The Good Shepherd Catholic Montessori is dedicated to providing an outstanding education to children ages three to fourteen in a Catholic atmosphere faithful to the Magesterium of the Church. Using the philosophy and techniques of the Montessori approach, including religious education through the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, our goal is to enable each child to develop as a well-integrated human being: spiritually, intellectually, socially, physically, and emotionally
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CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK
"It is the special function of the Catholic school to orient
the whole of human culture to the message of salvation."
United States Catholic Conference
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Upcoming Dates
Thurs., Jan 30 First Communion Parent Meeting, 6:00 p.m.
Thurs., Jan 30 Talent Show 7:00 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 31 Mom's Scripture Study Group, 9:15-11:15 a.m.
Catholic Schools Week
Wed., Jan. 29 Skating Party, 12:15-2:45
Thur., Jan. 30 Rally, 3:00 p.m.
Tues., Feb 4 "First Tuesday" Montessori 101 10:30 -11.30 a.m.
Thurs. & Fri., Feb 6 & 7 Beauty & the Beast
Sat., Feb 15 "Love and Marriage" Evening with Dr. Andrew
Sodergren 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 21-Feb. 7 Priority Registration Period for 2013-14
March 3 Financial Aid Application Deadline
Catholic Schools Week: January 27-31
Wednesday, January 29: Student Appreciation Day
- · All School Skating Party, 12:15-2:45 p.m.!!!
- · Crazy Hair and Hat Day:
In addition to out-of-uniform clothing, students can wear their favorite hats and sport a crazy hair-do at school for a day!
Thursday, January 30: School Spirit Day
- · Whole school recess and pep rally, 2:30 p.m. in the St. John Vianney building.
- · Classes will prepare their own original GSCM cheer to share with the school at the end of the day. The most original and spirited cheer will win a prize!
- · Students will prepare special thank you cards to GSCM supporters, with an expression of gratitude for the gift of their special school.
- · Spirit Wear/Jersey Day: Wear GSCM school spirit wear to show your school spirit, or team and club jerseys/shirts.
Friday, January 31: Staff Appreciation Day
- ·Students will share expressions of appreciation towards their teachers.
- Favorite character dress: Students are invited to dress as their favorite character from a book or movie!
K-8 Skating Party: Wed., Jan. 29: PERMISSION SLIPS REQUIRED
This year, all students will have bus transportation to and from the skating party. Please note that, per insurance regulations and the bus company, all students must have a signed permission slip. An email message will not be sufficient. Permission slips should have been turned into your students teacher.Even if a student has paid for the trip, if we do not have a signed permission slip, the student cannot travel on the bus.
Penny War to Benefit Hands Together! Our students are waging a "Penny War" to collect money for Helping Hands, an organization that works with the poorest of the poor in Haiti.
Our Recipient - Hands Together:Led by Father Tom Hagan, Hands Together provides education and free hot meals to children in an area of Port-au-Prince called Cite Soleil which is built on a garbage dump. Hands Together has so far succeeded in providing Cite Soleil with 8 campuses (including a high school), an elderly outreach program, a free clinic and hope for the future. We will be raising money to help improve school classrooms and add learning materials like maps and charts and basic hand outs. The Good Shepherd Catholic Montessori is excited to help this amazing organization continue their charitable work of responding to the needs of the less fortunate. If you'd like to know more about this organization and its important work, go to www.handstogether.org.
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In a Penny War, classrooms compete against each other to collect the most pennies. A child may bring in pennies and add them to his or her classroom's collection. BUT... if a child brings in other coins (nickels, dimes, quarters), he/she may go to another classroom and swap out his/her coins for that classroom's pennies. The classroom with the most PENNIES wins - not the most money.
There is a $1.00 per student per day limit. The exchanges take place during the first ten minutes of each morning. At the end of the Penny War, the money will be counted and the winning classroom will be treated to a class treat. The money will be sent to Helping Hands.
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"First Tuesday: Montessori 101" Parent Session:
Montessori Practical Life
Julia Damico, Presenter
February 4, 2014, 10:30-11:30
Do you ever wonder why your child spends so much time dishwashing, pouring, or easel painting in the classroom? How can pouring water, spooning beans, and sewing possibly relate to reading, writing, and math? Practical Life exercises are the very activities that surround a child in the life of the home. Why are they such an important part of the young child's school experience?
Julia Damico will show you how this wonderful area of the classroom prepares your child for future learning. How do these activities build order, concentration, independence, coordination, and sequential thinking? How do I as a parent utilize my understanding of practical life to:
· encourage my child's independence in age-appropriate ways?
· help my child develop skills in grace and courtesy?
· my child gain self-mastery through self-direction and self-control?
