Montessori Buzz – Sept 28, 2021
Dear MA Families & Friends,
FYI: Message from Tina tomorrow
We’ll share a special message from Tina Sartori, our Executive Director, on Wednesday about our first school-wide Orange Shirt Day in recognition of The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30. The message includes resources available online to assist families with discussing Indigenous issues, Orange Shirt Day and Residential Schools. Also, every student in the school will receive an T-shirt on Thursday morning in recognition of this holiday.
Also, the Board President’s message on Thursday
Watch for an email on Thursday from Suzanne Fratschko Elliott, President of our Board of Governors.
Extended Hours Registration: October
If you need your child/ren in Early/Extended Hours for the month of October, please register them online by visiting: https://montessoriacademy.campbrainregistration.com/.
What’s For Dinner?! Order Deadline is Friday!
Don’t forget to place your What’s for Dinner order before the October 1 deadline!
So, What’s for Dinner?!! Growing Chefs and MA have partnered to offer this very limited fundraiser! Pre-order frozen family size entrees of our student’s top fave hot lunch meals and then store them in your freezer until you’re ready to serve them for dinner. Funds raised from this event will support upgrades to our Elementary Library!
Online orders are due before Friday October 1. As always, only a limited number of frozen entrees are available. Each Order is a Family Serving Size of 4 to 5 People.
Savour the flavours of Fall this October with entrees from this fantastic menu!
- Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese $35
- Shepherd’s Pie (GF) $35
- Turkey burgers (Package of 12) $35
- Sausage, Kale and White Bean Soup – $15
- Coconut pumpkin soup – $15 (VEG, GF)
- Apple Crisp (Frozen) – $25
https://montessori.on.ca/whats-for-dinner/
For questions or more information email Tonya at tdendrinos@montessori.on.ca
Save the Date: Halloween Boo-ling
It’s B-A-A-A-A-C-K (best spooky voice) Bowling, Laser Tag, Games, Treats, Pizza, Arcade and Friends!
Join us for an evening of Halloween Fun at Palasad South! Come in your FAVOURITE costume! The past years events have been well attended by many families and everyone has a great time!
Tickets are $25 each and include: one hour of bowling, a $4 Arcade card, pizza and entrance to the party room! Tickets must be purchased to attend. Laser tag can be added on for an additional $10.
Mark October 28 on your calendars and watch for ticket sales to begin next week!
https://montessori.on.ca/halloween/
Volunteering and vaccinations
We are grateful to be able to return to field trips and intramural sports this year! With that in mind, we will be asking families to support our students as volunteers. Many businesses, organizations, and recreational facilities require proof of vaccination. To protect our students and community, we will require all volunteers who interact with our students to be double-vaccinated.
Heads up: Spirit Wear sale launches Friday!
It’s the return of MA Spirit Wear! Our Spirit Wear sale launches Friday! Order online before Wednesday, Oct. 13. Items will be delivered to school and then sent home with the children. If your order is a gift, please email info@montessori.on.ca , and we will package the order discreetly.
You can find a link to the order form on the MA Parent Portal starting Oct 1 under:
- EVENTS on your child’s Classroom Bulletin Board
- NEWS tab / Featured Content
MA’s first ever Terry Fox Run
There will be no cross country this year and no trek to Gibbons Park for an in school meet. Instead, Janet and Dave are super proud to announce Montessori Academy’s first ever Terry Fox Run. This run will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, September 29, at Piccadilly Park. The idea is to have students and staff run or walk a lap of the park as many times as they can in their time slot.
Laps will be recorded and then tallied into kilometers at the end of the day. We will then take the number of Kilometers that we’ve done as a school and map it out following Terry’s path.
The schedule:
- Upper Elementary and Junior High meet and run/walk at Piccadilly Park from 9:45-11:30 am.
- Lower Elementary will run/walk after playtime from 1:15-2:45 pm.
We can’t wait to kick off this fun new activity! AND the weather looks to be awesome with a high of 21 on Wednesday.
Scholastic orders online
Scholastic flyers will start to be sent home again this year! What’s awesome about scholastic orders (other than cool books) is that they will donate back 20% of your purchase total (before taxes) to support the purchase of books for our classrooms and the Elementary library!
All transactions will be done ONLINE through www.Scholastic.ca and they also offer Free Shipping over $40, and send it straight to your house! All you need to do is add your appropriate Classroom Codes!
- For Elementary, please use the code: RC 150717
- For Toddler/Casa, please see your October letters on the Parent Portal later this week for your specific classroom’s code!
Thank you for your continued support! And happy reading!
Junior High Navigation Week
By Tessa and Evelyn
Navigation week is a longstanding tradition in Junior High. For the first few weeks in September, students learn about the classroom, the lunch program, organization and planning, and participate in icebreakers, trips and personal growth workshops.
In the first part of Navigation, students attended various workshops such as: Mapping Our Hearts (remembering and appreciating what is most important to us), Mindfulness Sit Spots (reflecting on the present by appreciating what is around us) and Meditative Drawing and Colouring (finding calm through art). We also watched, “The Time You Have (In Jellybeans)” a video that encourages us to realize the time we have left and what we want to do with it.
Students then answered questions about it, such as “What are ways you can be intentional about your time, both at school, and at home?” All of the handouts that followed these lessons were kept in our Navigation folder, which contains a study calendar sample that we used to organize our work. Many Year 8 students volunteered to run workshops on planning, the website, and binder set-up. Thank you!
The second part of Navigation included both Student Vote, Multiple Intelligences and Fixed and Growth Mindsets workshops. We discovered our strengths and areas where improvement is prompted. We worked with groups to discuss and answer questions about the two mindsets and how they relate to personal growth. Students had their first Seminar of the year, on the Importance of Presence. We completed reflective journals on the Longwoods Conservation trip, Student Vote, and Multiple Intelligences. Navigation is a time to learn about the Junior High community, environment and one’s self; it enables students to excel through the academic year and through life. Although we are sad to leave Navigation behind, we are so excited to begin a routine schedule for the year!
Junior High’s Summer Exploration
This summer, the Junior High students did some exploring. Now, not the type of exploring that you might expect. When we think about exploration, travel and adventure typically come to mind. However, students didn’t traverse the deserts of Egypt or venture to the depths of the sea floor; we engaged in something much more essential: personal exploration. We increased our knowledge and horizons by researching a topic of our choice and of our interest. On September 13 and 14 students stood in front of the class to share a short, informal presentation about their experiences. There were many interesting topics such as: vacations, a Rubik’s cube demonstration, photography, and the environment. We learned about everything from writing a novel to publishing the shortest song ever! We really got to know ourselves, our classmates and improved our public speaking skills. Each project was wonderfully unique and had a touch of individual creativity. All in all this project was greatly enjoyed by the Junior High students. An immense thanks to the teachers!