Have a friend who you think might be interested in Hilltop?  

Wondering what's ahead for your student? 

Hilltop Montessori School Open House

January 28, 2014  Tuesday morning, 9 - 11 am

Now is the time to reach out to those families or join us yourself for our Open House. This is the perfect event to introduce friends to Hilltop and get to know our school or peek at the programs ahead for your student.  

Our Open Houses are both friendly and informative.  Tours and classroom observations begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. with current parents here to greet you and guide you through the school. Teachers from every level will also meet with parent groups to discuss and answer their questions. Current parents will enjoy this. Some of our middle school students will be here to take questions from parents about their experience at Hilltop.

Reservations are not necessary for Open Houses, but please be sure to sign in when you arrive.  This event is for parents only, but if your Middle School student is interested in joining us, they are welcome.  

So tell a friend or just come join us yourself and see what lies ahead for your students next program level!  

Last week,  the olders in both Birch and Willow rooms started their 6-week Winter Sports skating session.   Time at the rink includes free skating and a lesson.

On Tuesday, January 14 we had a great turn out for our parent classroom visit. As you can see from the photos the children enjoyed sharing their favorite works with their parent(s) and younger siblings! 

It was wonderful to have so many parents visit on Tuesday for parent/child sharing. The children were excellent teachers and the parents were super students. What a great way to start our week! We're looking at the calendar now and will let you know when the next scheduled classroom sharing visit will be.

We have a new book in our classroom, Jacob's Eye Patch written by Beth Kobliner Shaw and Jacob Shaw and illustrated by Jules Feiffer. It's a funny and inspiring book about how being a little bit different is no big deal. Everyone enjoyed the story of Jacob, a little boy who wears an eye patch. During the story Leo shared his feeling and thoughts with the class about what it's like to wear an eye patch. Thank you to Leo and his family for sharing this wonderful book with us.

This week was the second week of Winter Sports. The Olders journeyed to the Living Memorial Park skating rink on Thursday to enjoy another afternoon on the ice. Ellie reports that all of our skaters have observed how "slippery the ice is" but that hasn't stopped them from having positive attitudes and lots of fun!

This weather this week has made playing outside a bit of a wet and muddy challenge, and the children have had a great time. There have been lots of wet and muddy snow pants and mittens and we appreciate all our parents understanding that this is just part of the joy of living in Vermont. It's so important for children to be outside experiencing the snow, the ice, and the water and of course the MUD! Thank you for sending in extra pairs of mittens and keeping extra clothes boxes well stocked.

All the Children's House teachers want to extend a very special thank you to all of our parents for the software gift you gave to our program. Boardmaker has been on our wish list for many years and we are so excited to have it. THANK YOU!

And thank you to Jen Betit-Engel for the collection of prints. We are enjoying the new artwork on the walls.

We hope you enjoy the three-day weekend and we look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday.

Melissa and Ellie

What is courage? What is patriotism? Is breaking the law ever the right thing to do? Should our conscience be our guide or our leaders? These are some of the questions we have been exploring in the middle school as we move deeper into our "Struggle for Peace" study. The novella, "I Had Seen Castles", posed the questions and the characters and the moral dilemmas they faced continue to resonate as we read and discussed Thoreau's influential essay, "Civil Disobedience" and Arthur Laffin's "An Introduction to Plowshares". We tried to understand the peace activist, Elizabeth McAlister's quote: "There is not going to be any real disarmament until there's a disarming of hearts." We discussed how all of us, in some way or another, have armed our hearts and how it takes tremendous courage to lower our defenses. It is not a big leap then to understand why nations struggle to disarm themselves. Trust never feels as secure as a missile defense system. It also was not a big leap to understand why so few people put themselves at risk even when they believe something is morally wrong. As Thoreau so succinctly put it: "There are nine hundred and ninety nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous person" and "There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them..." and finally, "Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator?"

Today we hosted Daniel Sicken, a Plowshares activist and long time war tax resister, who clearly knows and never resigned his conscience. For his actions he spent three years in a federal penitentiary and in numerous county jails. When asked about the sacrifices he made throughout his life for his beliefs, Daniel's response was not one of sacrifice but one of a deeper knowledge of self. His life has been defined and guided by his spiritual beliefs. It was a privilege to be in discussion with someone whose choices and clarity of belief stands in such contrast to much of our culture.

On Tuesday, February 4th, in collaboration with the Brattleboro American Legion, we will be hosting a roundtable with local veterans spanning World War II to Afghanistan. Once again we will contemplate the concepts of patriotism, courage, and service through equally committed and passionate voices. The discussion will take place at the middle school beginning at 9am. You are, of course, invited.

We look forward to seeing many of you tonight at the gala premiere of the Society Project films.