March 3
Virtual Admissions Open House
Noon
Deadline to Submit COVID Test Results to Nurse Kathy
March 5
All-Staff Professional Day - No School or Child Care
March 17
Deadline to Submit COVID Test Results to Nurse Kathy
Virtual Admissions Open House
Noon
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Required COVID-19 Testing - Results Due on March 3 by 4 p.m.
We continue to be grateful for your efforts to keep our community safe through COVID-19 testing every two weeks.
Your child's next test results are due on Wednesday, March 3, at 4 p.m. in order for your child to attend school on Thursday the 4th. Results must be emailed to Nurse Kathy at nurse@wmsde.org as soon as they become available. If you are sending a screenshot, please include the date tested.
Upcoming required due dates are as follows:
- Wednesday, March 3
- Wednesday, March 17
You are still welcome to have your child tested more frequently and may forward the results to Nurse Kathy.
Planning Ahead for Spring Break Travel
It's hard to be believe that we are less than a month away from spring break! As was the case during our winter holidays, we know that many families spend time traveling and visiting friends and family members near and far. As you make plans for your family, we encourage you to continue to keep the safety of our community in mind when making these decisions. Thank you for all that you do!
In the coming weeks, we share plans regarding post-spring break COVID-19 testing for families and staff. Stay tuned for updates!
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Upcoming New Castle County Testing Events
Wednesday, February 24
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Middletown High School - 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Thursday, February 25
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Wilmington University Athletic Complex - 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Friday, February 26
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Thomas Edison Charter School - 2-6 p.m.
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Delaware Park - 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Saturday, February 27
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UD Star Campus - 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
(Please visit this page to confirm that there have been no changes to the schedule above before going to your testing location.)
Permanent Test Sites and Other COVID-19 Testing Options
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CLASSROOM NEWS - As seen on Bloomz
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The children in Room 3 have been having fun using the Bee-Bot, a floor robot that teaches young children about coding. Students count squares on a grid and enter commands by pushing arrow keys to make the robot move in various directions. Last week, they were excited to program the Bee-Bot to find different shapes!
- Hillary McDonald, Room 3 Lead Teacher
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Though the past two weeks were shortened by holidays and snow, students in Room 4 still found time to celebrate the Lunar New Year. They enjoyed a special food tasting (dragon fruit), watched the 6-9 to students' physically distanced Lunar New Year parade and held their own mini parade in the classroom!
- Leanne Callaway, Room 4 Lead Teacher
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Snowy days create amazing opportunities to track local wildlife! We saw the tracks of red foxes, rabbits, white-tailed deer, squirrels and birds. If we hike to the stream after another snowfall, we hope to see beaver, river otter, mouse or racoon tracks! We followed tracks through the woods to discover that the animals have their very own trails. Why did the deer trail head down the steep slope to the creek? Why did most of the red fox tracks lead to the meadow? How can they tell if it was a dog instead of a fox track? Did we see human tracks? What were they doing in the meadow?
It's so amazing to be able to create opportunities for our students to connect with the natural world around them. The timing of the seasons, the activities of local animals, and the changes among the flora and fauna of the woods that they have gotten to know so well!
- Erin Wehler, Room 19 Lead Teacher
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We explored color mixing with snow today during work time. We asked the children to name the three primary colors and then asked if they knew what happened if the colors were mixed. Many of them knew that red and blue makes purple, yellow and blue makes green, and yellow and red makes orange.
Next, each child went outside to gather a cup of snow. They came in and sprinkled it onto their white piece of card stock. We gave each child a pipette and three cups, each one filled with the primary colors. That’s when the magic started to happen. As they mixed colors, we could hear them yell out with joy that they had just made purple, orange or green. Consider trying this activity with your child at home before the snow melts!
- Betsy Haas, Room 18 Lead Teacher
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Lower Elementary (6-9) Program |
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With the help of BrendaRose (our music teacher), we have been celebrating the Lunar New Year! After the children celebrated with a musical parade around the school, the children explored the Chinese Zodiac Calendar. We compared and contrasted our Gregorian calendar with the lunar calendar, and we decided if the descriptions of the animals representing our birth year fit our personalities.
As part of Montessori's Great Lessons, we learned about the history of language and writing, specifically in China. The children wrote stories in English and in Chinese, using some basic Chinese characters on popsicle sticks to look like a scroll. They added drawings, learning about some Buddhist-inspired artwork that tends to include opposite forces: highs and lows, soft and hard surfaces, rock and water, and with careful observation, humans interacting with nature.
- Melissa Connelly and Carol Lettich, Lead 6-9 Teachers
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Virtual 6-9 Program Highlights
It's been a busy February for our virtual 6-9 students, who have come together as a true community despite being physically apart.
The group celebrated Valentine's Day with cards, snacks and costumes, much like they would have at school, and virtually celebrated their first student birthday of the school year.
The class also began a unit on poetry, after being inspired by some Jack Prelutsky poems and continued their unit on simple machines.
- Emily Kofke, Lead Virtual 6-9 Teacher
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Upper Elementary (9-12) Program |
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Fourth-graders have gotten creative in math class this month. Students were asked to create an original game, with no requirements besides using multiplication facts! Check out their creations above!
All of our students are excited about beginning their Passion Projects, which will continue through the next few months. Passion Projects offer the opportunity for each child to learn and explore any topic they may not learn about in class. The sky is the limit, but some creativity may be needed regarding COVID restrictions or money management! We look forward to sharing their progress as they continue this work for the remainder of the school year.
- Allie Colflesh, Lead 9-12 Teacher
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Montessori Model United Nations (MMUN) Virtual Conference
For the past two weekends, WMS's sixth through eighth-graders connected with students around the world during the Montessori Model United Nations (MMUN) conference. Last year, WMS students traveled to New York City (one of the many expeditionary learning experiences our middle-schoolers are able to experience during a "normal" school year) to take part in the conference for the first time. Due to the pandemic, travel wasn't possible this year, but the students still were able to participate in this unforgettable learning experience through technology.
Rooted in Maria Montessori’s strong belief in peace education, the MMUN program brings upper elementary and middle school students together to learn about the United Nations and its role as the world’s largest international peacekeeping and humanitarian organization. The preparation for the conference spanned much of the school year. Students began by researching and discussing the history and role of the UN in today’s world. From there, they began to research their delegation countries (Iraq, France, Pakistan, Germany and Australia) and eventually began to research their topics including cybersecurity, reduction of military budgets, climate change, food security, fair trade policies, using technology to establish fair elections, preventing the distribution of counterfeit medical products and more.
After completing their research, the students wrote papers that covered their topics from the perspective of their counties and suggested a solution to the issue. Then, students wrote opening speeches that summarized the content of their position papers.
During the conference, the student delegates presented their speeches (click here to watch one!) and then moved on to hours of negotiations within their committees. During Monday's closing ceremony, each committee’s resolution was presented to the larger group - three WMS students were even selected by their committees to present their resolutions.
"While the virtual conference was different, it was still a very enriching experience for our students," said Lead Middle School Teacher Mandy Balanetsky. "The students worked very hard to prepare for MMUN. I am proud of their accomplishments and their representation of our school. They proved to be true learners and leaders who care deeply for the current and future state of our world. "
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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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