Happy New Year!

Welcome back!
We hope you had an enjoyable holiday season and we wish you a wonderful and successful 2010!

Join us for Keystone Montessori Night at the Jump On In, Lowell!
Keystone students and parents can bring along friends to this event!

When: January 18th between 5 pm and 7 pm
Location: 100 Phoenix Ave., Lowell, MA 01852, Ph.:978-453-9700
Price (per play session): $8.50 per person (includes pizza & drink!)
Session includes 45 minutes of play, followed by a slice of pizza and a drink.
Playtime session 1: 5 pm to 5.45 pm
Playtime session 2: 5.45 pm to 6.30 pm
Be sure to get there before the playtime session of your choice begins. You can also attend more than one play session!

Adults can also purchase tickets for a raffle that will be held during this event.

Jump On In will donate 20% of the sales proceeds and 50% of raffle sales to the school! So join us and support the school!

Thank you to everybody who contributed to the fundraiser for the 2010 AMS conference!
KEMPO is pleased to be able to support this cause so that teachers can attend this event and bring new ideas to the classroom to enhance your child's education.

Next KEMPO meeting - All parents invited
The next meeting is scheduled for January 15 from 1.45 pm to 3 pm in Room 6.
Agenda for the meeting is to determine calendar of events (social and fundraisers) for the remainder of the school year. If you cannot attend but have suggestions for events, do contact us at keystone.parents@gmail.com.

Tip of the Week
Visit http://www.schoolfamily.com/ for expert insight, tips and resources for parents to help children succeed in school. Click on the link to check out downloadable tools such as an incentive chart for reading, the night-before-school checklist, the screen-time tracker and curriculum quizzes for each grade.

Happy Holidays!

KEMPO wishes everyone a joyous and peaceful holiday season, and a wonderful New Year.

UN Dinner - Online Recipe Request & Video

The food was such a huge success at the UN Dinner, we would like to create a online recipe folder. Please send in your recipes, along with the country it’s from, that you made for the UN Dinner to keystone.parents@gmail.com. If you only have a recipe on paper, please make a copy and leave it in the KEMPO mailbox upstairs. We’ll do our best to put it on there. If you used an online recipe. Please send us the pointer.

Also, here is a pointer to the audience participation video from the UN Dinner. Thanks to Ms. Walton for leading the musical event.

Ideas in Progress and Request for feedback

Would you be interested in a babysitting to give you some time to go holiday shopping? If so, what timeframe, day of week and time? Comment here.

Tip of the week

Next time your child is talking loudly or screaming, try whispering to them. They will have to stop screaming to listen to you. Tell us what happens!

You are invited to KEMPO Social Hour(s) on November 18th

We will have a KEMPO social hour and meeting from 6 to 8 pm on Wednesday, November 18. In an effort to accomodate work schedules, we have chosen an evening schedule and we hope that you can attend. This is your opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas about how KEMPO can make a difference and also to discuss any concerns you might have. We would like to share with you activities we are planning and look for your ideas and input. We will provide refreshments; however, childcare will not be available. Please RSVP to keystone.parents@gmail.com.

Thank you for all those who attended. Please join us next time.

Meet the KEMPO Board members

Co-Presidents: Leela Obilichetti and Radhika Pillai
Leela is a high tech software manager, and currently she is a full-time mom to her daughter, who attends Children’s House classroom 1.
Radhika is a marketing and brand management professional, who is currently a full-time mom to her son, who attends the Lower Elementary classroom.
Treasurer: Nandita Agarwal
Nandita’s son attends Children’s House classroom 4; Nandita owns a custom jewelry business.
Secretary: This position is currently open and available to parents who might be interested.
Other members of the board:
Karen Uttecht was President of KEMPO from 2007 to 2009 and is currently working towards her graduate degree in Computer Science at UMass Lowell. Her daughter attends the Lower Elementary classroom and her son goes to Children’s House classroom 1.
Diana Lawton is an author and food writer, and her son attends the Lower Elementary classroom. Diana is helping out with KEMPO’s fundraising activities.