Friday Folder

I am unapologetic about the need for social change, greater inclusion, and equity. - Marley Dias

We hope that your week has gone well and that your partnership meetings allowed for time to work to support your child.

Last week I spoke to representation in books and in classrooms for all of our students. The books, stories, lessons, songs, in this country have often been centered around Anglo-European culture and peoples. We discuss the need for representation for groups who have been marginalized or historically left out of these books, songs, etc... By bringing stories into our classrooms which are centered around a variety of groups, peoples, families, etc... it is to ensure that we are not continuing in that marginalization. The young lady whose quote we have shared above noticed that there were not books in her classroom that had characters who were like her, and so she decided to write those books. Learn more about Marley at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marley_Dias#cite_note-:0-3.

The Eagle Peak community is so fortunate to be a school of choice and that we have been joined by families who believe not only in Montessori education for their children, but who understand and choose to be part of a school that supports equity, inclusion, and social justice. As Dr. Montessori stated that it is through a different way of educating children that we can have a better world. For the new families to the school, I would like to share the Eagle Peak Montessori Equity Statement and Social Justice Statements (scroll to bottom of this newsletter) which are posted on our website. You can either read them in the newsletter of click on the link to see them on the website. These statements were created to reflect why families choose to be a part of this educational community.

We like to share with families, new resources when we find them. In addition to the books below, I'd like to share the website, "akidsbookabout", (https://akidsco.com/collections/all-products). They have books on everything from empathy, covid-19, empathy, to racism and gender.

Eagle Peak's Equity Statement

Eagle Peak's Social Justice Statement

Have a wonderful weekend.

Michelle

Eagle Peak families it’s time to hop aboard the staff appreciation train! For those who are new to this tradition, typically families would sign up in advance to bring food items for the staff to enjoy once a week (typically on Wednesdays). It has been a simple and lovely way to express our thanks and appreciation for all that they do every day. It’s also an easy way to tally up some much needed volunteer hours for all of us. Since we do need to be cautious this year with how and what we provide, here are just a few suggestions on simple and effective ways to go about showing our gratitude:

o Bring flowers in for the breakroom and/or all of the individual classrooms

o When shopping for groceries and you see a great deal on a bulk item (beverages, muffins, organic fruit, etc.) buy extra and bring it in to the break room with a little note of appreciation and where they are stashed if placed in the fridge or freezer.

o Maybe we can pool together a little money to give $5-$10 Peet’s or Starbucks gift cards for the EP staff every once in a while

o Bring a bag of your favorite individually wrapped candy or treat to let our EP staff know how special and sweet they are

Please note, for the time being we are steering clear of food prepared and cooked at home. Count your time spent driving to the store and time spent delivering your gifts to EP as volunteering. Added bonus, enjoy that heartwarming feeling of knowing that you have brightened someone’s day. Interested in getting on board? Contact Jen Slattengren ASAP.

jenslattengren@gmail.com

925.876.8984

EAGLE PEAK MONTESSORI SCHOOL

Elementary Gr 1-6: 8:30am-2:45pm (Gate closes at 8:30am and opens at 2:45pm)

Adolescent Program Gr 7&8: 8:30am-3:15pm

Wednesdays and other Early Dismissal Days- 1:40pm

Hello from CFEP!

CFEP FUNDRAISER REMINDER!

GOLDBUG

The GoldenBug Gives EPMS Fundraiser is almost over! Any purchases from now until October 31st qualify, so we have a few days left!! GoldenBug Kids, locally established in 2016, carries children's shoes, apparel, gifts, and goodies for everyday play.

You can use our school’s Promo Code in-store OR online. The Promo Code for our school is:

EPM2021

Each purchase made with the code above during the month of October will earn our school 10% of the pre-tax total. The more you purchase with our school's Promo Code, the more money our school will raise! So share our Promo Code widely amongst your friends and family. Don’t forget to think ahead for birthdays, baby gifts, holiday gifts, etc. The more you share, the more GoldenBug Gives!

