INSIDE THIS ISSUE... Page 1 Families that Plant Together Grow Together Page 2 Summer Camp Page 3 PTO Page 4-10 Classroom Updates Page 11 Literature Page 12-13 Spanish Page 14 Drama - Spotlight Kids Page 15 Debate Page 16 PE Page 17 End of the Year Show Page 18-19 End of the Year Show Cast Lists Page 20-21 Media - Dr. Seuss Day Page 22 Parents Nights Page 23 Showcase Page 24 Calendar
QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER FROM MILLHOPPER MONTESSORI SCHOOL
MONTESSORI
Monitor
M A R C H
2 0 1 5
Families that Plant Together Grow Together By MMS Owner and Teacher, Ms. Christina Miller It is developmentally appropriate for children to learn hands on and through their five senses.
One of the most joyful ways is to plant seeds and watch them grow. Children are constantly drawn to smell, touch, and gather collections of leaves, seeds, flowers, and even insects. They are fascinated by the tiniest of things and watching a tiny seed gradually reveal itself as it grows provides a magical experience and can bring about a peace of mind. Children as young as two years can and should have the opportunity to garden before they develop an aversion to nature. More often than not children are told not to touch something or put something in their mouths. All the attitudes that accompany the sanitizing trend have contributed to children being tactilely defensive. Many children today cannot tolerate putting their hands in paper machete or scooping seeds out of a pumpkin. A home garden provides a perfect opportunity for children to cooperate with their family for a common goal. Each family member has a turn watering, weeding, harvesting and solving problems. Sometimes insects or squirrels, for example, may destroy some of the plants. Sometimes plants may be selected to attract butterflies. Ladybugs may be purchased and released to solve the pest problem naturally. All these decisions make wonderful family discussions while providing valuable quality time. The academic extensions are endless. A garden is an ever changing laboratory for fine tuning observation skills needed in every subject area. It is a ripe environment for graphing, measuring, journaling, researching, identifying, and vocabulary building such as whether a particular leaf’s shape is reniform, elliptical, or maybe spatulate. As time passes, gardening time also gave a family the chance to observe the changing seasons, the birds which frequent their yard, and the types of trees and wildflowers that grow there. In a time when many children are focused on indoor activities, such as computer and video games, give your children the chance to experience the natural world in a more meaningful way. Rather than just looking to nature and seeing woods, your children will be able to identify pine trees, oak trees, and native flowers. Rather than just seeing birds, they see more specifically robins, bluebirds, and others. In this, your gardening and exploration of the outdoors can serve to enrich your children’s world view and bring your family closer together. Garden grass covered soil digging, chopping, feeling good planting seeds, growing by Ahmik (age 5)
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MMS’ PTO’s last two Spirit “Knight” fundraisers in January and February were great successes! Many families and staff dined out at Piesanos and Sonny’s, and by mentioning our school we earned a percentage from the restaurants those nights. Congratulations to the PTO for acquiring over a few hundred dollars these times around, and thank you to Piesanos and Sonny’s for participating with our school! Join us for our last Spirit “Knight” at Sonny’s (39th Ave. location only) on Tuesday, April 7th from 5:00-9:00 PM. It’s an opportunity to eat a delicious meal with friends and family, while simultaneously supporting MMS!
‘Knight’ Under the Stars presented by MMS PTO
Join us on Saturday , April 25th from 7:00-9:00pm at the Senior Center for a semi-formal event and fundraiser to support the MMS PTO and the End of the Year Show, Seussical Jr. The event will be a night of mingling, dancing and a silent auction , which will even include items handmade by your children. Tickets are on sale now! PAGE
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Preschool : Ages 3 to 5 Ms. Christina Eckstein ~ Ms. Lily Tajalli The beginning of 2015 started our journey around the continent of Africa. The people, customs, and animals of Africa fascinated the children. The children created several African-inspired art projects including African necklaces, Africa maps with push-pinned African animals, a lion cutting work and zebra painting utilizing our sound of the week, “z” for the body. We also sang songs in Swahili and played African drums.
