Montessori Academy of London | London, Ontario

Dear MA Families and Friends,

I woke up early Monday morning to a flurry of messages on my phone asking me if William and I were ok. I live very close to the Hyde Park and South Carriage Rd. intersection and cross it numerous times in a week. Physically, we were ok. Emotionally, we are not.

As the story broke of this horrific accident and evolved to the information that it was a targeted hate crime; it completely unravelled me. How can this be possible in London, in my neighbourhood, which is filled with families of all kinds, simply enjoying the outdoors and each other? Hearing that three generations of a family were killed and their nine year old child was in hospital, because they were Muslim, was incomprehensible to me. Then I learned this family is connected to one of our own at MA and my heart shattered.

This morning Kristen and I joined the Junior High staff and students for their morning meeting to address what happened. This group of students often deals with current events, and this one in particular had a lot to process being local. As soon as the students began to fill the screen, I was overcome with emotion for so many reasons, but Shawn captured it best when he said, “this hurts so much because from the time you enter our school, some as little as 18 months, you learn to respect and love everyone in your classroom community, so something like this is so hard for us to understand…..”

But that is just it. Love will win. It has to. We have to stand up to hate and make the world better. I told the students as painful as all of this is, I am so grateful for the community that we have, knowing each of our students will be a ripple in the ocean of good, that will spread far and wide to make things better. Maria Montessori said it best, “Within the child lies the fate of the future…a child is mysterious and powerful and contains within himself the secret of human nature.”

This social media post I saw really resonated today with me: “When the big feelings come, think small and everything will be fine-ish.” This is where I am at today, finding a small thing to be fine-ish. I also shared it with the Junior High community this morning. I listened to the song, “Cover me in Sunshine,” a duet by P!nk and her 9-year-old daughter. If you don’t get the chance to search it up, here is a taste:

Get outside today, close your eyes and feel the warmth of the sun and imagine it is love surrounding us with a sincere and deep hug, especially for this family and to those whose lives have been severely affected across the Muslim community.

I will be at the vigil tonight. For details, I encourage you to visit the London Mosque website http://www.londonmosque.ca/news/493-ourlondonfamily.html or follow them on social media https://www.facebook.com/events/2329626983837554/?ref=newsfeed.

As far as opportunities for students to return and connect, we have two plans we are brewing. We have staff meetings to firm up details over the next two days, while reviewing two sets of guidelines we just received and writing new policies. We hope to have this all sorted by the end of the week to share with you. Refunds for Activity Fees were mailed last week and the office is now processing refunds for extended and early hours as well as the lunch and milk programs across elementary. These will be mailed next week. Thank-you for your patience as we process all of these items!

Be well,

Tina Sartori, Executive Director

Mary-Ann Fougere will be the new Site Supervisor at our Oxford St. location, as Sarah Kneeshaw moves into our downtown Toddler program. Mary Ann worked at our school when we were still called Montessori House of Children, both as a Casa teacher and the director of Camp Discovery. She returned to Montessori most recently at Gibbon’s Park and is excited to take on this leadership role back where her Montessori roots began.

Sridevi Srikanth will join Susan Donaghy and Carroll Spence in Upper Elementary 1, as Meghan moves into our Art program.  Sridevi comes to us with her Casa and Elementary Montessori training, experience teaching at the Junior High level and is a professional yoga teacher. She has worked for almost 20 years with children in a variety of schools, from Montessori to Waldorf to private programs, throughout India and Saskatchewan. Most recently she was working in Saskatoon and after a brief stop over in Brampton to be with family, she is excited to move to London with her husband and two sons.

Welcome to MA, Sridevi, and welcome back, Mary-Ann!

What’s for Dinner is almost 50% sold out! Get your frozen meal orders in now before we run out. Frozen wood-fired pizza, burgers, chicken curry, sweet potato chili, beet burgers and strawberry rhubarb crisp, YUM.  AND there are still a few items left as part of the Freezer Clearout Sale!

Place your order TODAY to avoid disappointment! https://montessori.on.ca/whats-for-dinner/