See Shaw Shine

Shaw Montessori Newsletter - September 15th, 2024

In This Issue

Principal Engdall
Passport to Montessori
Interim Writing Assessment
Arizona English Language Learner Assessment
Volleyball Season Schedule
Elementary Garden
Art Room
School Photo Day
Shaw PTA
Shaw Calendar
Meal Menus
District Information
School Hours & Contact Info

Principal Engdall

Greetings Shaw Montessori,

Thanks to all who attended Bingo Night on Friday Night. As always, we had a blast! Special kudos to our event chairwoman Ashli Estrada who secured the incredible prizes and organized all our Bingo paraphernalia, to Miss Chan’s class for the incredible job of preparing and serving our spaghetti dinner and to our PTA board for their planning and support all around the edges!

Friday and Saturday, the students, parents, Mr. Moench, and a few volunteers from APS installed our new infill plants for our desert habitats. Not only did the plantings beautify the spaces but they offer our students lessons on ecology, water conservation, plant identification, survival, and defense. These spaces call little bits of wildlife to our campus too. Funding for this project was generated through last year students that participated in the Fun Run—that is all of us!

Thursday evening our Shaw Star Volleyball team took on Edison School. While they were not victorious, they played well, learned a lot and were well supported. There are 2 games lined up for this week. Tuesday evening, they will take on Garfield at 5:50 and Thursday Hererra at 4:50. Go Stars!

Primary Parents, Passport to Montessori will be held on Wednesday evening from 5-6. Please be prompt as you will be passing through 4 classrooms with 4 different presentations. Your child’s teacher will be contacting you regarding your start point. Please watch for their email. Our monthly PTA meeting will follow this parent education and be held in the cafeteria from 6-7. Pizza and childcare will be available.

Wishing you the best,

Principal Engdall

Passport to Montessori

This a great opportunity to get a head start

on your 10 required volunteer hours!

Sign up HERE (listed as Site Council)

Interim Writing Assessment

This week, our 3rd-8th grade students will participate in an Interim Writing Assessment. Please refer to the assessment schedule below. This assessment is designed to give students practice writing in a format similar to high-stakes state assessments. Practice is an essential part of the instructional process. The results of the writing assessment will help us understand how to better support and guide your child’s writing development.

To help prepare your child for the assessment, please encourage them to get a good night’s rest, have a healthy breakfast, and bring their headphones.

September 16: 3rd-6th grade (except Ms. Chan’s Class)

September 17: 7th and 8th grade

September 19: Ms. Chan’s Class

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at shaily.currie@phxschools.org

Arizona English Language Learner Assessment

We are thrilled to announce that our 2nd grade students, Genesis Morales Garcia, and Mateo Duran Valles, have reached a significant milestone by reclassifying as proficient on the Arizona English Language Learner Assessment (AZELLA). To honor their accomplishment, hard work, and growth in multilingualism, Genesis and Mateo were presented with certificates recognizing their proficiency and success. Congratulations to both students on this remarkable achievement!

Volleyball Schedule

Elementary Garden

Greetings!

Seven weeks and we are rolling with watermelon popsicles. Watermelon is a great hydration pack during these final hot days. It is 92% water and 8% sugar. We are growing jubilee and crimson red watermelons. Please email me if you would like the recipe for our watermelon popsicles.

The students moved the rest of the woodchips in the garden. It looks great! Thank you to the PTA for approving our budget and getting the garden these pine chips. They smell great, feel awesome under our feet, and look amazing along our learning area. I have been waiting a long time for quality wood chips and this is giving me garden ASMR and a sense of fulfillment.

We started our native landscaping project this week! The irrigation is done and APS helped the students plant on the north side of the cafeteria. Everything should be done by Monday. Saturday was our parent workday, we finished planting and moved rock.

WE NEED PARENT VOLUNTEERS FOR OUR NATIVE PLANTING DAY ON SEPTEMBER 14th

The following volunteer dates are on the calendar:

· September 14th (native planting day)

· September 28th (parent workday)

· December 3rd & 5th (holiday concert afterparty)

· February 22nd (2nd parent workday)

You can access the volunteer signup site by clicking on this link: https://signup.com/group/1135044326099

We are always seeking coffee grounds, seeds, aluminum cans and MASON JARS. PLEASE, NO MORE EGGSHELLS. If you have anything that might benefit our garden program, please contact me via email. Otherwise, the front table outside of the office is our designated drop-off location for garden essentials. james.obrien-moench@phxschools.org

Enjoy your weekend!

Mr. Moench

Art Room

Hello from the Art Room!

We started our “Wall of Wonder” (aka “W.O.W”) with students drawing flowers based on artist Takashi Murakami – with their own spin, of course. Colors are bright and personalities even brighter.

Upper elementary moved on to study Jean-Michel Basquiat and used lines, symbols, words and color to first make mind maps and later oil pastel/tempera portraits. Lower elementary learned about Keith Haring and started a work inspired by his art, using primary colors and energetic/radiant lines. Kinders have been practicing folding, cutting, and drawing spirals – and learning crayon transfers. It has all been a messy blast!

I’m looking for specific donations for upcoming art projects. If you have...
*Vinyl records (with or without the album cover)
*School-appropriate magazines
*Baby food jars with lids
…Please drop them off in the bin under the sign-in table just to the right of the front office.

Thank you!

Ms. Allison

School Photo Day

Sign up at: tara.photo/register

for your photo proofs and free class picture.

You must complete photo register NO LATER than Wednesday, October 8th to include sibling photos. Students listed in the same registration will be photographed together.

Shaw PTA

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Bingo Night and Parent Work Day in the garden! Your presence and support make a difference, and it’s a joy to come together as a community. We’re grateful for each of you and proud to be part of such a dedicated and vibrant group at Shaw Montessori!