April / May Newsflash

Happy Spring Classroom Families! It is unbelievable that we are heading into the last two months of school! These months are always packed full with events, so I am going to try to give you a preview of them all in one shot.

Please help us welcome Larry to our classroom staff! He is taking Senna’s place. He has been amazing so far and fits right in with us!

Volunteers:

Thank you to everyone who donated to the Fun Run and the class Auction Basket! We raised enough money to replace our old broken shelves for next year and buy some new materials! Thank you, also, to everyone who has helped chaperone/drive on our field trips, and to Morgan for planning all of these great field trips for us! We are looking for someone to take over for next year, so let us know if you are interested. Lastly, thank you to Chelsea for keeping us all updated and helping to organize everything throughout the year. We are also looking for someone to take over for Chelsea as class coordinator next year.

I am looking for a team to help us assemble our new shelves and take the old ones out of our classroom. This could happen either the last week of school, the work week after the last week or the work week before school starts in August. It could also be something that people take home to assemble and bring back to the classroom. If you are interested in volunteering for this job, please email me. I am excited to buy new shelves for the classroom, but it creates a huge project during a very busy time of the year.

I am also looking for volunteers to take our large classroom rugs and either steam clean them or put them in an industrial machine at the laundromat. I did this once this year and it worked all right, but it takes a long time to dry them. If they get ruined, I will just buy new ones, but I would like to try cleaning them and making it another year with them for sustainability reasons.

We are in need of fish and hermit crab caretakers for the summer. Both pets are fairly low maintenance and can be left alone for several days if you go on vacation. Please email Lura if you are interested. 

April is testing and assessment month. Please help your child be at school on time daily, rested, and ready to work. Remember a water bottle, and healthy lunch and snack daily.

• Testing dates for 3rd graders:

     March 31st-Oral Reading Fluency

     April 1st- Writing

     April 15th & 17th- ELA & Math

•  All students will be taking end of year assessments throughout the month of April

• April 11 or 18- Possible Field day during Specials (wear class t-shirt)

• April 22nd- Airport Field Trip (We still need chaperones/drivers!) **Look for a digital permission slip in your email this week.
• April 24th-3rd graders Bridge to 4th Activity 1:30-2:30
• April 28th- Preview Day for K’s and 3rds- Students spend time in their new classrooms
• April 29th- 3rd Grade Bridge Activity with E2 1:30
• Pizza Friday- We have pizza every Friday this month! We still need pizza delivery volunteers each week… Please sign up ASAP if you are available. *Please note that we are now buying pizza from Barros Pizza on 32nd and Indian School due to the fact that the new owners of Slice of the Pie declined to honor our price agreement and raised the price of each pizza from $7 to $20.

May: The end of the year brings about a change in our classroom environment. Third Years have Senioritis and are also feeling some trepidation about their upcoming transition. Second years are beginning to attempt the transition of power, and first years are tired of being the youngest and ready to be treated with respect and confidence in their roles in the classroom. Everyone is trying to navigate the ins and outs of saying goodbye to friends and peers and learning to live in their new roles. That being said, the group has become a close unit and is ready to take over the workings of the classroom from the teachers. It is typical for there to be a lot of big emotions and odd transitional coping behaviors to arise or resurface. Please put your seat belts on and be prepared to be the safe place for processing these emotions and social situations at home. Email me if you have any questions or concerns but remember that this is all typical and “this too shall pass”.

• May 1- 3rd Grade Bridge Activity with E2 1:30
• May 2nd & 9th: End of Year Portfolio Conferences- Please keep an eye out for the conference sign up link and choose a conference date that you can attend with your child. These conferences are designed for the child to show you the culmination of their work this year.
• May 2nd & 9th: ½ Days due to conferences
• May 6th: 3rd Year Bridge to 4th Activity 1:30 ? TBD
• May 16th: Goodbye to Third Years Celebration- Parents of 3rd graders are encouraged to attend this short event.
• May 16th: Cleaning (bring a large bag to take things home in). 
• May 19th: E1 Water Day Party! ** look for information on this to come soon.
• May 19th: Class party and P.J. Day in the afternoon!
• May 20th: Last day of school ½ Day for ALL Students!

** There may be a few more events added to the May calendar as we go.

January/February Newsflash

Happy New Year! I hope this year is bringing great energy to you all. We will spend our first few days back settling into our routine and preparing for our upcoming Portfolio conferences. We are also beginning a deep dive study of the continent of South America.

