Growing Together
Geist Montessori Academy@GeistAcademy
Volume 22: January 24, 2021
Dear GMA School Family,
We are so excited to see the onsite students return tomorrow! We have missed seeing those sparkling eyes and all of the love, passion, and learning filling the classrooms. We have several new families joining our GMA school family this week, and we are so delighted to have you come grow with us!
If you have a new student joining us this week, please pay special attention to the carline information, complete the health screening verification form, and be mindful that all students need to bundle up for outside recess. Students also bring their own lunches, water bottles, and snacks.
Please know that we are committed to a safe and healthy school family! Here are some extra precautions and measures that we are taking:
- Heightened hand washing and sanitizing
- More plexi-shields in the classrooms
- Band limits~ only one section at a time
- Mask usage: students receive only one warning for improper usage
- Reinstating the weekly health screening verification
- Cohorts for lunch, extra rooms/space for lunch and indoor recess
Also, as we return onsite, there are some special clubs beginning in February, so please find the details and attached permission slips below. We are thrilled to offer basketball, and we look forward to seeing you on the Yellow Brick Road with GMA’s production of the Wizard of OZ!
As always, thank you for partnership in learning!
Warm winter wishes,
Cindy Schuler
Executive Director
Geist Montessori Academy
(317) 813-4626
Of all things, love is the most potent.
-Maria Montessori
Dates to remember
Upcoming Events
1/25 Onsite learning resumes
2/1 Basketball and Drama Club Permission Slips Due
2/3 Basketball Club
2/8-2/11 CogAT Testing, grades K and 2
2/10 Basketball Club
2/12 eLearning Day
2/15 No School/ President's Day
2/17 Basketball Club
2/24 Basketball Club
3/8-3/19 IREAD-3, 3rd grade state reading assessment
3/12 End of First Quarter
3/18-3/19 Student Led Conferences, Progress Reports
4/1 International Festival, South America Celebration
Bundle up and be in the know!
Follow the yellow Brick Road!
Rehearsals will begin for the Wizard of Oz on Monday, February 1st. Rehearsals will run from 3:45 to 4:45 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Different Scenes will be worked on in each rehearsal. If your student is not in the scene for the day, they are not required to be at that rehearsal. A schedule will be sent each month leading up to the performance. As we get closer to the performance, rehearsals will be longer. We are looking at a mid-April performance date.
All speaking parts were given to the upper elementary and Jr. High students; however if younger students are interested in being in the cast, we are looking for munchkins, monkeys and trees. If you are interested in helping with the production, please let me know. We need help with costumes and set design and also just some general help to make the production a success. My e-mail is rstiffler@gma.k12.in.us
There is no cost to be part of the drama club; however we would like to buy the cast and production crew t-shirts. Please fill out the attached permission slip below and return it before our first rehearsal on February 1st.
Thanks for your support of the Music and Drama departments, and we will see on the Yellow Brick Road this April.
E. Ray Stiffler
Music and Drama Director
Car line procedures
Notes from the Nurse/ Weekly Screening
We look forward to seeing our onsite students back in the building! By continuing to follow CDC and state health guidelines we can S.M.A.S.H. COVID-19 together (Social distance, Masks, Avoiding crowds, Screen and Stay home when sick, Hand washing) and continue to have a healthy and successful school year. You can help S.M.A.S.H. COVID-19 by remembering to complete the weekly GMA COVID-19 screening. Please follow the google form link to complete the screening by 8am Friday for the following week for each student on site at GMA. This screener will be available to complete weekly starting this spring semester. If you are unable to check all of the screening boxes, please reach out to me for an explanation and guidance for returning to school. See you all soon and reach out anytime!
https://forms.gle/F2XTPGF7GyjdXFmM9
April Wayman, RN
Geist Montessori Academy
School Nurse
317-813-4626 ext.106
Swishes do come TRue!
Your swishes came true! It's Time for Basketball Club!
Basketball Health benefits
- Strengthens muscular endurance
- Helps with social-emotional regulation
- Builds healthy bones
- Improves balance and coordination
- Develops fundamental movement skills
- Improves body composition
- Boosts heart health
Does your child want to practice basketball skills and cooperation?
