News & Announcements

SSMA Dual Language Immersion Program invites ALL families to come together over apple cider and donuts in the SSMA Children's Garden.

Please help us plan for this event by RSVPing no later than Wednesday evening (11/17).

The garden is located in the back of the school near 13th Street NE. Please use street parking - parking in the alley is limited.

If you have any questions or can support this event, please reach out to Grace Ha ([email protected]) or Monique Ross ([email protected] ),

We hope to see you there!

You are cordially invited to this important event being hosted by SSMACA (our parent association) on Tue Nov 9, 2021, 7:30 pm – 9 pm Eastern Time

Join with Google Meet
meet.google.com/yvt-jvkd-jtd
Join by phone
(US) +1 219-301-2267 (PIN: 368810355)

SSMA Board and executive leadership have come to the difficult decision that we must pivot to the 100% virtual learning pathway this fall, through the first trimester, which ends right after the Thanksgiving break.
We will continuously monitor the situation and our learning options as the trimester progresses. If we are able to change our model at the start of the 2nd trimester, please keep in mind it is most likely that we will then move to the original two pathway options - (1) 100% virtual and (2) the hybrid model.

Many parents facing this new school year have already been through some type of distance learning and—regardless of how well some kids adjusted—many agree that it sucks! I miss the days when I dropped my boys off in the morning and headed home to my usual routine. I miss the quiet spaces where I could write, create content, do my workout routines, and get things organized. For households where both parents work full-time jobs, things might even be less pleasant.

The Shining Stars Enrollment Team wants to help any way that we can. We will be conducting in-person enrollment at the Shining Stars school building beginning the week of May 18th on Monday’s (10:00 am - 2:00 pm), Wednesday’s (12:00 pm - 6:00 pm), and Friday’s (10:00 am - 2:00 pm). Please ensure that you are wearing a face mask when you enter the school building for your safety as well as ours. If you have questions about the enrollment process or documentation for residency proof please send an email to either [email protected] or [email protected] prior to arriving at the school.

On April 27, 2020, SSMA’s virtual partnership with Kids & Culture Camp, KCC, will begin! As part of SSMA’s after school MAP extended learning program, KCC’s phenomenal instructors will provide live online cultural camps for ALL students. Students will embark on a virtual cultural journey as they study various countries from around the globe. The themes for this exciting cultural journey are as follows: Senegal’s Sensational Success, Canada's Captivating Culture, and Grasping Ghana’s Greatness.

“This is education, understood as a help to life; an education from birth, which feeds a peaceful revolution and unites all in a common aim, attracting them as to a single centre... This is the bright new hope for mankind (Montessori).”

- Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

Although Dr. Montessori was Italian, her teaching methods cross national borders. Montessori schools were designed to teach all children, with an emphasis on self-directed learning and practical life skills.

Monday, March 16: No School for Student, Teachers, and Staff will report to school to continue planning for Distance Learning
Tuesday March 17: Parent pick up Learning Packets from 9am to 1pm
Tuesday, March 17 to Monday, March 23: SSMA will take its Spring Break for teachers and students. There will no longer be a Spring Break period in April
Tuesday, March 24 - Tuesday, March 31: Student will participate in distance learning
Wednesday, April 1: SSMA will resume normal on-campus operations

Progress Reports will be mailed out on April 2nd, 2020.

Parent/Guide Conference Day is Friday, April 10th, 2020; there will be No Virtual lessons on this day. Scholars will have to work on their task in Google Classroom

Parent Support Meeting/Tutorial
For parents who are feeling anxious or overwhelmed by the prospect of helping your children get onto Google Classroom and/or Google Hangout, we will have an additional tutorial session on Tuesday evening at 7:00 pm, hosted by our communications specialist, Ms. Nona Richardson. Her session will focus on simply using the platform and working with parents who are not as computer savvy as they'd like to be. Ms. Richardson will not be able to troubleshoot issues with devices or computers but will focus strictly on Google applications.