• Thank you for the generous gifts! Lindsay and I truly appreciated them. Keep an eye out for an official thank you note in the mail. I like to address it to your children, so they get some mail. This is a great learning opportunity about how to address an envelope and write a letter.
• Portfolio Conferences begin next Friday 1/17/25. There are many open slots on both 1/17 and 1/24 for conferences. If you have not already signed up for a conference, please do so ASAP. It is important that every student has an opportunity to share their portfolio, and that we have a chance to touch base about your child’s progress and needs. We don’t have many other times to meet in our busy schedule, so please choose from the open conference slots on scheduled conference days.
• 1/17 and 1/24 are ½ days for conferences. Children enrolled in Circle are allowed to stay for the full day. Please remember that your child is supposed to attend the conference with you when making plans. Please remember to send me an email for a Ticket to Ride for alternate pick up plans 24 hours in advance for the half days.
• School is closed on Monday 1/20/25 for Martin Luther King Day.
• It looks like we need to fill some spots on our Pizza pick up and shopping chaperone schedules for this semester. Thank you for taking the time to do this!
• We will choose our topics for South America research topics during the last week of January. Keep your eye out for a packet with expectations that week. We will have another sign up sheet available on our website for presentation times for the weeks of March 3rd and 17th. The luncheon will be March 21st from 11:30 to 1:00.
• The Fun Run Fundraiser is typically held on a Saturday in January. Lok for more information to come about this event. 
• Keep an eye out for a digital permission slip to attend the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) trip on February 5, 2024. I believe we are all set for drivers/chaperones for this trip. Please check with Morgan Domaracki if you are unsure. Also, please ensure that your current insurance and car information is on file in the Main Office if you are driving.
• February 7, 2025 is a half day for ALL students. Please plan to pick your child up at 11:30.
• Keep an eye out for a class name list and procedures for Valentines Day. In our class, we sign our name and write the names of our classmates on their valentines and pass them out in alphabetical order. If you plan to receive valentines from your classmates, you must also plan to give valentines to every person in your class. I don’t put restrictions on the types of valentines as long as you are able to write a name somewhere on each one. I try to keep it as academic as possible!
• The last week of February is typically Anti-bullying week with “Pink Shirt Day” being on Wednesday. It is a good idea to plan for a pink shirt this month.

September Newsflash

Hello Classroom Families!

We worked very hard in August to finish our assessments and set our goals for the school year! We have our classroom community, systems, and routines up and running. Your children are each taking a turn to lead the classroom for a day. We have finished the Five Great Lessons and are delving into the curriculum now.

September brings many lessons, events, and opportunities to share with you as parents. Below is some information to keep in mind for this month:

• September 13th: Early Release (11:30) for ALL STUDENTS
• September 20th and 27th: Early Release for Goal Setting Conferences
• Please sign up for a Goal Setting Conference by using the link on our class webpage. Remember that your child needs to attend this conference with you!
• If your child will be going home with someone different from their normal routine, please remember to communicate this to me by email 24 hours ahead of time. I will give them a “ticket to ride”, which alerts staff to the approved change from their routine. This is especially important on half days! I need to know by the end of the day on Thursday, because I am usually in conferences on these days.
• Our High Frequency Word spelling program has begun. This is a work -toward-mastery program. Children will usually receive their words for the week on Mondays. They are in charge of putting a list in their Communication Folder to take home for extra practice. We will work on learning to spell the words each day in class and take an assessment on Thursday afternoons. Each student will grade and correct their own assessment. Any words missed will go back into their list for the following week. There are no grades attached to these assessments. Practice should help them commit these words to their permanent memory bank… rather than having them memorize  a list of words in order for a weekly test. If your child is an emergent reader, learning to read these words will be the focus as well and should be practiced.
• We will also be sending some sight word reading lists, along with an occasional book for practice at home with early readers. All students are encouraged to read to an adult at home each day!
• We’ve had two successful pizza Fridays! Thank you to all of the helpers so far. Please remember to send a snack in a separate container with your child’s name on it… even on Fridays. This helps us streamline our snack routine. 
• We will be drawing our self portraits and ordering our class t-shirts this month. 
• Our garden needs help! We will be looking for volunteers to first help us cut back the vine on our fence and clear the debris away. Then we will need help reprogramming our automatic timer and, finally, planting our garden (and possibly a new vine for the fence). We plan to plant the garden the week after Fall Break. 
• Occasionally, we will need volunteers to help with art projects or other group activities on Friday mornings. Thank you to all who have volunteered to help! I will let you know when we need help again.
• Please remember to submit your volunteer packet and Fingerprint Clearance Card to the Main Office if you are interested in driving for any field trips or pizza sides shopping trips. We must submit our driver list well before field trips, so don’t save this task for the last minute.
•  

As always, thank you for everything you all do to support your children from home. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns. It is always better when we are all in the loop! 

