RMS Wish List
We are seeking donations of the following items/skills and would be most appreciative of any help:
- Our Child Care Program (CCP) is in need of a large (55 gallon) fish tank, if anyone has one to donate! Please check with our Child Care Directors Dee Dee Larsen or Lynne Morin for details.
- Child Care is always grateful for the donation of healthy snacks! Many children use our before- and after-school care so please consider supporting afternoon snack time.
- If you are experienced in electrical installation, we are looking to install three ceiling fans in Child Care. Please contact Dee Dee or Lynne if you are interested in handling this project.
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Calendar of Events
Monday, Jan. 11
SCRIP orders due by 9:00 a.m.
Girl Scouts/Daisies meet after
school
Friday, Jan. 15
First LAF meeting! 9:00 a.m. in
the lounge
Monday, Jan. 18
Martin Luther King, Jr., Day -- no
school or CCP
Tuesday, Jan. 19
SCRIP orders due by 9:00 a.m.
RMS Board of Directors, 6:00
p.m. in the lounge
Wednesday, Jan. 20
Brownies meet after school
Thursday, Jan. 21
Full Staff meeting, 7:45 a.m. in the lounge
Saturday, Jan. 23
Market Day orders due
Monday, Jan. 25
SCRIP orders due by 9:00 a.m.
Girl Scouts/Daisies meet after
school
Wednesday, Jan. 27
Market Day delivery, 2:30 - 3:30
p.m. in pole barn
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Get Involved!
What is SCRIP?
It's a Habit You Need to Start!
If you ever buy groceries, gasoline, clothing or coffee...if you go to the movies, eat out or play sports...if you travel for work or vacation and use hotels, rental cars and airlines, this is the way to go!
SCRIP is an easy way to earn tuition credit and raise money for the school all the while purchasing gift cards for items you normally purchase anyway! You may choose to direct your tuition credit back to your child's classroom, child care, music, the library, art or gym. SCRIP credits are applied twice each year - once just before the holidays and, again, at the end of the school year in May.
How does it work? SCRIP offers a percentage discount on its gift cards which varies by retailer (2% - 15% or more). That discount is then split between RMS and you! Credits are applied toward your tuition twice per year.
Here's how it works:
- First register at SCRIP and use the enrollment code for RMS: 4LEE25CE4547. Once you have joined, you may begin making online orders any time.
- By 9:00 a.m. each Monday, order your SCRIP. You may pay via check (payable to RMS) or online for a $0.39 fee. Submit payment (if applicable) and a copy of your order confirmation page, signed if you choose backpack delivery, to the office by 9:00 a.m. on Monday.
- On Friday, your SCRIP order is delivered. We can put it in your child's backpack or hold it in the office for you to pick up.
Check out the hundreds of
participating retailers by visiting www.shopwithscrip.com. There is
literally something for everyone. Make ordering SCRIP a weekly habit!
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Montessori Quote
"An interesting piece of work, freely chosen, which has the virtue of inducing concentration rather than fatigue, adds to the child's energies and mental capacities, and leads him to self-mastery." Maria Montessori
- The Absorbent Mind
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Welcome back, everyone! Happy New Year. We hope you had an enjoyable holiday break spending time with loved ones.
Rita
Montessori Spotlight
Children learn best through direct experience, investigation and discovery. Most students don't retain much of what they "learn" through memorization. Children need to manipulate and explore things that catch their interest. Maria Montessori recognized that concrete learning apparatus makes learning more rewarding. The Montessori learning materials are not the method itself; they are the tools that we use to stimulate the child into logical thought and discovery. The materials are carefully designed to appeal to children at a given level of development. Each piece of material isolates and teaches one concept at a time.
In developing the materials, Dr. Montessori noted the sequence in which children most easily master them. She then studied how children seemed to be able to grasp abstract concepts and designed each element to bring the abstract into a clear and concrete form. Each piece of the Montessori materials is designed to allow children to work independently with only the lightest level of introduction and on-going support from the teacher.
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Generous Donations
Thank you to so many families for their generous donations to various classrooms and specialists. The teachers appreciate the wonderful addition of materials and monetary donations to help them keep their classrooms equipped with beautiful Montessori materials!
