School Open Monday, February 17th - Bad Weather Make-up Day
School will be open on Monday, February 17th as a make-up day for the three cold weather closure days in January. This date was originally scheduled as an InService Day for staff, with school closed for students. While our calendar far exceeds the minimum number of instructional hours required by the state, we want to recapture some of the lost instructional time. If you already have family plans that preclude your child from attending school, they will have the opportunity to make-up any missed presentations.
The Big Leap
The Big Leap is next weekend - have you gotten your tickets!! Please join us for this very fun, adults night out benefiting Brickton! Click below for all of the details.
WHAT IS THE BIG LEAP?
The Big Leap is Brickton Montessori School’s Annual Benefit event. It is an opportunity for the Brickton community to raise funds for the school and have a wonderful evening out at the same time.
WHO GOES TO THE BIG LEAP?
Anyone who’s invested in the future of Brickton Montessori School. That includes parents, staff, friends, family and anyone else who wants to participate in this once a year event!
WHAT CAN I DO TO SUPPORT THE BIG LEAP?
(2) Visit our online auction at biddingforgood.com/Brickton – invite your friends and family to do the same! The online portion of the auction closes BEFORE the live event (on Thursday, Feb 13th) Don’t miss out – visit the site now!
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(3) Bid on classroom art projects at the Big Leap. The children in each classroom have worked hard to create beautiful projects to be auctioned at the Big Leap. We've highlighted a couple below and you can see all of them as they are finished in the lobby art gallery.
Upper Elementary Auction Project: Students revived a well worn toy chest from Katheen's room and transformed it through weeks of sanding, staining and sealing into the base for their hand crafted chess set. Each piece, from pawn to king, had three prototypes and students voted for their favorite design.
This set comes with an extra pawn, knight, rook, bishop, queen and king....just in case.
Room 103 Auction Project: We poured our energy into creating these one-of-a kind works of art. The children collaborated on the backgrounds, mixing and moving colors across the art boards. The flowers that adorn the green fields were hand-painted and crafted by the children celebrating their love of colors and showcasing their unique designs. As you gaze at the paintings imagine a field of flowers and the sounds of children's laughter as they play and dance around them.
Thank You Corner
This Brickton Big Leap Benefit is fast approaching. The amount of work and planning is staggering, which makes the efforts of Maggie Bauer and Deb DeYoung that much more impressive. Their tireless and dedicated work as the Benefit Committee is much appreciated. Thank you for your hard work!
Getting to Know You: Each week this section will highlight one staff member and their answer to the question: How do you express your creativity?
Kathleen Kasser, Children’s House Directress
Like many of my colleagues, I am enthralled by language. I love words: their sounds, their origins, the limitless ways they can be combined to convey meaning. I love to sing, to speak poetry, to read aloud a role from a play or a paragraph from Dickens. Most of all, I love to tell stories! Whether it’s how bananas grow in Honduras or Maria Montessori’s life as a very young child, growing up in an Italian village on the Adriatic, I love the way a little tale can spark interest and emotion in a child. I’m blessed to have found, in my quest to be a life-long learner, that love of language has been a valuable tool to bring along on the journey.
Picture Orders
All families who ordered picture packages from Interstate Studios should have automatically received a class picture with their order. Some were delivered to school in the late fall but recently, several parents have stopped in the office and reported that they have not received theirs.
If you placed an order with Interstate but never got the class picture, please stop in the office or email Sara (sara.gregory@brickton.org) by Friday, February 14 so that she can get in touch with the company and request all the missing pictures at one time.
New Signs Around Brickton
The Illinois Firearm Concealed Carry Act became effective Jan. 1 and requires employers to post a sign in accordance with the law if they choose to prohibit firearms on its premises. While it has always been Brickton policy to prohibit firearms on school property, these new signs have been posted solely to ensure that we are in compliance with this new state law.
Upcoming Events
Lower Elementary Field Trip, Chicago Symphony, Friday, February 7th, 8:30am – 12:30pm
Valentine’s Day Celebrations, Friday, February 14th
Annual Benefit, Saturday, February 15th, 6:00pm, above Moretti's in Edison Park
Bad Weather Make-up Day, Monday, February 17th
Board Meeting, Wednesday, February 19th, 7:00 pm
Toddler and Children's House Parent Ed Night, Thursday, February 20th, 5:30pm – 7:00pm
Room 103 In-School Celebration, Friday, February 21st, 8:30am
Hot Dog Lunch, Friday, February 21st
Manna Orders Due, Friday, February 21st
AIMS Conference, for teachers, Saturday, February 22nd
Parent Education Night With Dr. Felix, Wednesday, February 26th, 6:00 – 7:00pm
Pizza Lunch, Friday, February 28thz
