SWIMS December Newsletter 2024
School Bulletin Board
Thank you for completing your student’s re-enrollment for the 2025-2026 school year. Please contact bruce@soaringings.org with questions about tuition. Enrollment is now open to outside students. If you have not yet done so, classes are nearly full, so please turn in your re-enrollment form and commitment fee right away!
In December our school transforms into the “Soaring Wings School of the Performing Arts” with music, singing, dancing and theater work coming from every class. All of this culminates in our annual Winter Celebration on December 20th at the Park City Community Church. This year, in order to accommodate our families we are offering two shows!
- 9:00am Owlets and Ducklings Infant Classes, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers and Tadpoles toddler Classes, Wasatch/Evergreen Elementary and Bridgemont Secondary Class will perform.
- 11:00am Bluebirds, Ladybugs, Turquoise and Wildflowers Early Childhood Classes, Wasatch/Evergreen Elementary and Bridgemont Secondary Classes.
Our theater unit evolved from backyard plays to full pageants over the 21 years our school occupied the Park City Education Center and the Jim Santy Auditorium was our own – most of the time. Moving into our own building was a dream come true, but our productions have scaled back with the major one in December now at the Park City Community Church. Ideas begin forming in September, scripts are being written through October and by mid-November we are planning the details and preparing for rehearsals at every level. Not many schools still do an all-school play, but we have so much fun and see the children gaining such confidence and independence that we look forward to this every year.
Between rehearsals the children are working on their lessons as well as creating gifts, enjoying songs, stories and foods of the holiday season. There are celebrations of Diwali, Hanukkah and Las Posadas as well as small, special holiday parties in each class. Students will present gifts to friends of the school such as the Sheriff’s Department, Mayor Nan, Gladys who keeps our school clean, and Augustine who delivers lunch every day.
We thank you in advance for help with costumes, sets, props and we look forward to seeing you at the play on the 20th!
Mark Your Calendar
December
1st … Deadline for enrollment for continuing students and siblings.
Summer School enrollment opens for continuing students. Summer School is 9 weeks, Monday – Thursdays only with limited availability and open only to continuing students.
New student enrollment begins for 2025-2026.
4th…Happy Birthday, Leah!
10th, 11th, 17th & 18th…DV/SWIMS Ski School! If you have registered your student for ski school at Deer Valley, please plan to pick them up at school at 12:30. They will have had lunch and be ready to go for their 1:00pm lesson.
13th… Gift exchange deadline for ec, elementary and secondary classes. See class emails for details. (Infants and toddlers do not participate in a gift exchange.)
16th-19th…Class holiday celebrations. Teachers set aside class time for a simple celebration of one another’s company and possibly a special snack or story. See class emails for details. Ec, elementary and secondary classes hold their gift exchanges during this time.
16th… Angel Tree deadline! Please choose an angel or two from the tree in our lobby or from the one at the Summit County Library and return the new items, unwrapped to the tree by Monday, the 16th. If you’d like to help with transporting donations to Peace House, let Leah know at leah@soaringwings.org.
19th… Winter Celebration Dress Rehearsal at Park City Community Church (immediately west of PC Gardens Nursery on Bear Hollow Drive)!
Please send your student in costume with a change of clothes.
- 7:45am – Those enrolled in Breakfast Club are welcome to arrive at front doors of the church in costume.
- Infants will enjoy a normal schedule at school on this day.
- 8:30 – 9:00am All toddlers, early childhood, elementary and secondary students will drop off at PC Community Church at the usual times in costume.
- Toddlers will be transported back to school at 10:30 – 10:45am for lunch and naps. Please talk to any teacher or reply to duna@soaringwings.org if you can help. If you cannot, be sure to install your child’s car seat on the school bus at the church when you drop off in the morning.
- Early childhood students will drop off at the front doors of the church at the usual times in costume. Half day students will dismiss at the church at the usual times. Full day students will have lunch at the church and return to school afterward. If you cannot help transport your child back to school, and if you prefer your child use a car seat for the ride to school on the school bus, please leave the car seat labelled with your child’s name at the front doors to the church. Car seats are optional on the school bus for children 3 years and up.
2:45 – 3:00pm – Pick up for elementary, and secondary students at the front doors of the church.
2:30 – 3:00pm – Infants, toddlers and early childhood students will be picked up at school as usual.
20th… Winter Celebration!!! 9:00 & 11:00am SWIMS presents “Solstice.”
8:30 – 8:45am – All infants, toddlers, elementary, and secondary school students report to the PC Community Church in costume. Families, please take your seats for the 9:00am performance. Infants and toddlers dismiss immediately following performance at approximately 9:30am.
10:30-10:45am – All early childhood students report to the front doors of PC Community Church in costume. Families, please take your seats for the 11:00am performance. Dismissal follows the performance at approximately 11:30am.
It takes a true community to make a project like this happen. If your child decides to enjoy the play from your lap rather than onstage, this is perfectly understandable. The shrinking violet of today is often the shining star of tomorrow. The growth in confidence, concentration, memorization, coordination and contributing to something larger than ourselves is remarkable. Thank you in advance for help with costumes, decor and shuttling students where they need to be. We couldn’t do this without you!
