Director's Desk 6/21/2010Dear parents,Few messages that were left out of our last bulletin- If anyone lost a Barnes & Noble Gift Card - it is in the office. Please ask Janel for it. Jim Joseph Foundation will publish their decision for rendering the Scholarships grants for the next year on June 30.
I will be out of the office until July 16. Janel will be happy to assist you in my absence. Have a wonderful summer. Ellie
Director's Desk 6/17/2010Dear Parents,
Thank you so much for a wonderful year. We have enjoyed this year tremendously. The staff wishes to express its gratitude to the Parents' Teachers Organization (PTO) and the many parents volunteers who made this year such a success.
Our staff is working hard till the end of this week to clean and close school materials and open up for the Summer Camp Program on Monday next week.
Announcements: We have announced on the picnic that in the fall of 2011 (not 2010) our school will open an Elementary Montessori program for grades 1st - 6th. Kemp Mill Montessori, Silver Spring, is moving into our location and will join us. We plan to make some room in our building for this program.
We also welcomed the new Rabbi of Aish - Rabbi Shlomo Buxbaum to our school and to our community. I hope everyone will get a chance to meet the Rabbi and greet him. The Buxbaums are expected to join our community on August 2010.
Last, for those families who are relocating and moving on we wish the best of success. For our returning students we wish a wonderful summer and return safely.
Please make a note that New Families Orientation is on 8/26 at 8 p.m.; Whole school Meet and Greet is on 8/27 at 9 - 10 a.m.; and Back to School Night is 8/30 at 8p.m. First day of School for Returning Students is 8/30 (Noon Dismissal).
Have a wonderful summer, Ellie Lichtash
Director's Desk 5/27/2010Photos - Last Sunday's Gala For those of you who missed our Gala, we have a DVD of Presentation by VP Al Gore made specially to the school, and a Documentary made by Robyn Shrater Seemann about Mrs. Genia Brin. We are trying to figure out how to upload it on the web. In the meantime, here are the photos from the event. I hope you enjoy.
Photos from Last Field Trip Please click here for photos from the Butterfly Field Trip, or check the left side bar, under Parents Place/Photos.
Memorial Day Monday,May 31 - School closed.
End of the Year Picnic On Tuesday, June 15, last day of school, we will be meeting at Fleming Park at 10 a.m. - noon. Feel free to bring your siblings and get ready to have
some fun.
We plan to have: Singing
time, Light
lunch provided by Alef Bet Montessori PTO and Staff, Schmoozing. Directions – Fleming
Park is located on Fleming street, N
Bethesda. How to get to Fleming Park: Take Rockville
Pike south, Pass the White
Flint Mall Right on
Grossvenor (Metro line) Left on Fleming Fleming Park is on Left. From our school: Take Old
Georgetown south Left on Cheshire Lane (pass
Democracy Blvd.) Right on
Grossvenor Right on Fleming Park is on Left.
A New Group to Support for Parents w/Children w/ADHD, Sensory Processing Issues This message is on behalf of Jaime Slevin: For Our Kids, For Ourselves, is excited to announce that we now have a new parent support group in Potomac, led by Dr. Marla Shapiro. Please join us for our first meeting on Sunday, June 13, from 7:15pm - 9:30pm, Summerville at Potomac Senior Living Community ( in the heart of Cabin John at Seven Locks & Tuckerman). Thank you, Jaime Selvin, Founder/Community Outreach Director, For Our Kids, For Ourselves
Director's Desk 5/17/2010
Last Sunday's Gala Last Sunday's Gala was such a magical event. An event that we will all remember for a long time.
There was so much goodwill that came out of it. People approached me and told me that they want to be involved with the school, volunteer their time and financial support and help with our mission to build an Elementary program. The Montessori community, who came in full (directors of other schools and the President of AMI USA), have committed to help our school. This goodwill would not have happened otherwise. It is thanks to the support and help of our Fundraising Committee, our Board, Advisory Board, committed staff members and donors, that we were able to raise a nice amount of money as a kickoff for the Elementary program.
We are hoping to hold another event next year - and that will give another opportunity to join our efforts to build the school.
I feel that the most gratifying moment was seeing the children on the stage - presenting the songs, the Al Gore Greeting and Senator Lieberman's Letter to the school.
