Montessori Matters

February 21, 2020

Peace Walk: “Take My Hand. We will walk. We will only walk.” - Thich Nhat Hahn

Peace Walk: “Take My Hand. We will walk. We will only walk.” - Thich Nhat Hahn

It is Montessori week next week, Feb. 24 – 28. And just for interesting information:


  • There are 4,500 Montessori schools in the US.

  • There are over 500 Montessori programs in public schools in the US.

  • There are some Montessori schools associated with the Jewish, Hindu, Christian, Muslim faiths.

  • There are approximately 20,000 Montessori schools worldwide.

  • There are Montessori schools in Russia, China, and even Syria.

  • The largest Montessori school is in Lucknow, India with over 55,000 students and a faculty of over 2,500.

  • And closer to home:

    • There are 45 public Montessori schools in SC.

    • There are 427 private Montessori schools in SC.

    • There is one Montessori school in Anderson, SC with ages 6 weeks – 12th grade.


(And just for fun - there is one faculty member at that Montessori School in Anderson who worked at one of the earliest Montessori programs to be established back in the US in 1963 whose nuns were trained at Bergamo, Italy – with Maria’s son Mario as one of the lecturers.)


Come join us this Monday, Feb. 24th at 12:30 (weather permitting; it will be rescheduled for later in the week if not), when we begin the week out at our flagpole with Thich Nhat Hahn’s Peace Walk. Just be part of our circle, our community, and “sense” a peace that is almost tangible. It is ten minutes but it lasts in our memories much more than ten minutes and, heaven only knows, we need it in this particular time and climate.

Peace Walk: “Take My Hand. We will walk. We will only walk.” - Thich Nhat Hahn
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Dates to Remember

Remember that you can always check the MSA website calendar for upcoming calendar events.


February 25 - High School students attending college fair

February 26 - Box Tops for Education due

February 29 - Spring Soccer Shots registration due to participate on March 5

March 2 - Primary Dr. Seuss Day

March 2-6 - Play week

March 5 - Annie JR. at Electric City Playhouse at 1 PM and 7 PM

March 6 - Annie JR. at Electric City Playhouse at 10 AM and 7 PM

March 20 - Professional Development Day, school closed - Extended Care Only

March 23 - IT-LE Conference Day - Extended Care Only

March 23-27 - Conference Week

April 25 - Escape to Kokomo - Spring Benefit & Auction

Infants at Work and Play

Students in the infant room were hard at work this week with practical life lessons. Below you can see one student modeling her teacher by reading her friends a book while the others sit and listen as they do with their teacher, another student excited for lunch, and another student practicing their hand-eye coordination using the busy box.

Kids Heart Challenge

As part of the Physical Education health unit, students in Mrs. Patch's class are taking part in the Kids Heart Challenge Program from the American Heart Association. In this activity, the students are attempting to see if they can be as efficient as the heart by "pumping" one fourth cup of water into a gallon jug in one minute. The heart is able to pump five to six quarts of blood each minute!

Instagrams for Quadrilaterals

Students in Mrs. Miller's Geometry class were given the task to create Instagram profiles for a chosen quadrilateral and convey facts about their quadrilateral through the profile information and updates. The students were incredibly creative, artistic, and comical as they reinforced their knowledge of each of the shapes. See this album for more photos.
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Interactive Infographics

Students in Upper Elementary have been making interactive infographics with Makey Makey over the past few weeks. Each group of three students has chosen a topic to research and create a poster about. They then recorded their voices narrating the interesting facts they discovered about their topics in Scratch and programmed their Scratch projects to respond to key presses on the keyboard by playing their voice recordings and showing an animation on the screen. By attaching strips of copper tape on their interactive posters to alligator clips connected to a Makey Makey device, the Makey Makey converts completed electrical circuits into keyboard events on the computer so that viewers of the poster are able to learn the facts the students have shared. The students will be using the knowledge they gained in this group project to complete an even bigger project over the next few weeks.
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Drawing Cats and Dogs

For the Middle School mentor project of the week, several Middle School students helped Lower Elementary students learn to draw simple cats and dogs. For more photos taken by the Middle School students as part of their weekly newsletter editing process, see this album.
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Amphitheater Steps Update

Senior Nestor Rodriguez McKneally's Eagle Scout project of adding a second set of steps along the opposite side of the amphitheater behind the school is nearing completion and looking great! See below and this album for some shots from last weekend and today.
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Soccer Shots Registration

Soccer Shots, an on-campus soccer program for ages 3-5 and ages 5-9, is returning this Spring for another round of fun! According to the program website (the program for each age group is linked above, which you can check for more details about the Spring 2020 program), "The Classic program [ages 3-5] teaches the technical skills of soccer and encourages greater confidence with ball control, using both feet, starting and stopping, and changing directions by incorporating basic moves. Through creativity, positivity and fun, we encourage new challenges and increased confidence in the Classic program," while "the Premier program [ages 5-9] reviews and refines individual ball control and technical skills, while also introducing children to the tactical elements of the game. There is a strong emphasis on scrimmaging and teaching game concepts, and therefore, teamwork and sportsmanship are important components of the Premier program."


Registration will remain open over the Spring semester, but it takes several days to complete before your child may participate. Registration must be completed by February 29 in order to start on March 5. Click the image below or this link to view the MSA program offerings (including summer camps!) and enroll today.

Box Tops for Education

The Box Tops for Education program has gone digital and have ceased production of physical box tops. Please send in any remaining physical box tops by Wednesday, February 26 so that we may send them off before the March due date. We would love it if you would sign up for the all new Box Tops for Education mobile application from the App Store or the Google Play Store to continue participating in the new and improved program -- ten cents from every eligible product purchase goes to support MSA!
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Montessori School of Anderson

Montessori School of Anderson

Our mission is to nurture the whole child, physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually, preparing students for academic excellence, lifelong learning and responsible, caring lives.
280 Sam McGee Road, Anderson, SC, USA mdabney@msasc.org 864-226-5344 msasc.org