M A R C H 2 0 1 4 Page 2

Motivating Children to

Love Learning

Page 3

Summer Camp

Page 4-11

Classroom Updates

Page 12-13

Spanish

Page 14-15

Technology

Page 16-17

PE

Page 18

Music

Page 19

Achievements

Page 20-21

Drama

Page 22

Spotlights Kids

Page 23

End of Year Show

Page 24

Calendar

Q U A R T E R L Y

N E W S L E T T E R

F R O M

M I L L H O P P E R

M O N T E S S O R I

S C H O O L

I N S I D E

T H I S

I S S U E . . .

Monitor

(Continued on page 2)

Excitement for and love of learning is what all parents and teachers

want for their students. As a teacher I find nothing more exhilarating

than having my students’ eyes twinkle with excitement or laugh with

delight during a lesson.

Because children are innately curious , they are usually eager to embark

on a learning challenge if they feel a sense of safety and can take risks. If

students know it is safe to try, they have a greater expectation that they

will succeed. There is actually a neurochemical released in the brain

associated with fear that will inhibit learning. Stressful and challenging

activities can be embraced by students as long as they know it is safe to

try.

Another component to motivating learning is to have the task or

challenge relevant, according to Kathleen Cushman, author of “Fires in

the Mind: What Kids Can Tell Us About Motivation and Mastery.” Her

findings from years of interviewing students were that students need to

feel that the learning task matters and has a value. Her group of teachers,

students, and scientists developed eight conditions that they felt were

vital for learning. The first is for the student to feel that he is okay and the

second is for the learning to matter. Beyond the first two the list expands

to requiring the activity to be active as well as having to use the skill or

knowledge being acquired. The students need to feel that they are being

stretched. They also feel the importance of having a coach and mentor.

Finally, they need to be able to reflect and think back on what was

learned and be afforded the time and opportunity to plan ahead on what

will come next.

There are a lot of great resources for teachers as well as parents too. All parents want

their children to thrive in school and become life long learners. The parents’ role in their

children’s academic success often comes in the form of helping their children with

homework and school projects. After school is out for the day, children are often busy with

sports and afterschool activities and homework comes on the heels of a full day. Working

parents are also tired after their full days and everyone wishes they could just kick back

and enjoy each other. Motivation comes into play even more profoundly at this time.

Children are motivated to play video games even after a long day. The reason children are

drawn to video gaming is because there is no one to judge a failed attempt. They can fail

and then fail again during each subsequent attempt, all the while thinking they can and

will succeed. They like choosing activities that are challenging, never needing to be

prodded, having keen concentration while on task, and persevering for hours.

To harness this into ways to motivate children in school, parents can learn how to mentor

their children in seven easy steps. The Parent Institute (parent-institute.com) has put out a

guide called “7 Proven Ways to Motivate Children to Do Better in School.” The Parent

Institute has many other guides as well. The guide for motivation is geared for middle

school but the steps are true for all ages. The younger the child is, the easier it is to

establish habits for learning. There are also six 5-minute video case studies that parents

and children can watch in which other students describe the process by which they were

able to master a subject at whatkidscando.org.

As parents and teachers we need to learn what it means to be a coach and facilitator to

our children. We need to have meaningful conversations where we are active listeners to

what they feel is relevant. We need to create an environment where our children feel safe

during the trial and error process while having high expectations that they will

eventually succeed. If our children can learn in this type of environment, they will not only

be motivated to learn, they will become lifelong learners.

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We started off 2014 with a “journey” around Asia. The students learned about the land, people and animals of the continent. The children made several Asian inspired crafts including a Chinese tangram design, stone rock gardens, and an Asian animal booklet. The children also had fun learning how to play Kai-awase, a Japanese game where children design matching sets of shells depicting scenes from Japanese life. The shells are placed face down and whoever finds the most matches wins. We also had the pleasure of having the parents of two of our students come in and give a wonderful presentation on their Korean and Chinese cultures. The students received a lesson on how to make dumplings and also enjoyed delicious jab-chai (noodles) and gal-bi (beef).

