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Principal's Welcome

Principal's Community Welcome!

Hello Current and Prospective Parkside Montessori Families, 

My name is Nima Tahai and I have been Parkside Montessori’s Principal since 2019. What attracted me to Parkside was the dedicated staff, active parent community, and the unique gift a Montessori education provides in helping a child reach their potential. San Mateo is also my hometown and I love that I can give back to this vibrant community and also raise my kids here. 

If you are a prospective parent, please visit our enrollment page today!

Our commitment to a Montessori education
Parkside's North Star is implementing a high quality public program dedicated to Montessori fidelity. This involves a commitment to the five essentials of a Montessori classroom including multi-age classrooms and uninterrupted work periods. We are also striving to ensure our teachers are all trained in the key fundamentals of Montessori teaching such as responding to students need with appropriate individualized guidance and instruction. 

Our students
Our program emphasizes the development of every aspect of a child's intellectual, social, and creative abilities, using hands-on materials and structured learning environments. Importantly, the Montessori method emphasizes attitudes and skills which inspire lifelong learning and help our children navigate an ever-changing world. These are just some of the reasons why I enrolled my son and daughter at Parkside.

If you come into any of our classrooms, you will see students learning how to collaborate, complete math problems using hands on materials, making their own pollinators in a science lesson, or writing a personal narrative about a day in their life. More importantly, you will see them developing independence, concentration, responsibility, and empathy.

Our families
We could not provide this amazing program without our wonderful parent and family community. Their volunteer time, community involvement, financial support and collaboration help Parkside Montessori continue to grow and thrive.

I am thrilled that you are visiting our school website and hope you enjoy finding out more about our school, staff, students, families, and community!

Go Parkside Tigers!

All my best,

Nima Tahai

2026-2027 Principal's Back to School Message, published on Parent Square 8/3/26

Hello Parkside Montessori Families,

The start of school is a week and a day away!

I’m writing to share some important next steps to help you prepare for the first day of school on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.

Principal’s Update

I hope that all Parkside families had a great summer! 

The summer highlights for the Tahai family were: taking our first family camping trip at Memorial Park, enjoying a hotel staycation during the 4th of July weekend, and soaking up every minute of the World Cup! 

Facilities Updates

On campus, we had some minor construction work, including:

  • New flooring in the office, rooms 16 and 18, two hallways, and our library!

Outstanding construction projects that did not happen this summer include:

  • Finishing touches of striping on the Upper Yard

  • Building a lunch shade structure closer to the LGI

  • Parking lot renovations to increase pedestrian safety

These projects are either pending State Architect approval or district calendaring with contractors.

Parkside in the News!

Our program continues to be recognized for our High-Quality Implementation, Montessori Implementation, and Strong Academic Outcomes for students. 

The National Center for Montessori featured Parkside’s Story of Transformation in their Montessori Public Newsletter. 

This comes off the heels of the same organization recognizing our program’s Strong Implementation of Montessori and celebrating our 3-year growth. 

And our Superintendent featured Parkside’s student academic growth in his annual community report, commenting on Parkside’s “remarkable” student achievement results! 

In short, Parkside does it better—because our kids deserve the best!

We held a staff retreat today where we celebrated our hard work and committed to another great year ahead! Our team is excited to continue our strong partnership with parents and to keep pushing the limits on what is possible for our students.

8 days until showtime—let’s go!

Warmly,
Principal Tahai

(Please read on for more details to help you prepare for the first days of school.)

Don’t Wait, Join the PTA Today!

The MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do to help the school right now is join the PTA and make your Annual Direct Donation. Click THIS LINK or the image below to go to the PTA website and complete your PTA action items!

Register and join the PTA to get immediate access to the school community directory. While you’re there, submit and complete your Direct Donation, Family Waiver, and Volunteer Survey. Get started HERE.

Parent Portal and Parent Square

The second MOST IMPORTANT thing to do right now is to log into the Aeries Parent Portal. Please sign in to verify your child’s contact information and complete the required annual SMFCSD forms for the 2026 - 2027 school year. This is the “beginning of school packet” that used to be a hard copy. Get started HERE.

Know of another family who did not get this Parent Square? Please send them THIS LINK. All school district and school communication will come through Parent Square.

Important Save the Dates:

** Sync the PTA/School calendar with your calendar and never miss an event! This calendar holds all PTA and School events! Click HERE.

All-School Back to School Picnic, hosted by the PTA, Sunday, August 9th 1:00 - 4:00p, Joinville Park. PTA link HERE.

Virtual Principal’s Back to School Night, hosted by Principal Tahai over Google Meet, Monday, August 10th, 4:00-4:30p for incoming TK/K families, 4:30-5:00p for returning families. Link: meet.google.com/wzp-dgnj-knx   

First Day of School, Tuesday, August 11th, 8:15a (plan to arrive early; it is busy on the first day!) TK/K line up at the Primary entrance gate (see arrival/dismissal plans); 1st-8th grade go onto the Upper Yard. No car line on the first day.

