W E D N E S D A Y  W E E K L Y
February 25, 2015
In This Issue

Upcoming Events

February 25
Elementary Technology Meeting
6:30 p.m.

February 26
Dads' Day
8:30 a.m.

February 27
PJ Dance Party
6-8 p.m.
Purchase tickets after school at both entrances!

March 2
Re-enrollment Deadline
Important Information 
 
March 5
WMS Family Concert with Tony Vacca
6:15 p.m. in the Great Room
Learn More

March 6
The Journey
8:30 a.m. 
Register Now 

March 13
All-Staff Professional Day
No classes.
Pre-registered child-care only.

March 16
Montessori Monday Open House
9:30 a.m.
Tell a friend! 

March 19
9-12 Talent Show
9:30 a.m. - Dress Rehearsal
7  p.m. - Concert 
Gym 



Message from Head of School 
Lisa A. Lalama 

 

For more of Lisa's writing, check out the Montessori Message blog.

 

During the past week, Transition Mornings were held for children moving to another program level at WMS. If you have had a child move on to the next level you know that it can be a bit of a different experience. Not only does your child's classroom change, so do the expectations, work and some of the people within it. It is a time of anticipation and can be met with a bit of trepidation, as well as some excitement, as change does not come easily to most of us.

 

What remains constant in the face of the change is our dedication to the Montessori principles and quality educational experience. Each child is met where he or she is academically, socially, physically and emotionally and is moved along a continuum of learning to grow and gain the skills needed for success. When our teachers go through their Montessori teacher training, they learn not only Montessori pedagogy and child development, but they also experience a respectful, inviting and engaging learning environment. As a teacher is going through training the familiar refrain, "I wish school was like this when I was a child," is heard, no matter their program level.

 

While it can sometimes be difficult to put the value of a WMS education into words, we all know it. Whether we are teachers, parents, students or visitors, we recognize the WMS difference. This is a place that respects and honors each individual within its walls. It is a school for all learners. WMS reaches not only children, but also their parents and caregivers; there is learning taking place for each of us. We know what best practices are in education today; we know what Dr. Montessori wanted to establish for young children; and we know that we do it well.

Thank you for making WMS such a special place for us all. It is through our work together that we are able to continue to educate children for the next 50 years. 

 

 

 

 



News & NotesNews
Re-enrollment Reminder: Contracts & Deposits Due This Monday, March 2, 2015Reenrollment
 

The date for submitting contracts and deposits for the 2015-16 school year is March 2, 2015. The deposit secures your child's spot and supports the planning process for the new school year. In order to retain our amazing teaching staff, it is important that we are able to offer contracts as early as possible, which cannot be done until we have a clear idea of our enrollment numbers for next school year. After this deadline, we also begin to enroll new families and, therefore, your child's space cannot be guaranteed.

Important:

Please note that a $100 late fee will be assessed for all re-enrollment deposits not received by the due date. If you anticipate any problem with submitting your contract and deposit by March 2, please contact Nancy Oddo in the Business Office at 302-475-0555 or at [email protected].

Dads' Day - Tomorrow!dads

Dads' Day is always a wonderful day at WMS - a time for children to show off their classrooms and share their excitement about all that they are learning. 

Your children will be thrilled to show you the interesting and important work they tackle each day here at school. We look forward to welcoming you to WMS!

Schedule:
8:30 until 10 a.m. - Classroom visits.  
 
10 to 11 a.m. - Join us in the Great Room for refreshments and a brief program.

vacca
WMS Family Concert
Thursday, March 5 at 6:15 p.m.
Tony Vacca, Featured Performer

 

Tony Vacca is an innovative American percussionist with jazz and world music roots going back to 1972. Tony Vacca's solo performances are a nearly non-stop athletic spectacle of percussion music and spoken word. He incorporates percussion instruments from a world of traditions that include African, Caribbean, Asian and Middle-Eastern influences, to which he adds some of his spoken word and rhythm poetry.

 

Vacca's 14 trips to West Africa have contributed to his unique approach to playing the balafon, and to his depth of knowledge regarding African and American musical traditions. 

 

This program is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. 



Auction Poster Bidding on the Bayou

Rocky's Reading Challenge Rocky's Reading Challenge
 

Though we can't tell by the weather, it's almost time for Blue Rocks Baseball! WMS will be participating in Rocky's Reading Challenge - A Wilmington Blue Rocks and Delaware State Education Association program.
 

