Welcome back to the 2010-2011 School Year!

A letter from Carla Vogel, a fellow parent and newcomer to the KEMPO board

Hello to all the established and new Keystone Montessori families!

I am writing to you today as a new member of KEMPO and would like to just introduce myself and our team of parents that are behind the parents organization in Keystone this year and give you a little background on what we do and what we would like to do for all our children in the future. My name is Carla Vogel and my daughter Jocelyn is in the afternoon half day program.  This is my first year on KEMPO.   This year I wanted to become part of the board of KEMPO as Co-President with veteran President Leela Obilichetti whose daughter Shailaja attends the morning half day class, Nandita Agarwal, our returning treasurer whose son Yash attends the full day Room 4 and lastly Natasha Sass who is our new secretary whose daughter Ana attends the afternoon half day class.

Well, if you are like myself, you are a parent that really did not know what KEMPO really does and why it exists.  So I found out.  KEMPO is made up of all the parents of this school and it is a non-profit entity. When this organization makes any money it goes directly to all the students that attend Keystone.  It is able to bring some extras to the school for the children so that they all benefit from it.  For example, in the past KEMPO funded enough money to actually help with the set up of our upper elementary program. The KEMPO team, last year were able to access a grant that now allows our children to have a wonderful music and art curriculum headed by Ms. Walton. The grant was once again granted to the school this year and will continue to fund the music and art curriculum.  We feel this is a very important part of the curriculum which wouldn’t have been doable without the grant.

The school part of Keystone is set up to provide our children with a quality education and Montessori educated teachers and all the materials that the school needs through tuition.  But, KEMPO is allowed to give our kids that little extra stuff - provide some new works to the classes that is not necessary but would be great to have. For example, the teachers received from KEMPO the money to purchase a state of the art microscope and they have also provided funding for the Bells Montessori work and many others.  Last year, KEMPO also funded the buying of a worm bin for composting in one of the classrooms to teach the students about an importance of sustainability in the environment.

KEMPO also provides an avenue for social interaction amongst our students and families.  We also encourage students to be a part in helping the environment and the community around us.

Our goals this year for the children are -

1.      HAVE FUN - We are going to have some KEMPO sponsored social events that families will like to attend.

2.      Provide new playground piece(s) for all the students to enjoy.

3.      Provide a few extra in-school field trips that will not be of any cost to the parents.

4.      Provide some new materials that everyone can enjoy in their class that are not part of the regular curriculum.

We can make this happen with your help through fundraising and volunteering and we hope that we have your support to make our children's lives in their "home away from home" just a little bit better.  

I know that I sent my child to Keystone after looking around at other schools because they provide top quality Montessori educated teachers that have been with the school and are experienced.  I think we all sent our children in hopes that they have a head start in life and that they turn out to be well rounded individuals that love to learn.  We can provide the school with the support they need in order to even further this.  KEMPO can provide our children with more and that is something that I think everyone wants and that is why you chose the Montessori Education.

Please feel free to contact us and if you want to volunteer for any event.  We would love have you. Our email address is keystone.parents@gmail.com. We will keep in contact throughout the year to provide you with information on the parents organization and our progress.  We hope that we can make a difference for the students this year at Keystone and for future years to come.

Sincerely,

Carla

---

KEMPO Board for 2010/2011

Co-Presidents: Leela Obilichetti & Carla Vogel

Secretary: Natasha Sass

Treasurer: Nandita Agarwal

If you are interested in working with KEMPO in the coming school year, then please send an email to keystone.parents@gmail.com and let us know how you would like to help.