HMS NEWSLETTER | March 6, 2020

Hilltop Montessori School's mission is for students to practice responsible independence in a caring community of curious, critical learners and thoughtful citizens.

Upper El celebrates a good work week!

Visit our Website Calendar

Next Week Monday, March 9 Girls on the Run, 3-4:30pm Knitting, 3:15-4:30pm Wednesday, March 11 Girls on the Run, 3-4:30pm Knitting, 3:15-4:30pm Thursday, March 12 HALF DAY Parent-teacher conferences, see below about childcare Friday, March 13 NO SCHOOL Parent-teacher conferences, see below about childcare Sunday, March 15 Parenting for Social Justice Workshop, 1-4pm

Upcoming 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 All School Gathering, 8:45-9:20am Friday, March 20 MS Performance, 10-11:30am

A Note From the Admin Staff

To All Hilltop Families, You should have received an email from us yesterday containing information about Coronavirus, and steps Hilltop is taking to keep our community healthy. Please read through the letter carefully, and we recommend you read the linked New Yorker article.

The Admin Team met with Board Members with medical backgrounds, Heather, Todd, and Alix on Wednesday to learn about Coronavirus prevention and devise a school-wide plan, which is outlined in the email sent out to families yesterday.

In light of Coronavirus cases beginning to show up across the United States, we are enforcing the CDC's recommendation that you "... stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone... Your fever should be gone without the need to use a fever-reducing medicine, such as Tylenol®. Until then, you should stay home from work, school, travel, shopping, social events, and public gatherings." Students sent home with a fever will be expected to stay home the following day . Please help your child to remember to cover their mouth when the cough, and to wash hands for 20 seconds with soap and water. All water fountains have been turned off, and we encourage families to supply their student with a water bottle , and to take said water bottles home at the end of each day to wash.

Notes from the Board

The search for an Interim Head of School (IHOS) is well underway. Within one week we received resumes and letters of interest from twelve applicants! We identified three outstanding candidates and three secondary candidates, all of whom have a solid background in Montessori education and leadership, and by the time you read this we will have interviewed the top three. The interview questions were prepared by a committee including teachers, administrators, parents, trustees, and Tamara, with input from the entire staff. The IHOS search committee is encouraged by the strong response to the job posting, and we will keep the staff and community updated throughout the hiring process.

Dear Hilltop Families, Pies, Pies, Pies! We invite you to join us for our Annual Open Board Meeting on Friday, March 27 at 6pm. This will be an evening to mingle with the board of trustees and other parents while eating sweet and savory pies! You will also have an opportunity to hear about the current “state of the school” including answering any questions you might have about the school’s finances (not too many pie charts), our Head of School transition process (no pie charts), Board of Trustees responsibilities (maybe a pie chart), and any other topics of interest. Did we mention that there will be pies? Please RSVP “Yes” to the front desk to be entered to win a drawing of one of three “Pie-ku” specialty pies made by one of our middle schoolers!! Childcare is available with Kids’ Night Out provided by the Middle School. Please RSVP for childcare at their website .

Parent Teacher Conferences Childcare

Parent Teacher Conferences are next Thursday and Friday, with noon dismissal on Thursday and no school on Friday. Hilltop is offering child care on Thursday from 12pm-5pm, and on Friday from 8am-5pm. If you need childcare for one or both of these days (or for any part of the day) please let the front desk know as soon as you can so that we can staff accordingly.

Curriculum Morning

Toddler Program

This week brought lovely spring weather and a good dose of vitamin D. It has been a long winter, but the snow has melted enough for toddler legs to manage the depth of snow along the Haytown Highway. The last time we were out walking together it was late Fall/early Winter and the woods have changed and stayed the same over these last few months. Like visiting an old friend, the children settled right back into the pace of a leisurely walk and enjoyed the familiarity of the trail.

“A beautiful day to enjoy the woods.”

We’re not the only ones exploring the woods. Toddlers make tracks too. Perhaps some fox scat.

Our favorite mossy rocks stay soft and green even in winter. Spring buds beginning to grow. The woods feel peaceful.

It won’t be long before we’re back again, until next time.

Many thanks to the families who were able to join us on Saturday for the Curriculum Morning. We hope you found it interesting, informative and a fun way to spend some time with the Hilltop community!

