Monticello Academy's annual Spelling Bee competition will be held on Thursday, January 26, 2012, at 10:45 a.m. in the school library. Six entrants from each of grades 4-8 will vie for prizes and the honor of representing Monticello Academy at the Regional Spelling Bee to be held on March 10, 2012. Parents and guardians are welcome to attend.

It’s time again to participate in the Scholastic-Utah Jazz reading contest. The top 10 schools will have an ice cream party furnished by Russell’s Ice Cream and an assembly featuring a Utah Jazz Player! Additional prizes, including book, and a pair of Jazz game tickets will be awarded on a daily basis to students who turn in reading logs.

Students who turn in a minimum of 1,500 min over the 4 weeks of the contest (about 47 min. a day every day or 350 per week) will be entered into a special drawing to win a pair of signed shoes from Jazz player GORDON HAYWARD!

This contest is for ALL students in grades K-6! Last year we had 46 students who did not turn in any minutes at all during the contest! We need every student to read during out of school hours and turn in the minimum of 20 min. a day (100 per week). Students who can read more, please do! If we have an average of 55 min. per day we should have a Jazz player assembly on March 1st!

Students should be reading at LEAST 20 minutes every day already. (All reading minutes will also count towards The Road to Success reading days during this contest.) This is how we can get an extra 35 minutes per student per day.

1. Students who arrive early at school can go to a classroom or the library and quietly read until 7:55.
2. Students will read in their classrooms while they wait for their carpool to arrive.
3. Students may participate in read-a-thons. These will be held on Friday January 20, Friday, January 27th and Friday, February 10th. There will NOT be one on February 3rd. Students will need to turn in a permission slip ahead of time.
4. Families with multiple children in the school between grades K-6 can have reading parties at home and count all minutes read by those participating students.

Minutes read at school before and after the school day will be tracked by the adult in charge.  Student logs should reflect minutes read at home or under a parent’s supervision. Rules to Remember

1. The contest runs January 20-Feb. 21. ALL MINUTES must be turned in during the school day on February 22nd (after the long weekend). No minutes turned in on Wednesday, Feb. 22 after 8:00 a.m. will count.
2. Minutes read by parents, babysitters and siblings not attending Monticello Academy will NOT count. Minutes read by siblings older than grade 6 will not count.
3. Reading street signs, cereal boxes or listening to audio books (without following along with the printed copy) is not permitted.
4. Students may be read to.

DONATIONS NEEDED!! We would like to add more incentives to our contest. If you have connections to businesses that would donate coupons, tickets, a free lunch to our top classes, fun rewards of any kind, please let Mrs. Ballard know. 

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED! Parent volunteers will be needed during the contest to help with before school reading and with read-a-thons. We will need a minimum of 3 parents for every Read-a-thon!

Please contact your child’s teacher or Mrs. Ballard (Kathy.ballard@monticelloacademy.net) to help.  Watch your students’ backpacks for additional information! The contest begins FRIDAY!

The Parent Council has been very busy and would like to invite your participation and support in any/all of our upcoming program and events:

Inspirations Awards Program - Wednesday, January 18th at 7:00 p.m.:
We would like to thank the students who submitted an entry for the 2011-2012 Inspiration's Program. We were so impressed by the amount of talent, creativity, and passion we saw in each student's submitted entry. To showcase and celebrate their hard work and talent, we are very excited to invite you to attend the 2011-2012 Inspirations Awards Program "My Favorite Things" on Wednesday, February 18th 7:00 p.m. in the Monticello Academy gym. Light Refreshments will be served. All artwork and entries will be on display beginning at 6:30 p.m., and the program will begin at 7:00 p.m.

Family Movie Night - Friday, January 27th at 7:00 p.m.: Come help us "Ring in 2012 in Style" as we enjoy Kung Fu Panda 2 at 7:00 p.m. in the Monticello Academy gym. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with pizza, drinks, and movie concessions available for $1.00., and the movie will start at 7:00 p.m.. Please bring your blankets and pillows, and enjoy a fun-filled evening with your family. We kindly ask parents and guardians to attend with their children to help us supervise so that everyone can enjoy the movie.

Box Tops Winter Contest Deadline - Friday, January 27th:
Our second contest deadline is quickly approaching. Please remember to save your box tops and attach them to our Box Top Collection sheet (available on the school website and in the front office), then turn them in the collection sheet at the front office. The class turning in the most completed sheets will win a class party. Our Fall Contest brought in over $800 to help us purchase and provide students incentives. We would love to break that record and turn in over 10,000 box tops to raise $1,000. It's time to clean out the pantry, food storage shelves, and cupboards to find any last box tops that can be submitted. Thank you so much for your support.

The Daddy Daughter Royal Ball - Friday, February 10th at 6:30 p.m.:
What little girl does not dream of her Prince Charming? You are cordially invited to our Daddy-Daughter Royal Ball (grandpas, uncles, and brothers are welcome to be Prince Charming if that is part of your Fairy Tale). Come enjoy an enchanted evening as you dance in our Royal Court together. We will have some "Special Princesses" joining us for the Royal Coronation. Admission to the Daddy-Daughter Ball is FREE with a ticket. Tickets are available in the front office. You must pick up ONE ticket per student attending. Tickets will be available until Wednesday, February 8th. We kindly ask everyone to attend in their Best Dress or Princess and Prince attire. To help you remember the special evening, we will have a professional photographer there to capture the moment with a 5x7 photo and 4 wallets for only $10.00 and individually wrapped roses for your princess for $3.00. (photos and roses are optional). The Daddy-Daughter Royal Ball is designed for students from Kindergarten to 6th grade.

Please remember that as members of the Parent Council, we are here to help support, recognize, and bring our community of families together. If you have any suggestions to help us meet these goals, please feel free to contact us at parent.council@monticelloacademy.net. Thank you again for all of your help and continued support.

The Monticello Academy Science Fair will be held on Thursday, February 9th, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. to approximately 2:00 p.m. We are in need of judges for our school Fair. We also need help with the regional fair, called the Salt Lake Valley Charter School Science Fair, which is on Saturday, February 25th. 

 Please volunteer to help with one or both of these Science Fairs (especially if you have a masters degree or any type of research/engineering background). To volunteer or to recommend someone for us to contact, please contact Linda Hansen at lindabird01@comcast.net or 801.450.7250.

 Our Science Fairs have been a big success in the past, and we have had multiple winners succeed at the regional fair in SLC. This has been due, in part, to those have been willing to volunteer and assist us with the judging. Thank you in advance for your time and efforts to make the Science Fair a success for the students. We really couldn't do it without you! 

ALL Lost and found items are on display in the south hallway (to the left of the office) until Thursday, December 22nd.  Please take a moment within the next few days to look for any of your lost items. Anything unclaimed by 3:00 p.m. on Thursday will be donated to the 8^th and 9^th grade team service project for the homeless shelter.

If you have any questions, you may e-mail Aleece Winters at alntel@msn.com.

December 20th
5th Grade Concert 8:30 a.m.
7th Grade Concert 7:00 p.m.

December 21st
6th Grade Concert 8:30 a.m.
Concert Ensembles 7:00 p.m.

December 22nd
Elementary Grades "Sing-A-Round" 8:30 a.m.

All concerts will be held in the gym.

Monticello Academy parents and guardians have the right to request and receive information from the school regarding the qualifications of their student's teacher(s).