2010-12-08 Issue - Armatage Montessori School

ARMATAGE MONTESSORI SCHOOL
Kanga News
PRINCIPAL: JOAN FRANKS Wondering how to contact the
PTA. Use the email address
[email protected]
DECEMBER 8, 2010
One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to
find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do.
-- Henry Ford
Dear Armatage Families,
Welcome to winter! It seems like
memories of the long, warm and
beautiful weather we had last fall is
Thursday, December 9
now a faint and distant memory. I’ve
Kids on Broadway, 6 p.m.
always wondered why people
Friday, December 10
worldwide love the idea of ice skating,
Kids on Broadway, 9 & 11 a.m. & 7 p.m.
ice fishing, snowboarding, and skiing as
Thursday, December 16 it involves slippery conditions that I
PTA Meeting 2:15 - 3:30 p.m.
know would leave me flat on my back
in a pitiful pile of patheticness. On the
Monday, December 20 - other hand the calm and peaceful
Friday, December 31
ambiance of a soft snowfall is so
Winter Break
appealing. Clearly, I have many months
ahead to debate this issue.
Several staff who monitors recess has
mentioned that students are coming
to school without the proper winter
clothing. Because we try to send the
children outside for at least fifteen
minutes every day, it is critical they
have the appropriate winter gear to
Next Student of the Month
prevent the kids from getting chilled.
Friday, December 17, 8:30 a.m.
Please make sure as your child/ren
leave for school each day they have on
a warm jacket, mittens, hat and boots.
Reminder
Different time, different Thursday for PTA If you are in need of support in getting
Meting. December 16 2:15 - 3:30 p.m.
any of these items for your child/ren
Armatage Attendance Line
please contact one of our social
612-668-3188
workers at 612.668.3180.
For lack of a better term, “Recruiting
Submissions guidelines:
Season” has begun. Several parents
Enews: [email protected] and staff have been working vigorously
Website: [email protected]
to put together informational
Kanga News: [email protected]
brochure, packets, tours and
presentations to educate prospective
Next Kanga News issue is
December 15, 2010.
families about the Montessori
CALENDAR
Deadline, December 10, 2010
philosophy and programming at
Armatage School. A huge amount of
gratitude is extended to Sarah LinnesRobinson, Holly Olson and Dennis
Cass for the incredible work they did
in creating 10 different informational
pages including: Parental Involvement,
Principal’s
Chalkboard
Why Montessori?, Testimonials, Fine
arts, Academic Support, On-Site
Afterschool Education & Care
Options, and Site & Facilities
information that are part of a
comprehensive packet. The packets
will be available for tours, the K-8
Information Fair in January as well as
our final Information Night on January
20th @ 6:30 p.m. We put an ad in the
Southwest Journal two weeks ago and
have another one coming out in
January that invites prospective families
to attend the information sessions
being held at the school. In addition
there were two different post cards
sent out to prospective families
encouraging them to visit our school
and learn more about Montessori
education.
However, WE NEED
YOU! Please share with family, friends,
neighbors and acquaintances about
your experiences and opinion of
Continued on page 3
Page 1
2501 West 56th Street, Minneapolis • 612-668-3180 • armatage.mpls.k12.mn.us
Anita Webster
Music Specialist
612-692-0883
[email protected]
A special note from
Southwest High School
next week on Thursday,
December 2 and Friday,
December 3 in the Southwest
High School auditorium from
3:15 – 5:00. Students only need
to come to one of those days. Callbacks will be on Monday and
Tuesday the following week.
The show dates are March 3, 4,
5, and 10, 11, 12, and 13.
Please feel free to contact me
with any questions. If you would like to email
contact info of interested
students, I would be happy to
communicate directly with their
parents to facilitate this process.
Thank you for your time!
Nathan Knoll
Hello All,
My name is Nathan Knoll and I
teach choir at Southwest High
School and co-direct our spring
musical. The show this year is
Les Miserables and we have a
number of roles for both young
girls and a boy. One of the young
girl roles is singing (Castle on a
Cloud) and one is non-singing. The boy role consists of quite a
bit of singing and some rather
demanding acting. Auditions are
We are almost ready to begin the organics recycling
at Armatage! Beginning Monday, Nov. 8, all students
will begin to SORT their lunchroom items.