December 23rd – January 3rd…Have a warm and wonderful Winter Break!
January
1st…Happy New Year!
6th… School resumes.
17th…Half Day Dismissal
11:30 – 11:45 dismissal for Ducklings Infant Class, Bumblebees & Sunflowers Toddler Classes, Turquoise & Ladybugs Early Childhood Classes.
11:45 – noon dismissal for Owlets Infant Class, Chickadees & Tadpoles Toddler Classes, Bluebirds & Wildflowers Early Childhood Classes and Wasatch/Evergreen Elementary & Bridgemont Secondary Classes.
20th… No School, MLK, Jr. Day
24th…Half Day Dismissal. SWIMS faculty hosts and attends the 22nd Annual Conference of the Utah Montessori Council!
11:30 – 11:45 dismissal for Ducklings Infant Class, Bumblebees & Sunflowers Toddler Classes, Turquoise & Ladybugs Early Childhood Classes.
11:45 – noon dismissal for Owlets Infant Class, Chickadees & Tadpoles Toddler Classes, Bluebirds & Wildflowers Early Childhood Classes and Wasatch/Evergreen Elementary & Bridgemont Secondary Classes.
Lower School – Infant, Toddler and Early Childhood
Infant & Toddler Impressions – News from the Owlets, Ducklings, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers & Tadpoles Classes
The last few weeks of the calendar year are full of excitement – rehearsals, celebrations, decorations, special foods and making, wrapping and giving gifts. At the infant and toddler level we keep things simple and at the child’s pace. Children take part in making decorations for their classrooms for our Winter Holidays curriculum unit including Diwali, Las Posadas, Hanukkah and Christmas. Each classroom has its own tree to decorate. And there is a song, story and food associated with each celebration.
We recommend keeping a normal routine for your infants and toddlers during the holidays. It’s okay to decline a few party invitations, consider how many house guests are necessary and put some of those sweets people keep giving you in the freezer. Make sure your child’s “bath- book-bed” routine happens at the same time each evening, even when traveling. Keep gifts simple and few so the holidays are not about material things, but about enjoying time with family. Keeping the holidays at your child’s pace may make it more fun for everyone!
Every Day in Early Childhood – Events in the Bluebirds, Ladybugs, Turquoise and Wildflowers Classes
There are quiet work periods every morning and afternoon in early childhood classes. Students are getting more and more accomplished at academic tasks, like sorting out the physical components of the trinomial equation – blindfolded! The ec curriculum is designed for 3- to 6-year-olds, and when students progress at their own pace the “kindergarten” curriculum of traditional schools has often been far surpassed by the time the student is into their 2nd year of the ec program. The 3-year-olds are often doing kindergarten-level work while the 4- and 5-year-olds are moving on into 1st and 2nd grade level work at their own unique pace.
And at the same time, classrooms have become workshops for holiday decorations, gifts, songs, choreography, sets and props for the Winter Celebration play. We weave in the colors, tastes and traditions of our Winter Holidays curriculum unit including Diwali, Las Posadas and Hanukkah. Children take ownership of all of this as they master each task.
We recommend letting your students take ownership this holiday season. Involve them in the cooking, crafting and gift giving of the season. Allow them to maintain a consistent routine with “bath-book-bed” at the same time each night, even when traveling. Decline a few party invitations, rethink house guests and put some of those sweets people keep giving you in the freezer so your child will enjoy a child-paced routine that includes just enough of the holiday hoopla and not too much. Choose just one gift per child rather than a pile of gifts so the emphasis is not on the things, but on the people with whom they’re spending holiday time. Slowing down and celebrating at the pace of your youngest child may make the season more fun for everyone!
Upper School – Elementary, Middle and High School
Elements of Elementary, Middle and High School – News from the Wasatch/ Evergreen and Bridgemont Classes
The beauty of a Montessori classroom is that students can choose from a wide range of activities. One student may be practicing math while another is completing a science report and painting an illustration to go with it.
These students go out on a field trip every Friday to confirm in the real world what they have learned in class. They may hike or bike the surrounding trails, visit a museum, a factory or volunteer at a local non-profit. Wasatch/Evergreen and Bridgemont students recently spent a morning restocking the food pantry at the PC Christian Center.
While keeping up with their expeditionary and academic studies, Wasatch/Evergreen Elementary Class got right to work on the play for our Winter Celebration and choreographed their dance, chose their costumes and are practicing as property masters.
Meanwhile Bridgemont Secondary Class designed a music video for the Winter Celebration play, “Solstice.” They will help with the backstage and technical details of this production. At the same time they have restocked their online shop, Wild Pine Designs, and are preparing for their winter sales.
Our second Bridgemont class is rocking this very rigorous and demanding program, having made high scores on their first set of tests. They work with students from around the world and an array of talented teachers online while staying involved with irl friends and school events at SWIMS. The class is planning a field trip in the spring, destination TBD. The world is your classroom at Bridgemont.
There’s lots going on upstairs these last few weeks of the year. We can’t wait to show you our play on December 20th – written and directed by students!
