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Happy New Year! We hope that everyone had a restful and joyous holiday season. The school celebrated the holiday season and the end of 1997 in many different ways. The Pre-school students performed their annual Christmas program, the Riverside Campus joined the 6-9 class from the Freeport Campus to sing carols for the residents at President James Monroe Manor, and the Freeport Campus performed for the residents at Greenhaven Country Place as well as for the parents at the Parent Luncheon.
The Freeport Campus performed first in the season at Greenhaven Country Place. While the younger students sang, the older students provided the music for the carolers. Half of the program was accompanied by the students playing the Orff instruments, and the other half, performed by the adolescent hand bell choir. After the performance, the students went around to spread holiday cheer to the residents.
The next performance was at President James Monroe Manor. Anastasia's students joined voices with Ranji's students for a fun selection of Christmas songs. Their favorites were "Rudolph" and "Twelve Days of Christmas." They had red pom pom and paper noses for "Rudolph," and fun hand and body motions for "Twelve Days of Christmas." All of the students were happy to have had the opportunity to wish others a Merry Christmas.
The Pre-school class continued their holiday tradition by performing their annual Christmas play and holiday concert. Dharmeeka directed another wonderful performance with the children performing their Christmas play and singing Christmas Carols. It seems that the pre-school class can always bring tears of joy when they perform. This year was no different. Cookies and punch were served after the performance and the children presented their parents with their Christmas present made at school. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.
The Parent Luncheon was where the Freeport students had their final performance. The performance came after the Mummer's dance, which was done by the Anne's Adolescent students. This annual event welcomes the Winter Solstice. All of this entertainment followed a wonderfully prepared and served luncheon. The students served sushi, Pancit, fried won tons, stir-fried vegetables, and a green salad. For dessert, the students made holiday decorated Snickerdoodles. The team effort in preparing the meal, serving the meal, and cleaning up after the meal was quite a sight to see. The children worked very well together from the different classes. Yes, there was direction from the staff, but the children did most of the work with little supervision. All of the effort put into practical life over the years pays off at functions such as this one. The students and staff did an outstanding job. Congratulations!
Our annual Christmas Craft Faire was quite fun for the students. Their efforts earned them a total of about $1,500, all of which they kept for themselves to spend as they wish. It is always fun to see the children get so excited about earning the money for the crafts they made, and then run to one of their neighbors to buy up their crafts. All of the students were excited about making their crafts, and when it came time to price them, we could see and hear that they were learning the value of work and profit. They discussed cost of materials, time, and labor, taking all into consideration in making their decisions on prices. It was nice to see so many crafts made by children. The quality of their items was the direct result of their hard work.
All of the classes worked very hard on their holiday festivities. We would like to thank all of the parent helpers who helped to make the 1997 holiday season very special. Sometimes the time and energy put into the International Day, the Thanksgiving feasts, the Christmas Craft Faire, and the Christmas celebrations, seem like a great deal of time is taken away from the classroom. However, when you see the excitement in the children's eyes to work on these events, to see the joy and pride in dressing up for a special event, or selling that special craft they worked so hard on, or contributing your notes to a song on the hand bells, or just singing in the chorus, and realize what other types of learning is going on, it is all worth it. Besides, the time between the Christmas holidays and spring break, is the time for concentrated academics. This is when the majority of the traditional learning comes to bear, then we have year end events again. This schedule breaks the year up for the children, and keeps school interesting.
BOOK ORDERS are due back on Friday, January 9. Payment can be made in cash or by check. If you are paying by check, please write a check for each order form that you return (for example: 3 Scholastic Book order forms should have three separate checks.) Please make each check payable to each individual book club, and include the order form(s) filled out with your child's name. Double check your order form for correctness, as mistakes will mean a delay or a cancellation of your order. We are unable to process incorrect orders.
Assembly on our annual year book has begun. If you have any photos of school activities, field trips, etc. that you would like to donate, please send them in with your child to give to Steve. These donated pictures cannot be returned, so be sure to make copies for your use.
