Country Montessori School
Admin Corner
Aug 12, 2021
“True peace … suggests the triumph of justice and love among men; it reveals the existence of a better world where harmony reigns.” Dr. Maria Montessori
Upcoming Dates/Events:
- New Parent/New Level Orientation-Friday, August 13
- First day of school-Monday, August 16
- Be Sure to Set your Parent Portal Directory Preferences – See Instructions below – Directory becomes available in parent portal next week
We are excited for Monday, August 16th!
The faculty and staff have been busy preparing their classrooms for the new 2021-22 school year. We are very excited to be starting our 33rd school year at CMS and seeing all of our CMS community!
2021-2022 School Year Faculty and Staff
Administration
- Adela Corrales-Head of School
- Jose Bolanos-Director of Admissions/Marketing
- Susan Kolle-Administrative Assistant and Development Coordinator
- Tammy To-Business Manager
Elementary-Owls 4th/5th
- Vicki Rehkopf-Elementary Curriculum Lead Teacher
- Kathy Rader-Upper Elementary Teacher
- Tracy Rendon-Upper Elementary Assistant
Elementary-Eagles 1st-3rd
- Erika Dukes-Lower Elementary Lead Teacher
- Mandy Odenwalder-Lower Elementary Teacher
- Jess Stanphill-Lower Elementary/Kindergarten Reading Teacher
- Josh Cortez-STEM/Creative Writing Teacher
- Genesis Wasson-Lower Elementary Classroom Assistant
Early Childhood
Ladybugs
- Karin Osterberg-EC Curriculum Coordinator/Early Childhood Lead Teacher
- Katie Marr-Classroom Assistant
Bumblebees
- Wendy West-Early Childhood Lead Teacher/Internal Event Coordinator
- Hirona Tsang-Classroom Assistant
Dragonflies
- Dawn Bohn-Early Childhood Lead Teacher
- Rae Dequito-Classroom Assistant
Enrichment Teachers
- Tracy Rendon-K-5 Physical Education Teacher
- Joshua Rehkopf-1-5 Art Teacher
- Joshua Rehkopf-1-5 Computer Teacher
- Nadia Salas-Early Childhood/Elementary Spanish Teacher
- Sarah Tamanaha-Early Childhood/Elementary Music Teacher
Child Care
- Melissa Yee-Early Childhood Child Care Teacher/classroom/
administration - Sarah Tamanaha-Elementary Child Care Teacher
School Health & Safety
Country Montessori School is committed to continuing to provide a healthy and safe environment for all our students, their families, our staff and the community. We will continue to follow the California Department of Public Health, the San Diego County Office of Education, community care licensing and CDC recommended safety measures.
- Daily temperature checks are mandatory for all students and staff before drop-off. Any student with a temperature exceeding 100 degrees will not be allowed to attend school that day.
- Any student or staff member who have any of the symptoms listed on the Decision Tree will be asked to follow the protocol
- Visitors on campus are limited and must be allowed in by administration
- CMS will follow enhanced sanitation practices and practice frequent handwashing
- Handless sanitizer stations will be in all buildings
- Staff will sanitize supplies and facilities throughout the day
- Daily cleaning and enhanced sanitation will occur at the end of each day with a focus on disinfecting all “high touch” areas
- Lunch areas for all students will be set up to allow for social distancing
- CMS staff will wear face mask throughout the day
- All students are required to wear masks indoors and outdoors.
- Outdoor space will be utilized as much as possible
- Water fountains will be taped off
- All outdoor playground toys / equipment used will be sanitized regularly
- Parents will sign in using a no touch sign in with a QR code they will scan with their smartphone camera app.
- Parents who are dropping off must also wear a face mask that covers their nose and mouth
- Parents will be asked to fill out a daily self-disclosure form
Daily Self-Declaration by Families
In an effort to protect the health and safety of our entire community families and staff will need to fill out a daily self-declaration prior to entering the campus.
Classroom Environments:
- Designated cubby space for lunches, work
- Student water bottles will be permitted
- Each student will have a pencil box of supplies on their table
- Group snack
- Assigned lunch tables/seats-Rotation
- Utilizing outdoor learning spaces
- Open windows
Morning Arrivals Parking Lot Procedures
Please see the following for your assigned lane. When dropping off your student please ensure their mask is on as well as any other person in your car despite the vaccination status. Thank you for your cooperation.
