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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Next Week:
October 7
- UE Soccer Away Game, 5:30pm
October 9
- K-LE Soccer Practice, 3:15-4:30pm
- UE Soccer Home Game, 4pm
October 10
- MS Soccer Home Game, 4pm
- LE-UE Horseback Riding, 3:30pm
October 11
- Grandparents and Special Friends Day (Half Day)
October 13
- Putney School Harvest Fest
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October 14
- No School, Indigenous People's Day
October 16
- K-LE Soccer Scrimmage Home, 3:15-4:30pm
October 17
- MS Soccer Away Game, 4:00pm
October 23
- Make up Picture Day
- K-LE Practice, 3:15-4:30pm
- UE Soccer Game Away, 4pm
October 24
- Parent Teacher Conferences (Half Day), Childcare Available
- Parent Teacher Conferences (No School), Childcare Available
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We wanted to consolidate, reiterate, explain, and clarify the After Care sign-up and billing policies that can be found in a few places. We work to be flexible to meet families’ child care needs and also need to be cost effective and meet licensing regulations for staff/child ratios.
Toddler pick up ends at 11:45 / 2:45 / 4:00 / 5:00
Children’s House pick up ends at 12:00 / 3:00 / 4:00 / 5:00
Elementary pick up ends at 3:00 / 4:00 / 5:00
- If you are signed up for a schedule that repeats weekly, we are not able to give credit or refund for unused days, snow days, sick days, or early pickups. We have staffed for the expected number of children. You will be charged for the full time as outlined on your individual Before/After Care Enrollment Form.
- You will not be charged for time in After Care if your child is enrolled in an After School Enrichment Program that takes place during After Care hours (i.e. Soccer or Horseback Riding). If Soccer doesn't start until after 5 pm and your child is in After Care from 3-5 pm, you will be charged for time in After Care.
- Drop-Ins require 24 hours notice. In the case of an emergency, we can accept drop-ins within the 24 hour window depending on numbers and staff availability. Sometimes an extra staff person is able to change their plans to stay later to help with extra After Care enrollment. We ask that you please be considerate of all the moving pieces when requesting a last minute drop-in.
- All Before and After Care is billed in one-hour increments at the end of the month of use. Flat rate enrollment is billed monthly, Sept - June, consistently regardless of use, and includes conference day coverage.
- If you are running late for pick up at dismissal, please call the front desk to let us know. We will keep them safe and supervised. If your child is not picked up by the end of their scheduled pick up time, they will be brought to the front office. For mid-day and 3 pm pick-ups you will be billed for an hour of After Care following a 10 minute grace period. For 5 pm pick-ups there is a $1/minute charge after 5 pm for late pick ups, as staff will be delayed from their evening.
We understand life gets busy and complicated! We want to work with you and your child to come up with the best schedule we can for your family. We also need to be considerate of both our staff and state regulated ratios. We thank you for your partnership in meeting these goals.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about scheduling, please contact
Zoe
at the front desk. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about billing, please contact
Deb
, our business manager.
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October Parent Teacher
Conferences
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Half Day Thursday, October 24
No School Friday, October 25
Everyone should have received a SingUp.Com email inviting you to schedule your parent conference. Thank you to those who have signed up, and if you have not please do so soon.
TP:
Thursday, October 24
BIRCH:
Tuesday, October 22 & Thursday, October 24
WILLOW:
Wednesday, October 23 & Thursday, October 24
LE:
Thursday, October 24 & Friday, October 25
UE:
Thursday, October 24 & Friday, October 25
MS:
Thursday, October 24 & Friday, October 25
Childcare will be provided on
Thursday, October 24 from 12pm-5pm, and on
Friday, October 25 from 8:30am-5pm. If you need childcare for your 20 minute conference, there is no need to sign up, and you can simply drop your child off during that time free of charge.
If you need childcare for the entire afternoon or day, you can sign up by
emailing the front desk or stopping by in person. This childcare will be billed at the After Care rate, or is included in the flat rate.
Please sign up in advance - we will be staffing accordingly!
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Hilltop is excited to join the international movement for
Ecobrick
makers!
"An Ecobrick is a plastic bottle packed to a set density with used, clean and dry plastic to achieve a building block that can be used over and over again. [...] Ecobricks are used to make modular furniture, garden spaces, walls and even full-scale buildings. [...] Ecobricks are a stepping stone out of the old paradigm of ‘waste’ and ‘trash’. Ecobricking gives value to what was once value-less. Ecobricks are designed to leverage the longevity and durability of plastic, to create an indefinitely reusable,
cradle to cradle
, building block."
