Hilltop Montessori School's mission is for students to practice responsible independence in a caring community of curious, critical learners and thoughtful citizens.
Friday Newsletter
March 15, 2019
N ext Week:

March 21
  • All School Gathering starts again! 8:45 am in the Arts Barn
  • 7:00 pm, Middle School Alabama Odyssey parent information night

March 22
  • Lower El Field Trip to Beneski Museum of Natural History
  • Kids Night Out 5-9 pm
  • The Board Meet, Greet and Eat-Second Annual Chili Cook-off (more info below)
Important Future Dates:

March 27
  • Lower El Work Share 3-4 pm

April 3 - 10
  • Middle School Alabama Odyssey Trip

April 11
  • UE annual play, 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm
Important notice: All questions, information, and updates about after hours care should be directed to our After Care point person, Jessica Thomas (not Mariam). Jessica can be reached by email at jthomas@hilltopmontessori.org or by phone at 802 380-3395.
Save the Date - Spring Events
March
  • 3/22 Board Meet, Greet, and Eat Chili Cook Off, 6:00 pm Middle School
  • 3/30 The Hatch, Story Tellers on a Mission, 7:30 pm Latchis Theater
(Win Tickets to this Event! 100% of proceeds go to Groundworks Collaborative! Raffle Tickets for this event are on sale at Hilltop Montessori School, see flyer in the community section below)

April
  • 4/14-4/22 Spring Break, no school. School resumes Tuesday, 4/23/19.

May
  • 5/4 Mister G, Family Concert - 11:00 am
  • 5/24 Grandparent and Special Friend Day - 8:30-11:45 am 
  • 5/25 Hilltop Community Tag Sale - 7:30-noon

June
  • 6/3 Tree Dedication Ceremony / Kahn Mason Award, Time TBD
  • 6/6 Last Day of School / Field Day & Bead Ceremony
Summer Fun




Hilltop Families SummerFun Registration is now open.

Everyone should have a brochure and registration form for SummerFun camps this year, and there are more at the front desk if needed. The Hilltop community will be given  priority enrollment  in the Children’s House program before we open enrollment to the broader community on April 1. 

Now is the time to look closely at your summer schedules and let us know on or before April 1 if your child will be joining us for SummerFun this year and we will reserve a space for them. 

The staffing for these programs this is as follows:
Toddler Program   Session One -  Mariam Diallo, 
& Session Two -  Jessica Thomas

Children’s House  All Sessions will be lead by  Francoise Zucchetti Clay  ( currently our Children’s House and After Care Assistant who is AMI Early Childhood Trained)

Let the summer dreaming begin!!!
Meet, Greet and Eat !
Join us for a Meet, Greet and Eat with the Board of Trustees! We are looking forward to our second annual CHILI COOK-OFF, highlighting the culinary expertise of our talented Board. This will be also be an opportunity for parents to ask questions, and hear the latest from the board.

Wait, there's more...we even have a Kid's Night Out planned to make attending the event easier. To sign up for KNO or learn more, visit the KNO website . Bring the whole family!

We look forward to seeing you on Friday, March 22, at 6 pm in the Middle School.
2019 Parent Surveys
At Hilltop Montessori School, we want to be responsive to the needs of our families. We would like feedback from families in order to consider future plans.

The 2019 Parent Surveys were emailed this morning. Please respond to this survey as soon as possible so that we can take your input into consideration.

You can also access this survey through the link here.

The responses can be anonymous, though if you would like to give your name for further follow-up or input, that would be helpful.

Thank you.
Toddler Room
Enjoy the long weekend.

Warmly,
Ellie, Marco, Sarah and Amanda
Sledding!!
Harrison
Natalia
Mason and a snowman
Children's House
Spring Works

This week, Cheryl and Jonathan shared some of their own interests with the children as part of the spring curriculum. In the Birch Room, the children learned about maple syrup production, something Cheryl knows about first hand. The children explored a variety of works related to different steps in the process, from tapping trees to determining the correct category label for a particular batch. Of course, the tasting part will have to wait just a couple more weeks!

