Wednesday Weekly - August 26, 2020

WEDNESDAY WEEKLY

August 26, 2020

Dear WMS Families,

Here we are, with one foot in summer and the other in the school year. We find ourselves in a time of transition, once again balancing what we know and what is still unknown. Through Camp Montessori, we have learned a lot this summer, from how to maintain a social distance to how to build community while adhering to the highest level of safety standards. We worked through drop-off and pick-up procedures, health screenings, adapted to being predominantly outdoors, and created outdoor classrooms for our campers to test out! (They were big fans!)

While this summer was like no other, I can say for certain that it was a summer full of laughter, adventures and relationship-building. WMS is a strong community of amazing individuals, and it took the entire community to make summer camp a success. Our summer staff boldly took on this challenge and walked into this adventure with energy, a positive attitude and true dedication to your children. I could not be more grateful for their efforts as we navigated this uncharted territory. Now, as we prepare for the school year, we do so with this strong foundation, built by our camp trailblazers.

For those of you who sent your children to camp this summer, I thank you for trusting us, and for those of you who we haven’t seen since March, we can’t wait to see you on Tuesday, September 1.

Tracey Gable

Director of Montessori Enrichment

NEWS & NOTES

Back to School Reminders

Yesterday all enrolled families should have received a message from Lisa regarding back-to-school reminders. Here are the highlights, as well as some additional reminders:

Morning Drop-Off

Children will be dropped off at the locations and times listed below. Students who are dropped off before the listed times will need to go to before-care. Temperatures will be taken and a COVID-19 screening will occur at drop-off. This takes a few minutes, so please plan accordingly. If your child is late, please call the front desk (302-475-0555), and we will have a staff member meet you at your designated drop-off spot as soon as possible.

Children will be dropped off at the following locations and during the times listed:

Before-care for Primary, Elementary and Middle School - Great Room Door - 7-8:40 a.m.
Toddlers - Toddler Playground - 7-9 a.m. (includes before-care and regular drop-off)
Primary (ages 3-6) - Front Door - 8:35-8:45 a.m.
Elementary - Side Door - 8:20-8:35 a.m.
Middle School - Side Door - 7:50-8:05 a.m. - We apologize for omitting this information from yesterday's email!

Please remember that if you have more than one child, the drop-off occurs at the location for your youngest child.

Mid-Day/Afternoon Pick-Up

Note: If you need to pick your child up early, please let the teacher know well in advance and we will have them ready for you at your designated pick-up spot.

Locations & times are as follows:

Toddler Half-Day - Noon - Toddler Playground
Toddler with Lunch Bunch - 12:40 p.m. - Toddler Playground
Toddler Full-Day - 3:15 p.m. - Toddler Playground
Primary Half-Day - Noon - Front Door
Primary with Lunch Bunch - 12:40 p.m. - Front Door
Primary Full-Day - 3:15 p.m. - Front Door
Elementary - 3 p.m. - Side Door
Middle School - 3:15 p.m. - Side Door
Elementary/Middle School After-Care - until 6 p.m. - Great Room Door
Toddler After-Care - until 6 p.m. - Toddler Playground

Siblings will be dismissed at the designated time from the youngest child’s location. If you have a child in after-care, you will need to call the front desk at 302-475-0555 as no one will be at those doors for the entire afternoon.

Lunch Reminders

You may pack your child’s lunch in a lunch box, including the utensils needed to eat their lunch. Both will be returned to you at the end of each day.
We ask that no place mats are used unless you send a fresh one each day.
Thermoses and ice packs are encouraged as we cannot use the microwave to heat up lunches and cannot store food in the refrigerators. These are guidelines from licensing to decrease the incidence of contamination between home and school.

School Supplies

We have arranged for your child’s supplies to be dropped off before the start of school to make the first day a bit easier for you.

Erin Winner will be at the front door on Friday, August 28 from 10 a.m. to noon.

Here is what you need to do:

Put all of your child's supplies (labeled with their name) into a tall kitchen trash bag.
Label the bag with your child's first and last name, as well as their room number, and tie it to prevent items from falling out.
Drop the bag off at one of the designated times.

Nap Mats for Toddler and Primary Students

If you need to purchase a nap mat and/or bag, please send an email to Erin Winner (erin_winner@wmsde.org), and she will advise you when it is ready for pick-up. The cost is $30 for a nap mat and $5 for a bag. Please pay with exact change in cash or a personal check.

Please contact your child’s teacher if you need additional information.

COVID-19 Testing

Wilmington Montessori School is coordinating efforts with New Castle County and the State of Delaware to help ensure a safe return to school for our students, staff and families. All WMS staff and teachers are being tested for COVID-19 this week. That will give us a baseline, and we will then continue to test 25% of the staff each week to monitor the incidence of COVID-19. We are happy to participate in this program, helping to ensure the health and safety of our school community and throughout the state.

