Parents

Parent Involvement
The school's influence on a child's development will always be secondary to that of the home. The hours spent at school are short compared to those with the family. Since school and home must provide consistency for the child's development, we believe school and parents need to maintain close communication. An annual required parent meeting is held for each classroom at the beginning of the school year. At least one parent from each family is expected to attend.

Parent understanding of and participation in the formal schooling of their children is critical to its success. We work hard to create a number of different opportunities to communicate with parents and engage them in their child's schooling.

Class and Community Meetings are held on campus the third Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. These meetings provide parents with an opportunity to meet with other parents and discuss issues facing our school, brainstorm solutions, share ideas for new projects, receive information regarding activities for the month in their child's class, and ask questions about any school topic. Parents are encouraged to attend these meetings whenever possible. This is the most effective and positive way to have your voice heard.

We encourage parents to observe their child's classroom and other classrooms in the school. Throughout the school year, classroom observation is both welcomed and encouraged. These visits help parents learn more about their child, our classroom environments, and the Montessori experience.

In addition to parent observations, special parent-child evenings called Open Houses are held in the fall of each school year. This provides an opportunity for the students to share their school and the activities they do during the normal school day with their families. As it is an important time for both parents and children, we urge parent participation.

All Montessori families are encouraged to participate in at least one committee or volunteer activity during the school year.

Parent Education
Various parent education sessions are held throughout the year and may include presentations, workshops or topic sessions. Faculty work hard to make these sessions engaging and interesting. It is expected that all parents will be interested and do all they can to attend these programs throughout the school year. At the beginning of the school year parent education sessions are designed to welcome each new and returning parent. All parents are asked to attend all orientation and information sessions and thus become better acquainted with philosophy and practice of Montessori education, as well as the practices in their child's classroom.

Montessori Parents and Teachers Together (MPATT)
The goal of MPATT is to support the parents, teachers, staff, and administration of the Montessori School, to provide a framework through which volunteer efforts can be organized and coordinated, and to build and strengthen the community and school family.

MPATT is a parent-driven organization responsible for the coordination of school wide events such as fundraising activities, the annual Book Fair and Read-A-Thon, Community Meetings, teacher appreciation luncheons, and Friday's LUNCH BUNCH.

Home Room Parents, a network of parents who serve each classroom environment, are also lead by MPATT. Room parents maintain open lines of communication with the Lead Teacher, the children, the families of the classroom, and when necessary, the Head of School and Board of Directors. Room parents organize social events and arrange for volunteers for other activities such as field trips.