Playing Kai-awase Making dumplings

On Monday, January 28th, we celebrated the 100th Day of School by making necklaces out

of 100 beads and creating a snack mix counting by 10s. Many students also made 100th

Day projects with their parents.

100th Day Projects

P A G E 5

Next, we blasted off into a unit about the solar system. In addition to studying the sun and planets, the students also discovered other wonders in our universe including asteroids, comets, meteors, constellations, moon phases and space travel. Two class favorites were definitely the crater formation experiment and making rocket ships. Their creativity was also enhanced as the students constructed their very own constellations.

Building rockets

Planet Sequencing Solar System puzzle

Creative constellations

We held our second Parent Night of the Year on Tuesday, February 11th. The children enjoyed showing their parents the work they do throughout the school day and the parents were amazed to see the wonderful progress since the beginning of the year.

Moveable Alphabet Rhyming Multiplication with Counters

The second half of the school year is underway and in full swing! In January, we celebrated the 100th Day of School. We started with a traditional 100th Day breakfast. The children worked with the number 100 all day and shared their “100th Day” Collection during a special Show & Tell time. The children enjoyed the day very much! In January and February we went back in time with our Unit Study on Dinosaurs. This unit study is a favorite with the children! They have learned many dinosaur names, the meanings of their names, as well as from what time period they existed, how they protected themselves, what they ate and some of the many theories of what happened to them. We enjoyed reading fiction and non-fiction books about Dinosaurs, including Magic Tree House Dinosaurs Before Dark. Every year, the students work on and present to the class a mini research project. This is the beginning of learning basic research skills and helps them to become more comfortable with public speaking. This year’s research focused on Dinosaurs. We discussed how, where to find, and how to present information that they have learned. The children are taught to not only rely on the internet, but to visit places like the library, museums, bookstores, etc. The children were allowed to choose the way in which they wanted to present their project to the class. The children were extremely proud of their projects and they should be; they did a wonderful job and it was impressive how much they learned from this process. Hopefully you had a chance to look at them while they were displayed during our final Parent Night this year! Our class also learned about fossils. We learned that paleontologists are scientists that study the history of life on Earth and the remains of the organisms that once lived here. The children became paleontologists by scraping and cleaning dirt off of a rock, only to find that they had discovered a trilobite!

Spinosaurus Dinosaur

Research Project Fossil Cast

Painting

Trilobite Discovery

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February was a busy month full of wonderful events! During our last Parent Night, I enjoyed being able to present small group lessons on math and language in the manner in which I present them during a typical school day. Thank you to all who attended! In February, we also learned why Martin Luther King, Jr. is considered such a great historical figure. We also honored past and present Presidents in honor of Presidents’ Day. The children learned the tradition behind Groundhog’s Day through activities involving Punxsutawney Phil with pictures and crafts. We learned about how shadows are formed. For Valentine’s Day, the children celebrated by making special Valentines for their parents as well as for residents of The Village. During March, we are “traveling” to the great continent of Australia. The children are learning about the Great Barrier Reef and the many geographic features of Australia as well as the animals that live in these biomes. Futures studies will include learning about the Aborigines, landforms, foods, and music of Australia as well as arts and crafts through the month of April. Thank you very much for your wonderful support. Have a very nice Spring Break! Love, Ms. Elizabeth Falls and Ms. Jessica Pytko

Parent

Night small

group

language

lesson

Valentine’s

Day card for

The Village

Australian

animal three

part cards

Long Bead Chain

P A G E 7

Winter seemed to fly by in the First and Second Grade classroom! After returning from break, students

had a renewed energy and focus. Review lessons were given on some of our favorite works that had

not been off the shelf in awhile. In math we focused on the four operations, concentrating on addition

and subtraction for First Grade. Second Graders were introduced to multiplication using the Stamp

Game, and practiced multiplication facts using the Multiplication Finger Boards. They also learned

about the concept of squaring using the short bead chains, and worked on finding the squares of

numbers.

Lessons were also given on counting money and

telling time – two skills that we will continue to

practice in various ways. The children love using

the “Money Box” in our classroom that holds

real coins. Having this manipulative gives them

a chance to access something concrete, which

helps a lot of them to add up money values. If

your child has a piggy bank at home, this would

be a good time for them to count up their coins

for some extra practice!

