Mountain West Montessori Newsletter

Editor-in-Chief: Ms. Angie, Director

Author: Ms. Sheri, Assistant Director

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- GEO BEE QUALIFYING TEST (UE): Monday, December 2nd - Friday, December 6th

- UPPER ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY BEE: Thursday, January 23rd @4:00 PM in the Library

-WINTER CONCERT: Thursday, December 19th @ 7:00 PM in MWMA's gym.

-NO SCHOOL, WINTER BREAK: Friday, December 20th - Friday, January 3rd

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We are excited to announce that our Upper Elementary Choir and our Orchestra students will be putting on a combined Winter Concert this year. The students have been working very hard to bring you this performance! All MWMA families are invited.

DATE: Thursday, December 19th

TIME: 7:00 PM

LOCATION: MWMA Gym

IMPORTANT DETAILS

• Call times: Orchestra students, please be in the Little Theater no later than 6:40 to tune. Choir students, please be in your assigned seats in the gym no later than 6:50.
  
• Concert attire: White collared shirt and tie or white blouse (with no logos or writing on it), black dress pants or skirt, black socks or tights, and black shoes (no sneakers, please).
  
• Orchestra will perform first, followed by the choir.
  

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MWMA Families in Need

Last year we started a holiday tradition to connect some of our school families who are in need of some support with families who would like to donate to help those families during this holiday season. We were successful in providing for some specific needs, and we are continuing the tradition this year!
So...
If you are in need of help with winter clothing for your children, food support over the break, or have other specific needs that we may be able to help out with, please respond to this email and let me know.
And...
If you would like to support this effort and donate either money or gift cards to help out these families, you can donate in the front office; if you have any questions, email Ms. Terra at tolsen@mwmacademy.org.

We also have an alumni student who is doing an Eagle Scout Project to help with food support over the holiday break, so please do make sure to contact me if you have need for food, because this project can support those needs!

All donations and requests for help will remain confidential.

Middle School Service Project for the Homeless

Have you noticed the small tree in the MS Kiva?This holiday season, our middle school students are gathering items and placing them around the tree for the homeless. If you would like to donate please send warm hats, mittens/gloves, and socks and small containers of body wash, shampoo, conditioner and hand soap.

If you have questions, please contact Ms. Kathleen at kluck@mwmacademy.org.

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DATES/TIMES:

• Monday, December 16th 9:00 - 10:00 am & 12:30 - 1:30 PM
• Tuesday, December 17th 12:30 - 2:30 PM
• Wednesday, December 18th 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM & 12:30 - 1:30 PM & 2:30 - 3:30 PM
• Thursday, December 19th: 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM

LOCATION: Library

PRICES RANGE from $.50 to $15.00.

DETAILS: Students can bring money and shop for their friends and family for the holidays with the support of our 9th graders. Middle school students will also wrap and label all the gifts purchased by our younger students.

Be watching for an informative flyer and money envelope that will be sent home!

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Our school podcast, "Do You See?" is now available on iTunes, Spotify, Spreaker, and many of the platforms where you might go to get your podcasting fix! Go to your podcast platform of choice and search, "Do you see? Montessori" to find us and listen to our latest episodes. You can also find the podcast by clicking on the tiny microphone in the upper right hand side of our website https://www.mwmacademy.org/podcast.

We just released 2 new episodes:

• Episode 21, I Can't Remember: Ms. Angie and Ms. Alisha introduce “memory palaces” and the human talent for spatial memory. We also demonstrate how to perform this feat to increase your own memory powers (by memorizing the middle school camp packing list), and explore the correlation between memory and intelligence.
• Episode 22, Food for Thought: Ms. Angie, Ms. Alisha, and Coach Austin delve into the nitty-gritty details regarding childhood nutrition and the brain. Spoiler alert: kids can learn when they eat healthy food. Find out everything you ever wanted to know about omega-3 fatty acids and where to find them, including the long list of foods most kids hate and the one item that most kids will eat!

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UNIFORMS AND APPROPRIATE OUTERWEAR

• Please remember to dress students appropriately for cold weather including warm uniform clothing and appropriate outerwear for recess. Appropriate outerwear includes: warm coats, hats/ear muffs, gloves, scarves, snow pants, and boots. If you have questions regarding uniforms and outerwear please check out MWMA's Dress Code: https://www.mwmacademy.org/dress_code

SLIPPERS

• Students may wear slippers inside the building and in classrooms. Hard soled slippers are great and come in handy during fire drills.

