Amarillo Montessori Academy

2011 Spring Raffle

2011-05-11T08:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who sold raffle tickets for our spring fund raiser. We had so much fun at the covered dish dinner last night. We had pot luck at 6:00 and at 7:00 we drew three names for the raffle winners. Congratulations to Julie Pierson, Nathan Roberts, and Katy Sawyer! The proceeds from the spring raffle will help to buy new equipment for our classrooms and will also be used for teacher training in August. Thanks again to everyone who participated by selling tickets or making a donation to the school. We have the best families in Amarillo!

Summer and Fall Enrollment

2011-03-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

We are currently accepting enrollment for this summer and next school year. Enrollment forms can be downloaded from the admissions tab. Enrollment is accepted on a first come first served basis. If you are interested in touring the school and meeting the staff, please feel free to call or e-mail to schedule an appointment. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Snow Day!

2011-02-09T04:06:00.000-08:00

The Amarillo Montessori Academy will be closed on Wednesday February 9th due to snow. Please stay safe and warm and we will see you on Thursday.

Back to School Covered Dish Dinner!

2010-09-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

Our annual Back to School Covered Dish Dinner will be held on Tuesday, September 14th at the school on the playground. The dinner will start at 6:00 pm so please bring your food before six. We would love for you to bring your family to meet the teachers and see the school. Just bring your food, your family, your folding chairs or a picnic blanket and we will provide the fun! See you Tuesday.

Registration Open

2010-04-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

We are currently accepting enrollment for students ages 6 weeks through Kindergarten for the summer and the academic school year. All of our enrollment information including payment information is available on our website. Please click on the Admissions tab and scroll to the bottom for the PDF documents. Please feel free to call the office at 353-3871 to schedule a tour and an appointment with the director.

Wonderland Park Night

2010-04-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, April 24th is our Wonderland Park night. Everyone is invited to purchase a park pass for $12 in the school office. The pass is good for riding all the rides at Wonderland except the Fantastic Journey and the Texas Tornado. The pass is good for the hours of 1:00 to 6:00 PM this Saturday and would normally cost $22. If you can't use your pass on Saturday, it is good for weeknights during the rest of the summer or you can pay $6 at the gate on weekends. We look forward to seeing you there!

Open House!

2010-04-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

Prospective students and their families are invited to join us for our Annual Open House on Sunday, April 11 from 2:00 to 4:00. Come and tour the school and meet the staff and board. We will be accepting enrollment for new students ages 6 weeks through Kindergarten on April 19th. Please put April 11th on your calendar and join us at 3806 Bowie on Sunday. Please feel free to call the school at 353-3871 for more information.

Registration!

2010-04-04T18:03:00.000-07:00

Summer and Fall registration is now open to currently enrolled students and their siblings. Simply download the forms from the admissions tab and bring them to the school with your registration fee. New student enrollment will begin on April 19 so reserve your spot now! Please call the school at 353-3871 with any questions.

School Closed Friday!

2010-01-28T17:56:00.001-08:00

Looks like AISD and CISD are closed again Friday. I know that we have two cars and tractor stuck in our driveway right now! Hope you all stay warm and safe. See you on Monday.

School Closed

2010-01-28T04:06:00.000-08:00

Due to ice and snow and the closing of AISD, we will be closed today, Thursday, January 28th, 2010. Our snow make up day is scheduled for Friday, April 2nd. If we have to close on this Friday, we will let you know what AISD decides about another make up day. I hope that you enjoy your day with your children, I know that I will!

Handwashing!

2009-10-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

Flu season is upon us and I hope that you all are well. We are trying to teach the children proper hand washing procedures. We have talked to some students who don't wash their hands in public restrooms or when they use the restroom at home. We also have some students who don't have soap in their bathrooms at home. We know that hand washing can be messy, but it is the best flu preventive we have! Please work with your children to turn on the faucet, wet their hands, get one squirt of soap, make bubbles (before they put their hands back under the running water,) lather the fronts and backs of both hands while singing the ABC song, rinse their hands, get a paper towel, dry hands and use the towel to turn off the water. Of course, you set the best example by using the proper hand washing procedure yourself! Thank you for partnering with us to stay healthy this year.

