eRPDS - April Newsletter

-eRPDS April 2024

"Childhood is that state which ends the moment a puddle is first viewed as an obstacle instead of an opportunity."

-Michael K. Williams

Head of School's Reflection

Dear Redeemer Community,

Why preschool through 3^rd grade?

We hear this question often. While the answer is multi-layered, one of the most important reasons is to offer a model designed to celebrate and protect childhood. Childhood only happens once. It is a time that should be treasured and full of joy.

Early Childhood Education, preschool through third grade, is an extremely important period in child development. Ninety percent of brain development happens between birth and third grade, and those years are the most sensitive and critical in a person’s life. It is a magical time full of explosive growth.

Redeemer is designed to focus solely on these important years. Our preschool through third grade model is grounded in research, embraces the joy of childhood and learning, implements a teaching model that emphasizes and preserves creativity, and offers the gift of time to develop confidence and evolve as learners.

It is the mission of the Day School to offer a balance between play and academics in an engaging, child-centered, and open-ended atmosphere that embraces childhood. The Parish Day School is a little noisy and a little messy. Learning is fun and full of joy.

Extending our learning model to end in third grade is a gift that will last a lifetime!

Warmly,

Mary

Staffing Update

Earlier this month communication was sent regarding upcoming changes in staff. We have additional shifts among current faculty to share.

After eight years at Redeemer, Jen Arrup has accepted a job as a full-time tutor at the Odyssey School. With a master’s as a reading specialist and as the mother of a child with dyslexia, Jen is looking to further her career in helping children with language-based learning differences. Jen has been an outstanding member of our team whose talents as an educator have kept her students engaged and excited about learning. We will miss her but wish her the best in her next endeavor.

We are thrilled to share that Kristie Burkett, our current first-grade teacher,

will be Jen Arrup's replacement. The majority of Kristie's career has been as a

kindergarten teacher, and she is excited to put retirement on hold to join the

kindergarten team. Kristie is a talented and collaborative educator, and we

look forward to the wonderful contributions she will make to our kindergarten

program and curriculum.

It is also exciting to announce that Grace Cannon, who currently works in our extended day programming, will become our first-grade teacher. With a bachelor’s degree in psychology and minor in education, Grace will soon pursue her master’s in education. She will also be trained in Phono-Graphix over the summer. Grace has subbed at every age level and spent this semester as a part-time intern in first grade. Grace’s natural instincts as an educator are strong, and her colleagues find her to be enthusiastic and willing to take initiative. We are thrilled to have her on the team in this new capacity.

We are still interviewing candidates for pre-first and second grade. Please consider sharing the openings with anyone who might be interested in joining the Redeemer team.

OFFICE NOTES

BLAZING A TRAIL!

Redeemer is proud to be Baltimore's only full early learning experience, serving students ages 2 through 3rd grade. Click here to learn more about our model!

Admissions at Redeemer

We have a few remaining spots in some of our classes for the 2024-2025 school year. We appreciate you spreading the word about our unique model and program. Please consider forwarding this communication to families who might be interested in learning more about Redeemer.

Year-end Tax Statements

Learn how to access payer year-end tax statements that include a summary of all transactions in 2023. Click here for more information.

Upcoming Events

Thursday, May 2: Little Mermaid, Jr. Musical Production & Cast Party

5:30 PM

Family Performance

Friday, May 3: Little Mermaid, Jr. Musical Production

3:15 PM

Day School students & their families (Students must be picked up in carline.)

Thursday, May 9: End of Year Family Picnic

5:30 PM

Redeemer Playground

Friday, May 17: Kindergarten & Pre-first Publishing Party

9:15 AM

Parish Hall

Wednesday, May 22: 3rd Grade Superlatives & Soiree

5:30-7:00 PM

Parish Hall

Friday, May 24: Pre-k Under the Sea Exploration

11:00-11:45 AM

Pre-k Corridor (for Pre-k Parents)

Friday, May 24: 11:45 All School Dismissal

No afternoon programs or RED.

