WEEKLY WONDERS
Charles Ellis Montessori Academy, November 1, 2021
"Our aim is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination so as to enthuse him to his innermost core." Maria Montessori
Imagination anchored in reality promotes creativity, (I+R=C)
https://kids-collective.com/blog/imagination-and-reality-in-montessori-philosophy/
Peace,
Ms. Tanya
Important Dates
November 1-30- PTA Read-A-Thon
November 1- Deadline to Purchase PTA Wreaths
November 2- Election Day
November 10- PTA Meeting
November 11- Veteran's Day- No School!
November 22-26- Thanksgiving Break- No School!
School-Wide Grace & Courtesy Focus
The language for identifying/naming FORGIVENESS in "The Self-Awakened Child" series by Jonathan Wolff:
- When I make a mistake and say to myself, "It's OK to make a mistake. I will try to do better the next time, " I am Forgiving myself.
- When I make a mistake and say to someone who feels sad or angry at me for what I did, "I'm sorry. Is there something I can do to help make it right?" I am helping the other person to Forgive me.
- When someone hurts my feelings or does something that makes me feel sad or angry, I am practicing Forgiveness when I say to them, "I felt hurt and angry by what you said and did. Maybe what you did was an accident. If I did anything that caused you to hurt my feelings, I'm sorry and I will try to do better. I hope you feel better soon." Then I let me hurt and angry feelings go away.
Congratulations, Ms. Beth!
Ms. Beth is our school academic coach who recently finished her training to be a certified Montessori coach. A Montessori coach supports the implementation of the Montessori method in our school, supporting teachers in their teaching journey. Ms. Beth also works with staff to integrate district expectations with our Montessori philosophy of teaching.
You can read more about the SCCPSS Teacher of the Year process on the SCCPSS website.
Congratulations to Ms. Beth for well-deserved recognition at the district level!
Brighten the Holidays of Ellis Students
We can help make the holidays a little bit easier for many of our Ellis families in need by providing $25 gift certificates to Target or Walmart to purchase gifts. Our goal is to collect 65 gift cards by November 19th.
Giving is easy! Please sign up through this link, then either send a card to school, marked for Ms. Rebecca, or follow the Venmo directions on the sign up page and we’ll purchase the cards in bulk.
PTA Wreath Sale
Last Chance to Order Wreaths! This is a fundraiser for the PTA Heath & Wellness Committee. This committee has provided much needed supplies to Nurse Chris and they have also purchased the new, wooden picnic tables throughout our campus that we are now enjoying. We would appreciate support for their future initiatives through a wreath purchase!
Please consider making a purchase and/or sharing this information with your family and friends.
Visit sherwoodfundraiser.com/CEMAPTA to order. All orders are due November 1st.
Questions? Email Sara Hartley (badge7890@aol.com)
Fall Festival Fun- Thank you!
Thank you to the Ellis community that participated in our 2021 Fall Festival! We successfully passed out goodies to over 100 Ellis students! The PTA included 20 community partners who attended and/or provided goodies that were passed out during the event. We counted 84 vehicles that drove through over the hour and a half extravaganza. We collected and delivered a large box of paper good donations to the Emmaus House. Everyone had a wonderful time!
We would like to announce the winners of our car costume contest..... The 1st place winner is the Jurassic Park Jeep (The Wyland Family) and the 2nd place winner is the 1921 Homecoming King and Queen (The Hutton/Minichbauer Family). Thank you to all who participated and had fun with us!
Mascots Having Fun!
Car Costume Contest Winner
Car Costume Contest Runner-Up
PTA Read-A-Thon
The Charles Ellis Montessori Academy PTA is thrilled to announce that we will be sponsoring our 10th Annual Read-A-Thon for our students during the month of November.
All proceeds from the Read-A-Thon will directly support our school.This year, we will be raising funds to purchase updated Montessori Materials that will be circulated through the media center for classroom use.
Not only will the funds benefit our school, but students will also enjoy time reading (and it is something that can be done as a family). We hope the time your family spends participating in this Read-A-Thon will encourage a love of reading and time spent together supporting a good cause.
Students have received a reading log (also attached below) to track their reading and also to request pledges. Pledges/donations should be submitted to the PTA Read-A-Thon Memberhub website (http://app.memberhub.gives/4ae9be).
Prizes!
Any student, who raises $100 or more, will receive a $10.00 gift certificate to the Scholastic Book Fair in the media center, which will take place December 6-10, 2021.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ms. Lisa (lisa.odonnell@sccpss.com).
Kids Rock Fun Run
If you are interested, email Coach Lesley at lesley.corley@sccpss.com. The entries will be given out first come, first served!
