Hello friends,

As we get ready to transition into fall 2020 here is what’s going on with MAPA:

Elections:

Friends, families and supporters of The Maria Montessori Parent Association,

We find ourselves in an unprecedented situation currently. Like the other companies that have been emailing and calling you since March, we have been getting the odd message asking, what the plan is for MAPA this year and into the next year and we will be forth coming with you now, we don’t know. We waited to send communication for two reasons. 1. We were hoping school would resume and we would be able to meet and settle out the year, but sadly with the news of soft closure going the rest of this year that will not be the case. The second reason is that so many of you have so much more pressing issues we didn’t want to add one more email in a sea of spam right now. However, it is important for you to know what our plan is for the rest of the year as it is evolving.

When I (the MAPA president) took this assignment from my predecessor who was kind, and patient with me through all of last year, I never felt truly ready for it. I told myself I would lead this group with integrity and transparency, and make sure that no matter what, the common voice of the parents I serve was carried through. I would be their representative through and through. That has been my common goal through this year. I started the year and to be honest it all went to hell shortly after. People dropped off the board, events came one right after the other that I had to wrangle and just go with it, people came and went, some were amazing, some were not. Then the pandemic hit, and we could not meet, and host our biggest fundraiser of the year that so many people had put so much work into. It broke my heart, but we shouldered on.

During several points of this year we could have closed the charter down. We could have washed our hands of MAPA and called it a day, but we didn’t. Guys, I. Chose. To stay. I made a commitment to be here to serve the families of this school and I feel like now more than ever with everyone having to be distant and not having access to the teachers they love and the school that has become a second home to so many of us you need to hear that. I know that MAPA is an after thought and I’m completely fine with that. Take care of your families and yourselves. A lot of us are struggling to redefine ourselves and our daily lives through this difficult time, but know this; you are not alone. With that in mind here is what we can tell you for this year so far.

Gala:

As it stands now it looks like the Gala will not be happening this year, we have not officially canceled it, but we are not able to host events and it’s hard to plan anything with conditions being the way they are. A letter went out from the school about any money/donations that were paid through the square app. That should have been refunded by now. If you have not gotten refunded for your ticket or donation please get in touch with MAPA at our email listed at the end of this blog.

If you donated an item for the classroom basket, and would like that returned we will also be returning these items as well. To pick up an item please email mapa with the following information:

*your name/contact information
*your child’s teacher’s name (if applicable)
*When you can pick up the item(s)-Current Office hours are Mon-Fri 9-11 am and 3-5 pm.
*verify the item(s) you will be picking up

Any donation items not claimed after May 1st, will be considered donated property of Maria Montessori Academy Parent Association, and will be used during the 2020-2021 year.

Elections:

Right now we don’t have a good answer for this question. We are checking with other local charters to see what they are doing and with the national PTO organization to see what they suggest. We want to make sure we are following proper procedure and don’t loose our charter and follow the letter of the law. What we can tell you is that we will probably push for a summer or fall election when things have calmed down and we are able to meet again safely. If you or someone you know plans on being at the school next year and wants to run for office or chair a committee, please see the list of positions next year and email MAPA so we can add you to the candidate list. We appreciate your patience during this weird time.

Positions/Committees for the 2020-2021 School Year:

• • • President: The president shall preside over meetings of the organization and executive committee and serve as the official MAPA representative.
    • Vice President: Assist the president and carry out the president’s duties in his or her absence or inability to serve. The vice president shall serve as the president the following school year.
    • Secretary: keep records of the organization, take and record minutes, prepare the agenda, handle correspondence, send notice of meetings to the members.  
    • Treasurer: custodian of MAPA finances, collect revenue, pay authorized expenses, follow financial policies, hold financial records. Treasurer will present current ledgers and budget at each meeting, as well as serve as the chair or on the fundraising committee. 
    • Book Fair Chair/Committee: Organize, host and oversee three book fair events; making sure to coordinate with the MAPA board and the school. You will handle advertising for the book fairs and organizing volunteers.
    • Fundraising Chair/Committee: Organize ongoing fundraisers like box tops, smith cents, capri suns, etc.
    • Teacher Appreciation Chair/Committee: responsible for breakfast for the staff the first Friday before school starts, organizing dinners during PTC week for teachers/staff, and organizing appreciation week themes and events for the school, 
    • Safety Committee: Organizing crossing guards in the morning for parking lot duty, organizing/planning red ribbon week (door decorating ideas, dress up days, drug free memorabilia, etc.), checking e bags once a year for expiration dates and emptying them at field day,
    • Room Parent chair/Committee: work closely with the teachers to help find room parents and volunteers for them, helping to organize room parents during fall festival and gala for baskets, and possibly field trip rides, 
    • Gala Chair/Committee: Organize and plan the Gala from theme to venue with the help and approval of the MAPA board and the school
    • Events Chair/Committee: Organize and plan the Fall Festival (October), Gratitude Feast (November), Field Day (May), as well as help out with any other larger MAPA events that might be going on

Resources: 

Most of us right now are struggling to balance work/home life and now distance learning here are some resources and websites to be aware of for activities and other things that might help make this easier:

A Montessori fb group that is constantly posting Montessori things online for kids to do, this is awesome:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2752976171483331/ (Montessori Elementary at home during school Closure: Parent Support) This is technically a private group but if you look it up and request in they have been good about letting people in.

Creating Montessori Materials:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XNVc3Gql6AzDK_-15ltD6mmtWROg_9Sq/view?usp=sharing (fraction circles/ bars)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PerOpjEB86itT7WE_ITCg0AY0xC3HxMd/view?usp=sharing(fraction circles)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FVYTAU-tVFg7ZciSZVyGYOb4MYk3nyi2/view?usp=sharing (checkerboard)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o-onNmSigMQQbJZ4s68fTYS4g2vzhV68/view?usp=sharing (bead frame)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fV-PtWm0R0rshwZXD_aG6Y2g6YVilPJT/view?usp=sharing (snake game)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_kfZNnqq-AvcGlF09aZFbrRFm_lVO0Tx/view?usp=sharing

(stamp game numbers)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZkUdiFGxd-xp8IMNGQBEuR-MNRtWXK_Y/view?usp=sharing

(stamp game)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_heG57v2DUMTg8aFjCT48eSfk7T3-nhU/view?usp=sharing

(small bead)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_jece6ACQax6NR33cdCmDS1Icy3dsU8s/view?usp=sharing

(division board)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZpyyCaLuJZZFs1o28HjQaStTM08Kz8cw/view?usp=sharing

(checkerboard)

NCMPS- National Center Montessori Public Sector- https://www.public-montessori.org/school-closure-resources/

My friends the best thing we can do right now is remember to be kind, be safe and take care of each other. If you have any questions please reach out to us at mapa@mariamontessoiracademy.org We look forward to meeting with you again soon! Thank you for your support and your patience.

Hey families! As we get ready to finish off February and look to March here is what’s coming up from MAPA!

Jr. High Shout Out: Hey our Jr. High has come to us and asked if we would ask you for your help with getting drivers to help on their field trip this coming Thursday! If you have a Jr. High student and can drive to the field trip and have room please sign up on the following link below! Thanks guys!

https://www.trackitforward.com/site/389525/event/523773

Skate Night: Friday Feb 21st 5pm-9pm

Parent Social & Literacy Night: Thursday Feb 27th 5:30pm-7pm 

This is such a great opportunity to come hang out together, swap books, check out the book fair, and so much more!

Next MAPA Meeting: Thur March 5th 5:30pm 

This will be a special meeting where we will put together Gala baskets, so if you have any baskets, or anything from your class basket that you’d like to bring we’d love to have you! If you’re not sure what your class basket is, have not been told the theme or need help in any other way with the Gala basket, please reach out to us! Mapa@mariamontessoriacademy.org We are for you guys! Speaking of Gala under our Gala title look for ticket and donation information! This meeting will take the place of the monthly morning meeting scheduled on Friday March 6th (so no meeting Friday morning).

