Carmen is the new Infant Program Teacher. Carmen was born in Peru, where she studied psychology but life brought her to Utah almost 12 years ago. She was looking for schools for her daughter when she found the Montessori method. She started working at a Montessori school in Park City where she founded their infant program, and completed her AMS Infant and Toddler Montessori Credential at the Westminster College Institute for Montessori Innovation (IMI). With 9 years of experience working with infants and toddlers, she believes that Montessori education is making a change in the world. In her free time Carmen enjoys spending time with her family and two dogs, hiking, camping, eating and cooking. We are delighted that she is joining our staff!
We are saddened to share the news of our four departing teachers: Ms. Nozomi, Ms. Fernanda, Ms. Alyssa, and Ms. Kayla.
Nozomi first worked with us near the beginning of the Toddler program and it was a real pleasure to work with her. After working with us for a few years her husband took a new position in Texas and their family moved there and stayed for several years. After she returned to Utah we were delighted to offer her a position at our school again and we have appreciated all that she has contributed to our school community and particularly to her students. From Nozomi.
Fernanda has worked at our school since we began our Toddler program so many years ago. She has a special gift for teaching and a deep understanding of the Montessori philosophy which she always practices. Over the many years she has contributed so much to our community and particularly to the students (and their families) she has taught. Our toddler program will be very different without her.
Alyssa also taught at our school near the beginning of our Toddler program but later pursued an alternative career, married and had her lovely little Elanor. This year she returned to teach at our school and joined Fernanda in the Moons class. They have been a close knit team and have offered so much to your children. Our Admin team is very grateful for their contributions. From Fernanda & Alyssa.
Kayla began working as an assistant teacher with Ms. Ruby and it was clear that she had a natural gift as a teacher and was so well suited to working in a Montessori school. After a few years she completed her education to become a Certified Montessori teacher and continued to work with Ruby in the Aspens class. This year she moved to the Magnolias class as the head teacher and has been a wonderful guide and will be really missed by her co-teachers, who will continue to work together with a new certified teacher. It has been such a pleasure to work with Kayla. She always has such a pleasant attitude and is so supportive of her peers and the Administration. We will miss her very much but do understand how close she is to her family and how much she is looking forward to living closer to them. From Kayla.
We wish all these valued teachers the very best in their new adventures, and hope to keep in touch.
Our End of Year Celebration will take place on June 6th, 2023, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.
It will take place on the Green Space, so feel free to bring a lawn chair or blanket. There will also be a Magic Show at 6:30pm, and also face painting, carnival games, and treats.
For Teacher Appreciation Week, we honored our teachers with flowers, snacks, sentiments, donuts and bagels, lunch and gift cards. Our Parent School Alliance organized the teacher recognition involving many parents for provisions, setup and delivery, and involved the Montessori Education Foundation to provide a catered lunch.
These wonderful people are personally and professionally prepared each day to serve as guides to our students. They prepare themselves and the classroom daily to model peace, grace and courtesy, provide interesting lessons, assess the success of their instruction, adjust for differing interests, mediate classroom issues and celebrate the child. These teachers are phenomenal in their year-long care and support of their students.
Please join us Wednesday April 19 at 6:30 PM for the April Parent Education night. This event will highlight the Healthy Boundaries Curriculum in use at the school and how to carry on conversations at home, and will include the importance of understanding emotions as it relates to the curriculum.
This will be an in-person event.
Presenters are Jennifer Taylor our School Nurse and Amanda Bywaters our Student Support Coordinator. There will be a Q&A session, books and resources available for parents viewing and snacks!
Our March Professional Development days last week provided our staff with a wonderful opportunity to all come together at the same time to learn and engage with each other. We focused on bringing much needed training on policies and procedures to our staff. We had a large focus on the Health, Wellness, and Safety of all members of our community as well as the Student Support training. This policy will be available soon on our website so look for it. All staff also had the opportunity to deep clean and organize in their classrooms and prepare curriculum and end of year items for the remainder of the school year.
Our priority task was sharing our new Risk Management Policy with the staff. We continued with Part B of our Creating A Culture of Safety: Child Abuse Prevention in-service training. Infant and Toddler staff learned more about using sign language in their classrooms. All other teaching staff had training on new Student Support observation forms.
All of us benefited from training from Nurse Jen who switched roles with our teachers and stepped into the educator role to provide training on medical response protocols during our PD days. We started off discussing the staff and student Incident/Accident forms and how to assess for concussion symptoms and continuing to observe for new or worsening symptoms.
Tending the woundedTending our gardensCreating blankets
We went through the classroom emergency backpacks and discussed the purpose of each of the first aid items and how to use them. Nurse Jen provided a demonstration of how to provide first aid for wounds before having everyone partner up to participate in a scenario where everyone had a chance to wrap each other’s wounds. We also discussed participation in the Stop The Bleed training as part of our CPR and First Aid training requirements.
Nurse Jen wrapped up her training sessions with our extended day and new teachers to review Medical Action and Support Plans and provided training for how to respond to situations such as Asthma, Anaphylaxis, and Epilepsy in the school setting.
During these days we also enjoyed some service project work. Outside we started garden bed preparation, turning over the soil and planting flowers and early vegetables. We also contributed completed fleece blankets for Project Linus.
Our goal this year is to raise at least $3500 total, with 80% family participation. Our students have the unique opportunity to raise pledges for the following Service Learning Projects:
Adopt-a-Native Elder Program – Allows us to reach out to one another, share our gifts, and mend the broken circle of our relationship with the Land and the Native Americans who hold it in sacred trust.
Each class will have a time on April 11 from 9:15-11:15 AM to run laps on the field (and through a bouncy house). Snacks and water will be provided and we hope some parents can come to cheer the kids on. Stay tuned for a schedule of when your child’s/children’s class will participate. In addition, watch for a SignUpGenius next week regarding volunteer opportunities.
Please help to make an impact by:
Helping your child to set a goal to raise a certain amount.
Helping your child tell family and friends about the Fun Run. You would be surprised how many friends, neighbors and grandparents are eager to support such worthwhile causes.
Helping your child actively participate. (For example, earning money by doing extra chores at home. Then, in turn donating to this charitable event.)
Attending the event and join the students as they run or cheer them on from the sidelines.
Volunteering to help at the event. Look for a sign-up genius being emailed in the next week.
We look forward to this exciting Service Learning experience and hope all of our families will participate with enthusiasm.
This weekend much of our staff attended the 20th Utah Montessori Council conference. The conference is for our Montessori teachers to share ideas, learn, socialize and be inspired. Schools were invited to share their peace project and our Amanda was invited to speak.
Amanda shared our Peace Rock story and arranged a Peace Rock Project display at the UMC conference. “This past fall, our staff and students (infants through upper elementary) painted peace rocks. Each class placed them in front of our school during our Peace Parade on International Day of Peace. We placed signs inviting the greater community to take a rock of peace. The idea was to spread messages of peace into our community.”
Amanda’s display featured rocks painted by our staff and students and information about our peace project. She invited the UMC attendees to make a peace rock or take one decorated by our school staff and students.
