Carroll Creek Communicator - education.fcps.org · check out the web links on the next page. ......

If you were not able to join us for the “State of the School” meeting please be sure to check out the web links on the next page. It is always reassuring that we have so many parents who want to be actively involved in our school and their child’s education. I know that in addition to the parents who were at the meeting, many people watched the live feed and others of you will be watching the meeting as time permits. Our GC Chair, Amanda Erard, did a fabulous job sharing the details of our Charter renewal and the benchmarks we have worked jointly with FCPS to set in the various areas. If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact myself or Mrs. Erard. We have had so many BIG things happening here this past month… Dr. Alban, the FCPS Superintendent of schools, visited. Our lower elementary classes had a STEM day. The Primary classes have celebrated their moms and will be celebrating dads in the near future. A group of upper elementary students made the transmitter at the right so they could use Morse Code to talk to the students at the other end of the hall. Many classes had visitors join their class to share cultural experiences from our Asia study. Upper elementary students have started the “going out” process which is very different from field trips (stay tuned for more about this next year). Student in grades 3-6 took the PARCC assessment, students in grades 2-6 took the Global Scholar assessment and students in kindergarten, third and sixth grade took a Spanish assessment (I hope to have results ready to share at our next GC meeting). Another BIG project is that our building project will be underway soon. The demolition phase will kick it all off next week. We hope that when you all come back in August we will have a whole new “half” of our school to welcome you! Speaking of welcoming you back, please take note of the Open House times in the calendar to the left. This is the same schedule we used this past fall that proved to be a very positive experience for our community. Thank you for another wonderful school year with your child and your family! Enjoy each other this summer!

CCMPCS's mission is to build a community in which students, parents and staff work

together to educate the "whole child," the sum of the physical, emotional, social, and

intellectual parts. We will implement a Montessori based curriculum to give students the

hands-on tools they need to be active learners both in and outside the classroom. By offering

English with Spanish enrichment or dual-language Spanish instruction to all students, we will

provide a unique opportunity for students to learn a second language at an early age and

develop multicultural awareness.

6-3-16 Volume 2 Issue 10

Carroll Creek Communicator

6/10 12:00 Field Day

6/13 7:00p.m. GC Mtg.

6/17 12:45 Early Dismissal Last Day of School Report Cards go home

6/29 7:00p.m. MMCI Meeting @ CCM

7/11 7:00p.m. GC Mtg

7/27 7:00p.m. MMCI Meeting @ MVM

8/8 7:00p.m. GC Mtg

8/19 Open House 1:00-1:20 K, 1, 4 1:30-1:50 Returning P4, 2, 5 2:00-2:20 New P4, 3, 6 2:30-3:00 P3, 7

8/22 First Day of School P4-7

8/24 First Day P3

Carroll Creek Montessori Public Charter School Mission

Taking Stock

It's been a busy time here at CCM. With spring's arrival, students are working on navigating friendship challenges. This task is often challenging for students. It's important that we allow children the opportunity to solve relationship struggles on their own and that practice must start young. I know with my two older children (three and four years old), I must resist the urge to constantly jump in and rescue them from each other or from a playmate. That's not to say there isn't a time and place to help, but children also need the opportunity to try to work on it themselves. All too often, we've spent the time navi-gating disputes for them and when we send them to school we expect that they have the skills to do it on their own. We need to help children process through these situations: What was the problem? What did you want to happen? What did he/she want to happen? What is it you could do so that both people are happy? How might you be able to share? Why do you think you responded that way? Why do you think that person responded that way? What could you do differently next time? This also means that children need to understand that sometimes their friend is going to play with someone else, and that's okay. Sometimes we have friends that have common interests. I try to explain it to students in this way: I have friends that I like to go to the movies with because we like similar movies. I have friends that I play games with because they also like to play games or the game that I want to play. I have friends that I talk to about important things because they are better listeners. Sometimes we have a "best" friend that usually likes to do all these things but may want to play with someone else, or was asked by someone else to play. That doesn't mean you're not friends, it just means you get to play with someone else that day. If we help students process these situations and allow them to: try to put themselves in the other person's shoes, have discussions with the other person (whether guided or independent), and attempt to problem solve, and ask for help when they truly need it, they will develop the skills they need to navigate healthy relationships. Have a wonderful summer! See you in August!