School Canceled 3/27/2009

2009-03-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

AMA will be closed on Friday, March 27 due to snow forcast! The snow make-up day will be held on Monday, April 13. Please stay safe and warm and I hope that you are not standing in line at the grocery store! We hope to see you all at the open house on Sunday, the 29th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM.

2009-03-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to write a note to explain our re-enrollment process and our new tuition structure. The AMA board voted to keep the tuition for the 2009-2010 school year the same as this year! Yeah! We do have a change in the payment structure however.

During the month of March we will be re-enrolling our currently enrolled students and their siblings for the summer of 2009 and the school year 2009-2010. Older siblings and former students up to eight years old can enroll for the summer program. Children six weeks through six years can enroll for the school year.

Our summer program will run for ten weeks from June 1 through August 7 with a holiday on July 3. The registration fee for the summer program is $75. Summer tuition will be paid in two equal payments that are due on the first of June and the first of July. Right now we are only enrolling children for the school day or the all day program. (Requests for half-day will be considered at the end of the enrollment period.)

The 2009-2010 school year will begin on August 24th. The school will be closed for maintenance and teacher in-service from August 10 through August 21. The re-registration fee for returning students is $125 and new students pay $250 to register. The school year tuition will be paid in nine equal payments instead of ten and will be due on September first instead of August first.

If you plan to enroll your child for June 2009 through May 2010, you can pay tuition in twelve equal payments. Those payments will be due on the first of each of twelve months starting June first. We hope that this will make budgeting easier for families who plan to attend school in the summer and during the school year.

Our Annual Open House will be held on Sunday, March 29th from 2-4 PM. Our currently enrolled families have until that day to pay the enrollment fees and reserve their spot for summer and the school year. We will open enrollment to the public during the first week in April.

Enrollment forms are available on the admission page of our website, www.amarillomontessori.com. We are so pleased that you have chosen AMA for your family and we would like for each child to be able to return this summer and in the fall. If you have any questions please feel free to call the office at 353-3871.

Prospective Board Members

2009-02-21T16:21:00.000-08:00

Our annual Meeting of the Members of the Amarillo Montessori Academy will be held this Monday night at Jason's Deli. The business portion of the meeting will begin at 6:45. We will be electing new board members at this meeting.

The prospective board members are: Craig Brewton, our current board treasurer. He is the father of a child in room 1 and a child in room 4. Sabiha Shareef, who is a former teacher at AMA. She works as a medical technologist. Corey Burns (I'm at home so I hope I spelled that right) who is a job coach and small business specialist and has a child in room 3.

We are so thankful that these folks have agreed to donate their time to the school. I hope that you can make time to attend our annual meeting on Monday.

Breakfast of Champions

2008-11-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

Ask anyone what the most important meal of the day is and I'll bet you they say "breakfast." Most of you know that the term comes from the fact that the morning meal is breaking a ten to twelve hour fast from the day before. Lots of love, adequate sleep and good nutrition are probably the three most important things you can give to your children. They are also three things that the child cannot acquire on his own.

I know that you are all busy and tired! I'm guessing that about half of you are early birds and half of you are night owls. I am a night owl who gets up at 6:00 am. I have had to train myself to go to bed early and get up early to get my morning chores done. I get up and take a shower, put makeup on, get dressed, make breakfast for four people, help make lunch for two kids, supervise three kids morning activities, feed the fish, feed and water two indoor cats and too many barn cats, feed and water and break ice for four horses, one donkey, two cows, five goats and several chickens. Then I drop two kids off at school in Canyon and drive twenty minutes to work. ( I also try to do laundry and dishes on some mornings.)

I know how busy and tired you all are!

I also remember that my kids didn't always like to eat breakfast first thing in the morning. They needed time to watch TV or play before they were ready to eat in the morning. My 15 year old son still takes breakfast on a plastic plate with a plastic fork in the car to eat on the way to school. Your children are welcome to bring their breakfast to school to eat if they get here before 8:15.

Now, your idea of breakfast and our idea of breakfast may be two different things. Remember, you are the only one who can provide good nutrition for your small child. You make their breakfast and you pack their lunch. You provide snacks and you provide supper. Chocolate donuts and chocolate milk are not the "Breakfast of Champions."