Childcare will be available at this event. Please RSVP to Nancy Toon by January 29th at ntoon@gscmontessori.org or (513) 271-4171 so that we can plan appropriately for childcare.
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Parents -- How Will You Celebrate Valentines' Day?
Dinner in a crowded restaurant? Buying a dozen roses?
Why not shake things up this year and spend an evening learning about love?
Join us on Saturday, February 15th as we celebrate the vocation to love in married life with a presentation by GSCM parent, Dr. Andrew J. Sodergren, M.T.S., Psy. D. of Ruah Woods. What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day then to spend an evening with your husband or wife learning:
- ·how you can help your love grow
- how to overcome common obstacles in marriage
- what Pope John Paul II's teachings in Theology of the Body can tell us about married love
We hope you'll join us at The Good Shepherd Catholic Montessori for this joyful celebration of love and good conversation. Wine, cheese and delicious desserts will be served. Childcare will be provided. In order that we may plan for appropriate childcare, please RSVP by Feb. 10th to Nancy Toon at (513) 271-4171 or ntoon@gscmontessori.org.
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Other Upcoming Events
GSCM Student Talent Show: Thurs., January 30
Sponsored by the PTO, this popular event is back again. Whether it is singing, dancing, playing an instrument, storytelling or dramatic readings, we know that our school has lots of talented children who love to perform. Come and see them perform this Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
Beauty and the Beast: Feb. 6th & 7th
You are invited to the Upper Elementary and Middle School's presentation of Beauty and the Beast on Thursday, February 6th and Friday, February 7th at 6:30 p.m. here at GSCM. Tickets may be purchased at the door and are $5 for adults and $3 for children. Come support our kids!
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Thank You for a Wonderful Open House!
On Sunday, January 26th GSCM opened its doors and welcomed several prospective families. From teachers to tour guides and parent volunteers, everyone did a great job! Thank you all for giving your time and sharing your smiles with our guests.
A round of applause for Mary Rieke and all the Student Tour Guides as well as Shelley Johnston, Lori Richard, Trisha and Wes Underwood, Lisa Hilbert, Susan Thomas, Jana Widmeyer, Joyce Lewis, Maria Monteforte, Maria Lang, Lisa Schmitz, Kathy Paulin, Liz Laskey, Elizabeth Jaquish-Galocy, Julie Dietrich, Holly Hankinson, Karen Aust, Karryn Shultz-Stieby, Monica Blackburn, Janet Rosenhoffer, Tracey Hodge and Shannon and Shawn Standridge.
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Virtues Education at GSCM
At GSCM, we are dedicated to helping your child to become the person God intended him or her to be. Our mission involves developing your child's character as well as academic formation. Therefore, our staff has begun working on the creation of a school-wide Virtues Education program.
This is part of our continuous school improvement plan, which is part of our ongoing accreditation process. All Catholic schools develop two goals for continuous improvement. One goal pertains to Catholic Identity and one pertains to Student Learning. GSCM's Catholic Identity goal is Virtues Education. Our Student Learning goal is in the area of math.
Part of our work in Virtues Education is the creation of a school-wide "touchstone" statement and a school motto. We would like input from you and your child in creating our "touchstone" statement. Please see the "touchstone statement" exercise that is coming home with your child this week. We look forward to your responses!
What is a 'touchstone statement'?
· A touchstone is a 'creed' or a 'way'. It expresses the shared values and aspirations of a school community.
· A touchstone helps to create an "intentional community," one in which members feel a strong connection and a shared moral identity because they are joined by commonly held values
· A touchstone should inspire critical thinking and ethical judgment about a wide range of situations, including ones for which there may be no specific rule
In future newsletters, we will share more about our work with Virtues Education, as well as our school improvement plan for Student Learning/Math.
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2014-15 Registration and Financial Aid Information
Priority Registration Period for 2014-15: January 21-February 7
IThe priority registration period for the 2014-15 school year will run from January 21 through February 7. During this time, current GSCM students may re-register and their siblings may apply for acceptance for 2014-15. We reserve enrollment for all current students and give priority consideration for all sibling applications through February 7. After that date, openings are no longer reserved but are offered to new applicants. Tuition contracts were sent home last week via backpack mail.
If you did not receive one please contact Nancy in the office.
If you are applying for financial aid, please go through the re-enrollment process and notate on the contract, if applicable, "pending financial aid award" in order to reserve your child's space. Back to top
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Montessori Moments
Love of Knowledge in Action!
By: Amy Scuglik, Lower Elementary Teacher
Each year, the lower elementary teachers enrich the curriculum and provide additional hands-on learning opportunities by planning fieldtrips and workshops for our students. This year, to reinforce recently learned zoology concepts, we had Ms. Krista from the Cincinnati Zoo visit our classroom. She brought two animal friends with her to help her teach our students more about Animal Food Chains. I don't think Ms. Krista was quite prepared to hear what our class had to add to her presentation!
