October 28, 2025
Embedded Files
Message from the Head of School
Dr. Maria Montessori believed deeply that peace begins with the child. She wrote, “Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.” Her vision reminds us that when children learn to understand and appreciate the world and the people in it, they begin to build the foundation for a more peaceful future.
Our upcoming Heritage Folk Fair beautifully reflects this vision. As MSOW families share their traditions through food, music, stories, and art, our students experience the richness of cultures that make up our community and our world. Through these connections, children come to see that while we may come from many places, we share the same hopes for understanding, respect, and peace.
I look forward to everyone celebrating this special event together and witnessing the joy of our students as they explore the world—one tradition, one story, one family, and one friendship at a time.
See the flyer below for more information about the MSOW Heritage Folk Fair!
Brenda Zellmer
Head of School
Montessori School of Waukesha
MSOW's Annual Meeting
Monday, November 3rd at 6pm
The MSOW Board of Trustees will host its Annual Meeting on Monday, November 3rd at 6pm at Campus West. All MSOW parents are invited to attend. The following topics will be addressed by the Board, Head of School, and/or MSOW Directors at the meeting: Capital Campaign update, fiscal year financial summary, renewal of Trustees, strategic plan updates. The meeting usually lasts about an hour. Minutes from the meeting will be available.
MSOW Parent Education Session Tonight!
October 28th - Children's House
Fire Prevention Week
Children's House gets a visit from the Waukesha Fire Department
The first full week of October has been designated as Fire Prevention Week. This year, as in years past, the Waukesha Fire Department came to visit the MSOW Children's House afternoon 5K classes on Wednesday, October 15th to discuss fire prevention topics. The children were shown the "Sparky's ABC's of Fire Prevention" video, watched a firefighter put on his turn out gear, and had the opportunity to climb aboard a real fire truck! The children listened attentively and asked wonderful questions.
Classroom Community Gatherings
Upper Elementary/Middle School Pumpkin Palooza!
Many of the MSOW classrooms are having or have had their first semester gatherings. Recently, Upper Elementary and Middle School families got together for the UE/MS Pumpkin Palooza 2025!
Beautiful weather cooperated with the planned activity of pumpkin carving and decorating. The demonstrated skills were truly amazing. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with other MSOW families and strengthen the UE/MS community.
A special shout-out to the O'Mara family for being such gracious hosts and for the UE & MS Parent Ambassadors for organizing this event!
UE 1 Ambassador, Mickey O'Mara
UE 2 Ambassador, Reba Meindl
UE 3 Ambassador, Amy Linzmeyer-Jelinek
MS Ambassador, Lisa Smart
Pre- Children's House Community Gathering at Retzer Nature Center
Pre-Children's House families gathered at Retzer Nature Center in Waukesha to hike, enjoy snacks, and do crafts. The perfect fall day was planned by Pre CH Parent Ambassador, Leah Jorgensen. MSOW's Pre CH classroom serves 16 children from 18 months old - 3 years old.
MSOW Weather Station
Looking to the winter months ahead, as a reminder, MSOW students have outdoor recess whenever the feels-like temperature is above zero degrees. If the feels-like temperature is zero degrees or below, then students have recess in the gym or play games in their classrooms. (The feels-like temperature considers wind-chill.)
Middle School teachers, Brian Bednarek and Luke Crotteau installed a new weather station on the main building roof that can be used to make decisions about recess. To get data, faculty and staff may use one of the two websites that are linked directly to our device. The receiving console is located in the Middle School.
You may download the Weather Underground or Ambient Weather Network app on your phone. If you choose Ambient Weather, you can search for Montessori School of Waukesha and save the location (you may have to set up a free account).
For Weather Underground, you will likely have to search for the station ID, which is KWIWAUKE296. It will show up as a personal weather station. Weather Underground is glitchy at times and may throw you to a different local station. Ambient Weather always seems to report correctly.