Playing the African drum
Painting stripes on the letter ‘Z’
Our second Parent Night of the year was held on Thursday, February 5 th. The second parent night is always an amazing time for the parents to watch the children work and to see how much they have progressed since the beginning of the year. Several students chose to show their parents how to utilize the golden bead materials to illustrate the concept of place value. Others showed their parents how to compose phonetic words with the moveable alphabet. At the end of the evening, everyone participated in one of our favorite circle time songs coinciding with our Africa unit called Pole Pole. Pole Pole is call-and-response song where many of the students demonstrated leadership skills as they individually led us in the song as they “called” to us and we “responded” back.
Counting with Golden Beads Presenting the Movable Alphabet PAGE
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During the month of February, our class studied reptiles and amphibians. The students classified, compared and contrasted a variety of animals in the two categories. The children learned about the anatomy, characteristics, habitats, life cycles and eating habits of many different types of reptiles and amphibians. During the work cycle time, the children had the opportunity to engage in the “parts of a frog” and “parts of the turtle” puzzles, the frog life cycle work, matching activities and frog counting. The highlight of the unit was making edible snakes out of cucumbers (body), red peppers (tongue) and sliced black olives (eyes)!
Parts of the frog puzzle
Snake snack creation Turtle matching
On January 26th we celebrated 100 days of school! In February, it was Valentine’s Day!
And, on March 2nd we celebrated Dr. Seuss’ Birthday!
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Preschool/Kindergarten Ms. Elizabeth Falls ~ Ms. Jessica Pytko We would like to welcome Andres and his family to our class. Andres has fit right in and seems to be very comfortable and “at home” in our “family”! During the month of November, the children learned about life during the colonial times in a mini-unit. They were very interested in the style of dress and how children lived during these times; especially with no electricity. We emphasized the importance of family and friends and how thankful we are not only on Thanksgiving Day but all throughout the year! Our classroom family enjoyed eating delicious foods prepared by many of our families at our Thanksgiving Feast. They had a wonderful time.
Dressed up for the feast
In January, our class continued to study the Continent of Africa. The children learned about the Rain Forest, Savanna, Desert, and Chaparral (scrub land); animals; African lifestyle; foods and many handicrafts the African people make. To enhance their learning and to allow the children to better understand an environment different than their own, the children enjoyed activities integrated into their everyday curriculum. Activities included push pinning animals, making African animal booklets, arts and crafts. Science: Each year the students work on and present to the class a mini research project. This is the beginning of learning basic research skills and helps the children to become more comfortable with “public speaking”. This year’s research focused on the animals from Africa. We discussed in class where and how we can find information; not only on the Internet but to also visit the library, museum and bookstores. It was up to the child as to how he/she wanted to “present” their findings to the class. The children did a wonderful job and we were all impressed with how much they learned during this process. Our next Continent Unit Study will take us to Antarctica where the children will learn about Penguins! In February we had our final Parent Night of the 2014-2015 school year. The children have grown so much not only academically but socially and emotionally since our first Parent Night! The students demonstrated new work and I enjoyed being able to present small group lessons on math (Dynamic Addition) and language using the Movable Alphabet and the “Dot, Dot, Dash” concept (dot = one letter, one sound; dash = two or more letters, one sound) in the manner in which I present them during a typical school day. I hope that this format gave you a better idea of how lessons are presented and what our typical morning work cycle looks like in our classroom.
In the area of academics, the children continue to enjoy working with the Waseca Reading Program and some of the children are now working on more complex phonogram lessons and beginning reading comprehension skills. Lessons on alphabetizing, compound words, antonyms, synonyms and homonyms have also been presented and will continue for the remaining of this year as well as formal D’Nealian handwriting lessons. In the coming months, some of the children will be learning about sentence analysis; nouns, verbs and adjectives. In the area of mathematics, some of the children have increased the number of digits they are working with in the place value concept. PAGE
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This includes lessons in both Static and Dynamic (concept of exchanging) operations of Addition, Multiplication and Subtraction. Concepts of Telling Time, Money Values and Word-Problem Solving have also been presented; the children are enjoying working on these new lessons. The Stamp Game, which directly corresponds to the golden bead material, will soon be introduced.
