Nuts & Bolts
February 3, 2020
MMA Board of Directors
Letter from Joan Effiong
February 7, 2020
Dear MMA community,
I want to take a few moments to thank all of you for the opportunity to serve as one of the founding board members of Maria Montessori. It has been a pleasure to serve alongside you for the last several years. As you know, I am passionate about education and providing world-class educational experiences to students. I earnestly believe that MMA has the capacity and conviction to do so. While the decision is bittersweet, I have chosen to focus more of my attention on grand parenting and broadening the impact of my nonprofit, JENAR Charity Foundation. I treasure the experiences I have had with you and carry the MMA values with me. I admire the commitment, contribution and loyalty you have demonstrated. I have no doubt that you will continue to make MMA a great school for the students in North Ogden.
I have great confidence in your ability to put MMA on the map and as one of the founding members I will continue to cheer for you on the side lines.
Thank you for making education a primary focus for our children and I wish you all well.
Faithfully,
Joan Effiong
Board Meeting Tuesday
MAPA Minutes
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G-ZrfrK4i6H1NZfvnxW3Cxzz3bBQXTWF51R4aibeXjE/edit?usp=sharing
Flu Season
It's flu season!
Flu season is upon us. We have had a few students who have recently tested positive for Influenza B. We do have some students and staff members at MMA who are immune compromised. Please remind your children to wash their hands often and thoroughly. It is important to follow our school policy and keep yourself and/ or your children home until they have been fever and vomit free for 24 hours without the use of medication. Please help us control the spread of these illnesses.
Incentives from Ms. Nicoletta and Ms. Autumn
Thank you for reading Nuts and Bolts- Two Opportunities
1. ADOPT A SPACE: Do you know your Adopt A Space? If so email Nicoletta and Autumn your Adopt A Space by Monday 4:00.
2. LIBRARY: Its time to REFRESH the library.
Alright school community, our school library is being used which is fantastic but it is not necessarily being restored. Books are not being put back, shelves are looking shabby, book marks are overflowing, etc.
If you are the first to respond and want your class to help restore the library by this Friday- then your class will have a surprise from Ms. Autumn and Ms. Nicoletta.
Email Ms. Nicoletta and she will give you directions as to what needs to be done.
Only 1 class will have this opportunity so respond FAST.
HOPE Squad Week February 18-21
HOPE Squad week in conjunction with International Kindness week
HOPE Squad is currently working on activities for this week school wide.
Details to come regarding activities this week.
Some classroom activities for the week are: https://positivepsychology.com/kindness-activities-empathy-worksheets/
LITERACY Week
Literacy Week-
More details will be coming in an email this week regarding details and activities for the week.
Tuesday, February 25, at 9:30 a.m. in the big gym.
Literacy Night- mandatory all staff attend
February 14, Share the LOVE Day
Share the Love at MMA!
Come visit MMA on Valentines Day and take a guided tour and see if MMA is right for your family. Share the ❤️ of Montessori with your friends and neighbors! Children are welcome, but must be accompanied at all times by an adult guardian. To sign up for a tour, please RSVP for one of our scheduled tour times at the following link.
Early Childhood Highlights
What does MMA have to offer for Early Childhood? (Pre-k and K)
Early Childhood education lays the foundation for all learning that will follow. Montessori early childhood education is unique in many aspects. It takes into account the developmental periods that children are passing through as well as focusing on the development of emotional, social and academic intelligence of the child. Some key aspects of Montessori early childhood education are
The practical life area of the classroom allows the child to develop their coordination, concentration, independence and sense of order. Often these activities are seen as play, but they are vital to the development of the child. One of the activities you will see in this area is food preparation such as making toast, hot chocolate and more. We all assume that the reason these activities are so popular is the product they result in. Montessori philosophy has a very different idea. Paula Polk Lillard said in Montessori a Modern Approach “Instead of opportunities for serious accomplishment in our culture, we supply our children with expensive toys, hoping that these will occupy them. . ..Instead of giving the child toys that have no meaning for him, the adult must prepare special activities within his environment that will aid in the child’s development. . . The parent must observe the child closely, and watch for the kinds of activities he chooses spontaneously . . . and then make them more available with variations and expansions of them” (p. 116).
We refer to the activities in our classrooms as work. Maria Montessori explained why the work of a child is so important. “A child’s desire to work represents a vital instinct since he cannot organize his personality without working: a man builds himself through working. There can be no substitute for work. . . a man builds himself by carrying out manual labor in which he uses his hands as the instruments of his personality and as expressions of his intellect and will, helping him to dominate his environment . . . work becomes fascinating and irresistible and raises a man above his diverted self . . . enabling him to express his own individuality” The secret of childhood p. 186.
