Message From the Director
Dear Families,
One of the honors of becoming an American Montessori Society Accredited Schools is that we also have the privilege of joining the Texas Accredited Private Schools Association. As part of TAPSA we agree to follow the policies and code of ethics outlined in the private school associations guidelines. One of those guidelines addresses the length of the school year and school day. It states, "Private Schools (who are members of the association) must meet or exceed public school requirements for instructional minutes set forth by the Texas Education Agency."
Right now White Rock Montessori instructional school minutes (yes...the state of Texas counts instructional time in minutes...75,600 to be exact) is below this requirement. Therefore, starting in August 2024 our school hours will be the following:
Before School Care; 7:00-8:00
Lower School (Toddler-Upper Elementary) arrival; 8:00-8:15
Middle School arrival; 8:15
Dismissal for Lower School; 3:00-3:20
Dismissal for Middle School; 3:30
I know this requires an adjustment in morning routines, but it allows us to meet the requirement without extending the school year and more importantly it adds instructional time to the Montessori morning work cycle.
I also wanted to give you a few key dates as you begin planning for next school year.
All School KickOff and Open House; August 9 5:30-7:30
Smart Start Conferences for new families or any family of a student moving into a new level; August 12
School begins for ALL Middle School students; August 12
Orientation for new students to WRM and any student moving into a new level; August 13-14
First day of school for ALL students; August 15
Early Fall Break; October 10-14
Late Fall Break; November 25-29
Winter Break; December 23-January 6
Spring Break; March 10-14
Last Day of the 2024-25 School Year; May 23 8:00-12:00
I'm still hoping for a few more parents to join us for a book study on the book, The Gift of Failure How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed
by Jessica Lahey. So far I have 6 parents signed up! I would love to have more. I promise I'll make it worth your time. Here's a link on Amazon
where you can read about the book.
Please remember the school is closed on Monday, February 19 for President's Day.
Have a nice weekend!
Brenda
Ferguson Road Cleanup!
Do you want a chance to give back to the East Dallas Community and model service for your children/adolescents? Please join us and volunteer for the Ferguson Road Initiative,
Operation Beautification Litter Clean-Up
March 2 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Please sign-up for "Team Connie"
in honor of former Director, Connie Laufersky.
Located this year at Owenwood Farm & Neighbor Space.
Please bring canned food for the White Rock Center of Hope Food Drive.
If you would like a White Rock Montessori "Team Connie" t-shirt, please sign up by the end of day tomorrow (Friday, February 16). Katie, Technology Coordinator, will be mailing registered families to get t-shirt sizes.
Enrollment Deadline February 16
Please remember to create your
FACTS Family Portal
and take care of your 2024-25 enrollment before
February 16.
Our district code is WR-TX. We do have a wait pool and will open enrollment to new families after the 16th. Please do not hesitate to ask if you need help. We are learning our new SIS system too, and although there have been a few glitches, things are moving pretty smoothly. Remember to create your Portal using the email address you provided the school
during last year's enrollment. If you need help you can email Julie at julie@whiterockmontessori.org
Parent Education Opportunity
The AMI/USA Montessori Experience will be held in Dallas this February. They are offering a
2 full day parent track
at this event where they will explore topics designed for parents and caregivers!
You can find more details on the Parent & Caregiver Workshop
here.
Financial Assistance
Families interested in applying for financial assistance through FACTS Grant and Aid can access the portal
here. The deadline to apply is March 8, 2024.
AMS Family Connections
Access the February AMS Family Connections
here.
This month the articles are about the Absorbent Mind and Tips for Cooking With Your Child. Enjoy!
Good Neighbor Program at
Tom Thumb
Earn money while you shop at Tom Thumb!
Our Good Neighbor Number is: 2881
Thank you!
Let's Make a Cookbook!
We need your help! We are putting together a Cookbook for the 2023-24 school year, and would love to collect all of your favorite family recipes to share with the WRM community.
Our plan is to use Morris Press Cookbooks
, who have prepared templates that we can use. They will print them for us to distribute! WRM Parent Kira Hartgrove has used them in the past with fabulous results. |
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Please send your well-loved recipes to Kira Hartgrove at txkira@gmail.com
by March 1st,
so that we can submit them to the printers before the end of the month.
We look forward to creating this lovely memento with you! |
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Your inbox may get a little busier for the next few weeks as we gear up for Annual Event 2024! We are so
excited about Clue: A Night of Mystery
! This is our big fundraiser for the year, which funds all the things TPC does year-round: school support and faculty & staff appreciation; social events for WRM parents and families each semester; service opportunities within the school and our surrounding community; and general support of our amazing school.
Buy your tickets now!
Consider sponsoring the event!
Silent Auction Donations (DOTS; donations of time and service)!
Sign and Go Events
Thank you to the TPC and all of their planning. It take a great deal to put on an event like this! I'm excited to experience my first Annual Event here at WRM. There are already plans for the 2024-25 school year and how the TPC's proceeds from this event will benefit your children. Please come join us for a night of fun!
DAA (Diversity Awareness & Advocacy)
Link to the DAA Curriculum on our WRM website:
https://www.whiterockmontessori.org/diversity
White Rock Montessori’s Diversity, Advocacy and Awareness curriculum is proud to recognize February as Gender Diversity.
Here are a few resources as outlined in our DAA curriculum that you can use to have conversations about gender with your student:
Primary; Red
; A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall and/or Neither
by Airlie Anderson
Lower Elementary; I Am Jazz
by Herthel and Jennings and/or From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea
by Kai Cheng Thom
Upper Elementary; Jaime is Jaime: A Book About Being Yourself and Playing Your Way
by Afsaneh Moradian
