Academy for Children
A Montessori School
& Child Care Center
September 2017
Newsletter
Dear Parents,
The Academy extends a warm heartfelt “thank you” to our year round clients as well as a hearty welcome to our returning and new clients. This newsletter will cover a welcome to the new school year, August experiences, as well as upcoming events
September’s Special Theme
The special theme for the month of September is “Australia” for the preschool students. All of the preschool classrooms will be making a special effort to incorporate the theme into their work and play during September. The toddlers and infant themes for September are “Colors.” Please feel free to send in books, art ideas, or any item (s) related to these monthly themes.
HOT LUNCH
If your child is signed up for the hot lunch program, we will automatically order your lunch every day, unless you call the office and cancel for that day. All lunches MUST be ordered or canceled daily by 9:15 am, Due to all the children we facilitate during lunch we ask that all cold lunches be ready to serve. We unfortunately will not be able to heat up any of the cold lunches (thermoses are a great way to keep things warm in your cold lunch totes).
Office Hours
Ms. DeLynda, our School and Child Care Director: her office hours are from 9:00 – 11:00 AM, or by appointment. You may always contact her by the Academy email address: for quick response.
PEACE DAY
The Preprimary classes will celebrate Peace Day on Thursday, September 21st. The classroom will take extra time to talk about peace and what we can do to be kind to others. It is a great way to start off the first month of school.
School Pictures
School pictures will be taken on Thursday; September 28th. Our photographer is Brian, from Studio 9. If you would like to have your child’s picture taken please return the photo release form that will be distributed on September 15th. You will receive photo proofs before you actually place the photo order.
Parent Appreciation Morning
The Academy would like to invite all parents to come celebrate Parent Appreciation Morning on Thursday, October 5th from 7:00 -8:45 AM. Be sure to stop by Ms. Brittany’s room and have a special treat before you start your day! We really appreciate everything you do for us and our school!
Information
If you have not received or completed the required forms for your child (ren), please stop by the office and do so as soon as possible. The following forms must be on file for each child enrolled for the fall:
Tuition, FT or Contractual Child Care Agreement
Child Information Sheet
Parent Statement of Health
Certificate of Immunization
Copy of your child’s Birth Certificate
Parent Handbook Acknowledgement Form
Non Prescription Medicine Release
Waiver for Insect Repellent/Sunscreen
Park/Nap Release
Lunch Program
Volunteer List
Release Form
Field Trip Form
Water Activity permission Form
If there are any changes in the information that you have already given to us, please contact the office at 280-0718 or email us.
Skate City Party
The Academy will be sponsoring a roller skating party on Thursday, October 12th from 5:00-7:00 PM All Academy staff, parents, children, siblings, and friends are invited. We will also invite students from the summer and the previous school years. A snack bar will be available. We’d love to have you and your child (ren) come and join the fun.
Peanut/Nut Free Center
The Academy is a peanut/nut free center. Children with nut allergies can have serious life threatening consequences if they come in contact with peanut or nut oil. To protect the children in our care we have established the center as a peanut/nut free zone. Please be aware this includes cold lunches and snacks.
Parent Directory
The Academy will be putting together information about the students for the Parent Directory to share with our families. This directory will include child’s name, birthday, address, parents name and parent’s numbers. If you would like to have your child’s information omitted from this list be sure to let the office know by September 8th. Parent Directories can be picked up in the office Monday September 18th.
Parent Information Night
Thank you to all who attended our Parent Information Night. We hope you enjoyed hearing about Montessori philosophy, our programs and our excellent staff. Again, Welcome to new clients and a fond HELLO to those of you returning for another exciting school.
Summer Classroom News
Elementary News – Ms. Aly
August has really flown by! It was the beginning of the end of summer. We’ve had a great summer. Lots of adventures and projects were completed the summer.
The first theme of August was “Culture of India.” We had a blast experiencing the different festivals of India. We painted the Tajmahal, made tiger masks, elephant shaped pearler beads, and many more fun activities! We would love to thank Ganesh Pillai for coming in and talking about her family’s time in India. We would also like to thank Ana Panwalkar for sharing her photo album from their trip. The Henna was a huge success.
The second week was “Mo Willems.” We explored the world of the ‘most askingist pigeon’ and read about ‘Gerald and Piggie’s adventures in finding new friends. Mo Willems books are so full of emotion, the kids had to make a play out about them.
The final week of the summer themes was “Salvador Dali.” We created abstract art, surrealist art, painted with oil paints and even made prints at the Plains Art Museum. We thoroughly enjoyed looking at all his works and even tried to copy a few. We celebrated the end of summer by getting an ice cream treat from the ice cream truck (Pat’s Treats) that stopped by. We has such a great summer, it is hard to believe that it’s over!
Preprimary News – Ms. Maria
The summer went by so fast! We had a lot of fun, but we are all excited to start the school year! The first theme of the month was, “Culture of India.” We found India on the map and discussed how we would have to cross the ocean to get there – very far away! We painted the flag and compared it to the flag of the USA. We also made peacocks out of blue foam and feathers – peacocks are the national birds of India. We had a blast making elephant faces of paper plates and noticing the differences between Asian elephants and African elephants.
The next theme of the year was, “Mo Willems.” This was such a fun theme for the kids – they really loved the books! A favorite activity this week was pig headbands – we glued pink ears and nose onto a pink headband and wore them all around school. We also squirted red and yellow paint out of ketchup and mustard bottles to make our own hot dogs, made monster faces, and read tons of Gerald and Piggy books.
