Just for parents & guardians.
Here you'll find basic info about school culture, traditions, and events. If you have specific questions not addressed here, email admissions@morganoliverschool.org
Potlucks & Gatherings
It's a huge help to our beloved teachers and staff when we are able to arrive just a bit early to help set up and each clean something up before we leave. Look out for emails to sign up to help out to create this world we want to live in one potluck at a time! :)
Epic Costume Party/Fall Festival
The Friday closest to Halloween. This is an informal moment for families to relax in the school village vibe and to cultivate joy and connection together. Kiddos/all are invited to dress up if you’d like. Families are welcome to pitch in to decorate the outdoor space and dream up different activities for the kiddos such as face painting, pumpkin carving or decorating, pin the spider on the web, etc. We avoid tons of candy as families that enjoy that will likely find plenty of opportunities for candy to be the focus.
Gratitude Fest/ Grandparents and Family Friends Day
The Friday before Fall Break. In honor of the Indigenous Day of Mourning and Muscogee land acknowledgment, we gather. Each family sends one ingredient to make our “3 Sisters Soup”. This heartwarming celebration echoes the story of Stone Soup, a tale of community sharing and unity. Our amazing kids will be the star chefs, preparing the soup to ensure everyone gets a taste of this MOS tradition. Don’t worry, it’s vegan-friendly and teachers carefully monitor! This is also an opportunity for Grandparents and Family Friends to experience firsthand the magic of MOS and to give any contribution, any amount means a great deal, to what we are all working to create.
Winter Potluck
The Friday before Winter Break. In the spirit of showing up in our full selves and being witnessed and celebrated by a loving community, families gather in storytelling style to share traditions, songs, practices that they observe this time of year.
Spring Potluck
The Friday before Spring Break. The weather is getting warmer, the buds are starting to bloom, it feels like spring is in the air! What better way to celebrate them together? MOS hosts a Spring Potluck, on Friday March 22nd. Bring your best casserole, curry, or pie (cake)! Come join us and let’s share a meal, laughter, good conversation, and just some plain old fun together.
Shoutout Awards
Last Day of School
Fundraising
Walk-a-thon
Once a year, we are all invited to reach out to our community and work together to reach the goal of 10K. Students will be pushing themselves to see how many laps they can complete and contributors can pledge per lap or a set amount. The event is super fun with music blasting and tons of everyone cheering for everyone. Families are welcome to attend, do laps with the kiddos, and cheer them on!
Gratitude Fest/ Grandparents and Family Friends Day
This is not just a heartwarming gathering, but also a vital fundraiser for our beloved school. Giving & Receiving: We're inviting our dear grandparents and family friends to join us in this joyous event. It's important for guests to RSVP so that we can make sure there are accommodations for all. It's a day of gratitude, joy, and generosity - a true spirit of giving and receiving. And…. the kiddos usually create some sort of performance!
Winter Market
Kiddos create an artist market! Families purchase kiddos creations to benefit the school! This is the culmination of a really neat project that gives the young ones an opportunity to learn about financial literacy.
Spring Garden Party & Silent Auction
Event includes childcare, dinner, drinks and entertainment for a very low price for MOS families. Let's get fancy together! Bring your friend to give them a treat all while raising money for the school! 😲 Auction items are quite special and many of them go for cheap! Our very own Amy Derrick is the lead organizer of this event. Mention that Amy usually organizes this.
End of School Class Auction
Kiddos create beautiful art projects that are displayed at an outdoor exhibit. Families are invited to visit the exhibit/auction, enjoy a cold drink and refreshments, and purchase kiddos creations to benefit the school! It's a great change to support the kiddos sense of agency!
Quarterly Dine-Out Nights
An optional invitation to go to a partner restaurant and a percentage goes to support the school! A great time to invite your friends, neighbors, and family!
Community Practices to Support Equity
Individual Teacher Gifts
At MOS, we opt for gifts from the community rather than individual families. Although we love our teachers so much and want to let them know in every way we can, in an effort to honor equity, we try to avoid personally purchased gifts for teachers outside of cards and baked goods (check for allergies and dietary needs and preferences). When teachers receive gifts from individual families, it can make other kiddos feel a sense of not enough. We protect all the kiddos and families by giving collaboratively.
Uniforms
We have (super cool) uniforms that kids helped design with our awesome school colors. Because clothes are a barrier to connection, we believe that removing the complicated branding and social constructs of "better clothes" will create an environment that will be more conducive to learning, growing and redistributing power. Kids will personalize their shirts by tie dying them together! If one kiddo is allowed to consistently wear something other than the uniform, it becomes hard for all families to follow this important community agreement in support of equity. Let's please not make the teachers and school continually set this limit as that takes their capacity away from other visionary tasks that they carry out each day. Got a young one who loves to express themself through a super style! Kiddos are welcome to accessorize! Add a funky belt, socks, colorful tights under school shorts or skirt or a funky long sleeve shirt under the MOS t-shirt!
Birthday Celebrations
We have birthday celebrations towards the end of the day, generally around 2:30pm. Traditionally, we celebrate birthdays by circling up and showering the birthday person with words of affirmation, each student in the class taking a moment to share some loving words. Families are welcome to bring pictures of the birthday person to share with the class. We ask that families stick to bringing just the pictures and a sweet treat. We honor equity by focusing our celebration on connection and nonmaterial sources of enjoyment. Please reach out to your child’s teacher as their birthday approaches for dates around your child’s birthday that would be conducive to the classroom. Summer birthdays are often celebrated at the half birthday mark.
Holidays
At MOS, we decenter mainstream holidays that are so often co opted by capitalism and converted into just another reason to spend a buck. We absolutely believe in celebrating in the ways that nourish us and are part of each family’s tradition and look forward to learning and celebrating throughout the year. For example, we celebrate Love Day by expressing our love for each other through handmade notes and kind words. No need to send any store bought cards or tokens. Teachers will let you know if they are hatching a special plan and need shoe boxes, etc.! If your family has a tradition that you’d like to share, we welcome and would appreciate you coming to class, reading a book about the holiday, and sharing your traditions. This can be as simple or complex as you want! Families sharing their traditions is an important part of our anti-racist curriculum. Please reach out to your teachers in advance if you would like to come visit so that time can be set aside in the schedule. Thank you for taking the time to be a part of this! Because of the consistent advocacy from the kiddos, we do tend to have a costume party at the end of October outside of school hours. Let's hear it for the kiddos for uniting their voices and making their demands!
Bringing Outside Items/Toys to School
We believe in equity and sharing of resources within our school community. If a young one brings a toy that only they can play with, this creates unhealthy power dynamics and is a barrier to connection. It tends to create in clubs and out clubs of people who are allowed to play and those who are not. It creates a dynamic of the haves and the have nots which is the opposite of what we hope to create at MOS. If there is an item that you are interested in the school purchasing for community use, please send us an email! We will be happy to consider if it would be a good match for the school environment and within our budget. Outside items that are approved: - Books or sketch books - Tools to help young one regulate If your child uses a tool to regulate, please share these details with the mental health specialist so that we are able to provide them appropriately.