We are studying the Layers of the Earth, Rocks and Minerals. The children were able to break open some geodes with our 7th grade interns (Ross Dobbins and Lacey Frye). The children are also learning the difference between Igneous, Metamorphic and Sedimentary rocks. Developmental and Multicultural Art Activities: Developmental Art is carefully woven into our academic curriculum. The best way for children to understand and appreciate other cultures is to learn when experiences are concrete; exploring its people, foods, music and by creating some of its arts and crafts using hands-on techniques and materials. As each piece of art is different and unique, children learn too how we are different, how we are alike and how we are connected to cultures from around the world. Fine and gross motor skills are also constantly being developed through various art projects. Over the past few months here are some of the developmental and multicultural art activities the children have done:
Owl Hand Prints; items for our Thanksgiving Feast - Indian headbands, necklaces, and the children designed their own tablecloth; winter holiday projects – snowman (complete with earmuffs!) made from spaghetti jars, Styrofoam balls, wire, fabric, pom poms and glitter; and holiday candles and fabric-decorated glass plates.
African inspired projects included: adorable lions made from paper plates; dough beads (made by the children) to shape, bake and paint to make necklaces; African design sponge paintings and each child designed their own African Masks (wall art).
The months of April and May will continue to find us very busy. Some upcoming events and activities will include: Spring Celebration and Egg Hunt in April; Parent Appreciation Brunch in May (more details to follow) and Kindergarten Graduation in May. Have a Happy Spring Break!
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Lower Elementary : 1st & 2nd Grade Ms. Erin Sorel ~ Ms. Susie Long
During the second and third quarters, 1st and 2nd graders have been delving more deeply into their studies and expanding areas of focus. Now that our routines are well established, the children are able to function with more autonomy. In the second and third quarters, we studied the United States. Each student was assigned a state to explore, and created a research project in class. Second graders proudly presented their projects to the rest of the class. Students were presented with some new work to help them learn about some of our most famous presidents. Other activities for learning about presidents included reading stories and creating silhouettes of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.
1st grade girls work with the Florida Geography mat
In the second quarter, we began a study of our home state. Using our Florida Geography mat, students practiced labeling Florida cities and important landmarks, and then “traveling� from one city to another by following commands using the cardinal and intermediate directions. Second graders learned the geology of how sinkholes are formed in Florida, which we demonstrated by dissolving limestone rocks in vinegar. Now that we have studied our own country and state, we are going overseas! Students began a continent study of Africa during the last week of February. They are hard at work creating animal research reports at home, and are looking forward to sharing what they’ve learned with the rest of the class.
2nd graders present their state research projects
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In our Science studies, students were introduced to Botany, which we will continue to work on outdoors in our class garden this spring. As with our animal studies, we began by looking at scientific classification of plants. Students learned vocabulary for plant classification such as vascular and non-vascular plants. Students set up several experiments to learn more about the functions of different parts of plants, and sprouted seeds in order to determine which were monocot and which were dicot seeds. Students learned the chemical reaction that takes place inside plants, allowing them to carry out photosynthesis. We then learned more about chemical reactions as we studied states of matter and physical and chemical changes. Time for an experiment!
During the second semester, our class created a beautiful quilt to be raffled off to benefit the Bread of the Mighty Food Bank. The children had a good time using the sewing machine to sew each block of the quilt. We’re excited to find out exactly how much money we raised once the fundraiser takes place in May! The children have also made machine sewn potholder bowls that were sold at the Student Showcase. We will be donating all proceeds to Bread of the Mighty. Laying out our quilt squares
Creative writing
2nd graders work on their Geometry lesson PAGE
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Upper Elementary : 4th & 5th Grade Ms. Christina Miller ~ Ms. Susan Salvatore ~ Ms. Joanne McFarland ~ Mr. Carter Johnson Things are really gearing up in the Upper Elementary. The 5 th grade students are getting prepared to travel to Washington D.C. for their annual Safety Patrol trip to our nation's capitol, and the 4 th grade students have been working on their Florida History presentation boards. Both classes have had science projects, celebrated December holiday traditions with a class party, and made crazy hats for Dr. Seuss Day. In Mr. Carter Johnson’s History class, the 4th grade has continued on their exploration of Florida. Having studied Florida history last semester, the class began studying the geography of Florida. Florida projects allowed the students to explore the state from a geographical view. 4th grade students researched maps, animals, and historical figures of Florida and presented their project boards for the Elementary/Middle School Showcase. We have started touring Florida now and are currently working our way up the East coast. Ms. Susan Salvatore's U.S. History class with the 5th grade students had a long term project. They were assigned a state, and they worked on a campaign to encourage tourism. The students designed a poster, thought up a slogan, and composed a song to entice tourists to their "state." More recently, they have been focusing on the colonial time and the American Revolution. The entire 5th grade class participated in the annual spelling bee to see who would go to County to compete. Analia won first place and represented MMS in the County Spelling Bee. The words were difficult, but Analia gave her all.