Mandi Kearney School Counselor

Carroll Creek Montessori Public Charter School

301-663-7710

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Carroll Creek Communicator

Counselor’s Corner

Charter Renewal

May 11th we stood (well, sat) before the FCPS Board of Education to continue the discussion of our Charter renewal and the expectations we will need to meet in the coming years. Many of you came to our “State of the School” meeting and many more watched the live stream (thank you GC for making those things happen!). The slide show from that presentation can be found on the CCM website by following this link: http://education.fcps.org/ccmpcs/node/1336 You can also watch the two part video tape of the presentation by following these links: Part 1 https://youtu.be/uF_9u3HLxiI Part 2 https://youtu.be/12zrdmqCYfI You can help your child and our school this summer by practicing their math facts with them (addition/subtraction/multiplication/division). If your child was in 4-6th grades, they have an IXL account that will be valid through the beginning of next school year. Their progress has been monitored individually as well as by grade level all year and we will continue to do so over the summer so we will have a good idea of where to begin again next school year. As always, sitting down with a good book each day is a great way to not only strengthen reading skills, but it can be a calm, peaceful moment shared by the entire family.

Kindergarten music classes continue to work on skills they will need for next school year in Lower Elementary. Students are now performing simple rhythm patterns using quarter and eighth notes on the tone bars through simple drills and a soundscape to “Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons.” They are also learning about the organization of the C scale as they practice restoring the tone bars after lessons. Classes continue to work on pitch matching with the Montessori Bells, and have been learning the triple meter song, “Bottle O’ Pop,” a Lower Elementary favorite, so they can join right in when they start first grade!

Lower Elementary classes continue their study of the treble clef through tone bar activities and melodic patterns. Third graders are reading and performing melodic measures while 1st and 2nd graders identify the shape by listening. Note reading activities have also included performing scale patterns and will soon include reading ostinato patterns for the song “Fed My Horse.” “Fed My Horse” is also a verse/refrain form study. Classes also explored the sound and instrumentation of traditional Northern Indian Classical music, focusing especially on the sitar and how it is played.

Upper Elementary students also explored traditional Indian music in a comparative study to Western European instruments and form. Students viewed a traditional performance featuring the tabla, sitar, and wooden flute while constructing comparison/contrast graphic organizers. Additional study was done on the history, construction, and playing technique of both the tabla and sitar in addition to views of modern performances featuring Anoushka Shankar and Zakir Hussain. Some students are engaging in independent study of piano or guitar, while others continue refining their recorder technique. Upper Elementary students will be bringing their music folders and

recorders home for the summer break with extra resources to continue studying if they wish.

Best wishes for a musical summer!

Page 3

Volume 2 Issue 10

From the Art Room

Music Notes

si-

Hello Parents!

Here in Physical Education we

have just completed our Track and

Field unit. Recently we had several

of our upper elementary students

participate in the 4th and 5th grade

county wide track meet held at

Oakdale High School last week.

We had students participate in a

variety of events ranging from the

100 meter race to shot-put. These

students represented our school

well and I am very proud of their

efforts. I would like to give a big

thanks to parents as well who took

the time out of their evenings to

support their child and provide

transportation to and from the

event. I look forward to having

more participants next year.

Recently students have been

participating in field day/

outdoor games to complete

our final unit here in P.E.

Students have participated in

a variety of activities that

require them to recall all of

the skills they have learned

from the beginning of the

year. Students have

participated relay races,

kickball, soccer, color tag,

Treasure Island, hula pass,

and many more games that

we have been able to enjoy

outside during this span of

great weather. These games

will lead us into our 2nd

annual school field day next

week which I am sure will be

just as successful as last year.

Thanks for another great year

and continue to support your

child’s growth in Physical

Education.

