Valentine's Day has been one of my favorite holidays since I was a child because my family celebrated it as a time to acknowledge our family members and friends, not simply romantic love. This month, I'm eager to share what I love about our school during We Love Winn Montessori Week, February 10-14. This week will include a family meal, flower arranging for our staff, a card exchange with our students, and opportunities for families to RAVE about their classroom guide and assistant.

I love the joy of our students, the problem solving of our staff, the support of our families, and the unique school we are creating together. I love serving our school!

Your principal,
Ms. Bridget

bridget.farr@austinisd.org

512-414-2390 ext. 59454

This semester, we are focusing on building our students' mathematical thinking through Daily Numeracy. The goal of daily numeracy is, "to empower students to reason with numbers in an accurate, efficient, and flexible way."

Each day, classroom guides spend 10 minutes reviewing the images below and asking students questions to push their thinking. In January, we started with the simple task of, "What do you see?" I will demonstrate how to use these images during this Friday's Breakfast with Ms. Bridget, but we encourage you to try them at home with your student.

Daily Numeracy Steps:

1. Find the images in our a shared folder for families.

2. Look at one image with your child.

3. Ask: What do you see? What else do you see?

4. Say: I see...

5. Any answer with reason is acceptable!

Thank you for supporting our students in growing their skills as mathematicians.

• Monday, February 10: In class, students write what they love about our school.

• Tuesday, February 11: Students bring a card or picture to show their appreciation for their guide and teaching assistant. Adults can submit a RAVE recognition for any Winn Montessori staff member: https://www.austinisd.org/hc/aisd-employee-experience/rave

• Wednesday, February 12: Students read stories and poems about love for our friends, our families, and our world.

• Thursday, February 13: Family Meal in the cafeteria!

• Friday, February 14: Valentine's Day card sharing in the classrooms and students can wear any color they LOVE to school (no uniform required). Students may bring cards, pencils, stickers, fun band aids, etc, but please, no food or candy.

  • We have students with severe allergies and want to limit our custodians needing to clean the rooms for a third time as we already eat breakfast and lunch in the classroom.

An annual tradition for our staff is for them to arrange their own bouquet of flowers on Valentine's Day. Flower arranging is a Montessori lesson and this has been a fun treat for our staff. Families are encouraged to bring an unarranged bunch of flowers or greenery to morning drop-off on Thursday, February 13 or Friday, February 14. Thank you!

Please remember that each day your child should be dressed in the school uniform. Our uniforms can be purchased at various retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Target or any second-hand store.  Our uniform consists of:

• Navy or gray tops (or any Winn Montessori t-shirt) 

• Navy or khaki bottoms (no denim)

• Navy, gray, or khaki dresses, jumpers, rompers, etc. (no denim)

• Tennis shoes (no Crocs, sandals or flip flops)

The PTA maintains a FREE uniform closet outside the Caregiver Support Specialist's office, and families are free to shop and donate gently used uniforms any time they wish throughout the school year.  Additionally, the PTA holds uniform swap events several times per year for families to pass down their gently used items and shop for the next size up.

After our some of our students wrote a petition and attended our Campus Advisory Council meeting, Ms. Bridget and the CAC have approved a series of fun dress days for students! On these days, students do not need to wear a uniform, though their clothing should still include tennis shoes and comply with the Austin ISD dress code.

We appreciate our students using their voices!

Friday, February 14: Wear a color you LOVE! 

Monday, March 24: Wear the rainbow!

Monday, April 28: Wacky Outfit/Fun and funny clothes/”Funny ‘Fit”

Tuesday, May 27: Summer Outfit/Beach Day

Click here to learn all about our school expectations, including uniforms, absences, volunteer opportunities, and even birthdays (Montessori celebrations without snacks)!