As the saying goes, "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", so to make our classroom fun, we have also had parties. We had a Secret Gift Exchange before winter break, and enjoyed thoughtful presents from friends. The feast that followed was very filling and delicious. We also made Christmas tree ornaments as gifts for parents. In addition, we celebrated several birthdays of friends at school with cookies at lunch as we sang "Happy Birthday." Ms. Jennifer Kuntz coordinated a school-wide celebration in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday. The class made Seuss-inspired hats using pipe cleaners, felt, sequins, pompoms, markers, google eyes, and construction paper. We paraded them on March 2nd for the school!
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4th & 5th Grade Literature and Composition Ms. Jennifer Kuntz It’s strawberry season in Florida, which means the 4th grader students have been reading the novel Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski. This Newbery Medal-winning story, set in early 20th century Florida, is about two families in the midst of the struggle between “Old Florida” free-range cattle ranching and “New Florida” farming. With its historical setting and authentic dialect, Strawberry Girl is the most challenging book we will read all year. That didn’t stop the students from getting into the story, and having strong opinions about the ending – so much so they asked for the challenge of writing a new ending! In Composition, the 4th grade students have been focusing on expository, or informational, writing. We began by looking at examples of informational writing, “diagramming” essays to figure out how they are structured. Then the students used the Florida animal research they conducted for History class to build a five-paragraph essay from outline to final product. We’ll be continuing to focus on non-fiction reading and writing as we prepare for the new FSA Writing test. The 4th grade will take this test on Wednesday, April 22. More information will be forthcoming. The 5th grade students tackled the complex mystery The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, a perennial student favorite. We kept clue books while reading to help keep track of all sixteen characters and the various hints sprinkled throughout the story. Each student was also assigned a character from the book. In response to their reading, the students created “Wanted” posters in Glogster explaining why they thought a particular character was guilty of one of the several crimes committed in the book. Everyone had a theory, but almost everyone was surprised at the end. Much of the writing the 5th grade students have been doing, and will continue to work on, has been focused on reading text closely and responding to questions using evidence from their reading. Composition class will continue to be focused on this type of reading response, but with an emphasis on non-fiction articles and short pieces. The goal is to effectively use information from reading to write well-supported opinions using examples and facts, and to synthesize information from multiple non-fiction pieces to create a cohesive informational essay. The 5th grade students will also take the FSA Writing test, which is now required for students from 4th grade up. The test will occur the week of April 27; specific details will be provided as soon as they are available. I hope you all enjoyed the Elementary/Middle School Student Showcase. Please feel free to contact me at any time with questions or concerns. The best way to reach me is via email: jkuntz@millhopper.com . Regards, Ms. Jennifer 4th and 5th Grade Team Teacher Media Specialist PAGE
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Spanish : Beginners through 5th Grade Sra. Maria Valladares Passing the 100th day mark of school was a cause of great celebration. The Beginners, Preschool, Kindergarten and Lower Elementary classes were excited as we recapped the year's curriculum unit. The vocabulary, descriptive adjectives, songs and books were tailored directly to promoting Spanish discussion and critical thinking on topics such as family, animals, habitats, meals and body parts. Variances within the lessons were intertwined in order to promote consistency within and content. Students were exhilarated to recognize how all the Spanish they had learned throughout the semester facilitated a better comprehension of situations other than the one that were introduced in the lessons. The Upper Elementary class also achieved their goals while working on their prospective units in Bienvenidos textbook and worksheets. In addition to unit work, the 4th graders focused their energies on completing presentations on individualized "Coat of Arms" which proved to be very interesting. The exercise was effective in conveying a verbal application of communication. As a result, students were afforded the opportunity to inquire and learn about their very individual backgrounds.
