"Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!" – Ms. Frizzle
Dec 14th, 2017 by Laura Hughes
Our international festival is on December 20th from 9-11 AM. Parents are welcome to come and view the projects!
Breaks will be done by grade:
International Festival food guide:
Dec 12th, 2017 by Laura Hughes
Sorry this is a couple days late coming out – I was out sick yesterday.
Speaking of, flu season is upon us! Please encourage good hygiene at home, we are practicing hand washing here in class as well.
Coming up:
December 15: We are having our Christmas Feast. It will be from 10-12:30 in the South Kiva. Everyone is invited! Students are encouraged to bring their favorite dish as this is the “Favorite Things” feast. Students should have brought home an invitation to the feast detailing all of this, so check in with them!
December 20: International Festival for upper elementary students. We will be practicing presentations on the 18th. Your child is welcome to bring in the supplies for their poster board and work on it in class if it has been difficult to complete at home. We have been working on gathering research as well and outlines should have been completed and checked by myself on the 8th. PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS.
Please be aware that with my sick day on Monday and Ms. Mindy out of the office the next two days, I am lacking support in the classroom to get conferencing done. I apologize that conferencing has fallen by the wayside during these busy holidays – I hope to pick it up anew and with a better system to ensure we are getting through every student every week in the new year.
Parent Survey
Dec 4th, 2017 by Laura Hughes
Maria Montessori Academy Parents Association (MAPA) is very excited to announce that effective December 1, 2017 we will be using Track it Forward to schedule and record volunteer hours.
We feel that using track it forward will help us provide the most positive experience possible when signing up for and recording volunteer hours. This program will allow families to track their hours on their own electronic devices, send out reminders for sign ups and help us become a more centralized Montessori family.
Families are asked to donate 40 volunteer hours a year per family to the school. As a member of MAPA (all parents are automatic members) the MAPA presidency is trying to provide as many opportunities to complete this act of service yearly and Track it Forward will allow families to sign up to volunteer.
In sending your children to a Montessori school you are taking the initiative towards bettering your children and families. MMA’s mission statement is “Education for a better world” and by volunteering you are providing opportunities to help make this a better world.
The reason I volunteer is to provide my children with opportunities they may not get at other schools. “Only a life lived for others is worth living.” — Albert Einstein. By volunteering you are giving of yourself to your children and the children of others. Volunteering does not have to be a big sacrifice of time away from the family or money spent, many teacher at the school offer opportunities to volunteer at home and MAPA has opportunities to volunteer where you can bring your children.
Ways you may be volunteering and not even know.
MAPA in cooperation with the MMA is trying to say “thank you” to those that have sacrificed time and volunteered this year by giving those families with 10 service hours completed an “act of service.” The details are still in the works but we want everyone to know that we appreciate and value all of those that have volunteered.
How Track it forward works:
You can sign up in one of two different ways. On the website https://www.trackitforward.com/site/mapa or email mapa@mariamontessoriacademy.orgwith your family’s last name and the names of your children and we will send you an invite. Once in you can track your family’s hours and sign up for volunteer hours.
Again we appreciate all that our wonderful MMA families do!!!
“Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.” — Elizabeth Andrew
WE REALLY REALLY NEWS EACH FAMILY SIGNED UP. THIS WILL BE THE #1 WAY FOR PARENTS TO SIGN UP FOR ANY AND ALL VOLUNTEERING. EVEN CLASSROOM VOLUNTEERING:)
Thanks
Heidi
Dec 4th, 2017 by Laura Hughes
Welcome to the last month of 2017!
An overview of the calendar for the month:
December 8: Early release for Professional Development. AND WE ARE GOING TO SEE WONDER! We will be seeing the 7:25 PM showing of the movie Wonder at the Tinseltown Theater in Ogden. ALL ARE WELCOME! We have been reading Wonder in class and will finish the book this week. This is a pseudo-field trip in lieu of the sold out showing of 7 Brides for 7 Brothers that we were hoping to get tickets to. This is not a required trip, just a fun thing for everyone. If you would like to go, please ORDER TICKETS AHEAD OF TIME to ensure you get yourself and your child a seat!
December 11: Jayce’s birthday
December 15: Holiday “Our Favorite Things” Feast from 10-12:30 at MMA. Families are invited to a feast here at the school – more information will be coming home with your student.
December 19th: Jena’s birthday
December 20th: International Festival. Your child was sent home with a packet to help plan and create this project before Thanksgiving break. If your child didn’t bring this packet home, or needs a replacement, please let me know. THIS IS THE ONLY TAKE HOME PROJECT THIS MONTH. Again, it has been brought to my attention that I have some conflicting dates. THIS PROJECT CAN BE TURNED IN NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 19.
December 21st: last day of school in 2017
December 22nd – January 2nd: No School (winter break)
January 3: Back to school!