* Unopened school lunch items will be
placed on the Sharing table.
* Organics will go into the green bin
(unfinished food, paper towels, napkins,
milk cartons, juice cartons, brown lunch
trays, brown paper lunch bags.
* Recyclable items will be placed in the blue
bin (plastic bottles, aluminum foil, tin food
cans, office paper.
* Trash will go into the blue bin (plastic
items except bottles, yogurt containers,
straws, black lunch trays, chip bags.
We are just finishing the training of all students
pre K- 5th grade. Please continue the conversation
at home about how important it is to take care of
the earth by Reducing Our Trash. Also,
additional parents will be needed to help students
SORT in the lunchroom. Please contact Julie
Railsback at 612-668-3185 or
[email protected] if you are able to
volunteer.
A fun website in which kids can try to practice their
sorting skills by playing a video game is http://
kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/actiongames/
recycle-roundup.
LOST AND FOUND
The LEGO KIDS have been learning about science and engineering by playing with
Lego WeDo software kits. They have designed, built and programmed a
mobile crane, a cable car with
crossing gate and a car. Organics Recycling – Nov. 8
Here, from left to right, are
Maura Nafziger-White, Owen
Knych and Adam Hoglund
(Jingli Kong is not in the
photo) judging whether or
not Maura's mom has
succeeded in "driving" the car
to the designated target spot.
Please remember to check the Lost and
Found for misplaced items. The Lost and
Found is in the hallway as you head to the
lunchroom. We have an amazing amount of
shirts, hats, gloves, scarves, a few jackets and
even a pair of blue suede shoes just waiting
to be reunited with their owners!
Any items that are not picked up
by Friday, December 17th will be
donated.
--Coach David Potyondy
Page 2
2501 West 56th Street, Minneapolis • 612-668-3180 • armatage.mpls.k12.mn.us
ATTENDANCE
Please contact the Health Office
(612-668-3188) if your child is ill or
absent. If a phone call or note is not
received, the student will be marked
unexcused. Excused absences include
the following: doctor/dentist
appointment (note required by doctor);
illness (after 3 consecutive or 4
cumulative days in a semester a doctor’s
note will need to be provided); school
bus problems; religious/cultural
observances; funeral; family emergency.
A student may be gone up to 5 days from
school for a pre-approved family activity.
To get pre-approval from the school, you
must complete the Family Activity
Form (available in the office and on the
school webpage) at least 10 days prior to
the activity.
Thank you for recognizing that daily
attendance is critical to academic
achievement. For more information
about the MPS attendance policy, the
website is:
www.mpls.k12.mn.us/Attendance.html.
PTA Role
Mission Statement
We are a parent-based volunteer
organization. Our role is to support the
needs of staff and students at Armatage
Montessori School by focusing on three
areas:
1) assisting teachers and staff
through coordination of
volunteers
2) assisting with school
programs, events, services, and
communications
3) raising funds to benefit
and enhance a variety of
programs and projects for our
school
Wondering how to contact the
PTA. Use the email address
[email protected]
Page 3
Continued from page 1
Armatage Montessori School as you are our best advertising.
Below are some critical dates and times:
Saturday, January 8, 2011 – Pre-K – 8 School Information Fair at the Hyatt Regency Hotel
– 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, January 20, 20100 – Armatage Information Night (at the school) – 6:30 p.m. –
8:00 p.m.
Building Tours – Wednesdays @ 9:00 a.m.,Thursdays @ 9:00 a.m. / 12:00 p.m. and Fridays
@ 8:00 a.m. (Prospective families can contact the school to arrange a tour @ 668.3180)
Last week my advisor from the College of New Rochelle in New York City came to visit
Armatage and provide feedback about the implementation of the Montessori curriculum
and her assessment of the school culture, policies & procedures and systems. We did a
“Learning Walk” through many of the classrooms and spent significant time discussing her
assessment of each of the aforementioned topics. I am so proud of our staff and the
feedback she gave me about their instructional strategies, behavior management plans and
overall quality of the implementation of Montessori in our school. She was most
impressed with the transition into an all Montessori School in a matter of a few short
months. Obviously when you have a highly qualified, dedicated and passionate staff
combined with parents who are involved, supportive and energetic the end product is
pretty amazing. I was so proud to “show off” our school and look forward to the
Director of the College of New Rochelle Montessori Program visiting us in January.
