Monthly Archives: August 2016

New Beginnings!

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It was wonderful meeting so many of you at our back to school evening.  I look forward to meeting more of you at our fall conferences mid October.  If you were unable to attend and would like to volunteer in some capacity this year, please let me know.  We are also in need of a room mother and if you would be willing to help this year, please send me an email.

We have such amazing group this year!  We have filled our days with opportunities to build our classroom community, create new friendships, establish routines, review grace and courtesy, and prepare ourselves for a successful school year.  I am so pleased to announce a resent change to our classroom, Ms. Chelsea Wilson.  She is our new classroom assistant.  The children met her Wednesday and she already makes a wonderful addition to our community.  We feel so fortunate to have her with us.

This week we have been focusing on the Montessori Great Lessons. These are stories and lessons that are meant to ignite the child’s imagination and curiosity.  The aim is to inspire the students to think big and ask big questions. Students learn the definition of the word “theory” and that not everyone believes the same thing about how the Earth was created or how life came to it, but that we all respect each others’ ideas and can discuss them openly with confidence and acceptance of differences. These lessons also lead to the study of many science and social studies topics throughout the rest of the year.  The students were presented the story of the Birth of the Universe, the black time line, which represents the age of our planet and the coming of man, the coming of all life on our earth, and their place in our universe.  We will continue with the story of language and numbers in the coming days.

We will continue during our normalization period and through out the school year working on building character and building community.  The students have been exploring ideas such as the Golden Rule and establishing their own classroom rules.

We are continuing with our observations and assessments and will be starting a more formal work cycle starting Monday.

I want to sincerely thank you all for your support and generous classroom donations.  It really is appreciated.  We are so fortunate to have a new mini fridge thanks for a wonderful donation and already it has made a big different for our classroom snack routine.

As always, if you have questions, concerns, or celebrations, please email me.  Your child’s success depends on our partnership.  I am looking forward to a wonderful year full of endless possibilities!

A fun family event for a good cause!

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The Annual MMA 5k Family Color Fun Run is September 17th @ 8:00 am

Pre-registration ends on September 4th

 

You can sign up online or via paper and check to the school
https://www.raceentry.com/races/mma-annual-5k-family-color-fun-run/2016/register
A few changes we have made, that you may not know about:

-We have a new race course…its legit this year, you will run or walk 3.1 miles away from the school!

-We’re doing a color run…their will be 5 stations where you get fun color tossed on your shirt.

–Families can become sponsors themselves by upping their registration to $100 and will get their childs or family name on the t-shirt.

-Each registered racer will receive a t-shirt and a swag bag full of goodies.

–Swag bags include: Fiiz coupon, flashlight pen, lanyard, water bottle, sunglasses, t-shirt.

–Prizes this year are awesome! they include Chick Fil A goods, PTR-i therapy sessions and paraphernalia, Wolf Creek golf passes, water bottles, awesome Rec Outlet outdoor gear such as headlamps and camera cases.

-We will have raffle baskets including things like new backpacks, school spirit shirts, Rec Outlet gear, Doterra products, running products.

-Your children can bring their scooters or skate boards, this is a family event!

-We will have a DJ announcing and playing music during the race.

-We will have a fun photo booth so you can document the fun!

-At the end of the race there will be booths doing giveaways such as: Chick Fil A, Great Harvest handing out bread, and more!

-Dont forget the pancake breakfast after the race!

Certified Drivers and Parent Volunteers

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The school will be providing an opportunity to parents to be background checked between 6:30 and 7:30 tomorrow night during Back-to-School Night. Parents who wish to be certified drivers for field trips, or will be volunteering at the school for more than 1 hour a week, will need to be background checked per the schools background check policy (Background Check Policy). There is a LiveScan required payment of $25.00 due at the time of your prints (cash or check). Please make checks payable to Academica West. A picture ID (i.e., driver’s license, state ID card, passport, etc.) is required for the fingerprinting services. A processing fee of $52.75 to Maria Montessori Academy (cash or check) is required in order for fingerprints to be processed. The fee covers the bill from BCI (Bureau Criminal Identification) which is billed directly to the school.

If you wish to be a certified driver, the office will also need to keep a copy of your driver’s license and an up-to-date copy of your auto insurance card on file. You can call the front office for more information or email ahafen@mariamontessoriacademy.org.

If you can’t make it to be background checked during back to school night, there will be an opportunity on October 18th during Parent Teacher Conferences.

Count Down!

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I am so excited to see everyone in just a few short days!  Reminder, all first graders and new second and third grade students will attend Student Orientation this Friday, August 12th, from 1:00-1:45 p.m.  When students arrive for orientation on Friday, I will be standing outside of the school with my assistant, Ms. Lindsey, holding a sign with our names.   We ask that parents drop their students off with us and meet back with your child when we come out together at 1:45 p.m.  We will wait until we have all new students with us before we enter the building.  If you know that your child will not be attending, please send me a quick email.  Student orientation is a time for students to learn the route to their locker, know the location of their classroom, meet new classmates, etc.  Please know that we will support your child through this new transition during the first few days of school.  Monday morning my assistant will be outside again, with a sign, for any students who need support finding their lockers and the classroom.  We ask that parents not come into the school with students during the first six weeks of school.  Creating independence is a key piece of what we refer to as normalization in the Montessori philosophy.  If you are a new family to our school or would like a refresher on key terms and philosophy within our school, I would recommend attending Parent Orientation or what we like to call Montessori 101 on Back to School Night starting in the gym at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 18th.  Our open house portion of Back to School Night starts at 7:00 p.m. and will concluded at 8:00 p.m. This is open to all families and is a great time to come visit your child’s classroom, sign up for volunteering, fill out a student information sheet, etc.  In the elementary age group we ask for this to be an adult only event.  If you have questions or concerns, please send me a quick email.

If you are interested in volunteering as our room parent, please send me a quick email.