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Our Mission is for students to attain responsible independence.
 

Like us on Facebook    Hilltop Montessori School                            June 10, 2013

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Next FALL at Hilltop
Classifieds
Notes from the Head
Spring Raffle Winners
SummerFun
Coming up...
SUMMER VACATION!

Enjoy a happy and healthy summer. See you on August 22 for the Community Work Party.

Aug 29 CH parent orientation (3-5 pm) / Potluck for 6th graders (5:30 pm)

Aug 29 and 30 - Conferences for students new to UE and MS

Aug 30 Visiting day for students new to CH and LE


In the Community

 

Three great VT Performance Lab programs (Hilltop parent Sara 

Coffey is Founder and Director 

of VPL, and the Triangle features

music by parent and Board 

President Patrick Keppel).

 

Two unique works of theater in 

one weekend. Not What 

Happened, created by three-

time Obie award winning writer/ director/ performer Ain Gordon 

that features images created by

rural documentary photo artist 

Forrest Holzapfel of Marlboro VT; 

June 14 & 15 @ 8pm at New 
England Youth Theater, 
Brattleboro
tickets $15/$10 students 
available at 

www.vermontperformancelab.org /events

  

Triangle, a puppet play with 

music created by Brattleboro-

based theater artist Patrick 

Keppel and New York composer 

Bradley Kemp. 

June 15 & 16 @ 5pm at Sandglass Theater

tickets $15/$10 students 

available 

www.trianglepuppetplay.com/events

 

VPL is looking for volunteer 
ushers for performances on 
the 14th & 15th - a great 
way to see the show for free. 
   

 

Going away and need care for your dog?

Consider The Happy Hound Vermont

Dog day care and homestyle boarding by Hilltop parent Jamie LaPlante (Dad of CH's Aiden).

www.TheHappyHoundVT.com

802.490.3962

 

Circus Smirkus is coming to town!  
The Circus will perform in 
Brattleboro on July 16 & 17, 
and Rachel Davis is coordinating 
housing for the performers.  
The commitment involves hosting two or more troupers and providing meals and rides.  
All families who have done 
homestays in the past have
nothing but positive things to 
say about the experience!  
This is a great way to be 
involved in Circus Smirkus 
and for your family to get 
to know these inspirational 
young people.  
Email Rachel if you might 
be interested, and she'll send 
you more information: 
 
 
Spanish Immersion Course, June 29th-30th
Free demo class Monday, June 10th 7:30pm Hilltop Middle School
No worksheets, no grammar drills, no flashcards. Complete beginners as well as for those who want a refresher can benefit from the course. 
Enrollment is open to motivated Hilltop Middle School students. Learn more:
Contact Elissa with questions (escuelita.vt@gmail.com).  

 

 
Tutoring
Would your child benefit from academic continuity over the summer? Does s/he have skills that need building or maintenance? Laura Goldblatt offers child-centered, supportive tutoring, one-on-one or in small groups. Laura has an MEd from Antioch University New England, and has Level II Vermont licensure to teach grades K-6. She taught elementary grades as a lead teacher for five years, at the Neighborhood Schoolhouse in Brattleboro, and the Renaissance School in Shelburne, VT. She has tutored in a range of subject and skill areas for over ten years, privately and in school settings. To learn more about how Laura could reinforce your child's learning, contact her at lauragoldblatt@gmail.com.
 

 

Local Meat and Poultry CSA! Holiday Turkeys and Geese! Reserve your share now for this fall/winter (November-March) Our beef and lamb is 100% grass-fed. Our pigs, chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks arepastured and fed only certified organic grain, grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. Our animals are 100% antibiotic and hormone free. We believe it matters! Monthly distribution in Brattleboro (November-March). Many more details at www.hettiebellefarm.com. We do hope you'll join us and become one of our member families!  

 
Classifieds

If you have an item, service or community event you would like to post in this space, email Amelia. Deadline for entries is Thursday afternoon.Thanks! 

 

 

 

Join Our Mailing List!
Notes from the Head

 

Commencement Crescendo!

 

Moving up, moving on, beginning, ending - however one wants to define it, there were many commencements the last week of school, and there was a Montessori thread of "responsible independence" that ran through all of them.

 

It started with a smile-producing kindergarten ceremony. There were mobiles hanging above each child's head with pictures/words of favorite activities. There were songs. There were personal statements from each child proudly read off to the assembled smiling parents. There were songs and there was the candle walk. And then there was...CAKE! The kindergarteners are moving on.

 

The next commencement was centered around Jessica's farewell, and also the thirds becoming fourths. The Lower El had a private, quiet farewell with the students reflecting on their experiences in Jessica's classroom. This was followed by a celebratory party hosted by Lower El parents.

 

As with Lower El, the sixth grade graduation was a classroom ceremony. And it was astonishing. There were individual personal statements read to the class. Their sense of self-reflection about who they were when they started in Upper El and what they learned during their years with Dan and Tom were full of humor and honesty. There were gifts to and from the sixths, there was a song, there was poetry, there was a candle walk.

 

The crescendo came with Middle School graduation held in the pouring, POURING rain on Friday night (though once the event started no one even noticed the rain). In all my years of Hilltop graduations, this reached phenomenal heights. Memorizing a very personal speech and giving it in front of a large assembled crowd of parents, grandparents, friends and teachers is no easy task, and yet this year's eighths delivered their very personal words with grace, aplomb, humor and wonderful timing. They left the tent with black umbrellas sheltering them, stood in a line by their pond with backs turned and then in a crescendo of music, turned around, waving proudly, umbrellas and hands twirling. They are ready to commence their new lives.

 

Responsible independence: at each age level the students reflected on what they liked, how they had grown, what community meant, how grateful they were to their families and teachers. They spoke in front of their families, their friends, their classmates. They were responsible and they were independent. Those moving on, moving up, commencing and graduating - CONGRATULATIONS!

 


 

 

And the winners are ......

  

What an terrific end to the raffles.
Grand total: $17,015!!!!! 
WOW!

Tiny House winner - Valerie Costa in North Carolina
Broadway tickets - Amy Farnum
Baseball tickets - Susan Venman
SummerFUN camp - Janine Molesky

Thanks so much to all of you who bought and sold tickets. We had great participation and heard overwhelming responses to the Tiny House in particular. Did you see the lines of people waiting to get inside the Tiny House during Strolling of the Heifers?! People thought it was really cool that Hilltop UE students helped make the house, that they learned about housing issues in the area, that so many local businesses sponsored it, and that Morningside Shelter will benefit from the raffle too.

Here are some pictures from the Farnum Cellulose Insulators / Tiny House spot on the Commons.

Crowds lining up to get inside and check it out.


Lots of tickets sold!


The beautiful interior, thanks to Tonia for staging.

The Farnum crew who made the Tiny House a reality.

 

  

 

STROLLING OF THE HEIFERS

 

What a great group of strollers! 

 

 

 

 

SummerFun!

 

 

Camps are filling up, you don't want to miss out!

 
 
 

 

Field Day, Bead Ceremony and Graduation 2013

 

 

 

It's been a great year! Thank you to all our Lower El parents for everything.
Jessica, Kerstin and Connie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Hilltop Montessori School