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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Congratulations to the graduating class of 2020!!
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Next Week:
June 22
- First Remote Learning Workgroup Meeting, 7pm
June 22 - July 3
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Upcoming:
July 13 - July 31
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We have a few staff who are changing roles at Hilltop, but we are thrilled that they will still be very much around:
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Jessica Thomas is “retiring” from Hilltop for the second time. She was a lead teacher in Lower Elementary for 27 years. Jessica retired once and then came back three years later to assist
with her love and care
in the Toddler Program, afternoons in the Children's House, Elementary After Care, and SummerFun for the past four years. She will have more time at home now, but still promises to be available as a substitute teacher well qualified for so many of our classrooms!
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Amber Arnold
has had many hats at Hilltop, most recently sharing her warmth and hospitality the Front Desk, and her expertise in developing the position of the Equity, Justice, and Liberation Coordinator. Amber has chosen to step back from the large commitment of hours that her position has taken, and focus her work hours at
The Clemmons Family Farm
in addition to her parent role. We are thrilled that she will be continuing on staff with us in a consulting role, coming in for specific projects related to the Equity, Justice, and Liberation work that she has started.
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Marco Yunga Tacuri
has also worn many hats at Hilltop. He has worked in the Toddler Program, in Children’s House, and most recently in Upper Elementary! He has brought a wonderful perspective and warmth to the students and teachers in every program and, while I keep trying to send him for Montessori training at one program level, he wants to continue to be able to have an impact as broadly as possible across all programs. He will be working within and among all programs as the Equity, Justice, and Liberation Coordinator in consultation with Amber, while also continuing his Spanish and PE responsibilities with the Children’s House Olders.
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We are so thrilled to have these staff continuing to support Hilltop in these new roles. If you have any questions about the roles and responsibilities of anyone at Hilltop, or about future changes that next year might bring, please feel free to ask me.
Stay well,
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Remote Learning Workgroup
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While we are working full steam ahead on the logistics for meeting in person in the fall, we also want to be sure to learn all we can from our Remote Learning experience so that we can apply lessons learned in case we are called upon to do it again . . . We have an illustrious group of parents, Board Members, teachers, and administrators who will be meeting over the summer to share observations and ideas. The best time seems to be Wednesday evenings.
The first meeting will be Wednesday, June 22 at 7pm.
We are gathering a folder of information to share and expect to meet every two weeks through July and August. If you'd like to contribute an idea or reflection, please forward it to me. Or, if you have not contacted me and want to join this group, please let me know!
Stay well,
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Bonjour!
Summer is finally here. During our Zoom meeting we were able to follow up on the growth of your seedlings that you planted in the spring; now all the Toddlers have a garden to take care of!
While you take care of your gardens at home, we will take care of the Toddlers garden here at school. This year we planted some new things: broom corn, loofa, and hard shelled gourd.
- Broom corn, so we can make old fashioned brooms in the fall.
- Hard Shelled Gourd, to make birdhouses so we can feed the birds during winter.
- Loofah, which we can use to clean and scrub our hands before coming into the classroom.
Let's hope that all of our gardens will grow well this summer! And during rainy days you can take care of your stuffed animals:
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The loyal blue dog is for Philex, who is cuddly and dependable. The quick pink mouse is for Laylani, with her sparkling eyes. The curious and caring owl is for Meiyi, with big observant eyes. The happy calf is for Olive GM, jumping among the daisies. The woodsy bear is for Harrison, who loves to adventure outside. The green spring-time cat is for Maybn, who is independant and playful. The dreamy and enthusiastic rabbit is for Maple, who is always smiling. The brave chick is for Olive E, growing as fast as her real chicks as home.
Lastly,
here is a video of a French song that reflects the tenderness we all need to share with one another, now and always.
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Enjoy these photos from the Children's House Bead Ceremony, which you can watch in full above! Congratulations Olders!
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Phoebe and Eliza at their Peace Table
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Odin's completed clay creation!
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Last week the Lower Elementary Olders hiked up Black Mountain to give their
Moving Up Speeches, accompanied by a parent and the LE teachers.
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The class card for 6th graders,
which each include hand-written slips from each of the other students.
