Post Oak School News 20062007

The Post Oak School • 4600 Bissonnet • Bellaire, TX 77401-3099Tel: 713-661-6688 Fax: 713-661-4949 www.postoakschool.orgAccredited by the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI); founded 1963

August 25, 2006

Need Help?by John Long, Head of School

I M P O R T A N T D A T E S

A U G . 28 - SEP. 1

Mon 8/28

ASEP I begins

Wed 8/30

New Parent Welcome Coffee 8:45 am

Thu 8/31

Maria Montessori’s birthday (1870)

Primary Parent Orientation 7:00 pm

S E P T E M B E R 4 - 8

Mon 9/4

LABOR DAY: school closed

Tue 9/5

Bearkats athletics begins

Wed 9/6

Coffee with Upper School Director Jeff Schneider: learn about the Upper School, 9-11 am

Thu 9/7

Infant Parent Orientation 7:00 pm

Fri 9/8

Room Parent Meeting 9:00 am

‘Tis the season for “back to school” articles, and on a recent Sunday the Houston Chronicle featured one on the front page. The story explored the mismatch between adolescent sleep patterns and early school-day start times. Getting up in the morning can be a challenge. A sidebar asked the friendly question, “Need Help?” and offered “Tips for teens” and “Tips for parents.” No, the “Tips for parents” section was not aimed at the sleep-deprived mothers of newborn infants.

It offered suggestions for how we can help our adolescent children get out of bed and off to school on time. This is a noble goal. Getting to school on time is important. It is what educa-tional theorists now call an “execu-tive functioning skill.” Getting to school on time demonstrates personal responsibility and respect for the life of the school community.

So what were the tips for parents? How can we help our children? One man said his grandson gets himself up three days out of four. On the fourth day, when the young man is sleeping late, his grandfather opens the door and booms, “Get up!” That always works, he says. The writer calls this “the traditional route.”

Another parent shakes her son’s foot. If that doesn’t work, she threatens to take away TV privileges. No report on how well that worked.

The third parent said she never has to wake up her four teenagers. She “said her children all learned to use an alarm clock while in Montessori school.” (Continued on page 8)

T H I S A N D T H A T

Excerpt from The Houston Chronicle, Sun. August 13, 2006, “So hard to rouse those tired teens,“ by Sarah Viren.

Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Tips for parents■ ‘Get up!’: A.D. Rigmaiden said his grandson, who attends Barbara Jordan High School for Careers in Houston, wakes himself 75 percent of the time, but sometimes sleeps in. Then, Rigmaiden goes the traditional route: he walks to the door, opens it and booms, “Get up!” It always works the first time, he said.

■ Using a clock: Houston mom Sara Sonson said her children all learned to use an alarm clock while in Montessori school as kids, so she never has to wake them up. “I have four teenagers,” she said. “I don’t wake them up.”

■ Trying threats: Genie Oldenburg, of Spring, wakes her 15-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter, but her boy is the hardest, she said. She starts by shaking his foot, but if he still won’t wake, she pulls out the threats. Her kids can lose TV privileges for refusing to get up.

Kaylin pauses before climbing onto the top of the “Pamper Pole” at Chain O’ Lakes, during Middle School’s retreat (see p. 6).

Are Montessori parents less helpful than others? Are Montessori children more technological than their peers? Are alarm clocks only part of the cur-riculum in Montessori schools?

THE POST OAK NEWS Friday, August 25, 2006 PAGE 2

About The Post Oak News• The Post Oak News is published

weekly while school is in session.

• It is distributed each Friday to the oldest child in your family.

• It is also available at the school’s web site: www.postoakschool.org

• The deadline for material to be considered for inclusion each week is 5 pm on the Tuesday preceding the publication day.

• Please direct all material (text or images) in electronic form to Joseph Lockett, Post Oak’s Director of External Affairs: josephlockett@postoakschool.org

• Please call Joseph if you have any questions: 713-661-6688 ext. 149.

“I started my work like a peasant who had put aside good seeds of wheat, and to whom a fertile piece of land had been offered so he could sow it according to his wish. But it was not to be. As soon as I moved the sods of that earth, I found gold, rather than wheat. The sods were hiding a precious treasure.”

