WEEKLY WONDERS

"Concentration is the key that opens up to the child the latent treasures within him" Dr. Maria Montessori

"To be born with a silver spoon in your mouth" comes from a term used to describe the British aristocracy and the privilege of being born into wealth. As I look at the picture of the child threading beads from the beautiful silver sugar bowl, I am reminded that the wealth of a meaningful, life-promoting, education is so much more valuable. In the Montessori classroom children may polish silver as a practical life lesson. This learning activity is not to promote a desire for all that glitters, but is an activity that builds concentration and purpose. Yes many tongues will contort to the effort each child brings to such learning, but what life story will be told once the child has accomplished the task. As they polish the silver they are polishing their minds. So take out the polishing cloth, rub a little toothpaste or polish into that silver spoon and delight in a job well done!

Check out the links below.

Peace, Ms. Tanya

https://www.maitrilearning.com/blogs/montessori-pedagogy/developing-the-attention-span-via-polishing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPPONopV5gs

Important Dates

September 13- Middle School Volleyball Tryouts/Practice Begins

September 21- PTA Spirit Night at Chipotle

September 24- Donation Dress Down Day

September 25- PTA Parent Advocacy Workshop

October 8- Fall Break (No School!)

October 11- Staff Planning Day (No School for Students!)

October 12- Second Nine-Weeks Period Begins

COVID-19 Testing Sites

Per Dr. Levett, SCCPSS Superintendent, the area hospitals are reporting an overload of people requesting COVID-19 testing for their students to return to school. She is requesting that you choose another location to help expediate the process and relieve some of the congestion at the local hospitals.

Please see the attached PDF below for alternative COVID-19 testing sites.

Thank you for your help.

PTA Parent Advocacy Workshop

Got Questions about IEPs, 504s, and more?

Join us via Zoom on Saturday, September 25 from 9am-12pm for a conversation about Special Education Planning and Support. Register here.

During this workshop we will discuss IEPs and 504s from start to finish, including the laws surrounding special education, Babies Can't Wait through a student's transition to college. We will explore the differences between an IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) and 504s and how to know what is best to ask for regarding your child. This workshop will also address how to prepare for your IEP/504 meeting, who you should expect to be there, who you can request to be there, and how to be assertive and advocate for your child. We will also discuss how to handle formal complaints, due process, and mediation.

This workshop is sponsored by the Charles Ellis Montessori Academy PTA and is free to all participants.

DDDD Supporting Ambucs

We will be having our first DDDD on Friday, September 24th. If your student wishes to dress out of uniform on that day, please ensure that they have at least $1 to donate to this month's cause: Savannah Ambucs.

Please note: Students should follow the "Acceptable Dress for Non-Uniform Days" Guidelines on page 17 of the 21-22 Student Code of Conduct.

The mission for Savannah Ambucs is "Inspiring Mobility and Independence". You can check them out at Savannah Ambucs on Facebook or at savannahambucs.com. They include people with different abilities through their adaptive bike and bowling programs. They are a 501c3 organization. Proceeds from the Celebrity Bowlapalooza event benefit programs for children and adults with different abilities. These programs include-

AMTRYKES- Specially Adapted 3 Wheels Bikes for Children and Adults with Different Abilities. Savannah AMBUCS gave away 45 bikes during the 2019-20 AMBUC Year!! Check out the facebook page- I bet you will see some familiar student faces!
AMBUC Bowling for Adult and Children with Different Abilities- They currently have over 100 adults that bowl every Saturday from September to May. Children bowl periodically throughout the year also.
Scholarships for Physical, Occupational, and Speech Therapy students from Savannah attending a program in Georgia or at The University of South Carolina or students in the PT and Speech programs at Georgia Southern.
Scholarships for former students attending Savannah Tech.

MAP Testing- Must Have Devices!

The district-mandated MAP Assessment window is now open. It is imperative that students bring their devices to school EVERY DAY, FULLY CHARGED in order to complete the required assessments. Some teachers may even request that students leave their devices at school for the duration of testing to ensure that students are ready.

If you have any questions/concerns, please email your student's teacher.

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.

Click here to join or donate.

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.

PTA Chipotle Spirit Night

Our first PTA Spirit Night of the year will be September 21st from 4-8pm at Chipotle (located at 1801 E. Victory Dr. Savannah, GA 31404-4127).

Help raise funds for the Ellis PTA to support our school! Chipotle will donate 33% of all sales that use promo code G9GK4AY when ordering online. Pick up must be between 4-8 pm.

Counselors' Corner

This week in School Counseling Instruction, all Lower Elementary classes learned about growth mindset through the book Your Fantastic Elastic Brain. We read about brain development and how challenges help our brains to grow. Next week, all Upper Elementary and Erdkinder students will receive lessons on growth mindset, motivation, and perseverance, learning about grit and making the best of our mistakes.

