Heads of School Cafe
The MSM HOS Cafes are held monthly on a Wednesday morning starting at 9:30AM. The purpose of the HOS Cafes is to create a collaborative and supportive community among Heads of Montessori Schools. We encourage open dialogue, sharing best practices and brainstorming and sharing solutions to common challenges. By infusing Montessori principles into these topics, we as school leaders can inspire our school community, enhance the parent experience, and foster a deeper appreciation and understanding of the Montessori approach.
This year we are introducing topic themes for each month. We want to inspire conversations along with innovative thinking and sharing amongst the group. We have organized themes to line up with the flow of the school calendar and what might be happening in our communities throughout the year.
Topic themes:
September 11: Montessori Essentials at work in our classrooms
Theme: Advocating for Authentic Montessori practice and pedagogy in our classrooms
October 9: Effective Family-Teacher Conferences and Progress Reporting
Theme: Helping families understand benchmarks and the learning process
November 13: Share what you have done and what you are doing at your school
Theme: Diversity Equity and inclusion work in our schools
December 11: Enrollment: New Admissions and Retention/Re-enrollment
Theme: Re-enrollment/Retention, New Families, Reinforce School’s unique features & Montessori)
January 8: Sharing Mid-Year Successes and Challenges: Lessons from School Leaders
Theme: HOS Reflection thus far in the school year
February 12: Let’s talk about Benefits of All Day Montessori (Guest Speaker: Mary Beth Ricks)
Theme: School annual schedule: 10 months vs all year
March 12: Supporting our Teachers, Part 1
Theme: Teacher feedback, observation, and reflection processes
April 9: Appreciating our Teachers: Teacher Appreciation Week, Part 2
Themes: Teachers
May 14: Celebrating the Montessori Journey: Appreciating Families and School Leaders
Themes: Montessori Journey, Gratitude, Moving up