Message from the Environments
Message from the Young Children's House
A couple months back, our Montessori Monday topic was the Pathway to Reading, and one of the most important gifts you can give your child starting from birth is to read quality books. Just as we don’t want to fill our babies bellies with Skittles, we also don’t want to offer the equivalent in literature. Surrounding your child with quality books is excellent preparation for a lifetime love of learning and reading. Many parents ask their teachers, what can I do with my child over the summer? THIS! This is it, and if you can do it out in nature...even better! At the parents request, I have compiled a list of quality books for the child ages 0-4 in the first plane of development that will be sent home with your child next week. Your first plane child loves repetition and will want to hear the stories again and again! Enjoy!
Message from the Children's House
We found baby rabbits in the primary yard! In a little burrow, some of the children discovered a few tiny bunnies and have been watching as they move around together. We have been researching how to give them space and precautions to take so the mother will continue coming back. However, yesterday we discovered one of them was dead. The children immediately planned a small funeral and helped Miss Mary bury it. They tended to the grave and continue to pray for them. We are so blessed to be so connected to the outdoors and present for these moments - happy and sad!
Message from Elementary
In Elementary, the community has been listening to stories after lunch and then writing a response to what we have heard. This week, we read a tale from the 1300s, from feudal Japan, about a samurai warrior and his brave daughter. The children were invited to write about a time that they felt brave. One of our fifth years wrote, “A time in my life that I felt brave was when I was in Persephone, and in the Nutcracker, or being on stage at all. I would always get butterflies and want to give up, but I was willing to go on stage and do the best I could. So when I did that, I felt brave, and now I am not afraid to put on a show, and I feel and am much more confident now.”
This is why we do what we do! We offer the children opportunities to stretch themselves on stage, and they certainly grow in the process!
Please come to our Opera on Friday, May 24 at 10 a.m. and again at 6 p.m. It gets a little better every day that we rehearse it, and we are excited to put it on for you!
Message from Erdkinder
Erdkinder traveled to Douthat State Park for a two night stay last week. The students planned and paid for the trip with their own business money! They stayed at the "Great Lodge," a large log cabin situated on top of a mountain, built in 1936 form trees felled from that mountain and local stone. The cabin is modernized and well maintained.
It was a beautiful retreat, "far from the madding crowd" and all other distractions of our highly "connected" culture. We cooked meals, hiked around the lake, swam and rented boats to row on the lake. The weather was perfect for the two days, but it rained when we left. It was a great trip!
To end the trip we woke early and drove 3 hours to attend and sing for the RMS First Holy Communion last Friday. It was a sacrifice we were happy to make, but as soon as it was over we went home to catch up on our sleep!
Parents Guild Farm Brew Live Event
Join the RMS parents (and kids if you choose) from 5-7 at Two Silos on the corner of Prince William Parkway and Route 28. Last time was a blast--join us for one last RMS gathering before the end of the school year.
Two Silos features an outdoor fireplace, a Peterson's ice cream truck with specialty ice cream and drinks, a playground, corn hole, fire pits and several different food options. They do ask that you do not bring in outside food and children must be with their parents the entire time.
We will try to meet in the area near the fireplace. Check it out: http://farmbrewlive.com
End of the Year Schedule Details
As we approach the end of the year, there are several events we would like to invite you to participate in.
Elementary Opera – May 24th
1. There is a 10:00 am show for the children in our school. All families are welcome to attend this show, even those with no children in the opera. The show will take about an hour.
2. The main showing will be at 6:00 PM in the Auditorium. All family and friends are welcome. In lieu of tickets, donations will be accepted to cover the royalties and other expenses for future productions.
Elementary Pool Party – May 28th
The children would like to continue our tradition of having a pool party for the Elementary class during the last week of school, and Dr. R has kindly helped us to organize it. It will be on Tuesday, May 28 at Sudley Club (8613 Rixlew Lane, Manassas). Arrival will be at 8:15 a.m. at RMS. We will shuttle children over to the pool for a 10:30 a.m. arrival, so we need drivers to accommodate our 36 students. Please note that if you would like to meet us at the pool with your children rather than coming to school first, that is fine, butwe would like a heads-upin advance so that we do not arrange more drivers than we actually need.