When: February 3, 10, 17 & 24
Time: 3:45 – 4:45 (students must be picked up before 5:00)
Where: GMA Gym
Who: Grades 4th – 8th
Contact Info: Brian Hole bhole@gma.k12.in.us
317-813-4626
Registration form, found below, is due to Mr. Brian by Monday, February 1, 2021.
YMCA Middle School Student Leadership Opportunity
• Empower youth to affect their communities in positive ways.
• Develop young people into leaders of their schools, workplace and communities by fostering a culture of service.
HANGING OUT WITH A PURPOSE
The FREE program combines leadership, volunteering and community service opportunities with fun and fellowship. We engage young people in conceiving, planning, and carrying out community improvement projects in their local neighborhoods.
The goal of the Leaders Club is to empower youth to affect their communities in positive ways. TUESDAYS, JANUARY 26 - MARCH 9 | 5:00 PM MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM The program will have one Zoom meeting per week. All programs will also use Google Classroom along with the Google Suite (Docs, Sheets, Forms, etc.)
Questions?
Contact the Youth Empowerment YMCA Office at YouthEmpowerment@indymca.org 317.344.9377
Shining Light on Montessori Methods!
-Dr. Maria Montessori
Please enjoy the video below, " Why Montessori?"
PTO President, Ms. Morgan
All PTO meetings are at 6:30pm, and we hope that you can join us!
March 16
April 20
May 18
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/4295784599?pwd=Zkt4WFIrZXovNFlNQ1dVa2p0bng2Zz09
Meeting ID: 429 578 4599
Passcode: 2BQ5G9
Come join our staff family! More students means more teachers, co-teachers, and substitutes are needed
thank you, School Board!
Our sincere appreciation is extended to our school board for their time and service to GMA!
President: Uriah Ellis
Secretary: Lacey Willard
Treasurer: Andrew Cavallaro
Members at Large: Karen Swan and Mark Clark
Next Meeting: Tuesday, February 16, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75754401026?pwd=a08zZmVtcHY2MEV5WkFQTWJXWVFOZz09
Meeting ID: 757 5440 1026
Passcode: w9c39B
Meeting Dates: March 16,April 20, May 18, and June 15, 2021
*All Meetings begin at 5:30 pm and are open to the public. Meetings are being held virtually.
We look forward to our continued partnership, as we grow together for the better!
FREE online resources
Here is a list of free education resources that you and your student can use to continue the learning journey. As long as you have an internet connection, you can use these online resources to unlock hours of learning:
At Home Activities:
Khan Academy (https://www.khanacademy.org/) – Khan Academy offers free courses of all grade levels to help students master subjects and accelerate their learning. Through these courses, Kahn Academy allows students to personalize their learning and learn at their own pace.
PBS LearningMedia (https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/) – PBS LearningMedia provides students with free lesson plans, videos, and games aligned with standards they are learning in the classroom.
TEDEd (https://ed.ted.com/) – TEDEd brings lessons to life for students through animation. TEDEd’s goal is to ignite curiosity among learners. To do this, TEDEd collects the best teacher lessons around the world. Then, it turns them into shareable animated videos for students.
PowerMyLearning Connect (https://powermylearning.org/learn/connect/) – PowerMyLearning Connect offers curated learning from a variety of online platforms. K-12 students can access free content in all core subjects and many electives, with the ability to choose standard aligned lessons.
BrainPOP (https://www.brainpop.com/) – BrainPOP provides animated interactive lessons, quizzes, and games for core subjects and a variety of electives.
Lumosity (https://www.lumosity.com/en/) – Lumosity offers free brain games to keep student minds actively engaged. For example, the games use problem solving, critical thinking, and memory to keep students on their toes and strengthen their skills.
Duolingo (https://www.duolingo.com/) – Duolingo helps students keep up with foreign language skills. Duolingo offers 30+ languages so students can start learning a variety of languages that interest them. Or, students can use Duolingo to practice the foreign languages they are already learning in the classroom.
EVERFI (https://everfi.com/partners/k-12-educators/) – EVERFI offers free supplemental lessons for the whole student in areas of Finance, SEL, Health, College/Career Readiness, and related topics.