Mrs. Genia Brin, our Honoree, was so happy and proud of our families and our children. Our staff worked so hard to prepare the children, make a "What is Montessori "presentation and prepare Class projects. The Fundraising Committee volunteers did such a fabulous job in organizing every element of the program and handling the logistics. Thank you again, for being there, for holding supporting each other, for working so hard for so long - Yshar Koach!
May we get stronger from one year to another.
Happy Holiday to all (as Shavout is approaching)
Tuesday Noon Dismissal We will be closing at noon Tuesday)for Shavuot. We will reopen Friday morning, May 21st.
Friday Field Day On Friday, the PRIMARY CLASSES (Rimon and Dvash) will be having an Outdoor Field Day (weather permitting). Toddlers are having a Friday day at School.
Rimon and Dvash Parents: Please drop of your child at the Tilden Wood Park (a mile down the school on Tilden Road), the same place of Soccer classes. We will have field games and a soccer skills class. We will have our lunch at the park and walk back to school afterwards. The address of the park is 6800 Tilden Lane. It is one mile from school. Drop off and Pick up: On Friday morning, please drive your Rimon or Dvash child directly to the park. If you pick up your child at noon, please pick up your child from the park. If you pick up your child at 3, please pick up your child from school as we will be walking back to school after lunch. Please send your child on Friday wearing sunscreen and a hat. Please pack a brown bag lunch that we can discard and include a water bottle. The toddler class will have a regular day at school on Friday. Director's Desk 5/7/2010May 12, Wednesday - School Field Trip. Flyers for each field trip was sent home on Thursday. Please respond.
Thank you to the group of volunteers who made such an effort and was so successful in preparing and working on the Lag B'Omer Party. It was wonderful.
Free Hearing and Speech Language Screening. If you were considering screening, this was posted recently by the PJLL
(Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning).
The Treatment and Learning
Centers in Rockville
is offering free Hearing and
Speech-Language Screenings in the month of
May.Details:
Hearing Screenings - By appointment only, Ages 4 and up May 4 and May 20.Call 301-738-1415 or 301-738-1415.
Speech-Language Screenings - Ages 3-12. May 18-26. Call 424-5200 ext.144 Scholarship for Next Year 2010 - 2011
Please click here for all information (or on the left sidebar). Deadline for application is June 30, 2010.
Director's Desk 4/30/2010Parent Teacher Conference Tuesday May 4 is a Parent Teacher conference day - Noon Dismissal. Please make sure to sign up on the paper posted outside for a time to discuss the school and your child with the staff. NOTE - May 5 is a regular dismissal day. No noon dismissal. Lag B'Omer Bon Fire Party This Sunday, May 2, if weather permits and no thunderstorm is in sight, to hold the party. Flyers can be found under Forms. We hop you remembered to RSVP. May 12 - Primary class field trip to the Natural History Museum. Toddlers and 3 years old, trip to the Butterfly exhibit. more info TBA. May 16 - School's Annual Gala Fundraiser, at 2 p.m. Did you remember to RSVP? please do so with Janel.
Director's Desk 4/23/2010
Field Trip Thank You
We are happy to share some feedback from the field trip to the National Gallery of Art, by one of our chaperons:
Jewish Community Day at the Nationals Stadium: This week we had some fun together. Few families joined together to attend the Nats game on Sunday (Washington Nationals v. Brewers). We had a wonderful fun outdoor in the cold weather and our children got to run the bases at the end of the game. For pictures please click on photos on the left side bar.
Yom Ha'atzmaut : Israel 62 Birthday was celebrated at school with dancing, parade, songs and a big cake. We sang Hadegel Sheli hu Kachol Velavan (My flag is Blue and White), Hava nagila (Lets Dance) and Shavtem Mayim (Sitting together). We danced on our parking lot, and parade with our flags outside. Our pictures are all posted under Photos on the left side bar below.
Calendar Items:
May 2 - Lag B'Omer bonfire school party 11 a.m at Cabin John camping ground. Flyers were sent home last week. You can also find them in our documents on the left side bar or click here, scroll down to the flyer called Lag B'Omer.
May 12 - Primary class field trip to the Natural History Museum. Toddlers and 3 years old, trip to the Butterfly exhibit. more info TBA.
