Referral Bonanza

Many of our families have come to RMS because they've heard from an existing school family how happy they are at Renaissance. These personal referrals are the best marketing any school could ask for and we want to reward you for them!

With open enrollment beginning, now is the perfect time to to make a referral through our “Referral Bonanza” program.

Here's how it works:

  1. Talk to your friends and family with young children and encourage them to schedule a visit by calling the office or through our online scheduler at https://www.renaissancemontessorischool.org/schedule-a-visit/.

  2. Any referred family that decides to apply after their observation and visit will have their application fee refunded.

  3. If a referred family is admitted and decides to enroll, the referring family will get a $500 tuition discount.

If you feel you don’t need that discount but your referred friend does, you can gift it to them!

Weekly Update 2/28/19

Message from the Head of School

The life of a teacher, as I know from personal experience, is very challenging and demanding, but it is also profoundly satisfying. It is more than a job, for it is rooted in our deepest convictions and values.     - St John Paul the Great

Dear Parents,

The quote above reminds me not only of the work of teachers in schools, but the work of parents as teachers as well. During this time of year, when much of the growth that is happening in nature, and in our children, is hidden, I am grateful for the way our adult community, both the staff here and the parents, remains committed to this challenging and demanding work we collaborate in! The growth we will see in future will be satisfying! 

Sean

Sean P. Garvey
Head of School
Renaissance Montessori School

Messages from the Environments

MESSAGE FROM THE YOUNG CHILDREN'S COMMUNITY

In the Young Children’s House we are gearing up for Spring’s arrival! We have been composting for several weeks and set up our tumbler in the back garden. We have several bulbs poking out of the garden beds already and there are more inside that we are watching grow. I am a perennial gardener, and this week thought of my favorite motto about little perennial plants when first welcomed into the garden: ‘First year sleeps, second year creeps and third year leaps!” In comparing this favorite phrase to children and their development, we can think about how much sleeping happens the first year, between their first and second year more of their person is created but 70% of their development is hidden, until the third year when we see the leaps! First plane environments are set up in a 3 year cycle and when we are living together in the Montessori environment each day, we see the beauty of this development and the glimmers of this person constructing himself!

MESSAGE FROM THE CHILDREN'S HOUSE

Some of us have just begun sandpaper letters and it's very exciting! We have played lots of games with the sounds and now are thrilled to begin knowing their forms.

MESSAGE FROM ELEMENTARY

We have engaged in many areas of study in Elementary this week: the transcontinental railroad, Ancient Rome, the atmosphere and how it protects the earth, division of fractions, the volume formula of pyramids, homonyms, and succulent plants (just to name a few!).  One of the signs of a thriving second-plane Montessori community is when you look around and see children engaged in many different kinds of independent work.  The children’s diverse interests and strengths inspire their peers to learn more about topics that may otherwise not intrigue them.  While the Guide offers particular presentations to stoke the fires of enthusiastic work, the children are truly fanning the flames in their daily studies with one another, and it is truly a sight to behold!

If you have the time, please come and observe.  We are always happy to welcome parents and family members.

MESSAGE FROM ERDKINDER

Our community is so pleased to have completed our sculpted Nativity Set for the RMS Gala! Mr. Marsh showed us how the simplest household items can be used to make something beautiful. We hope you enjoy.

Re-enrollment Deadline Tomorrow!

Re-enrollment for the 2019 - 2020 academic year is due tomorrow, March 1st.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.

If you have not received an invitation to re-enroll directly from TADS, please let us know. 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.

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 and the deposit requirement becomes $500 per child instead of $100.

Please Review RMS

In our digital world, parents often look for online reviews when considering the best school for their family. We'd like to encourage you to post a review about your experience at RMS. We believe that we offer something unique in our area and we'd love for you to share your RMS story.

Upcoming Events

  • 3/1/19 - Re-enrollment Deadline

  • 3/2/19 - RMS Gala & Mardi Gras Auction

  • 3/4/19 - Montessori Mondays

  • 3/6/19 - Ash Wednesday - Mass at All Saints / 9:45 AM start time

Reminders

New Pizza Form Available

The March/April Pizza Form is now available. Orders are due with payment no later than the Wednesday before each Friday. The form is below or always at the top of the Weekly Updates.

March/April Pizza Form

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!

Faculty and Staff 2019-2020

Dear Parents,

As you know, this is the time of year when we begin planning for next year. I have been in conversation with each of the staff members, assessing and evaluating the projected needs of the community and the opportunities in which the adults can best serve the children. I would like to share with you the results of these discussions.

Primary: Through observation, Dr. Montessori recognized that self-construction happens before the age of six, so our Primary Program is the cornerstone upon which our school has been built. We have decided to use the gifts the Lord has given us, namely two AMI-trained Primary directresses, to make this community as strong as it can be. Miss Annie has been a constant guiding force in our Children’s House for several years, and she will be joined by Mrs. Jen Ashton full-time in that environment. Both women are also trained in the Catechesis of the Good Shephed, and we have every confidence that together they will lead the children closer to the Good Shepherd and to reaching each of their own full potentials.

Toddler: Mrs. Ashton’s service of the youngest members of our community has been an answer to prayers and is something for which we are truly grateful. This year, Mrs. Nguyen has been orienting to this work alongside Mrs. Ashton and has graciously agreed to continue on in this capacity in the fall, as the lead of our Young Children’s Community.  

Elementary: Mrs. Luetkemeyer and Miss Emilia Fusco will be returning as Guide and Assistant in Elementary, and Mrs. Miller will be returning as Catechist. The community has come a long way in terms of establishing the kind of culture we have hoped to create, and we see only good things in store for our second-plane students and the staff who work with them.

Erdkinder: After three years at RMS, Dr. Rubin will be moving on to other ventures. We owe her a debt of gratitude for founding our Adolescent Program, and we wish her all the best in her future work. We are very excited to announce that Mrs. Mary Pat Blanchette, our current school nurse, has agreed to take on the task of rebuilding this program to more fully meet the needs of our current families. The program will now be a middle school offering only, with a balance between the work of the hand and a classical approach to education. Mrs. Blanchette hopes to be a facilitator and liaison for the adolescents between the work they do on campus and what lies beyond: spiritually, socially, and academically. A registered nurse and former middle school teacher, Mrs. Blanchette will, through inspiring guest speakers and real-world experiences, support the children as they move toward taking their places in society as productive, thoughtful adults of virtue and integrity. Mrs. Kate Wolf will be returning to continue to guide the outdoor and animal work and as Catechist for the middle school children. (We will be holding a gathering, details to be announced, for prospective students and their families as soon as possible!)

Administration: Mr. Garvey will continue on as Head of School with myself as Principal. Miss Sophia Fusco will be getting married and moving out of state, so Miss Mary Arnold will work in the office as our floater assistant. We are grateful to Miss Sophia for her versatility and are sure that Miss Mary, with two years of experience in the Children’s House, will be able to function beautifully in this new role.

We are truly blessed each year to have an amazing community of families and staff, because relationship is what makes this school thrive and the longer we are in it together, the farther we can go to see this vision of Catholic Montessori realized. We are grateful for your trust in us and are looking with hopeful enthusiasm at the years ahead.

God bless,
Kristina