SPM News - October 2023

Spokane Public Montessori Newsletter - October 2023

I absolutely love our community and I hope you feel the same! I know that transitions can be a lot of work and I appreciate your patience with all the new changes within our district. We have been busy building community, routines and setting goals together this month.

It is my greatest joy to listen and support the individual and collective goals here at Spokane Public Montessori.

For the sake of transparency, I would like to share my personal goal as principal at SPM: Increase overall participation and understanding of Montessori philosophy and sense of community through monthly Montessori parent engagement nights.

I sent out a baseline survey with the following results:

Out of 280 families, 95 responded to the Spokane Public Montessori Feedback Survey. My goal is 100% participation.

Here is the current rating for sense of belonging. My goal is to increase this average rating to a 5.

Overwhelmingly, the suggested solution to improve our sense of community was to come together as a community and to volunteer more in the classroom. This is why we come together each month for Montessori Philosophy Nights for parents.

Maria Montessori noted that the elementary years are a time of "hero worship." Who doesn't love a great real-life hero!? For the month of October, classes have the choice to encourage students to do research about courageous people, young and old, who have made a difference in the world. Students can discuss the big names such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, and Gandhi, as well as lesser-known heroes like Black Elk, Dorothy Day, and Lily Yeh.

October 31st will be a day for dressing up as a real-life hero, conducting presentations through a WAX Museum Biography and enjoying some delicious fall treats. Teachers will be sharing the guidelines in their weekly newsletters.

Northwest Feeder Pattern Community Event was a huge success! Thanks to all the families that came out to connect with our community partners. Each student was gifted a free T-shirt thanks to Douglass Properties!

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday Oct 3: Popsicles on the Playground 3:00/CoMP 3:30 in the Library
Thursday Oct 5: Skate Night 6:00-8:00
Friday Oct 6: Picture Day
Thursday Oct 12: Parent Education Night 5:00-6:30
Friday Oct 13: No School
Thursday Oct 19: Garden Closing Party 3:15
Oct 24-26: We are working with the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector to conduct the Essential Elements Review. Our coaches will be visiting our school October 24-26th to observe and provide feedback so that we can be the best Public Montessori we can be. Click here for more information.
Oct 31: Wax Museum real-life heroes day

Last weekend we had the joy of going on "The Silent Journey" with a few of our Montessori families and staff members. It was a beautiful event that we hope everyone will have the opportunity to participate in.

If you missed it this time, the next Silent Journey will be March 28th and the 29th.

Want to learn more about Montessori? Here are some resources:

Please reach out to us with any questions, comments, or suggestions by using Let's Talk.