Modern Montessori School

Mission Statement...

When you embark upon Montessori schooling, you enter a tradition of educational excellence that dates back to Maria Montessori’s founding of the Montessori system in 1906. Montessori education is known for its philosophy; using carefully formulated materials, the dual qualities of independence and a love of learning are nurtured in such a way that both competence and confidence result. Most importantly, the system revolves around an enduring belief in the limitless worth and potential of each individual.

Montessori is not just a vision from the past; it is a commitment to the future of its students. Traditionally, small groupings promote interaction between the students and teachers and foster an atmosphere of concern for each student’s individual development. Above all, the Montessori experience provides an intellectual, social and ethical programme which allows students to define and reach their own special goals. Students are educated according to four founding cornerstones: scholarship, courtesy, character and athletics.

At the Modern Montessori School we understand and appreciate the differences that make every student unique. Each child is valued as an independent thinker and encouraged to make choices on his or her own. Our system of personalised education encourages every student to develop his or her own talent, to respect the differences in others and to be a responsible member of a community, thus achieving the finest possible holistic education. This aims to instill a pride in accomplishments, which should provide the students with the confidence needed to use their abilities to the fullest, and enable them to define and achieve success in college, career and, above all, in life. To this end, faculty and facilities are among the finest and an outstanding integrated academic programme is offered in both Arabic and English languages, whilst emphasising quality and diversity of student life.

Philosophy...

As a parent, you know that choosing a school for your child is one of the most significant decisions you may face. We all hope to provide our children with an educational basis from which they can reach out for their goals and fulfill their potential. However, this first involves a choice concerning the type of education which will most benefit your child and, subsequently, a choice of the most suitable school.

The Modern Montessori School is accredited by the International Centre for Montessori Education (ICME). It was established in 1985 and is built on an 24,000 m² piece of land. It is designed to meet international standards in school requirements. The Modern Montessori School is dedicated to distinction in advancing the development and education of children from age three through to high school. It offers a low pupil/teacher ratio, a highly qualified professional faculty and a balanced curriculum, which emphasises academic preparation in the main subjects, such as mathematics, languages, sciences and social sciences. In addition, art, music, physical education and computer literacy play an integrated role in the curriculum. The school provides a nurturing environment for the personal and intellectual development of each child. It encourages a high level of co-operative planning, teaching and evaluation, designed to produce success in advancing the learning process of the students. Standardised achievement and ability index tests are utilised to prescribe the best programme for each child’s needs.

The Modern Montessori School encourages each student to achieve continuous academic progress at his or her own pace. Each student is placed with a selected group of other students in order that he or she may experience success whilst, at the same time, encountering a challenge.

Pupil progress is reported to parents via two scheduled parent-teacher conferences as well as through the e-school system which has been especially designed and implemented for the Modern Montessori School needs. This bilingual English/Arabic system taps into three online user interfaces; Parents, Teachers and Students. It provides a seamless, streamlined integration of functions to provide a truly effective school management including attendance, grading, class scheduling, communications, online controlled chatting, and much more. Additional conferences may be initiated at any time by parents or teachers.

To minimise concern with dress, students from the Nursery School upwards wear uniforms and follow a prescribed dress code. The children bring their lunches from home or may choose to buy from a selection of food available in the school’s cafeteria.

Curriculum...

KG follows the Montessori method of education

In the Junior and Lower Senior School, an interactive, integrated curriculum, incorporating Ministry of Education requirements, has been developed by the school and is taught bilingually (Arabic and English).

The Upper Senior School offers a specially formulated Bridge Years curriculum in Grades 9 and 10, preparing students for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme in Grades 11 and 12

A letter from the Principal...

The Modern Montessori School in the year 2007 - 2008

Dear Parents,

It is a pleasure to welcome you back to the beginning of another academic year and I trust you all had an enjoyable summer holiday. We apologise for the late commencement of school, but you will probably have noticed that we have carried out extensive maintenance and refurbishing work, as well as construction of extra classrooms and laboratories.

Our IB students achieved very good grades in the external examinations and almost all grades were exactly as predicted. According to the official IB statistics, taken subject by subject, most of our grades were above the worldwide average, whilst grades for a few subjects were only very slightly (less than one point) below the world average. The overall average grade for all Diploma students was 5.17, which translates to an equivalent of over 80% in the Tawjihi. We would like to take this opportunity of congratulating our students and their teachers on their excellent achievement.

I would like to introduce you to the new teachers joining the school: in the Kindergarten we welcome Tmara Shawqi, Lora Shokeh and Lubna Al-Omari; the Junior School is joined by Eman Fayed (Mathematics), Rima Liddawi (English), Sima Jarjourah (Intensive English) and Khuzaimah Nawahdah (P.E.). In the Senior School, we are pleased to welcome Abdel Aziz Abu Ghazaleh (Art) to the full time staff; we are also joined by Ammar Karabli (Arabic Language), Khalil Al-Khatib (Arabic Language), Najoud Goussous (English Language), Zahra Al-Aker (English Language), Suha Al Nashif (Economics and Business), Yusra Yaghmour (Mathematics), Ahmad Al-Huneti (Islamic Religion), Suhair Al-Far (Science), Rawia Al-Daqs (Art), Ruaa El-Khatib (Mathematics) and Farah Shuqom (Social Science). We have also appointed two new Discipline Officers in the Senior School: Yaser Al-Nattah and Muwafaq Sadieh. We have been fortunate in finding staff with the high qualifications and experience we demand, and I am sure that they will all make a significant contribution to the success of the school.