Media Center
Thank you to all the students/families who decorated pumpkins for our annual Book Character Pumpkin Patch last week...we had over 80 pumpkins in the media center! The students/staff really enjoyed viewing the pumpkins throughout the week.
This week, we met with Pre-K students during their Explorations on Friday. We read the book "Otis and the Scarecrow," which is story about a tractor that shows empathy for a scarecrow by showing kindness and being a friend.
A new month of BOOK IT! has begun. If you haven't signed your Pre-K-6th grade student up to participate yet and you would like to, please email me and I will add them. The program runs monthly until March 2022.
Happy reading!
Ms. Lisa
Library Media Technology Specialist
Ellis Montessori Academy
912-395-5470 Ext. 71210
Counselor's Corner
This week in school counseling instruction, Ms. Rebecca and school counseling intern, Mr. Wes, continued the unit on Empathy in School Counseling Instruction. We read the book The Invisible Boy to Lower Elementary, and When I Care About Others to Primary. Erdkinder received a follow-up lesson reviewing YouScience career results and got the same lesson on Empathy as Upper Elementary received last week. We learned that empathy is understanding the feelings of others and worked together to come up with ideas on how we can be helpful in our school, at home, and in our community.
For additional support, peer mediation conflict resolution, or any resources, including Backpack Buddies free food for the weekends, please reach out to our School Counseling Department. Resources are available on the School Counseling Website including a list of mental health professionals in the Savannah area.
Rebecca Burkhart, School Counselor 912-395-5470 x2rebecca.burkhart@sccpss.com
From the Clinic
Update 10/5/21: The district has provided the COVID-19 Flowchart pictured below. For future reference, you may find this image on the Nurse's page of the Ellis website.
Please note:
Nurse Chris' email address has changed to christine.oboyle@sccpss.com
If your child is (or will be) absent for any reason, please email your child's teacher AND copy Nurse Chris on the email.
If your student is classified as a "Close Contact" with someone who has COVID-19 at school, you will receive a phone call from someone on the Ellis Contact Tracing team to pick them up immediately. When you pick up your student, you will be provided with a letter from Nurse Chris outlining further instructions including when your student will be allowed to return to the building. You can view that letter template on the Nurse's page of the Ellis school website for your future reference. It is also listed in the updated Ellis Family Handbook.
Contact Information:
912-395-5474
Devices Brought to School Daily
Students must also have their own set of earbuds/headphones. We cannot share these items among students for hygiene reasons.
If you would like your student to keep their device at school, please contact your student's teacher to arrange that.
Thank you for your help with teaching our students to be responsible for their school materials.
COVID-19 Testing Sites
**Update 9/16/2021**
See updated list attached below.
Please see the attached PDF below for alternative COVID-19 testing sites.
Thank you for your help.
Publix Partners
Here's how you can enroll and participate in just a few steps:
- Visit publix.com/partners and select our school: Charles Ellis Montessori- Savannah, GA
- Provide your phone number every time you check out at Publix.
- Publix will donate a portion of qualifying purchases to our school!
Ellis PTA
The PTA is calling all local business owners to consider investing in our school by being a PTA Business Sponsor. See attached form below. We appreciate your consideration and help spreading the word out to our community about this great opportunity
If you haven't joined the PTA yet, please do!
Joining the PTA is a small but significant way to get involved in our school and to make a difference in the lives of our Ellis community.
WE NEED YOU!
There is still a PTA Committee Chair open:
Arts Enrichment
If interested in joining a PTA committee, contact Emily Salzer (emilycsalzer@gmail.com) or Kellie Groover (kellie.groover@focuslabllc.com), PTA Co-Presidents.
If you are a parent/guardian of a new Ellis student, request to join the Ellis PTA Facebook Group to connect with us.
Contact Us!
Principal
Ms. Tanya Melville
Ms. Ja'Dayia Coleman-Kennedy
jadayia.coleman-kennedy@sccpss.com
Information Specialist Clerk
Ms. Lucy Holloway
School Secretary
Ms. Patricia Solomon-Brown
patricia.solomon-brown@sccpss.com
Library Media Technology Specialist
PTA Teacher Liaison
Ms. Lisa O'Donnell
Email: Tanya.Melville@sccpss.com
Website: https://spwww.sccpss.com/schools/ellis/Pages/default.aspx
Location: 220 East 49th Street, Savannah, GA, USA
Phone: (912) 395-5470
Ellis Montessori Academy Website
Click here to view the new Charles Ellis Montessori Academy website.
SCCPSS Website
Please visit the SCCPSS website regularly for the most up-to-date district information.