We are delighted to welcome Ting Fong Chien, a teacher from Nantou City in Taiwan, R.O.C., to our school. Ting Fong is volunteering in the Elementary classroom for the next five weeks and will be teaching our students calligraphy, some basic Chinese language, and Chinese culture. What a wonderful opportunity for our students!

Our first week of summer camp got off to a wonderful start with field trips to Beacon Heights (for Early Childhood) and Cecret Lake (for Elementary), as well as a bounce day for all. The Early Childhood children are learning Chinese songs and dances, and will be cooking Chinese Cabbage Salad this week. The Elementary students wrote their own messages/fortunes and put them into homemade fortune cookies to take home for their families last week. They also built devices for an egg drop activity and made their own Chinese kites. We are looking forward to Splash Day here at MCS…

Our Toddler Summer Class enjoyed a nature walk through the MCS gardens and the neighboring Church lawn during the first week of summer camp. It was a great opportunity to exercise their gross motor skills, by climbing rocks and running across the grass. They are enjoying our Splash days, Bounce days, and Bubble days as they learn more about China throughout our Montessori Adventures Summer Camp.

Thank you to Kari Sikorski, Bobbi Morgan, and Pamela Bunnell for all of their planning and preparation in making this year's end of the year carnival a great success! It was a special treat to be out on the Green Space ("field") for the event. Purple Class parent Aaron Rashaw and his band "The Fifth Frets" provided exceptional entertainment while children got their faces painted, ate with their families, and returned again and again to the balloon artists. Thank you to all the parent volunteers for their time and energy in setting up, covering the bounce houses, and for helping…

Thank you to all the teachers, parents, and students for the wonderful End of Year ceremonies that brought our academic year to a close. We enjoyed seeing the students perform songs at the Early Childhood ceremonies, and in varied skits at the Elementary and Middle School ceremony. We were impressed both with the poise of the students and with the creative ways they chose to express themselves. We congratulate all those students who completed their cycle and are moving on to the next program level; we wish all those who are leaving us at this time the best in their…

We want to extend a huge thank you to Kindra Fehr, our art teacher, for all of her work over the past six months in envisioning this tile mural that reflects the multicultural backgrounds of 262 Toddler, Early Childhood, Elementary, and Middle School teachers and students, and all staff members of MCS. She organized all of us, spurred us to complete our tiles, helped fill in the extra tiles needed, and laid out a beautiful and lasting mural made up of 348 tiles! After the many months of preparation, Stage 1 of the tile installation.Stage 2 of the tile installation,…

As part of the Middle School's Career Investigations Immersion this week, students researched a career, shadowed a professional and prepared presentations. (See the Middle School blog in the Parent Center for pictures from each student's Job Shadowing experience.)  Allyson studied Journalism and Reporting with Jessica Gail from KCPW, attending the Governor's Monthly News Conference at KUED. Emilia learned more about Environmental Studies with Amanda O'Connor (parent in Purple and Toddler Sun's classrooms) and the Environmental Planning Group staff. She observed and learned about the collaborative efforts of architects, biologists, archaeologists, geologists and more.  Harry joined Jason Rose (Legal Counsel for…

On Monday the Upper Elementary and Middle School students visited the CLAS Ropes Course. Challenge course participants learn techniques in problem solving, leadership, human relationships, communication skills, conflict resolution, group cooperation, and building self-confidence and trust. Their aim is to allow the participants to view themselves as increasingly capable and competent.  By attempting a graduated series of activities which involve physical or emotional risk, and succeeding (or sometimes failing) in a supportive group atmosphere, an individual may gain confidence in himself/herself and others. Each activity is based on the assumption that anyone who conscientiously tries will be successful.  Success is…