January 28
Toddler Conferences * - Room 3
Classes will continue as scheduled.
January 28 & 29
Primary, Elementary & Middle School Parent Conferences *
No school for these age levels - pre-registered child-care available. Toddler classes will continue as scheduled.
January 31
Happy 57th Birthday, WMS!
February 3
Deadline to Submit 4th COVID Test Results to Nurse Kathy
Results must be sent to nurse@wmsde.org by 4 p.m. in order for your child to attend school on Thursday, February 4.
February 12
2021-22 Re-enrollment Deadline
Re-enroll by this date to secure your child's space for the 2021-22 school year. After February 12, we will not be able to guarantee your child's space and you will also be charged a late re-enrollment fee. Contact Paula Sharpe for more information.
* All parent conferences will be conducted via Zoom. Please check Bloomz or contact your child's teacher for more information.
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Required COVID-19 Testing - Next Deadline & February Updates
Thank you for your continuing efforts to keep our community safe through weekly COVID-19 testing this January. We acknowledge the challenge and appreciate all you have done to keep everyone safe.
All families must submit their child's COVID test results for this final week of January; however, results are now due at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, February 3, 2021. We hope this change in the deadline will provide families with a more flexible testing window with additional testing opportunities. Results must be emailed to Nurse Kathy at nurse@wmsde.org as soon as they become available. If you are sending a screenshot, please include the date tested.
As we move into February, we have decided to adjust the required COVID testing to every other week until further notice. Required test due dates will be:
- Wednesday, February 3
- Wednesday, February 17
- Wednesday, March 3
- Wednesday, March 17
If there is a change in testing requirements before spring break, we will provide plenty of notice.
You are still welcome to have your child tested more frequently and may forward the results to Nurse Kathy. Please stay tuned for information about ongoing testing requirements beyond spring break.
Important: Please understand that if no results are forwarded to Nurse Kathy, your child will not be permitted on campus. If your results are forwarded after 4 p.m. on the due date, you may experience a delay in drop-off on in the morning. A last-minute result may delay or prevent your child from attending school; you must allow time for communication to the staff members conducting screenings in the car line.
A few tips:
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Please plan to test at regular intervals to remain on schedule.
- You are strongly encouraged to pre-register, but can still be tested without an appointment at the state locations. If you don't have an appointment, plan for a longer wait time.
A few reminders:
- Doors and windows continue to remain open during the school day for improved ventilation - please dress your children in multiple layers.
- This is a good time to check the status of your child's masks. They should be fitting snugly without gaping and should not be falling below their nose.
- Be sure to send in multiple mask changes for the day. With temperature changes from inside to outside, condensation often forms and masks often become damp during the day, requiring a change. Be sure to wash reusable masks after each use.
Thank you, and please contact Nurse Kathy if you have any questions!
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Upcoming New Castle County Testing Events
Thursday, January 28
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Wilmington University Brandywine - 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Friday, January 29
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Delaware Park - 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
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Thomas Edison Charter School (indoor walk-up) - 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Saturday, January 30
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UD Star Campus - 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
(Please visit this page to confirm that there have been no changes to the schedule above before going to your testing location.)
Permanent Test Sites and Other COVID-19 Testing Options
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Children started the new year exploring some of our new work. We are focusing on transportation, and we will soon be getting into learning about the moon and sun, focusing on the phases of the moon. Last week, some of the children enjoyed participating in a lesson in which they sorted different types of vehicles. They took airplanes, boats, and trucks and sorted them according to land, sky and sea. They liked sorting them and discussing the ways people can travel.
- Hillary McDonald, Room 3 Lead Teacher
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This week has been all about puzzles, building things and sensory learning, even more so than usual. The mortar and pestle have been pounding oregano into a fine powder, and the classroom could easily be mistaken for a pizza place by scent alone. Smelling candles and trying to match sounds, as well as the knobbed and knobless cylinders have been extremely popular. We read Who was Martin Luther King, Jr.? by Lisbeth Kaiser, which chronicles and honors the civil rights hero and his life in a simple and age-appropriate way. We also read a tale about climate change, called The Lonely Polar Bear by Khona Le, and kept singing for snow!
