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Letter from the Director
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Dear Redeemer Community,
On the heels of the auction, I continue to be touched by the wonderful support of our parents and community. From organizing class parties and volunteering your time, to chaperoning field trips and fund-raising, you make our school such a special place. You read in the library, attend meetings, organize events, and support us in countless ways. The list is simply endless!
Most importantly, you entrust us with the care of your children, and we are grateful that you have invited us to join you on their educational journey.
At Redeemer, we are fortunate to have so many wonderful parents whose impact reaches far and wide. We would not be the school we are without you. Please be sure to check your child's folder next week for a small token of our appreciation. We are so grateful for all that you do!
I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge our Parent Council Co-chairs, Emily Pfeifer and Mandy Saleh, for their countless contributions to Redeemer this year. I am grateful for their leadership and the many volunteers that they inspire.
Thank you and Happy Easter!
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Classroom Updates:
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Mrs. Barta's Pre-first:
The Pre-first children have begun learning all about the country we live in. We have been learning about different kinds of maps and what they can tell us. We know that a map is a flat representation and can tell us cardinal directions. We will focus on the 50 states and some important symbols that represent America such as the American flag, the bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty and the Liberty Bell. The Pre-first children are extremely excited about our postcard challenge!! We hope to receive postcards from all 50 states and we will be counting and graphing our results. Please mail your letters if you have not done so. We can also rely on email and social media if need be. Wish us luck!!
Mrs. Smith's & Mrs. Vandenberg's Kindergartens:
We are so proud of the progress that the kindergarteners have made so far this year. We are seeing them taking more risks with writing on their own, and they are understanding and writing beginning, middle, and end in story creations. We just finished our space unit and took our "walk in space" with the younger children. We are now talking about the ocean and creating a fish story.
In language arts, we continue to practice reading stories together out loud, and on consonant blends, word families, long and short vowels, and sight words. In math, we are continuing the study of the meaning of the +, -, and = symbols. We are using these symbols to solve simple addition and subtraction problems. We are continuing to review the "tricky teen" numbers.
This time of year tends to get a bit muddy outside. Please check to make sure that your child has an additional change of clothes in case of a mud mess. Mark your calendars for our publishing party on May 17 at 9:15 - we hope to see you all there! Thank you!
Mrs. Arrup & Mrs. Baker's Pre-k:
It is hard to believe we are winding down the year! In the fall the children were so excited we had completed 4 letters in the alphabet and now they are astounded that we only have three left!!! We have been very busy this spring creating erupting volcanoes, planting seeds and observing their growth, creating "word wands" to read our letters and word families and painting tulips using the letter W. We continue to work on number recognition and one to one correspondence using dice, counting manipulatives and by casting votes. One of this month's values is Manners and we are consistently encouraging the children to say; please, thank you and respond when spoken to while looking the other person in the eye. Mrs. Baker and I wish you all a peaceful Easter break!
Mrs. Loeb & Mrs. Vahedi's Pre-k:
Our Pre-K is loving spring! The outside has been calling us to do all things warm! There has been digging Underground for stones, sticks and worms, planting Vegetables, and Weeding in the garden, (and shedding our jackets). We have enjoyed Upside down cake, Vegetables and dip, and homemade vanilla Wafers! Our cooks are learning to measure, crack eggs, and use knives (with a little supervision). We have certainly spoken about the weather as it is so changeable: there has been sun, rain, lots of wind, and even the threat of a tornado. Nothing as exciting, however, as some of the video we saw of Volcanoes, or the repeated eruptions we made in the classroom! We are practicing writing our names on all our work, measuring our plant growth, and completing our Alphabet Book. We had a great time with the letter "V" and our veterinary clinic. We loved having Fireman Chris come to speak to us about what to do when there is an emergency, what number to call, and not to be scared when they see a fireman in all those big clothes with a mask! There has been much growth this year and more to come. A huge thank you to all the parents who contributed and attended the Auction. For so many reasons, we would not be the school we are without YOU!
Mrs. Schroeder & Miss Ball's 3s:
The 5 day 3s have been enjoying the spring time! We have finished the spring flowers unit. We made forsythia, daffodils, dandelions, and tulips! We have really enjoyed learning about all the different flowers we see.
We have started talking about community helpers and the people in our neighborhood. We had the fireman visit and talked about the police and mail carriers.
