Annual Fund Drive Update - Donate by Friday to be eligible for prizes!
We are halfway through our 2021-22 #WMSoneofakind Annual Fund Drive, and we want to thank everyone everyone who has participated so far - we have raised more than $11,000 toward our $85,000 goal! Now more than ever, every gift matters as we work together to support our students and staff, providing an exceptional education while continuing to keep our community safe. If you haven't read WMS dad David Kubacki's message about the annual fund and our #WMSoneofakind theme, you can read it here!
Our goal is 100% participation! No matter the size of your gift, its value will be multiplied when we approach foundations for larger grants - high levels of participation are viewed as evidence of the strength and commitment of our school community. Last year, both our staff and our board reached 100% participation, and we'd love to achieve the same for our families.
Why give this week? During our Annual Fund Drive Week, we are offering some special prizes to donors.
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Everyone who contributes at least $75 will receive one of our limited edition WMS H2Go water bottles.
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Everyone who donates at least $25 and tags WMS in a social media post using the hashtag #WMSoneofakind will be entered into our raffles for WMS spirit wear, Beanie Baby baskets, custom WMS masks and more! If your social media account is private, please take a screenshot of your post and email it to Noel so that you receive credit! You can also print and photograph one of these coloring sheets to share your thoughts!
How to give:
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Donate via our website through Paypal/using a credit card.
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Donate through our Facebook fundraiser.
- Submit a check with "Annual Fund" in the memo in an envelope addressed to the Development Office. You can hand it to a staff member during drop-off or mail it to:
Wilmington Montessori School
Attn: Development Office
1400 Harvey Road
Wilmington, DE 19810
(Remittance envelopes are available upon request.)
Questions? Contact Noel Dietrich, Director of Advancement & Communications.
Thank you so much for your support!
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COVID-19 Testing: On-Site Testing, Next Deadline & Weekly Testing
On-Site Testing
Yesterday, we completed our test run for Quidel's on-site COVID-19 testing program. (Click here to read last week's letter about the program, and check out our FAQ here. ) Overall, it was a great success, and we were impressed by how well the Quidel staff supported students of all ages.
If you haven't already registered your child for on-site testing, we highly recommend that you do so - this will be the most convenient way for you to meet our testing requirement once we move to a weekly testing requirement, starting with the week of November 29.
(When registering, be sure to include your electronic signature and complete the email verification process!)
If your child participated in testing yesterday, you should have received a results notification by email and text message. If you did not receive this, please check your junk/spam folders. All results should be forwarded to covidresults@wmsde.org.
Testing Deadline - Today, Wednesday, November 10
All students and staff should have submitted their negative COVID-19 test results by noon today, Wednesday, November 10. If you haven't already done so, please submit yours by 4:30 p.m. Results should be emailed to covidresults@wmsde.org as soon as they become available. Your child will NOT be permitted to attend school tomorrow, November 11, without a negative test. If you are sending a screenshot, please include the date tested.
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Click here to find Delaware Curative testing locations near WMS.
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CLASSROOM NEWS - As Seen on Bloomz |
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Tiny, Perfect Things
Emily Edmonds, Lead Toddler Teacher (Room 3)
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Maria Montessori observed that children go through “sensitive periods” in their development during which they are highly motivated or most responsive to learning a new skill or developing in a certain area. During a sensitive period. children are attracted to activities that align with that specific area of their development and are intrinsically motivated to learn or grow. Many of the sensitive periods that Montessori identified take place during the toddler years (language, toileting, movement, order, refinement of senses).
This month, we are focusing on the sensitive period for small objects. As you likely know, toddlers love to notice tiny objects and details, and it is always a balance to fill this need while keeping things out of mouths! We continue to seek ways to provide opportunities for the toddlers to safely explore small items and fine details while keeping the classroom safe.
Along these lines we have been reading the lovely book Tiny, Perfect Things by M.H. Clark and looking all around us outdoors to find our own tiny, perfect things. We have observed leaves, sticks, feathers, rocks, corn kernels and even a ladybug!
We are also enjoying some new fine motor work (cleaning tables, inserting straws in salt shaker, using small hole punches) and playing a game with tiny hidden objects at circle time, during which we say a poem ("Here is the box, here is the lid. I wonder whatever inside is hid..."). We also explored floating and sinking with some small objects during our Maker (STEAM) Studio time yesterday.
If you'd like more info on sensitive periods, please check out this blog post.
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Squirrels
Erin Wehler, Primary (3-6) Lead Teacher
As the weather turns cooler, we’ve been observing squirrels around campus and talking about a new word - adapt! Squirrels get ready for colder months not by migrating or hibernating, but adapting! What does it mean to be an animal that adapts in our environment? How do they prepare for colder months? What are they eating and storing? We’ve learned a great deal of facts about eastern gray squirrels, red squirrels, fox squirrels and flying squirrels! Our young zoologists can name the parts of a squirrel and REALLY loved talking about nocturnal animals such as the flying squirrels and predators of squirrels. Read their responses to the Morning Message to see how much they’ve learned!
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Lower Elementary (6-9) Program |
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Diwali Celebration
With the help of the Wake and Nadathur families, students in the 6-9 Program celebrated Diwali, India's Festival of Lights, through videos, books, coloring sheets and other hands-on activities. The families included the 6-9 students in the traditions of creating beautiful rangoli designs (sand mandalas) and diya candles. Students listened to a part of the traditional Ramayana Diwali story, the epic journey of a noble hero and his beautiful and kind wife who fought enemies - from the evil stepmother to the many-headed demon - to become the rightful king.
The students really enjoyed themselves and we all learned a little bit more about Diwali. Thank you to the families who brought this beautiful celebration to our classrooms!
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Upper Elementary (9-12) & Middle School Programs |
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Fossil Adventures
Allie Colflesh, 9-12 Lead Teacher
Last week, we had the privilege of Heather Siple teaching us about fossils, types of rocks and geological time scale. Not only is Heather our school photographer; she is also a paleontologist!
Students compared rocks in the WMS woods with those from Heather's fossil collection. Each student was given a fossil to learn about and keep. We even got to hold a dinosaur bone and see a dinosaur tooth!
This lesson connected well with the 9-12 Program's cultural studies and discussions on classification systems, as well as the middle school's geologic timescale studies.
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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.
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WILMINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL
WWW.WMSDE.ORG
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Copyright © 2021. All Rights Reserved. |
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