Welcome to the 2023-24 Sands Montessori school year!

CONGRATULATIONS! All parents, guardians, adults in the home, teachers, and staff are part of this important organization, automatically. The SMPO works with families and staff to strengthen our school community, and provide activities and events that will enrich the lives of the Sands student body.

We, Kim Fulbright, President and Alex Shepherd, Vice President of the Sands Montessori Parent Organization (SMPO) hope to see you at our first SMPO meeting of the school year on August 29 at 6:30-8:00pm. This first meeting of the year serves an important role as a General Parent Meeting. We will review the budget and every member in attendance can vote. We encourage everyone to attend in person at Sands in the library or via Zoom. At this time, we plan to hold all meetings in person with a Zoom option. Meetings are open to all. All other meetings are held the third Tuesday of every month September-May (excluding December).

Over the past few years we have been safe, creative, and supportive in rethinking events and fundraising to reach goals. This year we plan on continuing to host some familiar events including Donuts with Grown-Ups, the Read-a-thon, the Carnival, International Night, STEM night, and more. We are even more excited to plan some events and to do this we will need your help!

The generous Sands Community has raised between $30-50K the past several years. That money has paid for the events we run, funded field trip buses, direct classroom supplies, outdoor campus improvements including the Playscape, and brand new library furniture. On August 29, you will hear some more ideas and have a chance to voice your own.

Our school thrives when families are engaged with all that goes on at Sands. We invite you to get involved in any way that you can- believe us- there is a fit! There are volunteer opportunities for one hour at an event, spending an hour a week tutoring a student in math or reading, joining us for monthly SMPO meetings, volunteering to coach a basketball or soccer team, being a classroom helper, and more. There is something for everyone – with every time commitment – available. Please feel free to invite grandparents, aunts, uncles, and family friends to join us as volunteers! It takes a community to do all that we do.

Visit www.sandsparents.org to stay up-to-date on events, find information about SMPO meetings, services offered by SMPO, and sign up for our weekly email by scrolling to the bottom of the page. You can also like our Sands Montessori Parent Organization Facebook group. We welcome your ideas and questions about SMPO and look forward to seeing you this year, starting August 29 at 6:30pm!

Looking forward to an incredible year,
Kim & Alex
SMPO President & Vice President, 2023-24
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SMPO is led by a Board of Directors, also known as the Rudder Committee. All Rudder positions are up for election every year, with the exception of President and Business Manager. (The Vice President automatically assumes the President position, and the Business Manager in Training automatically assumes the Business Manager position.) All positions can be shared, except Vice President and Business Manager. LSDMC and ILT reps serve two-year terms. Positions are elected at the General Parent Meeting in April for the following school year. Find out more at: http://sandsparents.org/

Other upcoming ways to volunteer in the next week:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805084ba9a72ba5f85-sidewalk

Welcome back luncheon for staff

Helping Hands in Classrooms