In the Willow Room, Jonathan used the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day holiday as a springboard for a cultural lesson on traditional Irish instruments, including a deeper exploration of the fiddle. Children were introduced to some basic concepts and vocabulary around the instrument, including the kind of material it is made of, its hollow construction, and the use of both sawing motions and pressure to create sound. Its use in Irish dance was talked about as well. After Jonathan demonstrated how to play, the children had an opportunity to use the fiddle themselves!

We look forward to meeting with many of you for conferences at the end of the week!

-The Children’s House Teachers
Jonathan demonstrates playing a fiddle.
Sylvia gets a closer look while Sage and Annabel look on.
Esme experiments with maple sugaring taps and tubing.
Amir concentrates on getting the right sound.
Isaac uses a pouring work made from a maple syrup grading kit.
Lower Elementary
This week we began our Fundamental Needs study, using our imaginations to transport us back to the time of early humans. What, we considered, would we need in order to survive? Our list included food and water, shelter, clothing, transportation, and defense. Our discussion led us into the present day, as students observed that people in the year 2019 still need those very same things, no matter where on Earth they live. 

Our list for what Maria Montessori termed "spiritual needs" was even longer. We defined these as "things that make you happy-" we could remain alive without them, but they enhance our lives and bring richness and meaning to them. It included "books and books and books," art supplies, music, dance, sports, religion, hiking, celebrations, friends, decorations, adornment (jewelry, body paint, tattoos), animals/pets, card games and board games, TV, video games, computers, furniture making, and imagination.

Future discussions will include needs vs. wants, looking at how different people around the world and throughout history meet/have met their needs, and the topic of poverty and community service.

LICE ALERT: we have at least one case of lice reported in Lower El. Please check your child's noggin this weekend, and do let us know if you find anything. Knowledge is (lice-vanquishing) power!

Lastly, thank you so much for taking the time to meet with us about your children. We appreciate the partnership we have with you!

Have a great weekend!
Kerstin, Patrick, and Amelia
Upper Elementary
The class was abuzz this week preparing for conferences. It was wonderful to see the level of collaboration, as olders helped youngers with written reflections about their learning, and all practicing the presentation of their portfolios with one another.

One of the sixths took issue with a piece of information in some of the youngers’ Venn diagrams about religion. In this work, the students arrange a layout of major world religions and some of their key features, texts, and beliefs for comparison. Finnegan maintains that Hinduism is based on many gods, rather than one god as shown in the layout. He is now preparing a presentation to the class on this topic. Meanwhile, we celebrated the arrival of a new globe for the classroom. The makers of this globe offer an option of replacing just the orb of the globe, at a lesser cost, as it is updated in the future. However Carmen took one look at the globe and pointed out that Swaziland is misnamed, for it was changed last year to eSwatini in a move away from the country’s colonial past. We just can’t get anything past these sixth graders!

In other news, the class learned to identify six types of trees found on campus for our study of ecological relationships. During our examination of the relationship between lichen and moss to the nearby trees, students also practiced using a magnetic compass. Each group focused on one type of tree. They sampled five of that type for the presence of either lichen or moss. What did we discover? If you are lichen, you are most likely to grow on the west side of a black cherry tree. If you are moss, you like black locust more than hemlock. According to our study, moss also prefers the east and north sides of a maple tree, but shuns the south.

The class is already talking about the annual play, though our deliberations about a storyline don’t begin for another couple of weeks. Be sure your calendars are marked:

School performance: Thursday, April 11, 1:00 p.m.
Evening performance: Thursday, April 11, 5:00 p.m.
Middle School
Next time you find yourself in downtown Brattleboro, stop in at Amy’s Bakery and take a look at the new art exhibit. The student’s charcoal portraits of people who inspired them from the Civil Rights Movement will be on display through April.

