May 2011
In This Issue
All Family Barbecue
Summer Camps
First Annual Yearbook
Successful Fundraising
Footnotes for Next Year
Join Our Mailing List
Greetings!

As the first of June quickly approaches, I find myself surprised and very reflective of the past school year.  Each of your children have brought a special value to our classroom and have grown unmeasurably!  I have truly enjoyed each and everyone of them and will miss those that are moving on and will eagerly look forward to seeing those who are returning.
News

All Family Barbecue

End of the year Program

Wednesday

  June 8  6pm - 8pm 

 

 

Please mark your calendars, get out your picnic blanket, gather your utensils, make a delicious potluck dish and join us for an all family barbecue.

 
We will have the barbecues fired and ready to cook delicious hamburgers, hot dogs and veggie burgers.  All meat and condiments will be provided by ICMS.

 

After dinner there will be a short program with Heather Scott (be ready to join in the dance and music) and a short goodbye to our kindergartners.

 

Hope for good weather and we will picnic and dance on the grass!!

 

 

 

 

Events

Summer Camps

Three Weeks of Fun! 
 

During the month of July, ICMS is offering three great weeks of summer fun.  Please look over the registration and sign your child up for one, two, or three weeks of adventure, creativity and exploration.

 

July 11 -14, we are offering a week of intergalactic games, activities and good outside fun with space, airplanes and kites.  We will be making kites both for decoration and flight, airplanes for flying and racing, and bottle rockets to send into orbit.

The sky is the limit in this action packed camp!

 

July 18 - 21, we are offering a week of playing in the dirt, dancing with the butterflies and tasting the wonders of a homegrown garden.  We will learn where and how flowers, vegetables and fruit grow, make a compost bin to use throughout the school year, and why recycling is important.

We will have crafts and activities with a garden theme.  At the end of the week, we will enjoy an organic snack that we prepare together.

 

July 25 - 28, we are offering a week of exploring the bottom of the sea. We will discover who lives at the bottom, who lives in the cold waters and are they friend or foe?  We will dive in together to explore, do crafts and play games.  Sign your child up and see the inner marine biologist surface.

 

All camps will begin at 10 am and end at 2 pm. Bring your lunch, sunscreen, a hat and wear comfortable clothes.

Please let us know by the end of this week so we can plan, order supplies and arrange for staffing.  It will be a fun month for both your children and the staff.

First Annual Year Books

 Min Yoo and Jill Beermann have been working hard to get our first year book together for the end of the school year.  Last report is that they will be ready and in their hands about June 1st.  We will distribute them the last week of school for the children and families to enjoy, revisit our school year, and all their new friends.

A special thank you to Min and Jill for taking on this task and working to get memories in your hands.
If anyone would like to take on the task for next year, please speak to one of us and we will be willing to help you. 

donationsSuccessful Fundraising

Rummage Sale

Thank you to all the families who donated such great wonderful items for our rummage sale.  It was a sale for all to be proud.

You raised about $1700 for the school (all profit).  This money will be used to add new materials to the classroom.

This event would not have been such a success without all the hard work of the many volunteers who scheduled the event, organized the goods, gave up their Friday and Saturday and were in attendance to greet the public.  THANK YOU TO ALL!! (I would love to name each of you but know I would miss somebody)

If you have donated items or money to the school and have not received a donation letter from me, please let me know.   I will also place some by the sign-in sheets for you to fill out and give to me for signature.  Since we are a 501(c)3 all donations are tax deductable.

Thanks again to all of you who have supported our school through donations of goods and/or money.  We could not do what we do without your help!!

Footnotes for next year 
Next year is developing into an exciting school year for ICMS.  Our kindergarten class is growing and we are slowly adding new students.

We are working on the school budget with a strong goal to not increase our tuition by more than 5% but are striving to not change it at all. 

We are looking at a new schedule for our classes to coordinate better with the Bainbridge Island School District schedules.  We will continue to follow their schedule with the exception of half day and conference days where we will continue to have a normal schedule.  In addition to changing our hours we are looking at adding Fridays (with enough interest).  If this is of interest to you, please let me know.  Any parental insight would be valued and appreciated.
I will be sending out a letter with full details in early August but will always be availabe to talk before then.  You can reach me at home at 360-830-9619 during the summer months.
I would like to wish the very best to our families who are moving on to other schools--thank you for making our school so rich.  Please stop by and visit us.  You will be missed.  And those returning we  look forward to seeing you again.
Have a wonderful and safe summer!  And again thank you for sharing and trusting us with your children.
  
Sincerely,

 


Joan Gillanders
Island Children's Montessori School