Rock Prairie Montessori School

On Thursday, November 13th we had our first all school assembly of the school year!  We were visited by the Janesville Police Department’s Officer Shaun Mahaffey and his partner K9 Hardy.  The children got to see how different this dog was from a dog they might have at home and what his importance is on the force.  Hardy is a full blooded german shepherd who was born and trained mostly in Germany.  One year ago he was introduced to Officer Mahaffey and the pair went through rigorous training in order to become Janesville’s first K9 unit.  The children listened and watched as Hardy was given his commands in German.  After which, they each got to pet Hardy.  They sang a gratitude of service song to Officer Mahaffey and K9 Hardy, and they got to walk through the area of the car where Hardy rides.  This was really quite fun and I believe the children thoroughly enjoyed it!

On Friday November 7th, we were thrilled to have one of our parents, Camille Makurat and her daughter Josie who is in Ms. Mary’s class give a informative presentation to our lunch time audience of students on their life in the Army. Major Makurat just retired from 20 years of service. Josie is 4 years old and helped her Mom show us all what MRE’s are (meals ready to eat), discussed her uniform, and metals. We all learned how veterans help keep our country safe. We ended the presentation with the students singing our service song: “We thank you we do, we thank you we do, we thank you for service, we thank you we do!”

We are glad to be hosting the Teach Peace Seminar on March 1st at 9:00 AM till 3:00 PM. We will be featuring many keynote speakers throughout the day speaking about the different aspects of Teaching peace within the montessori framework. The registration before Feb. 27th will be $65, after the 27th registration will be $75. Please register by calling Rock Prairie Montessori School at 608-868-4844 or download and mail our Teach Peace Registration Form and Information pamplet.

Thank you to all who attended the Winter Program on Friday December 14th.  This was a first in RPMS history - having all classes perform on the same morning.  What a morning it was!  The children did so well sharing their singing talents under the direction of Ms. Linda and Ms. Robyn.  This was such a fun way to end our school week!

The entire production was captured on video tape and can be order through the school.  Order forms are available in all parent mailboxes and are due in the office by Friday January4, 2008.

You are cordially invited to join us on Saturday February 9th 2008 for an Italian Dinner and Auction. We are writing to share some important information about our major fundraising eventfor the year, RPMS Annual Italian Night, held at school from 6:30 - 9:00 pm. As a notfor profit, fundraising is an important source of funds. This year our target is to raise $9500 in revenue and $7500 in profits, which is almost half of our total goal for the year. This is money that is part of our school budget. The best part of Italian Night is that it is an evening out for adults priced moderately with good food, wine tasting and good company. There is music, silent and live auctions and raffles. Dinner and drink tickets are $20/$5 respectively, and you are encouraged to bring friends and family. This will be our fifth year holding the event at our school. To be a success we need every family to participate. There are many ways: whether it is attending the event with family and friends, offering to help with the evening or by donating or soliciting items. We would ask all families to take a few minutes to download and complete the Italian Night Information Sheet and return it by January 11th. This is vital to the success ofevening, the auction and our goal. Time spent in solicitation of auction items counts towards service hours. We have provided copies of Donation Flyers to usefor each item donated or in solicitation. Thank you for your support of our wonderful school. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Oakleigh Ryan via school mailbox, email Toakleigh at aol.com or call 608 436 0876 or contact other members of the committee.

Parent Education Night January 22th 6:30 pm till 8:30 pm “Montessori Math from Young Child to Adult” Faculty will demonstrate Montessori materials that are used with 2 year olds through the elementary years. Our guest presenters, Cathleen and Phil Haskins will speak about Montessori math materials and concepts from Elementary through the college years.

Love and Logic presentation December 5th at 6:30 till 7:30. This program is dedicated to making parenting and teaching fun and rewarding instead of stressful and chaotic. The class introduces practical tools and techniques that help adults achieve respectful, healthy relationships with their children.

You are cordially invited to join us on Friday December 14th at 10:00 AM for our Winter Program. This performance will be held in the gymnasium. Refreshments will be served in the commmons immediately following the program. This program will be professionally videotaped. Order forms will be made available after the performance. * As students will be involved in one performance, parking may be limited. We simply encourage families to car-pool as best as possible.