This is the first of weekly Thursday e-updates delivered right to your inbox.  If you need another email address added to our listserv, please contact Ms. Melissa at mbadger@rockprairiemontessori.com. 

Please Join us for the ALL SCHOOL PICNIC 

We will have an all-school picnic on Thursday, August 29, 5:30-7:00 pm on the back school grounds.  Please bring a picnic dinner for your family, and feel free to bring picnic blankets or lawn chairs to make yourself comfortable.  Each classroom will have a designated area for you to sit with other classroom families, marked with a stake and signage. 

Appreciation

Besides our wonderful staff who have spent time over the summer undergoing trainings, moving furniture around and building that furniture (thanks, Mr. Rich!), we also want to give a shout out to the parents and grandparents who completed tasks over the summer such as powerwashing, organizing library books, taking down fallen trees, organizing events, and driving middle school students for chicken care and market sales in the community. These are just a few of the things that our community has been doing over the summer and we are grateful to you all!

Before Care Procedure

Toddlers’ House: Arriving 7:20 – 8:10 am  Enter through the main doors. Before Care will be hosted in the Geranium Classroom (Room 1A). Ms. Kelly will be there to greet you and your child.

Children’s House/Kindergarten: Arriving 7:20 – 7:50 am Children are to join Before Care with Ms. Stacy Sirianni in the Bluebells Classroom (Room 10). At 7:50 your child’s morning assistant teacher will gather your child and escort him/her to their morning classroom. Children who typically eat their breakfast will be able to do so when they transition to their morning classroom.

Children’s House/Kindergarten: Arriving 7:50 – 8:10 am When arriving after 7:50 please take your child directly to their regular morning classroom. They will have an opportunity to work and eat breakfast at that time.

Elementary: Arriving 7:20 – 7:35 am Children are to join Before Care with Ms. Stacy in the Bluebells Classroom (Room 10) Children who typically eat their breakfast will be able to do so when they transition to the lower elementary classroom.

Elementary: Arriving 7:35 – 8:10 am  At 7:35, Children will be escorted to the Lower Elementary classroom by Ms. Kassie. When arriving after 7:35, please take your child directly to the Lower Elementary Classroom (Room 13).

Pants Needed

We are looking for shorts and long sweatpants/leggings in sizes 3T to 10, to loan out when children have accidents and have run out of their own clothes at school. As a reminder, when your child is given school clothes to change into, please wash and return them as soon as possible.

Dismissal Procedure

Pick-up for Toddlers’ House and Children’s House is between 11:15-11:30 am for morning-only programming and 3:15-3:30 pm for Montessori Enrichment children. For those two pick-up times, we ask that parents pick up in the playground areas in the front of the building. Your teacher will share where they will be. Those picking up for after care ending times (4:00 pm, 4:30, etc,), parents may come in to pick up their children from the classrooms. 

Pickup for Elementary is from 3:15-3:30 pm, and at 3:30 for Middle School students' dismissal.  Lower Elementary - pick-up location to be communicated by teachers. Upper Elementary will dismiss inside from their classroom. Middle School students will exit the building from the front of the school as well at 3:30. Any other pickup times outside of these, parents may come in to pick up their children from the classrooms.

NEW STAFF

We are pleased to introduce our new staff this year: 

Kassie Hawkins - Elementary Before Care and Classroom Support

Kami McCarthy - Classroom Support and Elementary After Care

Jayden McCoy - Toddlers’ House Montessori Enrichment and After Care

Emma Pentecost - Children’s House Montessori Enrichment and After Care

Ellen Wilson - Middle School Math Teacher

Thora Wohlbier - Toddlers’ House Assistant Teacher

A list of all our teachers and staff, by program, including pictures are listed on our website in the "Meet Our Staff" section under the "About Us" tab.

RaiseRight

As a reminder, non-inventory orders (including payments for online orders) will need to be in by Mondays at 9:00 am, in order to have those orders ready for pickup by Friday of that same week. For questions, please contact Amber Grefsheim @ agrefsheim@rockprairiemontessori.com

RaiseRight runs 6/1/21 to 5/31/22. Families can choose to either purchase $2000 in RaiseRight cards before May 31, or $100 in rebate, whichever comes first. After $100 rebate is earned, we split the extra rebate with you (your choice of cash, tuition for next year, or donation to the school - whichever you designated on your application form when you signed up for school). Families can choose to opt-out for $100, or wait: if you do not reach the $2000 purchase or $100 rebate minimums, we will bill you for the $100 minus any rebates you earned.

Remember: you can have family and friends stop by to buy Scrip cards in your name. Have a home project? Buy your cards here first and give yourself rebate credit. We have had several families earn hundreds of dollars back in scrip rebates this way!

Online Apparel Store 

Our online apparel store is coming soon and will feature new items!

Watch your emails: we will do a school-wide group order next month!

