HMS NEWSLETTER | March 13, 2020

Hilltop Montessori School's mission is for students to
practice responsible independence in a caring community
of curious, critical learners and thoughtful citizens.
The first glimpses of spring are here, and business in Haytown is booming!
Next Week

Monday, March 16
  • Girls on the Run, 3-4:30pm
  • Knitting, 3:15-4:30pm

Wednesday, March 18
  • Girls on the Run, 3-4:30pm
  • Knitting, 3:15-4:30pm

Thursday, March 19
  • CANCELED: All School Gathering, 8:45-9:20am
Upcoming

Monday, March 23
  • Girls on the Run, 3-4:30pm
  • Knitting, 3:15-4:30pm
  • MS Performance, 7-8:30pm

Tuesday, March 24
  • MS Performance, 10-11:30am
  • MS Performance, 7-8:30pm

Wednesday, March 25
  • Girls on the Run, 3-4:30pm
  • Knitting, 3:15-4:30pm

Thursday, March 26
  • CANCELED: All School Gathering, 8:45-9:20am

Friday, March 27
  • POSTPONED: Open Board Meeting, 6-8pm
Coronavirus Update: Stay Home if You Can
Dear Families,

As our community braces for the impact of the coronavirus that appears to be inevitable, we are continuing to work closely with our local school district and with our Board members who have medical backgrounds, in addition to reading all the information available as guidelines for Vermont and the country. 

We have developed our HMS Communicable Disease Pandemic Plan. At this time, local schools remain open; if they close, so will we . We are now on the edge between the Green and Yellow Zone - cases confirmed in the state, but not yet in Windham County. 

As we anticipate being in the Yellow Zone soon, we are beginning to implement portions of that plan. One of the consistent recommendations for slowing down the spread of this illness is to reduce the group size, and reduce the contact among groups of people. As such, we are starting to implement the following plans:
  • Cancelling cross-program activities (All School Gathering, cross-program student visits, Parent Education/Meetings, Kids Night Out, etc.)
  • Encouraging families to preventatively self-isolate by staying home thereby reducing the group sizes at school.

We’d like to elaborate on that last point. If it is not a financial hardship for you to keep your children/family home, and if your work is not critical to the healthcare support for our community, please keep your children home. Having smaller groups of students to care for and educate here will enable us to slow the spread of the virus and still be a service to the community, specifically to parents who need the childcare for their livelihoods and to do their work in support of the health of the community. 

Please continue to notify the front desk of absences by email or phone call including information if you are home with an illness (if comfortable, please elaborate), a confirmed COVID-19 case, or as a preventative measure.

If we have extended absences while we are still in session, teachers will do the best they can to support students/families at home with suggestions for work (program/age appropriate) and also teach the students at school. 

If we end up being directed to close, teachers are also preparing to send information home and do as much “distance learning” as possible. As a Montessori school, “online learning” is a bit of an oxymoron. Our educational approach is based on our “prepared environment”, manipulative materials, trained teachers, and community of multi-age learners. Nothing can replace the hands-on, immersive approach experienced day-to-day at Hilltop Montessori School, or outside on our beautiful campus. The school has to do more work to project out over the next few weeks what we can consistently provide families in terms of an educational plan in lieu of actual, real, live school. We are working as a team and in conjunction with other Montessori schools in the same situation to develop a program to continue learning from home. If we end up being directed to close, you will receive an email from your child’s teachers with some suggestions to help days at home be productive and educational. For the Toddler Program, Children’s House, and Lower Elementary, we plan to be providing suggestions for activities to do at home with our students. For Upper Elementary and Middle School, we are working on plans for lessons to continue in some way, pending the continued health of teachers. As the situation changes and develops, you will receive more information about continued learning possibilities for your student. 

We are doing our best to support our students, families, staff, and community during this time of rapidly developments and uncertain predictions. We thank you in advance for your positive attitudes and your extreme support and trust at this exceptionally unsettling time. Your trust and your patience will help our school, families and most importantly our children, get through a most challenging crisis. We will get through this together.  

