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Children's House welcomes you to 2016-2017 school year!
Children's House All School News
 
  

The last week has been wonderful; all of our staff have truly enjoyed welcoming new and returning friends and their families.  Already, new friendships are forming and the old rekindled.  "Works" are being explored and the children are beginning to settling in.  

Thank you to all who joined us at "Back to School Night"; if you missed out on this great information session please see your child's teacher for a recap.  

Housekeeping items:
  • Please bring a refillable/reusable water bottle to leave at school during the week. Plan to take it home for cleaning every Thursday.  
  • Adult family members, please assist our staff to ensure child safety by securely latching the north playground gates upon entering and exiting the playground area.  
    Do not allow your child to open the gates on either playground, this includes older siblings who may be with you for drop off or pick up. Though we wish to assist children in doing for themselves; the gates must be securely latched per licensing requirements.
  • No child will be allowed to leave the premises without an authorized adult.  Teenage siblings must be on your child's authorized pick-up list.  
  • Overflow parking is available west of our school; take the driveway between the west side of the school and former Community Garden.  We ask that you not block the driveway.  You may enter the school yard from the west gates on either playground.  If you happen to use it for after school pick up we will leave Mountain Room door open so that you do not have to walk all the way around the building.  
  • Parking is also available across Empire St. near the baseball field.  We ask if you choose to use this overflow lot that you use the crosswalk and sidewalk to access the school. 
  • Fair warning: parking is not allowed on Empire St. per City signs.  Don't park on our south sidewalk or in the bike lane; Cortez Police will issue citations.  
You may also have noticed a new staff member around the campus.  Please join us in welcoming Vanessa Black as our new Campus Assistant.  Vanessa's daughter joins Canyon Room.  

 
September Calendar
  • Monday, September 5th-NO SCHOOL in observance of Labor Day
  • Tuesday, September 6th-School Accountability Committee meets
  • Monday, September 12th-Finance Committee meets 5:30 at the Beech Street Campus.
  • Tuesday, September 13th-Lions Club Vision Screening.  Check your parent folder for more information.  
  • Tuesday, September 13th-PTO meets 5:30-6:30 pm at the Children's House
    Campus. Childcare provided.    
  • Wednesday, September 21st-Join us as we "Sing Peace Around the World" in celebration of International World Peace Day.   10am, Parque de Vida Pavillon. 
  • Monday, September 19th-Board of Directors Meet at the Beech Street Campus. Children's House 5:00-6:15pm, El/M Charter 6:30-7:45pm.
  • Thursday, September 22nd, 8:30am-School Pictures.  Keep an eye on your parent folders for order forms.  Forms will be sent out Monday the 19th.  
  • Thursday, September 29th-Parent Night, 5:30pm.  Topic: Montessori Philosophy & Colorado Development Guidelines. 
Philosophy Corner:
E ach month we highlight an area of the classroom to further parental understanding of Montessori Principles & Practices. 


What is the Culture Area of the Classroom? 
The Cultural area of the Montessori classroom covers a variety of subjects. Geography, Science, Botany, Zoology, and History are included. Art and Music are also considered a part of the Cultural Area of the classroom. The Montessori cultural studies is yet another thing that makes the Montessori classroom different from other ones.  Maria felt that having knowledge and understanding of such subjects is what makes one a "cultured" person. 

Cooperation, Peace, and Work
What good is knowledge if not combined with consideration for others. Peace is not studied as an independent subject, but with the study of examples from the past, and practice in serving food and helping each other. 

Peace is the natural outcome of a method of education where children experience work with their hands and long periods of individual concentration and contemplation. In this way they are able to process and recover from all the input of our modern world. They learn that peace is not just the absence of war, but the way we treat each other in our daily lives, the way we communicate, and the way we solve problems. Peace begins inside us, at home, at school.

As you may have guessed, this month's theme is "Peace"; though it may not be what you think.  Montessori's Peace Education is about character development, promoting social justice, fostering cooperation, diversity, respect and responsibility through awareness of self, community, culture and the environment.  To celebrate Peace, our school will participate in World Peace Day on September 21st with a walk to Parque de Vida.  At 10am, please feel free to join us as we join Montessori Schools across the globe singing, "Light a Candle for Peace".  Your child will be learning this song during the month with Miss Brooke, Children's Kiva Music Teacher.   

Educating for Peace: The Essence of Montessori
Educating for Peace: The Essence of Montessori
 
Home Connection
Montessori at home connections.  This month's theme: Cultivating Peace at Home  

 
BONUS!  What Children Teach us about Peace.
What Children Teach Us About Peace
What Children Teach Us About Peace


 
 
First Parent/Teacher Organization (PTO) Meeting of the 2016-2017 school year!   September 13th, 5:30p.m. - 6:30 p.m. at Children's House. 

Welcome Kiva families

Rob Lee will join us to provide training on volunteering in the Montessori classroom.   Rob has extensive Montessori experience and provided consulting services for the Elementary Middle School last year.  This is a great opportunity for families interested in volunteering in the classroom or just wanting a better understanding of Montessori.
 
At the meeting, we will also elect PTO officers, including President, Vice President, Treasurer, Volunteer Director and Secretary.  Thank you to those who expressed interest in these positions on the registration forms.  We are in the process of putting together a slate of officers.  Please feel free to contact the PTO at kivapto@gmail.com if you want to be included.  We will provide updates prior to the meeting.    
 
It seems almost impossible to schedule a meeting time that fits all of our schedules.  We apologize to those who are unable to attend the meeting at this day/time.  We will provide handouts and/or notes from the Rob Lee discussion, and also more detail about PTO happenings in Kiva Kids and Children's House communications.    If you have questions or concerns feel free to contact us at kivapto@gmail.com, or catch up with Angie Seeley and Stacey Weyand.    

From our Board of Directors.....
Happy new year from the Children's House Board of Directors!  As an independent, non-profit school, our Children's House volunteer Board of Directors meets monthly, the third Monday of each month at 5:00 pm.  Keep an eye on your email for upcoming events. 
 
Our board's job is to oversee the financial and long-term health of our school through policy-making and support of staff and programs.  We work closely with the board of our partner elementary school, Children's Kiva Montessori School.  Currently, our six-member board is working on a number of committees including:  fundraising, board development and finance. 
 
For more information about the Board of Directors, contact president Matt Clark at  matthewsclark@me.com. 

As always, your questions, concerns and ideas are important me.  Please come see me.

 

Sincerely,
Alexia Hudson-McGrath
Director
Children's House
 


Children's Kiva Montessori School
Children's House
Early Childhood Program
alexia@childrenskiva.org
www.childrenskiva.org
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