Our second sport term begins Tuesday, January 6. Please be reminded of the schedule change during the sport term. Ranji's and Anastasia's classes are in school until 4:00 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Heidi and Anne's Classes are in school until 4:30 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tennis shoes should be worn on PE days to avoid injuries. Girls should plan to wear pants on PE days, also.
We will be closed on January 19 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. As with our other school holidays, there will be no day care.
On January 16, there will be a celebration of "Hump Day" for the school year. Hump Day is the half way point of the school year. Each of the elementary classes will be planning their own activities. Please check with your child's teacher about her plans.
As announced in last September's newsletter, we will be having another "Let's Talk Workshop" on Thursday, January 15th. The natural topic seems to be a follow up to the School Questionnaire that we passed out. We really want to thank the families that turned them in. The response was greater than we had anticipated. Our next challenge seems to be how to respond to the many points brought up. An open forum to discuss the questionnaire can bring issues to light, anonymously, then all can discuss and hopefully we will all benefit. If you did not get a chance to turn in the questionnaire, please do so, or just come to support the session. See you at the Freeport Campus at 6:00 for this round table discussion.
Parent Teacher Conferences for the Adolescent Program Students will be held Friday, January 16. Please be prompt, and keep in mind that 45 minutes will be allowed for each conference.
On Friday, January 23, we will have our Visitation Day. This is were each student that will be moving on to a higher class next year, will go to that class, now, to see what it is like. So, the pre-schoolers will go to Kindergarten, the 3rd graders will go to the 4th grade, the 5th graders will go to the adolescent class, etc. More information will come out in the weekly newsletters.
On Tuesday, January 27, there will be open houses at the Riverside and Freeport campuses. Those parents with Kindergarten bound children should go to the Riverside campus, and those with children bound for the higher grades, can check out the Freeport campus as well. This is your chance to see the classrooms that your children will be entering next year. It is a good time to meet the teachers and ask any brief questions that you might have. The open house is from 6:00 to 7:30 PM. Applications for fall for all campuses will be available at this time. We have priority registration for all continuing students and siblings during the month of February. On March 1, applications from outside students will be processed, so reserve your spot now!
Winter is here, and so is the winter weather. Please send your child to school with appropriate clothing (coats, hats, gloves, etc.), as they do play and eat outside. Also, during these winter months when many children get sick, we would appreciate you keeping your child home if illness occurs, and be aware that we will send your child home if he/she comes to school sick. This will help keep staff and students well. If illness does occur, and your child returns to school needing to continue a medication, please be sure the medication has the doctor and child's names, dosage, and date clearly marked on the medication. Please do not send over the counter medicines, vitamins, or throat drops in with your child, as we will only administer prescribed medications. Thank you.
Our Federal Tax ID number will be printed on your statement for the months of January, February, March, and April.
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Teacher |
Place |
Day and Date |
Time |
|
Anne & Heidi |
Sacramento County Courthouse |
Thursday, January 15 |
9:00 AM* |
|
Anastasia |
State Printing Plant |
TBA |
TBA |
|
Ranji |
Sacramento Executive Airport |
Thursday, January 8 |
10:00 AM |
|
Dharmeeka |
Post Office |
Wednesday, January 28 |
10:00 AM |
|
January 5 |
First day back to school |
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January 6 |
Begin Sport Term |
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January 12 |
Spelling Bee |
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January 15 |
"Let's Talk Workshop" - School questionnaire discussion |
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January 16 |
Hump Day/Adolescent Program Parent Conferences |
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January 19 |
Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday |
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January 23 |
School Visitation Day |
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January 27 |
K/G & Elementary Open House at 6:00 - 7:30 PM |
It seems that every now and again, we will hear a comment where a student or parent will say "I did not know you did that!" So, we put together the attached list of 50 different facts about South Land Park Montessori School (Did you know . . . ?). Some you may know, some you may not, but in any case, they should provide interesting reading or topics for discussion the next time you see a staff member or come by the office.
We are on the internet now, please visit. Our home page address is: http://www.slpms.room.net