LIFE AT VMS: A Message from our Board President
by Ann Clark, Head of School
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Dear parents,
To be a successful independent, non-profit school, we need a committed group of people - which makes up our Board of Trustees - who understand and embrace the VMS mission, share our core values, and fully support our faculty and staff. Sharing these common beliefs and purposes creates a powerful Board and a strong community with far-reaching positive effects on children and the entire school community.
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Rachel Clark, VMS Board president. Rachel is an outstanding example of a person committed to the mission and values of VMS with a desire to give back and pay it forward for others.
My name is Rachel Watson-Clark and I am president of the VMS Board of Trustees. I have been a part of the VMS community for almost 20 years as a parent, volunteer and board member. VMS means so much to me as it has been extremely instrumental in the growth of my daughters. Both of them started their educational journey and graduated from VMS.
My oldest is a junior in college and my youngest is a senior at Livermore High School. They are resilient, curious and kind, and both love to learn. They are citizens of the world and take that responsibility to heart. One example of the VMS values coming to life was from an experience one of my daughters had freshman year in high school. When she noticed another student-an upper classman-was trying to copy her work, she had the confidence to tell the student that she would be happy to help him, but it was wrong for him to just copy her work. It was a proud moment as a parent.
As an alumni parent, it is easy to stay committed to a school that helped me raise such strong, grounded young women! The culture, the community, and the Montessori curriculum at VMS is special. It is a place where children are not only taught academics, but taught independence and self-worth.
As much as VMS influences the lives of our children, so it enriches ours as parents as well. I have remained friends with many teachers, staff, and fellow parents, and feel that it is a privilege to serve VMS on the Board of Trustees. Although the pandemic has been hard for most of us, myself included, I know that Ann Clark, the teachers and staff are doing everything in their power to ensure that your children get the same love, respect, and learning that my children did.
If you are interested in learning more about the work of the VMS Board and/or joining a sub-committee, please reach out to Ann Clark. More than any other time, we need to support each other and the school. Here are the committees:
- Strategic planning
- Finance
- Development
- Equity and Inclusion
Thank you for your commitment to VMS!
Rachel
We are thankful to Rachel and our Board of Trustees who provide strategic leadership to preserve and protect the long term well-being of VMS in support of our school mission. The Board makes long-term decisions, provides financial leadership, and communicates regularly with me as Head of School to ensure excellence in education for the current and future children of Valley Montessori School.
Respectfully,
Ann
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UNITED NATIONS / WORLD CULTURES DAY |
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This Friday, October 23, is our annual day set aside to celebrate our strong community and honor its diversity. This year, the day will be different but the spirit of celebration will remain the same! We are compiling a video from clips of children at VMS singing both remotely and on campus. Plus, the Middle School students will add work from their ancestry project illustrating how we all come from everywhere! We will share the final video with the VMS community - stay tuned!
In addition, we are working behind the scenes to publish the digital VMS Cookbook: Recipes from Around the World. Last chance - send in your recipes to Events@ValleyMontessoriSchool.com.
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IMPORTANT DATES:
10/23 UN/World Cultures Day
10/29-30 Elementary - Middle School Conferences - No School or Childcare
10/30 Only - Primary / Toddler Conference Day - No School or Childcare
11/11 Veterans Day - No School or Childcare
11/23-27 Thanksgiving Break
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Greetings Toddler families,
With UN / World Cultures Day coming up on Friday, you may wonder how the toddler classroom incorporates diverse cultures.
Every year, our goal is to make our classroom culturally relevant to the current classroom community. This allows the children to see themselves reflected as well as be exposed to the cultural identities of others.
Cultural inclusion in the toddler environment includes a diverse assortment of books, songs and rhymes as well as photos, objects or containers from around the world that are incorporated into the classroom activities.
- We introduce learning how to count and say simple words in other languages while providing the English translation.
- We include some seasonal objects displayed throughout the classroom that children may see when out in the local community.
- Snack is also a wonderful way to provide a sensorial experience for children to try different tastes of flavors and dishes from around the world.
As teachers we seek out educating ourselves in order to make the classroom culturally relevant. We eagerly welcome your sharing with us information from your culture about celebrations children experience, simple children's songs, basic vocabulary and phrases, and recipes from your culture.
Wishing you a wonderful day and remainder of the week.
Warmly,
The Toddler Team
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Dear Primary Parents,
UN/World Cultures Day
This Friday, we are excited to be celebrating UN/World Cultures Day at VMS. We will be starting the day with an individual classroom parade! We invite you to send your child to school in cultural attire as simple or as complex as your child is comfortable. After the "parade" we will help your child change into their play/school clothes.
