Cowles Montessori Crier

“Human flourishing, as Maria Montessori put it, means becoming a person of one’s time and place with the means and wherewithal not only to function within but to shape society (NCMPS, 2019).”

“All humans (CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS, and ADULTS) flourish in society (ENVIRONMENTS).” - Cowles Montessori Vision

From DMPS on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2021:

You need only type the words “Asian hate crimes” into a search engine to gather evidence from reputable news sources that these evil acts are being recorded at an alarming rate. The stories are heart wrenching but only begin to reveal the racism that disrupts the lives of our fellow Iowans every single day.

Des Moines Public Schools is home to more than 2,600 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students, over 8% of our total enrollment. We are committed to providing a safe place to learn. Our community needs to be a safe place to live and work.

A safe place means a place free of all manner of hate, from teasing, stereotyping, harassment, and assault. While many recent attacks against AAPI people may have been triggered in response to COVID-19, a global disease that has nothing to do with a person’s race or nationality, racism targeting Asians is nothing new.

DMPS joins other organizations, locally and around the nation, in condemning hate crimes and violence against AAPI people. That is why DMPS will share on our school signs a message repeated at vigils and rallies across the country in recent days: “Stop Asian Hate.”

Every one of us has an essential role in not only countering racism but in being anti-racist. We need to create communities where violence in word or deed is not tolerated, and all people are valued and treated as equals. Our schools must and will contribute to such a community.

AMS Resources:

Therapy and Mental Health Support

• Racial Trauma Toolkit: Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture - Boston College
• Asian Mental Health Collective: Building a community for Asian mental health support.
• Subtle Asian Mental Health: A member-base Facebook group that endeavors to provide an open, safe, and non-judgmental space to share your thoughts and feelings about anything, especially mental health.

Crisis Lines

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1 800-273-8255 (in English)
• Asian-American Suicide Prevention & Education/Asian Netlife Hotline: 1-877-990-8585 (in Asian languages)
• Crisis Text Line (for depression): Text “Connect” to 741741

Stand With

• Stop AAPI Hate and Stand Against Hatred: Show up to vigils, protests, sign petitions, express your commitment to be there with diverse Asian-American communities, and report incidents.

Learn

• Responding to Anti-Asian Violence and Georgia Shootings
• Addressing Anti-Asian Bias
• The Long History of Racism Against Asian Americans in the U.S.
• Talking to Young Children About Race and Racism
• Talking to Your Kids About Racism
• 16 Ways to Help Children Become Thoughtful, Informed, and BRAVE About Race

CMPG Board member needed

CMPG seeks a president for our 2021-2022 board. This is a great chance to use your talents to make a difference in our community. You and a friend can take this on together and be co-presidents! If interested, or to learn more about each position, please contact Nikki Kosby nicole.kosby@gmail.com. Elections take place in April and we need a leader!

Retiree Recognition

CMPG will honor four retiring staff after our April CMPG meeting. Join us at 7 p.m. April 12th to show your appreciation for these awesome professionals. The retiring teachers joining the meeting will be Lori Myers, Carol Mattes, Adam Egherman, and Ramona Thompson. We will miss them so much.

Proposed Funding requests to be voted on Monday, April 12th at the CMPG meeting

Two major funding requests were presented during our March meeting and will be voted on at our April 12th meeting at 6 p.m. You can watch our March CMPG meeting where these funding requests were introduced on our CMPG Facebook page. Please look over the following summaries and reach out to cmpgpresident@gmail.com with any comments or concerns.

1. Interactive Music Installation (Arts Funds): The garden committee requested $15,000. CMPG is recommending funds between $5000 - $10,000. The Garden Committee will receive any amount over $5000 with a maximum of $10,000 only after at least $5000 is raised at this summer’s Arts Festival. For example, if the Arts Festival does not go forward, the garden committee will get $5,000 for the project. If, at the Arts Festival, CMPG makes $6,000, the garden committee will automatically get the $5000 approved at our April meeting plus $1,000. The maximum allocation for this project will be no more than $10,000.
2. Supplementation of Montessori Material Purchase (General Fund): CMPG proposes the commitment of $10,000, separate from what is raised during the spring fundraiser, for the purchase of Montessori materials. Mr. Johnson and staff will oversee the direction of these funds. The funds are dedicated to supplement material purchase from the wish list and prepare for the material needs of the four classrooms with retiring teachers. The board will meet with Mr. Johnson ahead of our April meeting to get more specific on the distribution of these funds.
3. Partial Montessori Teacher Training $2,000 from general funds for the Montessori training of three new Cowles staff.
4. Residency Needs for Montessori Teacher Training $3,000 from general fund for teacher travel, lodging, and food during Montessori training.

