May 2013 Newsletter
May 2013 Newsletter
Our 2012- 2013 Academic year is coming to a close with the arrival of our last month, the month of May! What a great year we have had! Our students have made impressive strides; we have a most supportive parent community; and our wonderful support teaching staff this year is excellent! Mr. Bill and I wish to thank each one of you for your trust and confidence in us. We take our responsibility very seriously. It is an honor for us to be able to positively influence your children’s lives by helping to build a solid educational foundation and guiding them with your help to become responsible, caring, and contributing members of our society. We deeply value and appreciate your trust in us. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your children’s important early years.
April in Review
· Africa Day was an exciting and educational experience for our students! Ms. Mohamed, Rahim’s mother, visited the children, dressed in a beautiful long Somali gown. She showed us photos from Africa and prepared a delicious bean casserole with coconut flavor which we all enjoyed! Ms. Cooney also brought a number of carved bowls, photographs, and jewelry from her trip to Africa during her post graduate studies. Thank you to both ladies for their time and loving preparations to make our Africa Day so memorable!
· Math Curriculum Night fascinated all of our parents in attendance! Tracy Cook and her husband, Mark, Ashley Armitage, Jessica Cooney, and Stephanie Bodine all learned about the role of the marvelous Golden Beads. They were actually practicing the adding procedures with four digit numbers, using the Golden Beads and the Stamp Game. Ms. Yanti supervised the children during their outside play. Everyone enjoyed this evening! Thank you to all who joined us!
· Mini CountrySide Picnic! We were so lucky with the sunny weather! Many parents came with blankets and picnic baskets to enjoy a picnic on the lawn with their children. It was heart warming to see fathers being chased by groups of happy children, and moms chatting with other families, new and old ones. Thank you to all who came!
· AMI Consultation Visit! Our visit from Mr. Goodwin went very well! He arrived at 8:20 AM and left for the airport to fly back to New York at 1:40 PM. Mr. Goodwin gave me several valuable ideas of using the Montessori materials effectively in new ways. We appreciate that we can gain from the expertise and knowledge of such a formidable world wide traveling and respected AMI consultant.
· Our Gardening Days were Huge Successes!Many parents lent a hand during our planting days, and the children were as busy as bees with watering, planting, pruning, and weeding. Our tomatoes are in bloom, and the other vegetables are thriving! Thank you to all who joined us!
Appreciation Brunch! Ms. Jessica Cooney has graciously volunteered to organize our Appreciation Brunch this year! She is doing such an outstanding job by keeping all families informed of the details. Thank you so much, Ms. Jessica! The festivities will take place at 11:00 AM, Friday, May 10th. We will have school until 3:00 PM. If you wish to leave early with your child, please feel free to do so. Our afternoon children will enjoy special fun activities!
Ballet Recital! Our beautiful ballerinas will have their recital at CountrySide on Saturday, May 11th, at noon. All are invited to join us for this special event! The ballet company will send a photographer for enjoyable memories.
May Birthdays! Addison Cook will turn five years old on May 12th! Crosby Armitage will celebrate his 6th birthday May 22nd, and Maggie Harvey will be five years old on May 29th! “Happy Birthday” to all!
Our last Planting Day Will be Tuesday, May 14th at 10:30 AM.The focus will be on replacing our pansies up front, and adding some annuals for the flower boxes in the back yard. Please mark your calendar and join us. If you wish, you may bring annual plants of your choice. I found Begonias (all colors) to be very drought resistant and tough in general. We will also weed our flower and vegetable beds. The children look very much forward to our planting days. If you wish to come a few days earlier to help with weeding, we would appreciate your help any day that you have time. The recent rain has really increased the presence of weeds tremendously! By the way, our flower beds have received a much needed face lift! Flower beds feature now beautiful new timber enclosures. We needed to replace the wood after 8 years!
Please note: During family activity days, please remember that attending parents are responsible for supervising their children.
Thank You to Our Amazing Volunteers! It is with deep appreciation and gratitude that we give thanks to our outstanding room mother, Jessica Cooney, our facebook cordinator, Ashley Armitage, our office volunteer, Meredith McClean, our science contributor, Kiisa Wiegand, our web site volunteers Kandice Jutis and Doug Ingram, and all the wonderful moms and dads who have helped so much throughout the year! This is what makes our school so special -we have parents who love to be a part of their children’s education! Thank you!
Thank You, Ms. Kristen! Ms. Kristen will complete her internship with us on May 17th. We have grown very fond of her, and wish her the very best for her future professional endeavors! She will be missed!
Bring a Friend to Open House – May 18th, 11-2 PM! This is a wonderful opportunity for your friends to see CountrySide Montessori School in a leisurely way! Please think of a friend, neighbor, relative, or acquaintance who has young children and is looking for weekly summer camps or an outstanding school for their children for the upcoming school year. Please help us show off our and your school and recruit great new students for our class! We will serve light refreshments! Your help and support are greatly appreciated!
Last Day of School and End of the Year Picnic! Tuesday, May 21st from 11:00-1:00 PM. Since none of our students are graduating this year, we will not hold a graduation celebration! All students will be released for the day (year) at 1:00 PM on this last day of school. (No afternoon classes) We hope that everyone will be able to join us for this special picnic as we say good-bye to the 2012/2013 school year. Please bring your favorite dish to share with everyone. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, and other family members are welcome to attend as well!
Exciting Summer Camps! Our summer camps this year will again highlight art, arts and crafts, geography, foods from different countries, Spanish, and more! We have added a Curricular Enrichment Camp for children 6 to 8 years of age, who will benefit from individual attention in math and other topics. Ms. Navarro and Ms. Yanti will assist in the classroom, so that we have plenty of staff to help with individual activities. For an updated list of our Summer Camp topics, please check our website or request more information from Ms. Hanne.
*Please note that our summer program will be held from 9:00 AM-1:00 PM, one hour longer than during the academic year. Children bring their own lunch.
Happy Mothers Day!
Thank you for a wonderful 2012/2013
School year!