MSOW 2025-26 External/Family Google Calendar Link Now Available
For Quick and easy reference of the Academic School Year Calendar or an in-depth look at the month by month Google Calendar of school events such as Scout meetings, Enrichment Program Classes, MSOW Community gatherings, and MSOW school-wide events please use the link below. This link will also be available in the tabs section of The Newsfeed each week as well as on Portals Plus. This is a live calendar and will be updated as new items are scheduled or changes are made.
Link to 2025-26 External/Family Calendar
Enjoy a handy "MSOW Dates to Remember" refrigerator magnet. Available now at the MSOW front desk or during dismissal in the car line.
"Cards and Cravings" MSOW Fall Fundraiser
(Formerly known as "Farm Fresh")
Orders Due November 1st
It is that time of year when the days grow shorter, the air gets a little chillier and our thoughts turn to the more important things in life...Family, Friendship, and Amish Butter! MSOW has thoughtfully curated a collection of the most popular and beloved items from fundraisers past to create the new Cards and Cravings Fall Fundraiser.
Items Available:
Kwik Trip Gift Cards
Marcus Theaters Gift Cards
Amish Butter
Locally Roasted Coffee
Pop's Popcorn (variety of flavors!)
The Cards and Cravings Fall Fundraiser will run until November 1st, 2025. Follow the link below to order online.
MSOW's Food Drive Starts Monday, November 3rd!
Lower Elementary 2 students will again be heading up the annual food drive with all donations going to the Waukesha Food Pantry. The MSOW Food Drive will run from Monday, November 3 thru Friday, November 21st. Students are encouraged to bring in any non-perishable food items, especially cereal, peanut butter, canned fruits, veggies and meats. Please check for expiration dates as we cannot accept any expired foods. Collection boxes will be placed near the doors and in the hallways for easy collection.
New this year - Food Drive Friday in carline - drop off food when you drop off your child. We will have the red wagons ready at the upper and lower levels!
Heritage Folk Fair is November 8th
Sign Up Now to Share your Family's Favorite Traditional Dish!
Heritage Folk Fair: You’re invited to join us for the Heritage Folk Fair—a school-wide community celebration of family traditions and cultures—on Saturday, November 8th, from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
This year’s program is filled with entertainment, including dancers, storytellers, and music from across the globe. As a special highlight, Children’s House students will perform a traditional Māori welcome song.
While you enjoy the performances, treat yourself to delicious dishes lovingly prepared by members of our community. Admission is free, and food, drinks, and henna tattooing will be available for purchase with tickets during the event.
The Folk Fair is a potluck-style gathering, and we welcome MSOW families to share family favorites or heritage recipes. To see how you can contribute, please visit the sign-up here:
Please plan to come celebrate with the MSOW community and experience an afternoon of culture and connection. We can’t wait to see you there!
Dad's Night Out- Saturday, November 15th
RSVP by Nov. 7th
MSOW Gala Event - Saturday, March 14th
Save the Date for a "Polynesian Paradise"
Now is a great time to find a tropical themed outfit for the MSOW Gala if you'd like to dress to the theme, Polynesian Paradise! Most clothing sources have greatly reduced these warm weather / vacation tropical-print staples. (You don't need to dress to the theme to attend, cocktail attire is fine too.)
Children's House World Languages - Turkey
Our 5K World Languages Specials class welcomed Elizabeth Wells on October 17th as a presenter. Ms Wells is the lead teacher in Upper Elementary 2 at MSOW. She brought the beauty of the Turkish language and culture to life! Ms Wells is fluent in Turkish and lived in Turkey for six years teaching English to both children and adults. She shared her experiences with the children through stories and treasured artifacts. Students learned about family life, traditions, and daily culture in Turkey, and even practiced a few Turkish words. It was a wonderful opportunity for our young learners to explore a new part of the world and appreciate another culture.
World Languages is one of the Specials classes on Friday afternoons for 5K students. The afternoon is divided between Gym, Art, and World Languages. It was held on Wednesday due to the short week.
