Schoolhouse News Weekly Spotlight
To celebrate October's National Day on Writing, 7th-grade language arts students created poetry that focused on the intersection of nonsensical diction and the various ways in which poets convey meaning. After reading and analyzing Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky," students used their knowledge of the different parts of speech to write poems. These poems reflected the randomness of word choice as found in Carroll's poem, yet students' final products possessed engaging narratives, insightful transitions, and clear themes. Students then "published" their poems by reading them aloud to classmates. On that day, there was a lot of finger-snapping in class!
A special shout-out to Maia LaMonte for all the work on the design elements of the project! A MESSAGE FROM MR. RAJARIGAM Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I want to wish you all a wonderful time with family and friends as we recall the blessings in our lives. Here at Montgomery, we are thankful for each one of our Montgomery families. I am particularly grateful for our teachers who have persevered through challenges and unpredictability to provide our students a sense of belonging and normalcy. Montgomery School teachers are truly the best. Every year since 2015, our 6th grade students have exchanged letters with their pen pals at our sister school, Sofia Primary School in Wamunyu, Kenya. This connection is made possible through an organization called Kenya Connect whose tagline is "Wonderful Things Happen When Kids Connect." Our students take the first step in writing a letter to “My friend at Sofia Primary School” in which they introduce themselves and share information about family, pets, sports and other interests, favorite food, etc. Teachers at Sofia Primary School then pair the students there with a Montgomery student. Recently our 6th graders received their second letter from their pen pals in Kenya. There is always palpable excitement any time they receive a handwritten letter directly addressed to them. They are now in the process of writing their third letter to their friend miles away in a different continent.
Kami Mulzet, our beloved (“mwende” in the Kamba language, a name so appropriately given to Mrs. Mulzet during her visit to the school in 2015) 6th grade language arts and social studies teacher, who introduced this connection at Montgomery says, “ After exchanging letters, my students have made a friend in another part of the world, and they understand how profound that is. They find similarities and differences, and they appreciate both. Pen pal letters develop students’ empathy and sense of connection.” What a cool way for our middle school students to understand that community and connection can extend beyond geographical and cultural boundaries! UPDATES AND REMINDERS Recess and Winter Coats Our temperature requirement in Lower School for wearing winter coats (not just fleeces and sweatshirts) outside is 45 degrees. We are outside at various times throughout the day, and your child will be uncomfortable if he/she is not equipped for the weather. It is quite windy on our campus hilltops so it's best to bring an outdoor coat to school from this point on for the season.
In addition, at this point in the cold weather uniform season, students need to wear solid black or gray leggings under the jumpers or 5th grade kilts. We would hate for students to miss the opportunities to enjoy the outdoors because of not having cold weather protection. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Holiday Chapels Please refer to the Holiday Chapel Schedule for details about this year's events.
Weekly Pool Testing We are pleased to share that last week's pool testing results were negative. As a reminder, there will be no pool testing this week. THIS WEEK Tuesday, November 23 Last Day for Plant and Wreath Orders Don't forget to order your holiday plants and wreaths! Orders will be ready for pick-up on Wednesday, December 1st outside of the Dining Room.
Tuesday, November 23 Thanksgiving Chapel, 8:30 AM
Tuesday, November 23 All School 3:15 Bus & Car Dismissal
In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, there will be NO SCHOOL Wednesday, November 24 - Monday, November 29. COMING UP Tuesday, November 30 Giving Tuesday - Something BIG is Coming!
Wednesday, December 1 Plant and Wreath Pickup Orders for plants and wreaths can be picked up outside the Dining Room.
Wednesday, December 1 Parent Session Adolescent and Teen Wellness: A Mind Body Approach for Your Family Parents of children of all ages are invited to join us for a webinar about adolescent and teen wellness, hosted by Tessa Jenkins, RN, BSN, RYT500, and Certified Health Coach. As a former nurse and health coach, Tessa works with groups and individuals to examine a whole body wellness approach. This moves beyond diet and exercise and examines sleep habits, stress levels, social interactions and so much more. This event is for Montgomery families only. Visit our website for details.
Tessa will also speak to our middle school students about health and wellness in a two-part series on December 2nd and December 8th.
Tuesday, December 14 Holiday Concert Snow Date: Thursday, December 16 There will be three separate seatings for this year's holiday concert:
Due to limited seating in Bell Hall, each student may have two family guests attend. Please plan to attend only the showing where your child is a participant. We will provide sibling babysitting for those who need this service (which would be our Afternoons program).
Students will be in their uniforms for a normal school day. We welcome any holiday accessories the students would like to wear (such as Santa Hats, a dreidel fun accessory, or a Kwanzaa colored scarf, etc). Please note -while the "antenna" type holiday accessory is really cute, it would be difficult to view other students on stage so please refrain from sending in this holiday accessory. MSCA & COMMUNITY NEWS Volunteer Clearances If you are planning to volunteer in the classroom or on a school field trip, please be sure your clearances are up to date. Please contact Janis Oeschger if you need to check the date of your clearances. Please click here for Montgomery’s clearance process.
Friday, December 3, 8:30 AM MSCA Meeting The next MSCA meeting will take place on Friday, December 3 at 8:30am in the Dining Room. Please join us as we introduce this year’s annual benefit and learn more about upcoming events and projects. We hope to see you there! RESOURCES Upcoming Events
|