NEWS FROM THE PARENT COUNCIL
January 29, 2020
Hello MLWS Families...

We hope you had a wonderful and restful winter vacation and have moved easefully into the rhythms of 2020! Although the days are growing longer, winter is certainly with us, complete with ice skating, skiing and, inevitably, school delays and closings! We hope you enjoy this issue of our newsletter, which includes a Parent Council update, highlight activities of various classes and other school-related topics, classified listings,offers and information about upcoming events in the MLWS community.
PARENT COUNCIL UPDATE

Parent Council is delighted to share that we are meeting on a regular basis during the 2019-20 school year. Please join us at our next meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, February 18 at 1:30pm at the school. We will discuss our priority projects and form small working groups which will continue to meet as necessary to advance their efforts. These include Faculty Nourishment, Food Drives, a Welcome Committee for new families, and this newsletter. If you are interested in working on one of these projects or if you have an idea for another initiative you would like to work on through Parent Council, please send an email to us at [email protected]. Please consider getting involved and offering some of your time to one of our projects. Many hands make light work!


Calendar of School Events

Thursday, February 6, 6:00pm: Raising Humans in a Digital World
Please join us for a lively presentation with Diana Graber. Learn how to help your children build a safe and healthy relationship with technology. The event is hosted by MLWS and is open to the public. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door or online at mountainlaurel.org.

Every Monday, 3:15-4:30pm: Steiner Study Group
Led by Mr. Lundin, meeting in the Third Grade classroom. Free and open to all!

Tuesday and Wednesday, February 11 & 12, 6:00pm: “Into The Woods, Jr.” at the Rosendale Theater.
The MLWS 8th Grade is excited to present “Into the Woods, Jr.”, ​a musical that intertwines the plots of several ​fairy tales​, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from ​"​Little Red Riding Hood​", "​Jack and the Beanstalk​", "​Rapunzel​", and "​Cinderella​,"​ as well as several others. This play is an abbreviated stage version and is appropriate for all ages and audiences.

Friday and Monday, February 14 & 17: NO SCHOOL
Mid-Winter Break!

Tuesday, February 18, 1:30pm: Parent Council Meeting
In the Fourth Grade Classroom/Quiet Room on the second floor of the school.
A Peek Into the Classroom
From Mr. Kohn:

In the First Grade classroom, we have entered our second mathematics block: The Four Processes. We are delving into addition, subtraction, division and multiplication through story and song, offering the children a creative and imaginative pathway towards learning. We have also begun our fluting lessons, which fill our halls with the melodic sounds of pentatonic harmony.
From Mr. Wish: 

If you happened to peek into the Seventh Grade classroom the other morning, you would have seen the students wrapping ribbons of adding machine paper around various circular objects: a pickle jar, an old vinyl record, a syrup jar, a round table, and a pie tin. “Why on earth are they doing this?” you might have asked. The answer is that they were measuring the objects’ circumferences. This was not all they were trying to find out, though. Once done with the circumferences, they cut a piece of adding machine paper the length of each object’s diameter. In a short time, we had loads of strips of paper flapping around the room; we taped them all up on the wall so we could observe them all together. What did these lengths tell us? What is the relationship between the circumference and diameter of a circle? 

After a moment of reflection, one student raised her hand and remarked, “all the diameters are about a third of the circumference, right?” “Well, let’s use our rulers to measure, and then let’s do some division,” I said. The students did just that, and thus we encountered the irrational number that provided our theme for the week, the mysterious 3.1415, also known by its Greek symbol, pi. For the rest of the week, we used it to calculate the circumference and area of various circles. So far the class has memorized the first twenty digits of pi. Who knows how many we willl have memorized by the next time we host an assembly!  
News & Happenings
What has Mr. Evans' Class of 2015 been up to since leaving the nest? 

They have been exploring majors in marine biology, environmental geosciences, philosophy, nursing, meteorology, music composition, honing their national level snowboarding skills, competing in a Division 1 swim team, joining a college equestrian team or track team, an improv theatre group, trying out a gap year, completing a year of social work as part of German Waldorf high school graduation requirement... in places of learning such as Binghampton University, Clark University, SUNY Oswego, Boston University, SUNY Geneseo, Bucknell University, the University of New Hampshire, Mount Snow Academy, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Goucher College. 

