Hilltop Montessori School's mission is for students to practice responsible independence in a caring community of curious, critical learners and thoughtful citizens.
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Next Week:
March 25
- Equity and Anti-Bias Work Group, 2-3 pm Arts Barn Kitchen
March 27
- Lower El Work Share, 3-4 pm
March 28
- All School Gathering, 8:45 am, UE hosts
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Important Future Dates:
April 3 - 10
- Middle School Alabama Odyssey Trip
April 11
- UE annual play, 1 pm and 5 pm
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Save the Date - Spring Events
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March
- 3/30 The Hatch, Storytellers on a Mission, 7:30 pm Latchis Theater. Win two front row tickets ($120 value!!) to see this amazing show! Raffle tickets are on sale now at Hilltop. Tickets are $5 each or 6 for $20. Tickets will be drawn on Wednesday, March 27th. 100% of proceeds support Groundworks Collaborative.
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April
- April is the Month of the Young Child. All CH and TP parents should have gotten a program listing all of the free and wonderful events for children that will be in our community this month. (Here is a link to a PDF version of the program.) Check out the art exhibit opening on 4/7 that will feature art from our CH, and the few events occuring at Hilltop as well!
- 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
- 6/6 Last Day of School / Field Day & Bead Ceremony
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Hilltop Families SummerFun Registration is now open.
Please sign up if you are interested in having your Toddler or Children’s House student come to Hilltop for summer camp. Spots in the CH camp will open up to the broader community on April 1 and it has consistently been filled.
If you want a spot, please register now!
Everyone should have a brochure and registration form for SummerFun camps this year, and there are more at the front desk if needed.
While we are not doing a Hilltop elementary camp this summer, there are a few outside folks who will be offering morning camps at Hilltop to the elementary age group. See the Art Camp in the Community section below, and Tom Griffith, our resident UE teacher and woodworker will also have an offering in July. More information on that class coming!
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Board Meet, Greet, and Eat - 6-8 p.m. TONIGHT
Please join the board and admin staff as we present an update at this the midpoint of our 5-year Strategic Plan. We will be including updates on work of: diversity/equity, Montessori identity, sustainability, the school's finances, and more. The board will serve chili and fixings (each committee is competing for your vote as the best chili chefs!). Childcare is available through the Middle School’s Kids Night Out. Hope to see you there!
Equity and Anti-Bias Work Group
will have their first meeting on Monday, March 25th from 2-3 at the school
. This group's task is to review all aspects of Hilltop’s operations through the anti-bias lens and to provide actionable recommendations directly to the Board for implementation. This is the first meeting of what is expected to be an ongoing group to identify areas for improvement in diversity/equity at our school and to measure progress. Heather Lesage-Horton is leading this effort. Any parents, staff, students, and community members are welcome. If you would like to join for this first meeting and haven’t already contacted Heather, please contact her at
heather.lesage@gmail.com
. If you are interested in participating, but are unable to attend this first meeting, please let her know what times might generally work for you.
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Position Available: Cleaning Staff
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There is a position open as part of the Hilltop Facilities Team. Join the crew of folks that keep this school a safe, clean, and inviting learning environment for our students, staff, and families.
This weekday cleaning shift is a 2-hour team clean on Monday-Thursday evenings starting after 5pm. The position is year-round with a flexible start date. Additionally, the position requires availability to assist weekend cleaning, event setup/clean up or to perform occasional 4-hour solo weekday cleaning shifts. Candidates should be thorough, efficient, and reliable. The position involves vacuuming, mopping, disinfecting surfaces, and removing trash. Ideally the candidate lives locally.
Contact
Kegan Refalo
, the Facilities Manager, if you are interested.
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David and Mason in the sandbox
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Harrison arranges flowers.
