December News and Notes

We hope your home is full of the same pure energy that fills our school as we prepare for the celebration of Jesus' birth! Our students (Young Children's Community, Children's House, and Virtual) are busy creating decorations for our Christmas trees and their classrooms, too. A few may even make their way to your home!

This year, the children created ornaments and decorated a real Christmas tree for Madonna University's Living Nativity. Madonna placed a video on their Facebook page for your viewing pleasure. Peace interconnects beautifully with Jesus' message of loving one another as He loved us. Dr. Maria Montessori created a method of education with the belief that world peace can only come through the child's teaching. Montessori children learn to love one another without judgment and to accept one another without bias. Our theme of a peaceful world is a beautiful marriage of our Felician Sisters core values and Dr. Montessori's vision for humanity's future. Let our hearts and homes prepare for the birthday celebration of the Prince of Peace!

With the help of their classmates, our Kindergarten Leadership students push-pinned dozens of doves for their Family Prayers and Blessings tree and then sent them home for each family to determine their blessings or prayers. Students then returned their family dove and hung them on our vestibule tree. The Family Blessings and Prayer tree is a daily topic of conversation as the children arrive. Thank you for supporting the work of our Kindergarten Leadership program!

As we bring 2020 to an end and begin to shift our thinking towards income tax filing, we ask that you consider us in your year-end giving. We are a 501c3 non-profit corporation and can offer you a tax-deductible report of any gifts received (items and monetary donations).

Montessori Center of Our Lady welcomes your donations to support various initiatives to help keep our school growing in excellence and providing for those in need. Monetary contributions (check/cash) or gifts in kind are needed, as outlined below. 

How can you help?

We encourage healthy children (and adults) around here. Join us as we work to bring the Zono Sanitizing Cabinet to Montessori Center of Our Lady. Learn more about the proven benefit of a Zono Sanitizing Cabinet here: https://www.zonotechnologies.com/industries-served/child-care/

The Zono Sanitizing Cabinet so thoroughly sanitizes all materials, including crayons, books, blocks, and soft toys, that its use has stopped the highly communicable hand-foot-and-mouth disease dead in its tracks. Your child's risk is minimized further from everything from conjunctivitis to the common cold in our classrooms with Zono. 

Our Young Children's Community (ages 18 months to three years of age) is up and running! We are now gathering gently used or new two-person wagons like the one in the following link
  - (https://www.amazon.com/Step2-Wagon-Two-Plus-Blue/dp/B0048WQHGW). We will use these wagons for emergency evacuations (fire and such), so we quickly leave our campus with our toddlers. Our goal is a total of seven wagons. We will practice using our wagons for toddler rides during recess, so use in an emergency would be commonplace for our toddler students. 

By September 2021, we will bring our Nido/infant (3 months to 18 months) community to our campus! Our initial expenses will be high due to crib costs, building a non-mobile space, double- strollers, properly weighted low shelves, Montessori Nido materials, and more! As an example, twelve cribs, including three emergency evacuation cribs, will total approximately $3,500. 

As a non-profit organization, we recognize the need for financial tuition assistance for families in need of support. We know our program offerings in their children's lives will bring significant returns to the world down the road. Donations earmarked for financial assistance help make a Montessori Center of Our Lady education available to those who may otherwise go without the benefits of such an educational experience. 

As we all celebrate the Christmas and New Year's holidays in the weeks ahead, please be mindful the pandemic continues to accompany us. While we are confident in the health and safety measures we take every day on our campus, you play an essential role in helping us to minimize the risk through the decisions and actions you take as a family.

Our goal for each one of us in our MCOL community, at large, is a joyous holiday season that brings joy and laughter into our hearts. Be safe, be smart, and know that our daily prayers include each one of you! Together, we are Montessori Center of Our Lady!



Let's look at the classroom trees, our Kindergarten Leadership tree, and our Madonna University Tree of Peace -