- Leanne Callaway, Room 4 Lead Teacher
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Our classroom started off last week learning about the life, work and message of Dr. King. We look forward to working with our students on our Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired project, "Diversity and Dreams.” We started to create self-portraits this week that represent our diversity and our own dreams for the future. On Tuesday, we got to witness history together! We watched the "Inauguration for Youth" video with Keke Palmer and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, along with witnessing our 46th President and Vice President's swearing-in ceremony.
During our outside time, the children enjoyed searching for underground animals' homes and burrows! We found quite a few!
- Erin Wehler, Room 19 Lead Teacher
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This past week, we started discussing Martin Luther King, Jr. We talked about his important work and how we can continue working to make our world a better place. The kindergartners learned about his life and legacy and listened to a clip of his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. We learned that although positive changes have been made, there is still much to be done to promote peace and acceptance of all people. We need more kindness and respect. We are all human beings sharing this same planet. The world is a better place when we celebrate our differences and realize that we are more alike than different. This is one reason that the Montessori cultural curriculum is so important — it exposes children to different cultures and ways of life, helping them to appreciate and connect with the larger world. We also talked about Monday's Day of Service and different types of work that can be done to help the community. While this isn't always easy in the times of a pandemic, it is still possible.
- Marilyn Faralli, Room 20 Lead Teacher
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Lower Elementary (6-9) Program
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SWEAT Creatures
After returning from Winter Break, 6-9 students spent time focused on biology as they considered what living things need - SWEAT (space, water, energy, air and temperature range)! They analyzed these questions: Do ALL living things need these to survive? How do plants get energy and water? Insects? Humans?
The children created their own "SWEAT creatures" and presented how each would eat, breathe and drink, as well as describing its habitat. Then, they went outside and considered the life on our campus. Would the plants, animals and insects that live here do well in a very different habitat like a desert, rain forest or ocean? How are the living things here adapting to the winter temperature range, and how is this different from how they adapt to the heat in the summer?
- Melissa Connelly and Carol Lettich, Lead 6-9 Teachers
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Virtual 6-9 Program Highlights
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Students in the virtual 6-9 class have been busy since returning from winter break! Highlights include:
Learning about simple machines - Students studied the work of Rube Goldberg, the cartoonist who famously complicated doing simple tasks like getting a haircut with his contraptions, and Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion. At the end of this unit, the students will create their own machines following the scientific method.
Narrative writing - Students completed a three-paragraph personal narrative piece focusing on a sequential small moment and using writing skills like dialogue, a hook and specific details. Topics included rides at Disney World, watching a meteor shower and building a LEGO kit.
Students also made New Year's resolutions, discussed Martin Luther King, Jr's work, and began a study of inferencing/drawing conclusions during reader's workshop.
- Emily Kofke, Lead Virtual 6-9 Teacher
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Upper Elementary (9-12) Program
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Narrative Writing
In Writer's Workshop, the fourth and fifth-graders are learning narrative writing. We are using several read-aloud books they may have read when they were younger to pull the different elements of narratives. We are working on graphic organizers to display each part. Soon we will be creating our own stories!
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The Constitutional Walking Tour
Last week, we went on a "walking tour" field trip of the historical sites in Philadelphia. We got to see many historic buildings that held many important people, meetings and documents that allowed the United States to become a nation.
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Book Club
In reading, we have started a fantasy genre study. The students each selected their own book to read for book club, and they are very excited! We examined the setting of our stories and found that most fantasies are medieval, futuristic or a world with magic. We have been searching for power and symbolism in our books as well!
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- Allie Colflesh, Lead 9-12 Teacher
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Montessori Model UN Updates & Movement Projects
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Middle school students have finished their Montessori Model United Nations (MMUN) papers and created country culture displays for the upcoming virtual conference. They are now working on their speeches in preparation for negotiations, which will begin on February 13.
Additionally, in keeping with the class's year-long social studies theme of movement, students finalized and presented projects on an individual movement of choice. Some of the topics chosen were the Black Lives Matter movement, the migration patterns of sea animals, the evolution of stance cars, the Protestant Reformation, the evolution of particle accelerators, and access to education for women. As a group, they are also studying the Labor Movement.
- Mandy Balanetsky, Lead Middle School Teacher
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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.
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WILMINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL
WWW.WMSDE.ORG
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