The Smithsonian Learning Lab ( https://learninglab.si.edu/distancelearning)-offers teachers and parents access to millions of digital resources from across the Smithsonian's museums, research centers, libraries, archives, and more. Includes pre-packaged collections that contain lessons, activities, and recommended resources made by Smithsonian museum educators. Includes self-directed learning modules for teens and tweens.
Online courses and video lessons
- Crash Course, an online youtube channel started by Hoosier natives Hank and John Green, has 15 courses with up to 75 video lessons for each. Lessons are geared for the middle and high school student.
- Crash Course for Kids follows the same format as Crash Course but with elementary level content.
- TedED has engaging video series for all ages. Sign in with Google to create lessons.
Ranger Rick (https://rangerrick.org/)- The National Wildlife Federation has opened all articles behind its paywall through June 30. This includes Educator’s Guides and Ranger Rick, Jr. Parent Reading Guides in English and Spanish.
Stories Around the World (International Children's Digital Library) Explore tales, fables, and stories from around the world in over 59 languages.
Free tutoring with Rose-Hulman (AskRose) has extended their free tutoring service hours for middle and high school students.
The Encyclopedia of Life (http://eol.org/)- an online database of over one million species and counting, provides a platform for the scientist and citizen-scientist alike to collaborate on scientific information for every living thing on Earth. This “open-science” website aggregates information from over 180 scientific organizations and scientists and as a result, provides rich and detailed text descriptions, photos and video clips, sound files and links to research and associated research.
Department of Defense: Learn about careers in STEM fields
Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics: Kids' Zone
Department of Energy: Games and Activities; Virtual Field Trips to National Energy Labs
Environmental Protection Agency: Games, Quizzes, and Videos about the Environment
The Library of Congress: Presentations and Activities to Help Students Learn about History
NASA: Interactive Lessons about Space, Earth, Solar System and Universe; Lessons from Astronauts about Living in Space; STEM Activities for Students of All Ages
The Kennedy Center: Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems; Tour the Kennedy Center with The Pigeon
The Smithsonian: Free Smithsonian STEM Games and Simulations; Meet the Animals of the National Zoo; 3D Exhibits and Virtual Tours; Smithsonian Magazine Ten Museums You Can Virtually Visit; The Museum of Natural History Virtual Tour; Digital Smithsonian American Art Museum; Distance Learning Resources
NOAA: Use Real-Time Ocean Data to Explore the Environment
USGS: Learn from Home About Physical science, Geography and Maps
Social Emotional Resources:Social Emotional Learning Resources related to Covid-19
Resources to support you and your family:
- See this link for information on hospitals, Community Mental Health Centers, and other local supports: https://www.in.gov/issp/2422.htm
- Trauma and ACES: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/aces-and-toxic-stress-frequently-asked-questions/
- Resources from Indiana Department of Education: https://www.doe.in.gov/elearning/2020-covid-19-remote-learning#family%20resources
- Resource from World Health Organization:https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/helping-children-cope-with-stress-print.pdf?sfvrsn=f3a063ff_2
- Parenting Tips and CIVID-19:https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/healthy-parenting?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_campaign=030096d2e1f0&utm_medium=page
- Intro to Seesaw video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzlrtDR84KY&feature=emb_logo
- Family guide to Google Classroom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Iowi-gmbys
- How to use Zoom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCjksPhTlyE
- Microsoft family guide: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/distance-learning-with-office-365-guidance-for-parents-and-guardians-89d514f9-bf5e-4374-a731-a75d38ddd588?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=U
Special Populations Resources
English Language Learner
- eLearning Resources - English Learners - This hub features resources for both teachers and families of English learner students. Included are links to other EL-specific resource hubs, such as WIDA’s, links for effectively connecting with multilingual families, and instructional programs and supports.
- eLearning Requirements and Supports for English Learners - IDOE’s guidance on the requirements for providing services, communicating with families, and assessing English learner students.
High Ability
Special Education
International Recognition: Children of the world
Meet Geist Montessori Academy's Executive Director: Cindy Schuler
Email: Cschuler@gma.k12.in.us
Website: gmacademy.org
Phone: (317)813-4626
Twitter: @GeistAcademy
GMA Contact iNformation
PHONE NUMBER:
(317) 813-4626
ADDRESS:
6058 W. 900 N.
McCordsville, IN 46055