Montessori Buzz – Nov. 12, 2019
Updated 2019: Weather-related school closure policy
The school follows the Thames Valley District School Board in the event of weather-related school closures – if the public school board closes its administrative offices and all city schools, Montessori Academy will close, too.
As noted in your printed Year at a Glance Calendar, in the event of severe weather, the school will make a decision about closing the school by 7:15 am, if possible. If we decide to close the school, we will send an email and SMS/text message to all families.
If you have not received a text or email by 7:25 am, it is safe to assume the school is open.
We will also post an update via Facebook and Twitter, and will update our website’s homepage with the RED news tab. However, we ask families to please check for a text messages first for school closure announcements.
A couple of related notes:
If on any occasion you believe the weather is too bad to drive your child(ren) to school, feel free to keep them home. If you choose to keep your children home, please contact the Front Desk.
Also, bus cancellations due to bad road conditions do not necessarily mean that the school TVDSB’s offices and city schools are closed. These cancellations sometimes cause confusion. Please watch for our school-closure notifications.
Our Annual Appeal launches!
This Friday, the Annual Appeal letter will be sent home with our students and mailed to friends and supporters in our community. The Annual Appeal launched early this year to give you opportunities to spread your gift throughout the school year, and will run until June 30, 2019. You’ll find a letter outlining our goals for the 2019-20 school year with a theme of “completing the puzzle”. With each donation, a puzzle piece will be provided to the donor to decorate and place on a poster in the Main Office.
While our current special project is improvements to the Elementary building at 711 Waterloo, we invite you to choose any area of need within our school. We have come so far over the last 50 years because of the tremendous support of families and the community. Your gifts to the Annual Appeal make it the most successful fundraising initiative for our school and allow us to complete these special projects. All donations made to the Annual Appeal receive a charitable tax receipt.
Donate securely online through this link!
Flipgive: Just in time for your holiday shopping
Many online shopping sites that you already use give a percentage back to the school! Learn more about how you can support MA while shopping for the holidays here!
Volunteers Needed for the Winter Carnival Committee
Join us on the planning committee for a new event this year: MA’s first Winter Carnival. The Winter Carnival will take place at the Stronach Community Centre on Sunday, February 23, 2020, from 10am to 2pm. The Carnival will raise funds to help with this year’s annual appeal. Volunteers are needed now to start the planning process. The committee will meet once a month leading up to the event. Please contact Tonya Dendrinos at tdendrinos@montessori.on.ca or 519-433-9121 ext. 233 if you are interested in helping to plan this exciting event. Sign up soon! The first meeting will take place at the end of this month.
Save the Date: Winter Celebration Dec. 3 at 4 p.m.
Please plan to join us at Forest City Community Church on Tuesday, Dec. 3 for our annual Winter Celebration. This year, the festivities kick off a bit earlier than past years – at 4 p.m.
Watch for more details in an invitation on Friday in school bags. Please return the tear-off slip by Friday, Nov. 22.
Reminder: There will be no after-school Extended Hours at any of our locations so that all of our staff can attend this very special holiday event.
The coziest day of the year is next week…
Casa Learn Your Level session recap
Thank you to all of the families who joined us for the Casa Learn Your Level parent information session last week. Tonight’s session will follow the Montessori math lessons through Elementary and Junior High.
Some parent feedback on the Casa session:
From Li: Throughout this Learn Your Level event I was absolutely fascinated by what my son Parker will go through in his three years of studying at Casa. It’s wonderful to know what are the meanings behind each piece of work on the shelves and to experience what the lessons are with all the amazing Casa teachers. I was most impressed by how math is being introduced through different levels – and math was actually fun (LOL). I could truly feel the passion for teaching from all the Casa teachers when they spoke to us about the classroom materials and ways of teaching. I can see the shine in their eyes. Thank you all so much for what you do! You guys are truly making wonders.
From Lauren: I really enjoyed the Learn Your Level event for the Casa curriculum. It is very exciting to see how interactive the materials are and how they make learning fun for the kids. The event also helped me understand the theory behind the different pieces of work. My kids often talk about individual pieces of work and now I know the details of many of them and how they fit into the learning process for the different subject matters. I also enjoyed learning how some of the materials are seen again in a slightly different form in the Lower Elementary program. Most of all I enjoyed the chance to interact with the teachers and ask them questions – the teachers and staff of the Casa program are always so engaged and caring. My kids often come home from school and pretend to be their teachers giving friends from their class’s lessons. It’s heartwarming.
Sports Updates
Senior Volleyball
Playoffs begin for both teams next week, the girls will play Holy Family and the boys are at St Martin. Good luck!
Intramural soccer
Upper Elementary students had an opportunity to participate in an in school soccer tournament with the winning teams moving on to a one-day tournament at the BMO Centre. The girls played Tuesday and the boys played Wednesday. Both teams did very well and were great representatives of Montessori Academy.
Senior Hockey
The hockey team has their first ice time on Thursday, November 14 at 8 am at Argyle arena.
Roller Skating Field Trip
Students in Year 5 will take part in a Roller Skating field trip on Tuesday, Nov. 19 from 9:30-11 am. Notes will be sent home outlining further details.
Our Annual Report is now online
Did you receive your postcard leading to our Annual Report in your child’s blue bag on Friday? We’re trying something new this year – a PDF-only issue of our annual report. Please take a few moments to read through our 2018-2019 year in review!
Find it here: https://montessori.on.ca/annual-report/
Casa 3 Special Guest
Gabriel’s father, Saverio, came into our classroom to teach the children about his homeland of Italy. It was a lovely presentation and the students learned so much about the geography, food, and some of the traditions of the Italian culture. Gabriel’s mom, Rachel, also assisted and we want to thank this family for providing a yummy snack and giving everyone a little “taste of Italy! Grazie!
Final fall fun before the snow
Just minutes before the flakes started flying last Wednesday, Asha and her classmates enjoyed some quality time outside.
Remembrance Day Assembly
Thank you, Corporal Miranda Angelini for joining us for our annual Remembrance Day Assembly. Thank you to our families who attended this very special event. The students have received many kudos for their performances and presentations via the school’s Facebook page.
This video of the JH band performing at the assembly is on our Facebook page, and has racked up over 1,700 views since Friday: https://www.facebook.com/MontessoriAcademyofLondon/videos/1811990892277596/
11/11 at 11:00 in Junior High
Here is a quick clip of what JH did to honour Remembrance Day yesterday at 11:00 am:
Where in the World is MA?
Alex from LE3 and Michael from Casa 3 learned all about the Rio Secreto (Secret River) today while on vacation in Mexico. They walked and swam in an underground river learning about stalactites and stalagmites. They also saw bats, catfish and spider crickets along the way! (Editor’s Note: Sooo jealous right now…)
GREAT VIEWING: Grace and Courtesy: Building A Better World | Dr. Timothy Purnell
Less than 15 minutes long, this Ted Talk with Dr. Timothy Purnell, frankly, should be required viewing. Purnell summarizes the many ways traditional Montessori education prepares children for life and work in the real world — and inspires them to create a better world! A former head of public schools, he’s now the CEO of the American Montessori Society (AMS). https://youtu.be/xgg9dpXZwIU
More details on Marty’s release party
‘Honouring all of the women in my life, and yours, Friday November 22nd. Everyone Welcome!’
