The Weekly Star
Montessori Academy at Onesimo Hernandez #16
Principal's Corner
Hello Montessori Family,
It is week #16 of school and we have 2 days until ACP testing for K-2nd grade. You have been pushing our children to do their best and making every day count. Keep pushing these last 2 days! You can do it!
Also, we are super excited that we will celebrate our children in the choir at PTO on Thursday, December 13, 2018. All staff will be introduced and international potluck will follow. What yummy dish will your bring to share with our Montessori family?
Your Proud-Dedicated Principal,
Lisa Vega
Home Visit Program
The Home Visit Project grew out of a fellowship of educators who said family engagement would be the single greatest lever to support their efforts to successfully educate their students. But not just any family engagement, engagement that builds authentic relationships.
PTO News!
PTO updates:
Thank you to our PTO family of volunteers who came out and made a Winter Wonderland for our children on Saturday, December 8, 2018. I can not wait to see their faces!!!
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Dear MAOH family,
We wish to invite you to a Winter Wonderland themed social event on Thursday, December 13th, after the PTO meeting at 5pm.
There will be a potluck dinner. Please sign up at this link to bring a child friendly dish to share, if you wish. PTO will have water and hot chocolate for $1 (cash or card).
We will also have a Winter Wonderland themed photo booth, where you can have your family photo for a donation (suggested $10) to your PTO.
We could use some parent volunteers to help with the event. Please sign up here if you could help out!
Thank you and we look forward to seeing you.
Your PTO board.
Estimadas familias de MAOH,
Reciban están cordial invitación a nuestro evento social "Las Maravillas del Invierno," el cual se llevara a cabo este jueves, 13 de diciembre, después de la junta del PTO de las 5pm.
Tendremos una cena compartida. Por favor inscríbase en este enlace para traer un platillo familiar para compartir. PTO tendrá agua y chocolate caliente en venta por $1 (tarjeta o efectivo).
Tendremos una cabina de fotos con el tema "Las Maravillas del Invierno," donde podrá tomarse una foto familiar por una donación (se sugiere $10) a su PTO.
Necesitamos de la ayuda de padres voluntarios para que ayuden con el evento. Por favor inscríbanse en este enlace si le gustaría ayudar.
Muchas gracias y esperamos verles pronto.
La Junta Directiva de su PTO
MAOH Holiday Dress-up Days
As we prepare for the upcoming winter holiday, we are excited to provide you with the holiday dress days for our children.
Monday, Dec. 17- Red and/or Green Day-
Wear red and green from top to bottom or with your favorite pair of jeans!
Tuesday, Dec. 18- Holiday Cheer Day
Wear one or all of the following holiday accessories with jeans : holiday hat, holiday socks, reindeer antlers, jingle bells
Wednesday, Dec. 19- Holiday Shirt/Sweater Day
Wear your favorite holiday shirt or sweater with jeans!
Volunteer Read Alouds & Activities for every classroom. More details to come!
Uniform Policy
Gentle Reminder- Thank you for helping the children with uniforms!
Please help Parents to bring children in uniform. We honor the Dallas ISD uniform policy. Our recommendation is for our boys wear school uniform ties and our girls wear cross tie/or tie.
Black bottoms and white top, black shoes or tennis shoes. If you have any questions please reach out to Principal Vega. If you need uniform assistance please reach out to Counselor Conley.
Uniform Assistance at MAOH
The district offers uniform assistance to eligible families. You may contact your child's teacher or Mrs. Conley, the school counselor for an order form. Families with multiple children must complete one order form per child. Please return all forms as soon as you can to ensure uniforms are received in a timely manner.
Dallas ISD Student Handbook and Code of Conduct
Parents, please refer to following reference materials that are now available on-line and are no longer mass produced.
Student Handbook: https://www.dallasisd.org/Page/127
Student Code of Conduct: https://www.dallasisd.org/cms/lib/TX01001475/Centricity/Domain/11/code_of_conduct.pdf
Can We All Just Calm Down?