P A G E 8

Stamp Game for addition and

subtraction

Building polygons with

Geometric Stick Box

Fraction addition with the

Plastic Fractions

In language, we reviewed parts of speech previously studied, and worked to strengthen our

understanding using various new activities and projects. First Graders created group collages using the

Noun symbol, and cut photos from magazines to represent people, places, and things. Students also

learned reverse parsing, which gave them the freedom to create their own sentences within a certain

pattern of grammar.

The children seem to love their Science lessons and participated enthusiastically as we studied the

human body. Favorite lessons were our look at human x-rays, and learning the names for the bones.

At this age, children are excited by new and complex vocabulary, so they quickly picked up terms such

as “phalanges” and “humerus.” After learning about the circulatory system and heart, we had a great

time creating a messy “model” of blood using red-dyed cheerios for the red blood cells, marshmallows

for white blood cells, and pompoms for platelets. Now we will move on to a study of biomes as we

discuss how location on earth determines conditions for living things in that area.

Later this quarter we reviewed where we live, starting with our house and branching out to include our

city, state, country, continent, and eventually our whole planet and universe. We discussed that no

matter where on Earth people live, they all have the same basic needs that must be met. Students

learned about some factors that affect how people meet their needs, such as climate and wildlife.

After reviewing the continents, students voted on what continent to study and they chose Europe.

Students will be working with partners or in small groups to research a country of Europe and create a

drawing of its flag.

As a community service project, our class will be sewing bowl potholders to be sold to benefit the

Empty Bowl fundraiser to help feed needy families in our community. Parents will be able to purchase

these at the Student Showcase later this month.

Studying the Skeletal System Creating a blood model

P A G E 9

We’ve had an eventful few months in the Upper Elementary. Ms. Joanne McFarland joined the

team since Ms. Erin Sorel moved to Lead Teacher in the First and Second Grade class. We’ve

celebrated birthdays, had guest speakers, put on skits, and gone on field trips. We’ve been very

busy!

4th Grade Literature

In the Fourth Grade, Ms. Jennifer Kuntz assigned an animal story, from which

they were to make a puppet show. The students made some very intricate

and interesting designs for the puppets, and really enjoyed putting on the

shows!

4th Grade History

We spent many weeks studying the Civil War in Fourth Grade.

A guest speaker, Mr. Fasulo, came to our history class to talk about

what life was like as a soldier in the Civil War. He came dressed in full

regalia, with a rucksack, his musket (unloaded), and the everyday

uniform. Mr. Fasulo explained to us that each soldier would have to

carry utensils, ammunition, clothes, hygiene products, and other

accoutrements. They'd have to march in all kinds of weather (rain,

snow, wind), and disease was responsible for many deaths. We

learned the Civil War caused the most loss of life from any war in

United States history. This coincides with our unit on Florida history

and the Civil War. Very informative and interesting!

5th Grade Spelling Bee

Congratulations to Anu for winning the 5th Grade Spelling Bee!

The words got progressively harder as the spelling bee went

on, and her final word for the win was "various." Great job, Anu! All

the Fifth Graders tried their very best, and they were all spectacular

participants. Honorable mentions go to Sunny for placing 2nd, Sarah for

taking 3rd, and Brennan for securing 4th place. We're proud of all of

you!

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5th Grade Literature, Drama, and Technology

In conjunction with the Middle School unit on Shakespeare, Ms. Jennifer

Kuntz and Ms. Sylvia Aslanian worked with the Fifth Graders in

understanding and performing Shakespeare. The teachers assigned

various plays from the Bard to the partners, and then the groups who had

the same play worked together to perform an excerpt from the play

during Drama with Ms. Sylvia Aslanian. Then, Ms. Jennifer Kuntz assigned

the groups to write a sonnet about the play they performed. The next

step was to turn the sonnet they wrote back into a play to show an

understanding of the original play. The final part was for the students to write an online comic strip in

Technology about the play as they understood it. A lot of work but also a lot of fun!