Take Care,

Lura, Lindsay, and Class

Happy Fall (finally!) to all our classroom families! I hope everyone enjoyed a peaceful and fun Fall Break. I was able to spend some time with my grandbaby, catch up around my house, and got to see the Eagles in Concert at the Sphere in Las Vegas (it was an amazing adventure!)

 

Thank you to Chelsea for keep you all up to date, Morgan for planning and organizing all of our field trips, and to all of the parent volunteers... gardening, laundry, shopping chaperones, pet sitters, presenters, pizza deliveries, flower deliveries, and generous donors! We are off to a great start!

 

Please be on the lookout for a link to a Google sheet permission slip. This week is Safety Week at Villa, so we are talking through the plans for being safe in different scenarios. The main point is that my job is to know what to do to keep students safe and their job is to listen and follow my directions. We aren't discussing a lot of "what-ifs", but we are discussing the routes and rally point we would use for different situations. That being said, I would like to take the children out for a nature walk in the neighborhoods next Thursday to check out one of our evacuation spots. Please sign the permission to leave campus as soo as you receive the link.

 

We will be planting our garden tomorrow morning. The children have picked out the plants they would like to grow and mapped out the garden. Thanks to the dad's who helped clear it out and prep the soil before Fall Break!

 

We finally submitted the t-shirt order today, so t-shirts will be arriving within the next two weeks. When you get yours, please keep it in a safe place for field trips. 

 

Next Monday we will have a presentation "in class field trip" from the Phoenix Herpetological Society! We have also been invited to join Bob's class for a presentation by the Phoenix Transportation Department on using public transportation. 

 

We will also be choosing our Africa presentation topics next week. Please ask your child if they have created their list of 5 topics they would like to choose. First Years typically choose animals, Seconds choose landmarks, famous people, cultural traditions (or leftover countries for Africa, and Thirds choose a country. i will send home a packet explaining the expectations for this home project and post time slots where you can sign up to have your child present (please plan to attend!). Presentations will be the first two weeks of December. I will also post a sign-up for families to bring a food item to share for our Africa Pot-Luck Luncheon. Parents are invited to join us for this event as well. It will take place on December 12th, so save the date!

 

Our next field trip will be to the Phoenix Zoo on November 20th from 9:00 to around 2:00,  where we will concentrate on the African and South American exhibits. Morgan is accepting volunteer drivers. Please see Chelsea's email for her contact information if you have submitted all of you driver, chaperone information and are interesting in volunteering for this field trip. We have to submit payment for everyone attending a week before the field trip. They will not make last minute exceptions, so please sign up at your earliest convenience. 

 

October 25th is a half day for all students due to staff In-service meetings There will be no Circle care offered. Please remember to send me an email for a ticket to ride by Thursday afternoon. f your child will be going home with someone else that day.

 

Trunk-or Treat is Saturday the 26th at Villa.

 

We will have a Fall Fun celebration in the afternoon on Halloween. We learn about the parts of the pumpkin and celebrate all things Fall. 

 

On November 1st, we will have a P.J. Day for those who need to recover from Halloween. Just brush your teeth and come to school... gives some extra sleeping in time! Please remember your P.E. shoes, though, since it will be a Friday and we still have specials. We do not allow costumes or candy at school.

 

As always, please email me if you have any questions or concerns and thank you for the wonderful support you provide to us, your child and the class! We could not provide the rich experience we do with all of your help!

Hello Classroom Families,

 

I just wanted to remind you all that school pictures will be taken this Tuesday 9/24/24 around 9:20 a.m., so please send your child ready to be photographed.

 

Also, we are looking for a few volunteers in the coming weeks. We need some volunteers to help us remove the dead vine from the fence on Thursday or Friday morning before Fall Break. We also need some volunteers to help us plan our garden the Friday morning after Fall Break.

