August Events:
12th Kindergarten Galileo testing at FNM@Shaw
13th Kindergarten Galileo testing at North
13th Site Council/PTA meeting at North
26th Literacy Night at the Burton Barr Library


Greetings Faith North Community:
A warm welcome to our new and returning families! A Montessori learning environment is like no other—our main objective at Faith North is to provide carefully planned, stimulating environments that help children develop within themselves the foundational habits, attitudes, skills and ideas essential for a lifetime of creative thinking and learning. Respect and courtesy in our school is the foundation for everything that we do. August can be a time of anxiety and nervousness for both children and parents. We will do our best to ensure that each child (and parent) feels loved, respected and safe.
Our primary children have a wonderfully full year of learning ahead of them. Days will be spent not only in academics but in the beauty of socialization in a Montessori classroom community. This year the primary child will:
• Learn how to put work away exactly where and how they found it
• Discover the importance of cleaning up after themselves
• Know the importance of a friend in need
• Be respectful of the materials, the staff and each other
• Always push in a chair, walk in the classroom, roll their rugs
• Work to be self-directed and find their “work”
• Be inspired and proud of their independence
• Work on the growth of functional independence, task persistence and self-regulation
• Be immersed in social development through respectful, clear communication and safe, natural consequences
• Be exposed to a large variety of materials for the refinement of sensory perception and the development of literacy and mathematical understanding
• Find opportunities for imaginative exploration leading to confident, creative self-expression
The elementary child will be strongly motivated by social forces! This impulse helps them acquire the culture of their group. It is a period that, psychologically, is especially sensitive and might be called the "sensitive period of culture" during which the abstract plane of the human mind is organized. This year the elementary child will:
• Be exposed to the cosmic plan through the “great lessons”
• Have the ability to escape the classroom and go on numerous field trips and “going outs”
• Exercise formal operational thinking that can work with logic, premises and deductions
• Enjoy collective work
• Become increasingly decentered (the process of being able to take another’s viewpoint and to consider more than one viewpoint)
• Demonstrate self-motivated and discipline in their study and habits
• Engage in opportunities for collaborative intellectual exploration where their interests are supported and guided
• Be supported in the development of self-confidence, imagination, intellectual independence and self-efficacy
• Understand their role in their community, in their culture and in the natural world
The middle school adolescent will bring 9 years of educational independence to the forefront, building successful, organizational systems for themselves as they begin move towards higher education. The character is seldom stable at this age; there are signs of indiscipline and rebellion. The chief symptom of adolescence is a state of expectation, a tendency towards creative work and a need for the strengthening of self-confidence. They will find great work in this environment. This year the middle school adolescent will:
• Map The World By Heart
• Participate in two land labs and an end of the year adventure trip
• Work on self-adjustment and cooperation
• Study the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens
• Help create a caring, inclusive community
• Do project based learning in groups
• Enjoy electives
• Expand the understanding of oneself in wider and wider frames of reference
• Work in contexts of practical application of academics
• Engage in the development of self-expression, true self-reliance, and agility in interpersonal relationships
Stay in the loop by visiting our website, teacher blogs and interactive calendar. You will find the calendar located at the bottom left hand side of our web page.
We are honored that you have chosen our school and we are confident that this will be a wonderful year for our community.
All the best,
Susan Engdall and the FN Staff.

Dear Montessori Community,

As we close out this school year and plan for the next one, I would like to share changes in staffing and program changes.
• Mr. Robert London will be leaving our district to pursue other teaching adventures
• Ms. Tonia Easton, Montessori Resource Teacher/Coach will be leaving us to work closer to home
• Ms. Megan Trezise will be leaving the classroom to take the position of Montessori Resource Teacher/Coach. She will be replaced by Miss Ciara Goins
Our departing staff has brought great value to our children, our community and their colleagues. They will be greatly missed!

Here are the staffing plans for next year:
Faith North Primary Teaching Staff: Ms. Marisa Punchios, Ms. Jodi Schramm, Miss Robin Miller
Faith North Junior Elementary Teaching: Ms. Wendy Silver, Ms. Leisla Church
Faith North Senior Elementary: Ms. Gina Roam, Miss Fun Chan
Faith North Adolescent Program 7/8: Ms. Jennifer Matthews
FNM@Shaw Montessori Primary: Ms. Stacy Boydston, Ms. Krista Whiting, Miss Ciara Goins and Ms. Shaily Yogi
FNM@Shaw Junior Elementary: Mr. Chris Euzarraga, Ms. Paula Craig
FNM@Shaw Senior Elementary: Ms. Crystal Graham
Montessori Resource Teacher: Ms. Megan Trezise
Special Education Resource: FNM@Shaw: Ms. Yolanda Wheelington
General Music: Miss Corrie Box
PE, both campuses: Mr. Steven Larson
Art: Abby Christensen (pending board approval)
Reading Tutor: Ms. Denise Standage
IEIS: Ms. Shayne Sotelo
Instrumental Music: Elizabeth Laskowski

Program changes will include returning art as a special area class for the kindergarten-8th grades.