Gala: Saturday March 21st 6-9pm at the Timbermine

It is time for the biggest party of the year! Come celebrate with us as we raise funds for the school in style! In the past we’ve been able to get computers, playground equipment, light up crosswalk signs and so much more. Your ticket includes admittance, dinner, line dance lessons, and a chance to have fun while helping out the school! There are amazing baskets being raffled off this year, and other art pieces and prizes to win as well! Tickets can be bought here:

Already have plans and can’t attend? Want to help out anyway? Make a monetary donation here:

https://checkout.square.site/buy/W2ZB3OIQ3QOEGBPXKPKGBJTEU

Please remember for Gala baskets that the office cannot handle money for the baskets, if you can’t help with baskets and want to donate money instead for someone to buy something for the basket, you can go online and just add a donation and we can sort it out that way instead. Our sweet office ladies have enough on their plates. If you need any other help with this please email us and we can help you out!

Upcoming MAPA Elections:

Hey everyone at our last meeting formal candidates were announced for the following (2020-2021) school year. It’s not too late if you wish to run and make  a difference! You need only show up to a meeting and at some point let us know your intention to run, and for which office. We hold the final vote at the general meeting on May 5th 2020. A list of which positions are open will be posted at the next meeting, mentioned again in the minutes and posted in our next blog! Be on the look out. Even if you don’t want a big responsibility there are plenty of bite sized opportunities, like event chairs for events that only happen once a year so you can serve a single event and be done. Think about it friends! There is room for everyone!

Thanks and acknowledgments: 

Big thanks to our friends that helped out with Chili cook off and came by to visit with us! We loved getting to share hot dogs, potatoes and smiles with you! Thanks for coming by! We so appreciate everyone’s help with Gala that has pitched in and helped out so far by bringing in items to class and to the office. Big thanks to the school for their constant support and help with getting safety in a good place, and helping us with that. We appreciate all of our amazing MMA families and look forward to seeing you at the parent social and the Gala later in March!

Hey MMA families! We hope your winter break and holidays were restful and we have enjoyed seeing all of your faces this week back at school!

We don’t have much going on this month, but we do have a meeting coming up that we would love for you to attend!

We meet Thursday January 9th at 8:45am. Thank you guys for your patience with the time changes for the meeting as the president juggles her job and MAPA this year! It means a lot! The agenda for this meeting is here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RHBeTozahAk_i5oLdXopYiXKNPYzD9uDE1lARTqcdBA/edit?usp=sharing

Please be sure to come out to the meetings as we get closer to planning the Gala, and setting up some of our end of the year events, as well as the board re-elections opening up. If you are interested in serving on the MAPA board please come submit your name at the April 10th meeting at 8:45am. All nominees will be voted on at the May general meeting at on the 5th at 6pm. Please stay tuned for more information or email us at the link below.

Be advised of the following non school days: Friday Jan 10th (prof. development), Monday Jan 20th (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Other school activities you don’t want to miss this month: Thur Jan 30th Chili Cook Off 5:30pm-7pm,

As always we appreciate your support! If you have any questions please get in touch with us at mapa@mariamontessoriacademy.org

Have a fantastic start to your New Year guys!

Hey amazing MMA families!

Before we head off to settle ourselves for a much deserved winter nap, here are a few things from MAPA to be aware of this last week before winter break:

Box Top Store: The box top store was postponed last week due to lack of volunteers, we are so sorry for the short notice. We are hoping to host one more in the spring and will have that date for you after the first of the year! Thank your for your patience with this.

Book Fair: Happening Tue Dec 17th-Thur Dec 19th from 1pm-6:30pm (tentatively) All dates and times are dependent upon volunteer support, without enough man/mom power we have to cut back on days and limit hours. If you are able to come out and volunteer we are in desperate need of help running this event. Sign up below. Come out and enjoy the book fair and get some of that Christmas shopping done! We have books, novelties and other fun stocking-stuffer items!