On another note, we are all very grateful you were able to attend the spring conferences. We appreciate your flexibility working with a new platform and being diligent about illnesses, and rescheduling when needed.  
MS teachers prepare for their next conference and contemplate the ethos.
Notes from the Board
The Hilltop Board of Trustees Leadership Team and the Interim Head of School (IHOS) Search Committee have been moving along at an efficient pace, but in a way that we hope has promoted inclusion and clarity of purpose.

Last Friday, the IHOS Search Committee held 45 minute video conferences with three finalists. Each candidate demonstrated a wealth of knowledge accrued in their many years as Head of School. They each also were able to speak fluently about their passion for and understanding of Montessori theory. At the same time they differed significantly in the qualities and abilities they could offer our school.

On Tuesday morning, the Search Committee met to sort through all that we discovered during these interviews. While we moved forward in a decisive manner, we did have a lively discussion about the priorities our school community holds and which candidates would best help us keep these in balance. We were able to come to a consensus that allowed us to narrow the selection down to two of the three candidates. We are currently setting up interviews with the specific references we asked both candidates to provide. 

Perhaps the most exciting news is that candidate visits have been scheduled, one for next week on Tuesday 3/17 and the second for Monday 3/23, pending HMS moving from the Green Zone to the Yellow Zone (see above). Faculty, staff, and Board members will have time to meet and form impressions of each candidate. In addition, we welcome and encourage parent engagement in meeting these two finalist candidates. Next week, on Tuesday the 17th our candidate from Connecticut will be outside with Tamara at drop-off ready to meet any of you. For those parents who have time, we will provide an opportunity to sit down and chat with her from 8:30-8:45 a.m. in the Music Room and again from 2:30-3:00 p.m. We hope to see many of you there.

Our second candidate would have been in China designing and managing an inaugural AMS-accredited administrator training course, but has been held stateside due to COVID-19. She hopes to be visiting us the following week, on Monday, 3/23. Again, she will be available to chat with parents over coffee in the Arts Barn lobby before All School Gathering. She will also be available from 2:30-3:00 p.m. to meet with a parent group. 

While we are still sad to have Tamara leaving and this search effort has required extra time, it has been an opportunity for staff, board members, and a number of parents to come together, get to know each other better, share a common goal, identify priorities, move forward to find a new leader, and even share a few laughs. Your participation in this next step will help us move through transition in an increasingly cohesive way. We look forward to seeing you.

Candidate 1 - Tuesday, March 17th 8:30-8:45 a.m. or 2:30-3:00 p.m.
Candidate 2 - Monday, March 23rd 8:30-8:45 a.m. or 2:30-3:00 p.m.
Family Survey Forthcoming!
We’re conducting an online survey titled,  " Voice of Parents" ,  designed to partner with our families to hear your candid and clear voice. We have developed this survey in conjunction with Resonance Insights, a leading independent research firm, who will be conducting this research on our behalf. They have provided a confidential, anonymous survey designed to let you be spontaneous and candid about your parenting experience and about what you really want and need in this role. We initially heard about this firm over a year ago at the Montessori Schools of Massachusetts (MSM) conference. Other Montessori schools have found this survey feedback and analysis to be transformative.

We appreciate our community and value your opinion. To make our school the best it can be, we need your feedback – what is working in your experience with Hilltop and what could be improved? What’s most important to you, now and in the future? This survey should take about 15-20 minutes to complete. Respondents to this survey report that it’s interesting and distinctly different from the surveys we have done in the past. We hope and believe you’ll find this survey enjoyable and an effective way to let your voice be heard. 

The survey will be launched online next week. Please be on the lookout for an email invitation from Resonance at that time. Please take a little time to give us your valuable feedback.

Did we mention that your voice is tremendously important? 

Thank you for your time.
Hilltop Community
Hilltop hosted a luncheon and meeting for the Brattleboro Area Development Group in our Arts Barn this past Wednesday afternoon. The group consists of a variety of non-profit development professionals from Brattleboro. Meetings are held monthly to discuss a variety of ways to support development efforts in our community. This month, a panel of six major donors joined the group at Hilltop for a conversation about philanthropy and why it is important to each of them.