First, she reviewed the basic science terminology: carnivore, herbivore, predator, prey, etc. (Easy stuff for the 6-9!) She had the students stand and use their hands to "pass the energy on" in a circle to model the "Circle of Life". Then she brought out Sienna, a spotted turtle. Our students quickly began sharing and discussing what they already knew, which quite impressed our guest naturalist! Here are just a few of the quotes that stemmed from the discussion:
Ms. Krista told us that turtles don't have many predators because of the turtles shell. The students quickly joined in the conversation:
· Ed was quick to inform, "Actually, sea turtles have MANY predators when they hatch on the beach, because their shells are still soft and they are all alone."
· Elise added, "This turtle can retract its neck. Did you know that some turtles cannot retract into their shells?"
· Charlie-"They have articulated necks."
When Ms. Krista was discussing that grasses and insects were below the turtle on the food chain, Clara added, "Also coral! Sea turtles eat coral! They have a different chain in the ocean!"
When asked what group of animal the turtle was in, Max replied, "The phylum Reptilia!" When a question was asked why they had spots, Ben interjected, "It probably has something to do with the mating season!" (I looked this up and could not find a great answer.-Ben is probably right!)
Next Ms. Krista brought out Goblin, an African Screech Owl. When we were talking about Goblin's vision Ed added, "Owls have more of a turning radius than humans." Ms. Krista was happy when she was able to stump them and tell them that the owl's secondary eye lid was called the nictitating membrane.
I was VERY impressed with how knowledgeable and articulate our students were and I have a feeling Ms. Krista, the naturalist from the zoo was too!
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Gala News:
The question everyone's been asking: Is Rich Apuzzo going to lead the live auction again this year?!
The answer is: YES!! Those that have attended the Gala in the past remember Rich as the enthusiastic auctioneer who helped us raise a record amount of funds to make improvements to our school -- how could anyone forget the humorous former Fox 19 meteorologist and current owner of Skyeye Weather?!
We look forward to seeing everyone at The Redmoor on March 8 at 7 p.m.! Your invitation will be arriving soon in your home mailbox (RSVP due February 24), but if you're eager to check out Gala info now, click here and arrange that babysitter today!
We are in need of silent auction items and are looking for your help in securing various items, please check out this link and sign up here http://vols.pt/CCFJfF. It really takes all of our collective efforts to make this event a success!
Thanks from your Gala Co-chairs,
Rachel Sabo rachel.sabo16@gmail.com
Susan Thomas susanthomas@fuse.net
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Office News:
Welcome Corvi Family!
Jacob Corvi is a new student who just started this week in Mrs. Damico's classroom. Please welcome him and his parents, Ernest and Andrea, and add them to your directory. Their address is 5505 Autumn Creek Dr. Liberty Township, OH 45044.
Schoolhouse Fare;
If you want to order hot lunch for your 1st - 8th grade students from Ramundo's (pizza, salads and sandwiches) on Mondays or Zoups (soups and sandwiches) on Wednesdays, it's now time to place your orders for the month of February. Just click here to get started. If you have any questions, please contact Nancy in the office.
The Peanut Butter Collection
Our collection for Inter Parish Ministry's pantry brought in 52 jars of peanut butter and other items. Thank you very, very much for your generosity.
Our next collection will be Thursday, February 13th.
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Sports News:
2014 St. Gertrude Bulldogs Track
The St. Gertrude Track Program is open to ALL students in grades 1-8 in St. Gertrude School, All Saints, Good Shepherd Montessori, Nativity, and St. Mary's. Our program is also open to those students who are active parish members of the schools listed above in Religious Education or home schooled.
Practices are held at Madeira High School.
Meets are on Saturdays - a few of the 7-8th grade meets are held Friday nights. The meets are structured as follows
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Grades 1-4
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Instructional in nature. Running events include 50m, 100m 200m and a 400m relay. Field events are: Softball throw, long jump, (High Jump & shot put for 3rd & 4th)
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Grades 5-8
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Longest running event 800m, Field events are Long Jump, High Jump, Shot Put, and Discus
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Head Coaches and Assistant coaches are needed.
Important Information: Cost $45 Registration Jan 27 - Feb 28
First Practice On or around March 4th First Meet Mar 28-29 St. Jude Invitational
Click Here to Register
If you have any questions please contact our Program Coordinators: Lesley Marsh lwmarsh87@gmail.com
Jill Vonderhaar jmvonderhaar@gmail.com
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Thank You, Family!
We appreciate your taking the time to read our newsletter.
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