Please join us on Monday, July 28th for Back to School Parent Night to be held on both campuses. This evening is designed for parent information purposes only. Children should not attend. Times are as follows: primary 4:00-5:00, lower elementary 5:00-6:00, upper elementary 6:00-7:00, middle school 7:00-8:00. Tables will be set up to assist you with PEER Club, bus schedules, PTA, Site Council and other school information.

For Kindergarten through 8th grade, the first day of school is July 30th. New and returning preschool students have rolling enrollment – start dates will be posted at Back-to-School night. We can’t wait to see you again!

Should you have any questions please feel free to contact me at (602) 257-4069.
2014/2015 class lists will be posted on May 22nd. Class supply lists will be posted on teacher blogs.


Wishing you a fun and delightful summer!

May happenings:

5-9 Galileo Testing
9 Talent Show Rehearsal
13 Volunteer Breakfast
14 Site Council and PTA
15 Child's Play
16 Talent Show, Basket Raffle and Enchilada Dinner
19 Kindergarten Promotion
20 Middle School Promotion
22 Last Day of School/Early Release


Hello Faith North Community,

Independence and Responsibility…avoiding helicopter parenting
More often it starts with something like this: “Let me help you cut that.” “How was school today? Were your friends nice to you?” “I will tell Grandma you don’t like chicken.” “She was just misbehaving because she had sugar.” Or because the other children excluded her. Or the teacher is impatient. Or she fell off her bike. Listen up. Those are the sounds of your blades whirring.
Like most parents, you will irrationally assume this article is about you. Not because it is, but because we all participate in these activities from time to time. Then, we see our children in some setting independent of our homes, and we realize that they are capable of so much more than we are asking of them.
Perhaps you have heard stories in recent years about parents who show up to job interviews with their children, or call college professors about a grade on a term paper, or call their children’s employers about better pay or benefits.
The first part of the struggle will be recognizing when you are doing it. Think of your child’s life as a path. Every day you will face choices that present two options. You can prepare the path for your child by removing the big rocks, the medium stones, and even every little pebble. Or you can prepare your child for the path by letting him face as many challenges as you can stand. This isn’t easy parenting, but it is good parenting. It won’t always feel very good for you; it will make your child’s life a whole lot easier. It really will.
All the best,
Susan Engdall

January/February Events:

January:
8th Site Council/PTA
9th School Spelling Bee
13-17th Galileo Assessments 1st-8th grades
20th After School Enrichment Classes Begin
23rd Prospective Parent Meeting (main campus 10:00)
30th and 31st Early Release, Parent/Teacher Conferences

February:
12th Site Council/PTA (main campus)
14th Me and My Guy Dance (main campus) 6:00
17th District Closed
20th Prospective Parent Meeting (FNM@Shaw) 10:00
21st Regional Spelling Bee (Go Savannah!)
25th District Track Meet at North High School (5th and 6th graders 9:00-12:00)

Dear Faith North Community,

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” Gandhi

In the Montessori classroom and (hopefully in your home), emphasis is placed on using real objects. Glass breaks if dropped, a child learns responsibility. Sharp corners poke if you bump into them, a child develops self-control. Paper tears if tugged, a child understands he must be gentle with books.
The child in a Montessori environment is not punished or reprimanded for breaking an object, but the entire activity/material is removed from the shelf until the object is repaired or replaced. Because it is the only material of its kind, the child understands that his classmates will miss out on that activity. He develops a sense of social responsibility and accountability that no amount of adult talk can instill.
Here is a favorite moment from a classroom observation: a child approached a material that he had broken accidentally and which had recently been replaced. The boy looked at the pitcher and fragile glass on the tray. He knew how fun the activity was, but remembered what happened the last time.
As he lifted the tray and turned his body the pitcher started to slide—he froze. His eyes widened as he waited for the pitcher to stop moving. He resumed his trip to a table, unaware of the poise and control with which he moved his body. He reached his destination, lowered the tray, and exhaled largely. A wide smile of satisfaction and triumph covered his face, and he poured to his heart’s content.
Nobody praised his achievement, but then nobody needed to.
Susan Engdall

