Happening this Week
Monday: Teacher workday, no school for students
Tuesday (Specials: E-Day)
Wednesday (Specials: A-Day)
Thursday (Specials: B-Day)
5PM Curriculum Night & Classroom Dinner #2 (see below for specific classes assigned)
Friday (Specials: C-Day)
8AM Peace Parade
Progress reports go home today.
From Principal Jenn:
Good Evening Families,
We have few important updates for the upcoming week:
Monday is a teacher workday–we look forward to welcoming students back to school on Tuesday morning.
Thursday, we will be hosting our final Curriculum Night with a classroom dinner. This will be a great opportunity to see your child’s classroom, hear from their teachers, and make connections with other families in your child’s class. Each class was assigned one of the two dates (September 17 or 24), so be sure to check below to see if your class is scheduled this week.
Tomorrow, in addition to being a teacher workday is International Peace Day. International Peace Day is a globally recognized day, established by the United Nations to be a day of non-violence and ceasefire. Each year, Montessori communities pause to recognize our commitment to peace. At George Watts Montessori, we do this with a peace parade. This year, since Peace Day is on a teacher workday, we will have our peace parade on Friday, September 25. Families are welcome to observe–the parade will begin shortly after morning arrival on the track around our playground. Observers are asked to remain on the outside of the track (you’ll want to wear shoes that can get wet in the dewy grass).
Finally, be on the lookout for progress reports–this mid quarter check in will help provide you a bit of information regarding your child’s early progress this year.
Have a great week, and we hope to see you around George Watts Montessori soon!
Principal Jenn
This week in your Family-Connect Folder:
Grade level-band newsletter
Information from our neighborhood partner, Watts Baptist, on their “9-5 Day” Friday where free books will be distributed.
Curriculum Nights and Classroom Dinners:
Each Fall, we welcome families into our classrooms to learn more about their child’s daily experience and learning. We follow this with an outdoor picnic as a classroom community to create an opportunity for families to meet one another. Please see the list below for which night each classroom is assigned.
September 17: primary classes–Duffy, Harris, Hawkins, Watson; lower el classes–Hamilton, WIlliams, S. Zopfi; upper el classes–Oakeley, Orsini, Pryor, Emma Singleton; EC Dev. Needs–Snyder.
September 24: primary classes–Whithaus-Meyers, Zehr; lower el classes–Bogue, Cooper, Joy Mason, Allie Schreiber, White, M. Zopfi; upper el classes–Adair; EC Dev. Needs–Gabriel Vogt.
Are you new to Montessori?
Each week, we are sharing something about Montessori education to help you learn more about what it means to learn in a Montessori school. This week, in honor of International Peace Day (September 21), we are sharing about the concept of peace education in a Montessori School.
“An education capable of saving humanity is no small undertaking; it involves the spiritual development of man, the enhancement of his value as an individual, and the preparation of young people to understand the times in which they live. ” (Maria Montessori, Education and Peace, p. 31)
American Montessori Institute shares the following on their frequently asked questions:
How do Montessori schools incorporate education for peace in classroom?
Peace is a natural outcome of Montessori’s Scientific Pedagogy. Not a subject to be taught or a curriculum to add, peace education is intrinsic to the Montessori learning experience at any age. In a well-prepared Montessori Environment, we create the conditions for concentration, normalisation, freedom within limits, social cohesion, non-violent resolution of conflict, collaborative work, and positive, life-affirming social organisation. These are the building blocks of the peaceful revolution Maria Montessori envisioned. To achieve them we must deeply understand and fully apply the essential principles which are the foundation of our work. (https://montessori-ami.org/questions/education-peace)