January 24 -- K-3 Assessment Day - No School for K-3 / Regular Day for Grades 4-8 - Today
January 29 -- Parent Information Night
February 4 -- Board of Directors Meeting
February 14 - Valentine’s Day
February 17-19 -- President’s Day and Teacher Conference Days -- NO SCHOOL
February 18 - Board of Directors Meeting
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Thank you to all who attended last Friday evening’s Town Hall Meeting! The Board of Directors and the Executive Leadership Team shared news of current activities. First, we are in the process of preparing for our Charter Renewal Application. Mountain Song is authorized by the state Charter School Institute (CSI), and periodically our charter is reviewed and reauthorized based on the school’s application. Board members are currently preparing the lengthy application, which will be submitted to the CSI Board of Directors in August 2020.
Second, Mountain Song is looking for a new home to move into in 2021. A few possible sites have risen to the top, which are being explored for their viability. More news will be shared once we have progressed beyond the exploratory stages. In the meantime, now is the time to generate options and possibilities, so please contact
Dan Kurschner
if you have any ideas of sites, potential donors, or individuals with skill sets that could prove helpful.
We were excited about the enthusiasm from families at the Town Hall dedicated to spreading the word to keep Mountain Song enrollment high. Note below the upcoming Parent Information Evening on January 29th, and please send any interested new families to it, or to
Sarah Kreger
for more information about enrollment.
It is an honor to serve Mountain Song and the wonderful families that create the warp and weft of our community fabric. Thank you for your ideas, support, generosity, and enthusiasm that imbue that fabric with such warmth.
With much appreciation,
Dr. Teresa Woods
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K-3 Assessment Day -
TODAY
Friday, January 24th, 2020
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The K-3 Assessment Day is Friday, January 24th. This will not be a typical school day for grades K-3. Instead, please bring your K-3 children to school only in their assessment time slot during which they will be assessed for reading. Sign up with your class teacher.
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Parent Information Sessions
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Families interested in enrolling their children at Mountain Song are encouraged to attend a Parent Information Session to learn more about Waldorf-inspired education, enrollment expectations, our school culture, and a general overview about our unique approach to education. The next session will be from 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm at MSCS on January 29th.
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Confirmation of Continued Enrollment for 2020-21 School Year
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This week, your student(s) will be bringing home a yellow Confirmation of Continued Enrollment form. Please read it carefully, complete it with the appropriate information, and return it to the school no later than January 31st. If you intend to re-enroll your student(s) in Mountain Song next year, this form is essential to ensuring your placement.
If you have other children you are interested in enrolling for the first time at Mountain Song next school year, please fill out the SY20/21 Intent to Enroll form by clicking
here
or visiting our website at
www.mountainsongschool.com/enrollment
.
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Greetings, Mountain Song Families!
As we enter the new semester, we continue to offer our students social support as they navigate their feelings and relationships. We are implementing school-wide conversations and specific activities which blanket Mountain Song in warmth and kindness. Acts of kindness to ourselves, others, and the environment are being woven into our lessons, play, and interpersonal relationships on a daily basis.
Under this umbrella of kindness, we will be conducting two new groups for students who would like help with Social Skills and Grief & Loss. These will consist of small, age-appropriate group discussions and corresponding activities. Social skill building helps children feel confident and empathetic as they navigate changing social relationships with peers, family members, and adults. Grief can present differently in children, and may result from many circumstances including death, divorce, deployment, moving away, loss of a pet, and loss of friendships.
If you have a child who you believe would benefit from these group discussions, please contact me. We will begin the last week of January and continue through the end of the semester. Our ongoing group for students coping with upcoming or current military deployments will also continue through the end of the school year.
Thank you for your support and consideration.
Cori Karasiuk
Dean of Students
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We ask that MSCS students are not exposed to digital media or screen-time on school nights -- Sunday through Thursday evenings -- and that a family effort to reduce children’s general exposure to media away from school is sustained. For our purposes, screen-time includes movies, television, electronic/video games, cell phones, tablets, and computers.
The MSCS media policy is based on the strong body of evidence showing that screen time for children disrupts normal and healthy brain development, as well as negatively impacting social, emotional, and motor skill development. Of importance also are research findings demonstrating that parents’ screen time in the presence of their children negatively impacts children’s development. The media policy aligns with the MSCS premise that the violence, consumerism, and passive entertainment promoted by today’s mass-media culture do not support the well-being of children. We strongly recommend limiting media viewing for children. For more information, talk with your child’s teacher, attend parent nights, and read the latest research on the effects of television and other technologies on brain function and imagination.
The following sources provide additional information about our media policy:
Endangered Minds: Why Our Children Don't Think,
by Jane Healy
The Plug-In Drug
and
Unplugging the Plug-In Drug,
by Marie Winn
What To Do After You Turn Off the TV,
by Francis MooreLapp
How Television Poisons Young Children's Minds,
by Miles Everett
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Help for Parents/Guardians of Children with Behavioral Issues
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NAMI Basics
is a free, six-week education program for parents and family caregivers of children and teens who are experiencing symptoms of a mental illness or whom have already been diagnosed. It is offered by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (
NAMI
) - Colorado Springs. For more information, click
here
.
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Free Food Distribution
Pikes Peak United Way / Care & Share
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See the information below for upcoming free food distributions sponsored by the Pikes Peak United Way and Care & Share, whose vision is a hunger-free Southern Colorado.
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Support for Mountain Song
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As a public charter school, Mountain Song Community School is proud to provide quality Waldorf education at no cost. Yet the funds we receive as a charter school are less than what a typical Colorado public school receives.
At the same time, we are responsible for additional expenses, such as our facilities and maintenance costs. The expenses associated with the building lease, instructional and learning materials, staffing, special programs, and field trips continue to increase each year. In order to provide the valuable programming that makes Waldorf education exceptional, we rely on community donations to reach our annual fundraising goals. Please consider signing up for a small monthly recurring contribution today.
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Save the Date: Grandparents Day
Thursday, March 19th
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We are very excited to announce our second annual Grandparents Day Celebration on Thursday, March 19th. At MSCS, we love and appreciate our grandparents, and believe they are to be honored, treasured and celebrated. In order to send our grandparents a special invitation from the school, we need your help. Please provide us with the mailing and email addresses of the grandparents. We need this information in order to get invitations and information out. To reply with the requested information you can simply click the button below, fill out the needed information and hit submit.
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Volunteers Needed for the Farm
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The Farm is in Need of Volunteers! This is a very integral part of our school, so please consider using some of your volunteer hours to keep The Farm up and running. Children are more than welcome to help and are encouraged to participate. Links are now live for signing up for Fall/Winter and Winter/Spring volunteer hours. See below:
Thank you! Parent Council
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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 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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