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Butterfly release

Butterfly Release

Written by Cathy Bachman on . Posted in Announcements, Community News.

Our toddler program has been so excited about our special summer project: butterflies. Over the past few weeks, we have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to teach our littlest friends about some other little friends… insects! 

When the weather started warming up at the end of the school year, those teaching in our Stars and Moons class observed a multitude of students who were especially interested in our bug friends. Children were fast to point out any ants or rolly pollies they found, and many friends chose to spend their outside time digging for worms. Over the last few months, our students have done an exceptional job demonstrating their growth with how they treat our creature friends, learning to never squish them and instead practicing looking only with their eyes. As teachers, we always want to nurture and guide any interests that students naturally gravitate towards, and as such, our summer butterfly project was born.

Miss Brookyn has spearheaded this fun summer activity, taking time during circle everyday to teach the children about butterflies and the metamorphosis process. The students in our Dandelions class have been so excited to learn about the insects and watch them evolve from caterpillar, to chrysalis, and eventually a butterfly. Students were all invited to name their own caterpillar, and have been very hands on and inquisitive as we watched our fluttery friends grow. 

On Friday morning, we reached the final chapter of our butterfly journey, as it became time to release our sweet painted ladies out into the world. Our toddler class was joined by our infant program and a few families as we thanked the butterflies for their time in our class, and bid them adieu. The children showed enormous excitement seeing the butterflies fly around and explore the world, and have been talking about them non stop since! We are so thrilled to have had this opportunity to dive in deep and really explore the fixation these kiddos have with bugs, and cannot wait to see how this interest will present itself for the duration of our summer camp program. Thank you to those who came and joined us, it has been so lovely to have children and families alike involved with this! If you see any painted lady butterflies around our school, be sure to give them a wave and tell them the toddlers love and miss them.

Utah Fits All – Utah’s Scholarship Voucher Program

Written by MCS Admin on . Posted in Announcements, Blog, Community News, Parent Education.

Utah Fits All is a universal school choice scholarship program signed into law in 2023! All K-12 students who are residents of Utah qualify to receive the full amount of $8000 whether they currently attend public, private, homeschool, or are just starting kindergarten.

Scholarships will be available for use beginning with the 2024-25 school year.

Applications for this program are not open yet but you are able to Pre-Apply and join their mailing list so that you are the first to be notified when the program opens up.

Pre-Apply

Montessori Community Shool is excited to to accept students under this Scholarship / Voucher program allowing more students to receive a Montessori education in Utah and we believe it will benefit the entire education system in Utah.

the Second Year

An Overview of Montessori

Written by MCS Admin on . Posted in Blog, Community News, Parent Education.

Private School Review posted a fantastic review of Montessori, highlighting philosophy, principles, age-range, approach, and benefits. So much of what makes learning through Montessori beneficial can be seen in those who attended Montessori schools. Thinking outside the box, the founders of Google graduated from Montessori schools. Other important aspects of a Montessori classroom can be found here in Salt Lake City, near the University of Utah. Respect for the child, Self-directed learning, Individualized instruction, are just a few core principals which set Montessori apart from other academic driven schools. Ironically, numerous studies show that Montessori students do better on standardized tests than public school students and often more academically focused private schools. Engaged-children prove over and over that kids love to learn and if the classroom and tools are setup for them to do that, in a self-paced, hands-on way, they become successful, global-citizens.

See the full article https://www.privateschoolreview.com/blog/montessori-schools-an-overview

If you are interested in providing an effective way of learning for your child, please contact our admissions team or Request a Tour today.

Meet Carmen Olivera!

Written by Alejandro Malespin on . Posted in Announcements, Blog, Community News.

Carmen is the new Infant Program Teacher. Carmen was born in Peru, where she studied psychology but life brought her to Utah almost 12 years ago. She was looking for schools for her daughter when she found the Montessori method. She started working at a Montessori school in Park City where she founded their infant program, and completed her AMS Infant and Toddler Montessori Credential at the Westminster College Institute for Montessori Innovation (IMI). With 9 years of experience working with infants and toddlers, she believes that Montessori education is making a change in the world. In her free time Carmen enjoys spending time with her family and two dogs, hiking, camping, eating and cooking. We are delighted that she is joining our staff!

Farewell to Teachers

Written by Alejandro Malespin on . Posted in Announcements, Blog, Community News.

We are saddened to share the news of our four departing teachers: Ms. Nozomi, Ms. Fernanda, Ms. Alyssa, and Ms. Kayla.

Nozomi first worked with us near the beginning of the Toddler program and it was a real pleasure to work with her. After working with us for a few years her husband took a new position in Texas and their family moved there and stayed for several years. After she returned to Utah we were delighted to offer her a position at our school again and we have appreciated all that she has contributed to our school community and particularly to her students. From Nozomi.

