Montessori Buzz – March 5, 2024
Dear MA Families & Friends,
March Break
The school is closed for our two-week March Break, including the administrative office. School resumes on Monday, March 25. Enjoy your break!
Heads-up for when we return:
- On March 29 and April 1 – The school will be closed for the Good Friday and Easter Monday holidays.
- Monday, April 8 is now our April PD Day; there is no school for our students that day.
Beach Day and Jersey Day (Junior High) are Friday!
by the Junior High CHF Committee
For our next CHF Event, Junior High students can “sport” a jersey of choice, either their own or of their favourite sports player. Students in Elementary and Casa can dress in appropriate beach attire (no bathing suits) for an enjoyable “day under the sun.” The Junior High CHF committee will be accepting loose change for the Children’s Health Foundation programs. Early this year, Pyjama Day raised $1,903.51 for the Nature for Healing, and Art Therapy for Mental Health programs at Children’s Hospital. The money fundraised for Beach Day and Jersey Day will also go to these programs. Through our commitment to Charitable Giving, we are making a difference in the lives of children facing serious health issues.
For our next CHF Event, Junior High students can “sport” a jersey of choice, either their own or of their favourite sports player. Students in Elementary and Casa can dress in appropriate beach attire (no bathing suits) for an enjoyable “day under the sun.” The Junior High CHF committee will be accepting loose change for the Children’s Health Foundation programs. Early this year, Pyjama Day raised $1,903.51 for the Nature for Healing, and Art Therapy for Mental Health programs at Children’s Hospital. The money fundraised for Beach Day and Jersey Day will also go to these programs. Through our commitment to Charitable Giving, we are making a difference in the lives of children facing serious health issues.
As a committee, we would love to see either the same amount or go above and beyond to allow kids in hospitals the opportunity to have these programs, transforming their healthcare experience. Remember every contribution counts!
Thank you for your continued support and participation!
MLHU vaccination suspension notices
Parents of students with outstanding vaccination records will have received a letter from the health unit noting the suspension deadline of March 20. Families wanting to submit their immunization records or needing to schedule an appointment should call MLHU directly at 519-663-5317.
Please note that there may be a processing delay between submitting the required material and the updating of the students’ files. From a recent Health Unit message to the school: “It is possible that there are names of students on this list who have followed up with the Health Unit, and we just haven’t processed their records yet. The Health Unit is receiving a high volume of records by way of fax, emails, online updates, and paper records being dropped off.
Detailed information about the immunization and suspension program is available on the MLHU website: https://www.healthunit.com/immunization-record-review. Because this is a MLHU initiative, we ask you to contact the Health Unit directly with questions.
Elementary Hot Lunch Registration In Progress
This is a reminder that the last round of hot lunch will begin on March 25 and run until June 21. The deadline to order your child/ren’s lunches is March 18, however Milk must be ordered by Thursday, March 7.
Most items require you to select different options for the meal, so please read each item carefully, as the order will not be able to be adjusted after submission.
IMPORTANT: Please review your complete balance when you submit your orders online at https://mahotlunch.campbrainregistration.com/ to ensure that everything is paid in full. Payments can be made online, or you can drop into the Main Office to pay by cash, cheque, credit.
New this year! Big Yellow Bag Partnership
We are partnering with BigYellowBag®, a local company that delivers high quality garden products in a neat, clean bag straight to your door. Use our code MONTLON24, and YOU will save $5 on your BigYellowBag purchase – and Montessori Academy of London receives $10 to our fundraising campaign for each bag purchased.
You must use this code for Montessori Academy to receive a donation, and to get your $5 discount: MONTLON24.
If you’re in need of soil or mulch to get your lawn and garden going this year, keep Big Yellow Bag (and us!!) in mind!
Order online https://www.bigyellowbag.com/ and use the code: MONTLON24
Phys Ed updates
Rock Climbing
Students in Upper Elementary will go on a field trip this week to Junction Rock Climbing. UE 2 will go on Thursday, March 7 and UE 1 will go on Friday March 8.
Basketball
The Senior basketball teams begin play this week with games at St Marguerite d’Youville and St Anne’s. Schedules are posted on the Junior High website. Please remember the season resumes right after March Break.
Hockey
Montessori Trailblazers hit the ice last week for a game against Matthews Hall. We had 2 goalies, a full bench and lots of fun. Great work everyone! A big thank you to all the parents and fans for coming so early and cheering us on.
Next game is at Carling Arena and on Wednesday, March 6, at 8am at Carling Arena.
Photos from the week
Celebrating Maria Montessori in Casa
Some intense focus as the children in Casa 1 draw their favourite things about their Montessori classroom in recognition of International Montessori Education Week last week.
The Casa children at Westmount would like to extend a big thank you to their parents for taking the time to visit our classroom for our parent child social last week. We took this opportunity during the International Montessori Week to celebrate Maria Montessori. Also, we felt it was important to remind ourselves of how fortunate we are to be a part of this wonderful community. Did you know it has been 117 years since the very first Casa dei Bambini opened up in Rome? Looks like we must be doing something right!!
UE2 Montessori Week presentations
A great appreciation for the work of Dr. Maria Montessori comes from the many opportunities for the students to learn about the pedagogy she developed more than 100 years ago. In UE2, the students presented to their peers what makes Montessori special.
Congratulations, Savannah!
The UE2 teachers created a fun way to reveal some exciting news from teacher Savannah.
Renowned cellist in Junior High
New York Cellist Zachary Mowitz visited Junior High last week where he spoke about climate change and demonstrated how musicians and artists around the world are responding to climate change. Of course, lots of playing and singing happened as well. Thank you, Zach, for leading us through these important conversations.