Projects

For Valentine’s Day, we did a project that included a version of

Trompe l’oiel (French for fool the eye) and Quilling. Ms. Joanne

McFarland took a picture of each student with their hand

outstretched. The picture was laminated and small slits cut into it

above and below the child’s hand. Then a lollipop was slid into the

two slits to look like the student in the picture was actually holding

out a snack for the parent! For the frame, Ms. Joanne McFarland

taught the students how to Quill using very thin strips of paper, and

pinched them into shapes to glue onto the frame. It was a big hit with the kids – so much so that several

students used the quilling technique in other projects!

Father’s Field Day

Our Fourth and Fifth Grade class had a blast at the Lower and Upper

Elementary and Middle School Father’s Field Day organized by Coach

Cam Parker. Fathers, Grandfathers, and Special Guests participated

right along side their children in multiple events, such as the water

balloon toss! It was a sunny day full of a lot of physical activity.

Stay Tuned…

We have a lot of plans for the upcoming months! Field trips, more projects, Mother’s Day Tea, Camp

Crystal, Safety Patrol trip to Washington D.C., to name some of them. Be sure to check the website for

dates and information.

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As the academic year progresses, great activities continue to excite students as they develop their

confidence in communicating in Spanish. Motivation is crucial to learning. Students must believe

that they can experience incremental growth through learning experiences carefully designed

around small chunks of meaningful language. This quarter, our focus is directed at purposeful

conversations on health, weather, season and activities one can sometimes be found doing. I

continue to reinforce Spanish with supplemental Sign Language.

Learning must be fun. The game “Simon Dice” promotes knowledge of body parts within a

healthy, competitive environment. Students are more likely to retain the language they acquire in

a learning context that they enjoy. After I read two particular stories, “Te Quiero” and “Me

Encantas Tú,” to my younger classes, and they have become familiar with the story; I recount the

story and I intentionally leave phrases out. To their amazement, they are able to complete the

phrases as well as spot vocabulary words throughout the two stories. I also use the main topic of

each story as my farewell before I leave. The students get very excited when I express myself

fondly to them.

Playing “Simon Dice”

Students are motivated to take part in Spanish class when the context through which the language

is presented and practiced is meaningful, serves a purpose, and relies on the students to bring it to

life. This quarter the Fourth and Fifth Graders were added to my teaching

responsibilities . Their current project is to “Design Your Own Coat of Arms.” Heraldry, the correct

technical term for the coat of arms, is a very visual language that was originally used to identify

warriors. The basic components of a heraldic achievement are taken directly from the items a

knight wore in battle. Now, how cool or “chevere” is that? We are working through the Bienvenidos

textbook and workbook for the sequential grammatical mechanics of the language, and also have

added projects and reading assignments from such magazines as “¿Qué Tal?,” and small reading

books, such as “Todos Necesitamos Agua.”

Through my travels, I have collected currencies of many countries. When the students examine all

the different sizes and engraving of the bills and coins, they develop some appreciation of the

diversity of the world they live in which gives them a better understanding of themselves.

Our next project is “The Language of the Fan.” The students will learn how a simple, innocent item

can communicate so many things in subtle ways. Their first recitation is

titled, “Doctor Perro.” The poem is about a wise old dog that will not take

counsel from a crafty crocodile. The students will also provide an

illustration to go with the poem.

Better language learners take advantage of context embedded learning.

They also count on their friends for help. They look for clues from what

others say and make the most of what they know. That is why, with my older students, I sometimes

pair them off after I have introduced a new grammatical concept and have them cooperate in

activities or drill sheets. My goal is that every student maximizes their own communicative

competence in Spanish and will succeed as well as enjoy this skill.

Con gusto,

Sra. Maria Valladares

“Tengo dinero para gastar.” “I have money to spend.”

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Our theme this semester has been Critical Thinking. Utilizing Brain Pop Jr., the

Kindergarteners and First and Second Graders have been learning about: Habitats, Life

Cycle of Animals, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Harriet Tubman, George

Washington Carver and Simple Machines. Each class begins with a group lesson and then

the students spend the rest of class time working individually on the laptops. They redo

the lesson, retake the online quizzes , and read over the vocabulary associated with the

Lesson. Then, the First and Second Graders write out the definitions for the vocabulary

words. This is teaching beginning steps of using the internet as a research tool.