The Kindergarten now employs a highly qualified speech therapist who will diagnose and treat difficulties associated with speech and language. Clearly, the early detection and remedying of such problems facilitate and improve the child’s overall learning capabilities.

Many teachers attended workshops, both in Jordan and abroad. Apart from IB subject-related workshops, many diverse aspects of education were dealt with in these workshops, including teaching methods, positive discipline and intercultural dialogue.

The school organised a workshop during the first semester to train teachers from all private schools in Amman on how to prepare and supervise students who are capable of doing scientific research. Students from all private schools in Amman were then given the opportunity to present their projects at a Science Fair held within the school.

I am delighted to say that the PTA has been involving itself enthusiastically in the life of the school. They have organised a wide range of activities and have produced a school calendar for the coming academic year. We look forward to another year of excellent cooperation with them.

All students from Grade 7 to Grade 12 have been issued with a Student Manual, which contains information relevant to the students, as well as the school discipline policy. It would be appreciated if you would look at the manual with your son or daughter and ensure that all the points contained therein are fully understood.

Our students participated in many extra-curricular activities and competitions during the past academic year, some achieving quite spectacular results. Out of 250 students from more than 200 schools, universities and colleges in the Kingdom, Omar Khresat (Grade 9) came first in the World Wide Competition for Microsoft Word Program, qualifying him for participation in the world-wide competition in Orlando, Florida, USA, which was held during the summer. We congratulate him on taking tenth place amongst competitors throughout the world.

For the second time, three of our Grade 11 students (Luna Irsheid, Nader Hirmas and Layan Qutub) qualified to present their innovative scientific researches at the 2007 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in New Mexico, USA. Layan was awarded the third Grand Award in the environmental engineering stream for her design of a complete unit to minimise the pollution caused by chimneys. We are very proud of all their achievements and offer our sincere congratulations.

Grade 11 Biology students again visited an Environmental Centre in Barcelona, Spain. The experiments conducted and the hands-on experience of collecting and analyzing data has proven invaluable to students in the ecology component of the IB syllabus.

Students from Grades 7-9 visited Orlando in the United States on a combined educational/cultural trip. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves and their knowledge of the English language has improved significantly.

The Performing Arts Department has kept us all well entertained during the past year. The success of the IB play, “Alice in Wonderland”, has led to requests for our students to stage repeat performances for children’s charities, a venture which we feel will be very worthwhile.

The Amin Hasan Award Scheme has now completed one year of operation and I am looking forward to presenting awards to the Bronze and Silver level winners shortly. I am confident that the challenges the students have met and the training they have received will be character-building and enable them more easily to cope with their future lives. They have acquired a piece of land which will be developed into a small park in remembrance of my father, the founder of the school. The students will, I am sure, gain much from contributing to improving the environment of their country and providing facilities for the enjoyment of the local community.

Following the same philosophy as the AHA, the Junior School has inaugurated the Student Life Organisation, which seeks, through various forms of activity, creativity and community involvement, to prepare young students for leadership and promote teamwork and involvement in the school. It seeks to form a connection between the students and the school’s staff (management and teachers), in addition to creating a communication link within the student body.

Under the auspices of the AHA, the Kindergarten children were also involved in several charitable projects. Amongst other things, they produced a CD, the proceeds from which went to the King Hussein Cancer Centre; they held a cake competition to raise money for nutrition for less fortunate schools, and they donated presents to be given to needy children on the occasion of Eid Al Fitr. They were also involved in an e-marketing project with Senior School Economics students, as part of which money raised from a bake sale was donated to charity.

The cafeteria menu/price list is attached and you will notice that prices remain unchanged from last year. We would like to remind you that we do not encourage students to bring “junk food” and carbonated drinks to school.

May we remind you of the arrangements for collecting your children from school: students in Grades 1-3 leave from Gate 6, whereas students in Grades 4-12 leave through Gate 8.

May I ask your cooperation in ensuring that students arrive punctually in school, dressed in the correct school uniform with no jewellery or nail varnish.

We have been talking optimistically about the new Senior School building for so long that I can hardly believe, myself, that it is finally coming to fruition. Plans have been completed for a long time, but I think we are all aware of the frustrations and complications which are involved in dealing with all the various authorities. Construction is finally scheduled to start during this academic year. Therefore, for this year only, due to a shortage of space, we regret that we shall be unable to offer the Little Leagues Football and Basketball programmes. For the same reason, we are obliged to postpone the Montessori Tournament until the next academic year. To compensate for the lack of Little Leagues, Football and Basketball clinics will be offered. We would like to stress that the withdrawal of these sporting events is only temporary and they will be reinstated as soon as possible. Some comfort may be taken from the fact that the first phase of building includes a state-of-the-art gymnasium. We will make every effort to ensure that students are affected as little as possible by the temporary lack of facilities and would appreciate your patience in this respect.

