Another Summer Work Party at the School

This past Sunday, August 8, several Golden Oak Montessori founders gathered at the school to help prepare the classrooms for the new school year.  A few of us have have already come several times.

We assembled new furniture, 

wiped down tables and chairs

moved them back into the classrooms

Check out the new lofts, furniture and glass doors!

There is still so much work to be done before classes start, and we need everyone's help.

Save the date-- our first SCHOOL CLEAN UP DAY

Sunday, August 22nd, 10:00am to 2:00pm.

You might want to bring work gloves, definitely bring your energy and enthusiasm.

Parent Information Nights: the Board Chair's Perspective

During the last few months, we have been holding Parent Informational Nights to introduce parents to Montessori elementary education and Golden Oak. Despite a bad cold and sore throat at the first meeting, Deirdre Fennessy, the Head of School, did a terrific job introducing the school, mission, and philosophy of Maria Montessori. All of the thirty or so parents in the audience had clearly heard of GO through word of mouth or the flyers sent to all HUSD kindergarten-eligible families. The enthusiasm was obviously high. Questions focused on discipline, transition to high school, and admissions.

I was marveling at how far we have come since last year, when the parent info nights were held in the dusty, cave-like, unfinished and unfurnished classrooms. Then we had to ask parents to take a leap of faith to join a school that still only existed in our dreams. Remember the applications table at the Hayward farmer's market? The cold office hours all alone in the empty GO classrooms?

I feel so proud of how much the parent and community founders dedicated themselves to inspire these new parents to come on board. At the Governance Academy for charter school leaders last month, I talked with many other charter founders and realized how many new charters (even in their 3rd to 4th years) struggle to fill enrollment-- not GO!

At the first Parent Informational Night, about five current GO parents came to the meeting as well. A few talked about their experience at GO-- how much they have seen their children become motivated, independent, problem-solving students, excited about school. It was deeply touching to see the dream become such an effective reality. All the GO Board officers were there too and I wanted to capture the feeling of the meeting because it was so moving.

--Aneema Van Groenou, Founding Community Member and Board Chair

Festival of Lights, December 2009

The Festival of Lights winter holiday student performance and potluck was held at the school the evening of Wednesday, December 16th.  The gym was packed to standing room capacity.

Everyone appeared to have a great time seeing the kids perform and partaking of a culturally diverse selection of yummy food.

A silent auction was held after the dinner to attempt to raise funds to help make possible and support student activities and future educational programs in these times of restricted state and district budgets.

Thanks to all the students, and especially the teachers who have been putting in long hours to prepare this event (as well as to get the school off the ground), and also the parent volunteers who donated their hard work and long hours to make this inaugural annual event successful.

Students Are Loving Their New School

A little behind posting these, but here are some stories submitted by a couple of parents from our new school's first week:

When Tommy came home on the first day, I asked about school (of course!) and he said it was really great. When I asked him about his teacher (Dawn) he said, I quote, "She's really nice. She always smiles. All the time." It was just about the nicest thing I've ever heard said about anyone. :) Tommy is loving the new school, and I'm loving that. Thanks for all the hard work and big dreams!


.....(and) another one, from my niece, Kaziah. She is in second grade at GO, and on Monday night they came over for tacos. She told me that school "is fun like summer camp, but you learn a lot too!" She proceeded to explain to me that the rock she was holding was volcanic, and pointed out how 'glassy' it was. Cute!

~ Mia B.

and one more:

Dear GO friends,


I had to write and tell you how incredibly touched I have been by the outpouring of warmth and enthusiasm by all of "our" GO staff. Each day I pick up my children, and each day they tell me that their days were AWESOME! Ray loved being a stand in "Transformer" on his first day and I know he welcomes each job with enthusiasm. Madison has been quoted as saying, "Mom this is not school, it's summer camp"! They are both budding scientists, Madison being an extreme science NUT. I am happy to hear of the experiments which have already taken place in her classroom. They loved hearing of the "Big Bang Theory" today, and seeing the volcano erupt.


