The Mata Memo
February 7, 2023
Principal's Message
Dear Mata family,
We are back in the swing of things! It was so nice to see all of our students' wonderful smiles and their joy to be back on campus. The classrooms are buzzing with excellent instruction and learning!
Please read this memo in its entirety, as there are lots of things taking place in February!
Let's make it a great week!
Sincerely,
Tomeka Williams
Principal
Calendar at A Glance
District-Wide Calendar - Click Here
- Feb. 9th - 4th Grade Parent Meeting (Austin Trip) 6:00 PM
- Feb. 13-14th - Middle School Change For Change Fundraiser
Feb. 14th - Valentine's Day and Sweetheart Read
Feb. 14th - Middle School Field Trip
Feb. 17th - 4th grade field trip to the capitol
Feb. 17th- Community Coffee - Virtual
Feb. 20th – President’s Day (No School)
Feb. 25th – International Festival
Feb. 27th- 4th Grade Living Museum
After School Carpool Reminders
All cars will proceed down LaVista Dr. to the furthest entry past the school building. You will make a right turn into the drive nearest the apartments. You will remain in your car and show your sign to the Mata staff. We will call for your child as you drive around the wraparound drive. Please pull up as far as possible. Keep your child's tag showing until your child(ren) is brought to your car. When leaving the drive, turn left to circle under the bridge and proceed to the traffic light.
Please do not park in the NO Parking Zones, as this is a safety concern, and you can be ticketed.
Also, please do not walk through the lanes of the carpool. Please use the sidewalks when walking.
Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our students safe.
National School Counselor's Week
February 6-10 is National School Counselors Week. The 2023 theme is School Counselors: Helping Students Dream Big.
Students can create a card, poster, poem, note, or letter for our Mata Counselors - Dr. Lopez and Mrs. Gunter. We appreciate them both so much!
Kindness Week
HOTSPOTS
Dallas ISD has partnered with T-Mobile to provide hotspots to support our students’ internet access at home. The hotspots will be activated under T-Mobile’s Education plan, which includes free mobile internet with content filtering. All content accessible via this hotspot will pass through a content filter that blocks access to any form of inappropriate content and is compliant with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA).
Please email matamontessori@dallasisd.org with your Child's name and grade level if you interested by February 9, 2023.
Sweetheart Read
Who: Parents, friends, family members, or mentors to students.
Students: PK-6th grade
What: Spend 15-20 minutes reading and doing an optional craft with students. Books will be provided, but feel free to bring any special book that you might like.
When: February 14th; 9:00-12:00 pm
Volunteer: At a station or as a reader
We would like ALL children to be able to participate in this event, so please also consider joining us as a volunteer reader to be matched up with a child who does not have a partner to read with. Both English & Spanish readers are needed.
Valentine's Day
Dear Mata Parents,
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, we take time to once again consider how we celebrate holidays as a learning community.
Valentine’s Day is about friendship. It is about the love we share with those around us, teaching children to care about those around them, and a great way to see the creativity of the children. Part of our job as Montessori teachers is to hold fast and true to what is precious to children.
We realize holiday celebrations add to our lives:
1. Help us mark the passage of time and seasons
2. Winter holidays bring a sense of light and joyfulness to the long, dark winter months
3. Create a sense of community and a shared bond among groups of people
4. Provide an opportunity to study history, geography, and culture
5. Give us chances to experiment with different kinds of artwork and art projects
6. Help us honor special events and people in our lives
7. Encourage us to spend time with friends and family
Middle School Change for Change
Community Coffee - Topic Upper Elementary and Middle School
This meeting will focus on sharing information about next year's Montessori configuration.
Upon the return of the semester, and the beginning of the new year, student achievement, retention, and recruitment were a topic of conversation for our school and many of the other Montessori schools in Dallas ISD. The questions asked were how can we best support our 4th-8th grade students and also keep Mata as their #1 choice for public Montessori. Ultimately, we came to evaluate our current model for sixth graders. Harry Stone has had their 6th grade into middle school for several years, and other Montessori schools in Dallas ISD will be making this transition next year.
For our community, this would mean having Montessori classes for fourth and fifth graders only, and then separate classes for sixth graders, taught by existing upper elementary teachers. They would also have the opportunity to take middle school electives, like 6th graders in other middle schools. We view this as allowing sixth graders to gradually transition into middle school.
There are benefits to this model, including
All sixth graders take honor courses and will have departmentalized teachers focusing on their subject
Enable us to have a larger, more competitive pool of applicants to choose from, ensuring that Mata maintains its high academic standards and performance.
More elective opportunities for 6th grade
More time to develop maturity growth in the middle school environment.
