Happy Wednesday MCS Community!

We are seeing a significant number of students out this week with Confirmed Influenza A & Flu-like symptoms. Please be on the lookout, keep children home if symptomatic or unusually lethargic, and be advised that there is Flu going around our community as you make decisions this week. We are grateful to those of you who erred on the side of caution this week and kept our community safe.

 

Grandparents/Special Friend Day

Our annual Grandparent/Special Friend Day is February 13. A separate email was sent with full details and a request for information for the individual your child(ren) is inviting to attend. Please send the following info back to office@montessorikeywest.com by January 14 (today):

Name of Grandparent/Special Friend

Relationship to Child

Full Address including City, State, Zip

Phone Number

Authorization to Dismiss Child with him/her after visit?

 

Staff Continuing Education in Washington DC – WE NEED YOUR HELP! 🙏🥰

Each year key members of our staff are encouraged to travel for an annual Montessori conference to further their education and bring back valuable knowledge to implement on our campus. This year’s conference is in Washington DC over Spring Break, and we are fundraising to help with travel expenses to make this a reality for our teachers and staff. We are hosting a bake sale next week, a PJ Party February 14th, and we also have an online donation going. Here is the GoFundMe link to donate – please pass along to anyone you think would be willing to support us! Thank you for your generosity 🌟🌟🌟

 

This Week @ MCS

Pictured:

1 A Banyan friend’s special Walk Around the Sun ceremony with his parents present to enjoy

2. Spanish Lime friends adapted to an outdoor work cycle to be in the fresh air

3. Cocoplum friends in some hands on learning about composting with Ms Keely from the City of Key West

 

Upcoming Events (more info below)…

PRO TIP: Click the date to save the event to your personal calendar on your phone!

Monday, January 19: MLK Day, No School

Thursday & Friday January 22 & 23: Bake Sale to Benefit Staff Education

Thursday, January 29: Parent/Corporation Meeting via Zoom @ 6PM

Sunday, February 1: RESCHEDULED! Pirates & Princesses Event by Sunset Sail Key West, Perry Marina 2-4PM

Thursday, February 5: Grown Ups Only Fundraiser @ Mary Ellen’s @ 6PM

Friday, February 13: Grandparent/Special Friend Day

Saturday, February 14: PJ Party in Support of Staff Education to AMS Conference

 

Bake Sale to benefit Staff Education in Washington DC

As part of our ongoing fundraising efforts to send key staff members to the AMS Conference in March we are holding a bake sale next Thursday & Friday, January 22nd & 23rd, from 2:30-4 on the Front Lawn. We can accept payment by cash, Venmo, or we can invoice you.

Everyone can bake! Donations of baked goods count toward Work/Pay hours. Sign up here: Bake Sale Sign Ups

 

Parent/Corporation Meeting

Throughout the year we hold three Parent/Corporation Meetings (we are all members of the Corporation at Montessori Children’s School.) The second of the three meetings this year will be Thursday, January 29th at 6PM, this one is via Zoom and easy to attend. The meeting typically lasts 45 minutes, it’s ok if your kids are in the background. Meeting attendance is worth 1 work/pay hour. This is a great opportunity to learn more about high level plans for the school (including expansion of our campus, programs, and other exciting goals) as well as a chance to interact with other parents and our staff outside of school hours.

 

Pirates & Princesses Special Fundraising Event by Sunset Sail Key West!

Dear MCS friends and families,

At Sunset Sail Key West we are fortunate to be the custodians of two very special historic vessels – the record-breaking 1930 racing schooner Malabar X and General George Patton’s 1939 transoceanic cruising yacht When And If. Also known as Pirate Ships.

We love to inform, engage and inspire young minds and are delighted to be able to offer a Pirates and Princesses event for children ages 5 and above! Each Pirate or Princess will need to be accompanied by a guardian – this is an opportunity to make beautiful core memories together on this adventure.

For those friends able to join us, we invite you to don your finest pirate/princess garb and join us for our rescheduled day and time: 2PM on February 1st at The Perry Marina. We will start with a treasure hunt! Designed to familiarize friends with the ship and lend some structure to their exploration on board, clues will teach them the names of parts of the boat and lead them to a treasure treat to get us started!

The more musically-minded of our multi-talented crew will induct our guests in a few encouraging sea shanty choruses to help encourage their companions as they haul away because there’s no electric winches here! Friends and family are encouraged to help set sail and there’s more than enough sails for everyone to have a go!

Once the sails are set our ships will head towards a predetermined starting point and a (very loud) cannon shot will announce the commencement of hostilities! A race under sail is a thrilling affair with ships leaning into the wind and water rushing along the scuppers; friends are encouraged to help out wherever possible with tasks such as coiling and setting lines ready for the next maneuver. Our conch horn is our standard signalling device and anyone who wants to will be welcome to have a go!

The race winner will fire their cannon and raise their colors in a declaration of victory, and the ships will cruise in tandem back to the dock as friends help to strike and furl sails and ready the ship for safe harbour. On disembarking every pirate and princess will receive a commemorative certificate thanking them for their service!

We hope you’ll join us for this great adventure – all proceeds go to our wonderful Montessori Children’s School!

Best wishes

Captain Seth and Crew

Sunset Sail Key West

 

Weekly Miracle Makers

This week’s Miracle Maker is Katie Hurwitz, Mom of Albie, who handled our Pizza delivery the last couple of weeks for Pizza Friday and also jumped in with a generous donation of sanitizing & disinfecting items as we make our way through the current round of illnesses. Thank you Katie for being a member of our village & a generous source of positivity and encouragement!