Monday, May 27: NO SCHOOL - Memorial Day

Monday, June 3: Third Grade Graduation

10:00 AM (3rd Grade Families)

Church of the Redeemer

Tuesday, June 4: June Jamboree

9:15 AM

Church of the Redeemer

Last Day of School - Summer Break begins after program.

No after noon programs or RED.

Click here to access our school calendar.

Click here to watch our

April Student Video

"APRIL FLOWERS"

Monthly PDS Values

Be a Redeemer Kid through...

Courage

Compassion

Empathy

Honesty

How to Say, "I'm Sorry!"

A Fly on the wall...

What's happening in the classrooms?

Kindergarten with Mrs. Arrup & Mrs. Vandenberg

We are so excited to start working on our final stories for our publishing party. We hope all the kindergarten parents will join us on Friday, May 17^th at 9:15 to see all of your children’s hard work! Last week, we began learning about the habitat and creatures of the rainforest. We sure learned a lot about the different creatures of the rainforest from the fabulous student reports. We will conclude our unit by tasting some rainforest foods. It was a lot of fun! We continue to work on sight words and sounding out words as well as consonant blends, “magic e,” digraphs, and digraph blends. We are reinforcing those skills by reading short books together and playing word games. In math, we have been learning about symmetry, 3-D shapes, and how to count by 5’s using tally marks. We are having a wonderful time in kindergarten!

Find out what's happening in all our classes.

CLICK HERE!

3rd Grade Leadership Seminar

In response to our first class of graduates, third graders participate in a weekly leadership seminar. The goal of the program is to support all that is happening in the classroom to prepare students for the greater demands of fourth grade, develop independence and self-advocacy skills, and to prepare for the transition to a new school. The first semester focuses on organizational and executive functioning skills, communication, and public speaking. Students are asked to conduct interviews and write and deliver speeches. The second semester is spent developing leadership traits like collaboration and teamwork, self-regulation, adaptability, and open mindedness to name a few. Finally, the course wraps up the year navigating the necessary steps to meet and make new friends and the transition to a new school.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

April has been full of fun events! Many of our classes took field trips or experienced in-house programs, enhancing classroom curriculum and learning. Second and third grades visited Baltimore Museum of Industry, Kindergarten and Pre-first journeyed to the galaxy and beyond at the Towson University Planetarium, and first, second, and third graders enjoyed their time at the Sankofa Children's Museum of African Cultures. The entire school was treated to children's yoga with grandparent, Donna Hinder, and the 2s and 3s each experienced Zoo to You! through the Baltimore Zoo. Pre-first students have been showcasing their scientific expertise as "Scientist of the Week", experimenting and sharing all they have learned! First graders had so much fun Zooming with their neighbor pals at Govans Elementary, and they are especially excited to meet them in person next month. It was also exciting to celebrate Earth Day and the solar eclipse! We also had two very special gatherings of our community. Our spring auction and social was a huge hit; we are grateful to Kate Richa and her team for putting on such a special evening. Finally, our students pedaled their hearts out to raise awareness and funds to support Johns Hopkins Pediatric Oncology and the fight against childhood cancer. It is hard to believe we are entering May and the end of school year!

SUMMER CAMP @ REDEEMER

Ready for some fun? We have two different camp options this summer!

Play & Grow Camp has 6 one-week sessions for 2-6 year-olds. This camp experience is filled with exciting themes, friendships, exploration, creativity, outdoor fun and so much more! Click here to register for Play & Grow Camp!

CamP-123 is a full-day camp for rising pre-first, first, second and third graders, June 17-21. This week will be filled with fun, friendships, exploration, imagination, creativity, wonder, teambuilding and everything in between. CamP-123 will be an adventure you do not want to miss. Click here to register for CamP-123!

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