Parent teacher conference dinners: For those of you families that are new this year, during conference week our teachers spend almost twelve hours at the school! We try to help with this, by offering a light dinner since these are long hours. In order to do this we often reach out to our parents for help. Please go to track it forward help by signing up to bring an item on any of the days listed. The links to help out are listed below. This is a huge help to us, and a large gesture of kindness to our teachers that put in 110%.

Hey everyone!

There have been some changes to the MAPA meeting times! Please make sure that you come to the meetings at the correct time, 3:45pm for the reminder of this school year; with the exception of the May meeting which will be at 6pm.  Sorry for any confusion. Thanks everyone. For more information about meetings please check out our Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/467380553992862/

Or feel free to email or comment here with questions:

mapa@mariamontessoriacademy.org

Thanks again everyone and enjoy your holiday!

Hey everyone! Welcome new-comers and first-timers to our blog! We are excited to have you! We will keep it short and to the point. Here is what’s on and poppin’ through the rest of November for MAPA:

Thanks & Stuff:

Thanks to everyone who came out and had fun at the skate night! What a blast that was! We’ve been seeing you guys at our events and that has not gone unnoticed! We appreciate the support and love, and as always we love spending time with our amazing MMA families! You guys bring the party! Thanks for spending Friday night with us! The fun center had nothing but amazing things to say about us and can’t wait to host us again later on this year! Go MMA! You rock! Follow our Facebook page to see live videos and check ins from our events! If you missed this event, no worries we have another skate night coming later this year!

Coat Swap:

Happening right now is a coat drive for our fellow students and families that may be in need of proper weather friendly gear! Bring a coat any day after school and leave it in the big box. All lost and found items are being donated to this cause as well, so please make sure you are getting in there to grab anything you don’t want donated! Meet us on Friday November 15th in the gym from 3pm-5pm for a coat swap so you can get a coat if your family needs one!

Spirit Nights:

Spirit nights are still happening every Monday night this month at the Pizza Pie Cafe in North Ogden! Go to one, go to two, go to all of them if you wish! Make sure you show them this flyer or mention the school so we get 10% of the money spent! Go for lunch, or dinner, as long as you mention our school we still get the proceeds! Thanks for being amazing guys!

Gratitude Feast:

Every year we, as a school, come together to say thank you to our local fire fighters, police officers, and other community members. We host a feast in their honor with delicious soups, salads and desserts. This is made possible by the help of our amazing families and donated items. It’s super easy to help out, follow the link below to sign up, bring in an item and drop it off that morning with your child at school! Done! If you can stay on and help out with the event, even better! The link to sign up is here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1U-U4VIhbwLT5To_JdQeLcB_ASgcQgVJmTKgNcUs6r3I/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you amazing MMA families!

If you haven’t started our daily gratitude challenge you’re not too late! Every day a new photo prompt pops up on our Facebook page asking a question for you to ponder. Start with day one here and fill in the rest! Find your attitude of gratitude this Thanksgiving!

Remember that Thanksgiving Break is Monday November 25th-Friday November 29th! Enjoy the holiday with your families. We are thankful to be a part of such an amazing community! Our next meeting is Friday December 6th at 8:45am in the conference room at the school. Come with any ideas, comments or things you may have noticed from the events we’ve been working on; or if you just need some adult time with other grown ups. We appreciate new faces, and input! Thanks everyone! Have a great holiday!

Hey everyone and welcome to November!

Red Ribbon Week Winners:

Huge congrats to Early Childhood’s Mrs. Martha’s room for their winning door on the elementary side, and Mr. Giuseppe’s Jr. High advisory for this door on the Jr. High side! MMA sent out a message that reached (and is still reaching) over thousands of people. When our door decorating contest ended, over four thousand people had seen these doors, they crossed into five countries and six different language barriers! We are so proud of our school and our students for the messages of being drug free that they sent out during red ribbon week! Both winning classes have been contacted about setting up their winning pizza parties and that is in the works.  