Spread your wings and soar dear alumni!
The Kindergarten Celebrates Chinese New Year

Ms. MacKenzie's Kindergarten celebrated Chinese New Year in style. They made yummy spring rolls and paraded their friendly dragon through the First Grade and Nursery classes, singing and waving ni hoa.
January 11 Open House

Thank you to our faculty and parent volunteers for being most gracious hosts and to the 5th and 6th grade students who serenaded our guests so beautifully on their recorders.
Community Happenings
Save The Date

SPRING GALA
“Swing the Night Away”

DATE: Saturday April 18th, 2020
TIME: 5:00-10:00pm
LOCATION: Belltower Venue, 398 Main St., Rosendale NY 12474

PRICE: $50.00 PER PERSON
Live Music, Dinner & Drinks included

AUCTION: Online pre-bidding starts March 28th, 2020

Benefit for Mountain Laurel Waldorf School and The Peoples Place
Classifieds
STUFF (For Rent, For Sale, For Free, ISO…)
For Sale: 1/2 size violin with case and bow.
In good shape. Plays and sounds great. Why rent when you can own? Asking $125. Contact David Gandin at [email protected] or at 845-633-8767.

ISO Families for Locally Raised Meat Share Seeking 3 or more families to purchase a quarter or more (depending on the number of interested families) of a cow from a local farm. The cost is approximately $240 per family for a quarter cow split four ways (25 pounds of meat). Interested families can email Avi Klein at [email protected]

For Sale: Antique Solid Teak Desk - Compact size: H30"/W30"/D20"
Has one drawer and one cubby. Rounded edges. Perfect child's desk.
Contact: Susan Ramaty

For Sale: Solid Teak Mid Century Modern Dressing Table with full length mirror. Imported from S.E.Asia. For details contact: Susan Ramaty

For Sale: Log Splitter Troy Bilt, 27 Ton Hydaulic Log Splitter. Vertical/Horizonatal operation. 160cc Honda engine. Coil wrapped hose,towable.Lightly used but kept outside (under tarp)
Priced to sell: $600.00. (New $1,400.00) Contact: Susan Ramaty

For Sale: 21.5" iMac in Perfect Condition, $1000 OBO
  • iMac with Retina Display.
  • Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz.
  • Boost Speed: 3.3 GHz.
  • Processor Architecture: 64-bit.
  • Processor type: Core i5 (I5- 5575R) “Broadwell”.
  • Graphics core: Yes.
  • On-Board Ram: 8 GB, DDR3 1600 MHz, upgrade at time of order only.
  • Max. Ram: 16 GB.
  • Video: 21.5″ LED-backlit TFT active matrix IPS, 16:9 widescreen, 1920 x 1080 pixels max resolution.
  • Webcam: FaceTime HD camera 720p, 0.9 MP, 1280 x 720 resolution.
  • Graphics: Intel Iris Pro 6200 graphics with 1.7 GB of shared memory.
  • Storage: 1TB hard drive (5400 RPM).
  • Fusion Drive: optional, built-to-order.
  • SSD supported: “blade” type.
  • Input\Output: 4x USB 3.0, 2 “Thunderbolt-2” ports, built-in microphone, built-in speakers, audio out, audio input/output, FaceTime HD webcam, SD card reader, Kensington Lock slot.
  •  OS X El Capitan
  • Dimensions: 17.7 x 20.8 x 6.9 inch.
  • Please contact Alethea @ [email protected]

LEARN
Outdoor Programs with Wild Earth At Wild Earth's weekend and summer programs, children and adults head into the woods and off the trails to meet plants and animals, learn wilderness living skills, create natural crafts, and to build deep connections with friends and inspiring mentors. Learn more about our programs and reserve your space at: https://wildearth.org

Guitar and mandolin lessons with Mr. Steve Bernstein at his home in Gardiner, NY. Children, teens and adults are all welcome. Please call: 845-255-0822 or drop a note in his mailbox (2nd floor) at school.

SERVICES
Carpentry, Restoration Work, and Building Questions Want to do that project but don’t want to break the bank? Quality work offered at a reasonable rate, fully insured, plenty of references. From framing to finish work, we have the solutions for you. Call Rick 845-332-2567

Experienced babysitter Available weeknights and weekends. Contact Anabel Evans, high school junior and Mountain Laurel graduate, at 845-235-2821. References available.

Valentine and Wilder's Pet-Sitting Service
Experience with cats, fish and guinea pigs, but also open to other pets as well! (917) 309-7790 or [email protected]

Photography for All Occasions Roy Gumpel has been a photographer for more than 40 years. He has done assignments in many different areas, including travel, corporate, environmental portraits, cd covers, studio portraiture, still life, fashion, architecture, documentary projects and film stills. He also shoots video. Roy and his camera were featured in a National Geographic Explorer film about Rt.66. He has traveled extensively and is open to assignments of all kinds. Contact: [email protected], 845-544-5373 

EMF Home Inspections Get an EMF Home Inspection and understand and reduce unnecessary field exposure for you and your family. LessEMFsAtHome.Com,  [email protected]
Camps
Winter Camp at Glen Brook
In February, Camp Glen Brook offers an overnight winter program for 3rd through 9th graders. Skating, sledding, skiing, board games, baking, singing by the fire, and more-- Glen Brook is a Waldorf winter wonderland in southern NH! Learn more and sign up: glenbrook.org/winter-camp.