Cowles Montessori Crier

Week of January 28th

Cowles Montessori Mission

"Together we celebrate diversity, respect, and the love for learning through the Montessori Method. Our environment nurtures and prepares the child for a global community."

Montessori Student Outcomes

Intrinsic Motivation
Creativity and Originality of Thought
Social Responsibility
Autonomy
Confidence and Competence
Spiritual Awareness
Academic Preparation

Important Dates to Remember

Sweetheart Dance - Friday, February 8th at Cowles (Stay tuned for more information from CMPG)

CMPG Monthly Meeting - Monday, February 11th at 4:00pm - Cowles Music Room
Fine Arts Day - Thursday, February 21st (Stay tuned for more information from our Fine Arts Committee)

Stay Informed with Legistative Actions that Affect Our Schools

Community Legislative Action Team (CLAT)

The DMPS Community Legislative Action Team (DMPS-CLAT) is made up of parents and other community members who recognize the need for more awareness of how specific legislative actions affect our schools, and actively advocate for policies that increase student success.To be successful, this group needs one thing: YOU. It’s important that the voices of parents, grandparents, community members and others are heard by our legislators and the Governor so they know how important education and schools are to our children and all of Des Moines. Join us as we focus on the need to extend support for our English Language Learners, expand preschool funding for students in poverty, and continue the penny sales tax to improve and maintain our school buildings.

CLAT Priorities: https://www.dmschools.org/board/community-legislative-action-team/

Iowa Department of Education Legislative Updates

The Education Bill Tracking webpage provides regular updates during the Iowa legislative session on bills related to education in Iowa. Information about new bills, including names, numbers, and sponsors are provided.

Bill Tracking: https://educateiowa.gov/resources/legislative-information/education-bill-tracking

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Pennies for Patients Success

Cowles participated in the Pennies for Patients, a service learning program that helps raise critical funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. These breakthroughs in blood cancer research are also being applied to other kinds of cancers. Students were able to raise $1,760 online alone! As a building we were able to raise $3,321.74, crushing our goal of $2019. The drive and creativity throughout this fundraiser has been amazing to see.

#WeAreCowles

Thank you for your continued support,

Jessica Reisinger

DMARC Food Pantry Donations

The 100th day of school is quickly approaching: Friday, February 1st!

As part of our annual celebration for the 100th Day of School, we will again be collecting donations for the DMARC Food Pantry. We will collect canned food items, as well as cash donations, beginning this week.

Our last day to collect donations will be Thursday, January 31st. This will give us a chance to count donations and get ready for the celebration on Friday, February 1st. Keep reading for more details about the celebration.

As usual, our goal is for each classroom to collect 100 items by January 31st. We want to be as generous as possible in order to help the families in our community during these cold winter months.

Classrooms will have a plastic bin for canned goods and a collection envelope for cash donations. Each dollar donated helps to purchase two food pantry items. If you would like to know what the food pantry needs most, please check out this link:

https://www.dmarcunited.org/food/most-needed-items/

The DMARC Food Pantry appreciates monetary donations for several reasons. The most important reason is that they have the purchasing power to buy needed items at a greatly reduced price. They can purchase the items most needed in the moment and they can purchase fresh ingredients.

On February 1st, in honor of the 100th Day of School and the end of our food drive, classrooms that have collected 100 items will be invited to join in a celebratory “Pajama Day.”

Thank you for helping us reach our goal and serve people in our community.

The Cowles Montessori
Service Committee

CMPG News

Upcoming CMPG Events:

February 8th: Sweetheart Dance (Stay tuned for more information from CMPG)
April 13th: Cowles After Dark Fundraiser at the Windsor Heights Community Center
June 28th-30th: Des Moines Arts Festival

Don't forget:

Clip your Box Tops and turn them in!

Use Amazon Smiles: When shopping on Amazon, please be sure to sign into Amazon Smiles. A portion of your purchases will then be donated back to Cowles. Smile.amazon.com/20-8934474