SWIMS May Newsletter 2026
Mark Your Calendar!
May
7th…Happy Birthday, Bruce! (wear your Hawaiian or western shirt today!)
8th…Yearbook orders and ads due!
10th…Happy Mother’s Day!
13th – 15th…Wasatch/Evergreen Elementary Class Expedition to Dinosaur National Monument!
15th…Spring Photo orders due!
15th – 18th…Bridgemont Secondary Class Expedition to Delaware!
21st…Family Day!!! 2:00-3:00pm. Bring your family for a special celebration honoring our family community! Please note the change from the original date – 5/14.
22nd…Half day!
- 11:30-11:45 dismissal for Ducklings & Owlets Infant Classes, Bumblebees & Sunflowers Toddler Classes, Turquoise & Ladybugs Early Childhood Classes
- 11:45-12:00 dismissal for Chickadees & Tadpoles Toddler Classes, Bluebirds Early Childhood Class, Wasatch/Evergreen Elementary & Bridgemont Secondary Classes
25th…No School Memorial Day
29th…Closing Ceremonies, No School
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).
9-10am Owlets & Ducklings Infant Classes, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers and Tadpoles Toddler Classes
10:30-11:30am Bluebird, Ladybug & Turquoise EC Classes, Wasatch/Evergreen Elementary and Bridgemont Secondary Classes.
Please note this change – we’ve added an additional 11:30-12:30 time for Upper School Classes to accommodate siblings from Lower School!
11:30-12:30 Wasatch, Evergreen and Bridgemont Upper School Classes.
Overflow parking at Matt Knoop Park to the south and along Shadow Mountain Drive.
June
1st-5th…No School – Happy Summer Break!
8th…Summer School starts!
14th…Duna is as old as the hills
18th…Happy Birthday, Mandy!
25th…Happy Birthday, Tiffany!
29th…Happy Birthday, Paola!
July
3rd…Happy Birthday, Maribel!
15th…Happy Birthday, Emily!
21st…Happy Birthday, Johanna!
29th…Happy Birthday, Richelle!
August
6th…Summer School ends
8th…Happy Birthday, Leith!
10th – 18th…No School – Set-up Week
18th…Family Orientation! 9:00 – 10:00am
19th…2026-2027 School Year begins
Administrative Notes
Another school year winds down and we are at once taking joy in our students and families, marveling at our own accomplishments and barely controlling the tears at the thought that this golden year will soon be gone. We have accomplished much and are so proud to see your children exceeding our expectations.
This year:
We expanded our reach in getting more of our families into the school to see the magic that we get to see each school day.
We examined our latest challenge, the public preschool offerings, and listened to the voices resonating on the depth and breadth of the curriculum that we are able to offer students at all ages. In this highly educated community, we are honored that you recognize what we do despite the alternative of greater convenience and less expense.
We moved more of our trees around to accommodate the highway widening project without damaging those beautiful trees.
We continued our composting program that transforms our food waste into fuel.
We hired a gardener for our faculty who is renovating the garden beds and greenhouses with edible plants that children can use for snacks and crafts.
We sent three of our faculty to the International Montessori Congress in Mexico, one to the AMI refresher course in San Diego, the entire faculty to two UMC events this year as well as several administrative conferences across the country. At the same time we heard that some schools got no professional development this year, so we are grateful.
We sent two new prospective teachers to Montessori teacher training and welcomed back Nathy Van, one of the most talented infant/toddler teachers in the state! Five of our faculty presented at teacher conferences this year, sharing their talents with their peers. We took several teachers’ nights out to the UMFA art museum and to BalletNEXT!
Two of our faculty will walk the stage for EdD diplomas this month.
We saved our employees approximately $6,000/school year and decreased our carbon footprint with our UTA Vanpool.
We strengthened our benefits with an improved healthcare stipend and an attendance bonus.
This list got long very quickly! But there is an equally long list of the goals we are working to accomplish. The best part is that we are all ecstatic to be able to do this every day because our families make it so worthwhile. Thank you for supporting our dream.
Namaste’
Duna Strachan, MEd
Founder and Executive Director
School Bulletin Board
Finally! 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 admiring their work as the school year comes to an end. 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, Summit County Sheriff’s Department deputies who come running whenever our silly alarm goes off when a door blows open, Gladys and her whole family who clean our entire school every night. 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.
Family Day! We are super excited about having our families in for a little playground fun! We decided a few years ago 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, and this looks like it may be our year for an outdoor party! Families are invited to come to school on May 21st 2-3pm for games, activities and refreshments.We look forward to celebrating your family!
Closing Ceremonies, May 30th Families are invited 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 join us. 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 Ducklings and Owlets Infant Classes, 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 completed their Ancestry Reports and worked with elementary students over the past few months to learn new lessons as their final rites 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 each. We have conducted experiments, used many types of artistic media to express ourselves, practiced sewing, tool use, cooking, reading and math operations. Most of our Leadership Year students are now working at a 1st, 2nd, or possibly 3rd grade level. We have sung many, many songs, recited poems, learned games and dances. We have taken turns both leading and following 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. Third years 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/Evergreen Elementary, and Bridgemont Secondary School Classes
Upper School students take field trips every Friday to confirm what they have learned in class. A recent field trip included Recycle Utah where students volunteered their time sorting recycling and made their annual donation from the Children’s Planet Fund, supporting the Earth and her children. These classes are polishing off the year’s academic goals and 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/Evergreen Class is going to Dinosaur National Monument, culminating their curriculum in geology, biomes, and history from the time time of the dinosaurs, through the Fremont people, pioneers and Josie Bassett who rode with Butch Cassidy. Students will show odd their Practical Life skills, too, as they take the lead in setting up camp and preparing meals with their families. Bridgemont will join their online classmates IRL in Delaware. They are excited to hang out with these classmates from across the globe that they have been working with online over the past school year.
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 dirty, exhausted and happy. Have fun, everyone! Thank you, SWIMS families, for supporting these activities!
