SWIMS May Newsletter
May
7th…Family Day!!! Bring your family for a special celebration in class.
- 8:45-9:15 Bumblebees & Sunflowers Classes
- 9:00-9:30 El Nido, Chickadees & Tadpoles Classes
- 2:00-2:30 Bluebirds, Ladybugs, Turquoise, Wasatch & Evergreen Classes
Happy Birthday, Bruce!
8th – 10th…Wasatch Elementary Class Expedition to Sand Hollow State Park in Southern Utah!
9th…Yearbook orders and ads due!
20th-24th…Evergreen Middle School & Bridgemont High School Expedition to Washington DC!!!
24th…Half day!
- 11:30-11:45 dismissal for Bumblebees & Sunflowers Toddlers Classes, Turquoise and Ladybugs Early Childhood Classes
- 11:45-12:00 dismissal for El Nido, Chickadees & Tadpoles Toddler Classes, Bluebirds Early Childhood Class, Wasatch Elementary & Evergreen Middle & Bridgemont High School Classes
27th…No School Memorial Day
31st…Closing Ceremonies
- 9:00 – 9:45am El Nido Infant Class, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers & Tadpoles Toddler Classes
- 9:45-10:00 am “A Girl’s Life,” a theatrical production by Wasatch and Evergreen Classes
- 10:00- 10:45am Bluebirds, Ladybugs, Turquoise Early Childhood, Wasatch Elementary and Evergreen Middle School Classes
June
3rd-7th…No School – Happy Summer Break!
10th…Summer School starts!
14th...Duna is older than dirt
17th…Happy Birthday, Isabelle!
18th…Happy Birthday, Mandy!
July
3rd…Happy Birthday, Maribel!
15th…Happy Birthday, Emily!
28th…Happy Birthday, Megan!
29th…Happy Birthday, Richelle!
August
8th…Happy 40th Birthday, Leith!
15th…Summer School ends
19th – 23rd…No School – Set-up Week
25th…Happy Birthday, Jade!
25th…Open House! 3:00 – 4:30pm
26th…2024-2025 School Year begins!
School Bulletin Board
Finally! The snow is gone, the grass is growing again, some brave flowers are starting to bloom and the pot guts are awake and living life as only they know how! But don’t put away those boots yet – the playground will be soggy for awhile.
Now is the time when faculty are both dreading and anticipating the end of the school year. The long work periods of winter have given students significant progress and as classes busily hum along, teachers are planning how to end this school year well. We are creating the yearbook, revelling in all that we have done together. We look forward to Family Day, beginning rehearsals for Closing Ceremonies and working on end-of-year gifts for our neighbors and friends such as Augustine who delivers lunch right on time every day, Brook who cleans our windows so cheerfully, Todd, our friend in construction management, and the Summit County Sheriff who comes running whenever our silly alarm goes off when a door blows open. May is just like December only without the lights and ornaments!
Before you pack up the family wagon and hit the dusty trail for your summer adventures, be sure to look over the calendar above. We will need your help throughout May with field trips, projects and the details of closing out the year.
This was the first time in 37 years we didn’t add a gala, fair, auction or rummage sale to the madness in May. After all of these years the effort our faculty and families put into an event like that did not seem as worthwhile as enjoying the remainder of the school year doing what we love most. Teaching. That is not to say we won’t come up with another great fund-raising idea again one day. But for now we are enjoying a shorter to-do list!
Family Day! We are super excited about having our families in for a little classroom fun! We decided in 2020 that, due to the myriad family constellations in our school, we would replace our Mothers’ and Fathers’ Day events with Family Day. We always look forward hopefully to an outdoor event, but whether inside or outside, families are invited to come to school on May 7th according to the schedule in the calendar above.
Closing Ceremonies, May 31st Families are invited in for the first time since the pandemic for a small, intimate Closing Ceremony in each classroom. Everyone will be honored for the work they have done this school year and graduates will be celebrated. (Graduates are those students who have completed all of the requirements of their current program level and are prepared for the next.) Every class has a variation on this theme. There have already been tears shed at faculty meetings in anticipation of this event. Yes, most will be back together in the fall, but some move up, a few move on and new friends take their places. Our classes will never be quite the same again. We are simmering in the joy of the present.