Fernanda has worked at our school since we began our Toddler program so many years ago. She has a special gift for teaching and a deep understanding of the Montessori philosophy which she always practices. Over the many years she has contributed so much to our community and particularly to the students (and their families) she has taught. Our toddler program will be very different without her.

Alyssa also taught at our school near the beginning of our Toddler program but later pursued an alternative career, married and had her lovely little Elanor. This year she returned to teach at our school and joined Fernanda in the Moons class. They have been a close knit team and have offered so much to your children. Our Admin team is very grateful for their contributions. From Fernanda & Alyssa.

Kayla began working as an assistant teacher with Ms. Ruby and it was clear that she had a natural gift as a teacher and was so well suited to working in a Montessori school. After a few years she completed her education to become a Certified Montessori teacher and continued to work with Ruby in the Aspens class. This year she moved to the Magnolias class as the head teacher and has been a wonderful guide and will be really missed by her co-teachers, who will continue to work together with a new certified teacher. It has been such a pleasure to work with Kayla. She always has such a pleasant attitude and is so supportive of her peers and the Administration. We will miss her very much but do understand how close she is to her family and how much she is looking forward to living closer to them. From Kayla.

We wish all these valued teachers the very best in their new adventures, and hope to keep in touch.

Arohanui,

Robyn

End of Year Celebration

Written by Alejandro Malespin on . Posted in Announcements, Blog.

Our End of Year Celebration will take place on June 6th, 2023, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.

It will take place on the Green Space, so feel free to bring a lawn chair or blanket. There will also be a Magic Show at 6:30pm, and also face painting, carnival games, and treats.

MCS Teachers are the BEST!

Written by Cathy Bachman on . Posted in Announcements, Blog, Community News.

For Teacher Appreciation Week, we honored our teachers with flowers, snacks, sentiments, donuts and bagels, lunch and gift cards. Our Parent School Alliance organized the teacher recognition involving many parents for provisions, setup and delivery, and involved the Montessori Education Foundation to provide a catered lunch.

These wonderful people are personally and professionally prepared each day to serve as guides to our students.  They prepare themselves and the classroom daily to model peace, grace and courtesy, provide interesting lessons, assess the success of their instruction, adjust for differing interests, mediate classroom issues and celebrate the child.  These teachers are phenomenal in their year-long care and support of their students.

Parent Education-Healthy Boundaries

Written by Cathy Bachman on . Posted in Announcements, Blog, Parent Education.

Please join us Wednesday April 19 at 6:30 PM for the April Parent Education night. This event will highlight the Healthy Boundaries Curriculum in use at the school and how to carry on conversations at home, and will include the importance of understanding emotions as it relates to the curriculum.

This will be an in-person event.

Presenters are Jennifer Taylor our School Nurse and Amanda Bywaters our Student Support Coordinator. There will be a Q&A session, books and resources available for parents viewing and snacks!

Garden work

Professional Development Days

Written by Cathy Bachman on . Posted in Blog.

Our March Professional Development days last week provided our staff with a wonderful opportunity to all come together at the same time to learn and engage with each other. We focused on bringing much needed training on policies and procedures to our staff. We had a large focus on the Health, Wellness, and Safety of all members of our community as well as the Student Support training. This policy will be available soon on our website so look for it. All staff also had the opportunity to deep clean and organize in their classrooms and prepare curriculum and end of year items for the remainder of the school year. 

Our priority task was sharing our new Risk Management Policy with the staff. We continued with Part B of our Creating A Culture of Safety: Child Abuse Prevention in-service training. Infant and Toddler staff learned more about using sign language in their classrooms. All other teaching staff had training on new Student Support observation forms. 

All of us benefited from training from Nurse Jen who switched roles with our teachers and stepped into the educator role to provide training on medical response protocols during our PD days. We started off discussing the staff and student Incident/Accident forms and how to assess for concussion symptoms and continuing to observe for new or worsening symptoms. 

Tending the wounded
Tending our gardens
Creating blankets

We went through the classroom emergency backpacks and discussed the purpose of each of the first aid items and how to use them. Nurse Jen provided a demonstration of how to provide first aid for wounds before having everyone partner up to participate in a scenario where everyone had a chance to wrap each other’s wounds. We also discussed participation in the Stop The Bleed training as part of our CPR and First Aid training requirements. 

Nurse Jen wrapped up her training sessions with our extended day and new teachers to review Medical Action and Support Plans and provided training for how to respond to situations such as Asthma, Anaphylaxis, and Epilepsy in the school setting.

During these days we also enjoyed some service project work. Outside we started garden bed preparation, turning over the soil and planting flowers and early vegetables. We also contributed completed fleece blankets for Project Linus.