Graduation – May 30th 1:30 PM
Graduation will take place in the auditorium and is open to whole community. Families should arrive between 1:15 and 1:30 and are welcome to stay for cake in the cafeteria after the ceremony.
Sending Up – May 31st 11:10
This is an in-school ceremony only. You will receive an invitation if your child is moving up.
No End of Year Potluck
Given all the fun activities the children will be enjoying at the end of the year, we have decided to break tradition and not have an end of year potluck. Pick up will be at half day as always.There will be no Later Pick Up on the last day so all children should be picked up by 12:00 PM.
Academic Calendar for 2019-2020
The Academic Calendar and Phase-In Schedule for the 2019-2020 year are linked below. Please look at them carefully as we have made some changes to our usual schedule for the upcoming year.
Academic Calendar 2019-2020
Phase-In Schedule 2019
Community Events
There are several camps run by members of our local community for children of varying ages. Here are links to information for those who may be interested.
Calligraphy Camp/Workshop
Baseball
Camps at Seton
Upcoming Events
5/19/19 - Farm Brew Live Guild Event 5 PM
5/21/19 - Last Day of Tuesday Atrium
5/22/19 - Last Day of Wednesday Atrium
5/24/19 - Elementary Opera, Dress Rehearsal 10:00 AM and Performance 6:00 PM
5/27/19 - No School - Memorial Day
5/28/19 - Elementary Pool Party
5/28/19 - Erdkinder Presentation 6:30 PM
5/30/19 - Ascension Thursday - Mass at All Saints 8:30 AM; 9:45 Late Start
5/30/19 - Elementary Graduation 1:30 PM
5/31 - Last Day of School - 11:45 Half Day Pick up for All Programs
Reminders
Prayer Requests
Fusco Family
Erica Fusco, the Tuesday morning assistant catechist and the mother of RMS staff Miss Emilia and Miss Sophia, as well as Michaela in our Elementary class, was in a serious car accident over the weekend. She has broken vertebrae and other injuries and will have a long recovery. Please pray for her and the family as they support her and each other during this time.
Constantine Family
Margie Petersen, the aunt of Theresa Constantine in our Erdkinder program, died suddenly over Easter. Please pray for the repose of her soul and for the family to be lead to the best decisions for the her orphaned sons Matt and Mark.
Rolling Admissions
If anyone you know has not yet applied to our school, please note that we are still accepting applications for our Toddler and Primary programs until they are full. Tours can be scheduled at this link: https://www.renaissancemontessorischool.org/schedule-a-visit
SCRIP
Reminder: All SCRIP profits you earn before June 1st are applied directly towards your Family SCRIP Contribution charge in TADS. You can order scrip weekly at www.shopwithscrip.com and drop off your cash or checks by Tuesday. If you haven’t set up an account yet, our enrollment code is 8F91287E14129.
Remember that if you want to earn that $300 quickly, it is best to set up a PrestoPay account because you can purchase and use electronic SCRIP immediately from your handheld device or home computer, no more dealing with dropping off checks and waiting a week for your cards to arrive.
Forgot to place an order? No problem, there is a SCRIP binder in the office with an array of cards for purchase. Simply go into the office and Kristina will help you through the purchase process. Any questions or problems please contact Rosanne Garvey at rosanne505@verizon.net or 703-447-9229.
Please Log Your Volunteer Hours
As we near the end of the year, please make sure to log all your volunteer hours in Track It Forward before May 15th. Those families who have uncompleted service hours after this date will be billed at $10/hour on your June invoice.
You can log your hours in two places:
1. RMS Website Volunteering Page
2. Track It Forward
Parents Guild Farm Brew Live Event
We invite you to join other RMS parents (and kids if you would like) at 2 Silos/Farm Brew Live in Manassas in the afternoon on May 19. (Exact times TBD.) Come enjoy the afternoon with us--Two Silos features an outdoor fireplace, a Peterson's ice cream truck with specialty ice cream and drinks, a playground, corn hole, fire pits and several different food options. They do ask that you do not bring in outside food and children must be with their parents the entire time. We will try to meet in the area near the fireplace. Check it out: http://farmbrewlive.com