Week of September 29, 2025

Good Evening Families,

Welcome to Fall and OCTOBER starts this week! Quarter 1 is flying by. You should have received a progress report from your child’s teacher. If you have any questions, please reach out to your child’s teacher!

We are starting something new this year with quarterly Coffee with the Principals. Our first is scheduled for this Friday! Interested in having time to connect with Principal Jenn and Ms. Bertson? Join us for a cup of coffee on Friday morning for an informal time of discussion. No agenda, just a time to connect!

October is a busy month ahead! A few highlights…

• Hispanic Heritage Month continues–I can’t wait to share some student work!

• Fall Picture Day is Friday, October 10

• Our First Annual Fall Fun Dance will take place on Thursday, October 16–this will be a fun hour of music, movement and laughter (sneakers encouraged). Parents are asked to remain on campus during the event–connect with others at the PTA dry tailgate.

Have a great week and we hope to see you around George Watts Montessori soon!

Happening this week:

• Friday, 8AM: Coffee with the Principals. 

Specials Rotation:

• Monday: D

• Tuesday: E

• Wednesday: A

• Thursday: B

• Friday: C

Week of September 22, 2025

Good Evening Families,

Happy International Peace Day!

Our quarter 1 family night for Primary families is this Thursday. We hope you’ll join us for learning and connection. For more details, see the invitation.

We are honoring Hispanic Heritage Month from now until October 15. In their classes, students are learning about Latin American culture, engaging in Latinx-inspired art, and more. Many of our teachers are utilizing “booktivities” (see pic below). A “booktivity” tray is a complete learning activity, ready-made for use! It includes both a read-aloud book, and an accompanying activity. 

September is ATTENDANCE month, and I want to highlight the importance of making sure your child is at school, on-time, every day. 

• Priority 2 of the Durham Public Schools Strategic Plan sets a goal that by 2028, Durham Public Schools has an overall attendance rate of 95%. 

• At George Watts Montessori, our school improvement goal is to reduce chronic absenteeism by 25% during the 2025-26 school year. We have an established attendance team to implement our attendance plan which provides supports and accountability for student attendance. 

Have a great week and we hope to see you around George Watts Montessori soon!

Happening this week:

• Monday, Sept. 22, Teacher Workday, no school for students

• Tuesday, Sept. 23, Dine-out at Torero’s from 4:30-8:30 to support our PTA and enjoy a delicious dinner!

• Thursday, Sept. 25, 5:00-6:30PM Quarter 1 Primary Family Night

Specials Rotation:

• Monday: no school

• Tuesday: E

• Wednesday: A

• Thursday: B

• Friday: C

Backpack buddies: Through our partnerships with the Interfaith Council, our PTA, and Trinity Presbyterian, we provide food bags to go home over the weekend to support students with food instability. We would to invite families to participate in this initiative–if your family would benefit from participation in our weekend food backpacks, please submit your name HERE for our social worker, Cynthia Wilson. This program is a confidential program and your details will never be shared.

Week of September 15, 2026

Good Evening Families,

We have an exciting couple of weeks ahead with several opportunities for families!

Our quarter 1 family nights are this week for Upper El and Lower El, Primary family night is next Thursday. We hope you’ll join us for learning and connection. For more details, see the invitation that was sent out on Thursday.

Join the PTA work session on Tuesday, just after morning arrival, in the media center. Finally, you’re invited to observe our Peace Parade on Friday morning. Each year, we hold a Peace Parade to honor International Peace Day. 

September is ATTENDANCE month, and I want to highlight the importance of making sure your child is at school, on-time, every day. 

• The first 30 minutes at GWM–did you know in the first half-hour of school, students engage in our social-emotional learning curriculum, and then review and kick-off their work cycle information? When a student is late to school, they often miss this important time to set themselves up for a successful day!

• Regular school attendance impacts long-term outcomes. The research shows a strong correlation between regular school attendance and on-track high school graduation! Our goal for every student is to graduate high school college or career ready, and attendance now matters!

Have a great week and we hope to see you around George Watts Montessori soon!

Happening this week:

• Tuesday, Sept. 16, 7:45AM, PTA work session in the media center

• Tuesday, Sept. 16, 5:00-6:30PM Quarter 1 Upper El Family Night

• Thursday, Sept. 18, 5:00-6:30PM Quarter 1 Lower El Family Night

• Friday, Sept. 19, 8:10AM, PEACE Parade on the playground

Specials Rotation:

• Monday: E

• Tuesday: A

• Wednesday: B

• Thursday: C

• Friday: D

Backpack buddies: through our partnerships with the Interfaith Council, our PTA, and Trinity Presbyterian, we provide food bags to go home over the weekend to support students with food instability. We would to invite families to participate in this initiative–if your family would benefit from participation in our weekend food backpacks, please submit your name HERE for our social worker, Cynthia Wilson. This program is a confidential program and your details will never be shared.