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please email me at lhughes@mariamontessoriacademy.org (If you reply to this blog I will likely not receive the email)
Nov 27th, 2017 by Laura Hughes
Hey -oh!
Welcome back from break! It sounds like everyone’s holiday was restful, and in some cases, very adventurous! I’m very glad to see everyone again.
Some notes:
We desperately need people to sign up for snack. The end of the year moving into 2018 is very bare. Our classroom runs more smoothly and the students are much happier when their bellies are full. Sign up here: https://www.wejoinin.com/sheets/qlflf
We will not be doing conferencing this week due to the fact that there was no school last week.
Nov 13th, 2017 by Laura Hughes
Welcome to the last week before break.
Some things to be aware of this week.
Here are some helpful hints:
*MAKE SURE YOU ARE SUBSCRIBING WITH AN EMAIL YOU CHECK OFTEN
ALSO MAKE SURE YOUR TEACHERS & THE OFFICE HAVE YOUR CORRECT EMAIL & YOU ARE CHECKING JUNK MAIL ALSO. THIS IS THE MAIN WAY OF COMMUNICATION*
Join us for our MAPA meetings, the 1st Friday of every month at 8:45 am
*Here are the links to the school wide blogs and other social media:
MAPA Blog:
http://blogs.mariamontessoriacademy.org/mapa/
School Blog:
http://www.mariamontessoriacademy.org/?page_id=5392
Jr. High Blog:
http://blogs.mariamontessoriacademy.org/mmajh/
MMA’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/MMAofUT/
MMA’s Twitter
https://twitter.com/MMAofUT?lang=en
*Make sure your subscribing to all the blogs, your child’s teachers and the school blogs. You can also do this by going to http://www.mariamontessoriacademy.org then you can click on the link at the top that says staff & faculty for teacher blogs, where it says schedules & news for the school blog and the Jr. High tab for the Jr. High blog.
As always, any questions, comments, concerns, shoot me an email. Thanks!
Nov 7th, 2017 by Laura Hughes
Oh my. Sorry this is so late. The maelstrom that has descended with the approach of the holidays as we attempt to fit everything in has thrown me a little out of whack.
I would like to officially introduce our new assistant Ms. Mindy into our class! I will have a bio for her coming soon.
Coming Up and Be Aware!
As always, any questions or comments please feel free to email me.
Oct 31st, 2017 by Laura Hughes
Hello all,
I just wanted to drop a little line about conferencing. I have started conferencing this week, but because I do not have an assistant till Thursday I am not getting through all of my scheduled conferences each day. Thank you for your patience as I get this going in the classroom. Ideally, by next week, we will be getting through all 27 students every week.
Thanks,
Laura
Oct 29th, 2017 by Laura Hughes
Welcome into November! (I know, I’m a couple days early)
My BIG THING heading into next week: please no CANDY (including gum) or POPCORN for the rest of the school year. This is especially huge with Halloween this week. Popcorn gets everywhere in our classroom and it has started taking up too much of our time to try to clean up the little popcorn bits. Please keep in mind also that per the MMA website: Soda, caffeinated beverages, and candy are not permitted. Also, lunch heat up times have gotten a little out of control. Please only send food with your child that takes 2 minutes or less to heat up. Any longer than that and the line gets so long at our two microwaves that students don’t have enough time to eat.
General Overview of the Month, more detail will happen for each as we get closer to the dates.
Tuesday, the 31st is HALLOWEEN (insert scary ghost noises here). Students are NOT allowed to wear their costume to school on Tuesday, and again, please no Halloween candy packed in lunches.
Friday, Nov 10: Early release due to professional development
Thursday, Nov 16: Community Gratitude Feast
Friday, Nov 17: Read-a-Thon Book Feast with our Lower Elementary mentor class
Nov 20-Nov 24: No School, Thanksgiving break
Since I got the IXL assignments out at the end of October and November is a short month (School wise) I am going to stick with the same suggested IXLs for November.
Bio for my new assistant coming soon! As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me at lhughes@mariamontessoriacademy.org
Oct 26th, 2017 by Laura Hughes
Hello MMA families,
It is with a heavy heart that I announce my resignation from the Maria Montessori Academy. Some personal things have come up in my life that require more of my time and attention.
I have considered it a a great honor to work with your children these past few weeks and have thoroughly enjoyed my time with them. Their interesting perspectives, and personalities added so much to my daily life, and I hope I was helpful to them as well. While my time with the amazing teacher Laura and her class was short I was so glad to be able to learn so much from them. I will still be around the school volunteering over the next year so hopefully I will still see you guys! Thank you for welcoming me with open arms and making the Montessori school a great place to be.
Best wishes!
Natalie Monsen
We will miss you Ms. Natalie.