GoldenBug has two locations and a website!

1803 4th Street, Berkeley, CA 94710

5509 College Ave Oakland, CA 94618

www.goldenbugkids.com

SEE's CANDY

We have a SWEET new fundraiser this year!!! We have our own See's Candy online store!

This is a great way to give gifts for the upcoming holidays, all the way until the end of the year. Every purchase sends 50% back to the school, and See's is a locally run business! You can even order for yourself to bring to a holiday party, or the office. If you share the link to your friends and family, they can order and it will benefit the school too. This is an AMAZING opportunity to support Eagle Peak!!

Follow this link to go directly to our store: https://tinyurl.com/js78vsae

We are excited to announce that we have received our EPMS branded masks, and they are available for ordering starting TODAY! All profits will benefit our school!

Our branded masks have a metal nose bridge, a pocket for an optional filter, adjustable ear loops, and are machine washable (hang dry). We are only offering black at this time, but they do have the brand new school logo so you can show your spirit.

Pricing is as follows:

Kid mask: $8 each, 2 for $15

Adult mask: $12 each, 2 for $20

2 kid, 2 adult mask bundle: $30

Please follow this LINK to order yours today!! They will be ready next week at our designated swag "grab and go" area in front of the school during pick-up: A-K is October 26th and L-Z is October 28th.

If you have any questions, email Laura Desautels at laura@cfep.us or Megan Daoudi at megan@cfep.us. Thank you so much for your support!!

Hi,

I want to give everyone the opportunity to visit two museums in San Francisco, admission is free but plan accordingly.

McEvoy Foundation for the Arts

1150 25th Street Building B,

San Francisco, CA 94107

www.mcevoyarts.org

Jenkins Johnsons Gallery

1275 Minnesota Street #200,

San Francisco, CA 94107

www.jenkinsjohnsongallery.com

Please help us help you. We ask that you speak to your child about coming to the office for being ill. While we want anyone who is feeling ill to let us know, we want to also help the students be able to know when a stomach ache might just be a bit of homesickness instead. We are not medical professionals and as such must err on the side of caution. Every time a child comes to the office and says that they have any of the potential symptoms of covid, they must be picked up within 30 minutes and be tested for covid. Thank you for your cooperation.

On Wednesdays we encourage students to bring little to no waste such as wrappers or anything that goes in to the trash bin. Instead we encourage you to bring reusable, recyclable and compostable containers. Participating in waste free Wednesday will ensure our school is a cleaner place.

6th Grade Gathering Leaders: Monica Warren and RJ King

5th Grade Quotes – Peacemaking

Mael Dubard – “The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress, is the easiest form of existence.” – Norman Vincent Peale

Tatiana Hernandez – “Peace does not mean an absence of conflicts; difference will always be there. Peace means solving these differences through peaceful means; through dialogue, education, knowledge, and through humane ways.” – Dalai Lama XIV

Emmett Harish – “Peace may be hard to achieve, but is possible with small yet essential steps that are guided by courage and sufficient commitment.” – Widad Akreyi

Please check the Lost and Found rack. We are getting quite the collection. We also have a few water bottles. So please check it out. It is currently located in between Room 201 and the Office. And for those smaller items, we have a small wooden bowl in the office on the counter. Please check that out as well. Thank you.

A Few Reminders:

Covid Testing- Please note that we must receive the results of a Covid- 19 PCR test. We cannot accept the results of a rapid test. Thank you for your help with this.

We cannot allow childcare pick up between 3p-3:30p. Amy and Leslie are not in the office due to carpool pick up.

As you have noticed, we now have Upper El students assisting with afternoon carpool. It would be helpful to have your childs name printed on an 8 1/2 inch X 11 inch paper so the Upper El students can see the name they need to call. (EPMS Handbook for Parents and Students/Section 2.D.2.) The paper can be placed on the dashboard. If you already do this, thank you so much.

