Parent Association

What Is SMEAF?

SMEAF is the Sandwich Montessori Enrichment and Assistance Fund, Sandwich Montessori School’s version of the PTA. We are a group of parents and teachers who believe that a Montessori education should be more accessible to members of our community, who believe that our children’s education should be enriched through additional activities, and that Sandwich Montessori School should have a place in the greater community. Throughout the year we organize several all-school events, and when extra funds are available, we provide funds for awesome supplementary materials like The Music Works Program your children enjoy every morning in the classroom just before the day officially begins! In addition, we provide funds for financial assistance to families in need. We are trying to perform more community outreach and education but we need your help! The more involved we are in our children’s education, the better their education will be. SMEAF is not simply about fundraising. It’s an organization which endeavors to bring the school community together, further enrich our children’s education and share the Montessori philosophy with our community.

We would love to see you at one of our meetings! It’s a great way to stay connected, be involved and make new and lasting friendships! To get involved, please plan to attend a scheduled meeting. All meetings are open to all members of The Sandwich Montessori community: teachers and parents alike.

SMEAF Board of Directors for 2010-2011

  • Regina Augat, President
  • Susan O’Brien, Vice-President
  • Tiffany VanSicklen, Treasurer
  • Christine DeAngelis, Secretary

SMEAF Meeting Schedule for 2010-2011

Meetings are held at 6:30pm, Wednesday evenings at Carriage House.

  • August 11th
  • September 8th
  • October 13th
  • January 12th
  • February23rd
  • April 13th
  • May 18th

SMEAF Events

Ice Cream Social

The Ice Cream Social is a great late summer SMEAF-sponsored event which happens at The Midway Recreation area in Sagamore, MA. It’s an opportunity to get together before school starts, to reconnect with old friends and meet new families over ice cream sundaes. The children get to run around and play with old friends and make new ones while parents get acquainted or reacquainted. Come ready to enjoy yummy ice cream sundaes!

Volunteer duties for this event include:

  • a chairperson to organize the committee
  • 1 person to get mailing labels and nametags printed
  • 1 person to get invitations printed and mailed
  • 1 person to pick up supplies and ice cream
  • 2-3 ice cream scoopers
  • 2-4 people to help with set up and clean up.

 

Fall Carnival

The Fall Carnival is a 2-hour event that begins at 3pm and ends at 5pm and is held at Sandwich Montessori School’s main campus on Cotuit Road. This is a fun, family opportunity to socialize with all the families at the school. The students LOVE this event! Students and their families enjoy a jump-start to the weekend with fun art activities, tattoo stations, face painting, beanbag tosses, cupcake walks, donuts on a rope, and so much more!

Volunteer duties for this event include:

  • a chairperson to order prizes, help with locating and purchasing supplies and assigning volunteers to specific stations.
  • 3-5 people to set up and clean up
  • 4-6 people to supervise specific stations

Halloween Party

This fun, SMEAF-sponsored event takes place at The Cape Cod Children’s Museum. The children and their parents have fun dressing up in costumes (no scary costumes, please!) There is live entertainment and pizza and snacks. There is no trick-or-treating at this event. Sandwich Montessori Families have fun together as we enjoy having the museum to ourselves for the evening. There is a small charge per person for this event.

Volunteer duties for this event include:

  • a chairperson to secure space and date with the Cape Cod Children’s Museum and to handle pizza orders
  • 1 person to advertise the event via “announce” to the school population and to get an estimate of the number of students and parents expected to attend
  • 1 person to coordinate the refreshments, fruit/veggie plates and other dessert donations from our families
  • 2-4 people to set up and clean up

Winter Concert

The Winter Concert was held this year at The Cotuit Center for the Arts where our students were able to perform in our first all-school performance, entitled “Of Mice and Mozart.” Please join us for a fun-filled evening celebrating our children’s musical and theatrical achievements! Our students had a wonderful time and we look forward to having this event again!

