Denali Montessori ~ Room 177: 2017

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Thursday, December 14, 2017 Dear Parents, It’s hard to believe that the first semester has come to a close already. I’m really having a great time working with your children. They are a very kind, hard-working, fun group to work with. Every year I am amazed at the growth that the students make. Your children, once again, amaze me. It is one of the true joys of my job. Our final field trip of 2017 is Thursday, December 21. We will be driving to Alaska Club East for some water fun. We will leave the school at 11:30 and return by 1:45. If your child requires or you prefer your child to use a booster seat and you are not driving, please send in your child’s booster seat on Thursday morning. Your child also needs to bring his or her own swimsuit, towel, goggles (optional), and plastic bag (for the wet swimsuit). Don’t worry if your child is not a swimmer. Students will all be given a life jacket, unless they choose to take the swimming test. We have use of the gauntlet and most of the students stay together in the shallow end any way and have a good time together. I want everyone to have a good time and not to worry if you can’t swim. It will still be a lot of fun. Chaperones, I need a copy of your current valid driver’s license, a copy of your current vehicle registration, and a copy of your proof of insurance with the minimum $100,000/$300,000 bodily injury and $25,000 property damage included. Parents will need to sign the district swimming form waiver or your child may not attend. I can’t make phone calls to get permission on this trip. I have put permission slips in today’s folder. Please return them as soon as possible. Thanks! Let’s have fun swimming! As a team this holiday season, the primary wing is going to do a community service project that focuses on giving back to the community. We are collecting food and other high need items for the Brother Francis House Food Pantry. Our class is responsible for bringing in canned fruit and baby wipes. We will take items until December 18. In January or February, we plan to take a field trip to visit the food bank to see where the food is stored and where it goes. Thank you for your support. Winter Field Day is cancelled for this Monday, December 18 due to the weather conditions. We hope to schedule it at a later date. Thanks. On Tuesday afternoon, December 19, we will be making and decorating gingerbread houses. I have included a list of items that the students chose to bring to help decorate the houses. This is always a fun activity for the students. We will begin at about 2:105. Parents are welcome to join us if they would like. I have decided that there will be no homework for the remainder of the year. We will resume homework in January when we return from the break. You can still take time to read every night, relax and enjoy some family time . I am amazed at the growth that your children have made this year. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with this group and have learned a lot from them. During the Winter Break, I encourage you to keep your child reading at least 20 minutes a day and practicing some math facts. This will help your child to continue working on these skills so they won’t be rusty when we return. I wish you all a very happy and healthy holiday season. Take care. If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me at moyer_craig@asdk12.org or call or write me a note. Sincerely, Craig Moyer

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Dear Parents,

It’s hard to believe that the first semester has come to a close already. I’m really having a great time working with your children. They are a very kind, hard-working, fun group to work with. Every year I am amazed at the growth that the students make. Your children, once again, amaze me. It is one of the true joys of my job.

Our final field trip of 2017 is Thursday, December 21. We will be driving to Alaska Club East for some water fun. We will leave the school at 11:30 and return by 1:45. If your child requires or you prefer your child to use a booster seat and you are not driving, please send in your child’s booster seat on Thursday morning. Your child also needs to bring his or her own swimsuit, towel, goggles (optional), and plastic bag (for the wet swimsuit). Don’t worry if your child is not a swimmer. Students will all be given a life jacket, unless they choose to take the swimming test. We have use of the gauntlet and most of the students stay together in the shallow end any way and have a good time together. I want everyone to have a good time and not to worry if you can’t swim. It will still be a lot of fun. Chaperones, I need a copy of your current valid driver’s license, a copy of your current vehicle registration, and a copy of your proof of insurance with the minimum $100,000/$300,000 bodily injury and $25,000 property damage included. Parents will need to sign the district swimming form waiver or your child may not attend. I can’t make phone calls to get permission on this trip. I have put permission slips in today’s folder. Please return them as soon as possible. Thanks! Let’s have fun swimming!

As a team this holiday season, the primary wing is going to do a community service project that focuses on giving back to the community. We are collecting food and other high need items for the Brother Francis Shelter. Our class is responsible for bringing in canned fruit and baby wipes. We will take items until December 18. In January or February, we plan to take a field trip to visit the food bank to see where the food is stored and where it goes. Thank you for your support.

Ms. McEvoy, one of our wonderful P.E. teachers, is looking for volunteers to help out with our first annual Winter Field Day on Monday, December 18 during our time slot from 1:15-3:15. There are lots of games and activities that need adults to supervise them. If you are able to join us for this fun event, please return the flyer as soon as possible. Please think snow as well so this event can take place.

On Tuesday afternoon, December 19, we will be making and decorating gingerbread houses. I have included a list of items that the students chose to bring to help decorate the houses. This is always a fun activity for the students. We will begin at about 2:105. Parents are welcome to join us if they would like.

I have decided that there will be no homework for the remainder of the year. We will resume homework in January when we return from the break. You can still take time to read every night, relax and enjoy some family time.

The students have had a great week working on alphabetical order, spelling, math operations, poetry, problem solving, math facts, calendar, reading comprehension, penmanship, reading, writing letters, adverbs, and more.

If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me at moyer_craig@asdk12.org or call or write me a note.

Sincerely,

Craig Moyer

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Dear Parents,

On our return from our field trip today we stopped by the Federal Building in order for the students to have some awareness of where we would go in an emergency that prevented us from staying in the school building. Later in the school year the entire school will practice an evacuation drill and go to the Federal Building.

The students have had a great week working on alphabetical order, spelling, math operations, problem solving, math facts, reading comprehension, penmanship, reading, writing letters, adverbs, and more.

If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me at moyer_craig@asdk12.org or call or write me a note.

Sincerely,

Craig Moyer

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Dear Parents,

Our next scheduled field trip is Thursday, November 30. We will walk to the Performing Arts Center to see Alaska Junior Theater’s “A Very Electric Christmas”. We will leave the school at 9:20 and should return by 11:45. I appreciate the gift of your time so we can attend these wonderful learning experiences. I have included permission slips in last week’s folder and have put in a second one for those I have not received. The cost is $8 for chaperones and students. Chaperones please meet in Room 177 by 9:10.

Winter has finally arrived in Anchorage and with it comes all the winter gear. Please remember to label your child’s boots, hats, gloves, snow pants, and other gear. It will make it a lot easier to sort out whose is whose. If you haven’t had time to get your child’s snow gear, please get it soon. We want your children to enjoy outdoor recess as comfortably as possible. If some of you have gently used gloves, hats, boots, coats, or snow pants that you don’t want any more, please consider donating them to nurse Marissa. We have several families in need of snow gear for their kids.

I have sent homework in today’s folder that will be due on Friday, December 1. We will not have homework during Thanksgiving week, but I will not be sending a folder home next week so you have lots of extra time to practice those words and read some good books.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It is a time for us to gather with friends and family and reflect on the many things we are thankful for. I am thankful for my wonderful family, colleagues that I work with, and Mrs. R. I am very thankful for your support at home with your children, all the volunteers that help listen to students read, make copies, are able to join us on field trips, and everything else that makes my job so enjoyable. I am thankful for such a great group of students who care about each other, work well together, and are not afraid to make mistakes and learn from them. I hope you all have a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.

If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me at moyer_craig@asdk12.org or call or write me a note. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Craig Moyer