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Volume 4, Issue 1
Director’s Corner
Upcoming Events
Valentine’s Day Tea
Friday, February 13
3:30 - 6:00 pm
President’s Day
Monday, February 16
School Closed
Pre-Registration
for Fall 2015
Begins Monday, March 2
Summer Camp
Applications Available
Monday, March 2
Parent/Teacher
Conferences Begin
Monday, March 2
* Referral Special *
When you refer a family who
decides to enroll their child
at MASB, you will receive a
30% tuition credit after their
first 30 days. Special ends
March 31, 2015
February 2015
This week we be hosting our
annual Valentine’s tea. The Valentine’s tea will take place on
Happy New Year!! I can’t believe
Friday, February 13 from 3:30 to
it’s 2015. The children came back
6:00 pm. Parents please join us for
to school excited, energetic, and
this drop in event. Allow your child
ready to work. I want to thank all
of our wonderful parents for all you to serve you some tea and light
do to support our school with your snacks while practicing their grace
time, caring, and generosity. Thank and courtesy.
you for the appreciation you all
showed to our staff with your kind We will be closed on Monday,
February 16 for President’s
words, cards, and generous gifts.
Day. Pre-registration for the
They were all very appreciated.
The break was restful and relaxing 2015-2016 school year begins
and the teachers came back ready Monday, March 2. All parents will
receive a pre-registration form that
to roll as well.
you will be asked to return to the
front office. Summer camp apWe have a lot of exciting things
plications will also be available
planned during the second half of
on March 2. If you plan for your
the school year. Our 3rd annual
child to attend camp (June and
International Day took place on
July), you must complete a sumFebruary 5 and what a wondermer camp application. This does
ful celebration it was. Thank you
not apply to the infant community.
to all of you who generously lent
Parent-Teacher conferences will
us your artifacts from around the
also begin on Monday March 2.
world, brought in all of the wonPlease see the sign up sheets out
derfully yummy dishes, and to all
side of your child’s classroom.
those who attended. Please see
the pictures from this evening
The primary classes went on a field
on our bulletin board and on our
trip on Wednesday, February 4 to
facebook page. We found out
the Center for Puppetry Arts. We
some very interesting facts about
our families. Please see the end of all had a wonderful time. Thank
the newsletter for a compilation of you to those parents who were
able to chaperon on the trip. I also
these including, in our small comwant to thank of the parents for
munity, we have families from 21
arriving to school early on this day
different countries who speak at
which made our car seat installeast 11 languages.
Director’s Corner, continued
lation process go very smooth.
Thanks to you all we had a ontime departure. I hope you are all
enjoying the electric eel puppets
the children made after the show.
I heard some of the children went
home and put on a puppet show
for their families
with their new
puppets.
Calling all grandparents: If you
have some extra
time during
your day and
are looking for a way
to spend it, look no further. We
are welcoming any grandparents
who wants to volunteer some of
their time with the children. Please
email me with your name and
contact information. Please note,
any adult who volunteers with the
children must have a local background check. You can get this at
any police precinct. When volunteers are needed, we will contact
you with as much advanced notice
as possible. You will need to bring
a copy of your background check
with you so we can keep it on file.
A few housekeeping notes...
Parents please try to get your
children to school prior to 8:30
when class begins. If you arrive
after 8:30 am, I will walk your children to class. Most of the children
enjoy walking to class with you
instead of me, so please arrive a
few minutes earlier so your children can walk back with you. If
you arrive after 8:30 and no one is
there to walk your child to class,
please bring your child to the door,
say your good bye’s outside of the
door prior to opening it, allow your
child walk into the class and gently
close the door behind them. Once
class begins, this is not the time to
hold a discussion with your child’s
teacher or enter the class and
disrupt the children. An on-time
arrival is a very important part
of your child’s
day. Parents
please respect
that the teachers are working
hard to get the
children into a
consistent routine
in class and once
they have begun
class it is unfair for the teachers to
have to take time away from the
children. There are several ways
for you to get in touch with or set
up a time to have a discussion with
your child’s teacher. You can email
the teacher and set up a time to
talk in person or over the phone,
you can schedule some time to
talk with the teacher when the
teacher is not working with the
children either before class begins
or after 4:00 pm. The teachers may
also have individual times during
the day which they are available
and can let you know via email.