Volunteer duties for this event include:

  • attendance at planning meetings and follow-up
  • 1 person to advertise to the school population and to coordinate ticket sales
  • 2-4 people to help with set-up and clean up
  • anyone else who might donate of their time to help with rehearsals and planning

Family Bingo

The whole family can get involved in these fun games of Bingo! Many games are played throughout the evening with a special children’s game for the 5-and-under crowd played halfway through the evening. There are fun prizes and an opportunity to spend an evening laughing with family and friends. Pizza and desserts are available at a nominal cost to help make this a fun evening for everyone.

Volunteer duties for this event include:

  • attendance at planning meetings and follow up
  • 1 person to advertise to the school population
  • 1 person to obtain supplies (games, prizes)
  • 1 person to coordinate baked goods and other food items
  • 4 people to set up and clean up.

Family Contra Dancing

We’re happy to introduce yet another, exciting new SMEAF-sponsored family event! Contra-dancing should be fun for the whole family! Please join the Sandwich Montessori Community at Forestdale School for some snacks and refreshments (pot-luck) followed by 2 hours of music and dancing! Don’t be afraid to join in the fun, we will have experienced dancers and callers to teach us the steps we need to learn as we engage in dancing a series of figures very similar to those of old-time square dancing! Join us for an exciting new way to connect with our community that will put a little extra spring into our steps in early April! Soft-soled shoes and a desire to have fun with other families is all you will really need to get you started! 

Volunteer duties for this event include:

  • 1 person to secure caller, music, and chair the committee 
  • 1 person to secure space and do event "marketing" via “announce”
  • 1 person to manage RSVPs and food item donations
  • 4-6 people involved with set up and clean up.

Annual Auction

Our largest fundraiser of the year, the annual spring auction is a fun-filled, adults-only evening! Kick back and relax with other parents, teachers and guests. There are amazing items available including unique whole-class pieces of art from each building, unique experiences with teachers, restaurant gift certificates, wonderful class basket raffles, and so many other exciting items (from services, all kinds of objects, books, and other items to airline tickets and tickets to major sporting events!)

Volunteer duties for this event include:

  • attendance at planning meetings and follow up (planning is extensive)
  • auction item brainstorming and acquisition
  • set up and clean up for the event.

Cool Products & Initiatives that Benefit SMEAF!

Box Tops for Education:
Box Tops are collected at each of the houses. In addition to bringing your Box Tops, shopping through Box Tops Marketplace also helps SMEAF. There are tons of merchants to choose from including Oriental Trading, Target, and Gap to name just a few. Just go to www.boxtops4education.com to register and start shopping.

Stuck On You Labels
We all need to label our children’s clothing and Stuck On You has a great selection of labels that are stylish and easy to use. Log onto www.stuckonyou.biz to see the many label options available. It’s a back-to-school essential for many families. If you choose to order online, please be sure to include Sandwich Montessori School at checkout when asked how you heard about Stuck On You. If you select school/camp/fundraiser and then name Sandwich Montessori School, SMEAF will receive a small percentage of each purchase.

Shaklee Products
Many families have shared their positive experiences with Shaklee products with us and urged us to consider sharing the information with other families within our school community. Now, we have our own Shaklee website: http://www.shaklee.net/smeaf. Everything you, your family, and friends order from this website benefits SMEAF. You order online, pay directly, and have your items delivered to your door. It couldn’t be easier. We’ve trial-tested lots of Shaklee products and found them to be good, if not better than those we found off the shelves, and they were better for our families’ and planet’s health. We are excited to make these products available to you.

Silvergraphics Art Products
Enjoy your children’s art on mugs, notecards, mousepads, t-shirts and other wonderful products, personalized in such a unique way! Liz Ford, our art teacher, works with your children in the early fall to help them prepare art that is transformed into a small print that each family can print and frame. Siblings and friends who do not attend Sandwich Montessori School are also welcome to submit artwork. Order forms are included with the print and families can order any number of these beautiful, personal keepsakes as gifts for those doting family members. SMEAF receives a small portion of those proceeds.

For Small Hands
Members of the Sandwich Montessori School community (and that includes grandparents, neighbors, friends and other relations) have an opportunity to order from Montessori Services’ For Small Hands catalogue and enjoy free shipping to the school.  As an extra bonus, the school receives a percentage of the order.  It costs you nothing extra, saves you money in shipping and SMEAF is able to provide your child’s classroom with additional materials to enrich their educational experience.