A 4th grade student presenting her coat of arms Coat of arms
The unit lesson, for the Beginners, Preschool, Kindergarten and Lower Elementary classes, covering memorization and pronunciation of the Spanish alphabet intended to reinforce words that were being applied to songs, verbal book reading or participatory story sections that were covered in class. As I read a book to the class, I would stop and ask questions relating to the story. To their surprise, the students would translate the words, and they would then provide answers to comprehension questions. Or, I would have them describe the illustrations of the book with the prepositions they had previously learned. We would count the many things they could say in Spanish from that particular page. Since they knew their interrogative questions, the students were careful to give the right answer to what the question was asking.
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The 5th grade class covered the grammatical structure of 'a personal' while adding practical vocabulary of the regular -ar verbs. They also noted the contraction of the definite article with its preposition. Many drills from the book, as well as worksheets, enabled the students to understand and use this concept. The final grammatical point was the verb 'estar' and 'ir' and all the opportunities to cover locations, temporary conditions and places to go. Reading out loud is very important to adjust their pronunciation as well and smooth out their diction. To learn their numbers without having to count, periodically we use multiplication flashcards. I have been told that is one of their favorite activities.
5th grade students practicing their Spanish using multiplication flashcards
The 4th grade class is learning the mechanics of the Spanish language starting with the definite and indefinite articles. Since the gender of nouns is not always predictable and since many nouns do not end in -o or -a, the idea is to learn new nouns together with their articles. The adjectives and practical vocabulary is slowly building their foundation of the Spanish language. Introduction of action words, -ar present tense verbs, are conjugated with their perspective pronoun. Also, the verb 'ser' was introduced. The Beginners, Preschool, Kindergarten and Lower Elementary classes will continue to enjoy songs of spring and animals, meals with its particular foods, weather and feelings. For the 4th and 5th grade classes, the scope and sequence for the rest of this academic year includes two more recitations, more vocabulary with grammar and a project with choices of Mexican costumes, famous places that have Spanish names, or lyrics to some popular Mexican songs. It promises to increase the students’ knowledge of the language and provide them with a better and exciting progression in the Spanish language.
Sra. Maria reading a book to children in Ms. Renee Borhamer’s class
Sra. Maria giving a lesson in Mr. Richard Aslanian’s class
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www.thespotlightkidsperformingarts.com
The Spotlight Kids Performing Arts recently held their 2015 Showcase at Eastside High School Theater to an audience of approximately 180. Award winning scenes were presented from the Thespians 2014—2015 competition season. The theme of the Showcase centered around the universal theme of acceptance. The showcased opened with “Different,” from the show Honk Jr!, sung by Ross, depicts the story of the ugly duckling and that we should accept others as they are. The Spotlight Kids Junior group presented “The Same Sky,” by Andrea Green. This story reminds us that working together you can create something beautiful. Finally the Showcase ended with Rick Hip Flores’ ‘Peace, Love And Cupcakes.” The Thespians were the first middle school to present this story of feeling left out, forgiveness and peace, love and cupcakes. On February 8th, Troup 88928 traveled the World’s largest International Junior Thespian State competition. The troupe entered nine events and earned (7) Superiors and (2) Excellents!
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Debate Ms. Sylvia Aslanian Millhopper Montessori Middle School held their formal Debate this year on Friday, January 31, 2015 . Debate Topics: Are Electronic Cigarettes Safe? PRO: TEAM:
Yes, they are safe. Becca, Aziza, Eileen
CON: TEAM:
No, they are not safe. Esteban, Lacey, Jagger
Is Social Media Ruining Human Relationships? PRO: TEAM:
Yes, Social Media is ruining relationships. Ari, Lindsey, Aidan, Lorna, Ross
CON: TEAM:
No, Social Media is not ruining human relationships. Tara, Alex, Maxx, Arianna
Is Animal Testing Necessary? PRO: TEAM:
Yes, Animal Testing is necessary. Ethan, Sarah, Joey, Rissa
CON: TEAM:
No, Animal Testing is not necessary. Robyn, Anirudh, Anu, Jasmine
The debate was a collaboration with Science and Technology classes. The students researched and created a Google Slides presentation to go along with their presentation. Check out more at: www.m3sroxx.com—Debate 2015
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Physical Education Coach Cam Parker
On February 14th, a gorgeous Saturday morning, 106 MMS students participated in the 5 Points of Life Kids Marathon. For many of them, it was their final mile to complete a full marathon (26.2 miles) throughout the course of the school year. For some, it was running another mile to work toward that goal. MMS won the percentage prize of $750 because we had 80% of our eligible students participating. Congratulations and thank you to all our students and Coach Cam Parker. What a feat!