You can also leave a note for your
child’s teacher in the clear mailbox
outside of the classroom doors.
Parents, you are all invited and
even encouraged to come and
observe in your child’s classroom.
Through observation, you will
gain a better idea of what your
child is doing in class as well as be
equipped to talk to your child after
school about the things they did
during the day, especially if when
you ask your child about their day,
Page 2
Field Trip Center for Puppetry
Arts
they return a blank stare. If your
child has only been in the class a
very short time frame, i.e. a few
weeks, this may not be the best
time to observe. Once the children
are comfortable and have a more
established schedule, you will have
a more accurate view when you
come to observe.
Parents, please remember to check
your child into and out of the computer every day. If you check your
child in or out and you don’t see
the thumbs up at the end on the
green screen, your procedure did
not complete properly and your
child will not be checked in/out.
Please leave a note on the front
desk if this happens to you and
someone will correct your check
in/out promptly. If it doesn’t get
fixed, you will continue to get this
error message and your checking
in and out will not work.
Parents, please remember to label
Director’s Corner, continued
your child’s items that you bring
to school including the clothes
and coats they come to school in.
Labeling helps us to return items to
their proper owner.
know, Ms. Brandy in the toddler
class will be leaving us. Her last
day is February 10. Ms. Drae, who
started her career at the Montessori Academy 4-1/2 years ago in
the toddler community, will be
Please make sure you send a coat
rejoining the toddler class as the
with your child to school until
lead teacher. Ms. Drae worked as
the weather consistently warms
the lead toddler teacher at her last
up. Some children are arriving to
Montessori school before joining
school without outer wear and
our family in 2011 as the toddler
they get chilly when we go to the
teacher. It’s funny how things
playground, especially in the morn- come full circle. Our parents and
ing when it hasn’t quite warmed
infants have enjoyed having her in
up a lot. Remember we go out
the infant community and she will
doors as cool 25 degrees.
be sorely missed but she will be
seeing all of the wonderful infants
Finally, as many of you already
again, some in a few weeks and
International Day
How do you say Please?
S’il vous plait French
B’vakasha Hebrew
Ebakh (Ebakish) Amharic
How do you say Thank You
Todah Raba Hebrew
Amesegerralehu Amheric
Merci French
xièxie Chinese
How do you say Hello
Selam Ethiopian
Aloha Hawaiian
Namste Hindi
Salam Farsi
Hola Spanish
Bonjour French
NiHao Manderin
Oi Portuguese
How do you say Goodbye
Dena Hun Ethiopian
Aloha Hawaiian
Alvida Hindi
Khodafez Farsi
Adios Spanish
Adeus Portuguese
Page 3
others in a few months. Please
welcome her to the toddler class
once again. There are 3 big kids,
Clara, Lucy, and Lukas, who will
be delighted to see her again as
she was preparing these children
in the infant community for the
transition to the toddler class. Ms.
Latrice Spencer will be stepping
into Ms. Drae’s shoes, and they will
be very big shoes to fill but Ms.
Latrice is up to the challenge as
she has been working closely with
Ms. Drae in the infant community.
We are in the process of completing our interviews to fill the other
vacant position we have. Stay
tuned...
Infant Room News with Ms. Drae
Happy New Year! Let me start
by saying what a pleasure it is to
teach such an EXTRAORDINARY
group of infants! So far, we have
had only one transition for the
new year. Congratulations Miss.
Clara Mulvaney who is now a part
of the toddler community.
I would personally
like to welcome
Ms. Latrice Spencer to the Infant
community. She
has proven to
be a wonderful
addition to our
environment.
We also welcome Miss Josephine
Jackson to our class.