Have you been paying attention to the media and current concern over obesity in our country? Most Americans get way too many refined foods and not enough "whole foods" in their natural state. We also eat far too many carbohydrates and not enough protein. The recommended ratio for carbs, protein and fat is 45%, 30% and 25%. A donut has 51% carbs, 6% protein and 43% fat. A cup of 2% milk has 39% carbs, 26% protein and 35% fat.

www.nutritiondata.com is a website that lists nutrition facts and ratios for whole foods, packaged foods and restaurant foods. We have added this site to our list of favorite web sites.

Next week, we'll feature great breakfast ideas from the staff and parents. If you have a great breakfast idea, please e-mail me at ama@amaonline.com.

We know that you all want to be the best parents that you can be. We know that you all have chosen Amarillo Montessori to give your child the best early education. We want to help you provide the best morning nutrition so that your child can get the most out of his morning at school.

Have a great weekend!

Final Parent Orientation

2008-11-05T11:00:00.000-08:00

I would like to thank everyone who has followed my blog through the parent orientation process. The rest of the handbook is very thorough and I trust that you will be able to read and understand it. If you have any questions about any part of our parent handbook, please feel free to ask your child's teacher or to call me in the office.

I would like to thank all the families who participated in the selling of cookie dough and pies. Your participation in the school's fund-raising efforts are so important. Because of parent participation in the Annual Extravaganza last year, we were able to install new tile and carpet in Rooms 1, 2, 3 & 4. We were also able to buy an awning to protect the doorway for Room 5.

The school board and staff will be meeting this month to discuss plans for the Annual Extravaganza 2009. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please e-mail me and I will share your comments at the meeting. If you are interested in serving on the Extravaganza committee, please let me know as soon as possible.

Parent Orientation: Sixth Session

2008-10-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

Toys at school! Please do not allow your child to bring toys from home to school. We feel so bad when toys get broken, lost or "borrowed" at school. Toys can also be distracting when they are in the backpack and kids need to show the toys to their friends. After the winter break, most classes have a "toy" show and tell day so that the kids can bring their favorite toy to show the class.

Regarding clothing, please send your child to school in comfortable, casual clothing. Even kids who have been potty trained for a while can have accidents when they can't remove their clothing easily. The teachers like to have a change of clothing, including socks, in the backpack or classroom for each child. Also, we will go outside on cold days for at least a few minutes. Please send jackets, hats and mittens if you feel that they will be needed at 10:30 AM and 2:00 PM. We will not go outside if it is wet!

State regulations require that we offer a rest time for each student who is in school-day or all-day care. Each child needs a nap mat and a blanket that is long enough to cover their whole body. (We hate to see little ones pull the blanket up over their shoulders and uncover their feet!) Nap-time begins as soon as the children finish their lunch. If a child falls asleep, we will allow them to sleep for two hours and then we will wake them up. After one hour of rest time, a child who is awake can put his mat away and work quietly in the classroom. Babies who sleep in cribs are removed from the cribs when they wake up.

Our students bring their own lunches to school every day but Wednesday, when they can choose to pay for pizza. Our handbook contains a list of ideas for lunch foods that you can send for your child. Please send a cold pack for cold foods. We have microwaves in each classroom to warm foods, please don't send items that take more than one minute to heat.

Some of you have already been invited for parent-teacher conferences. It is our goal to provide regular written progress reports and to conference with parents of pre-schoolers in the fall and the spring. Infant and toddler parents are welcome to call for an appointment with the teachers any time.

Parent Orientation: Fifth Session

2008-10-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

Thank you for sticking with me for our review of the parent handbook. I'm sorry I'm late getting online this week. Please read the section of the handbook concerning injury at school.

We want to let you know that if your child sustains any kind of head injury at school, we will call you to come and look at the injury. We want you to decide whether or not your child should see a doctor when they have hit their head.

We also want to let you know that we have to notify TDFPS if your child must see a doctor due to being injured at school. If your child has to see a doctor, please make sure that you get a TDFPS form from their teacher or from the office. There is a section for the doctor to fill out and it is much easier to have it filled out while you are there!

The fire department visited AMA last week to conduct our annual fire inspection. We passed with flying colors! We do practice fire and tornado drills regularly, so please do not be concerned if your child says that we had a "fire" at school.

