SWIMS April Newsletter
April
1st...Mandatory Parent/Faculty Meeting 6:00am.
Just foolin’!
2nd…Happy Birthday, Carol!
7th…SWIMS Earth Day Celebration is back live and in person!! Join us to celebrate our planet and her people!
Families A-M 9:30 – 10:30am
Families N-Z 10:30 – 11:30am
Third year ec students and all elementary and middle school students 9:00 – 11:30am
Breakfast Club students welcome 7:45 – 11:30am
There is no school on this day as the whole school community presents this experiential celebration!
10th – 14th…No School – Spring Break!
April 23rd…Happy Birthday, Agnes!
April 25th…Happy Birthday, Amanda!
April 25th…Explore Your Child’s Potential for 3rd year early childhood students and their families 3:00 – 4:00pm. Childcare available for siblings.
April 25th – 26th…Spring Photos!
April 27th…Happy Birthday Laura and Dejah!!
May 7th…Happy Birthday, Bruce!
Week of May 15th…Family Day Celebrations!
May 15th – 25th…SWIMS Auction – let us know what your family or business wants to donate!
May 26th…Half Day
May 29th…No School – Memorial Day
June 2nd…No School – Drive-by Closing Ceremonies! Schedule to follow.
School Bulletin Board
Well, we almost made it through the snowiest winter ever without having to call a Snow Day! Thanks for all your support through these snowy days.
Safety & Security Doors are locked and gates secured at 9:00am each day. If you arrive after that time, please go to the front doors of the school for admittance. Teachers will not allow admittance through patio doors after 9:00am. Thank your support in keeping our campus safe.
Thank You! The list is long this month and these are just some of the people who made March so full of warmth despite the weather:
Teacher Appreciators – Keelee Smith, Meredith Ferrante, Jaime Bercuson, Leh Linebarger, Lindsay Cappocia, Allie Samuelson, Jenna Kastan, Hayden Yogman, Maddy Hobbs, Fontaine McFadden, Gina Rossi, Megan Robinson, Lauren Meyerholz, Gretchen Kingry, Cassie Raazi, LJ Popa, Christina Kim, Kevin Gersh and every parent who remembered to send in a flower, a gift or a love note to honor our incredible faculty. Well done, everyone!
Montessori Services – Thank you to the following families who credited the school with your orders getting us nearly $100 in free equipment! Saenz, Muhammedi, Ogami, Roberston, McFadden, Stamps, Smiley, Oswald, Turner, Ferrante and Strachan. We imagine your homes are cleaner and your students are joyful in their independence!
Turkey – Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Hands of Peace to Turkey drive that got over $2000 to our Montessori friends in Turkey to support children and their families impacted by the earthquakes. Well done, SWIMS Community.
Congratulations! Congratulations to Samantha Tan, Agnes Scott, Amanda Engebretsen and Carol Janes for completing their internships with the Center for Guided Montessori Studies. These internships are very much like a master’s degree including online classes, a 3-week residency, papers, projects, observations and over 500 hours of practice concluding with written and oral exams on Montessori philosophy, pedagogy and child development. Well done, Grads!
Earth Day 2023! We are pleased to have brought back almost all of our pre-COVID traditions this year. Our Earth Day Celebrations started out in 1988 with May Pole dances, tree plantings and outdoor picnics until Park City weather convinced us to move indoors with this celebration. Then it became a huge pageant on our home stage at the Santy Auditorium. Since moving onto Old Ranch Road the celebration has transformed into a school tour concluding our lessons of winter. This year we are focusing on “The Secrets of Bees” with every class presenting bee-centric activities. Third year EC students will present their Ancestry Reports, while Elementary and Middle School students will present their Bee the Change Science Fair. Students and faculty have been working on this for weeks now so be sure to swing by with your family and let your student educate you on “The Secrets of Bees.” Families with last names A-M please come 9:30 – 10:30, those with last names N-Z, 10:30 – 11:30. Elementary, Middle School and 3rd year EC students need to be at school from 9:00 – 11:30am to present their projects. Those enrolled in Breakfast Club are welcome 7:45 – 11:30am. Bee a honey and buzz on by!
…Death & Taxes For your tax preparation enjoyment the SWIMS EIN# is 45-0949195.
Infant & Toddler Impressions – News from the El Nido Infant Class, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers & Tadpoles Toddler Classes
In April we will take a look at Birds, visiting with El Nido residents, Tik, Tok and Kiki. One of the many talents of a Montessori teacher is how they bring a study of zoology into the classroom at a level even the youngest infant can enjoy. The “key experience” is always observing the real animal, then feathers, puppets, models, pictures, nests, eggs and accompanying stories, songs and art projects.
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 – if the sun ever comes out! For this unit teachers are preparing real artifacts from Africa 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, washing hands, setting places, culinary skills, washing dishes, toileting – 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 some child-sized cooking implements like a small spreader for spreading peanut butter, cream cheese or butter on a 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 on April 7th between 9:30 and 11:30am to see all the buzz about bees!
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 can’t thank Michele Wiles enough for presenting The Best of Sleeping Beauty by her company, BalletNEXT, complete with orchestra, storyteller, full costumes and lighting. It was a beautiful morning at the ballet and it brought our Tchaikovsky unit to life! Endless thanks, Michele.
At least the greenhouses have some flowers emerging since our garden beds may not be visible until June! 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.
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.
Our parakeets, Tik, Tok and Kiki will get plenty of attention this month since the whole school is studying birds. They will visit every class and make another appearance as animals of Australia.
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 or Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout or the Sharp-toothed Snail!
The past several weeks we have all been preparing for our Earth Day Celebration “The Secrets of Bees.” Bees are fascinating and important citizens of the Earth and everyone has learned something new. Remember to bring the family by on April 7th between 9:30 and 11:30am so your child can give you a lesson!
Elements of Elementary & Middle School – News from the Wasatch & Evergreen Classes
It seems as if every time you walk into Wasatch or Evergreen 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 the tree house or working on the class entrepreneurial project? The math materials have such allure they are often what is chosen. The Evergreen Middle School Class has carried their math skills into a practical life experience by working on financial planning. A current favorite is a game that teaches the difference between credit and debit. This supports their work with their candle business which is supplying the funds needed for their end-of-the-year trip.
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. 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 beds of glass and cubes of solid wood. The understanding of these concepts is in their soma, ready for use when needed.