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It was a busy week in Children’s House! On Wednesday, Larisa (Kolya’s mom) visited both classrooms to teach us about Russia. The children explored a map, books, and materials from the country, and learned about differences in our alphabets and language. They especially enjoyed making animal sounds in Russian and English! Thank you so much to Larisa and Kolya!
On Thursday, we welcomed the return of All School Gathering! The children really enjoyed reconnecting with their peace buddies for this community wide celebration of works and songs. Also on Thursday, the Olders began their pottery class with Bonnie Stearns. Over the next few weeks, they will create a variety of projects at her studio to take home.
Finally, on the playground, we enjoyed the beginning of another Vermont mud season. Smashing and collecting ice, making soup and other “food” from puddles, and full body exploration of that enticing mud were very popular activities this week. Please make sure to have good waterproof gear for this fun but messy time of year!
Have a great weekend!
The Children’s House Teachers
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Larisa shows a coloring page she made for the children.
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Allie works with a nesting doll while Zhong Yi looks on.
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Bonnie and Kennedy get a closer look at some clay.
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Finn and Amir look at clothing from natural materials.
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Kolya and his mom demonstrate how to wear a shawl.
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Sophie enjoys a little softness.
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Amir, Asha, and Leo celebrate the 3rd day of spring in Vermont.
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We had a great week, culminating in a fabulous trip to the Beneski Museum of Natural History in Amherst, MA. We got to see lots of creatures from the Timeline of Life, including dinosaurs, cyanobacteria, jellyfish, trilobites, and so much more! We even got to pretend to be wooly mammoths and die in a bog. Field trips don't get much better than that!
Don't forget about our workshare next week, on Wednesday from 3-4. We look forward to seeing you there!.
Have a great weekend.
Amelia, Patrick, and Kerstin
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The Upper Elementary students were excited to begin a new round of electives. These activities are offered on Thursday afternoons and enable a small group of students do an art, music, physical, or other type of activity more intensely and in more detail. We greatly appreciate the parents, teachers, and students who offer their time to present new, exciting topics to groups of interested students. The new session includes:
- Drawing - an art intensive given by Jade in the art room
- Golf Course Development - a project to build a “foot golf course” on campus!
- Singing - back by popular demand, singing with Jay
- Programming - students, Luke and Pete, share programming skills with their classmates
- Fiber Arts - sewing projects in the art room with Jade
- Pewter - making pewter sculptures in a multi-step process with Ben Boyarko
- Cribbage - learning the complex game of cribbage with Tom
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One of the most effective ways of exploring history is through primary source materials. There is so much to learn not only in the historical perspective the document presents but also in the use of language and setting. Perhaps the greatest and rarest primary source we can learn from is the maker of history themselves. This will certainly be the case in our upcoming odyssey to Alabama. On Thursday we were very fortunate to host Jim Kates, who was one of the 800 northern volunteers who went to Mississippi in 1964 for Freedom Summer. Jim was a college freshman from New York who first journeyed to Oxford, Ohio to receive training in non-violence and community organizing from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and then to rural Mississippi to help register voters and establish the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. It was a summer that changed his life and continues to guide and inspire him. We had a spirited and powerful conversation.
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Building journals for our Alabama Odyssey
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Gluing up the boards for a journal
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Collating songs for our Alabama journals
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Jim Kates speaks to us about his experiences during Freedom Summer in Mississippi.
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Save the Date: Concert at Hilltop!
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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!
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THANK YOU
to
Hazel Pizza
for providing delicious pizzas for the students and staff every week! Sccccrrrrumptious! We still and always will ♡ 🍕!!
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BIG THANKS
to
Brattleboro Tire
for donating our Hilltop van's winter snow tires and for rotating them each year!
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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
)
Weekly French classes:
Beginner
: April 11th-June 13th. 3:30-5:30pm
Instructor: Maggie Smith
Weekly Spanish Classes
Instructor: Becca Rice. Becca teaches middle and high school Spanish at the Four Rivers Charter school. She is great with kids and adults alike.
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