This Thursday and Friday, seventy-nine of our 3rd – 5th grade students will be presenting
the 13th Annual Kids on Broadway performances. This is always a very exciting time
because we are show casing some of the incredible musical talents of the children. This
year there will be two evening performances that we encourage parents to attend. They
are: Thursday, December 9th at 6:00 p.m. and Friday, December 10th at 7:00 p.m... There
are two additional performances Friday morning for our students.
Because seating is such a premium, the chairs will be reserved for
students and staff during the Friday morning shows and any
Principal’s
vacant seats will be made available to parents and guests once the
Chalkboard
program begins. I hope you can attend one of the performances
and share in this amazing event.
The staff continues to work hard in developing their skills as
outstanding Montessori teachers. Last week Daniel Holder worked with the staff during
their professional development meeting on Montessori the scope and sequence for
arithmetic. We are so fortunate that Christian Houdek was acquainted with Daniel and
was able to recommend and arrange for him to work with the staff five times this year.
Next month he will present the scope and sequence for geometry. On Thursdays when
we are not engaged in math professional development, the staff works with our literacy
coach on techniques and strategies to support and enhance the implementation of
Readers and Writers Workshop. It is quite exciting to visit classrooms and observe the
high quality of learning that takes place as the students develop and build their skills. Last
week while observing a classroom, one of the first graders literally shouted, “Yea, look at
me, I did it!” There is nothing more thrilling than seeing a child explode with excitement as
they learn something new!
The next two weeks will be extremely busy in school with all of the activities and learning
that will take place as we wind up the end of the 2010 calendar year. I hope that you will
be able to attend the various function / or volunteer in the classrooms. Button up and stay
warm as the thermometer is dropping.
Sincerely,
Joan Franks, Principal
2501 West 56th Street, Minneapolis • 612-668-3180 • armatage.mpls.k12.mn.us
Thank you to all that attended November’s Wendy's
night last night. Stay tuned for the winner of the
candy corn guessing contest! Don’t forget to join us during winter break for
Wendy’s night on Tuesday, December 21, from
5-7PM at the Wendy's location on York and
Hazelton.
Green Team
News
Way back in October the
Green Team held a
Courtyard Clean Up. Thanks to all the families
who helped compost
vegetables, plant
hydrangas, haul mulch, pull
weeds, and remove old
shrubs/trees.
Shareen, Rose, and Ruby
Marshall
Rachel, Jacob, Anna, and
Michah Gueldner
Jeanne, Paige, and Aaron
Schuller
Sarah, Keegan, Oskar, and
Kaisja Robinson
Julie, Ava, and Nick
Flaskamp
Jill DeSanto and Alessandra
Courbois
Steven, Spencer, and Emma
Selander
Tammy and Olivea Walker
Lindsey, Skylar, and Hank
Sandin
Lorie Grabowski
Any interest in gardening
and/or art and want to be
part of some exciting
projects this spring in the
courtyard contact
[email protected]. HOLIDAY
RESOURCES
Please call any of the following agencies if your family is in
need of support during the holidays:
The Salvation Army Emergency Toy Shop – The Hotline
(651-746-3595) will be open from Mon., 11/8 thru Thurs.,
12/9 to register. Cards will be mailed to your home address
with pick up date, time and location. Children must be 14
and younger. Adults must present picture ID and proof of
address and each child must have ID – birth certificate,
medical card or social security card at the time of pick up.
Marie Sandvik Center, 612-870-9617, 1112 Franklin Ave. East
- December 24th evening service at 5 PM, a shoe box of
gifts and bag of groceries are given to all adults with
children who attend.
Sabathani Community Center – Toys for Tots
(612-821-2396). You will have to show IDs for yourself &
your children, plus mail verifying your address. You can also
go once a month for food and clothing, but you must live in
their service area – they are closed on Fridays.
