Chantilly Montessori

Dear Chantilly Montessori Families,

Welcome to a new school year! We are thrilled to open our doors and begin another exciting journey of learning, growth, and discovery with your children. Whether you are returning to our school community or joining us for the first time, we are honored to partner with you in the education of your child.

This year, our theme is "Each Child, Our Legacy." This theme reflects the heart of Montessori education and our shared commitment to nurturing every child's unique gifts, strengths, and potential. Each student who walks through our doors contributes to the story of our school, and the experiences, values, and learning opportunities we provide today help shape the leaders, thinkers, creators, and citizens of tomorrow.

At Chantilly Montessori, we believe that every child matters and that each child's growth leaves a lasting impact on our community. Through purposeful work, meaningful relationships, and opportunities for independence and responsibility, we strive to cultivate confident learners who are prepared to make positive contributions to the world around them.

As we begin the year, we look forward to building strong partnerships with families, celebrating successes, navigating challenges together, and creating memorable experiences that will inspire a lifelong love of learning. We encourage you to stay connected, engage with our school community, and join us in supporting the academic, social, and emotional growth of every child.

Thank you for entrusting us with your children's education. We are excited for all that lies ahead and cannot wait to see the incredible things our students will accomplish this year.

With excitement and gratitude,

Sandra Noel, Principal
Chantilly Montessori School
"The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind." – Maria Montessori

Just a reminder that our Primary students will have a different schedule in order to give our PK students a chance to acclimate to their new school and classrooms. PK students will begin August 25 but our K students will begin the following week, August 31.

As a reminder, an essential component of the Montessori educational model is the process of normalization, which will begin on the first day of school, August 25, and continue through October 16.

During this important period, families will not be permitted in the building for volunteering, lunch visits, classroom observations, or other activities. This temporary restriction is intentional and supports the successful establishment of our Montessori learning environment.

Normalization is the process through which children develop independence, concentration, self-discipline, and a sense of responsibility within their classroom community. During the first several weeks of school, students are learning classroom routines, building relationships with peers and teachers, practicing grace and courtesy, and becoming familiar with classroom materials and expectations. This foundation is critical to the success of the Montessori experience throughout the year.

Limiting interruptions and maintaining consistent routines during this time helps students feel secure, develop confidence, and fully engage in the work of the classroom. When children have the opportunity to establish these habits and connections independently, they are better able to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.

We appreciate your partnership and understanding as we prioritize this important phase of the Montessori journey. Your support during the normalization period helps create the conditions necessary for a productive, peaceful, and joyful learning environment for all students.

Beginning October 17, volunteer opportunities, lunch visits, and other family engagement activities will resume according to school procedures. We encourage all families to sign up for classroom observations at this time - especially if you are new to Montessori.

Thank you for your continued support as we start another wonderful year of learning together.

Parent Portal

Please see the attachment for steps to set up your parent portal.

It is imperative that this portal be set up as soon as possible in order to receive all necessary information including school forms that must be completed.

Parent Square

Parent Square is our main communication source. The school will send out vital information and updates through Parent Square. Parent Square sends out automatic invitations to create your account. If you need more guidance, please refer to the following CMS link: https://www.cmsk12.org/communications/parentsquare-information

Long awaited Musical Information is here! Please see below for the link and information regarding next year's musical, Annie KIDS!

Sign Ups are now open for Cast auditions and for Tech Crew applications! Link : https://sites.google.com/cms.k12.nc.us/annie-chantilly-montessori/home

Please email Ms. Cameryn with any questions/concerns : camerynh.bost@cms.k12.nc.us

Questions about dress code or how to change your address? Find the answers to these and many other items in our Family Handbook. Please review the family handbook and bookmark it so you can find it easily when you have questions or need information: https://canva.link/o70lk3ue1u9h9e9

Forgot to order the Edukit? No worries! Find the supply list for your child's classroom here: https://chantillyes.cmsk12.org/families/parent-resources/supply-list-2026-2027

To ensure students have transportation in place for the first day of school, families should submit their 2026–27 transportation request by 6:00 PM on August 11. Bus stop assignments are prioritized based on Infinite Campus registration dates, and requests submitted after the deadline—as well as alternate or daycare stop requests—may require additional processing time and could impact routing availability.

Request transportation through the AlphaPortal by following the directions here. See important deadlines and timelines on the website.

All families will need to sign up for an AlphaPortal account if you haven't already. This will replace the "Here Comes The Bus" app and will give you bus number, pick up and drop off times, etc. Please sign up here: https://cmsnc.alphaportal.app/#/user/sign-up

New lunch price for this year:

Elementary school lunch price will be $2.85. Money may be placed on your child's lunch account by creating an account and adding funds to PayPams at www.paypams.com. Find more information here.

Menus can be found here weekly.

Special Diet Requests must be made to School Nutrition Services.