Clothing drive update: families, thank you for your support filling our closet to help students and families in need of clothing. At this time, our closet is full. We will alert you of future needs. Thank you for your incredible generosity.

Week of September 8, 2025

Good Evening Families,

Primary students have settled in with their first full week, and both Upper El and Lower El are doing AWESOME. This week, we will transition to all of our students showing independence by saying goodbye outside of our building. I recognize there are times when students are carrying a heavy load and need assistance. For these instances, we offer two options–option one, parents can hand off the load to a staff member and we’ll ensure delivery to the appropriate place, or option two, parents can park and sign in at the office during morning arrival to deliver the load. If deliveries occur after 7:45 AM, our staff will happily deliver to the classroom during a break in instructional time.

This past week, North Carolina released the 2025 school data reports, and we are proud to share that during a year of transition, we maintained a “B” school letter grade AND demonstrated growth. To learn more about our school’s report card for 2025, I invite you to attend our first School Improvement Team meeting on Thursday at 4PM.  During our meeting, we will review all of the released data and explain the different components of the school letter grade. 

We are excited that several parents were (self-) nominated to serve on our School Improvement Team. Please take a moment to vote your support or non-support of their nomination. You can cast your vote HERE.

Have a great week and we hope to see you around George Watts Montessori soon!

Happening this week:

• Thursday, 4PM School Improvement Team (GWM media center)

Specials Rotation:

• Monday: E

• Tuesday: A

• Wednesday: B

• Thursday: C

• Friday: D

Playground usage after school:

We recognize the GWM playground is a great place to connect with other families after school, and we invite you to do so on Wednesday afternoons until 3PM. For the remainder of the week, we do need to reserve our playground for the afterschool program use. As a licensed childcare program, they are not permitted to have public usage while they are using the space. 

Quarter 1 Family Nights coming soon…

Mark your calendars for our first quarter family nights–time within your child’s classroom followed by a class community dinner on our playground–it will be a great night of connection!

• Upper El, Tuesday, September 16

• Lower El, Thursday, September 18

• Primary, Thursday, September 25

Week of September 1, 2025

Good Evening Families,

We had a great first week–thank you for all the ways you have supported a successful and safe start to our school year! 

As we begin week 2 with our lower elementary and upper elementary, we will ask families to help support independence by saying goodbye outside of our building. Primary families will be permitted to walk students to the classroom, saying goodbye outside the classroom door for the week of September 1 and will begin our usual outdoor goodbyes on Monday, September 8. I recognize there are times when students are carrying a heavy load and need assistance. For these instances, we offer two options–option one, parents can hand off the load to a staff member and we’ll ensure delivery to the appropriate place, or option two, parents can park and sign in at the office during morning arrival to deliver the load. If deliveries occur after 7:45 AM, our staff will happily deliver to the classroom during a break in instructional time.

The team at George Watts is working closely with the PTA this year to try to build more community. We invite you to join in! Make sure to connect to this year’s community calendar (on website/iCal link) to ensure you save-the-dates for all of the fun we have planned! Make sure to check out this week’s fun! 

Enjoy the extra day of weekend tomorrow and we’ll see you on Tuesday! Hope to see all of you around George Watts Montessori soon!

Happening this week:

• Monday, Labor Day, school is closed

• Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2:30-5:30, PTA dine-out at Jeni’s ice cream–meet up with a friend and celebrate a great start to the school year. Jeni’s will donate 25% of all sales during this time to the George Watts Montessori PTA.

• Friday, Sept. 5, 7:45AM, PTA general mtg, donuts on the playground. Come connect with other parents, learn more about how the PTA will support George Watts Montessori this year, and vote on this year’s PTA budget.

Specials Rotation:

• Monday: no school

• Tuesday: A

• Wednesday: B

• Thursday: C

• Friday: D

Donations Requested: As our student population continues to grow, there are several families who have a need for additional clothing. We are looking for new or gently used items in all kid sizes, as well as adult small. Donations can be delivered to our front office or handed off in carpool or at our walker door.

We still need a couple more parent representatives for our school improvement team–contact Principal Jenn this week if you are interested!

Week of August 25

Good Evening Families!

I simply cannot believe we welcome all of your kiddos back to school TOMORROW!! I am filled with excitement for the start of another great school year! As we prepare for the week, we have a few details to share with you to help you be in the know!

We still need parent representatives for our School Improvement Team. Our school improvement team meets monthly (3 in-person, the remainder are virtual). The team is responsible for reviewing progress towards school improvement plan goals and providing input on significant school programming decisions. If you are interested in being a representative, please contact Principal Jenn, as soon as possible–parent representative voting will be in next week’s update.