Children's House

Thank you to all who attended our Curriculum Morning this past Saturday! We hope that you gained a more complete picture of how we think about and practice discipline in our Montessori classrooms. If you did not get to attend and would like more information, we're happy to give you an overview.  On a different note, and in regards to very public concern for the Coronavirus, we would like to offer a great resource.   This article addresses how to  appropriately  talk about this public health crisis with your children, should questions arise. Naturally, we do not want to instill fear, feelings of confusion, or loss of safety. We are addressing this in our classrooms more generally, by focussing on handwashing and practicing proper hygiene (not explicitly related to preparing for Coronavirus). We have also reviewed and updated our cleaning procedures as well. Other than this, it's been business as usual! We've enjoyed a busy and productive week, edging our way closer to spring. As a reminder, please remember to still send in appropriate cold weather clothing -- Spring is around the corner, but we're still experiencing cold mornings and wet and muddy playground conditions. Hats, mittens and warm coats are still recommended!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Lower Elementary

Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting “Arthur the Geologist,” our guest teacher and Amelia’s friend, during a morning meeting. Arthur shared some of his favorite fossils with us, and fielded many good questions from the Lower El students. A highlight was when he led us into the hallway to walk the Timeline of Life. After informing us that the door near the Corner Room was the beginning of Earth, and the door leading out to the soccer field was the present day, Arthur posed questions like “When do you think the dinosaurs first appeared on Earth?” Students were spread throughout the hallway, along our imaginary Timeline, attempting to move to the correct spot. While doing this, we learned that sharks are older than dinosaurs - they appeared on Earth before them - and that the dinosaurs were on the Earth for a relatively short period of time. It was a fun, thought-provoking lesson. We look forward to having Arthur visit us again in the future! This week, our focus has been on economic geography: Where do we get the items we use on a regular basis? Students worked in pairs to read and write about ice cream, cheese, chocolate, cotton shirts, wool sweaters, paper, and wax crayons. The efforts of many people go into the items we consume!  Enjoy your weekend, Kerstin, Patrick, and Amelia

Amir and Isaac use rubber stamps to create their own coin books. Charlotte and Harper build a salt dough island working from their sketch. Asha pieces together the Coin Value Layout. The results of our community meeting regarding lunch and quiet time.

Isaac contemplates his chunk of soft pretzel dough. Mazin settles down with a just-right book. Reine mixes salt dough for her sculpture.

Upper Elementary

Highlights from the week in Upper El: A look at the chemical changes that occur during photosynthesis More time with our read aloud, The Benefits of Being an Octopus, with a couple octopus videos to complement the main character’s frequent references to octopus stealth and smarts A renewed push on ‘math sequence’; a few olders have begun the work of cubing polynomials, just as some first year students reviewed basic squares and cubes of single-digit numbers (gotta’ love the spread of work in the class!) Renewed grammar lessons, such as ‘sentence analysis with action verb’ Creating pie charts based on percentages of elements in the universe, the atmosphere, the ocean, and the earth’s crust Students turning research notes into paragraph outlines on their history topics Ongoing peace ed work exploring concepts and examples of stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, and this week’s focus: inequality (which can include systems with more rights and opportunities for certain groups) vs. discrimination (unfair treatment against a group); the class considered equality for people with disabilities before and after federal legislation that began in the 1970s A health unit began for the 5ths with Becky, who is covering changes that await in pubery, and discussions about sex and gender A new round of electives (drawing, electronic music, metal jewelry, silkscreen printing, and backgammon/cribbage/canasta games) Students digging into reflection about their own work and progress, in preparation for student conferences. We look forward to seeing you at conferences next week!

Marco supports students organizing their writing. Luke and Pete build the cube of 6 from the cube of 4, to produce ... ...the cube of 4 + 6!

Jade color-coats her bubble map of ideas about Trail of Tears. Focused artists practice blind contour hand drawings in the Drawing Elective. Cara taking notes on the Gold Rush.

Job interview with Beryllium.

Middle School

Letting off steam.

Contemplating the Universe...

Writing the Play.

The middle school is in the maelstrom of performance. Creativity comes in many different forms: giggles of excitement, yawns of boredom, sighs of exasperation, and shouts of discovery. We are in a cycle of writing intensity, sharing and feedback, exploring ensemble work in the theater, madly rewriting, and then starting all over again. Next Monday we’ll cast the show, start getting it on its feet, and practicing songs. Exploring our learning, thinking, and feeling about climate change through the tools and magic of theater is a powerful process and anything but simple. We look forward to bringing the fruits of this collaboration to everyone on Monday and Tuesday, March 23 and 24, at 7pm . We also look forward to seeing everyone at conferences next week.

Community at Large