Getting His Game On… Coach Cam Parker recently had an opportunity to attend his first Physical Education conference, the South Eastern SHAPE Conference in Atlanta, Ga. For four days he learned new ways to integrate technology in to PE. New equipment and teaching techniques were presented. And games, oh, the new games! Coach Cam was even awarded a free Omnikin ball (http://www.omnikin.com/site/en/ kin-ball-official/) for how he carried himself throughout the conference with his level of participation in sessions, courtesy to others and all around nice ‘guyedness.’ He danced the color off of his shoes in Zumba (he was the ONLY male teacher that went to that session), and breathed deeply during yoga and Pilates. Coach Cam returned so excited and motivated that he has annoyed his other teachers with his incessant desire to share his findings. Look forward to your child coming home wanting to excitedly share the awesome new activities coming soon to Physical Education at MMS. PAGE
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Seussical Jr. Cast 1st, 2nd & 3rd Grades Cast List: Wickershams Lead: Avery Anthony Parker Jeremy West
Who Family #1 Xavier Ivo Brooklyn DJ
Jungle Creatures Ensemble Jungle Creatures Chorus Bird Girls North-Going Zax - Ketki Stuart Gertie Bird - Penny South-Going Zax - Ori KC Clara Fox in Socks - Eryn Lena Elisa Quilligan Quail - Kaitlyn Jovanna Mia Sylvester McMonkey McBean—Hunter Ariel Swoomie Swan - Juliet Sofia Who Family #2 Stian Stella Allison Isabelle
Who Family #3 Fabiana Ella Vivie Emya
Who Ensemble Uncle Terwilliger - Ben Martha - Stasi
Who Chorus Micheal Akimi
Fish Creatures Chorus & Dancers Sivan Beckett Kelsey Camden Paige Angelo Frachesca Eren Rahman Alma Lucas Izabella Jahnavi Ethan May Lee Sophia Miles
4th and 5th Grades Cast List: Wickersham Group 2 Ian Avery Teya Evan Madhumati Gertrude 1 Mayzie 1 Nicole Sofia PAGE
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Sour Kangaroo 1 Delena
Wickersham Group 2 Nikolai Siraj Eduardo Venu Shashank JoJo 1 Jordan
Bird Girls Group 2 Analia Koharu Sienna Madison
Young Kangaroo 1 Yertle the Turtle Chloe Nicholas
Horton 1 Ian
Seussical Jr. Cast 4th & 5th Grades Cast List, continued: Jungle Creature Ensemble Karson Bekah Aviv Lucas Maui Sophie Arden Kate
Who Citizens Ensemble Karson Bekah Aviv Lucas Maui Sophie Arden Kate
Young Kangaroo 2 Kate
6th, 7th & 8th Grades Cast List: Jungle Creatures Ensemble Becca Arianna Ari Aziza Joey Jasmine Lorna Jagger Rissa Ethan
Bird Girls Group 3 Eileen Lindsey Lacey Tara
Speaking Cat in the Hat as Circus Baker Anirudh
Sour Kangaroo 2 Alex
Mayzie 2 Robyn
Circus Performers at Auction Ensemble Joey Jasmine Esteban Ari Charlie Lorna
Speaking Cat in the Hat as Auctioneer Maxx
Young Kangaroo 2 Kate
JoJo 2 Anu Buys Horton at Auction for Circus Esteban
The Grinch Esteban
Singing Cat in the Hat Aidan
Speaking Cat in the Hat as Newscaster Maxx
Speaking Cat in the Hat as Dr. Dake Esteban
Gertrude 2 Sarah
Vlad Vladikoff Anirudh
Mr. Mayor Ethan
Horton 2 Ross
Mrs. Mayor Rissa
Hunters Charlie Esteban
Circus Animals Ensemble Arianna Jagger Aziza Becca Rissa Ethan Maxx Alex PAGE
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Dr. Seuss Celebration Day On March 2nd, all the MMS students and staff honored Dr. Seuss’ by having a birthday bash, organized by Ms. Jennifer Kuntz and the teachers. Ms. Suzi Rumsey kicked off the day with a Green Eggs and Ham breakfast fundraiser. Every class made crazy hats in advance for the parade, too. Students took part in a full morning of Seusstastic activities, which included; writing Seussy rhymes, doing fish sorting, and Whoville speck inspection, making Oobleck, Lorax masks, silly sculptures, Lorax handprint plates, Yertle the Turtle stones and Truffala trees. The students were very busy! Librarians also visited to read and sing Seuss books and songs, and students had professional pictures taken with our staff dressed as Seuss characters. A big thank you to Ms. Crystal Sorrow for making the Truffala trees props and to Dave Johnston for photographing the kids. The day ended with munching on M&M cookies. Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!