 

Finally, we need pet sitters for the hermit crab over Fall Break. Please email me if you are interested.

 

Thank you,

Lura

Welcome! We are excited to get started with the new school year!

 

For Monday... Please remember:

8/15/24

Hello Classroom Families!

 

We have had a busy few weeks and have accomplished a lot! We just finished the 2^nd Great Lesson: Life Comes to Earth. We will finish our Classroom Agreement tomorrow. Our group is shaping into a wonderful classroom family. I have a few reminders:

 

We DO NOT start pizza this Friday like some other classes do. Please send a snack and lunch with your children tomorrow (Friday).

 

Tomorrow we will have P.E. in the afternoon. Please encourage your child to wear closed toe running shoes.

 

We plan to start pizza Fridays on August 30^th. I need everyone to turn in their pizza commitment form soon… even if you do not plan to participate in Pizza Fridays. This will help me plan how many pizzas to order. I have attached the form to this email. You may pay by the semester, year, or email me to work out a payment plan. Please send payments via Venmo to @Lura-Amparan or a check made out to Lura Amparan.

 

Please also make sure that you have turned in your $10 for the class t-shirt. I will wait to design and order them until everyone has turned it in. You may send a check made out to Villa Montessori or Venmo me at @Lura-Amparan.

 

Sincerely,

 

Lura and Class

 

Hello Classroom Families,

 

This week we did some writing about Ruby Bridges and how we are brave like she was. If you plan to attend the Ruby Bridges Walk in the morning, please help your child bring/wear their sign with what they wrote. We are supposed to wear purple. Even if you can’t attend the walk, your child could still wear purple and wear their sign into school in the morning. I sent the signs home with everyone who was here at school today.

 

More information about this event was sent in an email from Villa this afternoon. I hope to see some of you there.

 

Take Care,

Lura

Hi Classroom Families,

We are heading off on our field trip to the zoo tomorrow (Wednesday 11/20/14)! Here are a few things to help your children remember:

• Wear your class t-shirt! 
• Wear layers and dress appropriately for the weather.
• Wear walking shoes.
• Bring a picnic style lunch (ready and easy to eat) in “throw away” containers and a bag.
• Bring a water bottle (with a strap on it would be a good idea) - we can fill our water bottles up at their water stations.
• Bring your booster seat if you are under 8 or still use one in your own car. 
• Bring your inhaler if you use one regularly and carry it on your own. 
• Wear sunscreen or a hat.
• Bring a morning and afternoon snack as usual… We will have some time to eat a snack before leaving.
• We plan to be at the zoo until around 1:30.
• We will not be visiting the gift shop or purchasing any extra rides, etc., so it is not necessary to bring any money.

If you are a driver/chaperone, please remember to bring your lunch and water as well! Thank you for volunteering!

Also, we read the book “Stone Soup” yesterday, so we will be preparing for our annual Stone Soup feast next Tuesday before Thanksgiving Break. The children have signed up to bring an item to add to the soup (or feast). The story is about cooperation and everyone working together, so we will make the soup with whatever shows up on Monday morning. We will have a family style feast on Tuesday. If you think your child will not eat the soup, you may send a light lunch or large snack. Everyone will get a bit of the soup and any sides that show up. Usually, even the pickiest children end up liking it! It is a vegetarian soup. If you would like to see the book we read, you can use this link to listen to a read aloud version. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZdhZdmvsuk 

Lastly, this is just a reminder that Africa presentations begin December 2nd (in two weeks). If your child has not begun working on their presentation and project… it is time! There won’t be time to reschedule presentations. Thank you for supporting your child with this project.

 December Newsflash

Happy belated Thanksgiving to you all! I hope everyone enjoyed some time with their families. I had a great time with mine… especially my grandbaby (who is growing up so fast!)

We had a wonderful Stone Soup Feast last Tuesday! Your children are quite the little chefs. Thank you all for your support with donating items for their feast. I know it is a little hectic when the children are totally in charge of planning this event, but it is such a great learning experience and community building event. Thank you for your patience!