In conclusion, I would like to thank you for your continued support and to assure you that the school remains dedicated to providing all its students with the best in academic facilities within a happy and nurturing environment.

Yours sincerely,

Randa Hasan
Principal

Discipline...

SCHOOL RULES:

The School expects all students and their parents to be familiar with the school rules and to understand that breaches of them will result in disciplinary action.
School Disciplinary Procedures exist for the benefit of all and a written record of offences is kept on the Student File and may be used in compilation of recommendations requested from the school (Appendix 1).
Certain areas of the school are permitted to students only if accompanied by a member of the school staff. These areas include:
- All staff rooms.
- All offices.
- All science and computer laboratories, libraries, graphic art rooms, performing art rooms, CDT rooms, PE areas and workshops.
- The reprographic room.
Students may use the school telephones in emergencies only, obtaining permission from their Head of School.
Publicising any event, selling tickets (even for charitable purposes) or collecting money for any cause whatsoever must have the prior approval of the Principal.
The school does not accept any responsibility for lost property and strongly advises parents not to allow children to bring large sums of money or valuables to school.

CONDUCT:

School rules and expectations do not stop at the school gates. They also apply on all school buses and on all school trips. In addition, the school expects its students to remember that when not in school their behaviour in the community is taken as a reflection of the school (Appendix 2).

ATTENDANCE AND ABSENCES:

Regular attendance at school, at lessons and at school activities forms a basic and unequivocal part of the school's requirements:

Students are required to be punctual in arriving at school for their lessons. Lateness requires explanation. Persistent lateness may be punished.
Students must stay at school until the end of lessons (end of the school day) unless they have the written permission of their Head of School or their Medical Doctor or a special written request from their parent(s).
Students must attend all lessons and classes unless they have permission from their teacher.
Any absence of one or more days must be explained by the parent either telephoning the appropriate school official or by sending a written note to the student's Teacher or Group Tutor.
Any absence of three or more days must be explained in writing and, if for medical reasons, must be supported by a doctor's certificate.
A student may be refused admission to lessons if an absence has not been satisfactorily explained.
The school only accepts responsibility for students from 7.30 am until 15 minutes after the end of the last lesson unless they are participating in an official school activity or unless they are participating in a registered activity for which school supervision is provided.

ILLNESS AND ACCIDENTS OCCURRING DURING THE SCHOOL DAY:

If a student is unwell, he should ask his teacher for permission to report to the School Doctor who will take the appropriate action and contact a parent if necessary.
In the event of a student being injured during the school day the School will make every effort to contact the parent or designated guardian. Should the School Doctor believe treatment is required and parent or guardian cannot be reached the student will be taken to a specialist, clinic or hospital as appropriate.
Students taking medication prescribed by the family doctor while in school should do so in the School Doctor's surgery. The School Doctor is the school's medical officer and is required to be aware and treat all medical cases. The school cannot accept any responsibility for complications arising out of failure to comply with this requirement.
In the event of serious illness or an accident occurring during a school trip, the senior member of the school staff present will arrange for medical treatment at the nearest available medical facility and the parents will be notified as soon as possible.

SAFETY:

Safety of students, staff and visitors is a paramount concern of the school. It is the responsibility and duty of all students and staff to observe the following rules:

To act with proper regard for the safety of themselves, others and the environment.
To report safety breaches and concerns to the appropriate member of the school staff or when in doubt to alert the Principal, Academic Director or Head of School.

ACADEMIC:

Cheating on a school test or examination will automatically earn a mark of 'zero'. External examining bodies will be informed if cheating occurs during an external examination.
Copying of homework or submitting someone else's work as student's own (plagiarism) will be dealt with very severely. In the event plagiarism be discovered as part of an external examination, the examining authority will be notified.
All students are required to meet deadlines set by the teachers for the submission of homework, projects and any course work which forms part of the assessment for an internal or external examination.
Non-submission of homework on time will be punished by a detention. The student will be expected to work in a supervised detention room during the break time to complete his homework and parents will be advised in the event the student fails to show up. After three break detentions the student will have to remain for an hour after school each day for five days followed by a Saturday detention for 2 hours if this behaviour persists. In the event the student does not show up for a Saturday detention he will be automatically suspended for two days.

UNIFORM:

The school requires that all students are properly dressed in the official school uniform unless they are formally exempted from wearing it. Shirts must be kept buttoned at all times and properly tucked in. Only white undershirts are permit-ted. Shoes must be black or brown and socks must be white or black. Hair accessories must be simple in black, green or white colours only. No jewellery is permitted to be worn. Hair dying, nail polish and make-up is prohibited.
Students who come to school out of uniform will not be admitted to lessons and their parents will be contacted and asked to bring the missing item(s) or the children will be sent home.
On PE days students are required to wear the appropriate PE kit prescribed by the PE department (wearing of school team uniforms is not permitted).

For more information, please check the Student Manual.