Page 4

Volume 2 Issue 10

Physical Education

Kindergarten students have been learning the vocabulary words to describe the different rooms of the house. The list includes: la sala, el dormitorio, la cocina,

el comedor, el baño, el jardín, el cuarto de juegos. They are also reviewing sports vocabulary. Here is the link to a good video to watch this summer to practice some of the skills we have worked on this year: https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4p6tfRXIy4&feature=youtu.be

Lower Elementary students are learning the vocabulary words for clothing. The list includes: unos pantalones, una camiseta, un vestido, una falda, unos calcetines, unos zapatos, unas botas. They are also using the verb llevar in the “yo” form to describe what they are wearing. Yo

llevo una camiseta, unos pantalones cortos y unos zapatos.

Upper Elementary students are learning the vocabulary words for television pro-grams. Las noticias, los documentales, el pronostico del tiempo, las comedias, los reportajes deportivos, etc. They can describe which program they watch using the

verb ver in the “yo” form. Los lunes yo veo los documentales. They can describe the time the program begins using the verb empezar. They had a great time playing Spanish Jeopardy.

Spanish Spoken Here

I would like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who logged in their “Fire Up Your Feet” data! We have been notified of one award already, but not its amount. It is good to know that we have such active families!

CCMPCS GC News

Tidbits from our GC

Turning the Page And so the chapter that is the 2015-16 school year comes to a close, and we turn the page to begin the next chapter of our school’s story. And there is so much to look forward to! Last month, students participat-ed in move-up day, and the excitement for our rising 1st, 4th, and 7th graders, as well as for their classmates, was palpable! On May 11, MMCI President Melissa Najera, CCM Principal Marilyn Horan, and I convened at the Board of Education’s monthly meeting to finalize the bench-marks for our next year (and

Page 5

beyond). These benchmarks were crafted through careful collabo-ration between CCM leadership and BOE representatives, and we were thrilled when the benchmarks passed – now we can forge ahead! The BOE also approved our renewed Charter Agreement (based on modifica-tions made after its renewal in December), and our lottery waiver, which, if approved by the State Board of Education, will prioritize native Spanish-speaking students. What a great way to round out the school year! On May 31, CCM held a State of the School meeting to inform the community about the specific

benchmarks for the probationary year, the revamped Spanish program, the upcoming Middle School program, Montessori training at CCM, and the build-out – whew! We have accomplished so much – indi-vidually and collectively – this year, and we should be proud of our work. Let our successes propel us forward through the next year and beyond!

Have a wonderful summer! Warmly, Amanda Erard, PhD CCM Governing Council Chair gcchair@carrollcreekmontessori.org

Our goals was to reach 94% attendance this year. With just 10 days of school left, we should achieve that goal—provided students continue to come to school as consistently as they have this past month (we are currently at 94.52%). Next year our goal is 95% as agreed upon through the benchmark process with FCPS. Please plan family vacations for the 2016-2017 school year with that goal in mind.

Attendance

I once heard a fable about a man who meets a guru on the road. The man asks the guru, “Which way is success?” The bearded sage doesn’t speak, but points to a place in the distance. The man, thrilled by the prospect of quick and easy success, rushes off. Sudden-ly, there comes a loud splat. Eventually the man….now tattered and stunned….limps back, assuming he must have taken a wrong turn. So he returns to the guru and repeats his question, “Which way is success?” The guru again points silently in the same direction. The man obediently walks off, and this time the splat sound is deafening. When the man crawls back, he is bloody, broken, and irate. “I asked you which way to success,” he screams at the guru. “I followed your direction, and all I got was splatted! No more of this pointing. Talk!” Only then does the guru speak, and this is what he says: “Success is that way. Just a little past the splat!” I think we might have just pasted the “splat” and are well on our way to success!

91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

Overall

May

April

March

February

January

December

November

October

September

August

94.52

96.29

96

93.98

94.98

95.29

93.71

93.41

95.74

95.61

98

Success Story

One of the measures the BOE and FCPS administration will be reviewing for our Charter are our Global Scholar Scores. The graphs below are a representation of the latest data.

Carroll Creek Communicator

The Results Are In!

Gardening at CCM

The picture to the left is of our raised gardens right after they were

installed. The picture to the right was taken Wednesday. Our students are taking great care of their plants! Below (and on the front page) you can see some beautiful flowers one

of our classrooms planted. Who doesn’t love spring!