In the event that we experience severe weather this winter, please watch the news or listen to the radio. If the Amarillo Public School system is closed, we will be closed. We hope that you will be able to stay home with your children if the roads are dangerous, but as long as AISD is in session, we will be open.

Regarding attendance, please have your child at school before 8:30 each morning. Our school day starts at 8:30 and children who arrive later than that struggle to catch up each day. Children who arrive a few minutes early have a chance to get a drink of water and visit with their friends before school starts. Please keep in mind how you feel when you have a few minutes to "breathe" before work as opposed to getting there and having to jump right in.

Parent Orientation: Fourth Session

2008-09-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

Thank you for joining me for a fourth week of Parent orientation. I hope that this blog will help to answer some specific questions for each family. Before I start on the handbook, I would like to remind everyone that:

Cookie Dough Orders Are Due!!

Regarding the release of students: Please call the office or send a note to school if someone different than their normal ride will picking up your child. This person will need to bring their picture ID into the school with them. The classroom teacher or the office staff will check the ID to verify the identity of the person. Please keep in mind that even if a parent or grandparent is on the regular pick-up list, the staff may still want to check their ID.

Procedure for Illness at School:
The most common reasons that we would call you to pick up your sick child from school include, but are not limited to: fever of 99.4 under the armpit (or the equivalent), vomiting, diarrhea, rash, or the need for a level of care that we cannot provide.

We do not have a nurses office here at the school. Please make sure that you have someone that you can call in an emergency if you cannot leave work to pick up your child. Some communicable diseases are reportable to the health department, so please let us know what the doctor diagnoses. During times of specific concern, your child's teacher may send a note home that needs to be signed by a doctor before your child can return to school.

Please remember that we do not ask you to take your child to the doctor every time they are sick. We do ask that children be fever, vomit and diarrhea free for twenty-four hours before they return to school. Please bring a doctor's note if it has been requested by the teacher or the office. If everyone will be considerate of the health of the other families and the staff who have contact with their child, we will all have a healthier year!

Parent Orientation: Third Session

2008-09-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

Blog Page! Just in case this is your first time to visit our Blog page, please click anywhere on the text in the piece of notebook paper to be taken to the blog site. When you get to the blog page, please look to your right for the Parent Handbook Website. The complete parent handbook is published on this site.

A quirky law in the state of Texas requires the schools, not the Pediatricians, to keep records of the children's immunizations. Your child may have been immunized at the hospital at birth, at the pediatrician's office or at a clinic. Our school, and the elementary school that your child will attend, must have all of your child's records (from birth to now) on file. Thank you for taking the time to track down these records and get them to our office.

We also need a physicians permission for your child to participate in school activities. We don't need a copy of your child's medical record or most recent exam, just a note from the doctor that states that your child is physically able to attend school.

Our school will conduct vision and hearing screening for your child. Sometimes these services are donated, and sometimes we have to charge a small fee. If your child is old enough to be screened, the state requires that we keep the record in our files. If your child has been screened by a professional away from the school, please bring us a copy of the results for our files.

Now that we have been in school for three weeks, I would like to address traffic safety in our parking lot. If you drop your child off at school before 8:15, please park in a parking space or on the street and walk your child to class. From 8:15 to 8:30 you can drive up in front of our doors and drop your child off if they can walk themselves to class. If your child needs help getting to class, please park in a parking space or on the street to walk your child in.

At 11:30 dismissal, please park in a space or on the street and come in, or wait in your car for your child to be dismissed. At 3:00, please park in a space or on the street to come in, or wait in your car for your child to be dismissed. After 3:30, please feel free to park at the sidewalk in front of the school to go inside to get your children.

When cars are left unattended at the sidewalk in front of the school it is dangerous, especially at our busy arrival and dismissal times. Other parents are tempted to drop off their children from the middle lane and the children have to cross in front of the cars parked along the sidewalk. Some parents also get blocked into parking spaces or on the curb because other parents are forced to wait in the middle lane for their child to get out of or into the car.

Please, please, just be especially watchful for very short people in front of and behind your car in our parking lot and please moderate your speed!

If our staff can do anything to help with your arrival and dismissal time, please let us know.

