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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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Friday Newsletter / June 1, 2018
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Calendar Listings
Saturday, June 2
Heifer Stroll- Come March With Us!
(Details Below)
Monday, June 4
Middle School goes to Upland!
Make Up Class for Spring Foods
Thursday, June 7
Final Day of School for Lower Grades (TP, CH, LE and UE) -
No Aftercare
Bead Ceremony 2:00pm - End of Year Festivities to follow!
Friday, June 8
Final Day of School for Middle School
Middle School Graduation
Ceremony begins at 6:00pm
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Every year around this time, the Hilltop Board of Trustees welcomes new members and says a heartfelt thank you to those who have completed their term, usually three years. Board service is a rewarding way to give back to Hilltop and try to make it even better for future students. Rich Wolfe and Sarah Grasso have finished their terms, and in addition, due to some unexpected career changes, we are saying goodbye early to three other members, Steve Iams, Martin Humfeldt, and Peter Fayroian. Each of these Trustees has contributed great energy and skill to Hilltop and we are very grateful for their service.
We are also truly grateful to Rochelle Garfinkel and John Barrengos, who have agreed to remain as Trustees beyond their initial term, to help maintain continuity as we bring new members onto the Board.
We are delighted to announce that four new Trustees are joining the Board now: Angela Yang-Handy, Asher Pucciarello, Heather Lesage-Horton, and Paul Lockyear. You will find their biographies, along with those of the other Trustees, on the
Hilltop website
.
The Board of Trustees leadership for 2018-2019 will consist of Alix Fedoruk (Chair), Angela Yang-Handy (Incoming Chair), and Vanessa Long and Kim Lier (Honorary Outgoing Chairs). We thank each of them for their willingness to serve.
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Job Openings for Next Year
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We have many candidates responding and are continuing with interviews for the Business Manager and AfterCare Assistant positions.
All of our job postings are
here!
Please have anyone interested in these positions contact
Tamara Mount, Head of School, with a resume and letter of interest.
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Thank you for a lovely day!
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A huge thank you to all our Grandparents and Special Friends. It was wonderful to see you all. We were thrilled you were able to share this special day and celebrate with the Hilltop community as we honored Tonia Wheeler with the Kahn Mason Award for Outstanding Contribution to Hilltop.
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We would also like to thank all our amazing parent volunteers, bakers, presenters, staff and faculty for their hard work, making this day possible. Thank you to Rachel Waring for beautifully capturing this day in photos!
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Contact
Roselle
with any questions.
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All School Gathering
The last gathering of the year!
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Bead Ceremony - You are invited!
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Dear School Families,
As many of you know, our end of year ceremonies are mostly internal to the class communities, and they are lovely! The two that do include an audience are the Bead Ceremony and the Graduation of the 8th graders. You are warmly welcome to both.
- The Bead Ceremony, and other school-wide end of the year acknowledgements (a special farewell to Dan Filler!), will take place at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 7th beside the pond. Spectators welcome.
- The Hilltop Montessori School Class of 2018 Graduation ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 8th. All families are encouraged to attend and witness a spectacularly meaningful passage of life.
We hope to see you soon!
Tamara
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Thank you so much to all the grandparents and special friends who were able to come and join us last week! We all enjoyed having you visit the Toddler Room.
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Since then, the toddlers have been continuing to learn and grow. Several children are beginning to explode into language, demonstrating the Sensitive Period for Language beautifully. Others are interacting more socially and enjoying making up dramatic play scenarios with friends outside. And others are practicing more challenging skills and reveling in the process. Just another week in the toddler room - another week of incredible growth and joyful development!
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Enjoy the weekend.
Ellie, Amanda, Jessica & Marco
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We are winding down towards the end of the school year. It has been a busy year with much excitement, energy and wonderful moments of focus and calm. We are happy to see that almost all of the children in the Willow Room will be returning next year to either move on to Lower Elementary or up into their next year in the Children's House. We look forward to meeting new children next year and sharing our lessons of the grace, courtesy and kindness that we have been working on everyday.