Our different programs are excited to start making Ecobrick. Presently, we have an abundance of single use plastic film, but need plastic bottles (thank you families for providing water bottles for your students). Ideal bottles are rinsed 12 oz or 1 liter drink bottles, and 1/2 gal or gal jugs. Please place them in the trash barrel labeled Ecobricks next to the playground gate.
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We’ve had a couple of initial All School Gatherings, now that Peace Buddies are matched. The month of October has funky Thursdays with Grandparent Day rehearsal, an evacuation drill, and Parent Conferences are scheduled for Thursdays. We will begin our regular ASG schedule with parents encouraged to attend starting on October 31st. Throughout the months of November and December, parents are encouraged to attend ASG on Thursday mornings from approximately 8:45-9:15, with coffee provided beforehand in the Arts Barn lobby!
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Dear Toddler Families,
As we settle into the second month of school, we are embracing lots of food prep! Toddler LOVE to eat and, naturally, preparing food is a favorite activity. Children learn practical life skills like grating cheese with a hand-cranked grater, spooning beans, and using a dustpan and brush to clean up afterwards. They experience the satisfaction of preparing food for their community and enjoying it together. And, they practice patience while waiting for the oven to cook their snack. On Thursday the children made nachos with beans and cheese. And it was delicious!
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Nachos are great for a chilly fall day, but earlier this week (when it was summer-like), some children harvested mint from the greenhouse garden and prepped the leaves for drying. We’ll use them for making tea on cold winter days.
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This week an email was sent to all parents with a list of winter gear toddlers will need to stay warm and dry while enjoying the soon-to-come cold weather and snow. Please let us know if you’d like some help procuring items; we are more than happy to help!
Happy weekend.
Ellie, Sarah & Françoise
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Conflict resolution is a big part of a child’s social life. Within our Montessori curriculum, we are fortunate to offer guidance for children to work together to solve a problem. Our Peace Area, or Peace Table -- present in both clasrooms AND on the playground, offers a safe place for children to have this productive conversation.
Step 1: A child, or group has a problem when playing or working
“You’re not my friend any more!”
Step 2: A child invites the other(s) to go to the Peace Area.
Step 3: Children take turns to speak, using “I” statements.
“I didn’t like it when you said I wasn’t your friend. It hurt my feelings!
”
Step 4: Before stating their perspective, the child re-states how the other felt,
"
your feelings were hurt when I said 'your'e not my friend.'"
This reflective listening repeats until...
Step 5: A solution is born!
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t like it when you said I couldn’t play house with you. Can I play house with you?
” “
Yes, you can be the sister and I’ll be the brother!”
Step 6: Friends!
Naturally, some challenges may arise in this process, and it doesn’t always lead to a happy ending right away. Sometimes the children decide to take a break from playing together, or need space to calm down before going to the Peace Area. This process takes patience and time. As teachers, we are always available to help and guide. Especially for younger children, we model and practice many times before we notice children beginning this process on their own. A Peace Area conversation helps to build confidence, responsibility, and a solution-oriented approach to solving a problem. The formula is pretty simple and effective -- some families have even introduced a Peace Area in their homes!
Click
here for
more information. We use
The Peace Rose
by Alicia Jewell as a guiding book in the classroom.
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Students are getting more familiar with the routines of the Lower Elementary classroom as each day passes. Our new students are building their stamina for staying engaged and focused during our morning work cycle, and older students are falling into the good habits they developed in the previous year(s).
The addition strip board has been well-used this week, as many in the class grow their knowledge of addition facts with it. Interest in animal reports has exploded too, and there has been much reading and writing about bears (both polar and panda), lynxes, emperor penguins, and blue whales. Reading groups are underway, and everyone is involved in the work of discussing the story elements of setting and conflict, as well as the practice of comprehension skills like predicting and noticing.
Lower El’s first field trip is on the horizon. On
Wednesday, October 30th
, at 8:45 we will be leaving for our annual hike. This year, Lower El will visit Putney Mountain. If you are willing and able to be a chaperone/driver, please let parent representative
Amanda Rupard
know as soon as possible. In addition, tell her how many students can fit in your car, including car/booster seats. On
Friday, November 22nd
, we will drive to Amherst to visit the wonderful Bassett Planetarium as part of our Sun and Earth study. We will be in need of chaperones for this field trip, too. Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Enjoy your weekend!