– Maria Montessori, after the opening of

the first Casa dei Bambini: January 6, 1907

Post Oak Scenes: Infant &Primary Walk-Through

On Friday, August 18, new infant and primary students and their parents arrived at Post Oak to discover new classrooms, new teachers, new friends, and new challenges for the year ahead. Welcome!

THE POST OAK NEWS Friday, August 25, 2006 PAGE �

From the Upper School Director, Jeff Schneider

Welcome and welcome back!

This week we welcome to Post Oak School our Lower School students. It’s inspiring to see their smiling faces and how much they have grown over the summer. Thank you to the parents who attended Parent Work Day. Your help is greatly appreciated. The careful preparation of each environment takes hours and days of preparation.

Please mark your calendars for the upcoming orientation meetings. These evenings are essential for you to have all the information you need to guarantee a smooth start for your child this fall.

Primary parents will meet on Thursday, Aug. 31, at 7:00 pm.

Infant Community parents meet on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 7:00 pm.

Child care is available for the Primary meeting. Call the front desk at 713-661-6688 to reserve care. We have limited space, so sign up right away.

I look forward to welcoming each of you personally to this new year.

Kathy Long Lower School Director

From the Lower School Director, Kathy Long

Upper School Director Jeff Schneider “hangs out” on the Chain O’ Lakes ropes course with the middle school. (Photo by Shekkola Gray)

Greetings from Upper School!

Welcome back. I hope you all had a productive and peaceful summer break. The classrooms all look terrific, and are alive with the energy and enthusiasm of the children. I enjoyed seeing many of you on Elementary Parent Orientation Night.

As you may know, several staff members have taken new positions in the Upper School. Welcome to Daneshia Davis, Asenet Garcia, Shekkola Gray, Luz Martinez, Keri Nickerson, Maya Pinto, and Cindi Thiel. My new role as Upper School Director has been challenging and exciting as I learn about life outside the classroom looking in. I have been impressed by the amount of collaboration already taking place among the classes.

I had the opportunity to join our seventh and eighth graders at Chain O’ Lakes for their annual team-building school-year kick-off. I learned that Middle School is cool!

I look forward to building a working partnership with each of you this school year.

Jeff Schneider Upper School Director

Lower School Director Kathy Long takes a breather this summer, during her journey to Long’s Peak, Colorado, in the background (see p. 5).

THE POST OAK NEWS Friday, August 25, 2006 PAGE 4

Dear Post Oak Friends & Faculty,

As many of you know, our family was blessed in April with the addition of triplet boys who are all healthy and robust. At this time, we would like to thank you for all of your prayers, meals, gifts, and well wishes that were so generously given this past year. We are truly honored by your generosity and thoughtfulness. It means so much to us to know that we are part of such a caring community. Sincerely,

The Gee Family

Dear friends of the library,

Welcome new families and returning friends! Parents, you are welcome to come in to browse – there is a parent shelf as well as many shelves for the children’s use. You may want to find something educational, or just a

“good read” for your leisure.

The library is open from 8:30-4:30 every day (with rare exceptions). Those of you whose children leave at noon are welcome to bring your child after school to check out a book or just read to them. Refer to your parent handbook for specific library procedures for your children.

The check-out period for parents is two weeks; for the children, one week. Parents and children have sepa-rate check-outs. The younger children may check out one book at a time; the elementary children may check out two at a time. The “fine” for an overdue book is 15 minutes of com-munity service work in the library – to be completed before checking out another book.

Our annual Book Fair will be Thurs-day, November 2, from 9 am – 9 pm at Barnes & Noble. You will soon hear much more about it from our Book Fair 2006 co-chairs Heather Mouzourakis and Caty Orr.

Our library is staffed by parent vol-unteers who work an hour, a morn-ing, or a day each week. It is fun and we always need help, so check your calendar and pick a day that you can help the children with their library use.

I look forward to meeting newcomers and greeting familiar parents.

Here’s to a promising centennial year in Montessori education!

B.R. SimonLibrarian

SPOTLIGHT onPOST OAK GRADSSPOTLIGHT onPOST OAK GRADSby Kay Burkhalter, Admission Director

Amelinda Melanson is a Post Oak alumna from 2001, and a 2005 gradu-ate of Bellaire High School. She currently studies engineering at Texas A&M.