Parent Orientation: Second Session

2008-09-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

Please look to the right under the heading "Our Favorite Sites" to the title "Parent Handbook." If you click on that title, it will link you to the site containing our Parent Handbook. You can bookmark that site or reach it through this blog. Any changes to the Parent Handbook will be updated to that site.

Please take time to read the history of our school. We are so proud to be celebrating our 40th year of providing Montessori education to the families of the Panhandle. Thank you for choosing AMA as your partner in the education of your child.

Please also note our hours of operation. We open at 7:30 AM, Monday through Friday. Please do not get upset with our staff if they do not unlock the doors until that time. Several of our teachers arrive at school before 7:30 in order to prepare their classrooms and materials for their students. Our license from the State of Texas does not allow us to open our doors for students until 7:30 AM.

By the same token, please be respectful of our closing time. We are licensed to stay open until 6:00 PM. Our students need to be picked up no later than 6:00 PM in order to prevent violations to our license. If an emergency should cause you to be late, please phone the office immediately since our staff is supposed to report late children to child protective services.

Thank you to parents who have turned in all of their child's completed enrollment forms. Your child's file is also regulated by the state and must be complete for us to remain licensed. Please understand that we are not picking on you, but your child should not be allowed to attend our school without a complete file.

Parent Handbook Online!

2008-09-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

Please look to the right under the heading "Our Favorite Sites" to the title "Parent Handbook." If you click on that title, it will link you to the site containing our Parent Handbook. You can bookmark that site or reach it through this blog. Any changes to the Parent Handbook will be updated to that site.

For our first Parent Orientation "Session," I would like to highlight the mission statement for the Amarillo Montessori Academy. In an effort to reach our goal of providing "quality education" we know that we must love the children and help them get comfortable in their environment. If a child is worried or insecure, his brain cannot process all of the learning opportunities he is offered.

In order to provide a "Montessori setting" we try to have one Montessori Certified teacher in each classroom. Because the Infant/Toddler certification is still fairly new, we have Montessori Certified teachers consult with teachers who are not certified. Some of our pre-school classes have two Montessori Certified teachers!

I always like to tell parents that Montessori education is different from traditional education because we are trying to encourage the children to become "self-directed learners." That means that instead of teachers saying "here is what I know and I am going to teach it to you" Montessori teachers say "here is a world full of knowledge and I am going to show you how to find it."

Finally, we at AMA believe that every child has a gift and that it is our responsibility as teachers to help them find that gift and make the most of it. Some children have intellectual gifts, some have artistic gifts and some have spiritual/emotional gifts. As parents and teachers, we also need to remember that children don't always have the same gifts that their parents and siblings have! Try to take time this week to celebrate your family's gifts.

Welcome Back!

2008-08-24T06:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the 2008-2009 school year. My goal this year is to add to the blog every Tuesday morning! Right now, I'd like to invite you to review the parent/student handbook through the blog. Each blog post will address a portion of the handbook. I will try to have a PDF file of that portion of the handbook for you to download (my husband Mike says that he can help me do that!)
I am so pleased that you have chosen the Amarillo Montessori Academy for your family. Our job is to love your child so that he/she feels comfortable enough to settle in and learn new things. Please let your child's teacher know how we can best serve your family this year. We love hearing from you on a regular basis. Best wishes this year!

Annual Extravaganza!

2008-04-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

Please make sure that you have reserved this Friday, May 2nd, on your calendar. Our Annual Extravaganza will begin at 5:30, at the Amarillo Civic Center. Join us for a BBQ buffet, silent auction, live auction and children's performance. Dress is casual western, so polish your boots and call all your friends, and mosey on over this Friday night!

Online Auction!

2008-04-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

Go to amarillomontessori.cmarket.com to get the jump on bidding for our Annual Extravaganza Auction!

Fall Registration in Progress!

2008-04-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

Now is the time to get your children registered to attend school in the fall. We still have a few openings in the toddler and pre-school classrooms. Just call the Amarillo Montessori Academy at 353-3871 and set up an appointment to meet with the staff. We would love to meet with you and your child and answer your questions. If we don't have a program to suit your needs, we will be happy to direct you to other schools in town. To insure that your child gets the right fit for fall, start your search now!