We are finishing up with Humpty Dumpty. It has been fun as they all love to " fall of the wall." We will also be introducing an Eric Carle unit. We have made Easter hats and bags and enjoyed our egg hunt.
We are very excited about baby Freddie Schroeder and have enjoyed having Mrs. Doherty and Mrs. Knott with us.
Mrs. Hooper & Mrs. Grieve's 3s:
More happy and busy days in the 3 Day 3's! We completed our Community Helpers unit last week after many engaging conversations about how, firemen, police officers, doctors, dentists, farmers, postal carriers etc. "HELP US" each day! Our "911" Song (found on the back of the children's Police Badges ) was a favorite; we still hear the boys and girls singing it on the playground. Yesterday, Fireman Dew visited in a brand new shiny Fire Engine and our class sang their 911 song for him...so proud of them! We have now "Sprung into Spring" by making Easter chicks, daffodils and a Bunny Bag which was used today on our Easter Egg Hunt.....thank you to our party Moms for a fabulous party! Next week, we will continue our Spring theme with more flower creations and soon, "paper" caterpillars" in their "paper" cocoons will hang in our classroom.....we hope they will turn into butterflies??!!
Humpty Dumpty is our final nursery rhyme for the school year. As soon as your children complete their "artistic creation" for this final page, their completed book will be coming home. We hope you all will enjoy these keepsakes which the kiddies have been working on since September....remember the importance of rhyming for reading readiness! In May, we will introduce our Ocean Unit. The "Under the Sea" Counting Book (#1-10) will take all of May to complete. Your children will create several ocean creatures as well as learn a few fun facts about each of them! Every year, the kiddies enjoy seeing pictures, watching videos and reading stories about "who and what" lives under the sea. May is sure to be an exciting month!It was great to see so many of our fabulous parents at the Spring Social last Friday; what a fun and festive evening we ALL had!!! Have a wonderful Easter with your sweet little bunnies!
Mrs. Astley & Mrs. Knott's 2s:
April is here and its finally Spring time! Your children continue to grow and develop and we feel privileged to be apart of that. April has been a busy month for the 2 day 2's! We have studied insects, Spring, the color purple and the shape of the diamond. They have been creative in making dragon flies, butterflies, and lady bugs. We have continued to talk about the weather and how it feels during the Spring. We have colored Easter eggs and had a fabulous Egg Hunt. Thank you to all who helped stuff eggs for the cause! I also enjoyed seeing so many of you at our Spring Auction. It was a great night celebrating our school and our children. Please make sure to cubbies for an appropriate size and weather change of clothes. It's always a pleasure seeing you and your children. Thank you for sharing them with us!
Mrs. Wyatt & Mrs. Zuidema's 2s:
The Wyatt/Zuidema twos are having a great month of April. We have been talking about bugs, spring, ovals, and the color purple. During circle, we have been singing a song about signs of spring, reading books about bugs, and matching eggs on our felt board. Our projects have included dragonflies, butterflies, and bunny bags for our egg hunt this week. The warmer weather has made our playground time perfect. Remember to check your children's cubbies for an appropriate change of clothing. They have grown a lot since the fall! As always, thank you for sharing your children with us
Lunch Bunch:
Lunch bunch has been enjoying the beginning of spring, the beautiful weather, and the arrival of Freddie Schroeder! While we miss Mrs. Schroeder a lot, we are having fun with the new faces of lunch bunch, Mrs. Astley and Mrs. Gregory. We started this month by decorating our bulletin board with blossoming trees, handprint flowers, and tissue paper dyed flowers. We have explored many different painting techniques. We stamped with pipe cleaners, plastic eggs, and Peeps. We watercolored with eye droppers and used squeegees to make beautiful designs. Our games have included parachute time, a bean bags toss, and musical hula hoops. We also had fun with spoon and plastic egg races, and we built exotic structures with play dough and plastic eggs. We are looking forward to a new addition to lunch bunch, a compost bin! When we learn how it works, I'm sure we will have lots to share with you. Thank you for sharing your children with us.
