Montessori Matters

October 23, 2020

Did you know there is a Presidential election on November 3?

Goodness, with everything going on around here, we almost forgot that November 3 is Election Day. Okay, not really, but it was an eventful Fall Fling Week! Here are just a few of the things we did -


  • Spirit Days which included Pajama Day, Inside Out Day, Superhero Day, Sports Team Day, and MSA Blue and White Day

  • All sorts of pumpkin activities which included rolling pumpkins, carving pumpkins, hammering nails into pumpkins, toasting pumpkin seeds, and more.

  • STEAM projects that used pumpkins, like “Will it float?”, pumpkin planters, the pumpkin cart challenge, and the pumpkin flame test.

  • P.E. challenges incorporating pumpkins which included pumpkin ring toss, pumpkin horseshoes, pumpkin limbo, and pumpkin balance beam.


Classes shared photos from some of these activities as we went through the week, but there are more below for you to enjoy!


There are also pictures below of our October community service project for Breast Cancer Awareness and of the kick-off to our November MSA Tigers and Gamecocks for People Bowl that will benefit AIM. Students of all ages have the opportunity to participate and we are pleased to announce that our “pre-game warm-up” suggests that we are in store for an exciting MSA People Bowl! We will publish the FIRST QUARTER SCORE next Friday. ($50= touchdown; $30= field goal.) Continue to show your support and stay tuned…


In the meantime, be sure to mark your calendar to vote on Tuesday, November 3. MSA will be a polling site so all programs will be closed that day. NO SCHOOL OR EXTENDED CARE ON 11/3/20.


Have a great last week of October!

Dr. Hill

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Dates to Remember

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


October 30 - Primary Book Character Day

October 30 - Lower Elementary Biography Day

November 2 - Conference Day for IT-UE, extended day available for IT-PR

November 2 - Remote learning day for MS-HS

November 3 - Remote learning day for MS-HS

November 3 - Election Day, all programs closed

November 23-24 - Remote learning day for K5-HS, extended day available for IT-PR

Nurse's Notes

Flu vaccines:


In order to prevent the spread of flu within our MSA community, we ask that you speak to your healthcare provider and discuss if you or your child are candidates for the flu vaccine. Amid Covid, many healthcare providers are offering drive thru flu clinics. Contact your provider for more information.


COVID reminder


As a reminder, should your student(s) or anyone in your household have a diagnosis of Covid positive or a Direct or Indirect contact to a person diagnosed with Covid, please notify MSA immediately so we can take the proper course of action to reduce the rate of transmission on the MSA campus. I can be reached at schoolnurse@msasc.org

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Halloween Safety


Click here or on the image below to view a full-sized version of these Halloween safety tips from Safe Kids Worldwide.

Click here or on the following graphics for the full-sized version of this safety infographic from the CDC.
Click here or on the image below for some alternate Halloween celebration ideas.
You may also click here for a text-based version of the above CDC infographics.


With wishes of health and peace.


Susanna Merriman, RN

#MASKUP

Fall Fling

With the COVID-19 restrictions in place this year, we took a different approach to our annual Fall Fest. During this year's Fall Fling week, students across campus participated in fun, educational activities with a fall theme. See below and this album for photos of this week's celebrations.
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Spirit Week

In addition to Fall Fling this week, students across campus celebrated Spirit Week, with themes for each day of the week including pajama day, inside-out day, superhero day, sports team day, and blue and white day. See below and click this link for more photos from Spirit Week.
Pajama Day
Inside-Out Day
Superhero Day
Sports Team Day
Blue and White Day

MSA Community Service

One of Montessori School of Anderson’s Four Pillars is Service to Others. MSA has participated in community service on and off campus for decade. This year due to the pandemic, we have continued that mission in each classroom throughout campus. This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month and our elementary students have designed cheerful cards and Upper School added encouraging positive messages to be shared with those affected by breast cancer. See more photos of the cards here.
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Cub Scouts

Monday night, MSA’s Cub Scout Pack 997 held an awards ceremony. Savannah Kirby earned her Tiger badge. Cora Fellabaum and Cole Hunter earned their Wolf badge. Thomas and Greyson Henderson, Lucas Kirby, and James Landrith earned their Bear badge. If your 1st - 5th grader is interested in joining Cub Scouts, contact Michael Kirby (kirbym14@gmail.com) for more information.
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Blue Oyster Mushrooms

Below, students in Lower and Upper Elementary mixed blue oyster mushroom spawn into aspen wood chips during horticulture this week. Students across levels mixed the spawn into two different types of wood chips to compare the growth rates in the different environments.
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First Aid Presentation

The Upper School had a virtual first-aid presentation by an MSA alum, Jackson Potter, and his lab partner who are seniors in the nursing program at Western Carolina. They covered a variety of first aid topics followed by a virtual interactive demonstration in their practice lab on campus at WCU.
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Virtual Flag Ceremony Quote

Students at MSA are celebrating our weekly flag ceremony virtually this year with pre-recorded videos of students reciting a quote and telling everyone what it means to them and how it applies to our school. This week, an Upper Elementary student has chosen a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and you can see her video below.
October 19 Flag Ceremony Quote

Buy a Yearbook Today!

Yearbook staffers have been hard at work this year coming up with and creating ads for the yearbook on the front windows, for Montessori Matters, and around campus. See their new Halloween window ads they created this week below, and click here to purchase your yearbook today! If you own or manage a local business, consider placing an ad in the yearbook to advertise to MSA families -- contact the yearbook adviser, Matt Dabney, at mdabney@msasc.org if you are interested.
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This pumpkin lost his tooth and is expecting a visit from the tooth fairy!

Montessori School of Anderson

This pumpkin lost his tooth and is expecting a visit from the tooth fairy!
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