W E D N E S D A Y  W E E K L Y
January 30, 2019
In this Issue
Today's Learners:
Middle-schoolers commemorate everyday heroes

Upcoming Events

January 30
Auction Planning Meeting
4:30 p.m.
Learning Commons
All are welcome - get involved and earn co-op hours!


January 31
Bring Your Parent to Work Day
Class start time to 11 a.m.
(see full schedule following Lisa's article)


February 6
8:30 a.m.
(earn 5 co-op hours!)


February 7
9-12 Choir Sings National Anthem at University of Delaware Men's Basketball Game
7 p.m. - game time
University of Delaware- Bob Carpenter Center


February 15
Re-Enrollment Deadline


February 18
Mid-Winter Break - no classes;  pre-registered child care available


Bring Your Parent to Work Day
Message from
Head of School Lisa Lalama

Read more from Lisa on the Montessori Message blog.
T omorrow is our first Bring Your Parent to Work Day, an adaptation of the former Dads' and Moms' days. It is an opportunity for you to choose the best day, tomorrow or May 7, to come and spend the morning at WMS working alongside your children. Many of us may remember going to work with one of our parents, meeting their co-workers, seeing the place where they spent their days, and being welcomed into the world of grown-ups. This is your chance join in the work of your children, to see what they do each day and put yourself in their place for just a few hours. It promises to be eye-opening, inspiring and maybe even a bit relaxing. There is nothing quite like stepping into a child's world and learning about their "take" on what they do each day. We look forward to seeing you and having you as part of a WMS classroom tomorrow or later this spring.







Bring Your Parent to Work Day Schedule:

Class start time to 10 a.m. -
your child's classroom
10:15 a.m. - WMS birthday celebration in the gym, including a performance by the 9-12 students
10:30 a.m. - Middle school presentation, Learning Commons

Join us following the birthday celebration for refreshments in the lobby.


News & Notes News
WMS Staff Arrivals and Departures
Tiffany Harrison

On February 15, we will wish  Tiffany Harrison , our Director of Admissions, a fond farewell as she moves on to the University of Delaware to further her career goal of working at the collegiate level. Tiffany has been an incredible member of our team, showing off the work we do each day to serve children and families at WMS. She has been a tremendous advocate for Montessori education at outreach events such as the classes at the Brandywine Hundred Library and preschool fairs. While she does not work directly with children, she knows every child in our building and is quick to greet families and children throughout the day. 

Lisa Healy
Our administrative staff will be working to ensure admissions questions and concerns are met while we
seek Tiffany's replacement. Please email admissions@wmsde.org  for all admissions-related communications. 

A belated farewell to our afternoon front-desk receptionist, Colleen Lamiet, who left WMS at the end of 2018. Lisa Healy, who has worked at WMS in the past as both a front desk and extended day sub, will be filling Colleen's position for the next few weeks as we seek a permanent replacement for the afternoon front desk slot. Parents and guardians, please be sure to have your key cards handy to enter the building or be prepared to show your ID, as Lisa does not know all our families as well as Colleen did. 

Middle School Super Bowl Raffle Fundraiser

Our middle-schoolers are working hard on some long-term projects that include opening a coffee shop, redesigning the craft space at the Sunday Breakfast Mission, and designing and building recycled art sculptures. In order to help fund these projects, the WMS Middle School will be having a Super Bowl raffle!

To take part in the raffle, you can purchase a square from our 100-square board for $5 in the lobby before school. After all squares have been sold and filled with names, students will randomly draw the numbers 0-9 for each team competing in the Super Bowl and place them on the board. If the last digits of the score at the end of the first quarter, halftime, third quarter or game match the numbers of your block, you win! Your prize will be a gift card of your choice in the following amounts:

First Quarter: $50
Halftime: $75
Third Quarter: $50
Final Score: $150

You do not need to know anything about football to participate in the raffle. Students will send out the completed board by email prior to the game and will notify all winners to choose their gift cards. Here is an example of the raffle board with a made-up scenario and winners:


Score after First Quarter: Patriots: 12 Rams: 3 (Winner: Kyle)
Score at Halftime: Patriots: 15 Rams: 15 (Winner: Kelly)
Score after Third Quarter: Patriots: 26 Rams 29 (Winner: Joe)
Final Score: Patriots: 29 Rams: 40 (Winner: Ryan)

Shaping the Future With Your Feedback: 2018-19 Parent Survey

Each year, WMS surveys our families to inform our planning for the coming year and assess progress on our strategic plan. Your feedback is extremely important to us! Please take a moment to fill out the survey and submit your responses by Thursday, February 7.  

Co-op Opportunity: Each family may earn one hour of co-op time for completing this survey. Please take a screenshot of the "thank you" page that confirms your survey has been completed and include it with your co-op submission.

Follow this link to take the survey nowPlease contact Noel Dietrich at  noel_dietrich@wmsde.org  if you have any questions or difficulty accessing the survey.

Join Us for the Journey - Wednesday, February 6

The Journey is an opportunity for current WMS families to experience the Montessori Method and its progression from the Toddler Program through middle school. Our final Journey of the 2018-19 school year will be next Wednesday, February 6, at 8:30 a.m. Attendees spend time at each age level, observing the classroom, attending a lesson specific to that level, and asking questions about what they saw and experienced. It is truly a bird's eye view into how our classrooms function and the benefits your children gain each day. We hope you will join us (and earn five co-op hours in the process). Sign up today!

leaders Today's Learners
Middle-Schoolers' Wall of Heroes

Highlights from the middle school hero commemoration exhibit
If you've walked through the WMS lobby this month, you may have noticed a special exhibit on the display wall about heroes. It showcases stories about everyday heroes, most of whose names you may not recognize, and tribute artwork or poetry created in their honor. 

At the beginning of November, our middle-schoolers visited the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia for a program about t he California Grape Workers strike and the Freedom Riders, as part of their focus on movement. But they came away with much more after finding inspiration from  an exhibit about ordinary people who have done extraordinary things. Each student chose a person from this exhibit to further research and write about, and created a commemorative art piece in honor of his or her chosen hero.

If you haven't stopped by to take a closer look at this display, please take some time to learn about the eight heroes the middle-schoolers have commemorated. You'll learn about people like Liviu Librescu, a Virginia Tech University professor who blocked the door of his classroom during the deadly shooting on April 16, 2007, Wesley Autrey, a bystander who jumped onto the tracks as a commuter train was approaching to save a student's life, and Jeremy Hernandez, who saved more than 50 children when the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapsed in Minneapolis in 2007.  

The hero exhibit will be on display through mid-February.

The Wednesday Weekly shares WMS news and events that are relevant to the families in our community.  

Please send submissions to wednesday-weekly@wmsde.org by 4:30 p.m. on the Friday prior  to the issue in which you wish to include your information. Content may be edited for length and style and may be held for a future issue due to space constraints.  

For more information, contact Noel Dietrich, Director of Advancement & Communications.

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