Fourth Grade has been researching and citing sources about their Florida Animal. This

cross-curricular assignment is part of a Florida History project and part of a Florida Writes

writing assignment. The research will be used to write an essay and to create a poster in a

program called Glogster.

Fifth Grade has been learning about Shakespeare in Drama and in Literature. In

collaboration with those two subjects, the students are working on a Shakespeare Comic

Book using Pixton Comics. They created service announcements in Pixton to teach them

how to use the online interface. Check out some of their work on the next page!

The Middle School students have been researching about science in fiction to gain

knowledge for their video projects. The students, in groups of two, are creating a video to

submit to the USA Engineering and Science Contest sponsored by Kavali Foundation. They

are making a video between 30-90 seconds. The students created Power Point

Presentations to organize their thoughts, create their story, organize a filming schedule,

and to design props and costumes.

For more information, check out www.m3sroxx.com, then click Video Production.

What’s Happening in Technology Education at MMS.

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Physical Education

We’ve sure been busy since we came back from Winter Break. Coach Cam Parker anticipated the cold spell in January and kept the students inside working on coordination with cup stacking for a couple of weeks. This was followed by the rare split unit, where older students had a Gatorball unit (envision soccer and ultimate Frisbee squashed together) while the younger students had a unit on movement. Ask your favorite Kindergartener all the different ways they can travel! All this led up to our recent jump rope unit. Most students got guidance and time to practice individually or in small groups with single ropes, large ropes, double dutch ropes, tinkling bands and even Coach Cam Parker’s newest creation: helicopter ropes. Middle School students were required to come up with choreographed routines to music. This year was easily the best routines they had ever presented. Way to go Knights!

Five Points of Life Kid’s Marathon

This year, MMS had 94 students participate in the Five Points of Life Kid’s Marathon by Life South. Thank you to all the kids and parents that braved the windy morning to show their support! Students ran 1.1 miles on the UF Campus and won the prize for the highest percentage of participation as well as the highest number of total participants! The accomplishments of these students earned our PE Department $1,500! As a reward, the students got to watch Coach Cam Parker’s hair and beard get decorated. Check out the MMS Facebook Page for the video! Also check out the

next page for the letter MMS received from the Five Points of Life Foundation Director, Brite Whitaker.

Sports Leagues

MMS is crazy for sports this year! As one league ends, two or more are beginning. Basketball season has wrapped up and all teams had tons of fun, while showing remarkable growth. Special thanks to Candace Wilkie and Ian Baldwin for coaching our players! Soccer season is now underway. Missy Norman and Brent Gila will lead our Kindergarten-First Grade team, Tom Grant is coaching two Second-Third Grade teams, and Sara Walters is championing our Fourth-Fifth Grade team. Also in full swing are our lady volleyball players in Third and Fourth Grade, being lead by Steve Palmer and Lantz Holtzhower. The Blue and White is being worn proudly all over town. We are proud of all our young athletes. Go Knights!

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Letter of Recognition

February 20, 2014 Dear Christina, On behalf of the Five Points of Life Foundation and Life South Community Blood Centers, I would like to congratulate Millhopper Montessori School for winning the award for highest percentage of participants based on enrollment and the most participants on race day at our 8th Annual Kids Marathon Gainesville. The Kids Marathon was a success with nearly 800 children running 25 miles incrementally during the school year and finishing the last 1.2 miles of a marathon on race day. We are proud of this event as not only a way to raise awareness about the importance of lifesaving donations, but also to show children exercise can be fun and rewarding. This event would not be possible without the support of local schools, especially Millhopper Montessori School through the coordination of Coach Cam Parker. We continue to receive positive feedback from participants and look forward to next year’s race. Sincerely, Brite Whitaker Five Point of Life Foundation Director

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Music classes are off to a great start! I am very pleased with how well all of the Winter Programs

went. Thank you to all the parents who helped out and to the students for working so hard!

Since the Winter Programs, music classes have been filled with exciting animal songs that include

everything from slithery slippery snakes to an elephant parade and basic music theory.

