Chair’s welcome and report

Welcome to the 2009-2010 school year! We hope you enjoyed the summer and are ready for another busy and exciting year!

We would like to thank all the members of the 2008-2009 Executive Committee for their hard work and commitment to the Montessori program. A special note of thanks goes to our outgoing Chair, Barbara Lee, for her 8 years of dedication to RAM and Montessori in Richmond. Last year, we purchased $15,860 of Montessori materials for the classrooms, provided $1,700 in teacher bursaries and repaid $2,000 of the School Board loan. Through memberships, fundraisers and donations, we raised $24,445.70. Thank you to all the families who donated to RAM for your generosity and support.

This year is shaping up to be a busy one for RAM. In addition to the fundraising and purchase of materials, our major focus this year will be on conducting an inventory of all RAM purchased materials in our three schools. Over the years parents, through RAM, have contributed over $249,000 in materials to the classrooms in our three schools, and the inventory process is necessary as we strive to ensure that our teachers and children have the materials they need. As you can imagine, this will be a large undertaking with many opportunities to volunteer, get to know other RAM parents, as well as to get into the classrooms and see, first-hand, the materials your children use every day. Keep your eyes and ears open in the coming weeks for more information regarding this project and the many opportunities for you to get involved – we can’t do this project without you.

RAM parent meetings are held the 2nd Thursday of each month beginning October 8th. The meeting schedule is included in this newsletter for your reference. The meetings provide you with an opportunity to hear reports from the principals, our Executive members as well as to discuss and organize our activities. If you want to learn more about what’s going on in your children’s school and with RAM, we encourage you to join us at our meetings or to become part of our Executive team.

We hope you have a great school year and we look forward to getting to know you and to seeing you at our events!

Rosemary Casson and Ally Medweth
Co-Chairs, RAM