September 

When it is your preschool or extended day child’s birthday, please send in a picture of each year of your child's life on his/her birthday or on the school day closest to his/her birthday.  Each toddler, preschool, and kindergarten child will receive a birthday crown.  Elementary students will need a photo from each year of their life for their birthday books.  These photos can be copies or printed on a color printer (they cannot be returned).  We are celebrating the following birthdays in September:

 

Please remember:  No Birthday snacks or treats.

 

 

 

Physical Education

Please send your children to school in comfortable clothes (that may get dirty or grass stained) and low-heeled tennis shoes.  To insure that the children are both comfortable and safe, please send them prepared for PE.  Please have your child wear his Sunrise Montessori t-shirt on PE day. 

 

North Campus:  Monday – AM Preschool

                                  PM preschool

                                 All Day Preschool

                                  1^st & 2^nd year boys group 1

                                  3^rd, 4^th, & 5^th boys

 

       Tuesday – Kindergarten

                      Elementary girls

                      1^st & 2^nd year boys’ group2

 

South Campus:  Thursday - all preschool & Kindergarten

 

In September, the children will continue learning the basic skills of soccer.

 

Elementary Art Studies

Continuing in September, the elementary children will be studying the following:

1^st years – Introduction of prehistoric art and Introduction to line and shape

2^nd years – Art history review of prehistoric art through ancient Roman art & review elements.

3^rd years – Art history review prehistoric through Gothic art and review elements of art.

4^th & 5^th years – Art history review of Renaissance art and review elements of art.

 

Art History will be on Mondays and Creating Art on Fridays. 

 

September Needs 

Elementary

®      oranges

®      apples

®      fabric for button sewing

®      tissue paper

®      CD’s with classical or jazz music

North Preschool/Kindergarten

®      sliced whole wheat bread

®      pasta for stringing

®      magazines to be cut up for collages

®      burlap

 

 

Elementary Studies

The lower elementary (grades first through third) will be studying, parts of the leaf, composition of the earth, sun and earth, five senses, Europe, and autumn.  The upper elementary (grades fourth and fifth) will be studying U.S. geography, Arizona geography, scientific method, chemistry, digestive system, physics – motion, vitamins & minerals, long division, sentence analysis and wind & water.

All classes will be studying the solar system, apples, Johnny Appleseed, nutrition, and routines of the classroom. 

The elementary will be reading Mrs. Frisby and the Secret of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien.

 

 

PSG Meeting

The September PSG meeting will be held Tuesday, September 11^th, at 6:30 PM at the south campus.  Child care will be provided.  Please mark your response form at the end of this newsletter if you plan on attending. 

Fingerprinting will be available for those parents volunteering in the classroom.  A letter explaining this process has already gone home.

 

 

Upper Elementary Diamondbacks’ Field Trip

The 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th years will be going to Chase Field for Diamonbacks’ Education Day on Tuesday, September 18^th.  A field trip permission form is included in this packet.  Please fill it out and return it to school.

 

Parent Study

If you are new to our school or if you have a continuing student but have not taken the opportunity to attend one of our parent studies, we would like to let you know what our school has to offer. 

What is a parent study?  It is an evening our staff at Sunrise Montessori School has set aside for you.  We think it is important for parents to be involved in their child’s world.  Our parent studies present information concerning child rearing, how to use Montessori in the home, how Montessori techniques and materials are used to teach math, language, etc.  We listen to questions and try to answer them.  We show you how we teach your children and how children learn.  The more you know, the better you will be able to communicate with your child and with us. 

This month’s parent study will be “Montessori in the Home”.  We will share with you some tips to help bring Montessori home and how to make your home more manageable and accessible to your child.  Please plan to attend.  You’ll find it helpful and informative! 

Child care will be provided, so please mark your response form at the end of this newsletter.

When:  Thursday, September 20^th at 7 PM.

Where:  South Campus

 

 

Cooking Day

Once a month, the kindergarten class will make food.  Please fill out the September response form at the end of this newsletter or talk to Olive or Michelle.  The school provides the money for cooking days.  On Monday, September 24^th, the kindergarten will experience their first cooking day.  Please send in a lunch with your child on cooking days.  Sometimes the children make their food after lunch as an afternoon snack.  The elementary will not have specific cooking days.  Rather they will incorporate the cooking experience into classroom lessons. 

