Success in Family Engagement
Family engagement and support has taken on a whole new meaning in 2020 and this video compilation showcases the unique way that various communities have overcome some of the pandemic challenges. We celebrate your ability to adapt under these circumstances and are inspired by you. We hope this video will serve as a moment of reflection and act as a resource.
Below is a list of those who submitted in the order they appear in the video:
Lake Bluff, IL
This is a short video showing some of the protocols in place to help keep our community safe amid the Covid-19 Pandemic. This video was prepared for the 2021 The Virtual Montessori Experience.
Learn more about our protocols and parent outreach at, ForestBluffSchool.org/Covid19-School-Communication
Review the site and contact the school with any questions
Author Email – plpreschalck@gmail.com
Washington DC
President Melissa Rohan of Waterfront Academy in SW DC shares her school’s success story working on an in-person model for students. Waterfront Academy has managed to successfully have a first half of the school year with a blended learning model. Students have been able to have the option of attending school in-person, or if they want to remain fully remote, they are able to do so.
The school has been able to keep its entire staff and hold wonderful events to enrich their students’ lives—a virtual Halloween costume contest provided plenty of laughs and a socially distant, safe Christmas pageant video was unveiled to families in December.
Waterfront Academy has been using CDC-recommended sanitizing methods and masks have been implemented since the first day of school. We are proud of how we’ve managed to keep families engaged with us despite the tough year!
Contact – Kate Oczypok – kate.oczypok@gmail.com
St Louis, MO
This video highlights the culture and community engagement at City Garden Montessori School
Contact – Jori Martinez-Woods – institute@citygardenschool.org
Denver, CO
During 100% remote learning, my principal allowed those teachers interested to invite their most vulnerable students based on academic need to attend a learning center, something the district allowed. I have 6 in person at school and 21 at home. So, these students who are normally disengaged, frustrated and socially distant are now hard at work in person and making huge academic and social gains despite these trying times.
Contact – Dakota Prosch – dakota_prosch@dpsk12.net
Oaks and Acorns Montessori School
Gwarimpa, Abuja, FCT Nigeria
The Covid-19 experience has been hard for us all around the world. In this short video, we highlight our strengths, innovations and struggles as we faced this unfortunate global situation from Abuja, Nigeria. Throughout the adventure, we kept in our hearts and mind the growth and safety of our students.
Contact – Ngozi Amanfo – admin@oaks-acornsmontessori.com
Dallas, TX
This video is about how MINT empowered and coached guides in how to support parents during the pandemic. It’s specifically about the free Montessori Mondays series launched in March, which ran through April. It shows clips of IG Live conversations with the MINT community and what they were experiencing. You will see clips of some of the presentations from MINT trainers speaking specifically about how to support parents during the pandemic.
Contact – info@montessori-mint.org
Annapolis, MD
Our video shows even though some of our classmates are distance learning we feel closer than ever. We have more contact with our parents. In partnership with our parents we find ourselves co – teaching using printable materials and borrowed materials. We have helped our families expand Montessori into their homes by providing these printable materials and the ability to borrow the materials from the classroom. Our video shows Dillion and Zoe sharing their knowledge over zoom. Who would have imagined we would be using a laptop and cameras in our primary environment. Enjoy!
Contact – Anthea Cooper – acooper@montessoriinternational.org
Fayetteville, GA
The video I shared was a small portion of our virtual winter solstice performance. We produced it to share with our families. The other portions of the film feature the children in their classrooms singing other songs they learned in music class. In those portions, the children are all in masks as they are every day. To capture the finale, we had to film each child individually so they could safely take their mask off. We thought it would be special for families to see their children’s beautiful faces and we debuted the film via a zoom webinar where parents, grandparents, friends, and family could safely enjoy it from the comfort of their homes. It was a great success!
Contact – Bridgette Williams M.Ed – bwilliams@kulimamontessori.org
Denver, CO
Executive Director, Amy Downs, shares who Family Star serves and some of the creative ways that they’ve adapted to serve their families needs during the pandemic.
Contact – Amy Downs – ADowns@familystar.net
Dickinson Elementary and Montessori Academy
Grand Prairie, TX
3-year PreK – 5th grade Grand Prairie ISD who add a grade level each year with 2021-2022 adding Montessori through 2nd grade.
Mission:
Our mission is to provide an exemplar Montessori education to all children in order to enable them to realize his/her richest potential and to become independent and self-motivated learners.
Vision:
We are a learning community that prepares our students for success by meeting the academic and social-emotional needs of each student and empowers them to be leaders today and tomorrow.
Contact – Whitney Carlisle – whitney.carlisle@gpisd.org
Montessori Education Centre
Mesa, AZ
Click here to access a video that shares what a Montessori Education Centre community in Mesa, Arizon accomplished in the mist of excruciating stress and anticipation of the future. it is a celebration of what of what our children, parents and teachers are capable of when we are. Marching On….the Montessori Way.
Contact – Cassi Mackey – cassimackey11@gmail.com
These videos share the Intergenerational work: Medicinal Gardening and Microempreza (the elders are creating materials for our environment) taking place at Siembra Montessori. For the Micro Enterprise – the seniors are in the process of learning more about the Montessori philosophy to better understand the organization of the environment and purpose of the materials that they are creating for the children. For example in the Micro Enterprise video, the aprons, dusting cloths and masks that the children are using were all prepared by the seniors. The aprons seen in the Medicinal Garden video were also sewn by the seniors. In addition, the adolescents participating in Centro’s Raices program are collaborating with the seniors and working to support more of the technical aspects of the business, while socializing and gaining knowledge from the elders on activities such as embroidery.
Contact – Dorothy Lerma – dlerma@centromn.org