SWIMS April Newsletter 2026
Mark Your Calendar!
April
1st…Mandatory Parent/Faculty Meeting 11:59pm.
Just foolin’!
5th…Happy Birthday, Grace!
10th…SWIMS Earth Day Celebration – No School!
All families are invited to come enjoy our Earth Day Celebration, “Whatever the Weather.” Each class offers nature-themed activities for children of all ages to explore. 3rd year early childhood students will be presenting their capstone Ancestry Reports, Wasatch/Evergreen Elementary students will be presenting their Science Fair and Invention Convention projects. Bridgemont Secondary Class will present a recycled art project. And every class is preparing special activities for your family to enjoy. Bring your family to explore how we impact our planet.
Families A-M 9:00 – 10:00
Families N-Z 10:00 – 11:00
Please note the change in times, originally 9:30-11:30.
3rd year EC students, 8:45 – 11:00am.
Overflow parking at Matt Knoop Park to the south and along Shadow Mountain Drive.
Join us to celebrate our planet and her people!
13th – 17th…No School – Spring Break!
12th…Happy Birthday, Senali & Soledad!
13th…Happy Birthday Jillian!
21st – 23rd…Spring Photos! Photographer Emma Thongrit will be on campus to photograph all students individually and as a class. Older siblings will be included at the time of the sitting for the youngest sibling.
Photos Tuesday April 21st
Ducklings Infant Class, Chickadees Toddler Class, Turquoise & Bluebirds Early Childhood Classes
Photos Wednesday April 22nd
Owlets Infant Class, Sunflowers Toddler Class, Ladybugs Early Childhood Class, Wasatch & Faculty.
Photos Thursday, April 23rd
Tadpoles & Bumblebees Toddler Classes, Evergreen Elementary Classes & Bridgemont Secondary Class. + only Makeup Day!
Photos are typically ready for purchase within 2 – 3 weeks.
25th…Happy Birthday, Paulina!
27th…Happy Birthday, Laura!
May
7th…Happy Birthday, Bruce!
21st…Family Day Celebration! 2:00 – 3:00pm for all classes No Enrichment! Please note the change in date from May 14th!
22nd…Half Day
25th…No School – Memorial Day
29th…No School – Closing Ceremonies!
Join your child’s class for a simple, sweet closing to the year with special accolades to graduates (those who have completed their work at each level and are moving to the next class).
Owlets & Ducklings Infant Classes, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers and Tadpoles Toddler Classes 9:00 – 10:00am
Bluebird, Ladybug & Turquoise EC Classes, Wasatch/Evergreen Elementary and Bridgemont Secondary Classes 10:30 – 11:30am
Overflow parking at Matt Knoop Park to the south and along Shadow Mountain Drive.
June
1st – 5th…Summer Break, No School
8th…Summer School starts!
School Bulletin Board
Warm Weather Ahead
The snow is a memory and the daffodils are marching forth. But don’t put away those boots and snow pants yet – there will still be some muddy, slushy days ahead. But the potguts (a.k.a. Uintah ground squirrels) are already up and it promises to be a warm spring and summer!
Education research indicates that the rise in mental health concerns for our youth may be related to the decrease in unstructured play over the past 70 years. The invention of tv brought children indoors more and adults often feel that they must keep children indoors where they are safe. But children develop resilience and resourcefulness when they are solving their own problems, especially when this play experience involves attachment to nature. Dr. Peter Gray of Boston College suggests that neighbors arrange for children to go outside together with an adult present, for unstructured play at least once each week. As our parents used to tell us, go outside and play!
Celebrations
The Irish dancers bring so much joy to our St Patrick’s Day Celebrations that we are working to expand our cultural immersion celebrations with more authenticity. Next up is Africa so please let us know if you know of a performing group from the continent who doesn’t cost much!
Congratulations!
Our faculty keeps racking up the diplomas with Fernanda joining the infant/toddler teacher education program, and Gretta, Paulina and Nicole nearing the finish line. Emily and Duna will do the graduation walk in May although they will both have some polishing of the dissertations to do before they are really doctors. Almost every teacher is working on further education. Apparently learning is kind of addicting for this crew. 70% of our teachers hold or are completing graduate degrees. Laura recently attended the AMI Conference in San Diego, Leith attended the AMS Conference in Washington DC last month and Leah, Kassidy and Leith will attend the 30th International Montessori Congress in Mexico. The Congress was begun by Dr. Montessori in 1929 and is held every 4 years in a different country. The next location is announced at the very end of the Congress and we can’t wait to start planning for it- wherever it is! Spring is a celebration of the progress we’ve made over the winter and the adventures yet to come.
…Death and Taxes
And, for your tax preparation enjoyment the SWIMS EIN# is 45-0949195.
Notes from the Administrator's Desk
As we reflect on the school year, we consider our very special school community. We seem to attract families who care not only about the best education for their children, but are also supporters of science, the arts, cultural diversity, a healthy planet and peaceful living. Our faculty is similarly invested in the education of their students and of themselves. We enjoy going to BalletNEXT, the Utah Museum of Fine Art and teacher conferences together and all of us love to hike, bike, ski/snowboard, camp and explore the world. We all have much in common. And everyone within our community is likely to step in at any time to help another in need.