May 16 - School's Annual Gala Fundraiser, at 2 p.m. Invitations were sent in the mail. Important note for parents regarding children's participation at the Gala Fundraiser: We have invited our children in the Primary classes to perform a short song at the Fundraiser Gala on May 16. The song is called "Lev El Lev" (Heart to Heart). Any child interested in working on this song was invited to practice over the past two weeks. The rehearsals included work on learning the words, the music and accompanying hand movements. Although all of the children enjoy singing in a group, the intensive work on preparing a song for performance is fun, but hard work. Not all the children wanted to participate in this activity and we respect their choice. As a result, there will be a small group of 10 children representing our primary classes at the Gala. The families involved will receive an email shortly. If your child is not performing, it is because he or she has chosen not to participate. As you understand, some children may feel comfortable singing and performing at home, but they are not ready to share their talents on a stage. Our wish is to work with each child at his or her own pace - when they are ready. Please support your child's choice regarding this matter. There will be other opportunities in the future for our children to sing and perform in a more comfortable setting, such as at the End of the Year Picnic. Some children are ready at different stages for performance, and we try not to push them, but to go with their pace.
Thank you so much for understanding and respecting your child's choice.
Please let me know if you wish to discuss this further,
Director's Desk 4/16/2010
Jim Joseph Foundations Scholarships - Available in a week time.
The recent news from the Federation is that the Jim Joseph Foundation granted scholarship money to the Federation for Early Childhood education. The Application forms will be available next week. We will post them as soon as I can. These scholarship are open to all parents of the school and potential parents. Last year few families of our school were able to enjoy this scholarship.
For Calendar update please see message from 4/9/2010.
Director's Desk 4/9/2010
Welcome back everyone. We are heading full charge towards the end of our school year. Few things to add to your calenders:
Primary Class Field Trip next Tuesday, April 13 - Primary class field Trip to the National Gallery of Art Museum. The program is called Little Cloud Tale.
The program is geared for children 4 and up. We will ask the parents for the following:
Send your child with a School T-Shirt;
Sign a Permission Slip in the morning; and
Send your child to school with a brown bag lunch box, that we will be able to discard.
The cost per child is $10.
We will be driving with a school bus, and leave school at 10 a.m. We are expected to be back by 2:15 p.m.
We do need 3 parents volunteers. Please email Janel, if you are willing to volunteer.
Children ages 3 and under of the Primary class will enjoy a fun art day at school. We do Field trips each year, and children get to enjoy age appropriate program each year.
April 11 - Yom Hashoa (Holocaust Remembrance Day) marked on Sunday.
April 12 - Marva Tots Gymnastic make up class.
April 18 - Jewish Community Day with the Washington Nationals. A group of our parents is getting organized to purchase tickets for the big event on April 18 starting the first pitch at 1:35 p.m.
Tickets go for $7, $18, $25, and $36 each. Kids run the bases post game.
There will also be a Kosher Stand.
The Nationals vs. Brewers @ nationals park. for tickets click here.
April 19 - Monday Yom Ha-azma -ut, Israel Independance Day Celebration. Please dress your child in White top and blue bottom.
April 20 - Picture Day. Splendid Portraits will be here to take individual and class pictures of our children on the morning of Tues, April 20th. All children present will have their photos taken. If parents would like to bring siblings for a photo, this will be done starting at 8:45 am and will have an additional $5 sitting fee.
Once the pictures are ready they will be sent home with the students. Parents can either buy the pictures or return them to school.
April 20 - Open house for our school at 8 p.m. for prospective parents. Please let friends and family know about it.
May 2 - Lag B'Omer bonfire school party at Cabin John camping ground. more info TBA.
May 12 - Primary class field trip to the Natural History Museum. Toddlers and 3 years old, trip to the Butterfly exhibit. more info TBA.
May 16 - School's Annual Gala Fundraiser, at 2 p.m. Invitations are in the mail.
Director's Desk 3/19/2010
Fundraising Committee News:
Parents who donated $400 for the Annual Giving can purchase tickets to the Gala at a reduced price of $25 per ticket. Purchase 2 tickets and get 2 for free. Regular price tickets $250 per ticket. Purchase 2 tickets and get 2 for free.
To register please contact Janel Herman at our office at 301.881.9010 x 18 or janel@alefbetmontessori.org.
