Throughout the school year, we hold various Institute Days when classes are closed, and our faculty and staff come in for a full day. What is the purpose of our Institute Days?  For the faculty and staff, it’s additional time for everyone to discuss school-wide events, freshen up our environments, and plan and prepare curriculum for the upcoming months, but Institute Days also serve to reconnect as a community professionally and personally.

Often during Institute Days, we have professional development for everyone.  In the past, we have had talks about food allergies, gender, childhood development, and social media—to name a few. These discussions not only serve as a springboard for more in-depth conversations but also to keep teachers abreast of current topics in order to better serve the children.  

One of the components of the Alcuin Montessori middle school is Beyond the Classroom Walls.  The Beyond the Classroom Walls program is designed to extend students’ learning into our broader communities and beyond. Each week, they take one afternoon and leave the campus for a trip into Oak Park or Chicago. These trips are designed to encourage independence, orienteering, and community building while enhancing and reinforcing the curriculum. The biggest BTCW outing is our biannual trip to San Jose, Costa Rica.
 
During their time in Costa Rica, the students go on various day trips to see the Costa Rican sights, but they also participate in a Spanish immersion language program at the Costa Rican Language Academy.  Additionally, they volunteer at the Ana Frank Day Care (a government-run day care) for the day where they work with children infant through ages ten.  This allows the middle schoolers to work outside their community and truly become citizens of the world.

The students compiled some journal entries from their time in San Jose. Here are some excerpts:

​It’s dismissal and apart from the buzz of busyness, jackets being pulled on, and shared laughter, there are also excited murmurs.

“I can’t wait for Makerspace after school!” 

“Running Club is going to be crazy awesome. We’re running around all of Chicago!”

“I signed up for cooking class because my mom wants me to make dinner from now on.”

Our spring session of after school classes (for ages 5 to 14) is underway, and the children were ready to dive into a variety of activities including gardening, chess, cooking, running and set design.  In the past, we've offered robotics, anime, ballet, hip-hop, and playwriting.

"The road to success is always under construction." - Lily Tomlin

​It's been a busy few weeks over at 6942 W Roosevelt Road as our floor was poured.  It was such a great sight to see the crew from Bulley & Andrews plug away as floors were created right before our very eyes.  Dave Hempfling, Sr. Project Manager with Bulley & Andrews, hosted Sandra Simmons (our Toddler Directress) and Gina Gleason (our Executive Director) as the crew worked quickly and precisely on our floor. On our FB Live video, Dave informed us that eighteen trucks came in that morning, with approximately 8500 sq. feet of cement which were needed for our space, which will consist of two toddler classrooms, two infant classrooms, three garden spaces, a large multipurpose room, a full kitchen and much more.

Next, the exterior structural wall framing was erected.  Within the next week or so, a joist will come to assist on the next part of the project as the B & A crew commences roof work. Construction demo on the Middle School has been completed and work will soon begin on renovations of that space. 

“Let’s start our parade and go all the way to Senior Elementary,” Primary teacher, Mr. Mike, called out as he held the dragon head and called the “scales” into formation.
 
We celebrate children’s awe of everything around them. Places, things, ideas — we help them explore it all. In ways both large and small, the children of Alcuin become aware of the greater world around them.  We celebrate cultures, people, diversity, histories, and holidays across the curriculum.  For the younger children, it may be via maps, storytelling, and art — for the older children this becomes more in-depth through literature, plays, music, timelines, guest speakers, field trips, and even more elaborate art studies. 

We follow children’s curiosities which lead to deeper knowledge and personal connection to what they learn, and then we help apply what they’ve learned continuously to other subjects, topics and life. We broaden the learning environment so our children can continually push the fence over to explore new territory and test their growing potential. 

We’re pleased to announce that the final step in our seven-year-long dual accreditation process with ISACS (Independent School Accreditation of the Central States) and AMS (American Montessori Society) is coming as we prepare for our team site visit at the end of the month.    

We will be hosting nine education professionals which include teachers and administrators (both Montessorian and non-Montessorians alike) who will spend four days with us. During this visit, every aspect of the school is examined and documented, including governance, curriculum, fiscal and personnel policies, facilities, health and safety practices, teacher preparation, and learner outcomes. 

So, what exactly does this dual accreditation mean? Accreditation, for ISACS and AMS, begins with an intensive self-study, by the school, involving the school’s entire community. Our whopping almost-200-page self-study goes over every aspect of our school. At the end of the self-study period, a thorough onsite peer visit is conducted. In addition to determining whether the school meets the over 200 AMS and ISACS standards, the visiting team evaluates the school to see how well it is achieving its mission and goals—whether the school is what it says it is and does what it says it does.

ISACS is a membership organization of more than 230 independent schools from 13 states in the Midwest region. The purpose of ISACS is to promote the development of active learning communities characterized by high achievements, social responsibility, and independence of governance, programs, and policies. This goal is achieved partly through a rigorous school accreditation process. 

While the United States Department of Education can only recognize accrediting bodies for higher and adult education, ISACS accreditation is recognized by the U.S. Government. AMS accreditation affirms that a school meets a standard of excellence recognized within the Montessori community and by educators worldwide. Because AMS is accredited by the National Council for Private School Accreditation, schools that are AMS-accredited also gain accreditation by the NCPSA.  Additionally, accreditation assures families that their child's school is a quality one and that it is accountable to a larger body.  Finally, we will receive a report with commendations and recommendations from the visiting team which will help us grow as a school.

We will be in great company as our peer ISACS or AMS schools include: Near North Montessori, Brickton Montessori, Ancona School, Avery Coonley, Beacon Academy, The British School, The Latin School of Chicago, Francis W. Parker, Rogers Park Montessori, Countryside Day School, and University of Chicago Laboratory School.

A special thanks to the Steering Committee:  Roxy Krawczyk, Nicole Cochrane, Phoenix Holt, and Alex Valera.  Thanks again to everyone who has supported this incredible journey, and we can’t wait to celebrate our final steps.   

Gina Gleason
Executive Director

In the Spanish program, we build relationships through open and compassionate communication, creative collaborative work, and by valuing and respecting another’s perspective and input as well as our own. The program helps to develop essential life skills such as innovative and flexible thinking, cooperation, resilience in the face of challenges, and courage to attempt new endeavors --- all qualities to be found in contributing members of society.

Last week was filled with learning a few different routines, as well as making new friends. For many of the toddlers, the classroom was a completely new environment, but they quickly jumped in. The children engaged in exploration, old friends got reacquainted, they practiced Grace and Courtesy during snack time and a lot of self-care.  They are such independent little human beings.
 
They spent their time building, chopping fruits and vegetables, helping one another, listening to music, climbing the playground structure, setting and busing tables. We are often amazed at what our toddlers can do, but they are too! ​

Throughout the year, the art curriculum connects to subjects and themes, such as nature, the built environment, and community. Our recent theme of identity, which is always the focus during the first few months of the year, is a wonderful way for Alcuin students to develop their drawing skills while also exploring their interests, needs and personal lives. 

We have all been learning that making a great drawing isn’t all about having a steady hand or making things perfect, it’s about how you see and how you interpret the information that your eyes receive. I tell the students “draw what you see, not what you think you see.” Using mirrors and thinking about simple shapes and proportions, Junior and Senior Elementary students have been creating self-portrait drawings in their sketchbooks.  These studies have developed into final compositions, some that include just the face and others that include the full figure drawn with colored pencils. ​