Monticello Academy is pleased to announce that it is now even easier for you to keep up with school news and events... Monticello Academy is now on three top social networking websites: Facebook, Google Plus, and Twitter. We invite you to visit and bookmark these school sites:

  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/monticelloacademy
  Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/u/0/104088156119681123555
  Twitter: https://twitter.com/MonticelloAcdmy

We will continue to post school news and events on the school website (www.monticelloacademy.net), as well as continue sending out emails, but we wanted to make these options available to those of you who use these networking websites frequently.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Monticello Academy’s “Be a Team Player – Read” contest is almost over, but it’s not too late to read and turn in last-minute reading minutes. We really need all of the minutes we can get to win (see next paragraph below). ALL reading minutes are due on Tuesday, February 21^st (the official dates of the contest are from January 20^th - February 21^st). NOTE: IF students have not been turning in reading minutes on a weekly basis, we will still accept overall reading minutes with a parent signature.

We are happy to announce that, to date, students have turned in a total of 306,631 minutes. Many students have worked very hard to be one of the top 10 schools and have a Utah Jazz player visit Monticello Academy in a special assembly. However, we have 122 students in grades K-6 who have not turned in ANY minutes. We need minutes from ALL K-6 students to have a chance to win!

Next week, after all of the minutes are tallied, we will have some drawings to recognize our great student readers. We have 2 books to award, one signed by Jazz point guard, Devin Harris, and one signed by Jazz forward, Paul Millsap. Students must have read and turned in at least 560 minutes on their reading logs to be in the drawing for these prizes. We also have a pair of Utah Jazz tickets for the March 15^th game featuring Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves. To be in this drawing, students have to read and turn in at least 800 minutes. Our grand prize is a pair of signed, custom-made shoes for the Jazz’s rising star Gordon Hayward. Only students who have read and turned in reading logs equaling at least 1,500 minutes will be in that drawing. Remember, participation before and after school in classes and/or Read-a-thons do not count towards these drawings. Only reading logs for minutes away from school and signed by parents will be considered for these great prizes.

Please help us with this contest during these final few days by encouraging your student to read, record minutes, and TURN THEM IN to their classroom teacher (Kinder-3^rd), Mr. Nick Lennox (4^th-5^th), or Mrs. Buckholts (6^th). Students may also turn in their minutes to Mrs. Ballard in the library on Tuesday. All minutes must be tallied and turned into Scholastic Books first thing Wednesday morning.

Thank you so much for helping your student(s) discover reading. We appreciate your support of this project/contest!

Believe it or not, Parent/Teacher Conferences are coming up soon. The P/T Conference Schedule will be as follows:

• February 15th from 3:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• February 16th from 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (School will be dismissed at 12:40 p.m.)

Please be aware that state rule only allows our teachers to spend 16 1/2 hours during the school year on P/T Conferences. As such, we have to be judicious with how we use our time. We are announcing the dates and times now so that you have enough time to arrange your schedules to meet with your teachers during those two days.

We will again be doing "Student-led" conferences, which means that your student should be able to walk you through his/her schedule, attendance, grades, missing assignments, citizenship, academic goals, and some sample student work (all but the sample student work is available online with Compass). We encourage you to check Compass frequently and spend time with your student(s) prior to coming to the school (or in one of the computer labs at the school) so that your communications with the teachers can be specific and focused.

Elementary (K-3): On average, our Kindergarten through 3rd grade teachers will have about 10 to 15 minutes to meet with parents and guardians regarding each student.  You may schedule your appointments online through your parent Compass account.

Secondary (4-9): As you can guess, 4th through 9th grade teachers will have a lot less time to meet with parents, because they have multiple classes every day totaling roughly 175 students each ("specials" teachers have even more students). We want to allow time for all parents to address their specific/focused concerns with the teachers, so please come prepared to be specific and focused. If you have serious and/or several issues to address, I encourage you to set up a time with the teacher(s) either prior to the scheduled P/T Conferences or sometime close thereafter. That will allow sufficient time to thoroughly address your concerns. The teachers want to meet with you concerning your student(s). Please help us be both effective and efficient.

Please become familiar with Compass so that you are apprised at all times of the details pertaining to your student's education (each of the items bolded above).

One more thing... We will be having a Book Fair on the same days as the P/T Conferences, so we encourage you to stop by the library and buy a book or two. The more books at home, the better, plus all of the proceeds go towards helping us buy more books for our school library. We are looking for volunteers to help setup, run, and tear down the book fair. Please contact Kathy Ballard at kathy.ballard@monticelloacademy.net if you are able to help.

During Parent/Teacher Conferences, we will have a Scholastic Book Fair on Wednesday, February 15 from 2:30-7:00 p.m. and Thursday, February 16 from 1:30-6:30 p.m. Please stop by and buy a book or two. All proceeds will go towards providing new books for our library.

Volunteers are needed! We need volunteers on Monday, February 13^th at noon to help set up. We also need volunteers on Wednesday, February 15 from 2:30-7:30 and on Thursday, February 16 from 12:30-7:30. If you can help, please contact Mrs. Ballard in the library or at Kathy.ballard@monticelloacademy.net.

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

Parent/Teacher (SEP) Conferences Meals – February 15th & 16th:

The Parent Council will be providing lunch and dinner for our wonderful faculty and staff during the upcoming Parent/Teacher Conferences on February 15 & 16^th.  Your help is greatly needed in helping us provide necessary food items. We would greatly appreciate it if you would take a moment to review the attached flyer with a list of the items we are requesting and then contact Emily McLean at parent.council@monticelloacademy.net to let her know you can help. (Remember, all the shopping, preparing, and bringing food counts towards your volunteer hours). We kindly ask that you drop off your food items the morning of the February 15^th in the front office.

The Daddy Daughter Royal Ball - Friday, February 10th at 6:30 pm:

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). Please come enjoy an enchanted evening as you dance in our Royal Court together. Princesses Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Ariel will all be joining us for the Royal Coronation at 7:00 p.m.  Admission to the Daddy-Daughter Ball is FREE with a ticket, available in the front office. You must pick up and bring ONE ticket per student attending. Tickets are 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 available to capture the moment with a 5x7 photo and 4 wallets for only $10.00. We will also have individually wrapped roses available for purchase for your princess for only $3.00. Please note that photos and roses are optional, and the Daddy-Daughter Royal Ball is designed for all female students from grades Kindergarten through 6th grade.   

Please remember that as members of the Parent Council, we are here to help recognize, support, 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.

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.

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).