Hospitality House – (612-522-4485) 1220 Logan Ave. N.,
Minneapolis, 55411. Pre-registration on 11/27 and 12/4 is
required to shop on 12/17. To pre-register the parent will
need a photo id, ID for each of the children and if address
has changed a utility bill with the new address.
Waite House: 2529 – 13th Ave. So., Mpls., 55404;
(612-721-1681). Toys for Tots registration dates are Dec.
1st from 2:00- 5:00 and Dec. 3rd from 1-3. Pick up will be
Dec. 18 from 11 – 1:00.
Plymouth Christian Youth Center - (612-643-2082) Gift
Sale – to help teach children K-6th grade about giving, 2210
Oliver Ave. N. A $1 donation per child to shop for up to 5
gifts to give to siblings, parents, friends & family. SHOPPING
DAY IS SATURDAY, DEC. 11TH FROM 10 AM – 1 PM.
Come see the biggest stars in town (our Armatage kids!) in this parent-directed performance featuring scenes
from several Broadway Musicals including Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Oliver, Wicked, and Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat!
Performances are all held in the Armatage Montessori Little Theatre! Thursday Dec. 9 at 6 PM
and
Friday Dec. 10 at 9 & 11 AM and 7 PM
Day shows are lighter in attendance, however, Armatage students get preference in seating; doors open 30
minutes before show time for evening performances.
No admission charge—donations gladly accepted at the door to the Armatage Theatre Project!
Page 4
2501 West 56th Street, Minneapolis • 612-668-3180 • armatage.mpls.k12.mn.us
Fostering Volunteers
Volunteer Opportunities:
STUDENT OF THE MONTH
November
PRE-K
Zoe Carlson
Frankie Doheny
KINDERGARTEN
Soren Bjorholm
Ruby Browne
Veda Coffey
Mara Glover
Ellery Koomen
Shyla Longfield
Ava McKeon
Evan Marshall
Kate Overend
Merik Schaefer
Aaron Schuller
Kameron Taylor
Asa Zirps
FIRST GRADE
Madison Bolster
April Bur
Abby Firman
Sierra Hermansen
Julian Hissong
Sam Larkin
Braeden Owen
Frances Pappajohn
Billy Rollin
August Skilar
Evan Zaremba
Olivea Walker
THIRD GRADE
Jamila Ahmed
Morgan Ajwang
Peter Anderson
Katherine Bahauddin
Jude Bitney
Ta’vonyay Cates
Ella Duepner
Devan Riley
Iris Roane
Jack Siebenaler
Heidi Tollefson
Information night thanks those parents who
helped to fill the media center by delivering
post cards to preschools and other locations. Thanks to: Emily
Pernu, Emily McAuliffe, Lianne Knych, Justin Kappel, Lorie Schabo
Grabowski, Mary McKelvey, Kristen Milner, Jehanne Zirps, Jenny
Veit, Rachel Gueldner, Tammy Walker, Carrie Coffey, Sharon
Hedrick, Naomi Oshiro, Amy Koliner.Your efforts helped to fill
the media center!
Thanks also to our information night volunteers: Shevvi Crowley,
Deborah Manning, Shon Crowley, Erin Rian, Lianne Knych, Lorie
Schabo Grabowski, Holly Kragthorpe-Shirley, Mary McKinley, Lina
Swenson, Jean Brandl, Teresa Burns, Holly Hermansen, Keith
Swanson, and Mary McKelvey.
Finally, thanks to the teachers (and principal) who gave up their
evening: Connie Rubenstein, Margo Borth, Jane Campbell, Michele,
Lehmbecker, Heather Lingen, Denise Clare, Mandy Perna, Danielle
Hanson, Christian Houdek, Ralph Sievert, and Joan Franks. Also, a
note of thanks to Keith for “keeping the lights on until we were
done.” Thanks everyone!
As of Information Night, Armatage unveiled new literature for
prospective family folders. Thanks to Sarah Linnes-Robinson,
Dennis Cass, and Holly Welch for rewriting, editing, and
redesigning the literature.
FOURTH GRADE
Abdi Barkadle
Gracie Brandt-Fontaine
Taja Love
Sophie Martin
Gus Saldivar Trejo
Max Tuzinski-Dashe
Grant Tyus
Kids
t
e
rg
!