IT'S AUDITION SEASON

Join the TRHS choir department for the 2021-22 school year!

Audition for Bridges 2 Harmony Gospel Choir, Chamber Choir, Da capo Vocal Jazz, or Revelation Varsity Show Choir. Sign-up for our open enroll choirs (no audition required): Forte Treble Choir, Riderchor Bass Choir, or Rider Rhythm Show Choir. From athletes to mathletes, all are welcome! Please visit https://trhsvocalmusic.org/auditions to learn about the process and sign up for a spot. Audition season ends on April 9th, so don't delay!

We sing, we dance, but most importantly...we are one voice!

If parents want to book an appointment time to speak with Nurse Ann, click on the link below:

Nurse Ann's Office Hours

Staying connected is a top priority for all of our children at Cowles Montessori. Each week, Principal Johnson reads from a list of students, faculty, and staff to say hello and share a page from the book "Incredible You" by Dr. Wayne Dyer.

• Your child can access these videos by clicking on the links and logging into their DMPS accounts.
• The links to the videos are posted below if your child wishes to view them at home.
• Principal Johnson will update this list each week until he says hello to everyone and finishes the book:

#1 Share The Good

• https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/31f2c631-d45f-4acd-8545-50f73e78a7ca

• https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/3d8d9ddb-456c-4fb5-8638-39f8112e930e
  

#3 You Are Filled With Love

• https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/3348bce5-5d28-4785-a54c-53749bf02429
  

#4 Find A Quiet Place Inside

• https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/ae8326ca-4aba-4b13-8add-cf21dc01e6b3

• https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/4ca74329-0093-4245-bb36-0084e41e9809
  

#6 Change Your Thoughts To Good

• https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/2d8c739c-7b52-4d00-8f2a-219f7abf3dcb

#7 Take Care of Yourself

• https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/8697016a-c1d4-4485-9769-7417d579df1b
  

#8 Picture What You Want

• https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/153a7add-7e16-49c0-90bb-a837d361adc4
  

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.

As the session continues to move forward, there are certain session milestones that bills need to clear to stay alive. These milestones are listed within the session timetable

Early Childhood Department/School Readiness Goals & Learning Targets – 2020-2021

• 85% of 4 year-olds will meet or exceed kindergarten readiness in the Literacy Domain of GOLD including concepts of print, alliteration, letter names and letter sounds.
• 80% of 4 year-olds will meet or exceed kindergarten readiness in the Math Domain of GOLD including counts, quantifies and connects numerals with quantities.
• 90% of 4 year-olds will meet or exceed kindergarten readiness in the Social/Emotional Domain of GOLD, follows limits and expectations.

District Board Goals

LITERACY

• Goal 1: The percent of all third grade students on track in reading will increase from 52% to 72% by June 2023, as measured by FAST.
• Goal 2: The percent of black male third grade students on track in reading will increase from 35% to 72% by June 2023, as measured by FAST.

ALGEBRA

• Goal 3: The percent of black male students earning a ‘B’ or higher in Algebra 1 by the end of 9th grade will increase from 17% to 35% by August 2023.

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

• Goal 4: A goal will be developed once a baseline measure for social emotional learning is determined.

Cowles Montessori School Improvement Goal

Goal 1: The percent of all third through eighth grade students proficient and/or on track for college and career readiness in math will increase from 81% to 85% by Spring of 2023 as measured by state assessments:

• By 2020 - 82%
• By 2021 - 83%
• By 2022 - 84%
• By 2023 - 85%

Email: shannon.hines@dmschools.org
Website: cowles.dmschools.org
Location: 6401 College Avenue, Windsor Heights, IA, USA
Phone: 515-242-7818
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CowlesMontessori/
Twitter: @CowlesDMPS