 

 

Elementary Museum Field Trips

On Thursday, September 27^th, the 1^st, 2^nd, & 3^rd year students will be going to the Museum for Youth.  The 4^th & 5^th years will be going to the Heard Museum. 

 

 

Field Trips

Every kindergarten and elementary student should have received an invoice for all field trips for the 2007-2008 school year. 

Always return your permission form promptly.  No child can attend a field trip without a signed permission form.

We will always need drivers!  Please consider driving on at least one field trip this year.  Remember to wear your Sunrise t-shirts.  Thanks!

 

 

Labeled Clothing

Please remember to put your child's name in all extra clothing, jackets, sweaters, etc. that your child wears to school.  Many times children have similar clothing and their clothing may get mixed up with someone else's clothing.  Please put your child’s name in the extra clothes you leave at the school in case of an accident.

 

 

Wet or Dirty Clothes

Any clothes that become wet or dirty at school will be left by the entrance gate in a closed top container.  If your child comes home in his extra clothes, please check the container for the dirty clothes and send in clean clothes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch Bag Safety Check

Potentially harmful bacteria may be lurking in your child’s lunch bag, but there are simple steps you can take to reduce the risk of food poisoning.  Ensure a hazard-free meal with these smart tips from Althea Zanecosky, R.D., spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. 

ü       SCRUB OUT THE LUNCH BAG daily to remove food residue.  For small cleanups, use antibacterial detergent; larger messes you need a diluted bleach solution (1 tsp. Bleach to 1 quart water).

ü       HIGH-PROTEIN FOODS, such as chicken and yogurt, spoil quickest without refrigeration.  Throw them out after school.

ü       REMIND YOUR CHILD to wash her hands before she eats so that paint or dirt from the morning’s activities doesn’t work its way into her food. 

   From “Child” magazine, September 2000

 

 

 

 

                                                  

 

Blue Emergency Cards

It is very important that your child’s blue emergency card is returned to the school immediately, if you have not returned it already.  We are required by law to have an updated blue card on file for each child.

 

 

 

 

Website

The newsletter, calendar, and snack calendar will be posted on the website each month.  www.sunrisemontessori.com If you have questions about the newsletter or website, please call the school office at 602.843.6053.

 

 

 

Extended Day Gardener

The kindergarten class at the north campus and the kindergarten class at the south campus are looking for a volunteer to garden with them throughout the school year.  Please sign up at the end of this newsletter.

 

What is the PSG?

Our school has a great volunteer parent group known as the PSG (Parent Support Group).  All the monies raised by the PSG are used for special school events and classroom materials.  All parents are members of the PSG and there are several ways to be involved: 

1.                     Chair an event or assist the chairperson.

2.                    Donate items as needed for events.

3.                    Annual contribution of $10.

4.                    Come to monthly meetings on the 2^nd Tuesday of each month and share your ideas!

The annual contributions are used for administrative and office expenses needed for the PSG throughout the year.  A PSG newsletter accompanies this newsletter. 

 

 

”The ones we love the most are not those who give us something we did not have before, but those who show us the richness of what we already possess.”

                                Blaise Pascol,

                                17^th Century French

                                mathematician, philosopher, &

                                inventor of first digital calculator

 

 

 

To Dave Souder for repairing elementary materials

 

To the Conditt Family for a container for put ‘n takes

 

To the Bresar Family for construction paper

 

To the Bowman Family for puffy paints, felt, construction paper

 

To the Cafarelli Family for practical life work

 

 

 

Cartridges for Sunrise Montessori!

How many cartridges end up in landfills worldwide?           822.000 per day!

How can you help? gather lots of cartridges & bring them into the school.

How can you easily do that?       Simple!  Ask for cartridges wherever you go – banks, stores, dentist & doctor offices, etc. 

Please send in cartridges!  It is an easy way for the PSG to make some money and we are saving the environment at the same time.  This school year, Angie Casey, PSG president, is coordinating the donation of cartridges as she found a company that will pay us more money for our old cartridges. 

