Message from the Head of School
“The hands are the instruments of man's intelligence.”
~Maria Montessori
Dear Parents,
Welcome to week two! The children are settling in to their rhythm, and there is a deep peace beginning to be felt. Even better, we’re almost through Phase-In. Based on the peace and concentrated work we’re already seeing, it was well worth it. So THANK YOU!
The quote above is one of the most astoundingly prescient insights Dr. Montessori ever had in my opinion. A hundred years ago, it may have been obvious that man often expressed his intelligence through his hands. But it wasn’t obvious at all that man’s hands are the way he builds his intelligence. With modern brain scan technology, we’re seeing more and more just how correct she was – the brain is literally BUILT through the hands. Pediatric Neuropsychologist Dr. Steve Hughes has some wonderful material up about this very topic, and I’ve included a short video herehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkimfG12ZN8.
Make sure to keep an eye out for the new programs we’re announcing. In our continuing effort to find more ways to share this Montessori journey with our families and the extended community, we’re launching a series of new offerings, designed to be flexible and easy to participate in. Very few of us can make the time to become Montessori trained, but our hope is to make it easier and more accessible. We’ve already announced “Montessori Mondays” and the “Sewing Class” which will be held in our new Handcraft Studio, and there will be more to come. We look forward to seeing you there!
God bless,
Sean P. Garvey
Head of School
Renaissance Montessori School
Messages from the Environments
Message from the Young Children's Community
The youngest children are quickly adjusting to their new environment outside of home. Some are sad to say goodbye to mom at the door, but rest assured they settle very quickly into their morning. We have already established a routine and they are discovering the many ways available to care for their environment themselves.
I observed a child enjoying handwashing say, "Oh! There are so many bubbles!" when she noticed they covered the bowl, the table and the floor. Another time, upon discovery of a large spill, several children were enthralled with the simple task of watching water absorb into a sponge and the trickling sound they heard when it was squeezed into a bucket. They all peered into the bucket in fascination as the water accumulated at the bottom. We have been baking everyday and the children pour the ingredients into the bowl and take turns mixing and kneading the dough. Beyond the individual pleasure of participation in these activities, they are already experiencing collaboration and care for one another.
Message from the Children's House
We are so happy to be back together in our Children's House. We are enjoying reentering our space and loving the time with our friends and materials. Here is a link to a video we took surreptitiously. It is password protected for our community only with the same password we use for the Parents Page. https://vimeo.com/289537729
Message from the Elementary Community
We are expanding our horizons in our new classroom. Though we miss being upstairs (especially our lockers!), we feel like we have more freedom downstairs. We can work with people of all ages more easily now because the bigger and smaller tables are mixed. We can walk freely into the Atrium to work and pray whenever we want. We love that we are getting new presentations everyday. We are especially enjoying the poetry studies. It is good to be back at school together!
Submitted by the fifth and sixth grade girls
Message from the Erdkinder
Preparing for Hurricane Florence!
The Erdkinder team has been planning and executing protection for our 34 chickens during the rainy weekend ahead! Three students climbed on top to the domes in order to re-cover them and make the chicken roost more rain proof.
Toddler Pick Up and Drop Off
Parents of toddlers have the option of going through the carpool line and we will pick up or drop off your child from the car or you may bring your toddler to the door of the environment. If you want to walk your toddler to or from the toddler building, please park in the lot first so as not to block the carpool line.
Volunteer Opportunity
Would you like to get some volunteer hours in at home? We are looking for a digitally savvy parent to layout the 18-19 RMS Family Directory. If you can help with this, please contact Kristina.
Upcoming Events
9/17/18 - Montessori Mondays 8:30 AM
9/26/18 - Parent Guild Meeting 8:30 AM
9/27/18 - Sewing Class Begins
Reminders
New for 18-19 - RMS Absentee Line
RMS now has two easy ways to report your child absent.
Call the RMS Absentee Line at 703-594-7032 and leave a message.
Send an email to the absent@rmsmail.org.
Load this contact information into your phone now and report your child absent before 8:30 AM each day they will not be attending school. To ensure the safety of all our children, we will be calling the parents of all children not at school and to confirm the absence if we have not heard from you on the line above.
Pick Up Authorization
If you would like to give permission to a member outside your immediate family to pick up your child from school, please follow the link below (also available on the Parents Page). For the safety of all, please make sure to call the school EACH time someone besides you is going to pick up your child.
Pick Up Authorization Form
Carpool Safety Reminder
This is a reminder that it is very important that cars do not pull around to leave the line unless directed by a school staff member. We have children, including toddlers, that walk or are escorted to buildings on both sides of the carpool line so extra vigilance in this matter is appreciated!
Family SCRIP Contribution
You may have noticed a new charge in your June 2019 TADS Invoice named “Family SCRIP Contribution”. This charge is due June, 2018, but in actuality, it is a charge designed to never be paid! Here’s a brief explanation.
As you all probably know, SCRIP is a way for families to fund raise for the school via the money they already spend on other things (clothes, groceries, gas, movie tickets, whatever). For example, if you buy $50 of movie tickets using SCRIP, you get $50 of movie tickets AND the school gets $4! So it’s a great way to use the dollars you spend elsewhere to help the school raise money and keep tuition as low as we can.
In regard to the new “Family SCRIP Contribution” charge, every month you’ll get a report of exactly how much your SCRIP purchases have contributed to the school, and before the charge comes due, all those contributions will be credited on your agreement. A mere $25 a month in contributions eliminates the charge altogether!
In addition this year, credits can be earned by attending Parent Nights! Each Parent Night you attend gets you up to $20 in credit toward this charge!
To get started earning credits, contact our SCRIP coordinator, Rosanne Garvey, at rosanne505@verizon.net or call her at 703-447-9229.
Pizza Fridays
We are continuing the ever popular Pizza Fridays this year! Since this first week is Phase-In, the first Pizza Friday will be September 14th. Below is the pizza form. We ask that you please hand these in, with payment included, no later than the Wednesday before each Friday. You can order for the full two months or any week at a time.
PIZZA FRIDAY ORDER FORM
Later Pick-Up Service
We are pleased to offer again this year a Later Pick-up option for the 3:00 pick up. This service allows you to pick up your child(ren) as late as 4:30 PM for a fee of $5.00 per child per day. To sign up in advance, please simply email or call the office the days you plan for your child to attend.
At 3:15 PM, all children still present will be moved to the Later Pick Up Service. When picking up, please sign them out with the adult in charge. Later Pick Up will be charged to your TADS account each month.
Digital Online Calendar for 18-19
The 2018-2019 RMS Academic Calendar is now available in digital form as a Google Calendar. The calendar can be viewed online in the RMS Parents Page section and can also be accessed through the link in the head of these Update emails.
You can also add this calendar to your digital device. Simply copy and paste this address into any calendar product that supports the iCal format.
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/rmsmail.org_a1dp6jua8ed94o0aq3tmfa18hg%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics