SWIMS March Newsletter 2026
Mark Your Calendar!
March
5th…Happy Birthday Kassidy!
March 6th & 13th…Parent/Teacher Conferences No School. Sign up here: Parent/Teacher Conferences
8th…Spring Forward!
17th…Wearin’ o’ the Green during regular class time
20th …Nowruz Celebrations in class.
24th…What’s Next? 10:00am A preview of early childhood program for families of infants and toddlers. Reply to duna@soaringwings with the number in your party.
April
2nd…Explore Your Child’s Potential 3:00pm. A preview of what’s in store for your Leadership Year (3rd year) ec students in Wasatch Elementary Class. Invitations to follow.
10th…SWIMS Earth Day Celebration – No School!
All families are invited to come enjoy our Earth Day Celebration, “Whatever the Weather.” Each class offers weather-themed activities for children of all ages to explore. Leadership Year (3rd year) early childhood students will be presenting their capstone Ancestry Reports, Wasatch and Evergreen Elementary students will be presenting their Science Fair and Invention Convention projects. Bridgemont Secondary Class will present an Upcycled Photo Booth! Bring your family to learn something new about the weather on our planet.
Families A-M 9:30 – 10:30
Families N-Z 10:30 – 11:30
Leadership EC students, Wasatch and Evergreen students 9:00 – 11:30am
Breakfast Club students welcome as early as 7:45am
Join us to celebrate our planet and her people!
13th – 17th…No School – Spring Break
21st – 23rd …Spring Photos! Details to follow.
May
14th…Family Day Celebrations by class! Details to follow.
25th…No School – Memorial Day
29th…Closing Ceremonies – No School!
June
8th…Summer School Begins, Monday – Thursday!
Administrative Notes
As Duna, Emily and I continue our doctoral studies we are being exposed to the latest in thinking about education in general and what Montessori provides that is still unavailable in traditional education models. In leadership courses we have discovered that our methods that are so successful in working with children – respect, support, meeting individual needs – directly informs our work with adults in an organization. One of our classes is taught by philosopher, Dr. Patrick Frierson, author of The Moral Philosophy of Maria Montessori and the soon to be released Maria Montessori’s Philosophy: Following the Child. Dr. Frierson is committed to bringing Dr. Montessori’s work to light as a significant person on the timeline of worldly philosophers. Another of the latest books to come out about Maria Montessori which highlights her human rights work and advocacy for all children is Best Weapon for Peace by Erika Moretti. Ms. Moretti came to class to share some of the little known facts that she has unearthed in her research, adding color and depth to the Montessori story. If you are interested in education, history, philosophy, feminism, children’s rights or peace check out Frierson, Moretti and another recent addition, The Child is the Teacher by Cristina de Stefano.
This spring we look ahead to continuing upgrades upon the school. The list includes preparing for the next addition of two new classrooms to the south end of the building by moving the driveway and safely transplanting some trees, safety and security enhancements and implementing new faculty and parent educational programs being custom designed for us. Having sent all of our faculty to two Montessori conferences this year, one to the Association Montessori Internationale Conference in San Diego, and one to the National Association of Independent Schools Conference in Seattle, we are planning to finish the year sending one of our faculty to the AMS National Montessori Conference in DC, three of our faculty to the International Montessori Conference in Merida, Mexico in June. And it’s not too soon to start planning for professional development in 2026-2027 including sending two more of our talented teaching assistants to Montessori teacher training and continuing to build the best possible Montessori community for our students, faculty and families. Our experienced and highly educated teaching faculty averaging 11 years experience in the field keeps the conversation going on what our next evolution might be.
Sincerely,
Leah Linebarger, MMEd, AMS
School Bulletin Board
Thank you to all families for helping with the foods, crafts, stories and style of our Asian Celebration on February 25th! It was a wonderful melange of sensorial experiences of Asia. Special thanks to Senali of the Ducklings Class and Vung of the Bumblebees Class for presenting on their home countries, Sri Lanka and Myanmar!
We will soon begin preparations for the next addition on the south end of the building by moving the driveway and tenderly transplanting the trees. This addition will add two more classrooms for our growing Upper School program. Thank you for your enthusiasm as the upward spiral extends toward the stars.
Congratulations, Nicole! Nicole Oppici of the Chickadees Class is beginning her transition to the Ducklings Class as she settles into her internship in the Infant & Toddler teacher education program with Center for Guided Montessori Studies. As you may know, we observe our teaching assistants for the love and the talent they pour into their work and offer them the teacher credentialing at our expense when they are ready. We love seeing our newest teachers entering into the training process which is kind of a combination of graduate school and an ashram experience. Did you know there is a “spiritual transformation” involved in becoming a Montessori teacher? It’s not a religious experience, but for some it can be similar. It’s a philosophy about preparing oneself to teach; mind, body and soul. Fresh new teachers emerge with a reverence for the philosophy of peace education, mindful presentation skills and keen habits of observation. They develop a skill for seeing into the child’s spirit to understand what they need. It’s a beautiful process and the secret to why Montessori people are typically mindful, gracious, peaceful and full of gratitude for the privilege they have earned to practice this work.
Welcome, Grace, Kalli and Heidi! You may notice a few new faces in the halls. Grace Snitsch comes to us with a Master’s degree in Education from Post Oak Montessori school in Houston where she worked in the elementary classrooms. You will find her getting to know our Wasatch and Evergreen Elementary Classes. Kalli Hobson is freshly graduated from BYU Provo with a degree in Communications, teaching experience and a drive to learn more about Montessori. She will be rounding out our Auxiliary Faculty so you might see her anywhere! Heidi Kinsey brings a degree in Anthropology from UC Santa Cruz and many years experience nannying children of all ages. Her background in anthropology gives her a natural insight into child development. You will see her in the Chickadees Class. Please join us in welcoming our new members of Team SWIMS!
Death & Taxes…For your tax preparation pleasure, the SWIMS EIN# is 45-0949195 .
Lower School Lowdown
Infant & Toddler Impressions – News from the Owlets & Ducklings Infant Classes, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers & Tadpoles Toddler Classes
Geography studies for infants and toddlers are about experiencing foods, music, art, animals and exploring each of the continents as the rest of the school travels through the curriculum. We want our students to become familiar with the sensorial experiences of many cultures so when they go into the world it will all seem like an extension of their known world rather than something strange and possibly threatening. Our Asian Celebration was a wonderful mix of sensory input. In March we take a look at Europe – the native wildlife, people, homes and foods. You can be sure we will be tasting new things such as crepes and hummus. We will also study reptiles and visit with some of our school pets such as Cucumber the tortoise, Evan the corn snake, Sprinkles the leopard gecko, and Draco the bearded dragon. As always, our units of study will be complemented through our art, science projects, music, language, math and cooking projects.
We will be preparing for our Earth Day Celebration on April 10th by creating experiential activities for your family based on some of the wonders of our planet. This year’s theme is “Whatever the Weather” and each class will present exploratorium-style activities for your whole family to enjoy.
Owlets – Sun
Ducklings- Rain
Bees – Rainbows
Chickadees – Hot & Cold
Sunflowers – Wind
Tadpoles – Clouds
Teachers have some fun plans in the works. If you have an idea or want to help, let them know!
Excellence from Early Childhood – Every Day in the Bluebirds, Ladybugs & Turquoise Classes
The Asian Celebration was a fun example of how all of the early childhood units of study come together to allow students to learn through a variety of sensorial experiences, use their skills to prepare an Asian Feast, determine the math problems in preparing for a number of people and journaling about this daily.
The long winter work periods have brought students through the exploratory stage of ec classes and into the more complex lessons. 1st year students can now sort out the artifacts in the Geography drawers – which animals belong in North America, South America, Asia or Europe? Where does the harpy eagle belong? How about the stork? They can make a challenging choice, prepare their own work space, complete the activity to the best of their ability and put everything back where it came from. This is called completing the work cycle and is a foundational element for the executive function skills students are building.
2nd year ec students have mastered much of the Practical Life and Sensorial materials and are working on the phonetic sounds of the letters and associating quantities with written numbers. They are practicing proper penmanship and are starting to read and write simple phonetic words. They are also working hard on social skills and can now solve a problem on their own, arriving at a solution that works for everyone.
3rd year ec students are polishing off the more challenging lessons in each area of the classroom. They are practicing academic skills daily and see themselves as leaders. They are often the ones to remind others when there is an infraction of the rules or when some detail has been overlooked. The 3rd year in early childhood is the frosting on the cake when the previous two years’ work is coming together to create a polished whole – a student who is advanced in academic skills, social skills and confidence, enabling them to go into our elementary class with a sense of responsibility, knowing how to both lead and follow and with a joy for learning.
For our Earth Day Celebration on April 10th, “Whatever the Weather” each class will present activities for the whole family on the following themes:
Bluebirds – Hurricanes & Tornadoes
Ladybugs – Haboobs & Monsoons
Turquoise – Snow
Teachers have some fun ideas in the works. Let them know if you would like to help!
Upper School Updates
News from the Wasatch & Evergreen Elementary Classes
The big kids took the lead, as always, in our school-wide Asian Celebration, decorating the Sanctuary with dragons and streamers so it resembled China Town in San Francisco. And they prepared a lovely Asian feast, carefully setting places while practicing fancy napkin folds.
These students have come out shining on their tests, with almost all working far above the national standards. June seems eons away to them, but to the faculty it is just around the next corner and we take in the academic progress, the social maturity and the confidence our students display.
In March the Wasatch students will mentor 3rd year early childhood students as they prepare for their move to elementary. We invite parents to see their work together at “Explore Your Child’s Potential” on April 2nd.
Wasatch and Evergreen Classes are planning their Spring Family Campout to Dinosaur National Monument this year. So much to learn – geology, dinosaurs, desert and riparian ecosystems!
For our Earth Day Celebration on April 10th, “Whatever the Weather” the Upper School will present a Weather Fair to study the changing weather and find solutions to problems.
News from Bridgemont Secondary School Class
The Bridgemont Class works in class online every morning for 2 to 3 hours with their talented Montessori instructors and classmates from around the world. They spend afternoons on homework, entrepreneurial projects, school leadership projects and field trips. They have lately been planning for their end of year trip to Vermont. Over choices to go to Cayman Islands, Canada or Costa Rica, the class accepted a classmate’s invitation to come to Vermont to learn about local history, culture, biodiversity and meet his grandmother.
The Bridemont classes are now upwards of 70 students from across the globe who almost all began Montessori at a very young age, many of whom are in other countries but are up at all hours of the night to keep up with their online classes and eager to see each other IRL and in the same time zone! When they went to Washington DC together we heard about how wonderfully polite, cooperative and responsible they were together. Last year in Moab they rented a house and adults were impressed with their housekeeping and recycling skills – one teacher photographed the recycling, it was so tidy! Although they have many choices these adolescent students voted to accept their classmate’s invitation for Vermont this year. We can’t wait to hear how it goes and what they discover.
They are continuing to make straight As and enjoy this rigorous online version of Montessori. Because they have been in Montessori most of their lives these students are far ahead on their academic and social skills, get their homework done in class and have time to focus on their goals in athletics.
Dr. Montessori said that education should be a preparation for life, not just an academic preparation, but an education that includes refining the senses, hands-on learning at all levels including caring for oneself, the environment and others and following interests as far as they lead. Middle and high school students often work at an academic level far beyond what is offered in traditional schools, but more importantly, they very often love what they are learning. And they do.
