About MMS

Mission Statement

The Modern Montessori School aims to provide a rich and stimulating environment where children can develop to their full potential. Understanding and appreciating 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, providing the students with the confidence needed to use their abilities to the fullest and enabling them to define and achieve success in college, career and, above all, in 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.

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 2009 - 2010

Dear Parents,

In welcoming you all back to the beginning of another academic year, I would like to start by offering you my very best wishes on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan. I would like to remind you that the amended teaching schedule for Ramadan provides for the KG to finish at 12 noon daily. Junior School students will finish at 1:00 p.m. daily and Senior School students to finish at 2:10 p.m., except for Tuesdays, when the whole school finishes at 1:30 p.m. Please note also that the cafeteria will be closed during Ramadan.

Before giving you news of the school, I would like to draw your attention to a very important matter. Given the threat of a ‘flu pandemic, the school has taken various measures to maximise protection of its students and staff. Your cooperation in making the steps we are taking effective is absolutely essential. An expert in Infectious Diseases and Infection Prevention and Control has already given a lecture to our teachers, pointing out to them the symptoms they should be watching for and the steps needed to be taken if infection is suspected. Following is the recommendation of the doctor consulted:

"The flu season is just around the corner. This year the flu season is going to be tough, and the best way to prepare for it is to get the flu shot (vaccine). Seasonal flu is a common and bad disease. It can be fatal sometimes. Twenty percent (20%) of people get the flu every year. Children are at an increased risk of having severe disease, complications, hospitalizations, and even death. It is the experts’ recommendation that everyone should get the flu shot this year. Although seasonal flu is different from H1N1 (swine) flu, getting the seasonal flu vaccine is of great value. It is 90% effective in preventing seasonal flu. It could also provide some (partial) protection against swine flu. The school administration is strongly recommending that all children should get the flu vaccine this year. It is also encouraged that all family members get the flu shot too."

We must request that you keep any child displaying any possible ‘flu symptoms at home, and if anyone within the household contracts ‘flu, please do not send your child to school until all possibility of infection is ruled out. Please also be cooperative if we decide to send your child home from school because of any suspicious symptoms. Students will not be allowed to return to school without a doctor’s certificate that they are free of infection.

We have made arrangements to acquire a supply of the vaccine and can offer it to you at a substantially reduced cost. if desired, students and their families can be vaccinated in school. If you prefer it, however, vaccination can be carried out at the school doctor’s private clinic (Dr. Maysoun Al Bashiti), or at the clinic of the consultant specialist, Dr. Motasem Abuelreish, at a cost of JD 10.000, or you can consult your own family doctor. Please fill in and return the form attached to this letter to enable us to order the amount of vaccine required by the school, since the vaccine is in relatively short supply.

All classrooms will be equipped with a supply of a German hand Sanitizing product called “Bode”, which is anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, and the school is purchasing a number of ‘Flu Rapid Test Kits to enable fast detection of infectious cases.

Additionally, to minimise the possibility of infection through handling money, parents are requested to purchase coupons from the Finance Department to enable their children to pay for food and drink from the cafeteria. No cash transactions will be permitted in the cafeteria.

Please do help us in our efforts to make the school a safer environment for all.

Now to some news about the school. We have been fortunate in acquiring the services of a number of excellent new members of staff and I know you will join me in welcoming them. The Senior School faculty welcomes Dr. Emile Sabella (Head of Counselling), Lana Zakarian (IB Coordinator and IB English teacher), Naemah Dasouki (D.T. teacher), Sura Hijazi (Art Coordinator), Sara Dirani (Art Teacher), Ghadeer Barhomi (I.T. Teacher), Sana’ Al Kfuf (I.T. Teacher), Hassan Saleh (Chemistry Teacher), Dia’ El Hindi (Physics Teacher), Osama Abunimeh (Mathematics Teacher), Joanna Al Qassar (Mathematics Teacher), Sadeq Damrah (Mathematics and Physics Teacher), Randa Balcom (Social Science Teacher), Rhonda Nassar (English Teacher) and Mohamad Jazyah (Discipline Officer for Grades 7 and 8). Joining the Junior School are Faisal Al Hjairi (Mathematics Teacher), Ranin Al Qutub (Class Teacher), Yacoub Ayyad (P.E. Teacher), Rasha Ali (Class Teacher), Ihsan Dabbas (Class Teacher), Hanan Al Qudah (Religion Teacher) and Dua’ Abed (Arabic Teacher). Two new teachers are joining the KG, namely Dima Musa and Nisreen Al Sahhar. Furthermore, the AHA is joined by Nisreen Sabri and Mohammad Thatha., and the Finance Department by Ehad Hammad. All these newcomers will, I am sure, make a significant contribution to the life of the school.

