Maria Montessori Academy

Education for a better world!

Continued adventures!

Continued adventures!

We are getting ready for so many activities in the coming weeks, we hope to see you there!


This week Ms. Nicoletta and I had the opportunity to visit Mountain West Montessori in South Jordan and we had several take-aways about program, curriculum, structure, and so much more! We are grateful for that opportunity to come back and see all the great things we have going on here at Maria Montessori Academy too!!


We have the Gratitude Feast happening on Wednesday at noon and then STEAM Night that evening! Such great events to honor those in our community and then to experiment and do hands-on activities with families!


The Chat and Chew didn't go as planned, unfortunately...after re-evaluating and chatting with others, I think that the next one might be later in the evening and/or an online forum. More details to come.


Thank you for all you do!

Sara Tucker

Continued adventures!

Happenings..

Calendaring Items

February 14: Valentine's Day!


February 15: STEAM Night 6-8pm


February 15: Gratitude Feast luncheon for First Responders at noon in the small gym


February 17: Science Fair 6th and 8th grade


February 20: No school for President's Day


February 23: 6pm Social Media and Internet Safety with Detective Stewart. ALL PARENTS INVITED TO ATTEND... invite your friends too!


February 24: 5-7pm Junior High Dance. Galaxy theme!! More details to come!


February 27-March 3 : Literacy Week


March 2: Literacy Night, 5:30-6:30pm


March 13: Daylight Savings Day... Spring forward!




Ongoing Reminders:


Lost and Found: The lost and found in the lobby and the Junior High Commons are overflowing! Please come and check to see if your student's missing jacket or notebook are in there! The lost and found will be donated to a local shelter on Friday, February 17




Safety First!

Please pull forward to allow others to drop off students...the backup incurred is from folks stopping at the turn or not pulling forward and the traffic backs up.


Please also do not park at the curb and walk your student in. If you are wanting to walk your student in, please park in a stall and then use the crosswalk to walk your student(s) in. This helps to keep the line moving as well.


PLEASE use the crosswalks and wait for the crossing assistants to create a safe environment! This morning alone there were several near misses as folks crossed from in between cars... safety is a priority! If you need to run something into the school or help your child, please park in a parking space and not along the drop off zone. This will help with keeping the flow of traffic consistent. Please be patient and kind with other drivers as well. Blinkers, patience, and a deep breath go a long way.




Phones:

We have had far too many incidents with troubling cell phone behaviors. We have asked that cell phones not be used during the school day. Students have access to school phone should a call need to be made. They have laptops to use for schoolwork and school related research.

Please support us as we work to keep students from running into problems with having their phone out to answer a text.


We spoke with the entire Junior High about not having phones out at all during the day due to the incidents that have occurred in the last couple of weeks. If they do have their phone out, it will be given to a teacher to hold onto till the end of the day. Should it occur again, parents will be notified and a meeting will be held to discuss the situation and. to come in to pick up the phone.


Students were told that they may have their phone with them, but we ask that they not. be texting, calling, looking things up, etc, during school time. Exceptions are made for those who has accommodations in their IEP or 504 plans only if they are using the phone for the accommodation otherwise the same discipline process will take place.




Pokemon cards, toys, and candy:

Please encourage your student to not bring these items to class. They have become an issue with being taken, played with during instruction, and distracting from the lessons.


Snow in general:

One of the goals during the snowy season it to be open for regular hours. We do this because not all parents are able to take time off for delayed starts and also allow for grace and courtesy for those who choose to come in later or stay home. We do our very best to make sure that the parking lot and sidewalks are cleared for safety at school. Please be safe and make the decisions that are best for you and your family. If you choose to stay home please call the office to excuse the absence.

Fee schedule for 2023-2024 discussed in the Board Meeting on January 10 and February 21

Dress Code/Uniforms

We are a dress code school, but that has been pretty lax of late. We would like to get back to where we need to be with regards to dress code.