Welcoming Space

We welcome you to use our front school vestibule to chat with a friend or have some quiet time before starting your busy day. If you can’t stay, feel free to grab a cup of Joe to go!

Watch for our Coffee and Conversation mornings - a chance to meet and talk with other RPMS parents and grandparents!

Snack Policy

Students are asked to bring in their own daily snacks. It is helpful to pack snack choices separate from your students lunch choice if possible. We will continue to provide milk and water during snack and lunchtimes. 

• For morning only students, only 1 snack is needed.  
• For students staying past 3:30 pm, snack will be provided.

OFFICE NOTES

Communication With the Office

Please do not send forms or notes for the school office in your child’s backpack. Teachers do not check backpacks for things coming from home. Please bring those directly to the office, put in the office door drop-box or give to one of the staff working drop-off line service.

If you need to fax something to the office our fax number is 608-868-5965. 

Text Alerts

All families are automatically signed up for text alerts. This texting system will be used for relaying important information such as school closings, early release days, or other important information that needs to be shared quickly with families. If you would like to add more numbers other than your primary contacts please let the office know. 

Forms Due:

Please make sure the following forms that were in the welcome packet have been turned in to the office:

• Health Form (needed every 2 years until elementary school age)
• Immunizations Record (only needed if received any immunizations since last turned in)
• Household Income Form (data is needed to maintain our e-rate discount for high-speed internet, as well as for applying for grants)

Tardy Procedure

Children who arrive to school after 8:30 am (8:20 elementary/middle school) are considered tardy. If your child is tardy, please walk them into the school, sign them in at the office. Office staff will escort the student to their classroom. This procedure helps us keep accurate attendance in case of an emergency situation. Thank you for your understanding.

Absences

For planned absences (doctors appointments, vacations, etc.) please inform the school office in writing. You can either drop a written note off in the drop box or email Ms. Amber at agrefsheim@rockprairiemontessori.com. If the absence is not planned (illness, family emergency, etc.), please email Ms. Amber or call the school at 608-868-4844 and leave a message in the Absentee Mailbox. If a child is absent and the school has not been notified, a member of the office staff will phone the child’s parents. This procedure helps us keep accurate attendance in case of an emergency situation.

Email Communication

To be sure you are receiving all pertinent information, please be sure to check your emails daily. Add email addresses from the school (teacher, school, administrative) to your contact lists so mail is less likely to go to a spam folder. 

Any forms that cannot be sent home will be placed in backpacks for children to take home, so please check backpacks daily.

Tads Billing

For any questions with invoice charges, please contact Melissa Badger (mbadger@rockprairiemontessori.com). We can take cash or checks in the office and apply it to your account. Otherwise, when you login to your account, you can choose to pay online via credit card or by entering your bank info.  (Please note there is a fee when using a credit card.) Any changes to tuition program or guarantee care must be made with 30 days notice; drop-in care is available with 48 hours notice provided space is available.

Library Books - No Checkout Needed

We welcome our families to check out books on the honor system - no check out cards needed! Simply take the desired books home, and return the books to the rolling “Returned Books” bin in the front vestibule when finished. Happy reading!

Quick Links On Website Homepage

As a help to our families, we have posted a few Quick Links at the bottom of our home page: rockprairiemontessori.com: School Calendar, RaiseRight and TADS (billing & update personal information) and volunteer log.

Family Volunteer Hours

RPMS families are asked to contribute 10 volunteer hours before the end of the school year. Virtual and in-person parent meetings, parent education events, and conferences are included in these hours; double attendance means double the hours! Always refer to the Weekly Update for volunteer opportunities; though some opportunities will be emailed out separately. Families are asked to log their volunteer hours online at: https://bit.ly/RPMShours.  Any unfulfilled hours will be invoiced at $10/hour in June.

Culvers Scoopie Night 

Culvers also asks that all volunteers dress appropriately (no sandals, short shorts or skirts); those with hair longer than shoulder length will be asked to tie it back because they will be delivering food to Culvers guests; and please put away all phones, food, and drink while you are volunteering.

We have three Scoopie Night fundraisers for the year, with our first taking place on Tuesday, October 1 from 4 to 8 pm. This is a great opportunity to hang out with other RPMS families and staff while enjoying some delicious food and treats!

We are looking for adult servers for one-hour shifts. Children may come but must be closely supervised.

To Volunteer For Tuesday, October 1 event: 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4DA8AE2BA2F94-culvers3

Would you like to sign up for a Culvers Scoopie night, but can’t make it to the October 1 event? The next two are also posted and ready for volunteers to sign up:

For Wednesday, December 4 event:  

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4DA8AE2BA2F94-culvers4

For Tuesday, March 4 event:  

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4DA8AE2BA2F94-culvers5

Besides RaiseRight (formerly Scrip),

we collect the following items to turn in for funds.

Please place in labeled boxes in lobby, drop off in office

or give to office staff at morning drop-off.