It is less than three weeks before we leave for the Alabama Odyssey. We are holding a middle school parent information night on Thursday, March 21 at 7pm . At the meeting we’ll discuss the itinerary, packing list, and financial details.
Preparing for our show at Amy’s Bakery - Civil Rights Portraits
Language Arts intensity
Singing - Getting ready for Alabama Odyssey
Save the Date: Concert at Hilltop!
Hilltop School Store
The online school store is open!!

A wonderful way to show your support of Hilltop!
This “Pop-up Shop” is only live from now through 5/15. Start shopping now!  

Hilltop Montessori School themed items hats, sweatshirts, t-shirts, bags and more are available for purchase.  Check it out!
Hilltop Helpers


THANK YOU to Hazel Pizza for providing delicious pizzas for the students and staff every week! Sccccrrrrumptious! We still and always will ♡ 🍕!!


BIG THANKS to Brattleboro Tire for donating our Hilltop van's winter snow tires and for rotating them each year!
Community
NEYT's Junior Company would like to extend a warm invitation to Hilltop students for our production of A Wrinkle In Time , by Tracy Young, adapted from the novel by Madeleine L'Engle and directed by Katrina Spenceman and Julia Tadlock.

Meg Murry is once again joining forces with Mrs. Whatsit, Charles Wallace, Calving O'Keefe and more to battle the forces of evil so she can rescue her father, save humanity and find herself. Performed by young actors ages nine to twelve, this particular adaptation tells this story of adventure and discovery in a fresh, unexpected way, and, of course, in the end, audiences will know two things for sure: 1. Love CAN overcome evil and 2. There IS such a thing as a tesseract. Join us!

The play performs March 15 at 7 pm, and March 16 at 2 pm and 7 pm. Tickets for these performances are $11 for Adults, $10 for Seniors, and $7 for Students.

Tickets may be purchased in advance at www.neyt.org , in person at the NEYT Box Office, or by phone (802) 246-6398 from 12-5pm on Wednesdays. The show plays at New England Youth Theatre, 100 Flat Street in Brattleboro, Vermont.
"Gasping Whiteness" explores how white supremacy shapes parenting in progressive, middle class communities as it raises funds for POC-led arts, organizing, and youth development work. I wrote the play, inspired by the work of activist/artists from across the U.S., and am co-directing it with the extraordinary Trenda Loftin (who also performs). It features the visual work of Angela Davis Johnson , performances by two Western-MA children (ages 10 and 11), and community dialogues after every show. To date, we've raised over $3000. Catch the latest performance in Putney, VT on Sunday March 17th at 1 pm , at the beautiful home of Sandglass Theater. 100% of the proceeds will benefit The Root Social Justice Center . Tickets and more info at https://gaspingwhitenessputney.brownpapertickets.com.
Bonjour! ¡Hola!

Express Fluency has some exciting new classes coming up this spring. Our classes get students understanding and speaking a new language in record time. The current offerings are designed for adults but are also appropriate for students age 10+. They are great to take as a parent/child team. Please contact us if you have any questions. ( elissa@expressfluency.com )

Weekend French Intensive (beginner)
March 16th-17th 10am-4pm 
More info and registration  here .
This class is taught by our guest instructor, Allison Litten. Allison teaches elementary French in Norwich, VT. There are two mother/daughter pairs enrolled in the class already. 

Weekly French classes:
Beginner : April 11th-June 13th. 3:30-5:30pm
Advanced Beginner : April 11th-June 13th. 6-8pm
Instructor: Maggie Smith

Weekly Spanish Classes
Beginner :  April 23rd-June 18th. 4:30-6:15pm
Advanced Beginner : April 23rd-June 18th. 6:30-8:30
Instructor: Becca Rice. Becca teaches middle and high school Spanish at the Four Rivers Charter school. She is great with kids and adults alike.

Or join us on  a trip to Andalucía, Spain ! May 17th- 26th.