Attached below is the November Breakfast Calendar if you wish to participate. Please download the form, select the days for breakfast and return to the office or email to Admin@eaglepeakmontessori.org.

Childcare is still looking for yarn donations. If you have any yarn cluttering your house, our childcare would really like to have it as a donation. Thank you.

Attached are the forms for November Childcare and the Calendar. Please complete both the Childcare form and the Calendar and return to the office or email to Admin@eaglepeakmontessori.org.

The vision of Eagle Peak Montessori challenges us as a school community to believe that a better world can be built by helping all children develop to their fullest human potential. We state that our students will become socially aware, responsible members of the global community. Our Mission is to provide public Montessori education in an environment that supports diversity in all its forms, including socioeconomic and cultural diversity.

The Montessori Educational Philosophy profoundly respects and supports each individual’s unique development. In this spirit, we seek to do the same and to respect and support the background and structure of each family. Therefore, it is our intent that our school community will seek to become culturally competent. Cultural competency is the intent to understand and build on the culture and customs of a diverse community.

Cultural competency does not imply that we are without bias, but that we seek to find our biases and work to overcome them. We as a staff and school leadership team (Board, PTLG, CCC, CFEP) will engage in self-reflection and professional development to build our self-awareness. This will allow for our blind-spots to become clearer. Our goal is that our community will continuously work towards and improve upon our ability to understand and support all students and families from a variety of perspectives. Through increased and ever-improving community-wide cultural competency, Eagle Peak will be able to act in the pursuit of dignity, equity, and acceptance of all community members.

This is an intense time, experienced differently for each individual, yet, we are all seeing a shift in our society. This moment in time does not exist in isolation; it is the culmination of millions of moments taking place during a 400 year-long struggle for a racially equitable country.

When European immigrants colonized the indigenous lands we now live and forced African people into chattel slavery, they did so while promulgating ideals such as “freedom of speech" and "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Though this country and the world has changed dramatically, those with power and privilege continue to inflict, justify, or ignore the suffering of others when it is beneficial to them. Racism and anti-blackness is in the water we are ALL swimming in, and despite our best intentions, we may unintentionally reinforce it with our unexamined actions and unconscious biases.

As Montessorians, we understand the importance Dr. Montessori placed on developing a pluralistic community and working to create a more just world.

Despite all the challenges we are coping with right now, from pandemic scares to financial hardships and social isolation, we must stay in community and in conversation. Peace cannot be achieved merely through an absence of conflict, it can only be reached after we have worked hard, together, for real JUSTICE.

EPMS is committed to being in partnership with all of our students and their families as we build capacity to "be part of the change we wish to see in the world". The staff will engage in ongoing professional development, ensure a culturally relevant and responsive curriculum, and foster spaces for reflection and dialogue with the adult community. We encourage you to explore suggested books and readings, share posts on social media, and join us for a speaker series where we can look deeper, ask hard questions, and build our comfort in talking to our children about race and diversity. Like we hope our children will do, we can also learn by DOING to lead us and our children toward a future we can all be proud of.

● Created by the EPMS Community Connection Committee in conjunction with Dr. Lizette Dolan, who has worked with the Eagle Peak Montessori Community in Anti Bias training.

Remember to gather your Box Tops for Education.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: Buy participating products and use the Box Tops mobile app to scan your store receipt within 14 days of purchase. The app identifies eligible products and automatically adds Box Tops to Eagle Peak's earnings online. Even if you’re shopping online or doing grocery pickup, you can still submit your e-receipts and earn Box Tops. Your earnings may seem small, but they really do add up. The more people that participate, the bigger the impact we can make. Learn more about how Box Tops works at BTFE.com.

Email: Admin@Eaglepeakmontessori.org
Website: eaglepeakmontessori.org
Location: 800 Hutchinson Road, Walnut Creek, CA, USA
Phone: (925)946-0994