Silver Jubilee Alumni Breakfast Photos

Get your Silver Jubilee Merchandise!

Official Ellis Silver Jubilee merchandise will go on sale tomorrow!  T-shirts can be purchased for $10.00 and buttons will sell for $1.00 each.  All proceeds will go towards Silver Jubilee activities.

The Joy of Montessori - A Poem by Poet Laureate, Mary Simmons

The Joy of Montessori

Montessori puts joy into learning,
By adding art and exploring.

To respect yourself and the environment,
is what they teach us inside this giant tent.

Outside is the wilderness to which we are taught to live in,
to be self-responsible and to iron our linen.

We will work with others and help when in need,
and be smart and sensible, indeed.

Written and read by Mary Simmons
Charles Ellis Montessori Academy PTA Meeting
October 18, 2012

Thank You!

Thanks to everyone who made today's Charles Ellis Silver Jubilee Alumni Breakfast a success!  It was so nice to see so many familiar faces!  If you took any pictures from today, please feel free to upload them on our Silver Jubilee Facebook page.

Don't forget to RSVP for the Ellis Silver Jubilee Alumni Breakfast!

Please RSVP by this friday (trent.kissinger@sccpss.com) to attend the Silver Jubilee Alumni Breakfast.

Jubilee Alumni Breakfast Invite

Hart to Heart: Calling all Charles Ellis alumni in Savannah

Hart to Heart: Calling all Charles Ellis alumni in Savannah (Savannah Morning News)

By Anne Hart

Calling all Charles Ellis alumni

Favorite teachers. Recess traditions.

Wooden cubbies that couldn’t fit more than a lunchbox. Holiday sing-alongs with teachers.

And that effortless playground camaraderie that’s as much a part of elementary school as cloakrooms and cooties.

Chances are those are just some of the topics former students and staff of Charles Ellis Montessori Academy will touch on at the school’s Silver Jubilee Alumni breakfast.

Students and staff who were at Ellis from 1988-2012 are invited to the breakfast, which will be 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Oct. 26 in the Ellis Media Center. Please RSVP totrent.kissinger@sccpss.com by Oct. 19 with name and year of graduation from Ellis.

Ellis is the landmark 80-year-old, two-story red brick school house in Savannah’s Ardsley Park. This school year marks Ellis’ 25th year as a solid example of public Montessori education.

Differences between Montessori and traditional public schools include multi-age classes, parent-teacher conferences instead of report cards, hands-on learning and teachers specially trained in the Montessori method, which stresses individual learning.

Ellis also differs from a traditional elementary school because it’s among only a handful of Savannah-Chatham public schools that are pre-K through eighth grade.

As a new Ellis mom, it’s comforting to me to see how many Ellis grads are still pals with friends they made in first and second grade. Jack Willhite, 16, who graduated from Ellis in 2010, is one such grad.

Now a junior at Savannah Arts Academy, Jack reminisces with other former Ellis students about their grade school days — playing soccer in the school’s grass-challenged playground, the tiny wooden cubbies and the chummy, closeknit feel of the school.

Jack recalls fondly how welcoming students were to him, the new kid, when he started Ellis half way into the school year in second grade in 2004.

Jack said his strongest memory is how well Ellis students got along. Playground fights and drama weren’t just rare, they were non-existent.

He attributes that largely to the fact that the middle school students had been with each other since they started going to school.

“We grew up together,” Jack said.

Friendship and independence are the two themes that come to mind when Lucy Kohler, 20, thinks about her Ellis years. Now a junior biology major at the University of Georgia, Lucy attended Ellis from 1996-2006.

“I think of friendship because the people that I attended Ellis with are people that I still keep in contact with and feel close to due to the bond that we developed over many years at Charles Ellis,’’ Lucy said. “I think of independence because of all of the freedom and choices that I had at Charles Ellis. We didn’t all pay attention to a teacher standing in the front of the class all day; we each did our own work independently and were required to be self motivated. I know this method of learning has influenced my educational career immensely.”

Because of Montessori’s multi-age classes, Lucy and her older sister Alice were able to be in class together when they were in fourth and sixth grade, respectively.

When Alice Kohler thinks of her time at Ellis from 1995-2004, she recalls feeling like the classrooms and halls were a second home.

