Message from the Head of School

A three-year-old educated according to Montessori pedagogy, becomes a master of his hand and undertakes with a joy a variety of human activities.
- Maria Montessori

Dear Parents,

Re-enrollment time is upon us, and even in the depths of February we turn our minds to next Fall. Please take a moment to declare your intent for next year. It is a big help to our planning, and is sincerely appreciated. And if you have any questions as you go through the process, please don’t hesitate to bring them to your child’s directress or the administration. We’d be happy to help!

Sean

Sean P. Garvey
Head of School
Renaissance Montessori School

Messages from the Environments

MESSAGE FROM THE YOUNG CHILDREN'S COMMUNITY

The children in the YCC welcome back warmer temperatures and are enjoying the sunshine this week! We have spent lots of time outside playing in the sandbox, kicking and chasing soccer balls, visiting the chickens, and preparing our newly fermenting compost! We are excited for the return of spring and will begin preparing our garden and planting seedlings in the weeks to come! Also, I wanted to make sure it was recognized by all that our toileting friends are enjoying much success!

MESSAGE FROM THE CHILDREN'S HOUSE

The children have been enjoying the warm weather and beginning to plan for our garden and outdoor space this spring. In the Children’s House, we have spent a lot of time washing, polishing and flower arranging, and have delighted in the collaborative work of making our space beautiful. Some of the children have been working to make books of their own, synthesizing many skills and interests of theirs.

MESSAGE FROM ELEMENTARY

In our first full week after so many snow days, delays, and early dismissals, the Elementary children have been eager to settle into work. It has been a peaceful and productive work week! We have also been enjoying the beautiful weather, and we like spending the end of our days outside together. A highlight of this week has been an exploration of measuring height versus wingspan. Even Ms. Fox joined in the fun!

MESSAGE FROM ERDKINDER

Bianca Barber and Gianna Dow, the Chief Executive Officers of our egg business (Fructus Terrae), have been busy overseeing our chickens’ move into their deluxe new home. They need time to acclimatize and training. Thank goodness for the warmer weather!

Re-Enrollment Begins Friday, February 8th

Re-enrollment for the 2019 - 2020 academic year will begin Friday, February 8th. Your re-enrollment decisions, whatever they be, are critical to our planning efforts, so your effort to complete this process in a timely fashion is very much appreciated.

This week you will receive an invitation to re-enroll directly from TADS. As always, you will need to submit a $100.00 tuition deposit per child ($50.00 for Parent/Infant). We will continue to use a streamlined process so after you have enrolled each of your children, you will be led directly to your payment agreement.

We are pleased to announce that for the second year in a row, the Board of Directors has decided to keep tuition rates as is for the 2019 -2020 academic year.

The enrollment form, the deposit and the payment agreement will need to be set up prior to the March 1st deadline, after which open enrollment begins.

New Refund Policy
School expense budgets are set on an annual basis, and based on projected enrollment. Accordingly, there are no refunds once the decision to enroll has been made. Withdrawal of a child at any time after enrollment will include a three month payment penalty. The only exceptions are if the school determines that an enrolled child would be better served in a differently structured environment, and that RMS is unable to serve that child or if the family moves out of the area. In such cases, the tuition agreement will be adjusted accordingly, to account for time attended and time remaining in the school year. Special cases will be reviewed by the School's Board of Directors.

Primary
We will continue to offer a single Primary environment for 2019-20. This means that spaces will be limited.

Elementary
Our Elementary has an active waiting list. All currently enrolled students, both in Elementary and moving up from Primary, are guaranteed a spot until the March 1st deadline.

After March 1st, we will begin accepting applications for any available openings in Primary and Elementary and cannot guarantee spots for re-enrollment.

Financial Aid
If you applied for aid before the February 1st deadline, you will receive your determination before the March 1st enrollment deadline. Please DO enroll and pay the deposit for your child(ren) as soon as possible but DO NOT sign a payment agreement before receiving your determination. Agreements will be updated when aid decisions are made and you will be notified of your award.

Lastly, I would ask that if you know with certainty you will not be re-enrolling, please let us know as quickly as possible. This greatly helps us as we plan for next year.

Should you encounter any problems with the forms, don't hesitate to contact TADS Parent Support at 800.477.8237, Monday through Friday 7 to 8 Central time.

Parent - Child Nights Rescheduled

The children were disappointed to not be able to show their parents their environments when the Parent - Child Night was cancelled due to weather. We have rescheduled the event as follows:

Primary

The Primary Parent-Child night will now be Friday, February 22 from 6:30 - 8:00 PM and will follow the same format as previously announced. You can see more details and sign up for a slot to attend at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508094EA8AE2CA13-primary

Elementary Open House This Friday

The Elementary would like to offer a parent Open House on Friday, February 8th during school hours. You can see more details and sign up for a slot to attend at:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508094EA8AE2CA13-elementary3

Upcoming Events

2/8/19 - Elementary Open House
2/15/19 - NO SCHOOL Teacher In Service
2/18/19 - NO SCHOOL Teacher In Service

Reminders

Parents Guild Outing February 15th

Feb. 15 is a day off of school and the Guild is planning an outing for the kids! We are thinking of meeting at Uptown Alley in the Manassas Mall. http://www.uptownalleymanassas.com If we get a group of 10 we can reserve our place. For 13.99, each person gets 1 game of bowling with shoes, and a $10 game voucher or a game of laser tag, two slices of pizza, cookie and a drink. There is also a package without food for 11.99. We have to reserve and pre-pay. If you would like to participate, please contact Tyra Nuar with names and ages. tajm2211@gmail.com

Calendar Change Due to HVAC

As announced via email this week, we are excited to announce that RMS will be getting a new HVAC system. Not only will this help us better regulate the temperature in our environments, but it will save us money in the short and long term.

As you might imagine, in a campus our size, replacing the HVAC is a large project. We have been informed by the contractor that they need two weeks with no children in the environments to complete the work. In order to keep the impact of this time as minimal as possible, we have scheduled the work to be done around Easter, when we are already out of session for 10 days. We do, however, need to add days to this break to give the contractors the time we need.

So, please note the following calendar changes!

Teacher In-Service Day scheduled for March 15th will now take place on Monday, April 15th.
April 16th and 17th there will be NO SCHOOL but to use these days productively, they will now be Parent-Teacher Conferences.

Please reach out with any questions you may have!