From the Beginners class all the way up to the First and

Second Grades class the students have learned about the

volume of music or "dynamics". They are now able to

recognize dynamic symbols and accurately say the Italian

terms and their meaning. We recently started applying these

terms to our singing. The Preschool and Kindergartener

classes can stand up in front of their classmates and introduce

themselves in the dynamic they've been assigned while the

rest of the class guesses which dynamic they're presenting.

The Preschool and Kindergarten classes have also been

introduced to different instruments and which category they

belong in.

As for the Lower and Upper Elementary classes, rehearsals

are in full swing for Aladdin!

Second and Third Grade, Fourth and Fifth Grade, and Middle School have all been given sheet

music of their Aladdin songs. They are learning all of the markings on their music and how to read

them. After a brief introduction to all of these terms, many students came in to their auditions very

capable of using them properly in their singing.

All of the classes are quickly learning these basic music theory terms as they continue to get more

challenging through the older classes. I look forward to what the rest of the year has in store!

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Recognizing dynamic symbols

MMS Spelling Bee was held in March for Mr. Richard Aslanian’s Second and Third Grade class. It was

an exciting event for the students. Congratulations to all involved! See winners below.

Second Grade Third Grade 1st Place: Anthony 1st Place: Bekah

2nd Place: Stasi 2nd Place: Delena

Congratulations to Ms. Rhea Bush! Ms. Rhea Bush works with Ms. Elaine Manion in the Reading Room with First-Third Grades. Certificate of Annual Professional Membership for Rhea Bush In the Phono-Graphix Associate of Reading Therapists

Ms. Sherilyn Farris and Coach Cam Parker attended the Florida Educational Technology Conference in January 2014. This conference brings education leaders and technology experts together to exchange techniques and strategies for teaching and learning success. Known worldwide for its outstanding program, FETC provides educators and administrators the opportunity to explore the integration of technology in curriculum through hands-on exposure to the latest hardware, software and successful strategies. Highlights from this year’s conference were:

-Cloud Computing -Technology Integration -1:1 computer, iPad and tablet use -Multimedia and Video Production -Google Tools for the Classroom -BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Integration Strategies

Coach Cam Parker attended to aid in his search of a new health curriculum for Middle School students and behavior assessment model to better track participation and sportsmanlike behavior for all grades. The highlight of the trip for Coach Cam Parker was potentially getting in as a beta tester for a brand new assessment tool. This tool would allow Coach to provide daily analysis of each student and allow older students a quick and easy way to self grade as well.

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The First Shakespeare Festival at Millhopper Montessori School was born out of the desire for students to experience Shakespeare performances live. Many years ago, Santa Fe College had a Shakespeare Festival that was attended by the Middle School, however the following year it was discontinued. After the staff discussed the issue, they came to a decision to create their own festival to further their study of Shakespeare. This February, M3S presented their 6th Annual Shakespeare Festival, which is now presented every other year at the Thomas Center. The show is a culmination of their Shakespeare Unit of Study in Literature. During the unit, the students read Shakespeare plays and sonnets, study cultural aspects of the time, and learn all about the life of William Shakespeare. Creating a Theatrical Portfolio, they pen their own scene from one of the playwright’s tales. This portfolio includes a re-written script, character analysis, and play themes. During their Drama class, the students rehearse and bring their characters to life. This year featured, “Scenes from Shakespeare Unshackled” presented by the Sixth Graders. During their performance, they introduced the audience to various characters from the Elizabethan era. The Seventh and Eighth Graders presented two re-written selections from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The entire cast also performed two musical numbers: “Shakespeare Unshackled” and “At the Globe.” For a video highlighting this year’s festival, visit: http://www.wcjb.com/local-news/2014/02/plays-thing-millhopper-montessori-performs-shakespeare

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Singing

“Shakespeare

Unshackled”