Thirty Day Gratitude Challenge:

Every day this month on our Facebook page we are challenging you to have an attitude of gratitude! A new photo question will appear for you to answer, share out with your friends and family or ponder to yourself. Try to answer all thirty! Don’t let your gratitude stop with November, carry it with you throughout the rest of the year! It will change your life!

Slack:

If you are feeling like a mushroom (in the dark and being feed crap) follow us on slack:

https://join.slack.com/t/mapaorg/shared_invite/enQtODEwNDE1NTM0MjI1LWY3NzljY2M4YWQ2NGIxMGNjZDM0MTAyMGM2ODg2ZTU1NTk1ZjhjNjQxNWRkYzA1ZGM0MzkwYWIzYjE4YWY5ZmQ

This is a great way to get as much or as little information as you want on what’s going on, how to volunteer, and what you can do to be more active in the school and MAPA events. Slack is like Facebook but it’s more of a work space app with different threads on everything that MAPA does so you can know EVERYTHING! It’s a great way to voice opinions, and your ideas if you want to share out ways to make things run smoother! We look forward to hearing from you!

Pizza Pie Cafe:

Every Monday through the month of November Pizza Pie Cafe in North Ogden has been gracious enough to host spirit nights for us! If you get a chance please visit on a Monday and either bring this flyer or mention the Maria Montessori Academy! There is a post on our Facebook you can share as well! What a delicious way to earn money for the school! Yum!

Family Skate Night:

Our family skate night is also coming up fast! Flyers should have gone out for this as well but if you didn’t get one or your child ‘misplaced it’ here is another copy so you can get mad discounts on awesome stuff to do there. Remember admission is free and you can even bring your own skates/scooters from home! Food is discounted which is nice, you can bring the whole family and make a night of it! What an awesome way to spend a Friday night!

Gratitude Fest:

Sooooo much going on this month for MAPA!!! This is the one thing that we will defiantly need your help with guys! For those of you that are new, this is a hot lunch where we serve soup and salad to some of our service men and women of the community to say ‘thanks.’ We have other snacks, pies and desserts and it’s a big hit. We usually invite local fire departments, police stations, and other service, and community members such as these. The event will be on track it forward so you can help out by signing up soon. Watch for this later this month!

Gratitude from MAPA:

Guys on behalf of the MAPA board we just want to express some gratitude for you amazing families that have made this such a great year so far! Your support has been felt this year though our Fall Festival and spirit nights and we are so thankful to have that at our school! We feel grateful to be able to serve you and this amazing community!  We feel blessed to belong to such an awesome school with such a wonderful and welcoming presence about it. We are grateful for our admin, teachers, and faculty that make MMA the amazing place that it is! You guys make this happen. MMA rocks!

Hey everyone here are the minutes from the meeting today!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19AOWsXHEO4nqM6HsV3bQZZzpcdS-OhIZgls4VeXSKpU/edit?usp=sharing

Have a great weekend!

Hey guys!

Looking forward to an amazing red ribbon week this week! If you haven’t seen the flyer on facebook or the mmm newsletter, you can find it here:

All the information about dress up days, and what is going on this week is listed, there is some great information on this thing! We are going to have a great week! It sounds like everyone enjoyed our great speaker last week and we are so thankful that she was available to come in and donate her time to us.

This week aside from red ribbon week, we also have a meeting Friday morning (November 1st 8:45am) An agenda will be online for sneak peaks and what we will be covering later on this week. We will probably be debriefing from fall festival and recapping what we can do to improve for next year, as well as going over more Gala stuff, and anything else that might be coming up in the future. Everyone is welcome and we are always happy to see new faces!

We wish everyone a safe and happy Halloween this week on Thursday with your families! And remember to set your your clocks back next Sunday (November 3rd!) Enjoy your much needed extra hour of sleep!