Cowles Montessori Crier

“Human flourishing, as Maria Montessori put it, means becoming a person of one’s time and place with the means and wherewithal not only to function within but to shape society (NCMPS, 2019).”

“All humans (CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS, and ADULTS) flourish in society (ALL ENVIRONMENTS).” - Cowles Montessori Vision

CMPG Monthly Meeting

• Monday, May 10th from 6:00-7:00 p.m.
• Virtual Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5016626370
• Meeting ID: 501 662 6370
• The agenda includes:

  • Approval of April meeting minutes (see attached).

  • Arts Festival Updates

  • Treasurer Report

  • Funding Requests; 1 new one and 1 discussed in April's meeting

  • Principal's Report

• Please join us as we wrap up this historic school year!
  

- Andrea Lowe & Jenna Knox, Co-Presidents

Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP)

• 3rd through 8th grade students
• Testing window is from May 10-May 28th
• Continue to check you email regarding messages that pertain to your child's specific grade level and the process for in-person or virtual students

Iowa Conditions for Learning Survey

• 3rd-8th Grade students
• Format for both in-person and virtual students
• Survey window begins May 17th

Last Day of School for Preschool Students

• Friday, May 28th

Memorial Day

• Monday, May 31st
• No school for students, faculty, and staff

Middle School Promotion Picnic

• Thursday, June 3rd from 11:30-12:25 p.m. on the eastside of the Cowles Montessori building (weather permitting)
• All 7th and 8th grade students (in-person and virtual) are invited to attend in-person
• Parents of virtual students can drop their Middle School students off at the front of hte building and stay in the parking lot or come back for pick up at 12:25 p.m.
• Virtual students will need to bring their own lunch to the Promotion Picnic
• In-person students will either bring their own lunch or receive a school sack lunch from the cafeteria
• All students are required to wear masks when they are not eating
• Students will maintain appropriate distancing when eating without masks during the event
• All students are dismissed from school and the Promotion Picnic for Summer Break at 12:25 p.m.

Moving Up Ceremony (Prerecorded Video)

• Students will view a prerecorded Moving Up Ceremony on the last day of school
• Parents will receive a prerecorded video of the ceremony
• The video will include an explanation of the Moving Up Ceremony and feature students who are moving up to the next level (e.g. Kindergarteners moving up to Lower Level, 3rd Graders moving up to Upper Level, 6th Graders moving up to Middle School, and 8th Graders moving up to High School)

Last Day of School for Kindergarten through 8th Grade

• Thursday, June 3rd - Dismissal at 12:25 p.m.

There will be a virtual informational cross-country meeting for all interested boys who will be in 7th and 8th grade at Merrill, Callanan, and Cowles for the 2021-2022 school year. The meeting will take place on Microsoft Teams at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 25. If students would like an invitation to this meeting, please email Coach Severson at adam.severson@dmschools.org to be put on the list.

Roosevelt Cross Country will host a parent/athlete informational meeting for boys cross country at Roosevelt in the cafeteria on May 27th at 7:00 p.m.

For more information, contact Coach Schwendinger (aka Coach Schweny) at (515) 975-0335

It's official - the Des Moines Arts Festival is a GO! Mark your calendars for June 25-27! We once again will have a double tent in front of the main stage, PLUS the Iowa Craft Beer tent - so we need you!

• Sign up at https://desmoinesartsfestival.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=54057
• Ask your family, friends, neighbors if they want to join you!

Cowles Montessori Parent Group (CMPG) will be once again running one of the nonprofit-run beer and wine sales tents at the Des Moines Arts Festival, and we will also be running the festival's Craft Beer tent! Volunteering at the festival is fun and easy – it’s a great way to get to know other Cowles parents at one of the biggest events in Des Moines, while raising money for fine arts programs at Cowles and in the community. In 2018 we made over $15,000!

How much time? Each new volunteer needs to complete a one hour training session, and then shifts at the booth are typically 3 hours long. You can work up to six hours in any given day.

Who can volunteer? Anyone 18 or older - anyone who might want to have fun while making money for our kids at Cowles! Get a group together to work a shift - Volunteers do NOT need to be Cowles affiliated to come join in the fun - family or friends, the more the merrier!

When is the training? There will be a total of three one-hour training sessions available, all will be held over Zoom, and the training is good for two years:

• Wednesday, June 2, 5:30pm-6:30pm
• Thursday, June 3, 5:30pm-6:30pm
• Tuesday, June 8, 5:30pm-6:30pm

Training is required to volunteer!

When and where is the festival? The Des Moines Arts Festival is June 25-27, at Western Gateway Park.

Where do I sign up? Go to https://desmoinesartsfestival.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=54057 All new volunteers will get a free Cowles T-shirt from RAYGUN, so be sure to mark your shirt size when signing up!

If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Winters
at melowinters@gmail.com or 865-9086.

Cowles Montessori is excited to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! We are reading books, sharing about history, influential people, holidays, and current events.

From the Des Moines Public Library:

Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with books that both honor Asian and Pacific American historical figures and celebrate the Asian and Pacific American experience. Our Book Chat team has put together targeted book lists for every age and genre.

May Library Learning Bags: https://dmpl.org/events/library-learning-bags-superhero-edition

If parents want to book an appointment time to speak with Nurse Ann, click on the link below:

Nurse Ann's Office Hours

The Education Bill Tracking webpage provides regular updates during the Iowa legislative session on bills related to education in Iowa. Information about new bills, including names, numbers, and sponsors are provided.

As the session continues to move forward, there are certain session milestones that bills need to clear to stay alive. These milestones are listed within the session timetable

Early Childhood Department/School Readiness Goals & Learning Targets – 2020-2021

• 85% of 4 year-olds will meet or exceed kindergarten readiness in the Literacy Domain of GOLD including concepts of print, alliteration, letter names and letter sounds.
• 80% of 4 year-olds will meet or exceed kindergarten readiness in the Math Domain of GOLD including counts, quantifies and connects numerals with quantities.
• 90% of 4 year-olds will meet or exceed kindergarten readiness in the Social/Emotional Domain of GOLD, follows limits and expectations.

District Board Goals

LITERACY

• Goal 1: The percent of all third grade students on track in reading will increase from 52% to 72% by June 2023, as measured by FAST.
• Goal 2: The percent of black male third grade students on track in reading will increase from 35% to 72% by June 2023, as measured by FAST.

ALGEBRA

• Goal 3: The percent of black male students earning a ‘B’ or higher in Algebra 1 by the end of 9th grade will increase from 17% to 35% by August 2023.

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

• Goal 4: A goal will be developed once a baseline measure for social emotional learning is determined.

Cowles Montessori School Improvement Goal

Goal 1: The percent of all third through eighth grade students proficient and/or on track for college and career readiness in math will increase from 81% to 85% by Spring of 2023 as measured by state assessments:

• By 2020 - 82%
• By 2021 - 83%
• By 2022 - 84%
• By 2023 - 85%

#WeAreCowles #heartsintheheights #BLM #AntiBiasMontessori

Email: shannon.hines@dmschools.org
Website: cowles.dmschools.org
Location: 6401 College Avenue, Windsor Heights, IA, USA
Phone: 515-242-7818
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CowlesMontessori/
Twitter: @CowlesDMPS