Head of School's Message

Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war
- Maria Montessori

Dear RMS Parents,

Welcome to the new school year! We are all excited to have the school filled with children again. It is how this place should be.

The quote above is an auspicious claim, and one that we don’t usually associate with the purpose of education. However, it is something that is true, especially when we consider that true peace begins with an interior peace. That can be hard to maintain in this hectic world, but it is what we strive for ourselves, bring about with the rhythms of the day, and work to model for the children.

As during every year, we begin the year with Phase-in, a careful introduction to the environment and the community, which builds up the stamina and familiarity of the children in the context of the new rhythm of the school year. It can be hard on us adults, but it is really helpful for the children, so thank you for your patience as we work through it.

And may the “peace that surpasses all understanding” attend us through this entire school year.

God bless,

Sean P. Garvey
Head of School
Renaissance Montessori School

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!

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

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.

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.