Racine Montessori School was blessed to receive donations from alumni families, which is always so appreciated - not only to hear from these families, but to accept their thoughtful donations. And, we want to make mention of an incredibly generous gift of $1,200 from Pete and Laura Reynolds as well as a $300 gift from Cast Tools, Inc., the Reynolds' family business. This has been an annual donation from the Reynolds family, and it is always quite stunning to open the envelope and see this overwhelmingly generous donation. Thank you SO much, Pete and Laura, for this and for all you do for Racine Montessori School.
Junior League Fund
Thanks to the tireless efforts of our Grant Writing Committee, we have received a grant from the Junior League of Racine to help us purchase cookware for our teaching kitchen in The Meadow. We are very excited about this and to watch the progress of the kitchen build-out. It's really going to be a beautiful area for the students to use. We will have a grand "unveiling" when it has been completed!
Coffee Pot Thanks!
Thanks to staff member, Jan Cramer, for the great new coffee maker in answer to our plea! We are loving it and will treat it kindly! We need our coffee on these cold January days!
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Lakefront Artist Fair is Coming!
Over the next few months, you will see a lot of information about our biggest fundraising effort of the year, the Lakefront Artist Fair (LAF) which is always held on the first Saturday of May. This year marks our 29th year of sponsoring this annual event (from which we expect to earn at least a $25,000 profit!). The Lakefront Artist Fair is held at the Festival Site in downtown Racine, in conjunction with the Kiwanis Pancake Day. We need the help of ALL RMS families. There's a lot of work to be done beforehand, but we especially look for help on the day of the event itself. A volunteer sign-up sheet will be emailed (or sent) to you in February, but here's a little advance notice! Please mark the date on your calendars, Saturday, May 1st, and be prepared to dedicate at least two to three hours of your time between 6:00 a.m - 5:00 p.m.
Our first LAF meeting will be on Friday, January 15th, in the lounge right after morning drop-off. Please join us with your ideas! We're lucky to have a core group of dedicated RMS parents willing to give the necessary support in key areas of the fair, but we can always use more help! We'd love to include YOU and your suggestions!
Barnes & Noble Fundraiser Results
We are pleased to announce we earned a profit of $408.27 in our recent Barnes & Noble fundraiser! Thanks to Mrs. Tami, our music teacher, for bringing the RMS Choir to sing and for making this fundraising opportunity available to us!
Box Tops for Education Results
We've received a check in the amount of $571.09 for our recent submission to the General Mills Box Tops for Education program! This is awesome! Thanks to everyone who participates. Keep it up! Thank you to Kristie Carpenter for coordinating this fundraiser for our school!
Aluminum Cans - Bring Them In!
There is a bin on the east side of our school for aluminum can collection. Kristie Carpenter and/or our Adolescent Students have historically taken them to the recycling center for cash. We ask for your cans again - only this time it's to help a twenty-two year old, Tyler Zelko, who was involved in a single-vehicle accident in October that has left him in a coma. Friends of his family have organized an aluminum can collecting fundraiser to raise money for medical costs not covered by insurance. Please bring your aluminum cans to RMS by the end of January and we will make sure they are donated for this fundraiser. If you are interested, there will be a fund-raising benefit for Tyler at Community Church, 8440 Spring St. this Saturday, January 9th, from 2 - 7 p.m.
Solar Energy
We
mentioned last month we're taking a serious look at converting to
solar energy. We're getting closer to
making it a reality and are excited about its potential! We expect to
be able to make an announcement soon once all details are finalized. Stay tuned!
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Parents As Volunteers
In case you were not aware, the tuition our families pay does not cover all of our day-to-day operating expenses. That is why all volunteer activities, big and small, are especially appreciated at RMS! Without the gifts of parent's time, energy and expertise, our many events and activities would not exist.
Parents serve on essential committees, are involved in long-range planning and offer a wide range of professional advice. They help with class activities, morning drop offs, field trips, gardening, building maintenance tasks, classroom cleaning, wish list requests, office support, etc.
Please think about how you can offer your talents and decide to do one thing per month that will help the school. It all adds up and allows RMS to continue providing an outstanding education and educational environment for our children while maintaining reasonable tuition rates.
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Healthy Recipe: Zucchini Chips
From Healthy-Kids-Snacks.com
1 medium zucchini
1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg white
Cut zucchini into 1/4" slices. Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
Put egg white in small bowl, set aside. Stir together crumbs, pepper, and cheese in another small bowl.
Dip each zucchini slice into egg, then crumb mixture. Place on greased cookie sheet.
Bake 10 minutes, flipping over half way.
Makes 2 Servings
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