Attention Montessori Market Visitors: This year in light of a number of severe allergies in our school community, we are asking everyone to be mindful with the food items available for sale at the Market. Please read and discuss the following guidelines with your students. We sincerely appreciate your attention to this matter! We are asking all customers to refrain from eating food items at the time of purchase. Parents are welcome to enjoy refreshments in the area designated for Coffee Thursday, while students should only eat these items at lunchtime or in their own classroom/s before lunch (at the discretion of their teachers).All food items will have corresponding signs informing our customers as to their main ingredients. As a rule, any item individually wrapped should be assumed to contain dairy and/or eggs.We do ask everyone to be vigilant in washing hands directly after eating to help combat cross contamination.
Thank you to those who participated in our Health and Safety Committee Meetings last Friday. Many good ideas came from those meetings, which will be communicated at our upcoming Town Hall on Tuesday, October 15th. You can expect to learn more about a possible adjustment to our vaccination policy (of which we will be seeking parent input), the implementation of a new extraordinary measures policy in regards to preventable diseases, the implementation of a Parent Advisory Committee upon whom we can call for guidance in best health and safety practices, and updates about our accreditation process. Please watch for an evite with details and to RSVP for this event. Note that there will be child care available for this event and thank you for signing up in advance in the office for child care.
The honeymoon period for the new year may be wearing off and you may be finding that mornings are getting more and more tough. If you find that your children are significantly less enthusiastic about bouncing out of bed and preparing for school, you are not alone. That said, tardiness to school can have a wide range of negative outcomes for students. Below are some ideas for young children to help bypass the drama. Keep in mind that Montessori children are used to independence, to having a say, and to consistency. Have 5 bins of the same color available for your child to plan their outfits for the week. On Sunday nights, create time for your child to put outfits together for the entire week. This allows your child the option to choose their clothes for the week, while also limiting the overwhelm of an entire closet or dresser full of clothes when...
13th Annual Fun Run 2019 Wednesday - September 25, 2019 Donate Now Our students have the unique opportunity to raise pledges for Service Learning Projects:The Children of Ethiopia Education Fund (COEEF) - Specifically, the COEEF program sponsors girls in Ethiopia so they can attend school.Adopt-a-Native Elder Program - Allows us to reach out to one another, share our gifts, and mend the broken circle of our relationship with the Land and the Native Americans who hold it in sacred trust.MEF Growth & Education - Continuing to grow the Montessori Educational Foundation nonprofit though grassroots Montessori advocacy and support Make a bigger impact by Helping your child to set a goal to raise a certain amount.Helping your child tell family and friends about the Fun Run. You would be surprised how many friends, neighbors and grandparents are eager to support such a worthwhile cause.Helping your child actively participate. (For example, earning money...
Questions are one of the most powerful teachers in existence. How else do we really know where someone else is coming from? And how can we possibly meet them where they are at without that information? Asking questions gives kids a chance to think critically, use their language, and reason and decide. It’s in the presence of their trusted adults they will do the most learning. Might as well use a method that involves them! Enjoy reading about how to use questions to help a child work through a mistake or problem.
Our Emergency Preparedness Committee would like to invite interested parents to join in creating action plans around the items listed below. We would be happy to share our preliminary plans of action with you; if interested please contact Britney or Brandi. We will be hosting committee meetings during the following times: September 20 @ 10:30am: Vaccination Policy Review Committee (contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) September 20 @ 1:00pm: Infectious Disease Action Plan Committee (contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)September 20 @ 3:00pm: Educating the Community on Best Practices for Health & Safety Measures (contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) If you are unable to attend these meetings and are interested in being part of the committee or have contributions for this discussion, please contact Britney, Brandi or Margaret. A Town Hall where we will apprise the community of work to date is scheduled for Tuesday, October 15 at 6:00pm (childcare provided). More info to come.
Speech, language, and hearing screenings will be taking place Wednesday, September 18th. Let's Talk Speech will be coming in to implement those screenings. If your student is a kindergartener, they can be screened for free as long as the proper form (above) is filled out and turned into the office by the morning of the 18th. If you would like your student screened and they are NOT a kindergartener, it will be $20 for a speech and language screening. Note that hearing screenings will be held on a different day. Dear Parents, Montessori Community School will be holding speech and language screenings on Wednesday, September 18th. All Kindergarteners will have the opportunity to participate in the screenings. If your child is in another grade and you have concerns, please fill out the bottom portion of this letter. The screenings will be a general, brief measure of your child’s speech and language skills in order to determine...
One of the key tenets for the Toddler department at MCS is to foster independence. There are many ways that we help guide our students through their exploration and discovery of their environment. Toddlers love to learn by doing even when it does not look as clean and concise as we might like it to. This article from Psychology Today speaks to the idea of letting our toddlers help in a variety of ways to grow their sense of independence.
Montessori Community School’s current policy on immunizations states that we must have up-to-date immunization records or a completed and signed Utah Department of Health exemption (for medical, religious or personal reasons) on file before each child's first day of attendance. It is the intention of MCS to require a student who has claimed an exemption to all vaccines or to one vaccine to stay home from school if there is good cause to believe that: The student has a vaccine preventable disease,Has been exposed to a vaccine-preventable disease,Or will be exposed to a vaccine-preventable disease as a result of school attendance. An excluded student may not attend school until the local health officer is satisfied that a student is no longer at risk of contracting or transmitting a vaccine-preventable disease. Our records for this academic year indicate that we currently have less than 1% of our total enrollment with a status...