’t fo
n
o
way
D
d
a
o
r
on B
This
a nd
y
a
d
rs
Thu
ay!
Frid
FIFTH GRADE
Ginny Beuthien
Lilly Bolton
Roxy Hill
Kathryn Hillmer
Kelly Lingen
Kellan Moore
Jamya Robinson
Lia Thomson
SECOND GRADE
Lucy Brown
Tess Christian-Carlson
Joseph DeGeorgeo
Will Drake
Nicholas Flaskamp
Emily Hedrick
Ahmed Mohamed
Tyler Nguyen
Tayvion Olusanya
Page 5
2501 West 56th Street, Minneapolis • 612-668-3180 • armatage.mpls.k12.mn.us
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2501 West 56th Street, Minneapolis • 612-668-3180 • armatage.mpls.k12.mn.us
Armatage Montessori School
armatage.mpls.k12.mn.us
Yearbook
Pictures
Needed!!
It’s that time of year to begin organizing the
P T A
a rent
eacher
ssociation
Agenda for the General Meeting
Thursday, December 16, 2010,
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Media Center
All parents and teachers are welcome.
2010-2011 yearbook. If you have taken pictures in
the classrooms and/or of school events, please
consider uploading them to our Lifetouch web page.
Folders are created for every classroom and most
school events. If you would prefer to load them to a
flash drive, please contact Erin Rian,Yearbook CoChair at [email protected] or 612-920-4213
and we can get one to you.
On the agenda:
•Principal Joan Franks.
•Update from the Volunteer Coordinators.
•Treasurer’s Budget Report.
•Committee Reports, including the book fair, Kids on
Broadway, science fair, plant sale, courtyard project,
and Armatage Adventures.
•And of course, any new business brought to the
floor.
Questions or comments can be directed to
[email protected].
To upload your pictures go to onlineyearbooks.lifetouch.com and enter Job
Number: 10771711. The username and password is
armatage / photos. Upload your images to the
appropriate folder under Image Library.
For more detailed instructions or for questions,
please contact Yearbook co-chairs Erin Rian or Jenni
Aho ([email protected]).
Note: This meeting is on the second Thursday, not
third for this month, and at a different time to
accommodate scheduling conflicts and On Broadway
Armatage Attendance
Line
612-668-3188
Be sure to call as soon as possible in
the morning if your child will be absent
Page 7
2501 West 56th Street, Minneapolis • 612-668-3180 • armatage.mpls.k12.mn.us
Informational Events
Thursday, December 2 – 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 20 – 6:30 p.m.
Come learn about our
• free public K-5 magnet school,
• tuition-based Pre-K program, and
• the Montessori method of teaching!
Armatage Montessori
2501 West 56th Street, Minneapolis MN 55410
www.Armatage.mpls.k12.mn.us
INDIVIDUAL TOURS AVAILABLE: 612.668.3180
Armatage Montessori currently provides:
• individualized instruction by Montessori trained teachers
Events
• Informational
hands-on learning materials
Thursday, December 2 – 6:30 p.m.
• students who meet ALL “adequate yearly progress”
Thursday,
January
20science
– 6:30 p.m.
(AYP) goals in math,
reading and
• full-day kindergarten option
• outstanding parent and community involvement
Come learn about our
• a full-time science specialist, outdoor classroom,
gyms
and a theater
•two
free
public
K-5 magnet school,
• •on-site
tuition-based Pre-K
program
tuition-based
Pre-K
program,
and
• •afterschool
Minneapolis Kids
programof teaching!
the Montessori
method
• guaranteed bussing for all of Zone 3, from downtown
to Crosstown along Chicago, and south of 44th Street
Armatage
Montessori
from Cedar to the
western edge of the city
2501 West 56th Street, Minneapolis MN 55410
• All in a light-filled, urban facility on over 17 acres
www.Armatage.mpls.k12.mn.us
of green space
INDIVIDUAL TOURS AVAILABLE: 612.668.3180
Page 8
2501 West 56th Street, Minneapolis • 612-668-3180 • armatage.mpls.k12.mn.us