The program is designed to show kids that reading can be both fun and rewarding. The program is optional for all students in Pre-K through 6th grade. In order to participate, each child is encouraged to read 10 books by March 13, 2015. Each child who participates will receive two free tickets to a Blue Rocks game this spring!

What can parents do:
  1. Encourage reading.
  2. Write the name of the books read on the official Rocky's Reading Challenge bookmark.
  3. In addition to books read at home, books that are read in the classroom also count.
  4. When your child has read 10 books, give the bookmark to the classroom teacher.
  5. Have fun!  
Contact Stephanie Simms at [email protected] for questions.
Co-op Cornerco-op
Thank you!
 
 

Thank you to everyone who donated refreshments for Dads' Day; your contributions are truly appreciated and will make the day that much more welcoming and enjoyable. Special thanks also go out to parents Becky Gupta, Rinku Amin and Terri Franke for the time, energy and enthusiasm in organizing this annual day devoted to WMS dads!
Today's LearnersLearner

Cartographers, Peacemakers and Postcards!
by 3-6 Teacher Jennifer Heness (Room 13)

"As soon as children find something that interests them, they learn to concentrate." - Maria Montessori

 

 

Room 13 students have been strengthening their geography skills by working with the puzzle maps of the world. After putting each puzzle piece into place, the tracing work begins with concentration that cannot be broken! Then, children engage in the tedious task of punching along the line to perforate their tracing, and the satisfaction of punching out each continent. Many have been engrossed in this work and are in various stages of the process. Not only is it helping to identify each of the seven continents  -  it is also a great fine motor exercise. We have proudly displayed many of our finished world maps in the lobby and hallway. To celebrate growth and process, some "work in progress" is also displayed. We have a classroom full of cartographers! And perhaps, future world travelers!

Their interest in maps has carried into other lessons as well. When we started discussing famous world peacemakers, of course, we had to map where they are from. We marked Italy for Maria Montessori, India for Ghandi, South Africa for Nelson Mandela, the U.S. for Martin Luther King Jr., and so on. What else could we map? How about our families, our friends and our connections to the world? Naturally. So we reached out to our families and everyone we knew out of state, or out of the country, and asked them to send a postcard to Room 13. How amazing that we discovered we had connections on every continent! (Yes, even Antarctica!) Who would have thought 17 preschoolers could have connections around the entire world? What a wonderful realization for them to make -- that although the world is so vast and large, as we see on our maps and globes, perhaps it is not that big after all and we are all still very much connected.

For young children, receiving mail is very exciting, especially when it is delivered to school! As our postcards arrive, we read them as a class. Sharing family stories and making personal and cultural connections are important as children begin to understand and prepare to take part in the world. This has also provided much motivation for writing and reading, in addition to being a wonderful opportunity to use maps and discover where our family members and friends live.

If you would like to send us a postcard, feel free! In the days of texts and emails, it is quite nice to share handwritten messages with children.
Tomorrow's LeadersLeaders
Matilda, daughter of Brie Willoughby-Knox (WMS '92), wearing her Wilmington Montessori School sweatshirt at a playground near her home in Australia.
Alumni News & Notes
 

Congratulations to WMS grads, Demetria Ruhl and Rebecca Sakaguchi (WMS '10), who reached the championship round of the November Delaware Valley Regional Ethics bowl with their Wilmington Friends School Bioethics Team.
 
Daniel Barnes, who attended WMS from 1999 to 2005, is currently studying geography at Middlebury College. He recently had the opportunity to study abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is now fluent in Spanish. He remembers his time at WMS fondly and says he particularly enjoyed exploring our beautiful campus and playing in the woods. 
 

Brie Willoughby-Knox (WMS class of '92) is now lecturing at two universities in Sydney and working on her third textbook. She was recently appointed head of Central Queensland University's STEPS program for its Sydney campus. STEPS is a government funded program aimed at enabling single parents and disadvantaged students to fulfill their dreams of attending the university. Last year, Brie was thrilled to visit WMS with her daughter Matilda who loved exploring our toddler and 3-6 classrooms. 

 

The Wednesday Weekly shares WMS news and events that are relevant to the families in our community.  

Please send submissions to [email protected] by 4:30 p.m. on the Friday prior to the issue in which you wish to include your information. Content may be edited for length  and style and may be held for a future issue due to space constraints.  

For more information, contact Noel Dietrich, Director of Communications.

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