November 2020 Newsletter – Montessori Academy

A Note From our Principal

October has come and gone! It seems like a snap of the finger that we just started school! I
know as a staff we are grateful each day to come to school and work with your children. The
pumpkin carving, Wax Museum, and Halloween parade were such fun and engaging events for
us all. I hope that you were able to enjoy them as well. Parent Teacher conferences also gave
us a chance to connect with each of you on a personal level, discussing your children. Our goal
is to continue growth and learning in your students and involving all of you. If you have a great
idea that can help connect our teachers, students, and families, we would love to hear it!
This month we look at our students, families, and teachers with a renewed sense of gratitude.
My hope for all of our community is, that each of you look to the small everyday moments that
renew this kind of reaction. “Gratitude in all forms is associated with happiness. Whether we
say “thank you” to someone or receive the same from others, the feeling it brings is that of
pure satisfaction and encouragement. Expressions of gratitude help in building and sustaining
long term relationships, deal with adversities and bounce back from them with strength and
motivation.” –The Neuroscience of Gratitude and How it Affects Anxiety & Grief

Warmly,
Ms. Kim

Holiday Events
A huge thank you to everyone one in our Primary program for purchasing items from our Small
Hands catalog in October. Your dollars provided us with bonus points to purchase classroom
materials. Staff will be voting this month to determine which materials on our wish list we want
to add to our curriculum.

This month we will be collecting food to support the food bank. The students will be decorating
the front vestibule where we will collect nonperishable food items. All food items collected, will
be sorted and weighed by the children. Donations will be delivered to the bank by November
20th.

Book Drive and Book Fair (Book It Forward Idaho and Scholastic Books)

Next month we will be collecting new and lightly used books to support literacy in homes less
fortunate than ours. We have partnered once again with Book It Forward Idaho. The book
drive will be coupled with an online scholastic book fair. All purchases will provide the school
with bonus points. We will use these bonus points to purchase new books for our library as
well as new books for our book drive.

“Book It Forward is a joint initiative of Idaho Voices for Children and The Cabin, is dedicated to
increasing access to books for children. We collect new and gently used books and get them to
kids who have little to no access to books at home. Kids are learning to read up through third
grade, and after that, they are reading to learn. Reading proficiently at the end of third grade
is the single most important factor for success in school and in life. Having too few books for
kids in low-income homes, is a barrier to developing their reading proficiency.”

Illness Policy Reminder

You as parents are vital partners in helping us maintain a safe and healthy environment for all
of us at school. The most important thing you can do to assist us in creating a healthy
environment is to keep your children home if they are ill. This reduces the spread of illness and
allows your child to fully recuperate. Cold and Flu season has arrived along with our continuing
pandemic. Erring on the side of caution when symptoms arise helps protect us all and keep our
school open for learning five days per week. Thank you for all your support.

Cold Weather at School

The season has changed and continuing to change! While it is beautiful to watch, those
morning walks, morning recesses, and work time outside are COLD! Please help us prepare for
the weather!

1. We will continue doing our daily temperature checks outside.
2. We will offer morning walks, morning recess, and outside work times daily as weather
permits so please have your child dress appropriately. It is also a good time for all
Primary parents to swap out extra clothes to match the season. Pro Tip: Please label
everything! Lots of friends have the same boots, coats, hats, and gloves. This helps us
keep it all straight!
3. As we move into colder weather and the chance for ice and snow increase, please drive
slowly and walk carefully through the parking lot. We do have a company that will
shovel and de-ice our parking lot and sidewalks. However, still use caution; depending
on application time, surfaces can still be slippery.
4. Weather can cause delays or closures for our school can sometimes affect operating
hours. In the event, a delay, closure, or early release is determined, we will send out
notifications to families via text, email, our website, and on our answering machine.

Help Wanted

Volunteers are needed to help cut and laminate materials for the classroom. We also need help
assembling our outdoor classroom. If you would be willing, please let Jordan know!
Jordan@montessoriacademyidaho.com, call 208-939-6333, or chat with her at pick up or drop
off.

Important Dates:
November 4-10—Parent satisfaction survey is emailed to families
November 11th-School Closed for Veterans Day
November 20th-Winter Gap Camp information and sign up posted
November 25-27-Closed for Thanksgiving Break
November 30th-Student progress reports will be sent home