Fostering independence through morning drop-off: George Watts Montessori Elementary is committed to partnership and engagement with the full school community. We believe that student growth is most impacted by the engagement of a full community. To support this value, we have established protocol to maximize community engagement during the school day while protecting the safety of our students and staff and ensuring instructional time is prioritized to maximize student learning. Our full visitor protocol can be found HERE.

• During the first week of school, caregivers are welcomed to walk their children to class, saying goodbye outside the classroom door.

• We recognize that there are a number of different ways that students get to school. GWM supports increasing independence for students by asking that caregivers to say their goodbyes at the respective school entrances after the first week of school, allowing their child to independently walk to class and the cafeteria for lunch. This fosters a sense of independence

• Staff members will be on hand to help caregivers or students who need assistance or emotional support.

Does your child have an Epi-pen or need to take medication at school? Please do NOT send medication into school with your child. All medication needs to be checked in by an adult in our front office. In order for George Watts Montessori to administer any medication (over-the-counter or prescription), we must have a completed medication form (completed by a physician) and the medication must be in its original packaging. 

Did you know we partner with Stepping Stones Group to offer mental health services during the school day? I believe all humans benefit from therapy services, and DPS wants to make access to clinical therapists EASY for your family, without waitlists. Our licensed clinical therapist comes weekly to meet with students. Reach out to Counselor Parfitt or Ms. Wilson to learn more! See what it’s all about HERE (English/en español)! 

We are here to help and support you this year! A strong school-parent relationship is a strong contributor to student success, and we invite you to join us in making George Watts Montessori a great place to learn and grow! Welcome to the 2025-26 school year!

Happening this week:

• Monday through Wednesday, primary staggered start

• Thursday, 7:45AM, PTA work session in the media center, all are welcome!

• Thursday, 4-5PM, primary meet-the-teacher

Specials Rotation:

• Monday: A

• Tuesday: B

• Wednesday: C

• Thursday: D

• Friday: E

Meet Magie Fugon!

Magie joined our office team this year and will likely be the first person you see when you visit or talk to when you call. Magie speaks fluent Spanish and is passionate about seeing all families feel welcomed and have access in the school building! We are so excited she chose George Watts Montessori!

Have you connected to ROOMs yet? ROOMs will replace all other communication apps (Dojo, TalkingPoints, etc) and is built into the DPS app. Get set-up TODAY so you don’t miss anything from your child’s teacher (English/Spanish)!

Did you miss our mid-week update, All Things Transportation? Make sure to review it HERE to do your part to make morning arrival and afternoon dismissal safe for all!

Don’t forget to complete your volunteer registration for the 2025-26 school year! You must complete a new registration every year, so make sure to complete it right away so you can be cleared to serve! You can access the registration here.

DPS Technology Fee: Durham Public Schools has implemented a technology fee in order to sustain student devices. Students in K-5 should pay their fees HERE. If a family has a financial hardship, they may submit a fee waiver request HERE. *DPS has not implemented a district technology fee for preK.

Week of August 18, 2025

With just one week until we kick off the 2025-26 school year, I know everyone is filled with anticipation. The team at George Watts Montessori will be busy preparing this week, and can't wait to welcome Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary families to stop by between 8 and 9:30 Friday morning to check out the classroom and say hello! We hope to have final classroom assignments complete by early this week--we'll be sure to alert you when ready!

This week, there are several ways you can help prepare for the 2025-26 school year! Use the following as your checklist this week:

• Save-the-Dates: we work hard to include as many school events on the calendar as possible from the start.

  • Use this iCal link to add the GWM calendar to your family calendar.

  • Or, add the events that interest you by reviewing the community calendar HERE.

• Download the new Durham Public Schools App (directions for download and setup can be found HERE). The DPS app will be your #1 source of information and communication at George Watts Montessori.

• One school, one communication app--within the DPS app, you'll have access to ROOMS, our new classroom communication tool. ROOMS will be the #1 way teachers will communicate with their classroom families. Learn about how to set up and access ROOMS HERE.

• Pay your technology fee TODAY: DPS is implementing a new fee for all students to ensure the continuation of one-to-one devices. Student use of Chromebooks grows with age, and the DPS fee models this, $15 per year in elementary and $30 per year in grades 6-12. Please go ahead and pay your child's fee HERE.

• Check out the supply lists linked in our back-to-school section on our website.

• Finally, practice an early bedtime all week! Elementary school starts early and the best way you can help prepare your child for school is to start practicing and earlier bedtime. Ideally, students in elementary school need 9-12 hours of sleep per night.

Be on the lookout for another newsletter mid-week with all things transportation (car, bus, walking, and biking)! We want to make sure everyone is ready for a safe and fun first week of school!

See you soon!

Happening this week:

• Friday, August 22, 8-9:30 AM, Lower El and Upper El Meet-the-teacher

Opportunities to get involved:

• Join the PTA--our parent-teacher-association is committed to making George Watts Montessori a great place to learn and work. Join today!