- Lane 1 Curbside – 1st level-5th level students-If your student is late and it is before 8:40, you need to drive through the parking lot. Your student will be marked tardy
- Lane 2 and Lane 3- Ladybug,Bumblebee and Dragonfly students-Please stop at the crosswalk and wait to be moved forward
- Lane 4 (where parking spots are) will not be used this school year
- Please do not get out of your car, your teacher will take your student from or to the car
- Please take a right hand turn only out of parking lot
***If you have students in elementary and early childhood please use the curb drop off unless it is full please use lane 2 or 3.
Half Day Dismissals-12:30
- Please use lane 3 and pull up in front of the office,remain in your car and your student will be brought out to you. Please have all people in your car wearing their masks.
Early Childhood 2:30-2:45 Dismissals
- Please use lanes 2 and 3 and stop at the crosswalk and wait to be moved forward and your student will be brought out to you
- If the parking lot is full please use the curb and your student will be taken to you
**If you have children in both EC and Elementary your EC student will be dismissed at the 3:00 dismissal.
Elementary 3:00-3:15 Dismissals
- 4th and 5th level students will be dismissed from the curb
- 1st-3rd level students will be dismissed in the parking lot using lanes 2 and 3. Please wait at the crosswalk until you are moved forward
- Please have all people in your car wear their mask
Attendance and Tardiness
It is important for your student to be on time each day for school. Daily attendance is taken each morning and recorded. All students should be in class by 8:30 with the exception for early childhood students who are given until 8:40, this does not apply to elementary students. Absences and tardies will be reflected on the students report card and we discourage excessive tardiness and absences.
Late Arrival Procedures
If your student is late to school you need to park and accompany them and wait outside the office in the enclosed area. Administration will take all tardy students to class at 9:00 AM. Please make every effort to have your student to school on time.
Child Care
Morning child care is offered every morning at 7:30 and after school child care is from 2:45-6:00 PM. Please let Susan know at Susank@countrymontessori.org
Parking
For visitor parking please use the spots in front of the school. The parking spots located by the dumpster are employee parking and certain staff arrive at different times of the day.
New Student/Family Orientation
Please enter the campus by using the gate that leads into the Serengeti playground (between Eagles and Bumblebees) and go to the front playground. When exiting please use the front gate into the parking lot.
For our new students and families to CMS, please remember that on Friday, August 13 you and your student will have a new family/student orientation from 9-10:30. At 9:00 you will meet with the administration on the front playground and immediately following will get to meet your new teachers and classroom.
Returning CMS Students in New Classrooms Orientation
Our returning students and parents that will be entering the first and fourth levels will meet with the classroom faculty at 9:30. The teachers will be covering a variety of information and the students will have the opportunity to meet their teachers.
New CMS Families
Be sure to set up your FACTSMgt (RenWeb) Parent Portal account
- Visit https://factsmgt.com
- Click Parent Log in
- Select FACTS Family Portal
- The Family Portal Login Page comes up. – You will click Create New Family Portal Account
- Country Montessori School District Code: CO-CA
- Type your email address and click Create Account
An email will be sent to you with a link Click to change password. This link is only valid for 15 minutes
The browser displays your Name and RenWeb ID
- Type a User Name, Password and Confirm the password
- Click Save Password
A message at the top of the browser, “User Name/Password successfully updated You can now log into ParentsWeb using your new Username and Password
Country Montessori School App
If you have not done so please be sure to download the Country Montessori School App. You can look up the app in the App Store or Google Play Store on your device. Simply search for Country Montessori School or use the following link https://a3a.me/
You can use the Country Montessori School App to:
- Complete your daily sign-in for morning arrivals
- Daily sign out (for Early Childhood students)
- View / Pay child care
- Access Family Directory
- Link to CMS Facebook / Instagram
- Access Admin Corner Newsletters
- View Report Cards (once released)
- Process Re-enrollment
- Additional FACTS (RenWeb) Parent Portal features
- Register for your Walk-A-Thon individual student page
Parent Directory
One of the additional features found in the parent portal is our school directory for all CMS families. Our system defaults the parent directory to share names, email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses. If there is any information you would like to have omitted from the parent portal please adjust your preferences by following these steps.
- Log into your Parent Portal
- From the left-hand menu select Web Forms
- Click on Custodial Parent Form
- Scroll to bottom under Parent Preferences:
- Any information you want omitted click on the directory block next to that information item – once your preferences are selected click save.
(The parent directory will become available in the parent portal after the start of the school year to allow families to adjust their preferences)
Cheers,
The CMS Family