October 12 - Fall Harvest Festival (Parent Council)
October 14 - NO SCHOOL - Teacher PD
October 15 - MSCS Board Meeting
October 25 - Dia de los Muertos Assembly
October 30-31 - Parent Teacher
Conferences -- NO SCHOOL
November 1 - NO SCHOOL
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Cultures throughout the world have represented human qualities through stories, especially for younger children. The beginning of Autumn is marked in many Waldorf schools by celebrating Michaelmas, a Festival of Courage that centers on the ancient story of Michaël slaying (or taming) a dragon. This particular story, and similar versions found in many cultures, inspire us to summon courage and grace to face the challenges in our lives. As such, this has been an exciting week at Mountain Song Community School as we mark the season with a Festival of Courage. Two main events were school-wide: the Obstacle Course, and the Friday Assembly. Watch for pictures next week.
Under Mrs. Neal’s guidance, the 7th and 8th grade students prepared an Obstacle Course for the younger students in grades 1-6 on Thursday. The course had a series of stations placed throughout the front and back playgrounds as well as the gym. One by one, classes came out, listened to a story, and then challenged themselves to a series of tasks. Some of the challenges required a great deal of courage, and many students found they could accomplish things they were not sure they could. At the end, each class was greeted with a basket of crisp apples. Photos of the Obstacle Course will appear in next week’s Songbird -- stay tuned!
Then on Friday morning, the 7th graders are leading the school in a dramatic pageant for the Festival of Courage during the Friday Assembly. Again, I expect pictures of this event in next week’s Songbird.
In the meantime, please check the articles below for activities happening at the school, and our appeals for safety and punctuality that support our learning community.
Thank you for your support.
--Dr. Teresa Woods
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Dear Mountain Song Families,
Every year, we survey our families to count how many federally connected students are enrolled in our school. Why? Because the federal government reimburses schools for loss of tax revenue for families that are federally connected (the federal government is exempt from paying property taxes). So be sure to be counted so Mountain Song can benefit from these efforts to level the playing field!
Federally connected students are those connected to members of uniformed services, to federal properties such as Indian lands, national parks, VA hospitals, national labs, federally subsidized low-rent housing, and whose parents work on federal property. Depending on the number of federally connected students we have at our school, we may be eligible to receive additional federal funds.
If you or a member of your household is federally connected, please be sure to be counted by completing this form and returning it to the school by December 10th. The form should be completed per student. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Sarah Kreger at
skreger@mountainsongschool.com
.
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Please be conscientious about arriving to school on time. We are starting the year with a high number of chronic late arrivals, and we ask that you please help support your child to enter the classroom prior to 8:15 a.m., when teachers start the school day with class activities.
Children can enter the school and get settled between 8:00 a.m., when the doors open, until 8:15 a.m., when school begins. Arrivals at the classroom after 8:15 a.m. are considered tardy. All children arriving late must be accompanied by an adult into the building and signed in at the front office before they can be issued a pass to enter class.
Tardiness impacts individual children, as they enter their classes after the greetings, rhythm, activities, and social-emotional climate have been established for the day. Tardiness also impacts an entire class as the group experiences the interruptions and scattered start to the day when children arrive late. Studies link chronic tardiness to lower levels of learning, behavior challenges, and later in life, job performance.
We aim to cultivate good learning and social habits within each classroom community. We know the challenges of getting the household up, dressed, fed, and transported to school safely, and we so deeply appreciate your support.
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Volunteers Needed: Traffic Safety Monitor
For Drop-Off and Pick-Up
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We are looking for volunteers to help keep traffic moving during morning drop off and afternoon pick up. Volunteers will be required to wear a yellow vest. One person will patrol the loading zone at the front of the building (Kiowa Street), the other will patrol the loading zone to the east side (29th Street). The first volunteer to arrive will choose which area they want to patrol.
Volunteers must be prepared to remind fellow parents that they cannot park in the loading zones. Signs on both are clear: "No Parking During School Hours" We need four volunteers each day, two in the morning from 7:50-8:15 am and two in the afternoon from 2:35-3:15 pm.
Since school started this year, we have experienced some close calls in keeping children safe during morning drop-off and pick-up.
Please help keep all children safe during these times by observing traffic zones.
If you are interested in volunteering as a Safety Monitor in a morning or afternoon shift, please sign up
here
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October Parent Council Meeting
Thursday, October 10th, 6:30 p.m.
MSCS Gym
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Please join us for the October Parent Council Meeting.
Thursday, October 10th
6:30 p.m. at the MSCS gymnasium
There will be childcare provided by one of our very own classroom assistant teachers. We will have board members present to go over the proposed Parent Council and Board merge. We will also be voting on Chair Committee positions and upcoming events. See you there!