Here is the dress code policy from the website


This list does not include sweats or leggings as regular pants.


If you have any questions, please let us know!


As we hear of and see sales on uniform items we will let you know!

ASPIRE

We have been using ASPIRE for reporting grades in the junior high for some time. We are now putting the Progress to Mastery reports in ASPIRE for the elementary as well. This gives parents a view of how their student is progressing with their goals and learning throughout their time at MMA.


In grades 6-9 these are grades, but in elementary they are NOT grades, but showing that progress to mastery. You will see the items that your student has been working on and their mastery level. Because the ASPIRE program is not a Montessori based program, it does average the score that students earned into the 1-4 scale of mastery. It will give an average on how they have done and then show their mastery level. These mastery levels are just like when we complete the triangle on the quarterly report, 1 being not mastered to 4 being mastered. Again, we are NOT assigning grades for elementary, simply giving the transparency requested on where students are with regards to mastering a topic.


This also helps when a student moves and the receiving school requests their levels of mastery in elementary or grades in junior high.


You should see either grades or mastery levels updated every two weeks.

Lunch program!

I have submitted our application for a lunch program and we are working to procure equipment and folks to run the program! We are excited to have something in place for the next school year!

Parking Lot

We are having conversations currently about how to improve the parking lot, beginning with putting down new slurry and painting in lines. We have also been discussing how to improve the drop off and pick up processes to make it more efficient, safe, and seamless.


Even with what is in place currently, on most days, drop off/pick up is done in about 12 minutes.


We would love to have any suggestions: https://forms.gle/tt6ySKY8YzHmhM2q9

Frequently Asked Questions and did you know's...

Frequently Asked Questions and did you know's...

  • Why doesn’t MMA give homework? Montessori Schools do not typically assign daily homework. Dr. Montessori believed that if we do not dictate the work of the child in class, then it does not make sense to dictate the work they choose at home. Therefore, traditional homework is kept to a minimum, as a school we have long term projects. Long term projects are typically 4-6 week projects that are worked on a both school and home, these are projects that are extensions of what they have learned in the classroom and then presented in class and often school wide. Thus they are applying what they are learning at school in a project and practicing their presentation skills. Montessorians feel that children spend all day in the classroom learning and need their afternoons and evenings to pursue their personal interests, interact with their families and relax.

    • Instead, we encourage activities which constructively direct a child’s pursuits during home hours, while nurturing their interests and building family bonds. A fundamental truth permeates Montessori’s work: children are desperate to learn! In a Montessori class, children are motivated to discover why and how things work. Therefore, homework, in a Montessori sense, is work that the child does at home, as an extension of his or her educational exploration. This can include things like household chores. Having responsibilities at home can help language skills and increase cultural awareness.

    • Make math a part of your home environment such as having the child pair socks and count by twos; dividing a pizza into equal parts; measuring ingredients, shopping and making change, learning decimals while filling the car up with gas. Things such as this gives the child a voice in family decisions will help a child’s confidence, perceptions of Math concepts as well as learning about their own economic geography. Reading with your child every day will result in quality time, confidence and language skills, while creating a love of reading.

    • Quality Education has been a very hot topic recently in our news and social media as well as in films and documentaries and yet the question remains: Will more homework raise academic achievement and test scores? Much has been said about overly programmed after-school schedules; too much homework that steals family time; and an approach to learning that emphasizes memorization and test scores over real understanding and critical thinking.

    • Please consider spending quality time with your children, inspiring their natural curiosity and love for learning. They are only children for a short time.

MMA focuses more on home based projects than daily homework. Your teacher will give you more information on this as the year begins.

Frequently Asked Questions and did you know's...
Maria Montessori Academy

Maria Montessori Academy

Maria Montessori Academy

2505 North 200 East, North Ogden, UT, USA stucker@mmautah.org 801-827-0150 mariamontessoriacademy.org