With many difficult things happening in my children's lives at the present time, it's great to know that they have such a nurturing environment to grow in each day, in addition to the love and support they receive at home. We look forward to growing with GO over the next several years.


Warmest wishes,
Kitty F.

Thanks, Mia and Kitty for your letters!  Any parents with more recent anecdotes or quotes from their kids, we'd love to hear them.  Please submit them to blog@goldenoakmontessori.org .

Teachers' Report on Orientation Week

You may be wondering how the orientation week is going. You’ve probably met your child’s teacher. You may have noticed the Montessori materials carefully arranged in the classrooms. Your child may have shared some of their first impressions with you. And if you don’t yet have a child in the school you may be feeling out of the loop and are beside yourself with curiosity.

Our terrific team of Montessori teachers has taught in many schools in different settings. What do they think? I decided to go and find out! (Our next installment: what do your kids say? More below).



Getting acquainted with Montessori usually takes some time, but our students are doing beautifully. Teacher Esther Quinn commented on a question heard in all the classrooms: “So, teacher, when do the desks arrive?” The answer: “We’re not getting any. You’ll do your work at tables or on the floor or wherever you are comfortable.” Student reaction: “Cool!” But don’t imagine scenes of child chaos from Lord of the Flies unfolding at Golden Oak Montessori. These two weeks of orientation are about learning the fundamentals of Montessori behaviors as much as getting acquainted with each other and the teaching materials.



Children are learning about respect for each other. One activity involves students passing around a compliment bowl at the end of the day and finding a nice thing to say about one of her classmates. “Thank you for helping me” said one child to a classmate in the circle, causing her to beam.



In another activity, children jotted down their own ideas about what it meant to respect each other and the environment.





Children are also being given responsibility – and teachers report that their students are taking their “jobs” seriously and already improving. Some have taken creative ownership of their jobs. One of the jobs involves moving the center shelves to the sides to make room for a community meeting where everyone can sit in a circle. Teacher Dawn Roe reports that in her class the two assigned to that task have decided to rename themselves the "Transformers.” Thanks to these two students’ enthusiasm (and creative marketing, perhaps?), other kids are eager to have their turn at that job in a few weeks. Teacher Koren Clark reports that the two students assigned to prepare snacks for the class have decided that they are not the “snackers” but “chefs” and want to make chef hats. So they will! On the first day it took some guidance and more than fifteen minutes for some kids to complete their jobs for the classroom. But by the second day, many were getting it done in two minutes, with pride, self-confidence, and without need for supervision.



Teacher Chikako Takeuchi, who moved back to the U.S. from Japan to teach at Golden Oak, was very impressed with the effort the parents and community of volunteers have put into the school – fixing the grounds, painting hallways, installing floors, and on and on. She recounts how her students all grew quiet and attentive at circle time when she was explaining the need for everyone to take care of their school. “Miracles are starting to happen,” wrote veteran Montessori teacher Michele Yezbick in a recent letter to her mentor.

The teachers are also buoyed up to hear students say “it was great!” or overhear parents whisper to Deirdre “she loves school!!” Starting school after Summer vacation can be a difficult transition. Transitioning to Montessori is not always easy, but with patience and the thoughtful program for phase-in developed by our teachers and Head of School, we are hopeful that everyone will quickly feel at home at Golden Oak. (Yes, I heard the case of one student saying “I hate this!” all through his first day, only to switch several days later to “I love it!”)

Of course there are things that can be improved and smoothed out and the administration, teachers, and board of the school have to work together to make it happen. There were some hiccups with parents not remembering that during orientation pickup is at 12:30, but that’s mostly been ironed out thanks to the responsiveness of parents to an email sent out by Deirdre. Some parents have had a hard time being able to provide some of the materials needed for their children in the classrooms, but the nice thing about Montessori is that materials are communal and shared, and all students’ needs have been met thanks to other parents bringing in extras.

For our next installment, I want to compile observations, funny quotes, or feelings from our students. If you hear your child say something that you want to capture in the blog – send it to us at blog@goldenoakmontessori.org

-- Sergio Knaebel, founding parent