We are introducing a revolutionary new method of teaching in the form of interactive white boards for Grades 2 and 3 this year. The system was introduced for a trial period to one class of Grade 3 during the last academic year and proved to be an outstanding success. Individual student participation was greatly increased, interest, motivation and enthusiasm were markedly improved and the whole learning process was very significantly enhanced. We are confident that our students will benefit greatly from this innovation.

Parents of students in Grades 3-6 will notice that some of these classes have been restructured this year. In doing this we aim to broaden our children’s horizons, exposing them to fresh ideas and enabling them to widen their circles of friendship beyond those already formed in previous years.

The scholarships for academic excellence, which we introduced last year, have now been awarded. (One full scholarship per grade is awarded to the student(s) who obtained the highest marks throughout the previous academic year.) In last year’s Grade 4 the scholarship was awarded to Yasemeen Al Haj Mohammad, in Grade 5 to Iyad El Khuffash, whilst in Grade 6 Leen Abdullah received the scholarship. In the Senior School, the scholarship for G7 goes to Amer Sawalha, for G8 the scholarship is shared between Dareen Al Kutob and Siwar Freij and Jude Al Hudhud received the scholarship for G9. The Diana Sayegh Scholarship for Grade 11 was awarded to Leen Naji, whilst Zeina Kalaji and Tala Kublawi were awarded partial scholarships. I would like to extend my most sincere congratulations to these students and their parents.

Continuing on the theme of scholarships, the AHA programme rewarded the winners and the runners-up in each level with a full and 40% two-year scholarship respectively. At the Bronze Level Natalie Abu Luf received a full two-year scholarship and Basil Hatabeh and Laith Nashashibi both received partial two-year scholarships, whilst at the Silver Level Leila Kutob was awarded the full two-year scholarship and Tala Said and Rand Fares both received partial two-year scholarships. My congratulations also go to them and to their parents.

Our students again achieved outstanding results in the external IB examinations, several of them attaining grades above 90% in Tawjihi equivalence. As was the case last year, the school’s average grades were significantly above the international average in most subjects. I am, personally, very proud of their accomplishment and extend my sincere gratitude to our excellent teaching staff who made this resounding success possible.

Carrying on what is rapidly becoming a tradition in the school, we again had outstanding successes in the ISWEEEP International Science Fair in Texas, USA, and in the Intel International Science Fair in Nevada, USA. Under the guidance of the Head of Chemistry and competing against high school students from all over the world, our Grade 11 students, Omar Gharaibeh and Maher Zghondi took the Gold Award for their project, “A system that can absorb microwave radiation”. Abdul Rau’f Al Rawabdeh won the Bronze Award for his project, “A mechanical system to minimise the consumption of fuel in cars”, and Yasser Al Aboura also won the Bronze Award for his project, “A unit that converts PVC plastic into bitumen”. Additionally, Omar Khresat and Moutaz Al-Hunedii took the Fourth Prize in Environmental Management for their project, “A creative design for the production of hydrogen from exhaust gases and scrap metal”. These were very impressive achievements of which the school is extremely proud.

Two of our Grade 12 students, Raneem Daoud and Amina Mirza, received First and Second prizes in the 2008/2009 VCUQatar Design competition. In addition to cash prizes, both students were awarded full scholarships at the Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. Our congratulations go to them both.

On the athletics side, Basil Hatabeh (Grade 8) took the Silver Medal in the Pan-Arab Swimming Championships. We congratulate him on his success.

On a lighter note, some of our students participated in a 14-week long musical competition organized by Energy Radio and Pepsi Cola with varying degrees of success. The winners were a group including our G10 student, Amanda Hamati, whose prize was the opportunity to record a CD at a professional recording studio in Lebanon.

In response to many requests from parents, the school is changing its school uniform manufacturer to Zai. With immediate effect, school uniform items will be available from the Fashion Mart in Mecca Street; existing stock from the previous manufacturer will be available at discounted prices, whilst any missing items or sizes will be provided by Zai, themselves.

We would like to remind you that all students registered for the bus service should go directly to their homes after school. Students will not be permitted to go by school bus to the home of one of their friends. Please understand that this decision has been made with the best interests of the students in mind, and we shall appreciate your cooperation with us on this point. If you wish your child not to return home by bus on any specific day, you are requested to send a note to inform us of this officially.

We would like to thank the members of the PTA for all their help during the past year. New elections to the PTA will be held after Ramadan. We hope that many of you will be interested in taking part.

A long-awaited moment: I can finally tell you that the new building is rapidly approaching completion and you will soon be receiving an invitation to a spectacular inauguration of the complex with a production of “Phantom of the Opera” staged by the Performing Arts Department.

In conclusion, I would like to assure you of our continued dedication to providing the ultimate in holistic education to our extended family of students and wish you all a very happy and successful year. 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.