Just some quick reminders:

There is no school on Monday, January 20th.  Enjoy your long weekend!

There is no one signed up for snack next week.  Please help us with this if you can!  http://www.wejoinin.com/sheets/qgsbx  Most of February is also open if you want to look into that.

On Wednesday, January 22nd is the school’s ski night at Wolf Mountain.  See the school’s website for more information.  http://mariamontessoriacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/January-2014-Newsletter.pdf

The See’s Candy Fundraiser orders are due on Thursday, January 23rd.  Please support the school in this fundraiser!

I haven’t heard anything more about pizza Fridays.  I will let you know if that is still happening next week.

Monday, January 27th is the Biztown Fieldtrip for the 5th Graders.  I will pass out the permission slips when we come back to school on Tuesday.

The book reports are due on January 28th.  This is also the day that the 4th grade county reports are due.  I apologize for having two assignments due on the same day.  The 4th graders have had a few months to work on their report and the book reports were assigned several weeks ago, so hopefully the students haven’t waited until the last minute to start working on these.

The school’s International Festival is on February 6th and 7th.  The Upper Elementary students will be presenting on the 7th from 9:30-11:00 AM.  Parents are invited to attend!  These are the same days as Parent/Teacher conferences.  Be looking for a sign-up sheet for conferences in the next week or so.  These conferences are student led, so your student will need to come with you.

The science fair is on February 19th.  I passed out packets about the science fair again yesterday, so ask your students to show them to you.

Having all of these assignments due has brought up a concern for me.  Some of the students make comments such as, “Nobody will care if I don’t turn in my assignment.”   We are in a unique situation in our school because the students don’t receive formal grades.  Some of the students have the attitude that it doesn’t matter if they do their work or not because they are not being graded.  I plan to talk with the class about this, but I am asking for your support at home.  Most of these assignments are home-based projects.  Please encourage your children to work on them and do their best work.  Let them know that YOU will care if they don’t turn in their assignments, and that THEY should care, too.

Thank You for all of your support.  Enjoy your long weekend and I look forward to seeing your children again on Tuesday!

Kirsten