Lower School
Infant and Toddler Impressions – News from the El Nido Infant Class, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers & Tadpoles Toddler Classes
My, how we all have grown this year! Infants are crawling, walking, speaking, setting their own places and exploring every part of campus. Toddlers are cooking, cleaning, toileting and taking care of themselves with little assistance needed. We have learned a little about the big, wide world we live in and the variety plants, animals and people here. Most of all we have learned to be confident and caring members of our classroom community.
Families can keep this independence growing at home by providing a child-sized table and chairs in the kitchen where children can prepare a simple snack or work on a project while you cook. With a shelf in each room equipped with just a few books, puzzles and toys, your child can keep themself busy wherever they are. And after a year in school they are familiar with putting things away when they are done. With appropriate clothing in a low drawer in the bedroom your child can choose clothing for the day and practice dressing themself.
In school children wear cotton training pants in class by about 18 months when they are ready to practice toileting. With a basket of fresh pants in the bathroom and a pail for soiled ones, they can continue this routine at home, taking responsibility for the toilet learning process.
Outside, provide a small bucket with only about an inch of water and a small sponge and your child can wash tables, chairs and toys. Whatever you are doing, your child can practice a simpler version with child-sized tools. Our infants and toddlers are growing fast. Be sure to spend lots of time with them this summer doing simple things together, moving at your child’s pace and seeing the summer through their eyes.
Excellence from Early Childhood – Every Day in the Bluebirds, Ladybugs & Turquoise Classes
While our first and second year ec students keep on doing what they love, our third year, a.k.a, Leadership Year, students have been working with elementary students over the past few months to learn new lessons as their final rite of passage to our elementary class or 1st grade at another school.
Early childhood classes complete the school year having taken a look at every continent and its people, plants and animals; several authors, poets, artists and composers; seasons, holidays from many lands, historical timelines; and every major class of animal including a personal visit with many. We have conducted experiments, used many types of artistic media to express ourselves, practiced sewing, tool use, cooking, reading and math operations. We have sung many, many songs, recited poems, learned games and dances. We have taken turns leading the group. We have taken turns being part of the group.
First year students became familiar with the classroom and routines and mastered many of the foundational skills. Second year students built their social skills while practicing some challenging exercises in every area of the curriculum. Third year students polished their skills in every area as they built their independence and confidence. They are ready to graduate with academic and social skills in place, able to join their new class knowing they are great problem-solvers, conflict resolvers and respectful citizens of their new communities. This is why teachers are so emotional this time of year. We will miss our graduates immensely – even if they are just upstairs. Even though most of the class will be back in the fall, we will all have grown and evolved and we will never be just the same class again. It’s been a wonderful year. Thank you for allowing us to witness the growth of your students.
Upper School
Upper School Update – News from the Wasatch Elementary, Evergreen Middle and Bridgemont High School Classes
Upper School students take field trips every Friday to confirm what they have learned in class. Recently they got together with the Upper School students from another Montessori school and toured Red Butte Garden, confirming their botany studies. They are currently busily preparing for their expeditions that they have been planning since fall.Expeditions are a traditional Montessori approach to learning for the older students. Dr. Montessori observed that as Montessori children grow they often exceed the traditional academic standards and don’t need to spend long hours in a classroom. Instead, there should be a routine of “going out” into the world to participate in the community at large. The expedition is a longer trip planned to explore a new part of the world. This month Wasatch is going camping in southern Utah, culminating their curriculum in biomes, geology and history, and Evergreen is going along with Bridgemont to Washington, D.C. to study, well, America.
Expeditions involve planning expenses, raising the funds, planning meals, organizing camp/sleeping arrangements, planning a schedule, journaling, sketching and interviewing experts such as park rangers or the Bridgemont instructors who seem to know just about everything. These trips are the culminating learning experiences of the school year and the capstone projects for their entrepreneurial studies, since students use everything they have learned to make their expedition happen. The school will be quieter with our big kids gone, but they will come back exhausted and happy. Have fun, everyone! Thank you, SWIMS families, for supporting their coffee and candle sales!