Any families that would like to request support with school lunches may submit a meal application to be considered for free or reduced price lunch benefits. Online applications will be available beginning August 1st on the CMS website. Information can be found here.

Timely immunizations are essential and required in North Carolina schools. It’s important to check with your child’s healthcare provider to ensure their vaccinations are current and to maintain a record of all administered vaccines during each visit.

Don’t forget that immunization or exemption forms are due by September 23. Need more information, check out the CMS immunization webpage.

Resources for families:

• Free and Low-Cost Health Clinics
• Request an appointment at the health department
• Resource Guide
• Spanish Resource Guide
• Immunizations available at Spaugh every Tuesday

As each with year, all students will participate in required Title IX lessons at the beginning of the school year (in mid-September). These lessons help build awareness and are designed to be grade level appropriate. As families, you can preview these lessons to find out more about what will be shared (see below). You will be provided an opportunity to opt out if you determine that you would not like for your child to participate. These opt out forms will come home August 25 with your student. Please see below for more information.

The Purpose of Title IX

Title IX was created to stop, remedy and prevent sexual harassment and discrimination in educational programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance across the United States.

Scope and Protections

Title IX is a U.S. federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination. This means that no one can be excluded from or denied the benefits of a school program based on their sex, including discrimination, harassment, and sexual violence. Title IX applies to all operations of a school that received federal funding, including academics, extra-curricular activities and athletics.

Parents and guardians may review the modified EC Extensions lessons using the

following link: CMS Title IX Department Page – Lessons. Scroll to the bottom, under Lessons, select your child's grade level.

Chantilly 2026-27 Open House is August 20, 3:30 - 5:30pm. It is a drop in event. Come anytime during these two hours to meet your teacher and celebrate Back to School with us!

You are invited to come out and support your class with preparing the garden for fall planting! We need our community to help us get our campus in top shape for the beginning of school on August 25. We need help cleaning out the garden beds as well as sprucing up our green areas around campus. Please come and join us on August 21 from 4 - 6pm.

On August 31, our school community will come together to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Maria Montessori, whose vision and philosophy continue to inspire the joyful, child-centered learning that takes place in our classrooms every day.

To honor this special occasion, we invite families to send in flowers for our annual birthday celebration. The flowers will be collected and thoughtfully distributed among classrooms throughout the school, creating beautiful displays that serve as a tribute to Dr. Montessori and her lasting legacy.

This simple tradition provides a meaningful opportunity for students to reflect on the founder of the Montessori method and the values that guide our community: respect, independence, curiosity, and a love of learning.

Thank you for helping us celebrate this special day and the remarkable educator whose work continues to impact children around the world. 🌼🌷🌻

October 16, 4:30 - 7:30pm

Mark your calendars now! Please plan to join us for our fiinal Flutterfest here at Chantilly in our current building! We want this to be a special celebration as we celebrate Chantilly Montessori and the 19 years that we have been in this building. This will be a lot of fun for families and staff alike. See you there!

I would like to provide an update regarding the use of i-Ready at our school. We will continue to administer the i-Ready assessments three times each year, as these assessments provide valuable data that helps us understand each student's current achievement levels and identify areas for growth and support.

However, we are pleased to share that we will no longer use i-Ready as an instructional tool during our classroom instructional blocks. CMS has granted Montessori schools an exception, for which we are very grateful. This flexibility allows us to fully prioritize and dedicate instructional time to our Montessori curriculum and approach, ensuring that students experience the rich, hands-on, and individualized learning opportunities that are central to Montessori education.

Thank you for your continued support of our school and our commitment to providing an authentic Montessori experience for every child.

This year, CMS is introducing a new Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) program, "I've Got Your Back", to further support the social, emotional, and behavioral well-being of our students. This program will complement the strong foundation in place through our Caring School Community curriculum, Montessori Peace Education, and the principles of Positive Discipline that guide our daily interactions and classroom practices.

Together, these approaches provide a more comprehensive and intentional framework for fostering empathy, self-awareness, problem-solving, resilience, and positive relationships. By integrating these resources, we can better ensure that every student receives the social-emotional support needed to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally within our Montessori environment. Our goal is to equip students with the skills and confidence necessary to navigate challenges, build meaningful connections, and contribute positively to our school community and beyond.

As most of you already know, we will be moving into a new location/building next fall (2027). I am happy to announce that things are progressing and on track for this move to occur. While we will miss this building, we are excited about the possibilities with having a larger building and newer facility. I will keep you updated as the year progresses and new updates are available. You can also follow the bond updates on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg website.

The state of North Carolina has recently enacted legislation requiring all students in grades 4 and 5 to participate in DIBELS assessments three times per year, expanding the assessment beyond the current K-3 implementation. This change is designed to strengthen literacy outcomes by providing teachers with valuable diagnostic data on students' reading development. The additional information will help educators identify areas of need, monitor progress over time, and deliver targeted instruction and interventions to support each student's literacy growth and acquisition.