reading a short Ray Bradbury story, then we will watch a short film with the same title.  The students will analyze similarities and differences between the story and the film.  We watched Wall-E last week and did a character study.  I was quite impressed at everything the children got from the movie.  This unit combined science fiction analysis with Earth Day studies so we will also be doing poetry analysis using lyrics from a song.  When given the opportunity, these kids sure know how to dissect literature!

Tomorrow Lifetouch will be here taking Spring photos as a fundraiser for Operation Smile.  All proceeds will go to this amazing organization.  A flyer was sent home with your students today.  These photos are completely optional.  Photos for our 6th grade students will be taken next Tuesday, April 22.  A graduation photo, if you will.

We have the 6th grade field trip coming up April 27-May 2 and we are all so excited.  We also have a combined class fieldtrip, to the Leonardo Museum, May 6.  If you are interested in being a chaperone and would love to spend your day wrangling our amazing students please contact me.  We need 2 chaperones as we will be taking the Frontrunner and Trax to our destination.  More details forthcoming.

Don’t forget book reports are due April 23rd.  Your student was given a paper with the complete criteria for the book report.  Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Cheers!