This summer Amelinda interned with Texas Steel Conversion, a company that makes line pipe for the oil and gas industry. Her job was to put together three or four possible layouts

and process flows for a new plant to be built in China. She defined the space requirements for all of the machinery and equipment, calculated storage needs before and after each stage of the process, and determined the proper placement of offices, restrooms, loading and unloading docks, etc. To accomplish all of that, she measured similar facilities in Houston and interviewed workers. She was also responsible for the plant’s business plan: how much it will all cost (including labor), plant capacity, and the profit forecast.

THE POST OAK NEWS Friday, August 25, 2006 PAGE 5

All of us – children, teachers, parents and staff – have been catching up with each other over the past three weeks: teachers returned to school on August 7, and children began return-ing on August 15. What did faculty and staff do over the summer?

Many teachers and assistants worked here at Post Oak during summer school. That list includes Alma Armendariz, Della Barbato, Millie Chavez, Patty Clarke, Barbara Hacker, Asenet Garcia, Alma Lloyd, Lupe Lopez, Debbie Nickerson, Keri Nickerson, Diana Onofre, Norma Paulin, Errol Pinto, Maya Pinto, Juliet Samede, Susan Tracy, Jessica Wagner, Lisa Wells, and Miriam Winton.

Middle School teacher Von Niezgoda and new Director of External Affairs Joseph Lockett were on the staff of Summerbridge Houston, a summer-school program housed at Episcopal High School. New Middle School teacher Shekkola Gray traveled to Lake Tahoe for a physics course.

Primary assistant Emily Hansen attended Summer I of the AMI training for primary teachers in St. Louis. Primary teacher Mirani Smith audited the same course as the first step toward becoming an AMI teacher-trainer.

New Half-Day Infant Community teacher Jennifer Patterson attended Summer I of the AMI training for infant-community teachers in Denver. Full-Day Infant Community teacher Jessica Wagner completed the class-work at Loyola College in Baltimore leading to her M.Ed.

Lower Elementary teacher Debbie Nickerson participated in a leader-ship training course at the Houston Montessori Center. Elementary teach-ers Errol and Maya Pinto attended a Montessori conference in Calgary.

Business Manager Robin Lunsford traveled to Wilmington, Delaware, to attend the Independent School Man-agement Summer Institute, as did new Upper School Director Jeff Schneider.

And at the very end of the summer, Half-Day Infant Community teacher Susan Tracy presented a workshop about Infant Community to teach-ers and administrators from member schools in the Houston Montessori Administrators Network. Art teacher Luiza Grandchamp presented a series of stress workshops for businesses and schools in Brazil.

Professional development for faculty is a consistent predictor of excellence in a school – and is highly valued and supported here at Post Oak. When faculty and staff vigorously pursue professional and personal develop-ment, children benefit directly. How? When teachers continue to stretch and grow, they become better and better teachers. They model for the children that education is a lifelong, multi-dimensional process. They put themselves in the place of the learner – and understand the feelings, vulner-ability, and personal risk involved in learning or doing something new.

This leads to a personal story. Kathy and I traveled to Rocky Mountain National Park this summer. Three years ago we set a goal to climb

Long’s Peak together. “Climb?” Real climbers would scoff and say it is merely a hike, but it is a 14,000-foot-plus mountain, the tallest in the park, and considered one of the more difficult “hikes” in Colorado. Strictly speaking, this goal is more personal development than professional, but it is certainly a “stretchy” one for us.

We trained for six months or more. We read as much as we could about that particular hike. We talked to people who have done that climb in the past. Did we make it? Did we achieve our goal? We did complete a number of great hikes of increasing length and altitude... but we were not able to attempt the climb to the top of Long’s Peak. The mountain will still be there next summer.

Did we fail? Not yet. In fact, we now understand more fully what it will take to succeed, which gives us each more confidence. I believe we will make it to the summit next July. And in the meantime, I understand more fully the importance of setting big goals, and I have become more patient with the little successes and failures along the way to achieve-ment. I also know more clearly than ever before that we must be attentive to every step of the journey even as we approach our loftiest goals.

