State of the School 2015

• Several of our teachers attended the AMS (American Montessori Society) Conference in Dallas, TX connecting with the global Montessori community; bringing back creative ideas to share with their peers.
• A teacher representative from lower and upper elementary attended a workshop sponsored by The Reading Writing Project featuring Lucy Calkins and Amanda Hartman to support the development and implementation of the Writers’ Workshop curriculum at FMS.
• Ms. Melissa, Grade Level Head for Primary, conducted further training in the areas of reading (early reading through advanced levels) and art for the Primary teachers.
• Grace Dearborn was the highlight of the year when she conducted our in-service training in October.  Everyone walked away with tools to immediately implement in the classroom and inspired the teachers with their own “ah ha” moments. Grace’s topics were:- Conscious Classroom Management – bringing out the best in students and teachers
  – Rebels with Applause – brain-compatible approaches for motivating reluctant learners

Future trainings for 2015 will focus on sensorial, science, technology in the classroom, and Writers’ Workshop.

Security

The safety and security of our students is of the utmost importance and an area that is under constant evaluation. We have continued our partnership and training with Secure Ed to refine our emergency drills as outlined in our Emergency Preparedness Plan, including a potential active threat. In addition, all parents have individual access codes to the campus, and emergency texting services have been implemented and tested. Furthermore, a visitor badge system is utilized requiring all parents, visitors, and vendors to present a valid driver’s license which is compared to national sex offender databases to ensure the safety of our students. Future goals for 2015 will be focused on upgrading campus surveillance and placing “grab and go” kits in the classrooms to deal with all potential emergency situations.

Technology

The safety and security of our students is of the utmost importance and an area that is under constant evaluation. We have continued our partnership and training with Secure Ed to refine our emergency drills as outlined in our Emergency Preparedness Plan, including a potential active threat. In addition, all parents have individual access codes to the campus, and emergency texting services have been implemented and tested. Furthermore, a visitor badge system is utilized requiring all parents, visitors, and vendors to present a valid driver’s license which is compared to national sex offender databases to ensure the safety of our students. Future goals for 2015 will be focused on upgrading campus surveillance and placing “grab and go” kits in the classrooms to deal with all potential emergency situations.

We have already kicked off 2015 with a bang when middle school received 30 chromebooks!Ms. Erica will also be attending the Las Vegas Summit featuring Google for Education in January.  Our goal is to acquire another 20 chromebooks for upper elementary in September. Furthermore, a highly requested coding elective will be offered beginning January 30thfor upper elementary and middle school students called “Ruby” that will be taught by Mr. Matt Wells.

Curriculum

In 2014, the writing committee, lead by Ms. Danna, evaluated all practices and curriculum used campus wide with the goal of aligning our current practices with established writing curriculum guidelines that flow from primary through 8th grade in a more comprehensive and fluid fashion. A working document was completed in June outlining benchmarks by grade level and is being refined throughout the 2014-2015 school year as it is implemented using the Lucy Calkins Writing Workshop curriculum. This has been a major undertaking by all levels that will require further professional development in 2015 to bring the process full-cycle in our unique multi-age teaching environment. In addition, a new parent-teacher conference form and report card were introduced enabling parents to see the growth of their child up to 3 consecutive years as they move through a grade level. Lastly, the summer of 2014 was quite productive when the campus grounds were remodeled including the lower elementary garden, courtyard garden, and primary outdoor classroom to accommodate our botany, nutrition and gardening curriculum which the children absolutely love! Who wouldn’t want to be outside in the beautiful greenhouse with Ms. Val? Another huge “thank you” is extended to the FMS PTO, Park Landscaping and the families of FMS who participated in our 5K fundraiser to make it all possible.

On the 2015 horizon…Rosetta Stone has launched a new foreign language program specifically for grades K-12 for which we secured a license.  All students in the Spanish Immersion program (ages K-3rd grade) will be utilizing Rosetta Stone for the 2015-2016 school year to reinforce the dual language program.  Furthermore, students in the non-Spanish Immersion program in grades K-8will be given the opportunity to have a Rosetta Stone account if they wish to supplement their Spanish classroom instruction as well.

It’s been another year marked by milestones, and driven by the dedication, drive, and passion of an amazing group of individuals working towards a common goal – to make FMS the best it can be! I’m incredibly fortunate and thankful to be surrounded by such a talented team and devoted families. I speak on behalf of everyone when I say we are truly grateful to all of you for allowing us the privilege and opportunity of teaching your children and being a part of the FMS community.

Respectfully,

Karen Kolb

Executive Director