Jen Hall
Early Childhood Lead Teacher
Lower Elementary Highlights
What does MMA have to offer for Lower Elementary? (Grades 1-3)
Maria Montessori Academy has some amazing things to offer in the lower elementary setting, and the following are just a few that set us apart from other schools:
Teachers do not just teach children academics, but teach the whole child. They teach grace and courtesy, manners, acceptance and include all as a continual part of day to day activity and education. It is taught and modeled continually.
Our classrooms are mixed age, with 3 levels or grades in each room. Lower elementary consists of first, second, and third grades. This allows students to interact with children of many ages and learn with and from these children. It allows for many leadership opportunities for the older children as well as the younger children. Watching the dynamics of friendships among these different ages is an exciting part of being a teacher at this level.
Teachers are guides in the classroom who lead and teach but then allow students to take on roles as part of the classroom community. They are given jobs such as watering the plants, doing snack dishes, and sweeping the floor. They are encouraged to participate in these as a way of helping their environment and preparing to be part of all the different communities they will experience growing up.
The instruction is individualized for each student. Teachers don’t limit the child, but allow them to move at their own pace. Students are not kept from moving forward in any area if they understand what is being taught and are ready to move to the next thing. Students are also not pushed forward to new things if they are not ready to move on. If a student needs more time to practice something, they are allowed to continue working where they need, while still being taught grade level curriculum. After they are given lessons on work, students are allowed the freedom to choose from those works in the order that they want to complete them. This is all done with guidance from the teacher.
Lower Elementary classrooms are filled with many different hands-on materials for students to learn with. Children are taught from a very concrete way of doing things to abstract ways of doing things. There are a variety of materials to teach one thing, so if a student does not understand a concept with one material, they can be shown with others. Children are also taught the why behind the how.
Jalee Schofield
Lower Elementary Lead Teacher
Upper Elementary Highlights
Kirsten Gonzales
Upper Elementary Lead Teacher
Junior High Highlights
MMA’s Junior High Program is awesome! Miss Sarah is leading our drama and choir classes in a production of the musical “Annie”. Miss Dore’s College and Career Awareness classes are learning about video production and creating their own broadcasts. 9th grade ELA classes are taking the role of teacher and teaching important literary elements from short stories. Mr. Giuseppe’s classes are getting ready for science fair, and have some amazing experiments in the works. They are also writing research papers as part of their science displays. Miss Taylor’s Utah Studies class learned about the importance of our pioneer forebears and made pioneer cornbread to contribute to the chili cook-off. Mr. Craig’s math classes are making great progress and we are excited to see the gains that students are making. We are so proud of our junior high students and teachers!
Andrea Eggett
MMA School Counselor
SAFETY
AED MACHINE:
We are looking to have an AED machine. If anyone knows someone who may be able to help donate for this large purchase, please talk with Mr. Mike.
Message from Instructional Coach
Presidents Day Activities for the Classroom
https://www.watchknowlearn.org/Category.aspx?CategoryID=948
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/presidents-day
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wD34BqR9UrkNUvv4U1bGmmT5wlp9PbahIbT6gjN5f3E/edit?usp=sharing
February
February
1 UMC Conference in SLC (optional with admin approval)
3 STEM Week
3 WIDA Testing 8:45-10:30am
3 Staff Meeting 3:30-5:00pm (Mandatory for all staff)
4 PLC Meetings (Mandatory for full-time staff)
5 WIDA Testing 8:45-10:30am
6 Science Fair 8:30-1:00 judging, 1:15-2:45 class visits
6 Land Trust Committee Meeting, 2-3pm (Committee members only)
7 MAPA Meeting @ 8:45am
10 Earthquake Drill
10 SIT Meetings
10 Junior High Parent Contact
11 PLC Meetings (Mandatory for full-time staff)
11 MMA Board Meeting, 5:30pm
17 Presidents’ Day; No School
18 PLC Meetings (Mandatory for full-time staff)
20 Land Trust Committee Meeting, 2-3pm (Committee members only)
20 Redwoods Chaperone Meeting, 5:30-7pm
21 Classic Skating Spirit Night (5:00pm-9:00pm)
TBD Box Top Store 11:00am-1:00pm
24-28 Literacy Week (school wide committee sign-up)
24 Advisory Meeting
25 Vertical PLC Meetings (Mandatory for full-time staff)
25 School-wide Spelling Bee (school wide committee sign-up)
27 Literacy Night 5:30-7:00pm (mandatory for full-time staff)
28-Mar 1 MEPI Conference in South Carolina (optional with admin approval)
Maria Montessori Academy
Email: info@mariamontessoriacademy.org
Website: www.mariamontessoriacademy.org
Location: 2505 N 200 E, North Ogden, UT, United States
Phone: 801.827.0150
Facebook: facebook.com/MMAofUT
Twitter: @MMAofUT