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W E D N E S D A Y W E E K L Y
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In this Issue
Upcoming Events
May 7-25
Student art show
WMS lobby
May 10
9 a.m.
Learning Commons
May 17
Running Club WPD 5K
6:30 p.m.
Conaty Park
Come cheer on our WMS runners, or
register to run yourself! Get a discounted rate when you use the code
WMS at the online checkout.
May 24
9-12 musical - "Compose Yourself"
9:30 a.m. (dress rehearsal) &
7 p.m.
Gym
May 28
Memorial Day -
school closed
May 29
Sixth-grade art show
WMS lobby
May 30
Primary Field Day
May 31*
Elementary Field Day
*Note date change from original calendar.
June 5
End-of-Year Assembly
11:15 a.m.
Gym
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Where Has the Year Gone?
Message from
Head of School Lisa Lalama
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for more from Lisa.
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Each school year, May arrives before we know it! It's easy to remember the first days and weeks of school, when students and parents renew old friendships and make new ones, but here we are already, coming to the end of another fantastic year at WMS.
This year was one unlike most because members of the
American Montessori Society (AMS) and
Middle States Association visited us to closely examine our school's practices before accrediting us for another seven years. We are happy to say that we are meeting those standards!
As part of the final report, the visiting team shares commendations and recommendations, letting us know what we do well and where we might grow over the coming years. It's important you know the focus of several of our commendations because they centered around you, the WMS community. The team noticed the relationships at WMS, between students, teachers, parents and other community members. They spoke to many people throughout their three-day visit and sat in every classroom each day. They noted the strength of our community, the way in which we all work together to encourage and support autonomy and independence in the children. They told us they rarely visit a school where parents are welcomed inside throughout the day. We stand out in our teaching practice, our care for the social and emotional well-being of the children, and our engagement with each other as a strong community.
Of course, they made recommendations as well. As a result of the visit, we are encouraged to look more closely at the Montessori two- to three-hour work cycle. Dr. Montessori established this cycle of work in order for children to build their ability to concentrate and focus on the tasks before them. She felt strongly that this time should not be interrupted. As you know, we offer a variety of enrichment classes that occur outside of this work cycle. We will be examining that schedule in the coming months to see if we can better meet that goal. Another area they recommended we address directly was teacher compensation. We were well on our way to meeting this goal when they visited and happily announced at the annual meeting that our teacher compensation has been adjusted to be more equitable in today's marketplace. Finally, another recommendation we continue to work on is to provide parent education and support you as you continue your parenting journey. Part of our work this summer is identifying topics of interest to you and times that serve you best. If you would like to suggest a topic, please let us know. Just as your WMS experience was a part of the re-accreditation process, it is a part of our continued goal to meet your family's needs as they change and grow.
We were quite pleased with the results of this work and are celebrating our success. Thank you for all you do each day to make WMS such a special place, and rest assured that we are hard at work on continuing what we do well and addressing the suggestions AMS and Middle States made to make us even better.
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News & Notes
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Teacher Appreciation Thank You!
WMS's teachers and staff thank all the amazing WMS parents and friends for the incredible gestures - flowers, classroom door decorations, snacks, lunch and more - you've offered this week in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week. We are lucky to have your children to teach and nurture, and parents like you who care so much about our great school.
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End-of-Year Co-op Hours Reminder
With only four weeks left in the 2017-18 school year, it's time to get in your co-op hours (read the
end-of-year co-op email sent Monday, May 7, for more information). If you haven't submitted your co-op hours, please do so today via the
co-op report form
.
If you are in need of additional hours to fulfill your 30-hour requirement or have questions, please email
[email protected]
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Parent Information Session: Learn More About Ticks with Nurse Lisa Chou
Where: Learning Commons
When: Thursday, May 10, 9 a.m.
Join Nurse Lisa Chou tomorrow, May 10, at 9 a.m. for coffee and a chat about ticks. She'll discuss how to avoid, protect against and detect them, as well as what we're doing here at WMS to make everyone safer.
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Register by May 31 for Camp Montessori and Specialty Camps!
If your kids are planning to attend Camp Montessori this summer and you haven't already registered them, please do so by May 31.
Registrations after May 31 will only be accepted as space allows.
