WEEKLY WONDERS

Week of September 16, 2024

Pictured above: Lower Elementary students created paper puppets in art Explorations class after reading "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak.

Important Dates

September 16- JC Lewis Mobile Heath Unit Onsite

September 21- International Day of Peace

September 25- PTA Spirit Night @ Chipotle

September 27- Donation Dress Down Day

September 27- Deadline to Purchase/Return Photo Packets

October 1- Hearing/Vision Screening

October 3- Hearing/Vision Screening

October 11- Staff Planning Day

October 11- PTA Grant Deadline

October 14- No School!

October 15- Make-Up Photo Day

View the SCCPSS Academic calendar at this link.

View the SCCPSS Assessment calendar at this link.

Grace & Courtesy Focus

Throughout the school year, Ellis has a school-wide focus on certain positive character traits. Each teacher may choose to highlight these "Grace & Courtesy" emphases differently, but as a school we follow a general common curriculum.

From September 16th-October 4th, our school-wide Grace & Courtesy emphasis is CREATIVITY.

The language for identifying/naming creativity in "The Self-Awakened Child" series by Jonathan Wolff

When I do something in my own special way, I am being creative.
When I make something new that no one has ever made before, I am being creative.
When I find a way to help myself or someone else fix a problem, I am being creative.

AMS Verification Complete!

Ellis has achieved American Montessori Society (AMS) verification status! This puts our school one step closer to accreditation.

We want to thank the staff and community members who have put in YEARS of hard work to make this happen for our school. We will continue to update the community as more information becomes available on the process.

School Library Use

**Update 9/13/24: The media center was closed this past week for required maintenance. It will be closed on Monday, 9/16, and possibly Tuesday, 9/17, as well to complete the work being done. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our school community.

Parents/guardians are WELCOME and ENCOURAGED to utilize the use of our school library to check out books.

A community account can be created for you to check out up to 10 books for a loan period of two weeks.

The library is open to families after school until 3:30pm.

Contact Ms. Lisa (lisa.odonnell@sccpss.com) with any questions.

Student Photo Packets

Student photo packets were distributed to homeroom teachers and they should have made their way home by now.

This is a fundraiser for our school! Strawbridge donates a small portion of every purchase to Ellis...so we appreciate your support!
Photo packets should be purchased and/or returned by Friday, September 27th.
You can purchase online at Strawbridge.net using the code in the packet or you may send cash or check (payable to Strawbridge Studios) to school in the envelope provided.
Make-up picture day is October 15th for anyone who was absent or who does not like their photo. More information about this will be sent out to families via this newsletter closer to time.

If you have any questions, contact Ms. Lisa (lisa.odonnell@sccpss.com).

JC Lewis Mobile Health Services

The J.C. Lewis mobile health care unit will be at Ellis on Monday, September 16th, from 8:15am-11:15am.

Pre-registration is required and the deadline to attend Monday has already passed; however, the mobile unit will have tentative visits to Ellis each month (schedule is to be determined), so look for more information via this newsletter and the school website for the next availability.

You can find more information (including PDF copies of the required paperwork) on the Ellis website.

School Counseling

This week, Primary and Lower Elementary students have been learning about having peace from within, being a good friend not only to others, but to themselves. We read the book Calm Down Corner, Here I Come, practiced coping skills, and discussed how to use the Peace Place as a way to help calm big feelings.

The Mediation Center of Coastal Georgia will be hosting Peace in the Park at Daffin Park on Sunday, September 22nd, from 1-4pm. This is a great time to enjoy arts & music, courageous conversation circles, peace education, and help create the human peace sign!

We are so proud to share that one of our sixth-grade students, Patrick Finnegan (pictured below), will be receiving the Emerging Youth Peacebuilder Award at Peace in the Park. He is a wonderful ambassador for Charles Ellis Montessori Academy and is recognized for his endless effort and dedication to helping those around him.

Ms. Rebecca

912-395-5470 x71201

rebecca.burkhart@sccpss.com

Ms. Ava

912-395-5470 x71243

ava.woodie@sccpss.com

Help PTA Stock the Staff Lounge

If you would like to help the PTA stock the staff lounge, you can scan the QR codes on the flyer below or click the following links:

Amazon Registry

Target Registry

PTA Student Grant Opportunity

The Ellis PTA is now accepting student proposals for their annual "Do Good Things" grant program. The application is attached below.

Proposals may be for projects that give back or enhance our community here or outside of Charles Ellis Montessori Academy.

The deadline to submit a proposal to charlesellismontessoripta@gmail.com is Friday, October 11, 2024.

pdf

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PTA_Do Good Things Grant_2024.pdf

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Questions?

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out. You have resources available to you:

Your student's teacher
SCCPSS website
Ellis website
Fellow school community members (via "Charles Ellis Montessori Academy PTA" Facebook group- search for it and join!)