Mrs. Blair's Art:
When you have a minute, ask your pre-first or Kindergarten artist who lived in Giverny in a pink house with green shutters and had a Japanese bridge overlooking a beautiful lily pond in his backyard! Your "smartest-artist" has loved exploring the art of Claude Monet and has been making a beautiful 20 foot! lily pond inspired by the Impressionist painter. Our pre-k artists are bringing home their interpretations of Easter in a gorgeous process art collage and our wonderful 3's explored the art of transformation turning sticks into fairy wands, tigers and hummingbirds with the process of "painted chalk." We are always excited in art to turn treasures from nature into unique art-if your artist has any nature treasures from the beach, the backyard or anywhere along your travels please bring them in and we would love to turn them into art! Happy Spring!
We have been so happy to have gym class outdoors in this beautiful spring weather! We have enjoyed some old school sidewalk chalk games like hopscotch, four square, and giant tic tac toe with tossing bean bags. This week we had fun with Easter activities: egg on spoon relays, Easter egg croquet, and a pass the bunny cooperative game.
I can't believe it's almost the end of the year! For music , it means starting to work on our performance songs for the June Jamboree. But of course in between learning them there's plenty of time for moving around to fun music!
Mrs. Craig's Science:
Pre-K enjoyed weeding in the garden last week and making plant "X-Rays" this week that we were able to examine on our light table. Next week we will have fun with some Easter science experiments.
April is Earth Month for Kindergarten as we explore ways we can make our planet a cleaner, healthier place! Last week we worked in the garden and set out air pollution traps.This week we will introduce our new composting system where we hope our lunch scraps can help our garden grow!
Pre-First concluded its Earth science unit by erupting volcanoes that they enjoyed building and painting over the past few weeks. Next week we will begin a Biology unit. This year we have started a "Super Scientist" program, where each pre-first student is given the opportunity to choose and demonstrate an experiment to the class. I have been so impressed with their confidence, preparation, and the science knowledge they have shared with their classmates! A huge thank you to the parents for their support for this program and their super children!
Good manners for kids are not automatic nor do they develop without deliberate teaching and modeling from adults. Here is the payoff : Once learned ,good manners make everyone's life more pleasant. Teach kids to shake hands, to make eye contact and to offer a word of welcome, and/or speak when spoken to. It may be cliche to say first impressions make a big impact,but it's a cliche because it is true.
Senora Poe's Spanish:
¡Hola! We are loving Primavera (spring) and all that it has to offer: el sol (sun), la lluvia (rain), los flores (flowers), los pájaros (birds), las ranas (frogs) and las mariposas (butterflies). We used Easter eggs (huevos de Pascua) to make maracas and to practice our colors. Feliz Pascua!(Happy Easter)
Mrs. Knott's World Cultures:
We have traveled to China to visit the birthplace of Rosa, one of our kindergarten students! We were excited to welcome Rosa's father who brought lots of wonderful items from China to share with the class. We also compared symbols from China and the United States and then came up with our own symbols to represent our own interests. We also started reading the legend of The Seven Chinese Brothers and look forward to cooking and sampling some Chinese cuisine.
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Office Updates
Employment Opportunity
Redeemer Parish Day School is currently interviewing for a part time position in the 2s. If you or anyone you know is interested in learning more, please have them contact Mary Knott at
mknott@redeemerbaltimore.org or 410-435-9510.
Construction Notice
Beginning Tuesday, April 22 the main entrance to the church parking lot will be repaved. This will impact our car line for up to three days. When exiting the school parking lot, please use the alley that is adjacent to our parking lot. If you are heading towards Melrose Avenue, you will be able to turn right just past the shed to access the alley.
Reminders
Tops for Pops! We are in the midst of collecting Box Tops for our April Drive. We look forward to collecting lots of Box Tops, earning more money for our school and celebrating with a Popsicle party!
Pedal for Pediatrics. Please remember to turn in your permission slips by Friday, April 26.
Upcoming Calendar Dates
Friday, April 19th: No School-
Easter Break
Monday, April 22: No School-
Easter Break
Friday, May 3:
Pedal for Pediatrics @ 9:00
(*This is for all classes except the 2s.)
Thursday, May 9: End of Year Family Picnic @ 5:30
Friday, May 17: K/P1 Publishing Party @ 9:15
Friday, May 24: All School Early Dismissal @ 11:45
Monday, May 27: No School - Memorial Day
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Program Highlights:
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PDS Auction and Social
Friday, April 12 was a wonderful gathering of friends, new and old! Our auction was a huge success, and we are so grateful to our auction co-chairs, Jen Rakes, Maggie Morton, and Pam Noel; and their auction team for their creativity and hard work. We raised nearly $12,000 for our school and program. Thank you to all who supported our auction!
