Children's House Olders take a spring walk to pottery class!

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 April 5, 2019

Next Week: April 7 Month of the Young Child Art Exhibit opening at the River Garden featuring art from the Children's House, 10 am - 12 pm April 10 Middle School returns from Alabama Odyssey April 10 Board meeting, 6 - 9 pm April 11 UE Annual Play, 1 and 5 pm April 12 Spring After School Programs Registration due

Important Future Dates: April 15 - April 22 Spring Break, no school. School resumes Tuesday, April 23. April 24 Children's House and Elementary Playground work party, 3 - 5 pm April 25 All school gathering, CH hosts, 8:45 am April 26 LE Author's Tea, 8:45 am

Save the Date - Spring Events

April April is the Month of the Young Child. All CH and TP parents should have received 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.) See the Children's House section below for details on the events at Hilltop. May 5/4 Mister G Family Concert at Hilltop - 11:00 am - TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE (see below for details) 5/24 Grandparent and Special Friend Day - 8:30 - 11:45 am  5/25 Hilltop Community Tag Sale & Craft Fair - 7:30 - noon June 6/6 Last Day of School / Field Day & Bead Ceremony (no After Care) 6/7 Middle School Graduation

Playground Work Party

Please come help prepare the students' play areas and gardens for spring and get to know fellow Hilltop families! Any and all Children’s House AND Elementary parents are strongly encouraged to join us after school on Wednesday, April 24th from 3 pm - 5 pm . We will be pulling together to: Spread wood chips to enhance the safety of playground equipment in both the Children's House and Elementary playgrounds. Set up the newly improved greenhouse structure. Beautify the gardens: Prep program beds for student planting; Separate overgrown plants for the plant sale. Repair the iconic Little Red House! (We need a team of four to help with this project). and “mulch” more (pun intended, sorry). Pizza will be provided! We hope to see you there!

Position Available: Cleaning Staff

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.

Hilltop Community Tag Sale & Craft Sale

Calling all Families... Do you need to find a home for some gently used items in your home? Perhaps you are inspired by Marie Kondo??? Join us for the 2019 Family Tag Sale! Table reservations now accepted for the Hilltop Community Tag Sale. This year will also include Crafters and a fabulous Plant Sale. Email Roselle to reserve a table or stop by the front desk and grab a table reservation form. $20 per table. You sell and keep proceeds. Take what doesn't sell home with you (or donate to your favorite charity). Saturday, May 25th 7:30 a.m. - noon In the Arts Barn & at the circle

Toddler Room

Hello from the Toddler Room! We've had a joyful week, appreciating our first taste of spring weather. Toddlers have been looking forward to spending some time outdoors without snow pants and playing in our now thawed sandbox. Make sure to pack some rain gear for the muddy days ahead! Have a great weekend.

Dancing with "Baba" Jay!

Friends working on the alphabet puzzle

Mason taking care of our hallways

Natalia and Josephine cooking up a storm in our mud kitchen!

Children's House

April is the Month of the Young Child! Did you know that Hilltop Montessori School, the Windham Early Childhood Educators Co-op, Building Bright Futures, Early Education Services, and the Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development all come together each year to sponsor a month full of free events and activities for families? We wanted to highlight just a few of these below that have an extra Hilltop connection. During the entire month of April, Children’s House students will join students from other area programs in having their art displayed at the River Gallery downtown. The opening event, which will feature refreshments, children’s activities, and face painting, will be on this Sunday morning, April 7th, from 10 am - 12 pm . Serina and Mariam will be there and hope to see you too! On Wednesday, April 24th from 9:30 - 11:15 am, our Children’s House and Toddler Program students will meet some frogs, rabbits, and other animals when Rae from Teaching Creatures joins us at Hilltop. The event is also a part of the Month of the Young Child and is open to the public; pre-registration at 257-0500 is required for non-Hilltop students so we know how many other children to prepare for.  On Saturday, April 27th from 10:00 -10:45 am , Andy Davis will host “Moving to Music, Stories and Imagination” here in the Arts Barn theater for our students and also the public. This is a free event; pre-registration at 257-0500 is required for non-Hilltop students so we know how many other children to prepare for. There are many, many other events, including cooking, art, dance, music, animals, and more! For more information you can check out the entire Month of the Young Child calendar , visit our Facebook page , or talk with Serina , who is on the planning committee.

