Montessori Buzz – April 21, 2020
An Update on Recent CCEYA Regulatory Order — affecting Toddler and Year-One Casa families
In our school, the students who fall under the CCEYA (Child Care and Early Years Act)-defined age category for child care are our Toddler and first-year Casa students. As noted last week in the Buzz, these are the same families who received funding from the City of London through the Family Savings Initiative, and will therefore also be the families who are affected by last week’s announcement of required refunds from April 9 to May 12 (current end date of Emergency Order).
Since our Toddler families received a 75% refund for the entire month of April, they have received the appropriate amount of funds for this month. However, our first-year Casa families do require additional funds for April.
This latest announcement also includes refunds for these families for the time period of May 1-12, however, we anticipate the school closure will be extended again beyond May 12. Once the timeline for the closure of the month of May is determined, we will reconcile the additional funds for the first-year Casa families, as well as the required amount for our Toddler families. A clear timeline on closures for May, will also allow us to analyze the impact for refunds for both MA and the rest of our school community.
Within this regulatory order, there is a provision for schools to charge parents who are receiving these mandated refunds, a fee for any programming that is being offered to children. However, we are choosing not to move ahead with this option. Our teachers will continue to provide ongoing connections for our students, offer home-based learning opportunities, as well as support our parents for this impacted age category.
#MAofLondonatHome
So much great content is being submitted for the Buzz and to share on social media. Please continue to share with us your at-home learning activities whether it’s projects and activities, or ways you’re staying physically active while staying physically distant.
Send them to Linda – lyovanovich@montessori.on.ca or reply to any Buzz with a photo or two. We’ll share them in a future Buzz and on social media.
If you haven’t checked out our #MAofLondonatHome posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, please do. You might find some inspiration for around the house, get a laugh, or recall a fond memory of the early days at school. 🙂
E-greetings from Lower El 3
Our Lower Elementary 3 class recently created handmade cards for residents living in a retirement home in St. Thomas. One of our parents “delivered” the e-cards to a staff member at the home.
Last week they received a response: ‘Thank you for the lovely cards from the students. I think the residents will appreciate and enjoy them!’
Thanks so much to Brynne and her mom for their help with this fun and meaningful activity for our students!
Junior High guest speaker from LEN
By Halla, Addison and Sarah
Skylar Franke is the Executive director of the London Environmental Network (LEN), and on April 6th she came into Junior High’s Zoom call to talk to the students about her position and what a day looks like doing her job. Skylar started with a slideshow about her, what LEN does and how we can help the environment during quarantine. She also did a trivia game with us, testing our knowledge on the topic. The students were able to send in questions to ask her and she would answer. Skylar mentioned that London will be getting a green bin (compost) by 2021 as well as the fact that London Environmental Network works with many different organisations that help the environment. The London Environmental Network’s mission is to help and support individuals and local organizations to develop into a more sustainable future.
Watch next week’s Buzz for another article by our Junior High students about their visit with environmentalist Stella Bowles.
Maggie MacNeil visits Junior High
MA Alumna and world champion swimmer Maggie MacNeil surprised the Junior High class during their Zoom morning meeting today!! She shared some inspiring thoughts to motivate and encourage our adolescents. As always, thanks so much for stopping by, Maggie!
Happy Earth Day!
Now, more than ever, we are seeing how interconnected we truly are — with the environment and with one another. Let us care for the environment — for the good of everyone.
Parent Resources
There’s a link to some FREE resources available through The Montessori Notebook: https://www.themontessorinotebook.com/