• Consider being a classroom ROOM PARENT! Our goal is to ensure every classroom has a room parent to help bring the classroom families together to support our kids! Room parents will help with family communication and organizing. There will be an opportunity to sign up at the meet-the-teachers events.

• School Improvement Team: we are looking for parent representatives for our school improvement team. Learn more HERE. Voting will take in just a couple of weeks--nominate yourself with an email to Principal Jenn.

August 9, 2025, Family Update

Good Evening Families!

I wanted to send a quick reminder and update…

Reminder–popsicles on the playground Tuesday (August 12) at 5PM! Our capital planning team has assured me that unless we get more rain this weekend, the NEW playground should be ready for playing by Tuesday’s event! We’re excited to see everyone and connect with a sweet treat! Join us at 5PM outside! **Please note, the school building will not be accessible, so please use the restroom before coming.

Infinite Campus Update–you likely received your activation code to set up your parent portal for Infinite Campus on Friday. If you did not receive the activation code, please reach out to our front office to ensure we have the correct email address on file! A few notes…

• The transition to Infinite Campus is still a work in progress. What is currently available in Parent Portal is not complete–we expect it to continue to build out over the coming weeks!

• Teacher assignments are not yet completed. The transition from PowerSchool to Infinite Campus was a bit bumpy, with a few delays. As a result, we are still in the process of making a lot of corrections from the data migration. With round one of scheduling occurring in March, we had lots of placeholders built into the schedule that require adjustments by hand. We will be sure to alert you when official teacher assignments are completed–likely around August 20th for Lower El and Upper El, and classroom assignments won’t be complete for primary until after our staggered start days.

We are so excited to welcome everyone to the 2025-26 school year. Look for our weekly Sunday messages to begin next Sunday, August 17!

Have a great weekend!

Jenn Aguilar, GWM principal

July 2025 Family Update

Hello Families,

For those of you who are new to George Watts Montessori, WELCOME! We are so excited for your family to join our community! I hope everyone is having a fun and relaxing summer despite the crazy hot weather we have been experiencing! I wanted to connect with some summer updates as you prepare to return to school in just over a month–the summers go by so quickly!

Key dates for the back-to-school season:

• Tuesday, August 12, 5PM–popsicles on the playground. Come and check out the new GWM playground and enjoy a sweet treat before dinner! An informal gathering to connect with other families and GWM administrators.

• CORRECTION–Friday, August 22, 8-9:30AM, meet the teacher, for Lower El and Upper El classrooms. Students in grades 1-5 are invited to stop by and meet their teacher and see their classroom in preparation for the first day of school. Primary students (preK & K) will have their meet-the-teacher event on Thursday, August 28, 4-5PM.

• Monday, August 25, First Day of School. Please note, students in preK and kindergarten will start on staggered schedule–detailed communication was provided directly to primary families.

The transition to Infinite Campus has occurred! North Carolina officially transitioned our student information system from PowerSchool to Infinite Campus this summer. While the transition has occurred, we are still navigating enrollment and implementation. Please note, parent access is coming soon–once we have been provided with the specifics for setting up parent portal access, we will get that out to families ASAP. In the meantime, you do not need to do anything–the transition has all taken place on our end!

School supply lists are now posted on our website! While purchasing supplies for your child is helpful, we also have many community partners who will help if you are unable to purchase any supplies. See our supply list HERE.

Opportunities to get involved:

• George Watts Montessori PTA (parent-teacher-assosiation) is an active group of parents seeking to connect the community of GWM and make our school the best learning environment possible for students to engage in learning! The PTA is seeking community volunteers to serve in a variety of roles, both small and medium. If you are interested in learning more, please contact PTA president, Elena Snavely. (elena.snavely@gmail.com).

• George Watts Montessori School Improvement Team (SIT). We are currently seeking nominations to fill five parent-representative positions on our school improvement team. The SIT meets monthly to review school data, discuss improvement ideas, and monitor the progress and implementation of school-improvement initiatives. Additionally, the SIT will discuss topics of interest to the community. SIT positions are two-year positions and a great way to connect with the school and impact school decisions. For more information or to volunteer for nomination, please contact me (jennifer_aguilar@dpsnc.net).

• It’s time to register to volunteer for the 2025-26 school year. Each year, volunteers must re-apply for volunteer approval, which includes a background check. This process can take up to a few weeks, so we encourage you to take a minute to apply now to ensure you have approval to volunteer in time for the 2024-25 school year! You can learn more and register HERE.

We are excited for the upcoming school year and look forward to connecting with each and every one of you! I hope the remainder of your summer is filled with fun, relaxation, and connection. Our offices are open from 8AM-3PM Monday through Thursday this summer–please let us know if we can serve you in any way!