December is a short month packed with events and presentations. Here is the run down:

• We are currently enjoying Africa presentations (3 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon) for two weeks. Please help your child arrive on time each day and come prepared when it is their chance to present. Families are always welcome in the audience!
• Our Africa Pot-luck Luncheon is next Thursday December 12th from 11:30 to 1:00. Please sign up on our class page to bring an item to share and plan to join us to celebrate the hard work of your children! We will begin by viewing the projects made by the children, hear a song they learned, and then enjoy some amazing food together. This is always a fun community event.
• This Friday is a ½ Day for ALL students (no Circle care is provided) Please email Lura by Thursday afternoon if your child will need a “Ticket-to-Ride” at dismissal.
• We are working through mid-year assessments for the next few weeks. 
• We will be having some fun during the last two of school in December. Thursday December 19th will be Hot Chocolate and a Movie in the afternoon. 
• Friday December 20th (9:30-11:00) will be our annual Gingerbread House Building Party and P.J. Day! We need the help of our families for this one. Please see the sign up (on our class page) to donate an item for gingerbread house decorating. We can also use all the volunteers we can get that day! We will provide the graham crackers, the icing ingredients, and the gingerbread people. We need a volunteer with a high powered mixer to make the icing and stuff it into bags the day before and bring it to the classroom. 
• Winter Break is December 23rd- January 5th. 
• We are looking for a pet sitter for the crab over the break. Please email Lura if you are interested. It is a fairly low-maintenance job. Thank you to Eila’s Family for taking Shelly over Thanksgiving Break!
• Conferences will be held in January. Please look for the sign up page for conferences on our class web page in the next few days. We would like to meet with everyone for Mid-year conferences. 

Next week (2/24/25-3/1/25) is Spirit Week/ Bullying Prevention Week. Below is the schedule of events:

 

• Monday: Crazy Sock Day
• Tuesday: Mismatch Day
• Wednesday: Pink Shirt Day (wear anything pinkish) & picnic on the field with the other classes (bring your own lunch)
• Thursday: Fancy Pantsy Day (AKA Dress Up Day)
• Friday: Funky Friday/ Funky Hair Day
• Friday is also Game Day/Fun Friday (students may bring in a game (no electronics) or craft they would like to share with the class.

 

**Please note that the themes for E1 and E2 are not completely the same.

 

 March Newsflash

I can’t believe we are entering the 4th quarter of our school year! There is much to do and learn before the end of the year. Below is a peek into our studies and some ways that you all can support us. Thank you for your amazing participation in the Fun Run. You all did a wonderful job!

We have been studying the Mesozoic Era (reptiles, dinosaurs, ferns, pine trees, seeds, roots, leaves). We will also be studying birds and flying insects this month. Last week we began studying money and economics. I asked your children to ask people around them about their jobs and the skills needed to qualify for them. We are learning to count money and make change, how to distinguish between wants and needs, as well as saving, budgeting, and spending. We recently studied basic needs of humans and focussed on how human needs are met in South America.

• Presentations begin this week and continue the week after Spring Break. Please help your children arrive on time, so they don’t miss any valuable information and can show respect to their peers who are presenting.
• We are in need of a pet sitter for the hermit crab during Spring Break next week.
• We have no one signed up for pizza shopping chaperone and pizza pick up for this Friday and several others this month. Please sign up ASAP if you are able.
• We also need a few more laundry volunteers.
• After Spring Break we will be changing pizza companies. As I am sure many of you have heard, My SLice of the Pie changed owners and notified us that they would no longer honor our agreement of $7 per pizza. They called to tell me the price would be $20 per pizza the day after I had paid for the 3rd quarter of pizza. Thank you to Morgan Domaracki, who has been working to help me find an alternate pizza place for the last few months. I will let you know when we make a decision.
• Thank you to everyone who signed up to bring something to the South America Luncheon on March 21st. There is still a need for food though. You all always seem to make it happen… Thank you!
• We have a field trip planned for March 26th. We will be hiking in Papago Park. Please keep an eye out for a digital permission slip. We are in need of about four more drivers/chaperones. Please email Morgan or Chelsea if you are interested.
• 3rd Years will start AASA state testing on March 31st. Please ensure that your 3rd grader is in school for the entire day on testing days. The testing dates are: March 31st- Oral Reading Fluency

                                    April 1st- Writing

                                    April 15th- ELA & Math

                                    April 17th- ELA & Math

• Spring Break is March 10-14, 2025 (next week)
• Please remember to send your child with a water bottle each day. We have cups for emergencies, but washing so many of them every day is difficult.