First Day of School PTA Parent Social after you drop your child off for the first day of school on Tuesday, August 11th; stay on campus on the Upper Yard and mingle with other Parkside Families. PTA link HERE.

First PTA Association Meeting of the year following Primary/Adolescent Back to School Night: Thursday, August 13th, 6:30p – 8:30p in the MPR + On-site Fingerprinting Service at 6:15p. PTA Link HERE

 

Back to School Nights (parent-only events from 5-6:30p)

5-5:15p, you will kick off in the LGI with principal Tahai, then visit your child’s class to hear from your teacher

Primary (TK/K) in-person Back to School Night, Thursday, August 13th, from 5-6:30p 

Adolescent (7th/8th) Back to School Night, Thursday, August 13th, from 5-6:30p 

Lower Elementary Back to School Night and K-2 SDC, Wednesday, August 19th, 5-6:30p

Upper Elementary Back to School Night and 3-5 SDC, Thursday, August 20st, 5-6:30p

 

Bell Schedule

School starts at 8:15a for all students again this year! We have the same dismissal times for TK-6th grade. 

7th/8th grade dismissal is moved back 5 minutes to 2:50p. No changes to their Wednesday schedule.Lunch for 

Please review the updated Bell Schedule HERE.

 

Arrival/Dismissal Procedures

Please review the slides HERE for a detailed explanation of arrival and dismissal procedures.

Returning families, please avoid drop-offs on Eisenhower and Halsely. See more details on slide 5 of our arrival/dismissal procedures.

Reminder that arrival and dismissal will take longer on the first days of school until our community gets into our groove.

The first day of school, there is no Car Line for arrival - all families will walk up. Car Line for arrival will start on Wednesday, August 12th. Car Line for dismissal starts on the first day of school.

 

Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, and We are a Nut-Free School

Parkside is a nut-free school -  We have students with very severe nut allergies, and to ensure their safety, we ask that all families respectfully ensure that the food you bring on campus is nut-free. At this time, “nut-free” means peanuts and tree nuts. Pending the needs of our student population this year, other food items may be added to this list. 

Breakfast - Parkside will serve breakfast in the LGI daily from 8:05-8:15a. Parents can drop their child off or come join them in the LGI for breakfast. TK/K families are encouraged to stay with their child until they are comfortable with the breakfast routine. Please do not park in either parking lot in the mornings.

Snack - Send your child with a nut-free snack and a water bottle. Please avoid packing sweetened beverages and candy in student snacks to help your child focus. Please remind your child that we cannot share snacks at school.

Lunch - TK-8th-grade students will have lunch and recess on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Students can either bring a nutritious and nut-free lunch to school or request a free school lunch. TK/K eat and play separately from 1st-8th graders. 

A note about district lunches: Due to State Law, lunch served on campus must be consumed on campus. If your child is in the Annex, they will oversee the lunch arrangements.

What’s for Lunch? Link to the district breakfast and lunch menu.

 

First Day of School Checklist

Send your child with a nut-free snack, lunch (or have them get school lunch), and a water bottle with their name on it. 

Apply sunscreen to your child and include it in their backpack for them to re-apply as needed.

Please Do Not Buy School Supplies - Instead, we ask ALL families to donate to the PTA’s Direct Donation Drive! The PTA pays for school supplies, Montessori staff, assemblies and field trips, and more! 

Your child's teacher will send you a welcome message through Parent Square next Monday around 3 pm.
 

Parents as Classroom Assistants Program

If you are a parent who can volunteer at least 3 consistent hours a week to be a classroom assistant and are passionate about increasing your Montessori expertise, please click here to read our informational flyer and email Principal Tahai if you are interested in becoming a classroom assistant.

If you are a returning parent assistant, please contact our Montessori Coach, Julie Mamis, to set up your schedule.

 

Parkside’s New Parent Handbook!

Looking for information that is not captured in this welcome back message? Don’t worry - we have a NEW parent handbook to help answer your questions and orient you to our school policies and procedures. Shout out to the staff and parents who helped make this handbook happen!

You can find Parkside’s new Parent Handbook here: https://parkside.smfcsd.net/for-parents/handbook 

Please bookmark this page. I anticipate we will make some edits throughout the year to improve our handbook, and you will always find the latest version linked on the school website!

 

See you soon!

Ok, team, that should cover the basics and then some! So much more to share once school starts! 

I’ll see you at the virtual Principal town hall next Monday and am excited to see the kiddos on Tuesday. 

 

Make sure to keep up on all things Parkside by looking for your weekly PTA/Principal newsletters (sent every Tuesday afternoon) to stay up to speed on all things Parkside. The first one of the year will drop next Tuesday!

 

All my best,

 

Principal Tahai