Cheryl assists the Birch Room Olders create a background for their ocean creations.

Children from the Birch Room and the Willow Room create sea creatures for Sunday's art show.

Lower Elementary

We have been immersed in the planning and writing of our nonfiction picture books, as we prepare for the Author's Tea on Friday, April 26th.   In Fundamental Needs news, we looked at the needs of people living in the Stone and Bronze ages, and imagined how difficult life back then was-particularly for those in the Stone Age, who lived at a time when the Earth was very cold, and they had to hunt large and dangerous animals for both food and clothing. Geometry continues for everyone, with some folks measuring angles and others studying polygons. We will write more about the wonderful work Lower El is doing next week, our last week before April vacation. Have a great weekend. Kerstin, Patrick, and Amelia

Upper Elementary

Play preparations are well underway! We look forward to performing for you next week! Shows will be at 1pm and 5pm on Thursday, April 11.

Middle School

Hello from Alabama! We are having an amazing time on our Alabama Odyssey, and have lots of thoughts, pictures, and videos to share on our blog (located on the Hilltop Website in the News and Events section under School in Action).

Spring After School Enrichment Programs

Register by next Friday, April 12, for this spring's after-school enrichment programs! Registration forms are available at the front desk . Golf UE and MS, $175, Mace Sebby Mondays and Thursdays, 4/25 thru 5/23 (9 classes), 3:30-5:00 Golf at the Brattleboro Golf Club: Learn the fundamentals of golf. Covering the rules and etiquette of golf and every facet of the game which will help improve each student’s focus and develop their individual skills. There will also be range time at the club during each session. The Hilltop school van will transport students to the the lesson, and parents will be asked to pick their student up at 5pm from the club. If enrollment exceeds 9 students, we will need an additional driver to transport students. Please let the front desk know if you are willing to chaperone students to the club. Snack Attack! UE and MS, $100, Joanna Wilson-Phillips       Tuesdays, 4/23 thru 5/28 (No class on 5/14) (5 classes), 3:30-4:45 Just because the portion is small, doesn’t mean the flavor has to be! Join us after school on Tuesdays for a snacks and appetizers cooking class where we’ll make delicious mini meals and small plates. We’ll look at what makes an after-school treat delicious (without ruining your appetite for dinner) and how to make appetizers that will wet your whistle and wow your friends and family. Participants must be able to read and follow a recipe (sorry, no exceptions). Prior cooking experience is useful, but not needed. Please let the Front Desk know of any allergies when signing up. Instructor: Joanna Wilson Phillips, a certified Culinary Nutrition Expert

Save the Date: Concert at Hilltop!

Jay sings Mister G songs with friends.

Who is Mister G? Ben Gundersheimer (Mister G) is a Latin GRAMMY Award winning artist, author, activist and educator. Hailed as “a bilingual rock star” by the Washington Post, he was originally dubbed MISTER G by his young students while pursuing a Masters in Early Childhood Education. His spirited bilingual performances aim to dissolve borders and foster cross cultural connections. What age group will enjoy the show? We invite children and parents to a morning of lively entertainment and fun as Mister G rocks out at Hilltop! This show is geared to children from Toddler to Elementary years. Will the children be able to dance? Absolutely!  How long is the concert? The show run time is one hour. Please check out a few of Mister G’s videos, below to get excited for the show Tickets are available through Eventbrite. Click here for the link.

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 ♡ 🍕!!