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Dr. Seuss Celebration Day
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Beginners, Preschool & Preschool/Kindergarten Parents Nights During the first few weeks of February, Ms. Crystal Sorrow’s Beginners class, Ms. Christina Eckstein’s and Ms. Martha Dolan’s Preschool classes, and Ms. Elizabeth Falls’ and Ms. Renee Brohamer’s Preschool/Kindergarten classes had their Spring Parent Nights. This was an opportunity for parents to come see their children demonstrate their most recent work. Teachers also presented lessons so parents could get an idea of what a typical morning work cycle looks like. This is always an entertaining and informative night, as students get to show off their hard work and parents can appreciate their children’s and teachers’ efforts.
Beginners class
Preschool/Kindergarten classes
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Preschool classes
Elementary & Middle School Showcase Every year, Ms. Erin Sorel’s 1st and 2nd grade class, Mr. Richard Aslanian’s 2nd and 3rd grade class, Ms. Christina Miller’s 4th and 5th grade class and Ms. Sherilyn Farris’ 6th, 7th and 8th grade class have their evening showcase. At this annual end of the year event, the students have the opportunity to present to their parents what they have been working on in the classroom. On display were superb projects, artwork and digital assignments, and the students and parents enjoyed viewing the collection in all of the Elementary and Middle School classrooms.
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April 2015 Thursday, April 2
Little House Egg Hunt
Friday, April 3
Preschool & Kindergarten Spring Celebration and Egg Hunt
Monday, April 6
Student Holiday/Teacher Workday
Tuesday, April 7
Spirit “Knight” @ Sonny’s BBQ
Tuesday, April 7 Friday, April 10
Physical Fitness Testing 1st-8th Grades
Thursday, April 9
Little House Family Appreciation Picnic
Wednesday, April 22 Friday, April 24
5th Grade Camp Crystal Trip
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Saturday, April 25
‘Knight’ Under the Stars
Monday, May 4
Middle School Mother’s Day Tea
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Tuesday, May 5
Ms. Christina Eckstein’s Parent Appreciation Day
Tuesday, May 5
Ms. Erin Sorel’s Mother’s Day Tea
Thursday, May 7 Thursday, May 7
Ms. Martha Dolan’s Parent Appreciation Day Ms. Christina Miller’s Mother’s Day Tea
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Friday, May 8
Mr. Richard Aslanian’s Mother’s Day Tea
Monday, May 11Friday, May 18
Safety Patrol Appreciation Week
Tuesday, May 12
Ms. Elizabeth Falls’ Parent Appreciation Day
Thursday, May 14
Ms. Renee Brohamer’s Parent Appreciation Day
Monday, May 18 Friday, May 22 Monday, May 18 Friday, May 22
Teacher Appreciation Week
Thursday, May 21 Friday, May 22 Monday, May 25 Wednesday, May 27
Middle School End of Year Trip
Thursday, May 28
Last Day of School - Beginners, Preschool & Kindergarten
Friday, May 29
End of Year Show
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May 2015
Beginners, Preschool & Kindergarten Spirit Week
School Closed - Memorial Day Kindergarten Graduation
June 2015 Tuesday, June 2
8th Grade Graduation
Wednesday, June 3
Blue Springs Field Trip
Wednesday, June 3
Westside Pool Trip
Thursday, June 4
Last Day of School - Elementary & Middle School