Fireman Chris Visits the Day School
Redeemer students were treated to a very special visit from the Chestnut Ridge Volunteer Fire Department and parent, Fireman Chris. After a group session where fire safety was discussed, classes were able to visit Fireman Chris's truck. To add to all the excitement, our local fire department arrived for an unscheduled and surprise fire drill!
Maryland Dog Sled Adventures
Redeemer parents, Catherine and Eric Benson, who run Maryland Dog Sled Adventures, visited Redeemer students last week. After learning more about the sled and harnesses, classes were fortunate enough to pet a couple of the huskies and try out the sleds firsthand.
Kindergarten Space Walk
Our kindergarten astronauts spent two weeks learning all about our solar system. At the end of the unit, they invited friends from our 3s and 2s classes to join them for a space walk where they were able to share their new knowledge with their young friends. To teach is to learn!
Welcome, Baby Schroeder!
Mark and Katie Schroeder were excited to welcome Baby Freddie on April 11, 2019. While we will miss Katie, we are thrilled to have Lisa Doherty and Allison Knott fill in during her maternity leave in our 5/3s class. We are also grateful to have Catherine Wyatt step into the position of Lunch Bunch Coordinator during Katie's absence.
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In preschool we recognize the privilege, responsibility and joy of educating our youngest students. Alongside their parents, we work diligently at building the foundation for their ongoing and lifelong learning. Be sure to click on the link below found in every issue to see our wonderful students in action. Enjoy!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR SCHOOL VIDEO
"Spring is Here!"
Please visit our website
Interested in learning more about our
Please visit:
to learn more about
The Church of the Redeemer
RPDS MONTHLY VALUES:
Greet One Another
Good Manners
Bike Safety
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Community News
Church of the Redeemer Easter Services
Especially for Children.......
Walk Through Holy Week
Designed for children ages 4-10
, but appealing to anyone who learns best through stories, this is an experiential retelling of the sacred story of the last days of Jesus' life, his crucifixion, burial and resurrection. A leader guides a progression through an interactive telling of this holy story beginning at the Triumphal Procession into Jerusalem and including stops at the Last Supper, the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter's denial, the Governor's palace, the carrying of the cross to Golgotha and the tomb.
Adults looking for a way to help a child understand more about the meaning of Easter are asked to accompany the child on this special journey.
We will begin at 11:00 a.m. on Good Friday, April 19 in the chapel
; we hope that you will be able to join us.
Easter Egg Hunt
Join us in Parish Hall after the 9:00 service where the Easter Bunny will lead us out to the playgrounds for our annual Easter Egg Hunt, open to children of all ages. Please bring your own baskets or bags. There will be a specially designated place for children 5 and under.
Maundy Thursday,
April 18
6:30 p.m. Parish Hall
The Last Supper
Join us around a big table in the parish hall with your own brown bag supper, recreating the first Eucharist, sharing experiences of hope and healing from our Lenten journey, washing feet (or hands)... A meaningful experience for adults and children. Then we'll walk in silence to the church to strip the altar, an ancient preparation for Good Friday.
Good Friday, April 19
1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Good Friday Liturgy
A poignant service of prayers and silence.
2:15 - 3:00 p.m.
Our Stations of the Cross will be an adaptation of the traditional Stations.
Holy Saturday with Baptism, April 20
5:00 p.m.
Gather at the main entrance, kindle the fire of new life... then baptisms in the courtyard, procession, and Holy Eucharist in the Church.
Easter, April 21
7:30 a.m. Chapel
- Holy Eucharist
9:00 a.m. Church
- Holy Eucharist with music by the Redeemer Choir, The Choir School of Baltimore, brass, string and timpani
Easter Egg Hunt
follows on the day school playground
11:00 a.m. Church
- Holy Eucharist with music by the Redeemer Choir, The Choir School of Baltimore, brass, string and timpani
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Contact Us
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Redeemer Parish Day School
5603 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21210
410-435-9510
Mary Knott, Director
mknott@redeemeronline.com
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