Newsletter - Mater Amoris Montessori School

Mater Amoris School
Mater
Amoris School
301-774-7468
301-774-7468
matera001@verizon.net
materA001@verizon.net
Mater Amoris Matters
January 2015
Mater Amoris Montessori School
18501 Mink Hollow Road, PO Box 97
Ashton, MD 20861
301-774-7468
matera001@verizon.net
www.materamoris.com
FROM THE DIRECTRESS
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
The staff and I would like to extend a Happy New Year to all of our families. We also
wish to express our sincere thanks and appreciation for the very generous and
thoughtful holiday gifts we received in December.
Our annual Holiday Program was a very special event and I want to extend my
congratulations to all of the children who sang and played instruments for the
performance. All of the contributions to the bake sale were beautifully wrapped and
very inviting. Thank you to the many volunteers who helped with packaging, pricing, setup, selling and clean-up. Many thanks also to Ingrid Kleckner for conducting the raffle
and to our graduating students for announcing the lucky winners. It was a wonderful
everyone
who attended.
Fevening
ROMfor
THE
DIRECTRESS
After a relaxing break, we are now ready to settle into our school routine and look
forward to the semester ahead.
Mon, Jan 5
Classes resume Pilgrims
Weds, Jan 7, 9:30-11 a.m.
Open House for prospective
families
18501
Mon,
JanMink
19 Hollow Rd
PO
NO CLASSES Box 97
OO
Ashton,
Martin
LutherMD
King,20861
Jr. Day
Tues, Feb 10
Rehearsal for the musical
FROM THE DIRECTRESS
Weds,
Feb
11
The school year is off to a good start and I am happy to welcome all the families, old and new!
Dress rehearsal for the
Shannon Meyers is taking the elementaryUPPER
Montessori
training
this yearHISTORY
and we wish
her the best in
ELEMENTARY
AMERICAN
PROJECT
musical
her new
Barbara The
Heikkinen
has returned
Mater aAmoris
to but
work
in December
the office.with
Please
Upper Elementary
classtofinished
very short
busy
the join
Thurs,
Feb venture.
12
th
Musical Performance
holiday program on the 5 and the completion of their American History projects
Historic Olney Theatre
with presentations in costume and a pot luck luncheon on the 16th. We started
Mon-Fri, Feb 16-20
presenting at 9:10 and finished the last historical figure at 3:10. The food was
Presidents’Day and Midwonderful thanks to the contributions of many parents. All of the presenters
Winter Break
spoke
with
ease, most
in first person, as they told their stories of historical figures
me in extending
her
a warm
welcome.
NO CLASSES
from Queen Isabella to Amelia Earhart, joking about the representation of 400
Thurs, Feb 26
years of history as we sat down to lunch. We also squeezed in Secret Snowflakes,
Kennedy Center field trip for
a 3rd year luncheon at El Andariego and latkes on the 18th to complete the month
all Elementary students
of celebration.
SNOW POLICY
ELEMENTARY
CLASS
Mater Amoris will
follow
Montgomery County
Schools’Snow Policy for
school closings. However,
when Montgomery County
schools open one or two
hours late, Mater Amoris
will open at its regular
time. When Montgomery
County schools close early,
Mater Amoris will close
early. You do not need to
call the school – just follow
the radio announcements.
MATER AMORIS READ-A-THON
The Parent Council Is excited to announce the winners of the 2014
Read-A-Thon!
UPPER
Our top reader this year is Veronica Sinsky with 3150 minutes. Our top money
maker is Luke Wilbur who raised $1000.00. Our top readers for each class are
Bronson Shepherd (Mrs. Perez), Jackson Gross and Mia Tegeris (Mrs. A-O),
Alejandro Villa Bass (Mrs. Poje) and Maddox Glassner (Ms. Shea). Our top
fundraisers for each class are Ian Ver Steeg (Mrs. Perez), Mika Klubis (Mrs. A-O),
Brennan Shaw (Mrs. Poje), and Iman Sheikh (Ms. Shea). Mrs. A-O’s class had
100% participation. Congratulations to all of our winners and to everyone who
participated. The Read-A-Thon was a huge success, raising just under $6500. Our
children read a total of 52,233 minutes. Thank you so much to everyone who
participated - these amounts surpassed our expectations again this year. Prizes
will be awarded when we return from the holiday break.
UPDATE TO THE DIRECTORY
New address for Chirag and Sonal Bhatt: 14413 Clay Rock Lane, Silver Spring, MD 20906
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE MATER AMORIS PARENT COUNCIL
READ-A-THON
The
Parent Council would like to thank all the children and parents of Mater Amoris for making the Read-A-Thon
For the most part, the
a tremendous success. This fundraiser had educational as well as financial benefits. The children were very
passionate about their reading. The Parent Council is so grateful for your family’s contributions and efforts that
for the second year in a row we are going to suspend our direct sale fundraisers for the balance of the school
year. We will not be asking the children to sell coffee, pizza, gifts or gift-wrap this school year.
We look forward to next year’s Read-A-Thon.
BOOTS AND BLING AT THE SPRING FAIR AND SILENT AUCTION
Preparations are already underway for our annual Spring Fair and Silent Auction. Again this year, we are asking
everyone to be creative in thinking about friends, family and businesses that might be willing
to donate to the auction.
In the coming days, all families will be receiving a letter from the committee asking for a donation toward the
auction. For those of you who’ve contributed in the past, your support is greatly appreciated. We would love
an early confirmation of your repeat donations. Your support has been critical to our success and we look
forward to your continued involvement.
Keep your eyes open as we are making some changes to the format of this year’s auction and fair. Get your
cowboy boots ready - we promise a great family event full of western fun!
YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE
Yourweather
ongoing
support ofplease
the Mater
Amoris
s fundraisers
the years
has allowed
to
As cold
approaches,
take the
time Parent
to labelCouncil’
clearly every
article ofover
clothing
your child
brings tousschool,
support the Butterfly Garden, buy classroom materials and books, pay for the buses for the Kennedy Center
trips, contribute towards the costs associated with the Holiday Program, PJ Party, Spring Musical and
Graduation. Every year the Parent Council creates a specific fundraising goal for the Auction. In the past these
larger projects have allowed us to re-cover the field hockey turf, to establish the nature trails, to fund new
marketing initiatives for the school and so many others. Stay tuned to hear what this year’s goal will be! The
Parent Council still has funds to offer a $500 tuition credit for each new student a family recruits for Mater
Amoris. Please call the school office if you have any questions about this recruitment incentive. It is through
the support of all families that the council is able to meet these goals. Please call Ingrid Kleckner at 301-6222960 or Lorraine Tegeris at 301-996-5103 if you would like to volunteer to make this year’s fair and auction
another outstanding success!
Thank you to the parents who have attended the Fall Picnic and Parent Social, who have volunteered at the
Book Fair and/or Bake Sale, or helped raise funds for the school by attending the Mater Amoris Nights Out,
clipping Box Tops, and sponsoring a reader for the Read-A-Thon.