Welcome back.

What do teachers do during the summer?by John Long

The 2006-2007 faculty and staff of The Post Oak School gather for the beginning of the year.

THE POST OAK NEWS Friday, August 25, 2006 PAGE 6

At the beginning of each school year the Post Oak Middle School takes a trip to Chain O’ Lakes, located right outside of Cleveland, Texas. We go to Chain O’ Lakes for a great bonding experience between the seventh and eighth graders. Everyone in Middle School had a great time and I feel like I have learned a lot more about all of my peers.

When we arrived at Chain O’ Lakes we unpacked all of our stuff in our cabin and went straight to the lake to swim! We had so much fun going down the water slides and trying to catch the football Mr. Niezgoda threw at us. After we swam we had free time while the Wednesday din-ner crew prepared our meal. After we ate dinner we were split up into

Hot Times at Chain O’ Lakesby Hannah Fred, 7th grade two groups. One group had a semi-

nar about one of the books we had to read during the summer, Animal Farm (Mr. Niezgoda monitored), while the other group went with Mrs. Gray as she introduced an exercise called “Identity Crisis.”

The next day we woke up very early to start the Low Ropes Course. The first exercise involved a lot of team-work! Our guide, George, split us up into two groups and gave us the instructions for our first task. Both teams realized that if you just listen to each other you will be able to do anything in a group.

There was a small platform all twenty of us had to stand on. We couldn’t step on the grass because we were supposed to imagine that it was full of stuff that would bring us down as a group. One by one we would swing across the rope in front of us and get to the other side. However, the only things we could step on were small pads. After a lot of difficulty all of us got to the other side and we complet-ed both tasks we were given! After the low ropes course we swam in the lake and had a lot of fun!

After we swam we met in one of the cabins and Mr. Niezgoda put us in six groups of four. We had to create skits from the information we were given in another book we read over the summer, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens. Then we practiced our skits and ate dinner. After din-ner we went on a hay ride that went through all of Chain O’ Lakes, and then performed our skits which were hysterical (particularly the girls’). Af-terwards we went to the bonfire! At the bonfire we made s’mores and we

got to tell scary stories! We had our closing meeting and went to sleep.

On our last day we got to do the High Ropes Course. The first activity is called the “Zip Line.” We climbed up a 58' tree and met our helper Moe, who was on the platform at the top of the tree. He hooked us into a harness and then we jumped off and went 50 mph down the zip line. We were met by four peers and one teacher and they helped us get unhooked from the harness. After I finished the zip line I had an amazing feeling, like I could do anything! It was great. The next and last thing we did is called the

“Pamper Pole!” It is a 35' pole that you climb, then jump off and catch a ring dangling in the air. I caught it when I jumped and the feeling I got was great!

The goal for this trip to Chain O’ Lakes was building community, and I definitely think we accomplished our goal.

Sadly, we had to leave after the high ropes course, but we are all looking forward to our next trip!

Luciano’s classmates Richard, Emily, and Christian help him down from mid-air after his ride down the zip line.

Pace finds that it’s a long way down along the zip line! (All photos by Shekkola Gray).

THE POST OAK NEWS Friday, August 25, 2006 PAGE 7

RedirectingChildren’s Behavior

The Gentle Art of ParentingThis six-week, fifteen-hour course teaches how to help children grow in a way that enhances self-esteem, teaches responsibility, and promotes cooperation. At completion, you will be able to:

• Interact to build self-esteem • Discipline without yelling • Develop a sense of responsibility • Reduce sibling rivalry • Create an encouraging family • Redirect mistaken goals

Winter/Spring 2006 Schedule

St. Luke’s Methodist 3471 Westheimer Houston, TX 77007 Six Tue. eves, 6:30-9:00 pm Sep. 20, 27; Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25

The Post Oak School 4600 Bissonnet Bellaire, TX 77401 Six Tue. eves, 6:30-9:00 pm Oct. 3, 10, 17, 24, 31; Nov. 7

St. Martin’s Episcopal 717 Sage Houston, TX 77057 Six Tuesdays, 11:30-2:00 pm Oct. 3, 10, 17, 24; Nov. 7, 14

Westminster Baptist Church 5801 San Felipe Houston, Texas 77057 Six Wed. eves: 6:30-9:00 pm Nov. 1, 8, 15, 29; Dec. 6, 13

The courses listed above will be taught by Deborah Fry, Ph.D.For information or registration please call Deborah at 71�-840-866�

Course fee: $225 for one; $325 per couple; one-on-one coaching: $110/hr

www.incaf.com

Please note in your Parent Directory:

Pages 25 & �5:

h

Page 29:

S

P

Page �1:

li

Page �4:

Pages �8 and �9:

If you have changes, please submit them to josephlockett@postoakschool.org.