There is a theory that Montessori teachers dedicate so much of themselves in creating sublime learning environments, that the environment itself – the furniture, the carefully crafted learning equipment, the art, the music, the movement, the plants and animals – all affect not only the students but the adults as well. The environment that was precisely crafted for peace education influences the learning and behavior of the children and also of the adults through cognitive embodiment. This might explain why our school community is such peaceful place to be. We see children growing more peaceful as they adapt to the flow of the school day. We see faculty contributing a sense of peace, gratitude and love. And we notice the same traits in the families of the school. Dr. Montessori saw it, too. She urged educators world wide to consider this pedagogy as a means to accomplish world peace. She said, “I am talking revolution.” So are we.
Lower School Lowdown
Infant & Toddler Impressions – News from the Owlets & Ducklings Infant Classes, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers & Tadpoles Toddler Classes
In April the curriculum takes us through Africa, birds, flowers and music. The red-tailed hawk family is back, as are the sandhill cranes, red-winged blackbirds, ducks and geese. One of the many talents of a Montessori teacher is how they bring any study into the classroom at a level even the youngest infant can enjoy. The “key experience” is interacting with the real item or a realistic version, followed by stories, songs and games to reinforce the concept.
The geography unit for April is Africa. This is a good month for a trip to the zoo to see the wildlife of Africa live and in person. For this unit teachers are preparing real artifacts from African countries like masks, baskets, carved animals, as well as books, songs, photos, snacks, and music.
Of course, the Great Work of the infant and toddler classes continues – dressing, toileting, washing hands, setting places, culinary skills, washing dishes, cleaning up the work space – all at the individual child’s pace. As soon as your child is walking, consider adding a small table and chair to your kitchen area along with child-sized cooking implements like a small spreader for spreading peanut butter, cream cheese or butter on a small piece of bread or toast. If you equip a cupboard at your child’s level with what they need to prepare a healthy snack, you will find that you may be able to sleep a little longer on the weekends! Go to www.montessoriservices.com or www.sprout-kids.com for ideas on how to help your child become more independent at home.
Remember to bring the family by the school on April 10th between 9:00 and 11:00am to explore your child’s class perspective of “Whatever the Weather.”
Excellence from Early Childhood – Every Day in the Bluebirds, Ladybugs & Turquoise Classes
April brings us back to the study of Tchaikovsky, Flowers, Africa, Birds and Shel Silverstein…
We will look at the parts of a flower, dissect a flower in class and read about The Reason for a Flower. This is good time to bring a bouquet home for the dining table and see how many you can name. And can you find the pistil, stamen, anthers, petals and sepals?
Africa is a big unit in geography because who doesn’t love the animals, the biomes, the music, the cultures and the artwork? If you have any artifacts to share, please send them to school.
We are currently without bird friends in school. But we got to visit with Chrys the golden eagle from HawkWatch and we see the robins, ducks and hawks outside our windows. If you have a bird who may enjoy a visit to school, talk to any teacher.
Shel Silverstein is the poet for April. We dare you to read The Giving Tree without crying. It can’t be done. But follow it up with Jimmy Jet and His TV Set, Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout or the Sharp-toothed Snail so you can finish on a happy note!
The past few weeks we have all been preparing for our Earth Day Celebration “Whatever the Weather.” Each class has chosen an aspect of the weather to learn about and has prepared activities for your family to enjoy. Early childhood classes have chosen Hurricanes & Tornadoes, Haboobs & Monsoons and Ice, Sleet & Hail. Remember to bring the family by on April 10th between 9:00 and 11:00am so your child can give you a lesson!
Upper School Updates
Updates from Upper School: News from the Wasatch/Evergreen Elementary & Bridgemont Secondary Classes
It seems as if every time you walk into the Upper School classes there is a flurry of math going on. Montessori Math is an incredible experience – the materials are beautiful and precisely crafted so you can see and feel the difference between quantities and operations. Every student has a choice each day – do I want to work on Language, Math, Geography, History, Science, the Arts or perhaps a project like working on my invention for the Weather Science Fair or working on the class entrepreneurial project? The math materials have such allure they are often what is chosen. The Evergreen Class has carried their math skills into a practical life experience by working on their business plan for creating a pet finder app.
Evergreen and Wasatch Classes are planning their Spring Family Campout to Vernal to culminate their year’s studies in science, history, geography and healthy lifestyles.
Bridgemont students are going east this year, to join their classmates from all over the world in Vermont. There are funds to be raised and plans to be made as all of our Upper School students prepare for their adventures to culminate the year’s learning.
Dr. Montessori saw that as children proceed through each level of learning, while the teacher keeps in mind the main goal and directs the learning at each level, a foundation is laid – from manipulating geometric shapes as infants to calculating geometry and algebra effortlessly as middle schoolers. Every lesson is offered when the student is ready, not before and not after. When the student is ready for the next piece it locks solidly into place. By middle school these learners have laid a sturdy foundation including motor memory, vocabulary, and the sensory input of the finely crafted beads of glass and cubes of solid wood. The understanding of these concepts is in their soma, ready for use when needed.
