Welcome back from Winter Break!  We hope your family was able to spend some quality time together last week.  It was nice to see the children return to school yesterday and re-connect with friends.

Shortly before the break, you should have received your child's mid-year progress report.  If you have any questions about the progress report, please contact your child's teacher to set up an appointment. 

We were thrilled that so many of you braved the snowy weather to join us for our February Parent Education Night.  It was a wonderful evening!  We've included a re-cap of the 'outcomes' activity in this newsletter for those of you who were unable to make it. 

Our February Parent Education Night session included an interactive discussion of outcomes of Montessori education.  We asked parents to develop lists of desired academic, social, and personal outcomes by posing the question: "What qualities would you like for your child to have by the time they leave Mountaineer Montessori School?"

Below are the top three outcomes for each area, as determined by the parent groups:

Academic:

• Self-Learning
• Meeting/exceeding academic mile stones
• Engaged in a challenging, contextual, and fun learning environment
  

Social:

• Respect, empathy and tolerance
• Self-confidence
• Conflict management skills, non-violent communication skills, sharing,
  teamwork, handling bullies

Personal:

• Responsible
• Confident
• Respectful

A panel of lead guides addressed each area, giving concrete examples of how our school and the Montessori approach provide for the development of the listed outcomes.  

"The children are led by and follow their inner voice. This voice attracts the child to particular lessons and/or materials that 'speak' to them. The children are given the foundational lessons along with the ground rules of the classroom, and are then 'free to explore' (within limits). From this moment forth, the child finds inspiration and is able to create their own trajectory in the construction of self." --- Samantha Van Den Berghe Lynch, Primary Guide

"In the Lower Elementary classroom, we build on the responsibilities the children had in primary regarding care of the environment.  They continue to have chores, including laundry, recycling, and sweeping.  At this level, care of the environment extends to care of living things within the environment such as plants and animals. The students begin to have awareness of and take responsibility for these living things." --- Becca Moore, Lower Elementary Guide

"We encourage our students to set their own deadlines for follow-up work, research, and individual and group projects.  By providing opportunities for the children to practice time management throughout their three years in Upper Elementary, we help guide them toward greater responsibility and self-learning." --- Jason Winesburg, Upper Elementary Guide

"At the middle school level, students are becoming proficient at solving interpersonal conflict. They start to develop an awareness of the needs of the entire community, and even the world. We have weekly community meetings where we discuss our  successes and challenges. We decide as a group on actions that need to be taken to solve any issues. It is in these meetings that students start to understand the balance between standing firm in their opinions and compromising for the welfare of the entire community." --- Bridgett Steveson, Middle School Guide

Thank you to the many parents and friends who have made special contributions to our school this month.  Special thanks to:

• Kevin Scarbrough for providing the sound system for our Parent Education Night.
  
• our friends at Columbia Pipeline Group for providing meeting space for Parent Education Night.
• our friends at South Ruffner Church for providing a warm and safe play space for Primary.
• Charley Jupiter Hamilton for taking time to speak with our Plus students about his career in art.
• Hallie Dunlap and our UC friends for leading 5K training during PE and after school.
  

Thank you to the following Annual Fund donors:

• Jay and Julie Margolis
  
• Donald and Kristie Simmons
• Mihai and Pamela Istrate