Field Day 2019, Have a wonderful summer everyone!
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Hilltop Montessori School's mission is for students to practice responsible independence in a caring community of curious, critical learners and thoughtful citizens.
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Summer Dates:
June 17-28
July 8-26
2019-20 School Calendar
- one page calendar here or
- the website calendar here
(start of school conferences and orientation details will come with
mid-summer letter)
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Back-to-School Dates:
August 26
- UE & MS Work Party, 3-5pm
August 27
- CH & LE Work Party, 3-5pm
August 29
- UE New Student Conferences
August 30
- New Student Conferences CH, LE, UE, MS
- Toddler Program Visiting Day 9-10am
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Congratulations to Our Graduates
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The
Bead Ceremony
recognizes each group of children who is rising through the three year cycle of the Montessori programs: children move from being the “Youngers”, full of awe and maybe a little trepidation; to the “Middlers” feeling comfortable and flexible to work and play up and down the age range; to the “Olders” considering themselves on top of the world and ready to lead and share their knowledge with younger students. They then cycle back to being the “Youngest” again in the next program with so much more room to grow further. The Bead Ceremony symbolizes this cycle by having those leaving one program invite the new “Younger” class up by giving them a bead necklace (with colors being significant to the place value colors of the Montessori math materials). We are unusually fortunate to have a thriving community of Toddlers through Middle Schoolers in our Montessori community, all giving and receiving respect and admiration from their fellow students of all ages. Our ceremony on Thursday reflected this tradition of camaraderie across programs.
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Goodbye to Rebecca F., Amanda, and Serina
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We said farewell and expressed our appreciation for three staff people who are also moving up and moving on from Hilltop. Rebecca Fontaine, Amanda Rupard, Serina Keppel have all been long time parents and staff people at Hilltop.
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Rebecca started as a parent to her two boys here and has been a steady face at the front desk for the past four years. She has been patient and through in answering questions, delivering messages, and supporting parents, staff, and students alike in all the ways that the front desk requires! We will miss her calm, warm presence and wish her well as she embarks on new adventures.
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Amanda was first a parent, then a substitute teacher, and then a critical support to the Toddler Program for the past three years. Amanda brought her loving, maternal nature to aid in the level of comfort and growth for our youngest students. We will still see her around as a parent!
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Serina was also first a parent to her two children (both of whom have now graduated from our Middle School), and then an assistant in the Birch Room supporting students and parents in their journey through the Children’s House. She also thoroughly filled the role and qualifications of our Early Education Partnership Program Director and ensured that we met all regulatory and programatic requirements. Her leadership has taken us to five stars, the highest rating in the Vermont Step Ahead Recognition System. We greatly appreciate all her efforts and wish her well as she moves on to be a lead teacher at another program here in town. We know we will be keeping in touch!
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This year, we had a tree planting as an add on to our traditional Bead Ceremony. For each of the past three years, we have honored people who have made an outstanding contribution to our school with the Kahn-Mason Award for Outstanding Contribution to Hilltop Montessori School. Previous awards have been:
2017 - Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason - in appreciation for all they did to help us obtain our scenic 43 acres on the hill, and all they continue to do with an annual grant that supports our art programs.
2018 - Tonia Wheeler - in appreciation of all she did in her many years of leading the school, and all she continues to do in support of teacher and staff education and enrichment.
A Hilltop family through their Copper Beech Foundation have been amazing supporters of Hilltop Montessori School. Beginning in 2011 with the donation and installation of sound proofing panels in the classrooms of our main building, Dave Snyder and his family have been transformative for our school. His parents visited the school in 2012 as we were embarking on the Arts Barn project. Their donation made the dream of a state-of-the-art theater, gymnasium, and music room possible. Through the Copper Beech Foundation the family also contributes $100,000 annually to our operating budget. They have also given donations that enabled us to pay off our $1.3M mortgage on the buildings and get a significant start on our goal of a $5M endowment, currently at $3.6M. All of this financial support has a significant impact on our annual operating budget and enables us to help “level the playing field” and support an increased economic diversity in our student population.
Clearly these gifts have been transformative and we would not be able to provide our programs and facilities to our population of families without the support they have given and continue to give.
To honor them, we planted a copper beach tree that will grow to enhance the view from the Middle School and from the hill where we traditionally hold the Peace Day Ceremony in September and the Bead Ceremony in June. In keeping with the Bead Ceremony, where we celebrate each group completing their three year program, we had the olders from CH, LE, UE, and MS take part in planting the tree. The MS graduates dug the whole, the UE graduates placed the tree in the hole, the LE graduates filled in around the tree, and the CH graduates watered the newly planted tree. It was a community event in celebration and gratitude to all the Snyders have made possible here at Hilltop Montessori School.
