Cowles Montessori School Crier

"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

Parent-Teacher Conferences – Week of October 15th

• Teachers will be in contact with parents regarding scheduling for conferences

Picture Day - October 19th. Retakes will be on November 16th

Trunk-or-Treat (CMPG Event) - Wednesday, October 24th at 6:00pm - Cowles Parking Lot

• Stay tuned for more information about this event from CMPG

Faculty and Staff Professional Development Days

• Thursday, October 25th - No School for Students
• Friday, October 26th - No School for Students

The Cowles Montessori School Team recognizes Celeste Egger for her stewardship as a volunteer for the Walking School Bus. She is being recognized for her contributions in taking care of our students, school, and community. She has been a community volunteer of the Walking School Bus since it began last Spring. She routinely volunteers to supervise students and she is reaching out to bring in more community volunteers to support the school. Her work has helped students walk safely to school, enjoy healthy transportation, and has supported students attending school on time.

Thank you Celeste!

#StewardsOfCowles

#WeAreCowles

Trunk or Treat

Join us for FUN, FOOD and FRIGHTENING CUTE COSTUMES at our annual Cowles Trunk or Treat event! Please be backed in to your parking spot by 6:00 at which time the parking lot will be closed to cars coming or going to ensure a safe environment for our students and families. *Pop in to the cafeteria to warm up and visit the upper elementary students who will be selling pizza in the cafeteria as a fundraiser for their annual BizTown trip.

WHEN: Wednesday, October 24th 6:00pm – 8:00pm

WHERE: Cowles Parking Lot

WHO: All Cowles Families

2018 Cowles T-Shirts

Check out the 2018 Cowles t-shirt to be offered in short and long sleeved options…either for $20!

Watch your inbox for order forms and instructions. Orders will be due Wednesday, October 24th.

*All proceeds after costs will benefit CMPG and YOUR STUDENTS!

2018 Christkindlemarket - Cowles Beverage Sales

Do you love serving beer at the Arts Festival and volunteering to benefit Cowles? Well, guess what? You don’t have to wait until June for another opportunity! Cowles has been invited to be the first non-profit organization to participate in the fun and festive Christkindlemarket in Cowles Commons. The event will be held Friday, November 30th - Sunday, December 2nd. Cowles volunteers will be selling Glühwein & Kinderpunsch at a high volume stand and will be compensated with tips and a portion of sale profits. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to raise significant additional general (non-arts related) funds and to help Cowles become established as a partner in a successful and growing Des Moines festival.

If you are a veteran Arts Festival volunteer and have already received beverage sale training you do not need anything additional for this event. New volunteers will need to complete an online I-PACT training session before November 30th.

Use this opportunity to kick off the holiday season to the benefit of your student/s and Cowles! Sign up Here (scroll down to the “Cowles Montessori Beverage Sales” section): https://desmoineseuropeanheritageassociation.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?start_over&id=32453

Thank you very much for the donations for Semso. To date, families have donated about $684.00. CMPG will be providing him with the donations. Continue to keep him in your thoughts!

We have started our t-shirt weaving rug and it is slowly starting to take shape. I really appreciate all of the donated t-shirts! My goal is to create a row of the 6 main colors. It takes 2 adult large shirts to make a square and it is going to take 60+ squares to make the rug as large as our current rug that we are replacing. The students have already completed 18 squares!

I would love to train 3-4 volunteers to upload art to Artsonia.com. Uploading takes about 1-2 hours per week and can be done at school or home. If there are 3-4 people then the job can be rotated or you can volunteer when you know you have a couple extra hours. It is an easy app on your phone or iPad. Please let me know if you are interested in helping with Artsonia.com.

One of the new Des Moines Public Visual Art Standards for Upper Elementary is: Compare and contrast purposes of art museums, art galleries and or other venues as well as the types of personal experiences they provide. I though it might be fun to make this an interactive Cowles community experience. I created a group Facebook page called “Out & About ART”. If you are out and about and see art with your child please take pictures and post, only post information you are comfortable sharing on the web. I have noticed this is something many of you do already on your own pages and I thought it would be fun to see and discuss.

https://www.facebook.com/CowlesArt/

Thank you,

Kara Dare - Cowles Montessori School Art Teacher

We haven’t quite reached cruising speed here in middle school land, but one thing is for sure, the summer is quickly fading in the rear view mirror!

With so many new daily classes, students are expected to keep track of assignments, due dates, and schedules. This is one of the toughest aspects of middle school to get used to. To help in this area, students are to fill out their own planner in for each class. Weekly plans are displayed on the white board in the form of a Google Doc shared by all three teachers. This document is displayed during every class and every morning during homeroom.

And finally, middle school-aged people are going through their final large growth spurt. This means that they are going to need a lot of nutrition. Please be sure that your child has a healthy snack that they can eat in class. Trust us, the DO need a snack! The food choice should be something like fresh fruit, a healthy grain, or vegetables.

Until next time,

Cowles Middle School Team

#WeAreCowles

Email: todd.johnson@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