New Castle County and the State of Delaware have expanded community testing sites over the next few weeks to support the increase in demand for testing as schools reopen. As part of a public health effort, they and we are strongly recommending COVID-19 testing for WMS students.

Once tested, we are told that you will typically receive the results within 72 hours. Test results, whether positive or negative, will be shared with you and with the Division of Public Health. They are not made available to WMS. We are asking you to share them with Nurse Kathy so that she can obtain a baseline of the incidence of COVID-19 in our community. Please email or fax the results of the testing to Nurse Kathy so they may be entered into your child's health record. Registration is not required, but it is recommended.

To register for testing at one of the sites below, visit delaware.curativeinc.com:

Wednesday, August 26

Frawley Stadium - 2-7 p.m. (drive/walk-up) (9801 Shipyard Dr., Wilmington)
Judy Johnson Park - 4-7 p.m. (walk-up) (3rd & Clayton St., Wilmington)

Thursday, August 27

Kirk Middle School - 2-7 p.m. (140 Brennen Dr., Newark)
East Side Charter School (walk-up) - 4-7 p.m. (3000 N. Clayton St., Wilmington)

Friday, August 28

Seeds of Greatness Bible Church - 2-7 p.m. (828 Frenchtown Rd., New Castle)
Father Tucker Park (walk-up) - 4-7 p.m. (1801 Howland St., Wilmington)

Saturday, August 29

Delcastle Technical High School - 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. (1417 Newport Rd., Wilmington)

A full list of upcoming test sites can be found at nccde.org/2011/COVID-19-Resources. Please visit this page to confirm that there have been no changes to the schedule above before going to your testing location. We appreciate all of your efforts to keep the WMS community safe. If you have any questions, please reach out to Nurse Kathy at nurse@wmsde.org.

Policies & Procedures

WMS's COVID-19 policies for both COVID-19 policies are based on guidelines from the CDC and Delaware's Office of Child Care Licensing. We are continuing to monitor those sources for information to adjust our policies and practices as needed.

BrendaRose Simkin

Music Teacher

We are excited to welcome BrendaRose to WMS as our new music teacher. She comes to us with experience as a music teacher in other schools, including several Montessori schools. She brings a diversity of experience and a broad background in singing, movement and Orff instrument instruction, as well as directing musical shows with children. She is eager to be a part of the WMS community and, though singing will be kept to a minimum to begin the year, we are confident the students will have a rich and broad musical experience.

Emily Kofke

Virtual Teacher (6-9 Program)

Emily is an experienced educator with degrees in both elementary education and special education. She has taught in both public and Montessori settings, most recently as a 6-9 teacher at Hockessin Montessori School. This year, she will be working with the Lower Elementary team to teach the six students who have chosen home learning plans in the 6-9 classroom. She looks forward to being part of our community and enhancing the connection between home and school for our virtual learners.

Spotlight on Outdoor Learning

At WMS, we are lucky to have a 25-acre campus, allowing us to be outdoors as much as possible this school year. There are many benefits to outdoor education, and we look forward to watching your children experience them this year. This week, as we prepare for the start of the school year, our Outdoor Education Committee shared the work they have done over the summer and took our staff on a walk throughout WMS's campus. Enjoy some photos of this week's outdoor exploration and our sample outdoor classroom in the collage above.

Welcome Back to Bloomz

This year, we will once again be using Bloomz are our parent-teacher communication platform. Teachers will use Bloomz to share group posts and individual photos with families, providing a regular glimpse into our classrooms. It will also be used for school-wide announcements.

Returning families should be able to continue to use their accounts from last year. Please check to see if your student's 2020-21 classroom is available when you login and accept any pending invitations to new groups.

New families should be receiving invitations to join Bloomz by email. Click on Join in the email and follow the instructions to sign up. If you do not receive an invitation by the end of the day tomorrow, please contact Noel Dietrich. We advise that you turn on all notifications to ensure that you don't miss anything. We also recommend downloading the app (search for Bloomz in the app store) to receive push notifications.

If you have questions or need assistance setting up your account (once you receive your invitation), please contact Rose Feehan or Noel Dietrich.

Back-to-School Photo Contest 2020

It's time for our annual back-to-school photo contest! While this year will look a bit different, we're looking forward to celebrating the start of the 2020-21 school year!

Whether your child is learning on campus or virtually, post your favorite first-day-of-school photos on Instagram using our #wmsbacktoschool hashtag and you'll be entered to win a special prize.

Don't forget to tag @wilmingtonmontessori!

Photos can also be emailed to noel_dietrich@wmsde.org.

We can't wait to see your photos (and your children) next week!

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.