WMS Wednesday Weekly - July 20, 2022

WEDNESDAY WEEKLY

July 20, 2022

UPCOMING EVENTS

July 20

Virtual STEAM Night

6:30 p.m. on Zoom

Read more below!

July 21

Camp Visitor: Jungle John

July 27

Camp Visitor: Clem Bowen

August 4

Camp Visitor: Brandywine Zoo

August 10

Virtual Admissions Open House

Noon on Zoom

Tell a friend!

August 11

Camp Visitor: Extreme Jean (Science)

August 17

Virtual Admissions Open House

Noon on Zoom

Tell a friend!

August 22-29

All-Staff Professional Days

No school, camp or child-care

August 25

Back-to-School Picnic/Supply Drop-off

5:30-7 p.m. (Weather-Permitting)

August 30

First Day of School

Full Calendar

Our Doors Are Open

Over the past few weeks, we have begun to offer tours to families newly enrolled at WMS for the 2022-23 school year. It has been a while since we have been able to fully open our doors to those outside of WMS staff and students. We began welcoming families back into the building in April and are delighted to be able to return to our previous practice of families having the chance to see the wonderful environment their children will experience when they begin school in September.

The prepared classroom environment is an essential element of learning at WMS. Dr. Montessori stated that the elements of a prepared environment include freedom, structure and order, beauty, nature and reality, social environment and intellectual (academic) environment. The purpose of a prepared environment, according to Montessori, is to allow independent learning and exploration. Children are meant to have choices and to be able to move throughout the space, understanding where things can be found and how to maintain the space to allow others to have the same access to classroom materials. The students, the staff and the environment together form a strong learning community. As our new families explored the classrooms, they were able to begin to learn more about each area of these spaces, prepared for children when they arrive in the fall.

As we begin to prepare for the upcoming school year, our work continues this summer to ensure that each space within the school is ready for your children’s arrival. The only thing better than giving summer tours of the school will be welcoming families back in the building when our doors open this fall. We are diligently working to make sure that we have a fully prepared environment to welcome staff, students and families as we partner for another year of learning at WMS.

We’ll see you soon!

Lisa A. Lalama

Head of School

NEWS & NOTES

Virtual Summertime STEAM* Night - Join us TONIGHT!

New and returning Toddler and Primary students - you are cordially invited to join a virtual summertime STEAM event tonight, Wednesday, July 20 beginning at 6:30 p.m.

WMS STEAM Education Coordinator Paula Sharpe and Instructional Support/Extended Day Teacher Trish Harkins will begin by introducing returning WMS students to newly enrolled students. Next, Paula and Trish will share a read-aloud called The Deep Blue Sea by Audrey Wood. Storytime will be followed by a color scavenger hunt. The event finale will be a quick dance party featuring "Freedom" by Jon Baptiste.

We hope you will join us for an evening of summertime fun!

*STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics.

Back-to-School Reminders

We are looking forward to welcoming our families back to WMS in just a few short weeks! Here are a few reminders to help get your school-year off to a great start:

Health Forms - Please make sure your child's Magnus forms are up-to-date! If you have any questions, please contact Nurse Marissa. All requirements must be complete for your child to attend school.

Bloomz - All new families should have received invitations to sign up for Bloomz. (Returning school-year and camp families will be able to continue using their current Bloomz accounts.) Bloomz is our primary method of communication with families during the school year. Teachers will use it to share classroom posts (including photos and video), Co-op opportunities and reminders, and school-wide announcements and events will also be shared. Please make sure you have notifications turned on! If you have not received an invitation or you need assistance, please contact Noel Dietrich, Director of Advancement & Communications.

Carline - Based on the feedback of our families, we will be continuing our morning carline for your convenience, but families will park and pick their children up at their classrooms at the end of the school day. More details will be shared in the coming weeks.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions leading up to the new school year!

Camp Spotlight: Kangaroos Prepare to Become Leaders of Primary Classrooms

At Camp Montessori, the Kangaroos spend the summer engaging in hands-on learning (and plenty of play!) as they prepare to become leaders in their Primary classrooms as kindergartners for the upcoming school year.

So far, the group has spent time gardening, tie-dying, swimming, creating art projects with Laurie, making simple machines, learning about animals and their habitats, exploring the woods and so much more! Each week, as they welcome new campers to their group, the experienced campers look forward to inviting their new friends into their summer community, just as they will welcome younger Primary students to their classrooms in the fall.

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

Please send submissions to wednesday-weekly@wmsde.org 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 Advancement & Communications.