Thursday Bulletin | September 24, 2020 Message from Head of School Dear FIRSTNAME, I am so inspired by a subtle yet profound aspect of Montessori education: how intentional we are to encourage inner motivation in students and to not encourage adult approval dependency or to use praise to manipulate. Dr. Montessori noticed that our adult praise often interferes with a child or adolescent's natural drive to explore, discover, and learn. As she wrote, "...no one who has ever done anything really great or successful has ever done it simply because they were attracted by what we call a 'reward' or by the fear of what we call a 'punishment.'" Read more... Calendar
Thursday, October 1, 2020
Saturday, October 3, 2020
Monday, October 12, 2020
Upcoming Events Independence - Critical Systems of Distance Learning (Elementary Families) - Thursday, October 1, 6:00 PM
For our elementary families, we will discuss the importance of independence with a focus on understanding the isolation of difficulty, repetition, engagement, and concentration.
MMS PA Virtual Bingo Night - Saturday, October 3, 4:00 PM Come one, come all to our first MMS PA Family Virtual Bingo Night! Our Parents' Association will be hosting a fun filled Family Virtual Bingo Night on Saturday, October 3rd at 4:00 PM. Grab some drinks, snacks, and come play BINGO with your school community. Families will play together and compete against other families. Winners will receive gift certificates to purchase MMS Spirit Wear items. Please RSVP here by Monday, September 28 if you plan on attending. Detailed email instructions will be sent a few days before the event. We can't wait to BINGO! MMS Spirit Car Parade MMS Spirit Car Parade - Thank you!
Thank you to those who came through our MMS Spirit Car Parade today and celebrated the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year with us! And a very big thanks to the MMS Parents' Association who made today's event possible, spirited, and fun! Important Updates MMS's Conditional Use Permit - No Parking on Paradise Drive
The Town of Corte Madera, as a condition of approval for MMS' Conditional Use Permit, is requiring that we notify parents at the beginning of each semester that leaving your vehicle parked on Paradise Drive is prohibited, and to instead find available parking in the Marin Montessori parking lot or other legal offsite locations. This does not impact our carline procedures. MMS Relief & Annual Fund "A Marin Montessori education is inspiring, thoughtful, and creative." - Current Parent Help us Reach 100% Family Participation! All donations to the MMS Relief & Annual Fund will support MMS' ability to meet the additional pressures COVID-19 has put on our school's financial resources as well as help meet our tuition gap per student.
We ask each member of our community to consider giving as generously as you are able to support the continued financial health and safety of our school.
We are proud to share that 100% of our Crew and 100% of our Board of Trustees has participated in our MMS Relief & Annual Fund. Help us reach 100% family participation! Meet our Annual Fund Co-Chairs Have you met our 2020-2021 Annual Fund Co-Chairs, Amy Soper and Robb Baer yet? Get to know them in this fun Q&A video with MMS' Director of Strategic Initiatives, Carolyn Woolf. Our 2019-2020 Annual Report is available here. Our 2020-2021 Guide to Giving is available here. Important Health & Safety Updates Update on COVID-19 Symptoms The COVID-19 symptoms identified in the parent handbook and in our morning wellness checks include cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, and diarrhea. The COVID-19 symptoms as identified by the CDC have since changed. Most significantly, runny nose and congestion have been added as possible symptoms. We realize that keeping a child home every time they exhibit a runny nose can be challenging and we are in talks with Public Health to determine how we can be a bit more flexible in handling these milder symptoms. Marin County Public Health notified us that they will have updated guidelines on this subject coming within the next week or two and we will broadcast them to the community once received. In the interim, we will stick with our more conservative approach and ask that you keep children home and contact the school if they are exhibiting any symptoms of illness.
Update on Air Quality Policy
The MMS Air Quality policy has been modified to reflect changes to the school's recommendation on the utilization of evaporation (swamp) coolers. The EPA advises that these should only be used when there is a source of fresh air, which would mean when windows and doors are open. When these coolers are utilized with access to fresh air, they can be used as a mitigation strategy against COVID-19 transmission. However, evaporation coolers should not be utilized when windows and doors are closed. Therefore, MMS classrooms will not have these on when windows and doors are closed during poor air quality (i.e. air quality at red or above).
More important than ever: Get your flu shots!
Doctors are sharing that during this pandemic, flu shots are so important. Please contact your pediatrician and doctor to arrange these, or look for local vendors. We are hearing that demand is very high, please do not delay. Montessori Moment Each week we will highlight a Montessori Moment - a glimpse into what's happening on both campuses and in distance learning. We will rotate which level and class gets featured every week. Great Blue Heron Classroom Seamlessly Transitions to the New Year The Great Blue Heron children have welcomed a group of 5 new children into the fold this year. They have seamlessly transitioned to their respective schedules and sides of the classroom. They delight in seeing their friends through the divider and offer big waves and air hugs! The youngest members of our community have settled in through materials that are familiar to them. They have been learning with puzzles, magnetiles, train tracks, and items from home that are comforting and help ease them in to their new environments. The oldest children couldn't wait to get back to their knitting tools and writing letters to friends with the moveable alphabets. The indoor/outdoor space is thriving, the children love spending time working on our classroom deck, watering the plants, easel painting, and cloth washing. It has been a big month for birthdays and we have kicked off the school year with many September celebrations. Crew Connection We couldn't do what we do without each amazing member of our team. This space is dedicated to highlighting a member (or two!) of our Crew. Everyone on our team will be featured throughout the year, and our hope is that we all feel connected with one another even though we are unable to all connect in person. Cheryl Chretien, Great Blue Heron Teacher Cheryl has been a faculty member at Marin Montessori since 2008. Before joining the faculty, she worked as an assistant in the Primary level at MMS for 2-1/2 years. Cheryl studied Child Development and Education at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She received her AMI training at the Montessori Institute of San Diego and has her Masters in Education from Loyola College in Maryland. In her free time, Cheryl loves running, hiking, and experimenting with mixed media art. Important Links & Resources School Calendar
Parent Handbook
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