Message from the Head of School
Joy, feeling one's own value, being appreciated and loved by others, feeling useful and capable of production are all factors of enormous value for the human soul.
~Maria Montessori
Dear Parents,
Happy Advent, and Happy St. Nicholas’ Day! The quote above put me in mind of how wonderful this season in particular can be. We put time and effort in to showing each other our love and appreciation for each other, with little bits of chocolate, or a simple gift given in an Advent Angel. There are no gestures that, whether given or received, make us more fully human. May we carry this spirit throughout the year.
On another note, we had a wonderful Parent “Night” Friday afternoon, tackling the immense topic of “Freedom and Discipline” and how they relate to one another. We’ll be sending out some resources to the entire community to continue the conversation, so keep a look out for those.
And lastly, if you haven’t already participated in our Mission Support drive, please do consider doing so. All gifts are fully tax deductible, and the end of the year is a wonderful time to rack up a few write-offs! (A HUGE thank you to everyone who has already given!)
God bless,
Sean P. Garvey
Head of School
Renaissance Montessori School
Messages from the Environments
Message from the Young Children's Community
We have joyfully entered Advent in the Young Children's Community . . . The candles are lit! At the beginning of the week we introduced Advent in the Atrium at our Montessori Monday Morning, sharing with parents how we enjoy the greatest mysteries with the youngest children and how a little bit more of the mystery is revealed as the child grows from 18 months to 15 years!
We have shared with them the geography of the land of Israel, the infancy narratives of the Annunciation and Nativity, and the first prophecy Isaiah 9:2. In each presentation the most essential message is pulled out for them to enjoy! With this change in our liturgical year brings lots of new songs too! Enjoy!
Message from the Children's House
The highlight of the week for the community in the Children's House was our Advent procession. We all enjoy carrying something, changing the cloth to purple for preparation, placing our items on the table and of course, signing! Advent in our Children's House is always a time of joyful preparation.
Message from Elementary
Last Thursday the whole Upper Elementary (19 children) traveled to Westmoreland County in the northern neck right on the Rappahannock River for a gleaning opportunity for the St. Lucy Projecthttps://www.ccda.net/Need-Help/Food/. Gleaning is collecting of crops after the fields have been commercially harvested. This farmer was one that tithes a percentage of his harvest, leaving several acres unharvested to allow local food pantries to glean the leftovers.
Cauliflower was the vegetable du jour. The children learned how to handle 7” harvesting knives, to identify good heads of cauliflower, to chop the head, to peel extra leaves, and to carry the heavy baskets to the truck. Their harvesting was able to fill the three bins to distribute at the St Lucy Project in Manassas. Even with all the difficult physical labor, delayed lunch and cold conditions, the children wanted to stay and glean longer. So many of them remarked how they really feel so much joy doing this work. They know that even without seeing the recipients, they feel satisfied knowing they are helping those less fortunate to eat.
A special thanks to Mrs. O’Keefe for help with driving and the Nguyen family for loaning their bus for the trip.
Message from the Erdkinder
Erdkinder trip to Staunton VA started with a visit to Saint Francis cathedral.
Pizza Date Correction
The date for the last Pizza Day in December is listed incorrectly on the order form. Our last day of school in December is the 20th soPizza Day will be the 20th, not the 19th as listed.
Children's Holy Hour
Looking for ways to help your children prepare spiritually for Christmas? There is an Advent Holy Hour for Children on Thursday, December 13th from 4-5 p.m. at All Saints Church. Fr. Noah Morey has graciously agreed to preside as he did last year. Gather outside the library at All Saints and draw/write letters to Jesus from 4-4:20 p.m. After that, process into the main sanctuary led by Fr. Noah who will expose Jesus in the monstrance for adoration. The balance of the hour will include saying a decade of the rosary, listening to an Advent reflection by Fr. Noah, presenting letters and drawings to Jesus on the altar, and concluding with benediction. The format lends itself very well to children ranging from toddlers through school age really uniting in some beautiful prayer time.
Un-Trim a Tree
This year we are beginning a new tradition of Un-Trim a Tree to provide families with an opportunity to help enrich their child's environment. Here's how it works:
Choose a tag from the tree outside the Parent Lounge any time between now and Christmas break.
Purchase the item for the environment listed.
Wrap and label the gift and return it to under the tree.
The gifts will be opened by the children in the environments after Epiphany.
SCRIP for Gift Giving
Find gifts for everyone on your list while earning down your $300 SCRIP minimum with the holiday gift guide. Shop gift cards from over 750 top brands and restaurants, including Panera, Chipotle, Starbucks, Best Buy, Amazon, Nordstrom, The Home Depot, Gap, Lands End and more. Whether you buy the gift cards to give as presents to family and friends, or to use them to buy your gifts—RMS earns with every gift card purchased. It’s simple, it’s thoughtful and it’s truly the gift that keeps on giving.
Shop the gift guide atShopWithScrip.com/GiftGuide
Nokesville Christmas Parade - Come Walk with Us!
We are excited about participating in the local parade this year, and the Nokesville Community is equally excited that we will be joining in. Let's make a great showing! Please click on the Evite below and let us know how many of you can walk with us. Alannah Sweeney, mom of Johnny in Primary, has loads of parade experience with the Boyle School of Irish Dance, and has graciously agreed to organize us. The Erdkinder will lead us in singing, and it will be a lot of fun for all.
The parade is at 4 pm on Saturday, Dec. 8 and we need to meet at Brentsville High School at 3PM. It isn't a long parade so we hope you can fit it into your day.
Let us know! http://evite.me/w7N5euUbhQ. The invite also has more information for you if you click on the "message from the organizer" tab.
From the Guild
Meeting Minutes
The Parent's Guild had a feedback discussion on RMS parent's nights. The upcoming December 8th Nokesville Parade was discussed. RMS will meet at 3:00 PM at Brentsville High School before the road closes at 3:30 PM. Gala preparation is in full swing, with an emphasis on experiences over physical items for the live auction.
Upcoming Events
12/08/18 - RMS Participating in Nokesville Christmas Parade 3:00 PM
12/17/18 - Montessori Mondays - 8:30 AM
12/20/18 - Last day of school in 2018
12/20/18 - Elementary Movie Night Fundraiser
Reminders
New Montessori Association to be Housed at RMS
We are very excited to begin a partnership with the newly created Cultural and Catechetical Montessori Association. The mission of CCMA is to empower cultural renewal by promoting the work of Maria Montessori and Sofia Cavaletti in revealing the truth about the human person. CCMA will be opening a Cultural and Catechetical Center in the annex space here at RMS (where Elementary was the last two years).
We will be working closely with CCMA both in furthering its mission and also opening the center here on our campus. You may have noticed that we have begun to pull the gate between the spaces to get the children used to remaining on this side of the building. CCMA will have its own entrance on that side of the building.
Stay tuned for all the exciting details on programming offered by CCMA!
Save the Date - Community Movie Night
On December 20th, the Elementary class is hosting a Movie Night! All proceeds will go to the Elementary spring production. The movies will be: “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” from 5:30 – 6:00 PM “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown” from 6:10 – 6:40 PM and “It’s a Wonderful Life” from 6:50-9:05. More details to follow!
Volunteer Hours Opportunity
We are looking for some volunteers to give some of their time to an exterior campus clean up for Fall. The work would include weeding, clearing debris and trash, and some raking. This could be done on your own time whenever available. Please contact Kristina if you are available to help!