Events for the month of January 2013:

8th School wide spelling bee 1:00
9th Site Council and PTA meeting at FN 5:00 and 6:00
17th Lunch chess demonstration at FN 11:30
18th Lunch chess demonstration at FNM@Shaw 12:30
18th District Spelling Bee 10:00 in the Kenilworth auditorium
21st School closed
22nd-24th Galileo benchmark testing 2nd-8th grade
24th New Primary Prospective Parent Meeting at FN 10:00-multi-use room
25th PTA Movie Night 6:00 FN
28th Afterschool classes begin
30th Show Me Night for Primary classrooms


Hello Faith North Community!

Welcome back!

This is one of the most productive times of the year. The children return from break hungary for work. We see tremendous, social, emotional and academic gains in the late winter and early spring. Spend time daily discussing the work your children are doing at school, enjoying family literacy time in the evenings, playing all of those board games received during the holidays and include your children in practical life activities around the home and yard. The primary students will be having a "Show Me Night" on January 30th. Please plan on attending with your primary child so that they can educate you as to their work in the environments.

Sign ups for afterschool classes have begun in the Faith North School office. The offerings have been sent electronically and will be posted on the school website. There are a few old favorites returning as well as a few new classes. Also, we have made some changes in the afterschool open campus. Beginning January 7th, the campus gates will be closed and anyone visiting the school after office hours (7:30-4:00)will enter through the front office door. The desk will be attended by afternoon PEER staff. If your child will be attending afterschool classes please wait just outside of the office door and your child will greet you there.

Wednesday evening, January 9th we will hold our Site Council and PTA meetings at Faith North main campus. Notmykid will be doing a presentation for parents on Internet Safety at 5:00. Childcare will be provided. The PTA meeting will follow at 6:00 in the multi-use room. I look forward to seeing you there.

All the best,
Susan Engdall
Principal

Events for December:
4th AIMSWeb testing for kindergarten-3rd grade FNM@Shaw
5th AIMSWeb testing for kindergarten-3rd grade Faith North
17th Afterschool spring flyers go home
18th Holiday Tax Credit Concert 4th-8th grade at Faith North, 6:00
20th Holiday Tax Credit Concert k-3rd grade at Faith North, 6:00
24-January 4 Winter Recess

Hello Faith North Community,

Wow, where does the time go? Hard to believe we are closing out 2012.
Please make sure to join us on December 18th and 20th for our Annual Holiday Tax Credit Concerts. This year we will be "staying home" for the concert.
The 4th-8th grade students will perform on Tuesday evening beginning at 6:00 in the Faith North multi-use room.
The kindergarten-3rd grade students will perform on Thursday evening beginning at 6:00 also in the Faith North multi-use room. Students should report for the concert by 5:30 wearing concert attire: black and white. During the evening of entertainment, we will be accepting tax credit donations either online or by check. We hope everyone can do their part to help our tax credit drive. We look forward to seeing you!

Thank you all for an enriching first half of the school year. I see so many accomplishments and big growth with each and every child. It is truly an honor to work with such a passionate staff and have the support of parents that believe in the power of child.


All the best,
Susan Engdall
Principal

SUSAN ENGDALL’S TOP TEN REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD GIVE A TAX CREDIT CONTRIBUTION TO FAITH NORTH MONTESSORI

10. Individuals can make a tax credit contribution up to $200 or $400 for married couples and deduct that amount directly from your 2012 Arizona tax return

9. Our chickens and bunnies need food

8. Anyone living in AZ can take advantage of this credit

7. Take a look at the photo story attached. Each of these children (and more) have an amazing memory and a portion of our tax credit donations was used to help fund the trips

6. Contributions need to be made by December 31, 2012 to apply to your 2012 tax return. It’s like free money!

5. The work in our outdoor environments is crucial to a well-rounded Montessori experience. Tax credit dollars help fund our outdoor environment teachers

4. You can have an even bigger impact on the students at Faith North if you print extra copies of the tax credit form and give them to your family, friends and coworkers and maybe even post it on your Facebook and Twitter pages.

3. School tours such as Child’s Play that come and entertain us every spring after the AIMS tests

2. The bunnies ate the first crops we planted, we need to more plants for replanting


And the Number One reason you should give a tax credit contribution to Faith North: You can expose our students to new opportunities like some of those described above and truly change their lives in a positive way, and it is as easy as going to: http://www.phxelem.k12.az.us/district/tax_credit/ or snipping the coupon below and submitting to the school office.
____________________________________________________________________________

Tax Credit Donation for Faith North Montessori:

Name:
Address:
Amount:

Please use my donation for (circle one):
Greatest need
Outdoor Environment
Afterschool Programs
Field Trips

Events for November:
5- 9 Galileo assessments for 2nd-8th grades
9 Cookie Dough fundraiser begins
10 Chili Cook Off at Monterey Park 12-4
12 School Closed
14 Site Council/PTA meeting FNM@Shaw 5:00/6:00
16 Cookie Dough fundraiser ends
19-23 Fall Break-no school
29 1st-8th grades attend The Snowman-Phoenix Symphony

Hello Faith North Community,

The beautiful days of autumn have arrived in the desert and with them we are getting to enjoy our outdoor environment more. Ms. Tina has open the environment at North and Ms. Karla at FNM@Shaw. There is an amazing amount of industry going on from care of the environment, watering, washing bird baths, gatering eggs to the practical life applications of hammering nails, sifting flour, grinding the shells of eggs for our gardens, sweeping and mopping.

