Bylaws of the Maria Montessori Language and Cultural Center
Seattle, Washington - King County
Revised 1/18/2017
Our History
The History of the Maria Montessori
Language and Cultural Center.
1997
A Montessori Invitation: Natural Habitats for the Urban Child
Montessori Visions for the 21st Century. 1997 MIA Annual Conference. July 24-27, 1997. By Gail Longo, Cinquegranelli Montessori School, Seattle
1999
MMLCC Founded
MMLCC founded in March 31, 1999 with founding members: Linda Harkness, Emilio Marasco, Anthony Longo, Gail Longo, Scott Veysey, Esther James, Dr. Rosemarie McCartin, and Felicia Danon.
2000
MMLCC Becomes a 501c3
September 8 2000, applied to become 501c3 and provisional/interim status was given. MMLCC Becomes exempt from tax and treated as public charity during an advance ruling period.
2000
Seattle Millennium Project 2000
2001
Proposal for After-School Program
March 12, 2001: Proposal for after-school program located in Crown Hill Church.
2001
MMLCC at Nordic Heritage Museum
The MMLCC starts an after-school program (for 5-9 year olds in Italian) at Nordic Heritage Museum! Classes ran Monday-Thursday 3pm-5pm with each day reflecting a particular theme. Children were able to register for one or all afternoons, choosing language, drama or art.
Specific themes included:
"The Art of Italy through Nature and Architecture" (for 5-8 year olds)
"Theater and Dramatic Storytelling" (for 6-9 year olds)
"Art from Europe to Asia - The magical voyage of Marco Polo through art" (for 6-9 year olds)
"Italian language in Daily Living Activities and Music" (for 5-9 year olds)
2002
Earth Hero Award from King County
Dept of Parks and Recreation Earth Hero Award for environmental stewardship of Crown Hill’s Baker Park awarded by King County. May 1 2002. (Cinquegranelli focused on environmental awareness and participated in creating and caring for a new city park. The school community provided a natural area with native plants)
2003
Proposal for Space
Proposal for space: 2205 NW 67th street at Church of Christian Science. Rejected.
Proposal for space at building #67 Sandpoint Naval Station. Rejected.
2003
MMLCC & Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (FACSE) Alignment
The Alignment Partnership Plan through Seattle Public School’s Office for Community Learning approved a rent free lease starting in September 2003 through August 2004. Continuation of rent free status is dependent upon progress made toward identified goals and there was a re-application every year. This alignment continued through 2010.
2003
MMLCC & FACSE Partnership
In 2003, we joined together in an educational partnership with the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (FACSE) at Ballard High School to bring a unique learning opportunity to high school students enrolled in child development and parenting classes. Together we pioneered a new model for Career and Technical Education (CTE) vocational training. Guided by their high school instructor and mentored by certified Montessori guides, these high school students became valuable participants in the child development lab.
2004
MMLCC forms Lab School at Ballard High School
In 2004, The Ballard High School Department of Family and Consumer Sciences and the MMLCC joined with the Seattle Public Schools' (SPS) Community Alignment Initiative in a pioneering effort to provide our unique on-site Montessori Early Education Program and Lab School on campus. This was also in partnership with Career and Technical Education Department and Humanities Washington.
2005
Marshall Rosenberg Speaks
MMLCC at Ballard High School hosts Dr. Marshall Rosenberg for its first Blue Ribbon Event on “Non-violent Communication” (Attendance ~500 people)
Marshall Rosenberg, PhD is the creator of a method of communication called “nonviolent communication” and director of educational services for the Center for Nonviolent Communication, and international non-profit organization whose vision is a world where everyone’s needs are met peacefully. Rosenberg has developed training methods which help prevent and resolve conflicts in schools, businesses, health care centers, prisons, community groups and families and are in use world-wide.
2005
An Introduction to Compassionate Communication
An Introduction to Compassionate Communication.
October 11, 2005. 6:30pm-8:45pm.
By: Ballard High’s Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Department, together with Ballard’s Child Development Lab School, The Maria Montessori Language & Cultural Center. (Elana Sabajon with the Puget Sound Network for Compassionate Communication, and Gail Longo of the Montessori Lab School, are bringing a series of eight classes to the students in Eileen Knobbs’ Early Childhood development class. This event will be a great opportunity to learn about Compassionate Communication and to familiarize yourself with how these new skills will be used by the high school students in the Lab School.)
2006
King County Employee Charitable Campaign
King county Employee Charitable Campaign application approved to allow for advertising and getting funds from King County.
Funds from King county to support Non-Violent Communication (NVC) education to provide resources for High School and the community to prevent domestic violence.
2006
MMLCC After-School Program at Ballard High School
2006-2010. MMLCC After-School Program at Ballard High School.
2008
MMLCC Recieves King County Grant of $3000
On January 18, 2008 King County Council-member Larry Phillips visited the school and presented Casa Maria Montessori with a grant check of $3000 to help fund non-violent communication (NVC) trainers to provide programs and workshops for teachers, parents, high school students, and children.
2010
Empathy & The Brain
May 6-8th, 2010.
A Blue Ribbon Forum presented by the MMLCC in partnership with Ballard High School’s Department of Consumer Science.