LABEL ALL UNIFORM CLOTHING AND OUTERWEAR

• Label (with student's first and last name) all uniform clothing and outerwear. Student's lost clothing and outerwear, that are labeled, are easily returned to the owner.
• Lost clothing that is NOT labeled, is placed in the Lost and Found located in the front lobby. However, storage is limited and items are eventually donated.

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MWMA's amazing 9th graders were awarded a grant from Tree Utah providing 3 beautiful, fast growing trees to beautify our school grounds!

EXCITING DETAILS:

• 9th grade students presented a wonderful assembly highlighting how to care and nurture the new trees.

• All MWMA students and teachers assisted in planting the trees. A HUGE shout out to the parent volunteers that assisted with the planting!
• Tree naming: All students had the opportunity to choose names for the trees by voting with Boxtops. The names chosen are: Little Maple, Wallace, and Rosie (in honor of Ms. Melissa Z's baby)!
• Buddy Benches will be placed around the trees.The trees will provide shade, beauty, and a gathering place for students.
• Science, art, math and writing lessons will occur naturally through observation and care for the trees.

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• Preliminary qualifying test (20 minutes timed): Students wishing to participate, may take the qualifying test (administered in their classrooms) December 2nd - 6th.
• Ten qualifying students (based on preliminary qualifying test scores) will be announced December 12th.
• School Geography Bee: Thursday January 23, 2020 at 4:00 PM in the Library.

If you have questions or would like to volunteer to support, contact sebert@mwmacademy.org

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Ms. Marianne Noble

The holiday season is upon us bringing with it wonder, excitement, and happiness. For some, the holiday season may be challenging, stressful and may bring on feelings of sadness or even depression. If your child has a lingering signs of depression that concern you (withdrawing from activities they previously enjoyed, isolating themselves, sleeping too much or too little, extra moodiness, talk of hopelessness, saying they are a burden to others, self-harming, or talking about killing themselves) please talk openly and honestly with your child. If needed, reach out to a pediatrician or a mental health counselor you trust for help. You can also reach out to the community by downloading the SafeUT app on your phone or calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Have a safe, enjoyable, and healthy holiday season.

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Melissa Keegan is a lower elementary teacher (grades 1-3). After graduating from BYU, Ms. Melissa went back to school to pursue her interest in education. Melissa worked very hard and is now a highly qualified elementary, special education, and Montessori certified teacher. For fun outside of school, Melissa loves to read, make jewelry and other crafts.

Melissa served in severe special education for about 8 years. Then she taught English immersion kindergarten in South Korea and she fell in love with teaching all over again. Melissa and her husband were able to backpack across Southeast Asia and India before returning home. It was a life-changing adventure!

Ms. Melissa feels that she has found a home at Mountain West Montessori Academy. She loves working in such a wonderful community of teachers, staff, administrators, and students. In Ms. Melissa's classroom, they celebrate everyone's gifts and challenges, and try to encourage a growth mindset.She hopes that her enthusiasm for teaching and love for students will continue to enable her to provide a safe, engaging, and loving environment. Ms. Melissa enjoys helping kids to get inspired to learn and seeing each student's potential unfold.

Ms. Kayla loves being part of the Montessori community. Kayla believes the Montessori philosophy allows children to foster their curiosity, develop a love of learning, and grow in ways that no other form of education can. She believes that if children are given resources, a safe environment, and confidence, they will learn to exceed adult expectations and have fun doing so!

Kayla spent several years working with different age groups of children, including working with Utah Foster Care and Utah treatment programs for youth. Her favorite subjects are art and English, and she tries to read one book per week. Ms. Kayla graduated from BYU with a teaching degree in history.

Kayla is an outdoors fanatic. She tries to hit the mountains almost every weekend, either canyoneering, rock climbing, backpacking, or skiing. She believes that nature teaches us more about the world and ourselves than anything in the classroom can and she tries to bring what she's learned from the outdoors into her classroom. She loves having learning adventures with students!

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Classes for Parents, Children, and Teens are FREE! Class topics include divorce,effective parenting, depression, anxiety, anger management, making/keeping friends, ADHD, bullying, and much more.

WINTER CLASSES 2020

River’s Edge School • 319 West 11000 South • South Jordan

Call: 801-565-7442

For class descriptions and schedules click on this link:

https://jordandistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/054_A-0473.pdf

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At the end of the day, children prosper when all the important adults in their lives line up on the same sideline, encouraging them on. ~ Patrick F. Bassett

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Email: admin@mwmacademy.org
Website: https://www.mwmacademy.org/
Location: 4125 Foxview Drive, South Jordan, UT, USA
Phone: 801-566-6962

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