Reserve your spot today
!
Older campers looking to add some variety to their camp days may be interested in one of this year's
specialty camps. This summer's offerings include:
- Archery (June 25-29, ages 8-12)
Designed for campers who have not had archery instruction yet, this beginner-level camp will focus on the basics of target shooting. Campers will learn to safely handle equipment, spend time practicing on the range, explore the history of archery and craft arrows to take home.
- Shakespeare Adventure (July 16-20, ages 7-12)
Travel back in time with the Bard and make his words come alive! We will read and explore a play written by Shakespeare, learn what everyday life and language were like in Elizabethan England and write our own sonnets! We will perform a scene from our chosen play at the end of the week for families and friends.
- Python for Beginners (July 23-27, ages 9-14)
Python is a real-world high level programming language used in business and education environments around the globe. This camp is for students who are self-driven and enjoy a challenge. This week will introduce campers to typed programming using laptops and Arduinos.
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Tomorrow's Leaders
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Seeking Global Politics and Perspectives with Tommaso Morrione (WMS '10)
WMS alum Tommaso Morrione (WMS '10), who will complete his sophomore year at
Columbia University this week, considers himself lucky to have so much work experience to guide his career ambitions.
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Tommaso as a WMS elementary student
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Last summer he traveled to Hong Kong for five weeks, where he worked as an intern in Philip Morris International's corporate affairs department. There he helped develop business plans based on new legislation and changing political situations.
"I enjoyed it and learned a lot," Tommaso said. "They gave me more meaningful work, not just spreadsheets."
As a political science major with a concentration in French (for which he partially credits former WMS French teacher Fabienne Daniels), Tommaso is eager to gain as much hands-on experience as he can. In the fall, he will further his political science studies at Oxford University in England through Columbia's Oxbridge Scholars Program - a full academic-year program for college juniors to study abroad at either Cambridge or Oxford University.
Driven by a longer-term
goal is to attend law school, Tommaso is also considering applying next year to Columbia or Harvard University's junior year deferral program - a program that allows undergraduates to apply to law school during their junior year on condition they agree to work for two years following college graduation.
It's fitting that Tommaso has always been interested in history, political science and current events - especially on a global scale. Tommaso's family moved to Wilmington from Milan, Italy, not long before he was born. He started kindergarten at WMS in 2003. After graduating from WMS in 2010, he attended The Tatnall School for middle school, and went on to the Charter School of Wilmington for high school.
Soccer and a desire to attend a larger school drove Tommaso's interest in attending Charter. In addition to playing club soccer through most of his elementary and high school years, he also played soccer for Charter, where he served as team captain during his senior year and led the team to the state championship.
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Tommaso in Italy last summer |
Tommaso was equally driven by academics in high school, and by freshman year he had started to set his sights on a career in medicine. For two summers - following his sophomore and junior years - he was fortunate to work at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia doing urology research (his dad worked in the Jefferson Hospital urology department) and working in a pathology lab. He parlayed his work at Jefferson Hospital into a project for Charter's
Junior Research
program - a scientific research requirement for graduation - that explored how a specific protein affected the migration of cancer cells in-vitro.
"I was interested in doing med school through about midway through high school," Tommaso said. "Even now I'm interested in [medicine], but it's not my main focus."
Tommaso also attended a summer program at Yale University while still in high school, and thought he would apply early decision to Yale. Then he visited Columbia not long before the Yale application was due and quickly decided to apply early decision to Columbia instead.
"They say don't say New York is the reason you apply, but that's definitely a big factor," he said of his decision to attend Columbia. "I was always thinking about pre-med or law school but then got more interested in politics and law. I like that there is a broad humanities curriculum [at Columbia] that everyone is mandated to take. It's a lot of reading but a lot of fun - I'm very glad I ended up here and not somewhere else."
Tommaso credits his Montessori roots for setting a positive tone for learning and encouraging his self-motivation.
"Montessori let me pursue a lot of different interests - it made me like school," he said.
"School never really seemed like a job."
He's hoping that positive Montessori learning vibe continues into this summer: before he gears up for his year abroad in England, he plans to spend his summer studying for the LSAT.
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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
[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 Advancement & Communications.
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