Camp and Summer Program
Click here for information for Summer 2010.
Marva Tots - Spring Gym Class
The Gym has agreed to schedule an 8-week session for our school on Mondays at 3:30 pm from April 19th through June 14th (no gym on Memorial Day). The fee will be $144. Those interested in continuing are requested to pay the Gym directly by April 12th. As before, new participants may try the class on the first day of the session for an $18 fee.
For those with children participating in the after school MarVa Gym program, there are 2 classes left in this session -- March 22nd and April 12th (snow day makeup).
Snow Days Make Up
Maryland State Superintendent Nancy Grasmick has granted a five-day waiver to Montgomery County Public Schools.
That means that our school will not have to make up the snow days that resulted from back-to-back blizzards in February.
MCPS has lost nine days of instruction due to snow this
year. Our school had lost 6 days. We have also already built 5 snow days into the 2009-2010 calendar.
Music Kids
Violin classes for 3 year old and up. Still available - private and group lessons. Flyers are in the office.
Calendar Items:
March 22 - Director Absent till April 6. For all inquiries, please contact Janel Herman, at our office Extension 18.
March 29 - April 6: School Closed for Passover.
April 7 - classes resume
April 13 - Primary Classes - Field Trip, National Gallery of Art. Topic: Little Cloud Tale.
April 20 - School Picture Day.
April 20 - Open House for prospective parents who would like to learn about the school.
May 12 - Primary Classes - Field Trip, Natural History Museum. Topic: Mammals
May - TBA - Toddler Class field Trip - Butterfly exhibit.
Director's Desk 3/12/2010
Matza Factory Field Trip, March 17 - Location
We will have a Matza Factory Field Trip for children ages 3 and up.
Location: 5268A Nicholson Lane, Rockville MD 20852.
The program at the Matza Factory is geared for children ages 3 and up. We plan to visit the Matza factory each year, so children under 3 can join us on the following year.
Annual School Gala 2010
Important Updates: This year our annual Gala/Fundraiser event Honoring Genia Brin. The event date has been changed to May 16, 2010 (not April 25).
The location is at the 6th & I Historic Syangogue, 600 I Street, NW, Washington D.C. 20001. See www.sixthandi.org. We plan to hold a Committee Meeting next Thursday, March 18 at 9:15 - 10:15 a.m. at the school in the library room. Please join us.
Time Out
On my recent visit to a shop in Rockville for young children
I saw this shocking sight.
A little Time Out little chair for children.
Parents who attended our Coffee with the Director session know well, we support positive discipline. A child under the age of 6, cannot process by herself/himself: she/he cannot "think about what she/he did", or "understand it was wrong." She/He probably needs redirection and guidance on how behave, what to say and so forth. (e.g. "we do not push, we touch gently, here like that, gently".) Read more on Positive Guidance Tools.
Calendar Items:
March 17 - Matza factory. see above.
March 29 - April 6: School Closed for Passover.
April 7 - classes resume
April 13 - Primary Classes - Field Trip, National Gallery of Art. Topic: Little Cloud Tale.
April 20 - School Picture Day.
April 20 - Open House for prospective parents who would like to learn about the school.
May 12 - Primary Classes - Field Trip, Natural History Museum. Topic: Mammals
May - TBA - Toddler Class field Trip - Butterfly exhibit.
Director's Desk 3/5/2010
Trevor Eissler on YouTube -
Do you remember our guest speaker last November. He is on YouTube for 2 min. Click here to enjoy.
Check Yourself: Do you bond with your child? Does your spouse do? Do you spend time with your child? Click Here . This is a very important reading.
TV / Electronic Media and Screen Time for Children?
Most kids plug into the world of television long before they enter school. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that kids under 2 years old not watch any TV. To read more - Click here.
Calendar Items
March 3 - Parent to Parent Talk. See below.
March 17, 9 a.m. - Maza Factory Field Trip. Save the date. More info TBA.
March 29 - Pesach Eve. School closed till March 6. We reopen March 7.
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Weekly School Bulletin
The Weekly Parent Bulletins are written by your child's teacher to keep you posted about what when on in the classroom the past week. Also, we include important notices, so please make sure to read your child's bulletin every week..
Click here or on the link in the menu under Parents Place.
Director's Desk Archives
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