May the light brighten your day☀
Holly and Veronica PC CO Chairs
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Fall Harvest Festival
October 12, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
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The Mountain Song Parent Council Festivals Committee would like to welcome our community to join in this year’s Fall Festival on Saturday, October 12th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Fall Festival is the committee’s gift to our community and is completely free. We will welcome the autumn with stories, stone soup, drinks, and bread.
How can you help?
- Join the Parent Council Festivals Committee
- Take home and complete a craft kit
- Volunteer for set-up and/or clean-up for the festival
- Help seek donations
- Volunteer to collect windfall apples in Penrose, Colorado
- Donate veggies for the soup
- Volunteer to chop veggies with the community after school on October 11
- Most importantly, come join us at the festival!
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Citrus Fundraiser by Parent Council
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The Parent Council is in the midst of its citrus fundraiser, featuring the freshest, premium California citrus fruits that will arrive just in time for the winter holidays! Ordering deadline is Friday, November 15. We need 108 boxes ordered to make the companies order minimum, so order today for your holiday gift-giving. The school earns $8.00 per box of citrus purchased, with funds used to benefit our children’s education.
Click here for more information
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Help Restock the Parent Council Food Pantry
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The MSCS Parent Council has established a Food Pantry for our school! We have an ongoing need for accessible nutritional food for our students, and with your help, we can fill that need. The Food Pantry is in need of restocking. Please drop off donations in the bin just inside the front doors. Cold items can be dropped at the front desk.
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Board Voice
Volume 1, Issue 1 – Bill Burkett & Aubrey Fennewald
Welcome, Mountain Song Families, to the first edition of the
Board Voice.
We, the Mountain Song Board of Directors, plan on publishing regular communications in the Songbird about what the Board does, what the Board is doing right now, who the members are and what their roles on the Board are, and other news about Board activities that are important to Mountain Song Families.
We are still ramping up our activities and plans for the new school year and have gotten off to a great start with a new Board president, Tina Halligan, new Board members Hilary Hoekenga and Aubrey Fennewald (who really isn’t that “new” to the Board), and returning members Scott Diebert and Bill Burkett. Our five-member Board is just enough to operate and govern the school, but we’d like to expand the Board to at least 7, and ideally 9, members – so if you are service-minded and would like to serve the school in an important leadership role, please contact me, Bill Burkett, at
wburkett@mountainsongschool.com
for more information.
Too Much of a Good Thing?
We are happy to say that we are bursting at the seams - that so many families from the region are committed to public Waldorf education is a wonderful thing! But it does put a strain on our operations and future growth plans to remain in the present building, which we lease from the local school District 11. We anticipate adding yet another new grades class next year, yet we have used every available space in the current building. We will simply need more space next year.
The Board of Directors (BOD) met for their annual retreat on Saturday, September 14th. Much of the day was spent in discussion and consideration of the great undertaking ahead of us to move the school. The BOD focused on identifying goals, and reviewing and discussing a plan of action for this school year (2019-20) in order to ready the school for a move to a new location!
The BOD and the ELT are committed to keeping you informed of that plan and updates as we move through the coming year. This is the first of many regularly-scheduled communications from the BOD to the Community regarding our progress to find a new home for our beloved school. The Mountain Song BOD and volunteers of Board committees are:
- Working actively on the plan to move the school
- Seeking out potential sites and funding sources
- Recruiting additional BOD members and Committee volunteers with expertise in real estate, development, and finance
- We anticipate a 25,000-40,000 square foot facility with possible acreage for facility and program development
- We are working within a timeline that is 8-24 months.
A Call to Action!
WE NEED ALL HANDS ON DECK!! This is a call for YOUR help. We need ALL community members to step up! Parents, community members, friends, guardians, family ... we especially need any expertise in capital projects, construction, real estate, or move-the-school related experience. We also need help with development (fundraising), communications, and outreach ... WE NEED YOU!
The Futures and Development Committees have joined forces for the coming school year and will be operating as one joint committee to lead much of the work to come. If you can give your time and feel you have the skills set(s) we are looking for - OR, if you can connect us to one of those hotly sought-after recruits - please contact Co-Chairs Scott Deibert or Aubrey Fennewald:
Thank you all for your commitment to our Mountain Song community!
Coming Up
Future editions of the
Board Voice
will continue to provide status updates on the new school planning and progress, introduce and describe the officer roles and Board committees, and provide updates on important things going on at Mountain Song Community School.
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100 Years of Waldorf
An Education for the Future
All over the world, people connected to Waldorf schools are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first Waldorf school this month. Here is a video recently released in celebration of Waldorf schools around the world.
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Article or announcement contributions must be submitted to Dr. Woods by Tuesday at 5 p.m. for inclusion in each week’s Songbird newsletter, typically distributed on Fridays. (
twoods@mountainsongschool.com
)
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Mountain Song School Event Calendar
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Mark your calendar with these important Mountain Song Community School dates.
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Mountain Song Community School | 2904 West Kiowa St, Colorado Springs, CO 80904
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Looking for past issues of the Songbird or to sign up new recipients
click here
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