Maple Tree Montessori Academy will be hosting an Open House for prospective parents on Saturday April 3rd from 11:00 – 1:00. We welcome all parents and children to come visit our classrooms, meet our teachers and ask questions about our programs.
We are currently enrolling students for Pre school thru 6th grade. (Yes, Maple Tree Montessori is a fully liscened private Elementary School) If you would like an information packet before Saturday, please email us at info@mapletreemontessori.com and we will send one out by email. We look forward to your visit!

Are you considering a private elementary school for your kindergarten student? Are you curious about Montessori Elementary education?Do you have questions about the Montessori Elementary curriculum and how it is different from other private, charter and public school programs? Maple Tree Montessori is pleased to invite all parents who would like to learn about Montessori Elementary and about our Lower and Upper Elementary programs to attend our “Moving Up” night on Tuesday, January 18th at 6:30. Parents of current Montessori students, all kindergarten students and possible future students will be able to visit the classrooms, meet the teachers, see our “hands on” materials  and ask questions about Montessori philosophy and curriculum.  Our enrollment for Fall 2010 has begun and we are accepting new students for programs serving preschool through 6th grade. Email info@mapletreemontessori.com for more information.

Maple Tree Montessori Academy is very excited to welcome author Chick Mooman to our school. We will be hosting a Chick Moorman Workshop on Saturday, February 6th from 1:00 to 4:00, “The 5 Voices of Enlightened Parenting”. Chick is a wonderful, funny and insightful speaker and we are very pleased that he makes time in his busy schedule for our school. The usual fee for a Chick Moorman workshop is $60.00, we are happy to offer this event free of charge to our community. All parents,teachers and caregivers are invited to attend and bring friends! This event opens our 2010 Summer Camp and Fall enrollment to the public. We hope you will make this workshop a priority, the practical suggestions and humorous insight make this an excellent opportunity for all interested in improving their child interaction skills.

On Saturday, January 16th from 1:00 to 4:00 Maple Tree Montessori is pleased to kick off our Early Enrollment for current parents with a interactive diversity workshop. “Embracing Humankind” hosted by Julie Harrison of “One World Mind” is an engaging experience in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We invite all interested parents, teachers and community members to attend. There is no charge for this event.

Dr. Maria Montessori, over 100 years ago, opened a Children’s House in a poverty stricken area of Rome. In this lab school, she observed children and documented their developmental needs. Dr. Montessori was a biologist and so she saw children as the young of our species, she later expanded on her discoveries toward a lofty purpose, Peace through Education. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize after addressing the world in the late 1930′s. This was a time of turmoil and pending disaster, she was pleading for a new perception, a shift of purpose. Maria Montessori’s hope was that we could experience a new perception of children, of the world and even of the concept of Peace. We are proud to continue her work and to carry Dr. Montessori’s message of hope to a tired world, a world in need of Peace. And so, we wish, hope and work toward a Peace filled Holiday Season for all, a season that extends into a true shift of perception, bright and shining into the New Year and far beyond. Happy Holidays.

Maple Tree Montessori’s 2nd annual Celebration of the Performing Arts was a wonderful event. The Violin students are doing very well and their performance was very inspiring. The Drama class was great!! Funny and entertaining. Thank you to Ms. Sherri Magno and Mr. Aric Liljegren for all their hard work. We also had many parent volunteers, Cassandra, Mindi, Jennifer, Natalie, and Shari. Our “film crew” also deserves a thank you, Rick, Josh, Tim and Anthony. Thanks to all the parents that came, brought cookies and supported our studnets in this wonderful experience.

We would like to thank all the parents who have been so supportive and helpful in getting our school year off to a great start! Our Habitat work day was very productive, thanks to our volunteers. Rick (who is a great leader), Vivian, Malcom, Kimmer, Sandi, Josh, Jake, Joel, Cassandra, Dean, Helena,  Claudia, Aaron, Joey, Maya, Julia and Deb all contributed lots manpower, time and effort to restore the use of our trails, gardens, temperate forest and prairie. Thank you!!

We also have volunteers helping with our Suzuki Violin program…our thanks to you, Mindi and Nadia for helping us keep the flow of our classrooms intact during violin lessons. Thank you again, Cassandra…this time for offering to assist Aric with the Drama Program.  Danielle, thank you for offering to help with the distribution of our Equal Exchange Fundraiser and thanks to all of the parents and grandparents who supported our fundraising effort with your orders. Robin, how can we ever thank you for all of your support…we can’t even list all the ways you give to our community.It really does take a group effort to maintain a consistently excellent and cosmic curriculum for our students…we all appreciate your support and we will continue to provide opportunities for everyone to participate and to share in this experience, our school.

Maple Tree Montessori Academy will be hosting a Music Night for parents on Wednesday, September 9th at 6:30 p.m. We are happy to announce that we will be offering Suzuki Violin and Folk Guitar lessons for students this year. Brant Losinski, our new guitar instructor, will discuss the importance of Folk Music and Sherri Mango will outline our Suzuki Violin program. Julie Harrison will also be on hand to answer questions about our Montessori Music program which incorporates vocal music, Orff music, ear training and composition. All parents are invited to this event, which is sure to be interesting and inspiring.

Just a reminder, tonight is our annual Parent Orientation Night starting at 7:00 pm. This is a great chance to meet the teachers, parents, review and see what’s new! This evening is appropriate for all parents from preschool through elementary. We are excited to start our 2009/ 2010 school year and hope to see all of you tonight!

The Upper Elementary “Save the Gorillas Gang” is proud to say that we have finished our mountain gorilla project and it was a big success. Through all of our efforts (and with your support) we were able to raise $1,051.88 for the mountain gorillas. All of the funds raised will go to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (www.gorillafund.org)

We have received such a good response to the shirts we have put them up for sale online on t-shirts as well as other products like coffe mugs, a water bottle, tote bag, and a poster. A portion of the sale price will be donated to the DFGFI. We encourage you to check out our offerings online at www.cafepress.com/jivotica and share them with friends, family and anyone else who cares about animals.

On behalf of the entire Save the Gorillas Gang, thank you so much for helping us help the gorillas. Each of us in our own way has made a big difference.

Peace,

Julia Liljegren

Nature Education Instructor