Newsletter February 10, 2023

Week in Review

Journey and Discovery

Over the weekend we held our Journey and Discovery. This event is a Montessori take an open house, where parents are able to experience our curriculum in a hands on way. We were so glad to see so many parents come out to learn more about our programs. The day started out with a journey through the classrooms followed by a brief discussion about the initial impressions of the environments. Parents were then able to go to the classrooms and discover the curriculum in the classrooms of their choice. Teachers were on the ready to answer questions and give material demonstrations. We ended the event with a light meal with more discussion. We thank you for your participation!

Black History Month Murals

The students in the Elementary and Children's House Classes have been working on murals for Black History Month. The children have been so excited to show off this work in our hallways and have been talking with their parents about it. You might want to take a walk through our hallway to see all the murals. Explanation of the art pieces is located next to each piece. We have seen how the children and parents have reacted to these exhibits and we hope to incorporate a more regular display of the children’s work going forward.

Parent Teacher Committee Meeting

The Parent Teacher Committee met on the evening of Thursday, February 9th. We continued to discuss our upcoming Casino Night event. It was decided that we will hold our event here at the school and decided on our menu for the evening. A flyer with the event details will go out shortly. At a previous meeting we discussed adding some extracurricular language classes. Mr. Adam gave an update on the meeting the Director of the International Language School to discuss how their program operates and how it could potentially fit in here at our school. A survey will go out next week about this potential program to see if there is interest. We also discussed that our MAU teachers have put together a wish list items and equipment they would like to add to our inside and outside environments. It was decided that Adam will get pricing for the items would be done so that we can decide what items we might want to purchase at the next meeting We set a date for our next meeting date for March 2, 2023. We hope you can join us to support your child’s school!

Emergency Preparedness Drill

Today we conducted a lockdown drill in a scenario where there is a "Potential Danger" outside the facility. In this scenario the children are secured in the building and classroom doors are secured. The keypads are disabled, and exterior doors are secured so that no one can enter the building.

We started the drill at 10:55AM with “CODE YELLOW DRILL” called out over the radio. The infant and toddler classes were on the playground and came into the building to sheltered in their classrooms. All other classes were in their classrooms, so they just secured their doors and sheltered in place. Administration locked the office and walked to support the staff outside in getting the children into the building and then ensured that the rest of the classrooms and exterior doors were properly secured including disabling the Student Entrance door. We concluded the drill shortly after 11AM when a “CODE GREEN” was called signaling that the potential danger was no longer present. In a real emergency Administration or staff in charge would be in communication with Emergency Services to help make the decision as to when the lockdown is appropriate to end. We have practice Fire, Earthquake and Lockdown drills this school year. Please let me know if you have any questions about our Emergency protocols.

Looking Ahead

Coffee with the Director

We are having our first Coffee with the Director on Wednesday, February 15th at 8:30AM in the MPR (Multi-Purpose Room). Please RSVP in the office if you would like to attend. This will be more of an informal way for you to speak with me about our policies, procedures, the Montessori philosophy and curriculum, childcare, parenting, positive discipline, and other related topics as we aim to continue to have a dialogue with our parents to meet the needs of our students, staff, and community. Coffee and donuts will be available. I hope you will join me! We did discuss in our PTC meeting about possibly moving around the meeting time so that parents with different scheduled may also be able to attend a meeting like this.

Valentine's Day Parties

Reminders, Trinket/Candy Policy, Community Lunch (no Hot Lunch)

Each of our classrooms will be having a Valentine’s Day party on Tuesday, February 14th. Each classrooms’ celebration will be different so please consult the information sent to you from your child’s teacher regarding their classroom activities. The classrooms have decided to do a community lunch for this event so there is no need to bring a lunch and no Hot Lunch service will be available on this day. The menu and sign-up for contributing to the community meal is posted on your child’s classroom door. There are some classes that are doing different kinds of exchanges on the day of the party. Please consult your teacher on what kind of items to bring. Please note that a lot of commercially bought Valentine’s Day cards come with trinkets and candy. We do not restrict these items, but please be aware to check that any candy you send is sealed and has not been tampered with. Children will not be served candy at school so the Valentine’s they receive will be placed in a bag and sent home at the end of the day. We encourage all parents to check the items sent home for safety and age appropriateness for their child as we also recommend you do when going out Trick-or-Treating during Halloween. It is recommended that trinkets and other kinds of treats, i.e. fruits snacks, etc.. are preferable to candy.. I think it is also great for parents to go through those items and read the cards with your child so they can see and recognize the gift they received from their classmates. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Please remember we are closed on Monday, February 13th in observance of Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday! We hope you had a great week! Please let me know if you have any questions! See you on Tuesday!

Sincerely,

Adam Thewes, Director