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The Upper Elementary Class went out with a bang this week, including:
- The last of the ISP presentations from our sixth graders: Wolves and Ecology (Cara), Climate Change (Abby), Pearl Harbor (Mark), Annette Spaulding (Luke), and a Western Europe Travel Plan, complete with itinerary, travel tips, and historical notes (Pete).
- The first “UE Virtual Museum” in history, whose doors opened Monday! Please click HERE to view student projects displayed among several galleries, including aviary, botany, history, writing, and more. A Directory and Tips for Navigating this Museum, displayed at the outside, will help you find your way.
- A live Student Panel to take questions about the museum, on Tuesday. Another first: We were able to host visitors from as far away as Cleveland, Ohio! As the session ended, a few students were heard calling out, “Bye, I love you Grandma!” (Who knew two months ago what distance-learning would make possible?)
- The annual UE Un-talent Talent Show, normally part of the three-day trip, occurred Wednesday morning over Zoom. Dancing birds, karaoke, original compositions, card tricks, Chef Sebastian and the (literally!) flaming grill, and finally …
- A surprise visit by Mr. and Mrs. Chin, just as graduation was getting underway on Thursday. This is normally a feature of the talent show, and we almost missed them this year! (See pictures below.)
- Our beloved UE graduation ceremony, on Thursday morning. The sixths shared their graduation speeches, showed what used book they are donating to the class, and dedicated specific “powers” to each of the 4ths and 5ths. For their part, the 4-5s had worked in small groups to hand-paint flower pots for the 6th grade. They also read out a list of things we’ll miss about each of the moving-up students, which are featured on the individual diplomas. Thank you to Marco for the leg work shuffling the pots around, and starting their beautiful sunflower plants several weeks ago!
- Finally, the Elementary Car-Parade, which gave us all a chance to see one another, blow kisses, and share a smile before departing for the summer.
It has been a wild ride these last several months. We could NEVER have done it without all pulling together. The UE teachers wish to thank our PARENTS for your hard work supporting your learners in new ways during this period.
Have a wonderful summer!
Tom, Jen, Marco
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Pots hand-painted by the 4-5th grade, given to 6ths for graduation.
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Before graduation, the class enjoyed watching a surprise visit from Mr. and Mrs. Chin (Corbin and Abby), who took questions from their marriage counselor.
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Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Chin.
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We were so happy to come together over the course of the last week of school. Although we hadn’t seen each other for the past three months other than through the miracle of Zoom, it sometimes felt as if that time had miraculously disappeared. Even with face masks and social distancing, the distance receded and we were no longer remote.
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The sevenths gathered on Tuesday and the eighths on Wednesday. The time was primarily spent on preparing for our day together on Thursday in Upland. Upland and rain are synonymous so it was no surprise that the rain fell intermittently throughout the day. Regardless, the eighths recited their speeches for each other and the sevenths organized a lovely ceremony honoring the soon to be graduates. After a camera carrying drone photo shoot courtesy of alum Darwin Holcombe, we made fabulous pizza in the bread oven and greatly enjoyed being with each other at last.
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The
in person graduation ceremony on Friday was beautiful. It was a dignified and heart warming end to a year of challenge and beauty. You can view the Middle School Graduation Boards
here.
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You can read the opening words
from Graduation from the Head of School
here, or listen to the audio below.
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Send Off Video From Mace!
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Community Helpers
A member of our Hilltop community is in need of someone who has the ability to install bathroom shower tiling. If anyone is interested or knows of anyone skilled in this area, please contact
Francoise
as soon as possible. The completion of this project will assist her family with changing needs.
Thank you, friends.
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Hilltop Montessori School Online Store
We are excited to reintroduce the Summer 2020 store for Hilltop. There are new items and great gift ideas for your Hilltop student, alum, parent/caregiver, or grandparent. A unique gift idea and a wonder way to showy our support of Hilltop!
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Please share with family members and friends that love to support Hilltop as much as you do.
Orders will be completed within 3-4 weeks of the order deadline. Choose to have your order shipped directly to you, or pick up at Pure Green Tees in East Dummerston.
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NOTE:
there are different brands in this store. Please be sure to check the listed size charts with each item.
Your order will only begin to be processed once the site closes.
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