The Backpack Buddies free food program is available for any students in need. If your child or someone you know could benefit from a bag of food for the weekends, please contact Ms. Rebecca. We proudly sponsor with The Collegiate Church of St. Paul the Apostle for this wonderful service to our families.

Let me know how I can be of service.

School Counseling Website

912-395-5470 x2

tinyurl.com/BookMsRebecca

rebecca.burkhart@sccpss.com

or you can message Rebecca Burkhart on ItsLearning

Media Center

All Primary, Lower El, and Upper El classes have had media center orientation. We are so happy to have students checking out books again!

As a reminder, all Primary students may check out one book for up to two weeks. All Lower El-Erdkinder students may check out two books for up to two weeks.

This week, we met with our Pre-K friends during their Friday Explorations. We read the book,The Kindness Quilt, and talked about ways that we can be kind both at home and at school. Students who returned their books from two weeks ago checked out another book to take home. We will meet with Kindergarten next Friday, September 17th. If your kindergarten student still has a media center book checked out, please send that back to school with them next week so they can check out another book.

As always, we encourage you to read the media center books with your students.

Happy reading!

Ms. Lisa

Library Media Technology Specialist

lisa.odonnell@sccpss.com

912-395-5470 Ext. 71210

From the Clinic

For the health and safety of your student, please complete the 2021/2022 Ellis Student Medical Questionnaire regarding his/her medical conditions and/or allergies as soon as possible. This information will be an initial communication about the needs of your student and will be reviewed by the School Nurse. To ensure the proper care of your student, the information will be shared with the faculty and staff who interact with him/her and needs to be updated annually. Please complete a separate questionnaire for each of your students. Thank you for your help.

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.

Welcome letter from Nurse Chris.

Contact Information:

Christine.O'boyle@sccpss.com

912-395-5474

School-Wide Grace & Courtesy Focus

The Language of Kindness from "The Self-Awakened Child" Series by Jonathan Wolff

When I care about how other people feel as much as I care about my own feelings, I am being kind.
When I am a good friend to others-- to people, to animals, and plants-- and help them be the best they can be, I am being kind.
When I treat myself, other people, animals, and plants gently and with love, I am being kind.

Year-Round Update

From the SCCPSS District: The Year Round Update(YRU) form is available in the PowerSchool Parent Access Portal. This form allows parents/guardians the ability to update phone numbers, emails, and emergency contacts anytime throughout the rest of the school year. Data is updated immediately in PowerSchool upon form submission.

In addition, a link and acknowledgement for the SY 21-22 Code of Conduct is located on the YRU. This will allow schools to have anyone who has not acknowledged the SY 21-22 Code of Conduct do so by completing YRU form via the Parent Access portal.

Please note that addresses and parent/guardian names cannot be updated in the YRU. SIS will be launching a NEW online address update form very soon. Stay tuned!

Troubleshooting for parents:

Have Parent log into their PowerSchool Parent Portal.

On the left Navigation Pane (toward the bottom) click on “Year-Round Update ***Very Important Note: If the parent is unable to see left navigation pane or year round update please click the light blue arrow on the left hand corner and it should appear.***
On the Year-Round Update Page Review the student’s information. The bottom of the form shows the Student Code of Conduct section. The Student code of Conduct link is clickable. Review the code of Conduct, check the acknowledgement box, type full name, and enter today’s date. Click Submit to save the changes.

Friendly Reminder:

It is imperative that we have up-to-date contact information for parents/guardians (including EMAIL addresses) in PowerSchool.

If you have access to PowerSchool with your parent account, please make sure that you have a valid email address (that you check regularly!) on file. If you do not have access to your parent account on PowerSchool, you can visit the SCCPSS website for information on how to obtain access.

If you don't have access to PowerSchool, you may email your student’s classroom teacher, provide them with your email address, and they will pass that information on to our student information specialists so that they can update your student’s account.

Blue Dismissal Signs/Tickets

This year, we require a blue car rider dismissal sign with your student(s) name(s) to be displayed in the front passenger window/dashboard at dismissal. Please display this sign in the morning at arrival as well to help our staff identify students, as needed.

If you need any additional blue dismissal car rider signs OR blue walker tickets, please email your student's teacher and they will send those home with your student.

Thank you for your assistance in helping us ensure a smooth, timely arrival/dismissal.

Register now!

As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools is striving to improve safety and reduce risk wherever possible. One safety measure is minimizing cash and check payments at our schools.

We use SchoolCash Online to provide an online payment option for tech fees and other school items and fees. If you haven’t already created a free account, we encourage all parents to register now, so you’ll be ready to make online payments from home: both now and in the future as more school items become available again.

SchoolCash Online is free, safe, simple, secure, and saves time. You will help increase efficiency and security at your school by making payments directly into your school's bank account. This limits the number of people entering the school, reduces risk of lost payments, and allows teachers and office staff to focus on helping students and not counting cash. In addition, you are automatically informed about school activities! Registering takes less than two minutes: visit sccpss.schoolcashonline.com and click Register.