New Board Members

2008-02-26T09:11:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who attended our family night at Home Plate Diner last evening. Over seventy people signed in to vote and I know that we had that many children and guests. The folks at the Diner were so gracious to provide their restaurant for a meeting place and to donate 20% of the sales for the evening to AMA. Our school board members are also to be thanked for running orders and bussing tables all evening!

Four new board members were elected last night. They are Dennis Amason, Michelle Dear, Farrah Shah and Matt Thomas. They will attend the meetings in March, April and May and then they will fill the positions of the outgoing members in June. I really appreciate the time that the school board members commit to the school.

Registration for summer and fall will be starting next week. Stay tuned to the blog for registration information.

Family Night!

2008-02-22T09:04:00.000-08:00

Monday night we will be introducing a new format for our Annual Meeting of the parents and members of the Academy. We will still be voting for the new school board members, but we will also have dinner and enjoy some down time with each other. We will be having a come and go supper at the Home Plate Diner on Monday night from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.

Twenty percent of the sales fromt the evening will be donated to the school. The teachers and board members will be there to visit with families and to help serve and clean up! We will have a paper ballot and you can vote for the new board members while you are there.

I would like to introduce our prospective board members to you:

Dennis Amason
Father of Garrett (4 years) and Elisabeth (6 years)
Education: Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration
Experience: Dennis is self employed and he has served as the chairman for his church board. Dennis cares about his child and about the Amarillo Montessori Academy. He wants to serve on the board because he wants to spend his time working on something he is passionate about.

Michelle Dear
Mother of Hudson (3 years) & Hadley (20 mos).
Education: Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies from WT
Experience: Michelle has served as the Executive Director of the YMCA. She would like to serve on the board because she thinks everyone should serve their time for their school. She cares about the place where her children will both be educated. Having served as an Executive Director, she understands the important role of the board of directors. Michelle also has experience in fundraising and hopes that experience will benefit the school.

Farrah Shah
Mother of Emaan (2 years)
Education: Bachelor’s in Pre-law and Political Science, currently working on MBA at WTAMU
Experience: Farrah used to be a bookkeeper and is very familiar with financing and budgeting. She is has been the director of Delta Zeta Zeta sorority for 4 years and has received national accreditation. Farrah is very passionate about organizations that she believes in and likes to volunteer her time to support them.

Matt Thomas
Father of Cooper (3 years) & Quinn (infant)
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M
Experience: Matt is an engineer at Thomas & Israel Registered Civil Engineers and he has served on several boards including Center City. Matt attended Amarillo Montessori as a child and feels like it gave him a good head-start. He believes AMA provides a good education for his children as well. He has had experience with several other non-profit boards and believes he can provide a good common-sense approach to matters brought before the board. With an engineering background, he would also be able to help the school by advising and helping the school move forward with our expansion.

Welcome to 2008!

2008-01-24T07:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2008! I know that I am a little tardy with my salutation. Coming back to school after the winter holiday can sometimes feel like starting all over. I hope that you were all able to spend a little extra time with your children during the holiday.

I am quite sure that many schools exist that have staff members who love the children in their care. I just get to see firsthand examples here at AMA of the love that is shared by the staff and students. Of course, I especially get tears in my eyes when I see my sixteen year old son, a former student, playing with the children on the playground.

Daily, I see the students, infant to elementary, sharing hugs and kisses with their teachers and their friends. I hear teachers spontaneously tell the children "I love you," and the children say, "I love you too." One of Mrs. Couch's kindergarten boys says good-bye to her every afternoon with "good-bye Mr. Couch" and she replies, "good-bye Miss E....." (They love their private joke!)

Sure, we have frustrating moments. We have entire bad days (especially when it is too cold to go outside and play.) But we are like a big family. The love that we share on a daily basis gets us through the tough times.

The best moment I have had all year was at nap-time last week. I was sitting on the floor with two little girls patting their backs. One was petting my fuzzy sweater and she said, "Mrs. Cunningham, you are so soft." The other little girl looked up from her mat and said, "And you're pwetty and you smewl good."

I just love them, I love their honesty, I love their wisdom, I even love their bad days. I'm proud of them and I'm so blessed that you share them with us. Try to take a moment today to appreciate your child right now, at the age and stage that they are. Write down the funny things they say and kiss their whole face even when you want to pull out your hair. I'm wishing lots of memories for you in 2008. Enjoy!