Events for the month of December:
5th Picture retakes
6th Parents Night Out at the Duce
9th FN Volleyball Stars vs. Shaw at Herrera, 5:30
12th Bullying Presentations by NotMyKid for our 5th-8th grade students
12th FN Volleyball Stars vs. Herrera at Herrera, 4:45
13th Classroom spelling bees
13th Fall afterschool classes end
13th FN middle school students present "A Charlie Brown Christmas" in the multi-use room at FN, 6:30
17th FN Volleyball Stars vs. Emerson, 6:15 at Herrera
17th FN Tax Credit Concert, Kindergarten-3rd grade, 6:00 FN multi-use room
18th FN practice spelling bee, 9:00, FN multi-use room
19th FN Tax Credit Concert, 4th-8th grade, 6:00 FN multi-use room
20th FN whole school spelling bee, 1:00 FN multi-use room
December 23rd-January 6th Winter Break, no school



“Peace is what every human being is craving for; it can be brought about by humanity through the child.” Maria Montessori

Dear Faith North Community,
As we move through the season of light and celebrations, I am thinking a lot about peace and what that means to us, to our children and to our school community.
Dr. Montessori was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. She spoke about issues of war and peace, her life’s work, the education of children and its potential impact on world history.
She believed that the way we educate children affects who they become. It affects who they are as people, how they treat others, what their relationship is to society, and the sense of responsibility they feel toward others, to the future, and to the earth. She predicted that these "new children," educated in a new way, could change the world.
Montessori calls us to respect the inner life of the child and as adults, to aid the emergence of the child’s personality. “To do so is to allow the true self of the child, of the adult-in-the-making, to unfold with dreams and vision intact.” When we do this, we save the child from the experience of forced adaptation to the will of an adult, an experience that teaches that the big guy wins and that peace is built around submission and resentment rather than mutual triumph and glory.
How are you bringing peace into your life, into the life of your family, into the lives of your children, into the life of Faith North?
Wishing you beautiful celebrations filled with peace this holiday season.
Susan Engdall

State of Grace
Maria Montessori believed strongly in thanksgiving—and not always in the usual sense:
"No object must be made use of without the thought that some unknown human produced it….Their effort and their sacrifice for us must always be present in our minds.
—The Child, Society, and the World
Gratitude is a fundamental part of Montessori. It begins simply with Practical Life lessons of grace and courtesy in the Primary classes. In Elementary "Cosmic Education" is the goal: educating students about the size and scope of the universe; about how many inter-related parts contribute to our food, clothing, lifestyle, culture. All modern societies and economies rest on a web of relationships with everyone willing to do their part. Community service is a large strand in the Faith North Middle School where each student does 100 hours of community service. As young people, they are experiencing the web of relationships that sustains them.
Gratitude and gracias both come from Latin gratia; the root being grace. Gratitude places us in a state of grace: peace, contentment, acceptance, and belonging.
Visitors to our campuses often comment about the peace and grace; the feeling of the physical space as well as the classrooms environments, seeing them as some sort of mysterious paradise. They merely exist in a state of grace.
I am so grateful for our amazing school community. I look forward to seeing you at one of the many fall celebrations we have planned. Check Volunteer Spot for your opportunity to be a part of our web.
Happy Fall!
Susan Engdall

Events for the month of October:

3rd and 4th Parent/Teacher Conferences
7th-14th Fall Break
16th Site Council and PTA Meeting on the main campus
18th School Pictures
19th Parent Work Day in the Garden
25th Fall Festival
28th-31st Galileo
30th International Day of the Child

Hello Faith North Community,

The nip is in the air and I think we are all breathing a sigh of relief. The children have planted autumn squash that are growing so quickly! We hope you can join us for a work day in the garden on Saturday, October 25th as we further prepare the rest of the beds so that the students can plant and we can all enjoy the "vegetables" of our labor!

As of this writing our 7th/8th grade basketball team is undefeated with a four game winning streak. The games are so exciting and I believe that they will sweep the series. You should plan to attend one of the games, there is extraordinary talent. The next two games will be held at Herrera, October 15th as North faces Garfield, 5:30 tipoff. October 17th North verses Whittier at 6:15.
There are so many exciting events in our community this month. We look forward to seeing you at a few!

All the best,
Susan Engdall
Principal