During the last parent work day we installed two new smaller beds at North and rehabbed two at Shaw. Winter/spring planting has begun. The gardens at Shaw are off to a great start. The bunnies got into the gardens at North and took care of all of our lettuce! The outdoor environment is very vital to our students, our pedagodgy and our spirits. It is funded fully from the generous tax credit donors. Please consider making a tax credit donation in any amount to help us support our gardens and animals.

Next weekend we will be having a chili cook off. Currently there are 15 chili chefs on board for the contest. Come on out to Monterey Park at 3rd Street and Oak next Saturday from 12 to 4, sample some great chili and enjoy our community.

All the best,
Susan Engdall
Principal

Events for the week of October 3:
Thursday & Friday October 4th and 5th Parent Teacehr Conferences
See you then!


Easy ways to raise money for Faith North:

Safeway 10% back to school program ends this Friday
Please look for the code on the bottom of your Safeway receipt or enter your Safeway Club Card at www.backtoschools.escrip.com by 9/28
10% of your purchase will be donated to Faith North & Faith North at Shaw. Group ID 155954835

Still Time to Raise $ By Eating at The VIG for Faith North & FN @ Shaw
You still have ONE WEEK for The Vig fundraiser. This will run the entire month of September.
Faith North will earn 15% off of all full-priced entrees at brunch, lunch and dinner on every visit to the Vig that you make for the month.
Take your friends and family to either location and remember to tell your server you are from Faith North. We earn 15% on takeout orders as well.
The Vig Website

Time to Start Saving Fresh & Easy Receipts
Please save your Fresh & Easy receipts. Their program runs this year from September 12th through December 31, 2012.
Each saved receipt needs to be for a purchase of $20.00 or more and Faith North will receive $1.00 for each one. You will find the drop box in the school office (Main Campus) or Mailbox (Shaw Campus)
Fresh & Easy Website

Faith North & FN @ Shaw Fresh & Easy Shopping Night
Join us for Shopping Night, at the Fresh & Easy at 7th Ave & Indian School. 5% of the entire stores sales from 4:00 to 8:00pm will be donated to Faith North.
We are in need of parents to bag groceries at the event if you are interested please visit the FN web site and log onto volunteer spot.

Scrip
Your PTA is working with Great Lakes Scrip Center to purchase gift cards at a discount of 2-15% (amount vary by retailer). The PTA sells the gift cards at face value and the discount is our revenue. Check
out the hundreds of participating retailers at www.glscrip.com or contact Brenda Loman, Scrip Coordinator, (602-430-0021). Orders are due Monday by 8:30 and can be picked up on Friday.

Events for the week of September 17-21:
18th boy's basketball, North vs. Edison, 6:15 at Hererra
19th mass vision and hearing screening at FNM@Shaw
20th boy's basketball, North vs. Emerson, 6:15 at Hererra
20th Family Literacy Night at the Burton Barr Library 5:00-7:00

Hello Faith North Community,

Thanks to all of you that attended the "Back to School Bash" last Friday. There was yummy food, fun nature crafts for the children and good company all around. If you were not able to be here to meet new friends and see old ones, please plan to join us for Bingo and spagetti on Friday, September 28th from 6-8. Great prizes and fun await! Don't forget to visit Volunteer Spot located on our website under Parents and Students to sign up for your volunteer hours. It is one great way to show your children how much you value their school and education.

It's almost October and the end of the year will be here soon. Please consider making a tax credit donation to our school. These funds are used in many ways to benefit all of our children. We sponsor field trips, scholarships and the outdoor environment.The State of Arizona allows a married couple filing jointly to donate $400.00. A person filing a single or head of household return may contribute up to $200.00. This “credit” is refunded to you in full when you file your taxes either reducing your tax debit or giving you that money back in your refund. Please help us continue to offer the opportunities to our students that make an education at Faith North so special. Our children are counting on you to help fund an extraordinary Montessori experience in the public sector. Check with your tax professional to see how it can benefit you.

All the best,
Susan Engdall
Principal

Events for the week of September 3-7:

Monday the 3rd School Closed
Wednesday the 5th Early Release and mass hearing and vision screening at North main campus
Thursday the 6th Lego Robatics League begins
Friday the 7th "Back to School Bash" 6:00 PM on the main campus

Hello Faith North Community,

Today is the 142nd birthday of Dr. Maria Montessori. If you have the opportunity check out the Google landing page for some great articles and websites on Maria and many other famous Montessorians.

We had a great turn out on Wednesday evening for our parent education evening, A Montessori Continimum. The primary staff previewed the curriculum for the child of 3-6 while the elementary staff provided lessons in the areas of history and the great lessons, language and research and mathematics. Our next education opportunity, Show Me Night will be held January 30th.

Friday the 7th of September we will have our first community get together at "The Back to School Bash". This potluck event begins at 6:00 on the main campus. Come meet new friend and re-acquaint with old ones. Activities are also planned for the evening.

Afterschool class signups began this week. Signups will run through Friday, September 8th. Please stop by the school office.

All the best,
Susan Engdall
Principal