Better preparation for honor-level classes in 7th & 8th that will better position the students to apply to magnet high schools
Buffer for 6th-grade students to transition into middle school
More ability for 6th grade to bond and socialize among their peer group before transitioning to middle school
After evaluating the pros and cons of these options with our teachers and our SBDM, it's hard not to see the benefits of this new model, and we believe we should make this change.
We will also discuss how we could serve our students in 7th and 8th grade while continuing to stand on Montessori Principles and highlight our school's strengths.
I would like to invite you all out to hear more about this proposal, as well as hear your thoughts, ideas, and concerns.
If you would like to ask any questions to be addressed at the meeting, please feel free to send them to matamontessori@dallasisd.org.
4th Grade Living Museum
4th graders in Theatre this semester are preparing a living museum to celebrate Black History Month. This mini-class project allows them to learn to perform a monologue.
We invite you to come to our in-class performances on Monday, February 27th. This is only the 4th-grade students who are in Theater this semester. Please see the schedule below.
10:10am: Ms. Ortiz & Ms. B. Vazquez’s 4th graders
11:00am: Mr. Ibarra & Ms. Boling’s 4th graders
What's Happening Around Mata Montessori?
Robotics Competition - Dallas ISD's STEM Expo
Our teams, "The Energy Powered Eagles" and "The Techmasters" participated in their last competition of the year and won awards!
Congratulations to the following students:
Team Techmasters: Everly Mitchell, Emmie De La Paz, Isabella Leija, William Vollmer, Joel Ashmore, and Lena Sequenzia
Team Energy Powered Eagles: Ariana Reyes, Nora Carlisle, Mia Dominguez, Luca Solis, Julian Medina, and Mateo Arostegui
Thank you Ms. Paredes and Mr. Eguren for your sponsorship!
Kindness Certified School
Because of our school's participation in The Great Kindness Challenge, we were honored to be acknowledged as a Kindness Certified School.
Are you ready to party? WE NEED YOU!
PTA is calling all of our awesome Mata parents to host either an adult party, a kid party or a family party! Spots to the parties will be sold at our auction at the end of February, and all proceeds will go back to the school!
Here’s the scoop: The cost of the party is covered by you, the host, as a donation, and is tax-deductible. You set the time, location, and number of guests.
Here are some examples: superhero party, bowling party, dinner party, theme costume party, bounce house party, game night party, etc. Get creative, and have fun with it!
If you’re interested, or want more information, please email details to mariacdesimone@yahoo.com.
MataGras!
Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler with us at MATAGras!
3/4/23
7p-9:30pm
8500 Arturo Dr. Dallas
After several socially distant years due to covid, Mata PTA would like to invite you to join us in a FUNdraising night featuring a casual Crawfish boil, just down the road at the Fraternal Order of Eagles. In addition to dinner, we will have access to the FOE's indoor and outdoor space including a heated patio, cornhole, and fire pit. We also invite you to join us in our silent auction featuring Gifts of Time, Sign and go parties, student art, all benefiting our wonderful public Montessori school, Eduardo Mata.
Bring yourself as you are, and Let The Good Times ROLL!
Friendly Office Reminders
- Always bring an ID to the office for all student pick-ups.
- Cut off time for early student pick up is 2:30 PM.
- Parents must complete VOLY every school year in order to volunteer at our campus.
- No cupcakes or snacks high in sugar are permitted for Celebration of Life. Please bring healthy snacks the whole class can enjoy.
- No fast-food deliveries for students.
- Doors for students to enter the building every morning open at 7:30 AM.
- School starts at 8:00 AM and tardies are distributed after this time.
- If a student arrives after 8:20 AM this counts as a partial absence (T99).
- Always submit an excuse note anytime your student is absent.
- Please have your student adhere to the uniform policy.
Buy your spirit wear from the Eagle Wagon!
Spirit wear may be worn with jeans on Fridays
Thank you for your patience while we organize our current on hand inventory.
For new shirts, more colors, expanded sizing and embroidered options plus delivery to your home see our PTA’s online fundraising store https://matamontessori.itemorder.com/shop/home/
Join PTA!
Check out your PTA membership perks and if you’re not a member you can join online:
Action for Happiness Calendar
Mata Montessori School's Vision and Mission
Vision Statement: To provide an academic foundation which allows our students to be successful life-long learners.
Mission Statement: To provide an authentic Montessori education by focusing on educating the whole child academically, socially, and emotionally for all children.
Mata Montessori School's Key Actions
- Maintain a climate and culture that fosters academic excellence.
- Improve quality of instruction and student achievement through an aligned Montessori curriculum.
- Actively engage parents in education in meaningful and relevant ways.
Eduardo Mata Montessori School
Email: matamontessori@dallasisd.org
Website: http://www.dallasisd.org/Page/2376
Location: 7420 La Vista Drive, Dallas, TX, United States
Phone: (972)749-7500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MataMontessori/?fref=ts
Twitter: @montessorimata