“Your mind is like this water….When it is agitated it becomes difficult to see, but if you allow it to settle, the answer becomes clear.”
-Master Oogway (Kung Fu Panda)
A dysregulated student enters my room. It’s evident that the student is upset and overwhelmed with emotion. The student is welcome and directed to the “Calm Down Area”. The calm down area includes a yoga mat, poster with listed calm down strategies, and a calming basket filled with calm down items such as: stress balls, glitter wands, adult coloring sheets, headphones for audio mindfulness sessions, etc. The student is able to choose the self-management strategy that was effective to help him self-regulate. After 10 minutes, the student and I will discuss and reflect on the triggering situation by using the following restorative questions:
- What happened?
- What were you thinking about at the time?
- What have your thoughts been since?
- Who has been affected by what you did and in what way?
- What do you think you need to do to make things right?
Afterwards, the student returns to class with new tools to self-manage and increase his capacity to learn for the day.
This is an example of the social emotional learning competency of Self-management. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines self-management as, “the ability to successfully regulate one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in different situations.” This competency is achieved by effectively managing stress, controlling impulses, and motivating oneself. ” Calm down areas and calming boxes are strategies utilized to assist students in this skill.
You may ask as a parent, “How can I teach my child how to self-manage? Well, this isn’t something you can tell your child how to do. It is something they have to learn by doing and practicing. One way to help your child practice self-regulation skills is to model strategies such as: mindfulness, yoga, exercising, or play games. Playing board games or card games is another way that allows children a chance to practice skills like taking turns, remembering rules, paying attention, shifting from one focus to another, and inhibiting impulses.
For younger children, games that ask kids to exhibit self-control fosters this SEL competency. Examples of these games include the freeze game/dance, Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Simon Says, and Red Light Green Light. Parents can support self-management in their children by assessing their own social emotional skills within themselves.
Thank you for your efforts. It really does take a village to raise our children.
Please fill free to reach out to me, Ms. Carla Conley, regarding any concerns at
972-925-2711. I can also be reach by email: caconley@dallasisd.org
Music Updates
At 5:30 p.m. Thursday the 13th, our choir will perform a holiday concert for the PTA. As the last song of the concert, all MAOH children will be invited to sing Peace Like a River on stage with us. Please attend and bring your child!
Thank you,
William Root
Mr. Root
GT
The Gifted and Talented program is now nominations for Kindergarten.
All Kindergarten will be screen next week.
Ms. Sanders
Physical Education Class
By using scooters and other equipment students should share space and equipment with others.
Coach Torres
MAOH PTO Potluck
Let's sign up and share our delicious dishes after PTO! All are welcome!
Spirit Shirts Arrived!
When can children and staff where the P.R.I.D.E. spirit shirts?
Majestic Mondays: Beginning the week by showing our pride and dignity!
Dignity is the way one manages ones actions in relation with the community. It allows you to treat and conduct yourself with self-respect no matter what others think about you.
Pride is a feeling that one has about oneself, a personal sense of worth that motivates us.
All children and staff will wear P.R.I.D.E spirit shirts on Majestic Mondays with jeans or uniform bottoms.
Fridays are reserved for college/careers spirit days. Children and staff can wear collegiate/careers shirts with jeans or uniform bottoms.
MAOH will have 2 days out of the week to showcase school spirit!
Winter Tree Decorating
Thank you! Deadline is Dec. 18, 2018.
Volunteer in Week 16
Many thanks to those who constantly give of their time to support our students in the library or provide their support throughout our campus. Volunteers are so greatly appreciated!!
Why volunteer?
Family engagement in schools improves students achievement, reduces absenteeism, and restores parents' confidence in their children's education. Children with involved parents or other caregivers earn high grades , have better social skills, and show improved behavior.
When can I volunteer?
Week 16:
- Assemble and decorate the winter tree for the auditorium. We will have ready for PTO night on December 13, 2018.
How can I receive training to volunteer?
Who do I contact to volunteer at school?
Ms. Cano 972-925-2700 or email HernandezMontessori @dallasisd.org