Page 4
ers: please remember to label your
There are so many accomplishchild’s belongings (including the
ments in our community but here clothing they arrive in). Also, your
are just a few: we have two new
child’s feeding plan needs to be
crawlers, Andrew and Gabrielle
updated every three months or
and they’re definitely exploring
earlier if there are changes in their
every square inch of their classdaily feeding.
room! Lukas is entertaining the
idea of walking by taking steps
I can’t thank you enough for trustindependently and with
ing me with the care and educahelp. James also
tion of your children.
made a major accomplishment. He Here are a few key phrases to use
is now holding his
at home:
own bottle. Goooo
• No thank you
team!! I am extremely • Please
pleased by everyone’s
• Thank you
milestones.
Just a few housekeeping remind-
MASB Infants Smile for the Camera
Toddler Class News with Ms. Brandy
I hope you all have had a wonderful start to the New Year. The
children came back in great spirits
and telling us of some of the
things they got for the Holidays.
Erica and I would like to thank everyone for the gifts and tokens of
your kind words. As you all know
it is a pleasure
for both Erica
and I to care for
your children
everyday!!
We are exploring new things in
the toddler community, just last
week the younger
children and I had a lesson on the
food groups. After the lesson the
children were able to have milk
and yogurt which focused on the
dairy food group. This is what
we love about Montessori. Not
only do we read or talk about our
lessons but the children are able
to use their hands and senses to
explore what we see or read. I’ve
found this a great way to relate
to toddler age children who may
not fully understand what they
are hearing while we read certain
books to them.
In addition to going over the food
groups and talking about healthy
eating, the children have also
been able to go
into the kitchen
and cook with
Mr. Stoney. We
have made
homemade
pizza with
spinach and
turkey sausage as well as homemade
quiche with vegetables. The
children enjoy wearing the aprons
and chef hats as well as eating the
food during lunch or for a snack.
Erica and I will be coming up with
different foods for the children to
cook weekly!!
of them use it and some of them
don’t but they are all happy to go
through the process from start
to finish. During this process, we
also incorporate language with
the children. We talk about their
clothing and the colors they are
wearing, we name items of clothing such as shirt, pants, socks
etc. This is also a way to keep the
children sitting a little longer on
the toilet and have greater success
using it.
Please feel free to ask any questions or make any suggestions
that you may have on anything
that we do in the toddler community. Your input is very important
to the staff. We all are working together as parents and teachers to
support each other and especially
the children.
Thanks for all that you do to support the toddler community and
MASB as a school!!!!
The underwear process is going
great. All of the children are enjoying sitting on the toilet. Some
Be sure to like our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/scott.montessori
Scenes from Our Busy Days at MASB
Page 5
Primary 1 Class News with Ms. Vanessa
The topic of togetherness will be
covered as we celebrate Martin
Luther King, International Day and
Valentine’s Day. The children are
acting out lessons which promote
unity, friendship, respect and
equality.
During the Parent Education
meeting many questions were
answered about the materials in
the classroom, how the children
prepare for writing and reading and the importance of the
preliminary exercises. To further
understand what the children are
doing on a daily basis please come
observe the Montessori classroom
as a harmonious community.
Page 6
In P1, we strive to not only make
the children comfortable, but the
parents as well. At the end of each
day, please come in to retrieve
your child’s work from his/her
folder. Other hints of the monthly
topics can be seen on the walls
and in these folders.
Welcome Feathered Friends
Primary 2 Class News with Ms. Claudia
Happy 2015 to everyone! Mrs.
Enidia and I would like to thank
each one of you for all of the kind
help and support you have given
us during the past few
months with our
class projects.
Each family has
contributed in
its own capacity.
Our community is
deeply grateful.
Our primary class has grown. We
welcome Zidaan and Zaheen to
our environment.
January has been a popular
birthday month in our class. Feliz
cumpleaños to Zidan, Andrew,
Asa, Amelia, Kamal, KC, Joshua
Benjamin, and Ansley.
Afghanistan, Brazil, Iran, Ethiopia,
Nigeria, Columbia, and El Salvador
and how lucky we are to share our
similarities and differences with
each other.
As we are preparing to
celebrate our International Day we are learning
about different places
around the world. We
celebrate unity and
diversity in our environment.
We have been talking about the
different countries that we have
in our classroom such as India,
Thank you once more for making
this journey a special one. Adios
Amigos.