Nutcracker Ballet

2007-11-29T12:36:00.000-08:00

The school has purchased 50 tickets to see the Nutcracker on Friday, December 7. This 10:00 to 12:00 morning performance at the Civic Center Auditorium is for schools only. Our elementary class is using about 20 tickets for a field trip. Unfortunately we do not have enough tickets for another class to take a field trip.

We would like to offer the other 30 tickets to parents, grandparents and students who would like to attend the performance. The cost for the tickets would be $5.00 each. We will provide tickets to the first 30 people who send money to school. You can pick your child up at school at 10:00 or you can meet us at the civic center.

The teachers would like to request that children who need to be returned to school, be returned after nap time. By the time that you have eaten lunch after the performance, our children at school will already be asleep. If your child will be returning to school, please discuss your return time with your child's teacher.

I highly recommend attending this performance with your child. This is a great opportunity to see the new costumes and sets without feeling guilty if you decide to leave early. You will be surrounded by other children and you won't feel bad if your child is a little noisy or can't sit perfectly still. I personally feel that our children do not have enough opportunities to be asked to sit still and pay attention with a large group of people.

Please send your money and ticket requests back to school as soon as possible. We will all be sitting together in a group so we will call you with further instructions.

Grand! parents

2007-11-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I attended a memorial service for the grandfather of one of our students. As I saw the family gathered at the service, I was reminded about the importance of family.

With the Thanksgiving and winter holidays approach, my own family is trying to divide up our vacation time. Mike and I have siblings, parents and grandparents who all live in Amarillo. We also have several aunts, uncles and cousins in Austin.

Mike works with his family at Eat-Rite and they are incredibly busy during these particular holidays. Each branch of the family tries to take turns leaving town during the holidays and we are traveling to Austin this year to see my Aunt Sheryl's new grand baby. She has been such a supportive great-aunt to my children and she is so excited about her own grandchild.

I know from experience how easy it is to become estranged from your family members when you reach adulthood. Perhaps your parents are still telling you what to do or maybe they act like children themselves. You might think you are the only one who has such crazy in-laws (or should I say out-laws) and relatives who say too much when they drink the rum punch!

On behalf of your children, upon whom I place great value, I would humbly beg that you take a step back and view your current situation from their perspective. In our current society, children need as many adults on their side as possible. Adults who think that your children are just perfect when you would like to wring their necks. Adults who have the perspective to see a budding Einstein, Robin Williams, Kristi Yamaguchi, Mozart, Van Gogh, or Oprah. Adults who may be able to forge a relationship with these small people that we love and possibly bridge the gap.

Growing up in St. Louis, we were not always able to be with our blood relatives during the holidays. I had Ga-Ga, Pa-Pa, Me-Maw and Paw-Paw in Texas, but I have wonderful memories of Thanksgiving with "Grandma" and "Grandpa" Fairchild, the parents of my dad's best friend. I know that some of you are far from your immediate relatives but you probably have access to other adults who would love to spend time with your children.

In closing, I wish the gift of peace for you all. I think that the family of the grandpa at the memorial service would say "make the most of every moment." Know that we consider you all to be a part of the AMA family.

Thank You!

2007-11-09T13:21:00.000-08:00

(Click on this message to be taken to the AMA blog page from the AMA home page.)
I would like to thank Todd Newell for helping me with this blog and the AMA website. I am trying to become as computer savvy as my children and my husband are.
We now have a school events calendar that you can access from the home page. Just click on the calendar tab to view our current events.
My hope is that all of the parents will make a habit of cruising through our website once a week to check out what's happening at AMA. I would like to hear back from you through your comments.
Thank you to all the parents who care so much for the children and the school!

Curtain up!

2007-10-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first ever blog for the Amarillo Montessori Academy. My aim with this blog is to inform, encourage and occasionally entertain the families of AMA. I will let you know what is going on in the classrooms at the school, I will try to keep you up to date on issues that affect children and childcare, and I will share anecdotes that make us smile during the day. I welcome your comments and may even ask for your suggestions, tips and tricks. Curtain up!

Taking my new blog for a test drive!

2007-10-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

Just giving it a try.