The partnership between teachers and parents is the best way to support your child’s educational experience. Nurturing that partnership is important on both ends! Relationships where both parties take equal accountability are the most successful. Give and take, along with clear, consistent communication are crucial to ensuring the most success possible. This short article, from Primary at Montessorium, gives some cool tips for nurturing your parent-teacher relationship!Please note that Montessori Compass, our weekly email newsletter, classroom calendars, email and teachers office hours are a few of the ways we communicate with parents. Our doors are always open and we invite you to contact us with any questions.
Dear MCS Parents,It has been a year of learning and growth as our administrative team have adjusted to new roles and responsibilities. Although many of us have taken on new responsibilities this year, we have been fortunate to make this transition as a committed and familiar team who have worked closely with one another for a number of years. Robyn has provided a great deal of guidance and even more trust while sharing her vision with our students, staff and parents. Our staff have continued to provide a quality education, with a deep commitment to the Montessori philosophy and a spirit of community, to ensure a year filled with the kind of success you have come to expect from our school. We are indeed grateful (and lucky!) to have such a wonderful staff who are committed and trustworthy. Over the past several years we have been working towards our IMC Accreditation and have...
Our Aspens and Willows classes had the opportunity to celebrate their wonderful mothers last week during their Mother's Day Tea Events. Aspens invited their mothers to join them in their classroom to enjoy a breakfast snack; also a lovely chance for their mothers to see what classroom life is like for their children. They were treated to a lovely flower on their way out.Willows had a wonderful Mother’s Day Tea in the gym. The students prepared lovely little sandwiches for their mothers and the gym was decorated with care by the children. After sharing tea, fruit and baked goods, the students sang a song to their mothers.Other classes celebrate parents and families in a variety of ways and we look forward to hosting more parent events in the coming weeks.
Looking for some great ways to create a positive summer schedule that requires movement, human interaction, and contribution to the family community before your child delves into the screens? This is a great guide for summer routines for kids of all ages!
MCS has been apart of safety meetings taking place at Hillside Middle School. Administrators from the SLC School District, Dilworth, Beacon Heights, Cosgriff Memorial, UDot, City Council, and other traffic control departments are taking an in-depth look into the ebb and flow of children in the surrounding neighborhoods.We are in the process of getting signage on 1700 South indicating to passers by, this is a school zoned area. We have installed flags to help those who are already crossing the street. As our school community is parking out front and on streets across from the front entrance, we encourage our families to utilize these flags and be vigilant about watching for students crossing this portion of road and then through our parking lot in the back to get to the other various schools in the immediate area. Especially as the weather warms, we will see more students walking, scootering, and biking to school. Thank you for...
While mothers and fathers are often celebrated around the world, there is also a special day that celebrates children. El Día de los Niños (Children's Day) is a celebration of children that takes place annually on April 30 in Mexico. The celebration emphasizes the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.Why celebrate Children's Day? In the struggle to provide for their kids, parents may sometimes forget that confidence and creativity isn't nurtured by fear and discipline. It's a happy childhood that helps kids really succeed in their adult lives. Where is Children's Day celebrated? Today, 86 countries - or most of world's nations - celebrate Children's Day to publicly promote the idea that "children are our future". In Mexico, Children's Day is celebrated on April 30. In Japan, May 5th is recognized as Children's Day. In Canada, Egypt and Finland, November 20 is National Children's Day. The...
Declutter DayFriday, April 26th 20199:00 am - 6:00 pm595 Guardsman Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108University of Utah Tailgate LotFree to the PublicShred documents safelyDonate used clothingRecycle old computers and electronicsTurn in expired medication to the University of Utah Police DepartmentFor a complete list of items accepted, please go to www.commerce.utah.gov/declutter
What to expect when Toddlers transition to Early Childhood ClassroomTransition to any new classroom requires change for children, parents and even teachers, who are eager to meet and learn the unique personality and gifts of each child. But the change can be slightly different for different age groups. Here are some things you may notice about the environment of your child’s new classroom; the group sizes and ratios, staff communication and new education opportunities. At Montessori Community School the transition from our Toddler Classroom to Early Childhood Classroom takes place at two different times. If the toddler is enrolled for summer, is three years old by June 1st and the teachers consider him/her to be ready to enter the Early Childhood program he/she would transition on the first day of Summer Camp. All other toddlers who are scheduled to move to Early Childhood for the next Academic Year would move at...
Science is defined as the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. It is so important to motivate elementary-aged students with science. A Montessori philosophy advocates that children between the ages of six through eleven are in a sensitive period for learning and testing new academic skills. They are looking at the world by assessing their own abilities and accomplishments by making comparisons between themselves and others.They are also learning about social relationships beyond the family through interaction with friends and fellow students. A Science Fair creates a model of this idea, process, and system beginning with instruction as to the what the scientific method is (a systematic process for experimentation that is used to explore observations). A science fair cues and peaks an elementary-aged student's hunger for testing and comparing in a social setting.At the beginning of March, our...
Our Upper Elementary class have been studying poetry and in the process of searching for inspiration for a Haiku poem, one of our 5th year students wrote the below poem, free-verse style. Sevilla told us that Free-Verse is her favorite style of poetry because it doesn't put any limitations on the writer and allows for more creativity than other types of poetry. Please enjoy. For more inspiring work by our Uinta students (9-12 year olds), be sure to visit the lower level east hallway (near the dance studio). Earth Day InspirationOur world will soon be ashes,So dreamers listen up.Our world will be a graveyard,As humans raise their cup.Our world will be a ghost town,Before you can even blink.Because even the sturdiest swimmer,Eventually will sink.So dreamers, find your wild side,So explorers find your earth,So workers find your forest,And wanderers find your mirth.Call upon the fire,Buried deep within your bones.Because everybody must unite,If we want...