Lexi as Hermia

and

Hunter as Demetrius

Dillon as

Francis Flute

Thespians Troupe #88928 Update This year has been wonderful for our Spotlight Kids! Our mission is BASIC: Believe in yourself. Achieve to your highest potential. Spark the stage. Inspire each other. Create something meaningful. We have focused this year on the idea of “connections.” On stage you make connections to the storyline, connections to the scene, connections to the other actors in the scene, and finally connections to the audience. Many acting warm-ups are centered around this concept. This year, the kids really rose to the occasions and made new connections. We welcomed new members Nayantara, Becca, Arianna, Ross, Lindsey and Lacey. They have added humor, hard work, and unique insights to our troupe. Ms. Elizabeth Bublitz and I are so proud of the troupe’s tenacity and commitment this year. They have really followed through to Believe, Achieve, Spark, Inspire and Create! After our District One Competition in November, the new team earned Superior and Excellent score ratings, allowing them to advance to compete in the State Competition in February. There were 17 middle schools in attendance from all over North Central Florida and over 4000 students competing. The Spotlight Kids Troupe #88928 was wonderful and earned outstanding scores, including winning “Best in Show” for an Improv Scene between Eighth Graders, Dillon and Lexi. Another huge accomplishment this year was the fundraiser held on January 25 – “Red” the Showcase. It was a huge success raising $832.00 for the American Heart Association. The theme of the show was about Little Red Riding Hood, told in various genres. The Spotlight Kids Junior Group joined along with Spotlight Kids Alumni to create a magical show. It marked the 12th year celebration of The Spotlight Kids Performing Arts at MMS. We look forward to the upcoming End of Year Show where many of our Spotlight Kids will be showcasing their talent along with the rest of the First through Eighth Graders!

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Artwork by MMS students Ari Johnston, 7th Grade & Gibson Rumsey , 8th Grade

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April

Thursday, April 3 4th-8th Grade Science Field Trip 7:00 AM-7:30 PM

Friday, April 4 Student Holiday/Teacher Workday

Monday, April 7-Friday, April 11 Scholastic Book Fair

Monday, April 7-Friday, April 11 1st-8th Grade Presidential Physical Fitness Test

Thursday, April 10 Ms. Crystal Sorrow’s Beginners Class Picnic

11:30 AM-12:30 PM

Tuesday, April 15 Vocal Ensemble Spring Sing and Ice Cream Social

@ MMS 4:00 PM

Wednesday, April 16 4th Grade Florida Writes Assessment

Thursday, April 17 Ms. Crystal Sorrow’s Beginners Class Egg Hunt

Friday, April 18 Preschool & Preschool/Kindergarten Spring

Celebration and Easter Egg Hunt

Monday, April 21-Thursdsay, April 24 Elementary/Middle School ITBS Testing

Friday, April 25 Mr. Richard Aslanian’s 2nd & 3rd Grade

Geography Bee

Wednesday, April 30-Friday, May 2 5th Grade Camp Crystal Trip

May

Wednesday, April 30-Friday, May 2 5th Grade Camp Crystal Trip

Thursday, May 1 Ms. Christina Eckstein’s Parent Appreciation Day

Friday, May 2 Ms. Martha Dolan’s Parent Appreciation Day

Monday, May 5 Middle School Mother’s Day Tea 1:30 PM

Tuesday, May 6 Ms. Elizabeth Falls’ Parent Appreciation Day

Tuesday, May 6 Ms. Erin Sorel’s 1st & 2nd Grade

Mother’s Day Tea 1:30 PM

Thursday, May 8 Ms. Christina Miller’s 4th & 5th Grade

Mother’s Day Tea 1:30 PM

Friday, May 9 Mr. Richard Aslanian’s 2nd & 3rd Grade

Mother’s Day Tea 1:30 PM

Monday, May 12-Friday, May 16 Safety Patrol Appreciation Week

Monday, May 19-Friday, May 23 Teacher Appreciation Week

Monday, May 19-Friday May 23 Beginners, Preschool & Kindergarten Spirit Week

Thursday, May 22-Frday May 23 Middle School End of Year Trip

Monday, May 26 Memorial Day — No School

Wednesday, May 28 Kindergarten Graduation 1:30 PM

Thursday, May 29 Beginners, Preschool & Kindergarten

Last Day of School

Friday, May 30 End of Year Show @ PK Yonge 5:30 PM