Announcements and Updates, 2/28/08

We thank the parents who were able to make our last meeting. It's so important for any Montessori school to have a strong parent-teacher partnership, but even more crucial in our case. Here are some key announcements made at that meeting.

FIRST AND FOREMOST:We handed out recommitment letters for the 2008-2009 school year at the meeting. The form at the bottom of that letter is due back by Monday, March 5th. After the 5th we will be beginning the work of recruiting our class for next year from our waiting list. One equally crucial piece of information contained in the letter is our Montessori Program-wide change in schedule for next year to Monday, Tuesday, Thursday.

Upcoming parent meetings:
March 19
April 21
May 21
Upcoming whole class field trips:
~Seattle Art Museum, Roman Art from the Louvre; Tuesday, May 6th --more information to follow.
~Seeds of Compassion youth day, Key Arena, Seattle; Monday, April 14th: This Seattle based organization is putting on a weeklong conference on the themes of compassion and social justice, a great tie-in to the Montessori peace curriculum. Included in this day, which will draw students from across the greater Puget Sound area, will be addresses from several key figures, including the Dalai Lama--Nobel Peace Prize winner, as well as a chance to hear from representatives of various charitable organizations doing compassionate service work in our area. Please speak to Cynthia and/or Andy for more info, web site address, and Parent Map magazine article on the organization.
~All parents should also have already seen an orange permission form for a future non-school day (Thursday) visit to the Intiman Theater in Seattle to see "The Diary of Anne Frank".

Other announcements:

Don't forget: student presentations at the Multicultural Fair, Wednesday, March 26, 12-2 pm. Come support your student presenters!

Andy handed out 6 trait writing rubrics as a home FYI—tools for self analysis in writing, which will also be shared with students as they revise their written portion of the History of Humanity project.

Millersylvannia State Park is the new destination for the end-of-year all-program camp-out, Monday and Tuesday, June 16-17. The Junior High will have a special serving role this year.

We'd like to request any yarn or knitting/crocheting supplies as donations to students working towards creating items for our future school store.

We also are seeking parent chaperones for the Monroe Relay for Life overnight camp-out and walkathon on behalf of the American Cancer Society, May 31st-June 1st.

Andy and Cynthia checked in with how things are going in the classroom.
~We are seeking parent help with more home accountability structures for elective work. The electives seem to be working as discrete experiences during our three days together, but there is as yet not much follow-through on the part of students beyond those 1 hour sessions. Andy has recently provided a home French CD along with accompanying vocabulary sheets so students can do listening and speaking practice 15 minutes a day.
~Cynthia invites all interested in joining her in an adolescent brain development literature review group, to meet periodically through the year.
~We are projected to be moving in to our new space in the next few weeks. We will keep you posted on moving days.
~We are looking for more mentor-pairings for students. Paul Toutonghi, a professional woodworker, will be helping students to assemble and finish some tables for our new space, and has already come in twice to share expertise and consult with students in the design and economical aspects of furniture-building. Karen Rosencrans has offered some regular time for guiding student knitting projects. We are especially interested in some community service mentors and in some outdoor gardening mentors. Extra parent support for the student cooking group will be important after the move, as that group is in the midst of planning eagerly for a possible hot and/or sack lunch program offered to residents of the new building.
~We will be working shortly with Polly Muller, upper elementary teacher, to build partnerships in elementary classrooms, so our students can give lessons to younger students. A "little buddies" outreach to the lower elementary students is also in the planning stages. Slowly we grow outward into the community, seeking our true identity as a program.

Please stay in touch. Don't hesitate to share your concerns, your questions, your successes with us.
Andy and Cynthia