Hello!

Thanks to those of you who came to new student orientation today!  It was fun to meet our new students and get to know them a little bit.  I have received lots of school supplies.  Thank you!  If you didn’t get them dropped off ahead of time, don’t worry.  You can still bring them on Monday.  Don’t forget, if you are unable to purchase the supplies, please don’t hesitate to let me know so that I can make sure your student has what they need.

Don’t forget about our back to school pancake breakfast tomorrow morning from 8-10 AM.  This is a great fundraiser for our 6th graders and it is always a lot of fun!  Breakfast will be $6 for anyone over 12 and $3 for children.

School starts on Monday!  Remember that we will be following the early out schedule for the first week of school, so please arrange for your student to be picked up at 1:00 PM every day.

For 6th grade students and parents:  There will be a player/parent meeting on Thursday August 21st at 5:30 PM for those students interested in participating in cross country this year.  This is an important meeting for students and their parents to attend.  You will be given lots of information, meet the coaches, and have the opportunity to volunteer for various things.  Please try to attend!

Back to School night for parents is coming up on September 4th.  The plan is to have someone at the school that night who can do background checks and fingerprinting for those parents interested in becoming certified drivers for the school.  The cost will be $60.  Please consider becoming a driver so that you can help us go on field trips!  If you have already been through this process and can still drive students this year, will  you please e-mail me at kgonzales@mariamontessoriacademy.org and remind me?

I know I am forgetting some things, so don’t be surprised if I send out another message or two.  Also, for the first little while, I will be sending e-mails as well as blog posts until everyone gets subscribed to the blog, so I apologize for the duplicate messages.

I can’t wait for school to start so that I can spend time with your wonderful children!

Kirsten

Hello Parents!

I am looking for some volunteers to help with reading groups this year.  We will be doing reading groups on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 9:00-9:30 AM.  Please let me know if you think you would be able to commit to any of these times.  You can e-mail me at kgonzales@mariamontessoriacademy.org .

Thank you so much!

Kirsten

Hi there! Here is the school supply list for the 2014-2015 school year.

4 wide ruled composition notebooks (any color is fine)

3 packs of wide ruled notebook paper

1 pack graph paper

1 2″ binder (preferably white)

binder dividers with pockets (I think they come in a pack of 8)

scissors

compass

ruler

protractor

4 plastic 3 prong folders with pockets (one each of red, blue, green, and yellow)

1 take home folder (student’s choice)

1 pack colored pencils (at least 12)

1 pack pencils (at least 12) (I HIGHLY recommend Ticonderoga brand.  They are the only ones that hold up.)

1 pencil box/pouch

flash drive (optional, but recommended)

1 roll paper towels

1 box tissues

indoor shoes/slippers (This is not optional.)

water bottle (This really helps cut down on constant trips to the water fountain.)

If your child has some of these items from last year, there is no need to buy new ones.  Please feel free to label all supplies with your child’s name.  If you are unable to purchase these supplies, please e-mail me and let me know so that we can make other arrangements.

It was so fun seeing so many of you at the pool party!  I loved seeing my returning students and catching up with how they are doing.  I also really enjoyed meeting some of the new students and parents who will be joining our class this year.  It made me excited to get back in the classroom and spend time with all of these amazing children!  I am hoping to have the school supply list up by the end of this week, so be looking for that in the coming days.  Enjoy the rest of your summer vacation!  The time to get back to work is fast approaching…

Please sign up for your end of the year parent/teacher conference time here:  http://www.wejoinin.com/sheets/cazxd

Hello All!

I haven’t been updating the blog as much lately, because from what I have gathered, most of you prefer to just receive an e-mail.  I thought I would give it a try again!

On Friday is our egg drop!  It should be a lot of fun.  The only rule is that you can’t hard boil your egg.  Otherwise, be creative and use your science skills!

Some assignments that we have been working on and that need to be completed are:

1.  The Women in History reports

2.  The 4th graders were supposed to write an adventure story about the travels of a seed for Botany.  They should include 3 ways that seeds travel in their story.

3.  The 5th graders labeled the parts of a leaf.  They are supposed to write the functions of each part.  Also, they are supposed to build a sculpture of a building from Ancient Greece and write 10 facts about the building.

4.  The 6th graders have been working on Singapore math assignments.  The current assignment is Lesson 1.4 #16-21.  Many of them need to use the materials in class for this particular assignment, so I gave them until tomorrow to have it done.  They will get a new assignment tomorrow, though, so ask them about it!  They also have some assignments from Ms. Amy to work on.

5.  All of the students are working on a new continent study.  We have been working on these for a few weeks now in class.  These are due on May 9th and will require some work to be done at home.  I have given them questions and guidelines in class, but they need to be put into a report format.  Also, I would like them to pick one area of their continent to present to the class.  It can be food, clothing, architecture, flag, song, geography, plants, animals, etc.

Our SAGE testing begins next week!  Please mark your calendars and make sure your children are not absent on the following dates:  April 24, May 8, May 15, and May 22.  It is very important that your children are present and that they get enough rest and eat a good breakfast on these dates.  As always, they can and should be practicing IXL and SAGE at home as much as they can.

Thanks for all of your help and support!

Kirsten

FYI, the Frozen movie night that was scheduled for this Friday night has been cancelled.  Thanks for your understanding!

Hello!

I wanted to take a minute to thank you for all of the sweet and kind Valentines I received today!  I felt so loved and special.  Thank you!  You have amazing children and they have pretty great parents.  We do have a pretty special class this year.  We are far from perfect, but I think we are really awesome!  I receive compliments all of the time on how good our class is.  It makes me feel so great when others can recognize what I already know about your children.  I just want you to know that I truly do love them and I am grateful for the time that I get to spend with them.

Just a reminder that there is no school on Monday!  You have an extra day to cram in your science fair project!  The science fair is on February 19th.  The children need to have their board set up before 8:30AM, so plan to be at school a little early that day.  Let me know if you have any questions or need any help.

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Enjoy your long weekend!

Kirsten

Hello!

I just wanted to thank you all for coming to parent teacher conferences last week!  I really do love having a chance to talk with you about your amazing children.  I especially loved having them participate this time and show you their work and talk with you about how they think they are doing.  It was a wonderful experience.  Thank you for sharing your children with me.  I know that you are entrusting your children into my care every day and I take that responsibility very seriously.  I care so much about them and I want what is best for them.

Valentine’s Day is coming up this Friday.  If your child would like to bring Valentines to share with the class, that would be fine.  Just make sure that any candy is sealed up in an envelope to be eaten when they get home.  We have 23 students in our class.

If you would like to order pizza for this coming Friday, you need to have your order in no later than Wednesday.  You can pay by check or use this link to pay online  https://secureinstantpayments.com/sip/cart/event.php?EID=1225

Also, the Richard Paul Evans assembly is this Tuesday!  I sent a flier home about it last week, but let me know if you did not receive one.  There will be copies of the Michael Vey books available to purchase and get autographed.

Don’t forget that the science fair is coming up on February 19th!

5th Graders should be practicing Utah Write as often as possible at home!  Our test date is Monday, February 24th.

Kirsten