Cowles Montessori Crier
Week of March 8th
Cowles Montessori Vision
“Human flourishing, as Maria Montessori put it, means becoming a person of one’s time and place with the means and wherewithal not only to function within but to shape society (NCMPS, 2019).”
“All humans (CHILDREN and ADULTS) flourish in society (ENVIRONMENT).” - Cowles Montessori Vision
Spirit Day, Virtual Pep Rally, and Spring Break!
Pep Rally/School Spirit Day Monday
Monday is the big day! You can begin viewing the Virtual Pep Rally starting at 6:00 p.m. You'll find the link to access the pep rally at the supportcowles.com website. Don't forget to ask your kids to wear purple or a Cowles shirt for spirit day Monday!
March CMPG meeting
The March CMPG meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 8th. We have two large funding requests we'd like your input with:
- Garden committee request for sound garden equipment from the CMPG Arts Funds
- Montessori Material Allocation of $10,000 from the CMPG General Fund (this seperate from what is raised during the spring fundraiser)
Please join us on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5016626370
Volunteers Needed
CMPG needs volunteers for the president and the secretary position. Please reach out to Nicole Kosby at nicole.kosby@gmail.com if you are interested in serving our community in this way.
Spring Break
- No School from Saturday, March 13th through Sunday, March 21st
- School resumes on Monday, March 22nd
The Heart Of The Matter
Dear Cowles parents/guardians,
Spring break is just around the corner, and we know many of you are considering travel https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/faqs.html. It's been a long, cold winter! But before you jump in the car, please take a few minutes to review these tips:
- Don't travel if anyone in your household is ill or in isolation/quarantine.
- Know that travel increases your risk for contracting COVID-19. This is due to the many exposures to persons outside of your household and to the different activities you do while traveling (e.g. eating inside at restaurants, activities that involve crowds, etc.).
- Use these strategies to reduce the risk while traveling:
- wear a mask and maintain distance
- carry hand sanitizer and/or wash your hands often
- avoid crowds, especially indoors
- choose options that are less risky (e.g. driving rather than flying/mass transit, takeout food rather than indoor dining, pick outdoor activities, etc.)
What about pre- and post-travel testing?
- The CDC encourages testing before travel to ensure you don't unknowingly contribute to the spread of COVID-19 while traveling.
- The CDC recently strengthened its post-travel recommendations. These recommendations are similar to quarantine.
- Stay home and monitor for symptoms of COVID-19.
- Get tested 3-5 days after travel; the local health department prefers testing at 5 days.
- If you test negative, stay home for 7 days.
- If you do not test, stay home for 10 days.
- If you test positive, stay home and isolate. More information about isolation can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/sick-with-2019-nCoV-fact-sheet.pdf
When you return to school after spring break, please remember our two most important guidelines for the year:
- Wear a mask! It's the most important thing we can do to help reduce the risk here at school.
- Stay home if you have any symptoms of illness. It's a bit of a change from business as usual, but it's more important than ever this year.
Reminder:
If you traveled over spring break, please review the recommendations from the CDC and get tested! Wear a mask when you return to school. Stay home if you have any symptoms of illness.
More information available here:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-after-travel-text-alt.html
March is National Nutrition Month and this is the time of year when nutrition becomes a focus in schools promoting healthy eating as well as in the media featuring healthy lifestyle topics found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=77_5uhGYUk8++. It seems everyone is getting inspired to eat more fruits and vegetables. Here are some helpful tips to get your family to eat healthier meals.
- Eat together as a family for a least one meal a day.
- During dinner, talk about fruits and vegetables and find out what are your family favorites.
- Include the children in the meal preparation.
Other Reminders:
On behalf of FLOSSIE, the CAVITY CRUSADER, and all the COWLES Preprimary and LL students, I would like to THANK CMPG for their generous donation to purchase toothbrushes, toothpaste and stickers for each of the students take home. We had a great time of learning, in each of the Pre-Primary and LL classrooms, the importance of brushing and flossing teeth, eating healthy, and visiting the dentist. I hope you had a chance to ask your student what they learned.
Hearing screens for students in preschool, kindergarten, first, second, and fifth grades will be conducted by our DMPS Audiology team and they will be here this week - March 11th and 12th. See the DMPS parent letter attached to this letter for more information.
Please remember to notify us if anyone in your family tests positive for COVID-19 (see the documents below this message) or is in quarantine. You can reach me by calling the main office at 515-242-7818 and leave a message or you may email me at ann.humphrey@dmschools.org and I will get back to you.
Kindness Challenge: “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” Check ou the 11 Kindness Challenge ideas and FREE Printables for 2021 posted below this message. Enjoy!
Have a great week!
Be well! Stay safe!
Nurse Ann
Nurse Ann's Office Hours
If parents want to book an appointment time to speak with Nurse Ann, click on the link below:
Incredible You
Staying connected is a top priority for all of our children at Cowles Montessori. Each week, Principal Johnson reads from a list of students, faculty, and staff to say hello and share a page from the book "Incredible You" by Dr. Wayne Dyer.
- Your child can access these videos by clicking on the links and logging into their DMPS accounts.
- The links to the videos are posted below if your child wishes to view them at home.
- Principal Johnson will update this list each week until he says hello to everyone and finishes the book:
#1 Share The Good
#3 You Are Filled With Love
#4 Find A Quiet Place Inside
#5 Make Today Great#6 Change Your Thoughts To Good
#7 Take Care of Yourself
Celebrating Women's History Month
Iowa Legislative Updates
The Education Bill Tracking webpage provides regular updates during the Iowa legislative session on bills related to education in Iowa. Information about new bills, including names, numbers, and sponsors are provided.
As the session continues to move forward, there are certain session milestones that bills need to clear to stay alive. These milestones are listed within the session timetable
DMPS Early Childhood and District Board Goals
Early Childhood Department/School Readiness Goals & Learning Targets – 2020-2021
- 85% of 4 year-olds will meet or exceed kindergarten readiness in the Literacy Domain of GOLD including concepts of print, alliteration, letter names and letter sounds.
- 80% of 4 year-olds will meet or exceed kindergarten readiness in the Math Domain of GOLD including counts, quantifies and connects numerals with quantities.
- 90% of 4 year-olds will meet or exceed kindergarten readiness in the Social/Emotional Domain of GOLD, follows limits and expectations.
District Board Goals
LITERACY
- Goal 1: The percent of all third grade students on track in reading will increase from 52% to 72% by June 2023, as measured by FAST.
- Goal 2: The percent of black male third grade students on track in reading will increase from 35% to 72% by June 2023, as measured by FAST.
ALGEBRA
- Goal 3: The percent of black male students earning a ‘B’ or higher in Algebra 1 by the end of 9th grade will increase from 17% to 35% by August 2023.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING
- Goal 4: A goal will be developed once a baseline measure for social emotional learning is determined.
Cowles Montessori School Improvement Goal
Goal 1: The percent of all third through eighth grade students proficient and/or on track for college and career readiness in math will increase from 81% to 85% by Spring of 2023 as measured by state assessments:
- By 2020 - 82%
- By 2021 - 83%
- By 2022 - 84%
- By 2023 - 85%
Contact Cowles Montessori
Email: shannon.hines@dmschools.org
Website: cowles.dmschools.org
Location: 6401 College Avenue, Windsor Heights, IA, USA
Phone: 515-242-7818
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CowlesMontessori/
Twitter: @CowlesDMPS