“I also remember highly-involved and passionate teachers,’’ Alice said. “There are very few schools that I know of that the teachers were playing with us at recess and sitting on the floor with us as we learned,’’ said Alice, now a senior in college studying Middle Grades Education with a concentration in language arts and science at Georgia College & State University.

A special memory that stands out for Lucy and Alice is the annual Christmas Sing-A-Long when students and staff gather at the Ellis entrance in front of the school’s signature columns and all sing.

Teachers crooning “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with teacher Denny Smith bellowing out “five golden rings” is an Ellis classic, the Kohler sisters said.

Trent Kissinger, chairman of the Charles Ellis Silver Jubilee Celebration, said the goal of the breakfast is for old classmates to gather together, catch up on what’s happening today in their lives and reminisce about the times they spent walking the halls of Ellis.

“It’s a celebration in honor of the creative and productive minds that were formed, in part, by the Montessori philosophy of education our Alumni experienced in the most formative years of education,” Kissinger said.

The Ellis Jazz band will perform. Members of Ellis sports teams will greet and serve. A student choir will sing the Ellis school song.

“We are also inviting all those alumni who are attending to bring along any mementos from their Ellis years they would like to share,” said Kissinger. “We want all of our Alumni to feel like Ellis will always be their home.”

Contact Anne Hart at anne@southernmamas.com.

ALUMNI BREAKFAST

What: Charles Ellis Montessori Academy’s Silver Jubilee Alumni breakfast, which is open to former students and staff who were at Ellis from 1988-2012.

When: 7:30-8:30 a.m. Oct. 26. A hot breakfast will be provided. There is no charge.

Where: Ellis Media Center, 220 E. 49th St.

Info: RSVP to trent.kissinger@sccpss.com by Oct. 19 with name and year of graduation from Ellis. Feel free to bring any pictures or mementos of your time at Charles Ellis. For more info, visit www.ellissilverjubilee.blogspot.com.

Montessori Core Values

The "Montessori Core Values" will be the touch-stone for our professional practice and will be the focus of our Silver Jubilee Year Celebrations. Please reflect upon what these mean to you and how you model these for your children.

Montessori Core Values

Ellis Peace Day Celebration - September 21, 2012

PreK, Kindergarten & 1^st graders at Charles Ellis helped celebrate International Peace Day by participating in activities to promote world peace. Throughout the day, students donned white doves as symbols of international peace and lessons of personal peace were demonstrated in each classroom. Children read stories of peace and illustrated the importance of promoting peace throughout the world.  Each student made a Peace Mala, a symbolic bracelet that promotes friendship, respect and peace between all people in the world. Parents packed the front yard of Charles Ellis to watch their young children sing “I Think You’re Wonderful,” “Light a Candle for Peace, “I’m a Peacekeeper” & “Go Now in Peace.” By teaching these young students about respecting and taking care of each other we are helping to create a better world for their future. 

A Poem by Poet Laureate, Luke Howze

I practice Montessori
It's really fun-galorey
I'd have to say, I'd like to stay
Right here with Montessori

We learn at our own pace
It's really not a race
We us our ears
Let's have three cheers
Right here with Montessori

We learn to respect
And to make ourselves reflect
It's really lots of fun
Help for everyone!

We learn to work together
Fun and friends forever!
It's safe to say
I'd like to stay
Right here with Montessori!

By: Luke Howze
Read September 13, 2012 at Charles Ellis PTA meeting

The Official Seal of the Silver Jubilee

Ms. Tiia and a team of students, parents, and teachers collaborated to create a visual depiction that captures the spirit of the Ellis Silver Jubilee.  This official seal will soon adorn printed material, buttons, shirts, and jewelry.  Be on the lookout for Jubilee items to purchase in the near future!

Silver Jubilee Alumni Breakfast

Calling all Charles Ellis Montessori Academy alumni! You're invited to attend our Silver Jubilee Alumni breakfast! Join us for a morning of seeing old friends, sharing cherished memories, and walking the halls of your alma mater on Friday, October 26th at 7:30 am in the Ellis Media Center. A hot breakfast will be provided. Feel free to bring any pictures or mementos from your time at Charles Ellis. Please RSVP to trent.kissinger@sccpss.com by October 19th with name and year of graduation from Ellis. This social is open to all students and teachers who attended Charles Ellis over the past 25 years.


Jubilee Alumni Breakfast Invite