Maria Montessori was a passionate advocate for peace throughout the world. Promoting diversity and understanding value of different cultures teaches children to accept and respect people and their traditions from all over the world. Providing children with practical activities and experiences, will allow them to open their minds and hearts towards someone who may be a bit different and appreciate them.
In addition, the three-year cultural curriculum encompasses numerous lessons as we study the world through its continents. These lessons include:
- People and cultures
- Languages spoken in different countries
- Flags of different countries
- Foods unique to certain regions
- Holidays and celebrations in different regions
These lessons combined with the ”Choose Love” curriculum lay a strong foundation of peace, respect, and spreading kindness as we help raise this generation of global citizens.
Warm Regards,
The Primary Team
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Dear parents,
Book Sharing
We are excited to see everyone’s first book sharing project. Hopefully your child has chosen a book and begun reading it. This month’s genre is a book of choice. Please follow the link to the VMS webpage for the “Book in a Container” guidelines.
All About the Moon
Next week, we will be learning all about the Moon! We have fun lessons and activities planned for the three days of school, including identifying moon phases, building a moon rover, and a virtual field trip to The California Academy of Sciences!
We are also taking the week to give all of the students time to “catch-up” on any work they have not completed. We are looking forward to meeting with all of the parents for conference days next Thursday and Friday.
Enjoy your week!
The Lower El Team
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UN / World Cultures Day
This Friday, October 23, students are welcome to dress in cultural attire for our morning meeting! Students will view our VMS all–school video and participate in multi-cultural math activities in the morning. Regular classes will be held in the afternoon.
Parent-Teacher Conferences - School Closed for Grades 1-8
Parent -Teacher Conferences are next week, on Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30. Parents should have received an email from Sign-up Genius for conference time slots. Please be sure to flag this email as it also contains the Zoom meeting ID you will need to access the conference. We look forward to speaking with you soon!
This is a parent-only meeting.
No school or childcare is available on these days.
Historical Halloween - A UE Tradition
On Wednesday, October 28, students will portray a historical figure who has had a positive impact on the world. Student’s are encouraged to dress for the part (or bring a prop that represents the person) AND prepare 5 clues that help the rest of the class guess who they are.
Next! November Biography Book Report- Due: 11/18
For the next book report, your child should choose a Biography. It can be about the same person they chose for Historical Halloween, or someone completely different. Please find the guidelines on Google Classroom and have your child read the instructions carefully before they start reading their book.
Upcoming UE Events
October 23 World Cultures Day
October 28 Historical Halloween
October 29 Parent/Teacher Conferences - School Closed
October 30 Parent/Teacher Conferences - School Closed
November 11 Veterans Day - School Closed
November 18 Biography Book Report Due
November 23-27 Thanksgiving Break - School Closed
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“Here is an essential principal of education: to teach details is to bring confusion; to establish the relationship between things is to bring knowledge.” —From Childhood to Adolescence
Spanish class update: Spanish online textbook
Students have all created accounts with Savvas Realize online textbook company. They can access the Autentico textbook resources and assignments through links on Google Classroom.
In this “glitchy” world, we have learned Savvas Realize works best when student limit the number of apps open (especially Zoom). With potential internet and power outages I do also offer PDF versions of the work as a back-up, and I recommend students print them for additional practice or as a back-up.
I encourage students to take advantage of the online version whenever possible so they can benefit from the following language learning features:
· Audio (for proper pronunciation and to train their ear to understand spoken language)
· Authentic Resources
· Voice Recording (works best on a computer and when Zoom and other apps are closed)
· Individual assignments for additional support or extra challenges
· Real Time Feedback
· Teachers are able to monitor their progress remotely to see where they might need more support or additional challenges.
Hasta luego!
Conference dates and information:
This year, our conferences will be held remotely (via Zoom) on Thursday (October 29) and Friday (October 30). There will be NO SCHOOL on those days. All teachers, parents and student should plan on attending their scheduled conference by logging onto the Zoom Middle School Community Meeting tab. Each conference will be 15 minutes long with a specific start and end time. In order to keep our conferences flowing, we must adhere to these times! You can sign up for an available meeting by using SignUp Genius.
United Nations Day
This Friday, we celebrate UN Day in unique ways. We ask that students attend classes dressed in attire that they would wear to celebrate the cultures of the world.
Enjoy your week,
The Middle School Team
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Valley Montessori School
1273 N Livermore Ave Livermore CA 94551
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