Children's House World Languages- South Korea
MSOW Middle School student Aiden Smart presented to our World Languages 5K students on October 24th. Aiden was born in South Korea and is fluent in Korean. He read a delightful story in Korean about staying warm while playing in the snow. The children were intrigued that "the letters look so different" and practiced saying snow, hat, jacket, and pants in Korean. Aiden also showed the children where South Korea is located on the globe and map, and taught them how to count to ten in Korean—explaining that there are both formal and casual ways to count. The students especially loved hearing Aiden's personal stories about living and going to school in Korea, and looking at photos of traditional formal dress worn in South Korea for special events. It was a wonderful opportunity for our youngest learners to explore another language and culture through the eyes of a fellow MSOW student.
World Languages is one of the Specials classes on Friday afternoons for 5K students. The afternoon is divided between Gym, Art, and World Languages.
News from the MSOW Librarian - Eve Bruce
MSOW students in Kindergarten through Upper Elementary enjoy lessons with our Librarian, Eve Bruce. Read on to see what each level has been learning!
Students in the Upper Elementary classrooms have been learning how to navigate the databases and library catalog here at MSOW. They have been encouraged to have their family add msow.follettdestiny.com as a favorite that can be easily used at home as well as here at school.
Students have access to Britannica Elementary and Britannica Middle School for encyclopedia research. MSOW also purchases FactCite Library which offers 9 different modules for use by Children’s House through Middle School students. PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next are a second resource that the school purchases for students to use year-round. Here is the list of clickable links you will find when you go to msow.follettdestiny.com
Databases
Upper Elementary students have also learned how to check on what books currently are in their account, put holds on titles that they want to read, send recommendations to others (including to teachers) of books they might be interested in and write reviews of books that they want to share with the MSOW community of readers.
Third year Lower Elementary students have been introduced to the databases most appropriate for their age and interests. They are in the process of learning about the different types of biographies: autobiography, collective biography, individual biography, and memoirs. Third year students have been taking notes on how biographies are arranged in the library and some of the text features found in them. This has led to learning about text additions (organization, print and graphic features) found in information books of all kinds.
The elders in Children’s House have been alternating between being botanists and zoologists! Ask them about chlorophyll, anthocyanin, xanthophyll, carotene or tannic acid and they will even sing/act out a song about the changing colors of leaves. They also know the 4 ingredients that are needed for plants to make their own food (there are no Culver's for plants!). They have been animal detectives as well when we read IN THE WOODS, WHO’S BEEN HERE?.
Highlights from the Classroom
Please enjoy these photos from Children's House 2 at work.
Children's House Elders' "Pumpkin Patch" created in Art class on display!
Lower Elementary 3 Celebrates Diwali
LE3 students Naisha Goyal and Arjun Shah, dressed in traditional clothing from India, led their classmates in a Diwali celebration this week. Students learned about the Hindu festival of lights, sampled homemade traditional sweet treats, and made a Diwali craft. Special thanks to Naisha's mother for assisting with the celebration.
Thank You to our Generous Volunteers
Thank you to the Heritage Folk Fair Steering Committee Sarah Seibt, Mickey O'Mara, Mary Ting, Kellie Lanza, and Olivia Giles who are all hard at work preparing for the November 8th event. Below, Kellie Lanza is pictured gathering decorations.
Thank you to Kevin Moore for, once again, thinking of MSOW when wonderful resources become available. Kevin is pictured below with components for several metal shelving units that will be used for organizing our storage areas.
Bunny available from MSOW family due to allergies
Several months ago a MSOW family welcomed a well behaved black lopp eared bunny into their home. As time has gone on (and weather has had windows more closed up) the allergic reactions from all members of the family have become more serious. While the bunny is very nice, allergy medication is not sufficient and they need to find another kind family for the bunny. His name is currently Bruce. Bruce comes with a cage, a hay spot, water bottle, dish, and he is litter box trained. If you are interested, please text David at 414-467-1044.
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