 

General Mills Box Tops

You may turn in all the General Mills box tops you have collected to date.  Please continue to save your General Mills Box Tops throughout the summer.  Pam Silliman, Cassidy’s mom, is continuing to collect them.  The school can earn $ for each returned box top.  Also visit www.boxtopsforeducation.com  There you can shop directly with Oriental Trading, Eddie Bauer, Nordstrom, Staples, Discovery Store, and many, many others.  Each store gives a percentage of your purchase directly to the school through Boxtops for education.  Sign up to join the Sunrise Team today!

 

 

Cost of Education

In Arizona, public schools receive $more than $8800.00 per student, per school year.  In addition, they receive bond money for buildings, maintenance, etc.  Charter schools (privately run public schools) receive over $7000.00 per student.  They do not receive any bond money to help with buildings, etc.  Our tuition for the elementary class is $5600.00 per student per school year.  Our elementary students also receive art (creating art and art history), music, PE, and Spanish.  What a bargain!! 

 

 

What Young Children Need to

Succeed – Ideas for Parents

v      Model your commitment to learning.

v      Be aware of what is going on at your child’s school.  Your interest will help children bond with their school.

v      Know what your children are learning in school.  Plan ways for them to learn more about the areas they enjoy.  Focus on children’s accomplishments and attitudes instead of just their grades.

v      Allow time for supervised learning in your family schedule. Older children can complete their homework while younger children participate in fun learning activities.

v      Take family trips to interesting places such as:  a park or museum.

v      Have regular family reading times.  Encourage young children to read along with you.  Enjoy some quiet time at the local library.

 

Arizona State Tuition Tax Credit

For those who donated to The Arizona Scholarship Fund last year, THANK YOU!!  You see the wisdom of your investment when you prepared your 2006 Arizona income tax return.  For those who forgot or were unaware of the TAX CREDIT available to all Arizonans who pay state income tax, give now so you do not miss out on this opportunity for the 2007 tax year.  This year, the public schools tax credit amount is $250 and the private school tax credit is $1000. 

IMPORTANT FACTS TO KNOW:

·          90% of tuition tax credit revenue must go toward tuition payments.

·          Up to $1000 can be given to the Foundation each tax year and receive a dollar for dollar state income tax credit. 

·          Money can be given in smaller amounts throughout the tax year.

·          Any amount up to $1000 can be given.

·          The money can be split between two private schools. 

·          It is possible to assign $1000 to a private school and up to $250 to a public school. 

·          Generally speaking, an annual income of approximately $28,000 will create a $1000 state tax obligation.

·          Even if you do not receive a refund from the state, you may still take advantage of this tax credit.

·          This state tax credit is also deductible as a charitable contribution on federal taxes.

·          Any questions?  Call the school.

·          Please contact The Arizona Scholarship Fund at (480) 497-4564 or visit their website at www.azscholarships.org to get a tax credit.  State that you want the credit to be applied to Sunrise Montessori School.

·          Withholding can be adjusted and the amount sent directly each month to the Arizona Scholarship Fund instead of to the Arizona Department of Revenue.

·          These tax credits can only be used for kindergarten and elementary tuition.

 

 

 Introduction of New Staff

Leisa Medrano is the 3-6 year old co-teacher with Michelle at the north campus.  She received her AMS certification to teach children from 3 to 6 years old from CMTE.  Leisa taught at Villa Montessori for 10 years.  She also taught at Chaparral Special Needs Preschool.  Leisa is married with 6 children.  Her first grandchild is due any day! 

 

Jaime Williams is the lead Mother’s Day Out teacher and toddler assistant at the south campus.  Jaime received her literature degree from SUNY Potsdam in Potsdam, NY.  She is planning to pursue her Master’s Degree in Special Education at ASU.  Jaime’s son, Collin is the preschool class at the south campus.

 

Rosalia Vallelonga is the Spanish teacher at the south campus.  Rosalia has taught Spanish for two years at Little Friends’ Montessori School.  Rosalia has 2 children, Dominick, in the elementary class, and Calista, who attends Little Friends’ Montessori.  She was born and raised in Mexico City.  After graduating from college, she came to the United States and met her husband, Bob.  Bob was a Montessori student from preschool through sixth grade at Villa Montessori.