Tickets!

Post Oak parent David Bixby has donated a block of tickets for the Rice vs. Houston football game in Rice Stadium at 8:00 pm on Saturday, September 2. Many thanks!

If you would like to enjoy the game with other Post Oak community members, call Kay Burkhalter at 713-661-6688.

THE POST OAK NEWS Friday, August 25, 2006 PAGE 8

Need Help?by John Long, Head of SchoolContinued from Page 1

The answer is “none of the above.” In addition to everything else they learned in Montessori school, Sara Sonson’s children learned self-man-agement, independence, and personal responsibility. In fact, some Montes-sori schools identify the 3 R’s not as “reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic,” but as “respect, responsibility, and resourcefulness.”

Montessori children do learn reading, writing, and arithmetic, and learn them well. At the same time, a funda-mental Montessorian goal is to help children find self-direction, self-man-agement, personal responsibility, and respect for others – not by preaching these virtues to the children, but by showing them how to live them on a moment-to-moment, day-to-day basis from the morning that they first walk into an infant-community classroom until the evening when each presents a valedictory address upon graduat-ing from eighth grade.

Montessori said that what children learn is but one dimension of educa-tion. How children learn actually makes a bigger impact on who they become. That distinction is the crux of what makes Montessori schools – and Montessori kids – different.

Schooling – or parenting – that relies on telling the child what to do (e.g., hollering “Get up!” – the “tradi-tional” method) does not prepare the child for independence and personal responsibility. Threatening to remove privileges (or conferring rewards or good grades) to influence the child’s behavior simply shifts the center of control and motivation to someone other than the child herself.

And if we are telling the child to get up (or to do her homework), how will she learn to do these things for herself? Will she finally get so an-noyed with our help that she says to herself, “I’m going to start getting up on my own just to get my mother off my back!” Or will she go to bed one night and in a flash of realization say,

“I’m ready to manage myself and to

meet my responsibilities. Nevermore will Mom have to wake me up in the morning!”

My own experience says that these habits must be ingrained from an early age if they are to become a part of the child’s way of life. At what age is a child old enough to use an alarm clock to wake himself? This habit can certainly begin with initial help and support from a parent as soon as the child is learning to tell time, and coincidentally passing from the stage of unconscious learning to conscious learning – usually around the age of five or six.

Telling time and getting oneself up in the morning are important. But again, these are specific skills that merely suggest the larger issue – the forma-tion of the personality. That is what Montessori education is truly about. And that is why I was not surprised to see the comments of the Montes-sori mother contrasting with the

“traditional” method.

Welcome to a new school year.Copyright John Long and the Post Oak School

NOTICE BOARD

It’s Lost! It’s Found!Post Oak has a “Lost and Found” con-tainer in the front lobby (the wicker box on the floor). Make sure to check it for any lost items. At the end of the month, items are donated to a local charity.

IMPORTANT REMINDER!Parents, remember to let the school know in writing if someone other than you will be picking up your child. Thank you for your cooperation.

Updates to the parent directory

can be viewed online at:

www.postoakschool.org/parentdir

Remember... Monday, September 4th is Labor Day: NO SCHOOL.

Last Call for Yearbooks!If you have not yet picked up your copy of last year’s Post Oak yearbook, please do so by October 1. We will dispose of any remaining copies after that date. Contact Joseph Lockett at 713-661-6688 x149 for your copy.

Many thanks to the POPA chairs and all the room parents and volunteers who helped make the faculty/staff welcome-back brunch such a lovely event! It was a warm welcome that was truly appreciated by everyone at the school.