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	~My friends, my message to you today is this: teach peace as a value~. (Oscar Arias, Nobel Peace Prize & President of Costa Rica at the Tri-Association Conference in 2006)

Dear parents,

Today marks the 7th anniversary of the World Trade Center tragedy. As we continue to search for a more peaceful world, I encourage you to join the Peace Day Celebrations that will be taking place all over the world on September 21st.

Congratulations to all Mexican citizens on their 198th  Independence Day celebration! As we close the first week with our new dismissal program we have mostly good news to share with you. The effort to implement a safer pick up system for students has brought with it a tremendous show of teamwork and support on the part of the ASFM community. I want to make special mention of the mothers, headed by Monica Diaz, who have volunteered countless hours of their personal time to this endeavor. We have a few requests that will make dismissal flow more smoothly for everyone:

• Do not try to come to school too early as you will not be allowed to access the school parking lot until after 2:30 PM.
• As you drive up to pick up your carpool please make sure that your carpool card with the number is on display on your dashboard so that it can be easily seen. Once your carpool members are inside your car please turn the card face down. This will indicate to the teachers on duty that you are ready to drive out once your turn comes. One of the difficulties is that teachers cannot tell if children have already been loaded into cars as it is sometimes difficult to tell who is inside. Please help us out by using the card accordingly. If everyone helps us with this minor detail, it will improve the system for everyone.
• Please be on time!  Be aware that the students have been in their pick up location since 2:40 PM. While we are allowing carpool students to come out a few minutes early, we will not start loading them into cars until the 2:45 bell rings.
• Wednesday carpools need to keep in mind that the dismissal time on that day for students in Kinder- 5th grade is 1:45 PM.
• Starting next week, students who have not been picked up by 3:15 PM will have to be picked up in the respective office by the driver. We are trying to avoid leaving unsupervised students in the main foyer.
• It is important to keep in mind that it will take everyone’s effort and cooperation to keep our children safer through this new dismissal system. Unfortunately we have already had a few displays of unkindness towards some of the people who have been on duty and /or towards our mother volunteers. Please be aware that the mothers are doing this on a voluntary basis, and that all members of our ASFM community are deserving of your courtesy. This includes the guard who may have to ask you to move your car if you parked it in a no parking zone. Please work with us, and try to be patient. This system is going to take some time and effort on the part of everyone and while we are trying to improve on a daily basis, we cannot expect that it will ever be perfect! 
• Morning traffic- Many of you are complaining about the increased traffic during the morning drop-off times. This will continue to be the case as a result of the Gomez Morin project which is affecting access into the streets adjacent to the campus. My best advice is for you to try to get an earlier start. This will also prevent your children from being tardy and in general, gets their day to a smoother start!

The Eaglet of the Month K-2

The Eagle of the Month  3-5

This program recognizes students who demonstrate the behaviors and values portrayed by the Eagle Way, on a monthly basis. The selected students will receive a certificate at the Flag Assembly and his/her picture will go on the Web page called The Missouri Eagle/Eaglet of the Month.

We are very proud of the K-2 Eaglets and the 3-5 Eagles for August! Please check them out on our page!

Mid-trimester reporting is right around the corner with Trimester 1 Progress Reports will going home on Friday, 26th of September.

PEACE ONE DAY~ASFM will once again be joining the Peace One Day initiative by signing our commitment towards peace at www.peaceoneday.org on September 21st, the day that the United Nations has set aside for cease fire and peace celebrations all over the world.  We invite you to join us by logging onto this website and finding out more about this peace initiative.

One of the most promising ways that we can aspire to a more peaceful world for our children is by educating them in peace from an early age. Some schools in war torn countries, are implementing peace programs in the hope of changing the outlook of future generations. One such example comes from my native Colombia, where the Ministry of Education has launched the initiative “Aulas de Paz” designed to promote what the Ministry is calling, “Citizenship Competencies”, the basic skills that we human beings need in order to interact constructively, democratically, and peacefully with one another. We can take some basic and important lessons from this model to promote the development of youngsters who value and practice peace in their daily interactions with one another.

Lesson 1- ~Start early ~ Children must learn impulse control and anger management techniques at an early age! Early intervention often prevents the development of more aggressive behaviors. According to experts these behaviors can become habits by age 8, if not addressed appropriately. One of our Habits of the Mind, “ Restraining Impulsivity” speaks to this important aspect of children’s education and development.

Lesson 2- ~ Create Opportunities to Learn from Peaceful Peers ~ It is important to note that children learn from “behavior modeling”. Thus, children who are surrounded by aggressive peers or situations, will often “learn” this behavior. As a parent you know how critical the peer group is, to your children’s healthy development. At School we are committed to continuing our work towards supporting children’s prosocial behaviors by mixing groups heterogeneously, and we ask that you be aware of the importance of doing the same with your children’s interactions after school.

Lesson 3- ~Give Children Ownership of the Rules ~ Children are more likely to follow rules they have helped to develop themselves. Involve your children in the development of the expectations you expect them to follow around the house and in their daily interactions with the rest of the family. Develop an agreement as a family and get everyone involved to sign off on the guidelines to be followed (this includes our signature by our commitments and assurances for a safe and loving family environment). This not only builds a sense of community for the rights of others, but it also helps children understand their roles and responsibilities as a family member.

Lesson 4. ~Practice is Key~ Practice is habit forming. This holds true for children’s ability to develop problem solving and conflict resolution skills. As parents and teachers we often step in too early to solve problems that develop between children, taking away their opportunity to learn from the experience. So, rather than solve their problems and conflicts let’s teach them the strategies that will enable them to solve them on their own!

( Adapted from “Waging Peace”, R. Blair, Educational Leadership, September 2008)

Have a safe and enjoyable two weeks!

Warm regards,
Sonia Keller, Ed. D.
Elementary Principal

Message from the Green Team

ASFM has been doing a wonderful job recycling! Thank you for all of your support in helping your children learn to care for our planet. To continue encouraging responsibility, we will only be giving green tickets to students. You are still welcome to drop off recycling at any point, but tickets will only be given in the mornings to students who recycle. When bringing recycling in the mornings, please send your child with the bag, and a staff member will be waiting to help them. Thank you!

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© 2007 American School Foundation of Monterrey, A.C.
Last Updated September 12, 2008