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Tamara and Tonia say a few words in appreciation of all the Snyders have done for Hilltop Montessori School.
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Upper Elementary Olders secure the tree in the ground.
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Lower Elementary Olders plant the tree.
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Children's House Olders
water the tree.
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Kegan, our Facilities Manager, coordinated the tree planting.
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We love our new copper beech tree!
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Big Swing - Annual Middle School Softball game.
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Scaling the Hemlock to set our Upland tarp center rope.
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Hottest Upland oven fire on record.
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Most families will be seeing two pieces of correspondence from the school shortly:
1)
Student Assessment Reports
are being sent to all families with students from Children's House Olders through Middle School. Upper Elementary reports will be arriving in the mail as hard copy with reflections from students included. All other reports are being sent as a PDF in an email. Please contact us (
Front Desk
or
Tamara
) if you have any questions or have problems viewing the reports.
2)
Survey from the Hilltop Equity and Anti-bias Workgroup
will arrive later this summer to gather data for the workgroup to explore feelings and ideas around Before/Aftercare as well as pizza lunch. When you receive this, please take the time to complete the survey to aid them in coming up with a recommendation for the school in terms of improving access and equity. Thank you in advance for your time and thoughts.
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Is your family missing any items? We have lots here. This is the
last call
to claim any items here in our lost and found. Please stop by the lobby by Friday, June 21st to collect items. We will be donating the items thereafter.
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Summer language classes with Express Fluency
Express Fluency is offering Spanish intensives this summer:
July 8th-11th 9am-12pm (beginner)
July 15- 19th 9am-12pm (advanced beginner) in Brattleboro at 12 Flat Street.
Beginner and intermediate Spanish, as well as beginner French, Mandarin, and Latin are being offered August 6th-9th 9am-11:30am in White River Junction.
Ages 12+.
or call
Elissa McLean
at 802-275-2694
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This event is a fundraiser for Brattleboro Area Hospice as they celebrate 40 years! A wonderful opportunity to support an amazing organization!
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Hi There Hilltop!
My name is Liz Johndrow and I am founder of TERRA Collaborative. Our work is most often in Central America and we are very happy to be bringing it to Putney!
I’ve attached a calendar of events of our local events this summer. In addition, we are hosting kids sessions between June 22-July 30. Based on interest, we are offering the following projects:
- basic carpentry, ages 8 and up - kids will learn to use hand and power tools and measure and cut accurately through the construction of a simple project such as a bat house
- basic carpentry for girls - the same offering as above and offering the space for just girls
- earthen architecture and building, all ages - kids will be provided with all the necessary materials and instruction to build an earthen fairy/doll house, or whatever else they dream up
We are recommending 3 hour sessions and asking for a range from a suggested minimum donation of $100 and up to $300 per student. These fees go directly to our TERRA scholarship program.
If you are interested, please
be in touch
and we can answer your questions and schedule you in a session.
Visit our
website
to learn more about July programming in Putney and our organization.
Thank you,
Liz
802-689-0323
TERRA Collaborative, Inc.
T
ools &
E
ducation for
R
esilient &
R
egenerative
A
dvancements
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"Attention is the Beginning of Devotion"
-Mary Oliver
POETRY, BOOKMAKING AND ART WORKSHOP:
Once again a summer workshop combining poetry, bookmaking and art, will be held at
Ann Gengarelly’s Poetry Studio
. As always, young people will have the opportunity to write and draw in a natural setting with woodlands and beautiful gardens.
Workshops are divided into two groups; a younger group and and an older group. Each student participates in a poetry and bookmaking/art class each day.
Classes are kept small in order to create an individualized and intimate setting where creativity flourishes.
Poetry classes will be taught by Ann Gengarelly who has been a poet-in -the-schools for over twenty-five years. Bookmaking and Art Design will be led by Tony Gengarelly who teaches Art History at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
ONE WEEK INTENSIVE:
AUGUST 19, 20, 22, 23
Students will be accepted on a “first-come, first-serve” basis. If interested call Ann at
802-257-8972
or contact us at
[email protected]
or
[email protected]
.
We welcome students between the age of 7 and 17.
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SO MUCH CIRCUS!
The New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) has lots happening this Spring and Summer. Enjoy activities, or just watch a show, there is something for everyone! Tickets and registration open now!
See a Show
Join Summer Camp
NECCA is recognized by the American Youth Circus Organization as an international leader in curriculum development. NECCA’s attention is on teaching to the heart and dreams of every student and meeting them at their own level of fitness and aspiration. Summer Camps include Trapeze, Juggling, trampoline, clowning, low wire, unicycling and more!
- Age 3 – 5 Half Day Camp / Age 5 – 17 Full Day Camp
- Camps run weekly June 24 – August 23
- Special Teen Camp and Advanced Camp, too!
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