W E D N E S D A Y  W E E K L Y
May 10, 2017
 
In this Issue


Upcoming Events

Now through May 26 
Student Art Show
Lobby


May 11
Community Coffee
8:15-9 a.m. in the Learning Commons
 

May 18
Community Coffee
8:15-9 a.m. in the Learning Commons

WMS Running Club @ the Wilmington Police Department 5K
Race starts at 6:30 p.m.
Come cheer on our Running Club members, or register to run yourself!


May 23
Parent Education Webinar: Avoiding the Summer Slump
7:30 p.m., Online


May 25
Community Coffee
8:15-9 a.m. in the Learning Commons


May 29
Memorial Day
Building Closed
No school or child-care.


What does it mean to be an AMS-accredited schooL?
Message from 
Head of School Lisa A. Lalama
Read more from Lisa on the Montessori Message blog.
Over the next six months, you will be hearing more and more about school accreditation. WMS is fully accredited by the American Montessori Society (AMS) and is in the process of completing our self-study for reaccreditation and submitting it for review, which happens every eight years. Once reviewed, we will be visited by a team who will verify that what we have written about is indeed happening at WMS. They will challenge us to look at ourselves even more carefully and work to continually improve.

AMS has varying levels of membership. As a school with a 54-year history, we have worked hard to achieve and sustain our full membership status. Many schools can join AMS at the associate or initiate level; it takes a great deal of work to sustain full membership. At the full membership level, classroom lead teachers must hold Montessori credentials for the level they are teaching. They must also have a head of school with a Montessori teaching or administrative credential. In addition, teacher professional development is a required standard. As full members, WMS meets all of those standards. It is only full member schools who may apply to be accredited by AMS.

As we neared the expiration of our current accreditation, the WMS staff and Board of Directors discussed applying to be reaccredited. Many questions were asked. Why would we maintain this status? What does it do for the school? How does it benefit the students? The families? The community? The answer was that yes, we definitely wanted to work to maintain this status, holding ourselves to this standard. We want others to validate the work we do each and every day. We want to create the best environment to support children as they learn and grow.

This process has been one of self-reflection. It has allowed us to view ourselves a bit more clearly. It has made us ask questions that we cannot immediately answer and to search for those answers. It has kept us on a path of continuous improvement. An organization may think it can do that on its own. However, when there is no incentive to look more deeply and try a bit harder, the ordinary business of the day takes over; things are forgotten and left undone. 

There are many Montessori schools but there are few that have proven themselves to uphold the standard of practice that WMS, as an AMS accredited school, has demonstrated over the years. Stay tuned as you hear more about this process as we prepare for our visit next fall.

 
News & Notes News
Parent Education Webinar: Avoiding the Summer Slump
Tuesday, May 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Presented by instructional Support Teacher Amy Sacia

Join us for our last webinar of the 2016-17 school year! 

Did you know that elementary-aged students can lose hard-earned progress over the summer? What can you do to slow down this loss of skills? WMS Instructional Support Teacher Amy Sacia will teach you how to incorporate more reading, writing and math practice into your everyday summer activities. These simple and pain-free strategies will help your child stay on track for September!

(Toddler and Primary families are welcome to join, but the information shared will mostly pertain to children ages 5 and up!)

Register Now Button
 
Please register in advance. After signing up, you will receive login instructions to ensure that you can access the webinar on the evening of the event.

Note: Don't forget to submit your time in this workshop for Co-op credit!
Summer Skills Workbooks 
 
Each year, as a service to WMS parents, we pass along information from Tri-C Publications to purchase leveled workbooks for practicing and maintaining school skills during the summer. This offer is completely optional. Interested WMS families have used these workbooks with their children as a simple way to introduce, review and maintain skills over the summer months. Click here to  learn more about the workbooks. 
 
If you have any questions, please speak with your child's teacher or contact Laurie Orsic at  [email protected] . Laurie also has sample workbooks if you would like to preview the materials.


Important Co-op Reminder

Thank you for all of your   Co-op contributions this year!
 
All Co-op must be submitted by June 8 to avoid being billed for incomplete hours.
 
  Submit co-op hours

Co-op Billing Information:
30 Hours Submitted = $0 Billing
0 Hours Submitted = $900 Billing

(Participating Co-op families will be billed $30/unfinished Co-op hour.)
 
Questions? Email [email protected]   

 
Tomorrow's Leaders leaders
Featured Alumna: Annika Delport (WMS '14)

Save the Rain, the Food Bank of Delaware, Heifer International, Room to Read, Vision For and From Children, the UNICEF Tap Project and the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware... These are just a few of the organizations Wilmington Montessori School students have supported during the past few years. As our Mission Statement says, "We empower children to be knowledgeable and responsible contributors to the global community."

When we speak to our alumni, as well as their parents and teachers, we constantly hear about new ways in which they are continuing to live our mission as they serve their local and global communities. Annika Delport (WMS '14) is the perfect example. Her passion for the environment began when she was a student at WMS, and it was here that she began to learn to care for the natural world around her. When she was in the Lower Elementary Program, Annika saw the sixth-graders support the international environmental organization 350.org through the Global Citizenship Action Project (GCAP). 350.org calls citizens to action with the belief that publicizing the increasing levels of carbon dioxide will pressure world leaders to address climate change.  This year, Annika and her AP Environmental Science classmates worked with a teacher to found 3 50DE at The Tatnall School, the first affiliated group of the national 350.org organization to be formed in the state of Delaware. 

On Earth Day, the group held a "Rally for Science" on Wilmington's Rodney Square, coinciding with more than 425 "March for Science" events held in cities around the world. " Science is the key to understanding the world around us, and it is how we will advance the technologies that will shape our lives," Annika and 350DE co-founder Sarah Carroll wrote in a letter to the community about the event.  

When she isn't busy being an environmentalist activist, Annika continues to be involved with Girl Scout Troop 318, which she joined as a first-grader at WMS. She is currently working toward her  Gold Award , the highest award a Girl Scout can earn.

Annika has been able to travel to France and Spain with her school and was a part of the National Junior Art Honor Society last year. During the summer, she volunteers at Ashland Nature Center as a junior counselor.

When looking back at her time at WMS, Annika's best memories mostly center around her wonderful teachers. "Everything I've learned and remember from WMS is because of the amazing teachers," she said. "The focus on reading and writing confidently put me ahead when I went to my new school."

From WMS's 2014 Memory Book:

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

Please send submissions to [email protected] 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 Communications.
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