We are finishing the year studying Space, the Human Body, and re-visiting Oceans and Water. Children have been busily engaged inside and outside, exploring and making discoveries. We were fortunate to watch both of our Praying Mantis egg pods hatch and let the many little creatures out into nature. Hopefully, these remarkable creatures will find the ticks, before the ticks find us!
As we prepare for the last week, here are a few reminders:
This Saturday is the Strolling of the Heifers in Brattleboro. We will be meeting around 9:30 on Flat Street to march and sing in the parade. Hope to see you there!
Thursday is the last day of school for children. We will be having Field Day followed by our Moving Up Bead Ceremony at 2pm. This means that there will be no nappers. Please feel free to take nap bags home on Wednesday.
Lastly, we ask that you look in the cubby area for lost or missing items -- everything will be cleared out and sent home for the summer. We will assist in getting extra clothing and artwork together, but we ask that you take an extra look in the event water bottles, indoor shoes or jackets are left behind. Thank you!
We hope that everyone will have a wonderful summer (and perhaps we'll see you at Summer Fun)!
Jonathan and Rebecca
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Body tracing and coloring.
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Kaleb works on the Trinomial Cube.
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Children use natural items to create and observe.
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Amir colors and decorates his body tracing.
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Phoebe Pin Pushes a shape.
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Amaya, Elijah and Simone look at books together.
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“I hate you, Mr. Poopy-face!”
To adults, sometimes the words young children use when they are angry seem silly, but as the children are learning, their words also carry power. Words can make our friends and families happy, or they can hurt another person’s feelings. Sometimes words are confusing, especially when we are trying to talk about things we don’t really understand. Often, children are exposed to new words through media, older siblings, and other family members. They can bring these words to school and try them out, without really understanding what they mean. The results can sometimes be funny, confusing, or even upsetting.
This week, the Olders were encouraged to think about the words they use through an activity and discussion. Interestingly, each child volunteered a time when they used words that could hurt, and chose to write a note of apology to that person! It was wonderful to see the children begin to reflect on their words in a more sophisticated way and take action to fix them. They are really ready for the journey into Lower El!
Have a great weekend!
Cheryl, Serina, and Mariam
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In Lower El, the energy is high and the projects are many. Hopefully, you had a chance to admire the personal timelines of the Youngers-always a treat! The Middlers are finishing up their autobiographies or binding them, and the Olders are in the teacher-student phase of editing their biographies, or drawing their covers.
Children are completing beautiful posters on the five classes of vertebrates, and there has been a resurgence of map work in this penultimate week.
At the beginning of next week, we will be sending home work from writing folders and work drawers. Please make sure that your child has a backpack or other type of bag, in order that they can easily carry their many papers. Art work and mugs will also be sent home.
Have a wonderful weekend strolling with the heifers!
Kerstin, Patrick, and Amelia
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Please enjoy these photos of last week’s UE museum, as well as this week’s 3-day trip to DAR state park, which included the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, and a visit to Fort Ticonderoga. Thank you to Tim Berg for the U-haul he pulled with our belongings!
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For our final week in the classroom, the Middle School has been deeply involved in a number of endeavors. The eighth graders completed their apprenticeships in the community. The apprenticeship program comprises five mornings our students spend with a local business, social service, or a non-profit agency. Students search out their choices, make the arrangements, and submit a resume and cover letter. There was a wide array of businesses and non-profits who welcomed our students this year including Guilford Sound, Boomerang, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Brattleboro Planning Commission, Costello, Valente, and Gentry, PC and the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center. The community of Brattleboro has been very supportive and generous to our students throughout the year.
While the eighth graders were out in the world, the seventh graders planned and executed their final math project: Math Bash. Math Bash is a celebration of math through student designed games. Our backyard was like a carnival arcade full of colorful participatory games complete with barkers and rubes (the eighth grade)
Underlying all these activities is graduation. Eight grade graduation speeches are moving through numerous drafts, seventh grade gifts and presentation are in process, and overall the knowledge of big change is in the air. It is a charged time.
Next week we’ll be in Upland for three days, a special time together.