Open sessions with:
- Maren Schmidt (Author of Building Cathedrals Not Walls) talking on “Environments for Optimal Brain Development in 3-5 year olds and 15-18 year olds”
- Sarah Peyton - A non-violent communication trainer following Marshall Rosenberg’s program sharing information on “Calming the Emotional Brain” and the new science of interpersonal neurobiology. Also “Empathy and the Brain”
- Prof. James Ha - Research Professor at the University of Washington, speaking on the “Blue Ribbon Emotions” drawn from Temple Grandin’s book “Animals make us Human” describing how the behavior of animals gives insight into their emotions.
- Patty Zeitlin - Workshop on Non-violent communication. BA in early childhood education & MA in Human Development. Teaching conflict resolution skills to pre-schoolers using non-violent communication skills with puppetry, songs, and movement.
- Dr. Jeff Ojemann - Neuro-surgeon at Children’s Hospital discussing the brain and the limbic system.
Our Partners:
Ballard High School PTSA,
Ballard HS Principal Phil Brockman,
BHS Assistant Principal Dr. Charlie Walker III,
BHS Librarian Debbie Arthur,
SPS Community Alignment Partners,
CTE Family and Consumer Sciences,
Human Development and Parenting,
SPS health and Human Services Pathways Committee,
Children/Staff/Parents of Casa maria Montessori lab School,
BHS High School Students,
Pacific NW Montessori Association Child Care Resources,
Humanities Washington,
Motheread Project/Liv Woodstrom,
NW Center for Compassionate Education,
WAEYAC,
Megan Vogel,
Temple Grandin Ph.D,
Evergreen Print Group,
Secret Garden Bookstore,
Dr. Maria Montessori 1870-1952
2011
Emotions and the Child's Brain
With Dr. Al Sipols.
2013
Calming Ourselves
May 18th, 2013. Presentation by Dr. Maryann Johnston Ed.D
2015
The Happiness Project on Social-Emotional Learning: Feelings, Food, Family, and Friends
May 2nd, 2015. Presentations by David Hartman of SPU and Matt Keen of 21 Acres.
2016
Language to Literacy: Evidence-Based Strategies to Support Early Learners
March 19th, 2016. Presentation by Gina Lebedeva Ph.D CCC-SLP, Founding Director of the Outreach Division of the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (I-LABS) at the University of Washington.
- Why do speech therapists and Montessori teachers teach sound and letter recognition to early learners before introducing the names of letters in the alphabet?
- Is our culture on a path of decreasing literacy?
- Is spoken language with children more important than ever before?
2016
Healthy Landscape, Healthy People: The World of Microbial Ecology
May 15th, 2016. Presentations by David Montgomery and Anne Bikle, authors of The Hidden Half of Nature – The Microbial Roots of Life and Health.
- How past societies have treated their soil with an emphasis on agricultural practices.
- How we can change agricultural practices so that soil is improved rather than degraded
as a consequence of agriculture.
- Why we generally have come to view all microbes as bad for us and our crops and how
this view has affected the health of our crops and ourselves.
- Basic interactions between "good" bacteria and a plant's roots and the human gut and
the similarities between the two.
- How our diet and what we put in the soil can restore and protect the human and plant
microbiome.
2017
Healing the Child in all of us: Creating resilience through relationships
March 18, 2017. Workshop by Gina Lebedeva Ph.D CCC-SLP and Deborah Peterson.
The qualiy of our relationships are what drive learning and development, from birth to adulthood. How are these related in our schools, our communitites, and our lives?
On this interactive day, we explored the intersections of modern neuroscience, classic human bonding, and the future of education around resilience.
Welcome: Childcare Providers, Community Members, Early Learning (Birth-8) educators, Family Services Professionals, Head Start/ECEAP staff, Child Development Instructors, Parents, Program Administrators, Faith-based organization members, Students, Youth Educators…
2017
Discussion on the Family Meal
June 13th, 2017. Conversation with Jane Clements.
About Jane: Jane Clements, Montessori Teacher, Masters of Nutrition candidate and dietetic intern from Bastyr University will present materials and lead a discussion on creating a lifetime of healthy habits from the tradition of the family meal.
Topics covered in this discussion:
- Division of responsibilities between parents and children
- The definition of a healthy plate and how your child can create one
- Why eat the rainbow
- Super tasters
- Sugar-- Villain? Reward? How to develop competence around all foods
- Preserving and prioritizing the family meal with a hectic schedule
- Looking forward to future growth and development-- faith that your child will return to
and remember the health and warmth of the family meal
2018
Introduction to Positive Discipline
A FREE presentation on Positive Discipline with Julietta Skoog from Sproutable!
Date: Thursday, March 1st, 2018
Time: 5:00-6:00pm
Location: Cinquegranelli Montessori
3316 NW 68th St. Seattle, WA 98117
Cost: FREE for Current Cinquegranelli Parents. Admission by Donation.
About this Event:
Learn to discipline with firmness and kindness, have fun as a parent, and set
the foundation for important social and life skills. Help your child feel a sense
of belonging and significance through mutual respect and encouragement.
Julietta Skoog, Early Childhood Expert
Julietta is a Certified Positive Discipline Advanced Trainer with an Ed.S Degree in School Psychology and a Masters Degree in School Counseling from Seattle University. As a school psychologist and counselor with Seattle Public Schools since 2005, her expertise includes early child development, autism, learning disabilities, anxiety, and behavior disorders, as well as leading friendship groups and classroom lessons and meetings based on Positive Discipline,Social Thinking and Mindfulness.