Community

VT SHAKEDOWN PERFORMING AT CLUB VT Putney, VT, 9 PM til midnight, Friday, April 5th Join us for a great night out of Afrobeat/funk music performed by VT Shakedown! VT Shakedown draws their inspiration from the Afrobeat, funk and West African traditions: a tight rhythm section interacting with rippin’ horn solos, poly-rhythms laced among political lyrics, and groovy repeating bass and guitar lines underneath funky drums! Band members include Jay Cook - keys, percussion, vocals; Josh Francis - drums; Anders Burrows - trumpet, percussion, vocals; Jim Heffron - tenor and bari sax; Scott Griswold - bass; Evan Lincoln - guitar; Wendell Rheinheimer - guitar; Julian Gerstin - congas. 21+ event - $5.00 cover charge at door.

Got syrup? See Cheryl !

Greetings from Landmark College! This is a friendly reminder we are once again offering our Expanded Learning Opportunities in STEM summer program for middle school students. Now is the time to introduce your young students to the wonder of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) careers. The U.S. Department of Education says jobs requiring these skills will continue to be the most plentiful and high-paying, yet only about 16 percent of high school students have interest in pursuing a STEM career. We’d like to invite you to learn more at the April 10 Information Session, exclusively for the ELO STEM program. Please join us on Wednesday evening for refreshments and information about this year’s offerings , “Creative Coding using Javascript” (June 24-28) and “Ecology of Field and Forest” (July 1-3,5). WHAT:                  Expanded Learning Opportunities in STEM Information Session WHEN:                  Wednesday, April 10, 6 p.m. WHERE:                 Landmark College MacFarlane Science, Technology & Innovation Center 19 River Road South Putney, VT 05346  Click here to RSVP.

Free Community Film Screening - RESILIENCE Join us for a viewing and discussion on April 11, 6-8 pm at the Winston Prouty Campus, in the Vermont Hall.

"The child may not remember: But the body remembers." Stress and Burnout are such common complaints in today’s society, too much to do, not enough to go around. We believe that this important film highlights the best of today’s science to describe why we may “do too much” at the cost of our own health and wellbeing. We want to share this film with our community to promote community awareness and wellness. Resilience, a documentary that chronicles the dawn of a movement to understand how toxic stress childhood puts us at great risk in adulthood for diseases like diabetes, heart disease, obesity and some cancers. Why resilience? The ability to thrive, adapt, cope despite tough and stressful times defines what it means to be resilient. It is a natural counter-weight to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) that create toxic stress. Resilience takes us on a journey to explore current research on the physiological effects of stress and suffering, and offers steps everyone can take to promote resilience in children (and adults!) impacted by ACEs. Spiritual cultures have understood the relation between body and minds for eons and clinicians have observed and documented it for decades and now we have the science to back it up. Thrive, LLC is a partner to many local businesses. Through our work providing Employee Counseling we have seen how severely individuals are impacted by toxic stress and we want to share this important information with our community. The evening will unfold with a brief introduction, the movie screening, review of community resources along with time for questions, and conclude with a personal guided experience of mindfulness. RSVP preferred but not required. Learn more about us at www.thriveeap.com .

Skills, Drills and Soccer Challenges A New Challenge Everyday! When: April 15,16,17 Rain date: April 18th Time: 9 am - 12 pm Who: Ages 9 - 4 Where: Winston Prouty, lower field Cost: $25 per day Sign up online or register the day of. Coaches: Jeff Brewer, Chris Brewer Goalie coach: TBA Bring: Ball, water, and a snack

April Vacation ART CAMP at the River Gallery School of Art, April 15th - 19th, for ages 6-12 years. Choose the week or a day at a time; $150/week and $35/day (tuition assistance and scholarships available, contact the office for more information). Children will work with drawing, printmaking, painting, papier mache, simple woodworking, found object sculpture, and will experience outdoor breaks, weather permitting. Lots of group projects! Healthy snacks are provided.  Register online or call 257-1577

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 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.

New England Youth Theatre is celebrating its 20th year with lots of great summer programs for kids ages 6-19! From Shakespeare to Improv to Melodrama along with our Design and Technical program, we've got something for everyone, even those who prefer to remain behind the scenes! Visit www.neyt.org to learn more about all we have to offer to make this your Best Summer Ever!