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Julia works on her spirit animal.
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Anna is pretty sure her graduation speech is ready.
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A Spontaneous Project including a hand made book, a mask, and a retelling an ancient Hindu story.
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Eliot gives a Spontaneous Project on Religion and Baseball.
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Interested in a Fruit Farm Share this Fall?
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Nine Weeks of Ecologically-Grown Fresh Fruits
Scott Farm is offering fruit shares for 9 weeks, starting the second full week in September, delivered here to Hilltop! The first delivery will be the week of Monday, Sept 10th, exact day to be determined.
The delivered prices are: $92 for a full share and $47 for a half share
*A commitment of 8 families is needed for Hilltop delivery*
If Mother Nature cooperates, Scott Farm will begin the season with peaches, followed by the freshest picked traditional farm stand apples, combined with an assortment of our heirloom varieties. As the season progresses, plums and pears will be added to the apple mix. Participants will get weekly emails with the selections of the week, their history and best use, plus some recipes and musings as well.
Let's support our local farmers!
Any families interested, please email
Roselle
.
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Please join Hilltop in supporting these families!
It takes a village! In combination with support from Hilltop and the state, community contributions will make it possible for these families to thrive.
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Amber and Jamal and their family are looking for community help/support in purchasing their first home. They are looking for support in downpayment and closing costs/fees and created a GoFundMe. Please check it out
here
!
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Liam attends Hilltop Montessori School with support from the state, Hilltop and you! Liam has thrived in the toddler classroom that gives him a daily stable and enriching experience. Donations also help to provide Liam and his mom, Dora, with food, medicine, gas, diapers and clothes. When Dora graduates from the SIT Graduate Institute on August 11, donations will also help see them through Dora's job search to find work in Vermont. Please consider giving to their GoFundMe -
Click h
ere
!
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Hello Hilltop community! My name is Camille and I’m looking for a queer roommate, or possibly a couple, to join me and my 2-yr-old cat in the semi-furnished, two-bedroom apartment above the Hilltop Montessori Middle School. I’ve been living on campus for almost two years now, and it’s such a beautiful and special place to call home! I will be travelling for 3-4 months in the fall and am ideally looking for a housemate open to either living with a subletter or covering the total apartment rent during that time, which I would subsidize if that person is willing to take care of my cat and allow me to store my things until I return. Pets who are cat-, dog- and child-friendly are allowed (and preferred by my very social cat!).
More details in the online housemate ad:
Do you know someone who might be a good fit? Please help spread the word!
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Thank you
to
Martin Humfeldt
and
Green Mountain Creamery
for donations of yogurt!
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BIG
thanks to
Brattleboro Tire
for donating our Hilltop van's winter snow tires and for rotating them each year!
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Thank you to
Nathan Rupard
and
Hazel
restaurant for delivering our pizza each week and providing our staff with delicious pies!
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Spanish Summer Theater for Kids
Children ages 7 – 12 are invited to join Greenough Nowakoski to create a play in Spanish and English.
Week One
July 23rd-27th
Week Two
Aug 6th-10th
9am - 3:30pm program, 8 - 5 extended day.
At Hilltop Montessori School
$200/week, 6 child minimum. Sign up for one or both weeks.
Scholarships and barter available.
One snack provided. Families provide Lunch and additional snack.
In addition to creating a play, children will have time to freeplay outdoors and in, dance to great latinx music, have a quiet rest/read time, and hear a great story about the Spanish speaking world.
Greenough Nowakoski
has taught Spanish to children in grades K – 8 for 13 in area schools. Her work with children encourages experiencing and understanding the diversity and beauty in our world. She brings with her books, music, and artifacts from Spanish-speaking cultures.
Contact Greenough at (802)387-4677 for more information.
Also, looking for interested Spanish speaking adults to assist for 3 hours per day, for pay or trade.
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Traditional Music Camp
for Kids
Led by Andy Davis, Keith Murphy, Becky Tracy
June 25 – 29, 8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Ages 9-14
Tuition: $260 / 5 days
at Hilltop Montessori School
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