“Salvador Dali” was our last theme of the month. We had a great time exploring different art techniques and resists. We used tempera paint, watercolor paint, tape, scissors, and glue to make wonderful creations. We also made mustaches to wear, just like Salvador Dali
Toddler News - Ms. Brittany
It’s hard to believe the summer is almost over! Our first theme this month was “Culture of India.” We spent some time talking about India. We made an Indian flag and a class peacock. Our second theme was “Mo Willems.” We read lots of his books, had a hot dog cookout, made an ice cream cone, and colored a bus. Our favorite song this week was “Wheels on the Bus.” The last theme of the summer was “Salvador Dali.” The children got to be artists for a day - they got to paint a canvas!
We spent lots of time learning our colors and making lasting memories throughout the summer. We have enjoyed playing outside with chalk, bubbles and water. The children have become stronger as they climb and slide on the play structures. We have also had a great time riding bikes.
We are sad to see the summer come to an end, but are excited to move to our fall classroom. The children are eager to have their school friends back in our class.
Infant News-Ms. Connie
The summer has gone quickly and we are looking forward to the new school year. Our first theme this past month was “Cultures of India.” We read “We Lily’s Garden,” “Monkey Living in India,” “T is for Tashmahal,” “The Elephant’s Friend,” and “Wheels on the Tuk, Tuk.” The bulletin boards throughout our room had pictures of the Indian flag, the Tashmahal, monkeys, cows and elephants on them. For art, we made cows, tigers, monkeys, elephants and a flag of India with our footprints.
The second theme was “Mo Willems.” We read a variety of different books that involve our favorite character the pigeon! Our favorite seemed to be “The Pigeon Loves Things that Go! For art, we made a bus, a puppy, and an ice cream cone with our feet and we made “the pigeon” out of our hand prints. Our room was decorated with elephants, bunnies and buses in all different colors.
The third theme of the month was “Salvador Dali.” We had paint pallets on the birthday board, hats on the door, and funny looking clocks all over the room. We read “Hickory, Dickory, Dock,” “White Rabbit’s Color Book,” and “We are Painting.” For art, we painted a couple of different rainbows.
We are doing a lot of talking and signing in the room now. We are also eating really well at the table. We are showing more independence every day! Our younger friends are rolling all over the place and trying really hard to crawl. We are also practicing some sitting. We are sad to see some of our friends transition to different rooms and places, and wish them good luck but we know that they will have a great time in their new environments!
Academy Staff
2017-2018
Madeline Hieb will be in Ms. Karen’s room this year. It is her first year at the Academy. She has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of North Dakota and is currently seeking her Montessori Credentials from North American Montessori Center. She is excited to get to know all of the children and spend time with them. She just recently got engaged and is busy planning her wedding.
Darla Nordlund will be working with Ms. Karen’s preschool children again this year. Darla has been employed with the Academy for nine years. She will be opening the Academy for us each day. She looks forward to spending a great year with us.
Koneisha Moore will be Ms. Maria’s assistant this year. This is her first year at the Academy. She is enjoying learning about the Montessori works, helping the children and getting to know them better. She was a certified nursing assistant working with the geriatric population before coming to the Academy.
Patty Denchfield will be the Toddler One assistant for the 2017-2018 school year. Patty has been working at the Academy for the past seventeen years. She enjoys her time with the toddlers and looks forward to another year with them.
Lacey Pfarr really enjoys the infant and toddler children. Lacey will continue to work with Ms. Connie in the infant room this fall. This will be Lacey’s third year at the Academy.
Jessica Stolle will be Ms. Brittany’s assistant in the Toddler Two room. She has been with the Academy and the Toddler Two classroom since January of this year. She has her bachelor’s degree in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences and has been working in childcare for eight years. She is looking forward to being with the children during the school year.
Lacy VanderVoort is the lunchroom worker this year. She will also be floating in the classrooms in the afternoon. She has been working at the Academy for almost 3 months. She has an 11- year old son, Skylar. She also has three years experience teaching Wednesday night school at First Lutheran Church. She looks forward to working with the children.
Emily Perala will be floating around Academy for the third year in a row. Prior to working at the Academy, she worked with children for two years. She enjoys working with all the different age groups and watching them grow! Emily is excited for the upcoming school year!
Alexis Marciniak will be floating around the preschool rooms after school again this year. She has been with the Academy for one and a half years now and is looking forward to continue working with us. She is a freshman at NDSU, and is also in the North Dakota National Air Guard. She is very excited to work with all of our wonderful children.
Rebecca Tripp will be floating around the preschool rooms after school this year. She has been with the Academy for one and a half years now and is looking forward to continuing to working with all of the children at the Academy.
Alysha Singh will be working in Ms. Karen’s classroom after school this year. She has been with the Academy for a year and a half and really enjoys working with the children. She is a junior at NDSU and is working on her bachelor’s degree in biological science and is planning to go to medical school after graduation.
Kiarra Braham will be working in Ms. Maria’s room after school this year. This is her first year at the Academy. She is looking forward to helping and getting to know the children, as well as, making sure that the school is a positive environment for them. She has always loved children and looks forward to seeing what the future holds here at the Academy.
Hawjeen Mohammad will be spending another year with us at the Academy. Hawjeen works with all the different age groups. This will be Hawjeens third year at the Academy. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her son. She looks forward to another great year.