SWIMS February Newsletter
February
14th…Last Party Day of the School Year!
El Nido Infant Class – See class sign-up for special snacks. No sugar or nuts, please.
Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers and Tadpoles Toddler Classes – See class sign-ups for needed supplies. Valentines are optional – add who they are from, but not who they are to, please, so toddlers can drop one in each mailbox without having to match the names. No sugar or nuts.
Bluebirds, Ladybugs and Turquoise EC Classes – EC parties start at 9:30am! This is the last of our ec Party Days for the school year, enabling students just the right amount of time to celebrate and enabling teachers just enough time to prepare all the special crafts, games and stories they use to create a healthy routine for celebration that will carry with them through their lives. See class sign-ups for needed supplies. We recommend sitting down with the family and lots of paper, scissors, glue, stickers, ribbons, etc. to make valentines for classmates. Only children who read and write independently should address them and can deliver valentines to appropriate mailboxes. Students not yet reading can add who the valentine is from, but not who it is to. No sugar or nuts, please. See below for names for valentines.
Wasatch Elementary and Evergreen Middle School Classes will hold their parties in the afternoon. See class sign-ups for needed supplies. No sugar or nuts, please. See below for names for valentines.
17th…Half Day
11:30 – 11:45 dismissal: El Nido Infant Class, Bumblebees & Sunflowers Toddler Classes and Bluebirds Early Childhood Class
11:45 – noon dismissal: Chickadees & Tadpoles Toddler Classes, Turquoise & Ladybugs Early Childhood Classes, Wasatch Elementary & Evergreen Middle School Classes
20th – 24th…No School – Presidents’ Week Break
March
3rd & 10th…No School – Parent/Teacher Conferences
Sign-ups to follow.
5th…Happy Birthday, Kassidy!
School Bulletin Board
Congratulations to the Vantour family on the arrival of Aspen’s new sister, Holly Raini! We wish the family some warm cozy nights together and plenty of sleep.
Summer School classes are very close to full. If your student is enrolled for the 2023-2024 school year you can follow the link on the confirmation email to register.
Best wishes to Kassidy Waddell who is beginning her master’s program at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She will earn a Masters of Montessori Education. You go, Kassidy!
Travel safely to Leah, Carol, Nathy, Laura, Leith, Emily and Duna who are attending the International Montessori Congress in Bangkok in July!
Infant & Toddler Impressions – News from the El Nido Infant Class, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers & Tadpoles Toddler Classes
We have enjoyed the long quiet work periods of January. Every student has made significant progress in completing work cycles, physical development, social and emotional development and broadening our awareness of the world beyond our classrooms with our Carnaval Celebration. We’ve studied fishes, made rainbow people to honor Martin Luther King, Jr and toured the Maria Montessori Museum on the 116th anniversary of the first Montessori school.
February brings studies of amphibians, Asia and celebrating our love for each other on Valentine’s Day. See the class sign-ups for party supplies. No nuts or sugar, please. Valentines are not necessary for infants and optional for toddlers. They can include who they are from, but not who they are to so toddlers can easily deliver one valentine to each mailbox.
Excellence from Early Childhood – Every Day in the Bluebirds, Ladybugs and Turquoise Classes
Baby, it was cold outside this winter and indoor recess was a necessary novelty! Only in a Montessori school can 60 children between 3 and 6 years old sit quietly in the hall playing cooperatively for an extended period of time!
Early childhood classes have been enjoying the long winter work periods where their concentration, fine motor coordination, organizational skills and independence accelerates as they master academic and social concepts.
In February we will study amphibians, moving from a “key experience” with a real amphibian to morphology of the amphibian, species and adaptations of amphibians. Later this spring we will have a visit with Kim’s Cold-blooded Creatures to get up close and personal with a variety of amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates.
We will also study Music, Time, Asia, Poetry and celebrate love at our last Party Day of the school year on February 14th. February concludes with our Asian Celebration for which we invite your child to dress in their Asian best!
Juan has been helping students develop Spanish vocabulary as he visits each class with a basket of objects to name in Spanish. Students know Juan as a favorite teaching assistant and his Spanish lessons are a hit!
Check class sign-ups for Valentine Party supplies. Valentines should be signed, but not labelled who they are to unless your child is able to read and write well enough to successfully deliver the messages to a specific mail box.
Bluebirds: Asher, Bexley, Celine, Claire, Cooper, Elliot, Elsie, Gaia, Harrison, Kate, Kiva, Levi, Lucy, Luna, Meru, Reese, William, Rickie, Sophia, Thea, Victoria, Laura & Hadley
Ladybugs: Aksel, Alexander, Alistair, Charlie, Harper, Henrik, Isla, Jacey, Jax, Kellen, Logan, Lola, Mason, Matilda, Nora, Olive, Rafael, Sienna, Theo, Torin, Violet, Kassidy & Dejah
Turquoise: Alan, Amelia, Ani, Ashton, Ciera, Dylan, Emma, Grace C, Grace P, James, Levi, Liam, Madeline, Noah, Quinn, Ramsey, Sebastian, Sloane, Jodie & Jillian
Elements of Elementary & Middle School – News from the Wasatch & Evergreen Classes
Elementary and middle school classes took the lead in the March on Washington in January in celebration of Martine Luther King, Jr Day. They presented excerpts from the I Have a Dream Speech at the Washington Monument created by ec classes where the entire student body gathered to declare their dreams.
Later in January these oldest students led the student body in a Carnaval parade with the float they had created and choreographed dance steps.
Students have spent the long winter work periods practicing their academic skills, collaborating on projects and keeping their Etsy shop stocked with candles, soap and greeting cards. One student may be refining a sketch, while another is using power tools to dissect a computer and while another is practicing algebra and another is reading Shakespeare. You never know what you will witness when you enter the Wasatch or Evergreen Classes.
These classes will celebrate Valentines Day during the afternoon on February 14th. See class sign-ups for needed supplies.
For your Valentine making pleasure-
Wasatch: Beatrice, Benny, Brooklyn, Dylan, Eva, Finley, Manuel, Noah, Riley, Agnes & Eden
Evergreen: Chloe, Darya, Emma, Ethan, Gabriel, Juliet, Kira, Lada, Mika, Preston, Rhys, Winter, Sam & Eden