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 and ADULTS) flourish in society (ENVIRONMENT).” - Cowles Montessori Vision

January 6th, 2021, was a day like none other in American history. There are many different angles you can look at the events and a lot of different feelings that go with the events that took place. January 6th, 1907, was also an important day in history. That is the day Dr. Maria Montessori quietly inaugurated the first Casa de Bambini (The Children's House) 114 years ago:

From AMI - Maria Montessori shared the story of San Lorenzo and the first Casa dei Bambini with her students:

“The San Lorenzo Quarter was talked of with abhorrence and seen as the shame of Italy. At some stage another bold building society took on the challenge to renovate the buildings and allocated the flats to married couples. There were some 50 young children who lived unsupervised in these buildings, prone to mischief. The solution found was to gather them all in a room during the day and they looked for a gutsy person who would be willing to take on the social problems and work with the children.

I was approached as a medical officer of hygiene to take an interest in this work. Before I could agree I stipulated that certain conditions needed to be met ..., although the lot of the poor was taken seriously, the children had been overlooked. There were no provisions for them, no toys, no teacher, nothing. I managed to find a woman of forty years whose help I asked, and who was willing to take charge of the children.

It was on the 6th January 1907 that this room was inaugurated.”

CMPG Monthly Meeting

• Monday, January 11th at 6:00 p.m.
• Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5016626370 Meeting ID 501 662 6370

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

• Monday, January 18th
• No school for students and staff

Second Semester In-Person Hybrid/Virtual Schedule

• The second semester in-person (hybrid) and virtual schedules begin on Monday, January 25th
• Contact your teacher if you have questions about in-person (hybrid) and virtual learning for the second semester

Questions? Contact Cowles Montessori School

• Phone: 515-242-7818
• Email: Shannon Hines shannon.hines@dmschools.org

Dear Cowles parents/guardians,

Welcome back! We had a great first week and I hope you were as excited as I was to be back at school so I could see all my friends. 😊

Please make sure that your child (ren) are wearing a mask (no vented/filtered masks or gaiters) before entering the building. Remember that the mask should completely cover his/her mouth and nose and fit snugly against the sides of his/her face and not have any gaps. I noticed this past week, that some of the masks were slipping off the nose, so this is just a friendly reminder from your school nurse. 😊

Other Reminders:

A yearly PRESCHOOL physical and dental exam are now due. These documents are needed for DMPS early childhood licensure. I have notified all parents/guardians who are still due so please check your email to see if you need to update your child’s health file. Please contact me if you have additional questions or concerns.

If you have difficulty accessing or affording dental care for your student or family, please contact our community partner Dental Connections at 244-9136.

DRESS FOR WINTER! Be ready to play every day! Bring a warm coat, hat, mittens or gloves, snow pants, boots for outside, shoes or sneakers for inside. In case you get wet, please bring extra pants, socks and underwear.

Please remember to notify us if anyone in your family tests positive for COVID-19 or is in quarantine. You can reach me by calling the main office at 515-242-7818 and leave a message or you may email me at ann.humphrey@dmschools.org and I will get back to you.

FREE MEALS/Special diets: Remember our school lunches are FREE until the end of the school year for ages 1-18 years old. No ID required. If you have a special diet, please contact Anita Turczynski, RDN, LD, DMPS Food Service Dietitian at 515-242-7636 and she is happy to help you.

Food Bank of Iowa: I am attaching this great resource for our Cowles Montessori School families. Our pick-up location is Meredith Reformed Church, 5128 Meredith Dr., Wed: 11:30a.m.- 1:00 p.m. Please see attached document for the other 13 locations located throughout the city.

Kindness Challenge: Do something nice for your neighbor. The Kindness Elves are challenging you this month to reach out to your neighbor. Here are 5 ideas to help you show neighborhood kindness:

1. Smile and say hello to others on your walk or run through the neighborhood. -Flash a friendly smile and wave! It can go a long way to brighten up someone’s day, even if you get nothing in return.
2. Introduce yourself to someone new. Has a new family recently moved to your neighborhood? Remember, you were once in their shoes. Reflect on that moment in time and what made you feel welcomed.
3. Return trash and recycling cans from the street. After trash pick-up, when you’re collecting your cans from the street, think about tackling the simple act of returning your neighbor’s cans too!
4. Offer to mow, rake leaves, or shovel snow.
5. Try out your cooking & baking skills. Baking goodies to deliver around the holidays or just because! A plate of homemade cookies most certainly will sweeten up their day!

This is a great story I wanted to share of an exceptional neighborhood who reached out to one young family, please watch HERE . It will touch your heart.

Have a wonderful week!

Be well! Stay safe!

Nurse Ann

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

Nurse Ann's Office Hours

CMPG wants to bring more awareness to businesses that are operated by Cowles Families with the hope that we will support local Cowles industries year round.

Visit SupportCowles.com to view the businesses and what they have to offer. Support these businesses between now and the end of 2020 and they will donate a portion of sales back to Cowles School.

If you'd like to add your business, please email TevaLee@gmail.com.

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