Kerstin, Patrick, and Amelia
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Younger students learn about the structure of sentences during their Grammar lesson.
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Claire shares her writing piece about a world ruled by dogs during Writers' Workshop.
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Harper W. creates a biome map of Asia.
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Kerstin creates a supersaturated solution at Morning Meeting.
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Cooper, Asha, and Finn practice addition using the Strip Board.
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Students
create art with Jade.
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On
Tuesday, October 8th,
the Upper El will visit the Windham Solid Waste Management District to tour and learn about their extensive composting facility (BrattleGrow) and recycling program. Please send them in with mud boots or equivalent as we expect some rain the day before and the ground will be wet. We will be leaving HMS around 9:30 and will be back before lunch.
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Re-invigorating composting for the Elementary!
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Max and Lucas working on their Math Sequence.
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Finn working on a Colonial Map Work.
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Fun with peace buddies at recess.
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Working hard in the wood shop.
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Moving the rain catchment container to its beautiful custom made wooden box. Thank you to TJ Beckwith!!
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Over the past month, Middle School students have observed, painted, and become experts in the identification of five living things on their own ¼ acre parcel of land at our outdoor campus, Upland. This week has been the culmination of our science study, called
A Walk In The Woods
, with students hard at work collecting data for their labs. Armed with measuring tapes, students measured the circumference of all trees on a 25’ x 25’ portion of their plot, approximately 164th of an acre. Students will use their data in biomass equations created by the Harvard Forest to calculate how much carbon is stored in each tree. When everyone’s data is in and analyzed, we hope to answer the question “How much carbon dioxide does Upland sequester?” On October 18th we will be traveling to the Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts where we will bring our carbon sequestration data in hopes of comparing our results with figures from that forest and discuss our experiment with scientists doing similar work. In addition to measuring the amount of carbon stored on their plots, students have created an essential question to investigate.
Lana:
How does the type of tree (conifer vs. hardwood) affect how much carbon it sequesters?
James:
How does the moisture level of the area (dry vs. swampy) affect how much carbon is sequestered?
Roxanne:
How does the carbon sequestered in the swamp compare to the carbon sequestered in the Upland forest?
Django:
How does the amount of carbon sequestered in one Red Oak that was logged (twice) compare to the amount of carbon sequestered on my plot?
Ian:
What is the average amount of carbon sequestered in each species of tree on my plot?
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Anna collects data on her plot.
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Measuring a tree's circumference to calculate kg of carbon sequestered.
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Ian paints an Eastern Hemlock.
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Building plant identification projects in the art room.
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Please join us on
Indigenous People's Day, Oct 14th, at 3:30pm for a free screening of DAWNLANDS, an Emmy Award winning documentary. The feature-length film follows the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to contemporary Wabanaki communities to witness intimate, sacred moments of truth-telling and healing. With exclusive access to this groundbreaking process and never-before-seen footage, the film reveals the untold narrative of Indigenous child removal in the United States. This film would be appropriate for Middle School students and above, and Upper El students with parent discretion. For questions or to RSVP about childcare, please contact
Kegan.
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Kids’ Night Out
Friday, October 18th
Do you want to have a fun night out on the town? Are you having a hard time finding a babysitter? Do you want your children to have just as much fun as you do while you’re out? Drop your children off at our arts barn anywhere between
5:00-9:00 pm on Friday, October 18th
to have a night of fun and games with our responsible middle school babysitters.
There will be fun, games, crafts, and tons more! At least one adult and lots of fun middle schoolers will be there. We will provide snacks, and pizza is available! If you don’t want pizza, please pack a nutritious dinner or feed your child before you come. To attend KNO, your child must be in children's house or above and be able to use the bathroom independently.
This fun night for you and your kids costs only $7.00 an hour and $5.00 for each additional child. Pizza is $5.00 more for two slices. All proceeds from Kids Night Out go to the Hilltop Montessori Middle School Odyssey fund. Our businesses are an important part of our fundraising, so your support really helps!
To sign up or learn more, visit our
website
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PARENTING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE
Workshops are coming to Hilltop Montessori School this fall!
On
Sunday 11/3 and Sunday 12/15 (from 1-4 pm) Angela Berkfield and Shela Linton, well known facilitators and advocates from The Root Social Justice Center, will lead parents and others important in the lives of Hilltop students, in workshops to help us understand racism and bias, and to help us see how these play out in our parenting, school, and community.
Childcare and light refreshments will be offered.
We are relying on parents to fund this event, so there is a suggested fee of $0-$250 per participant. Please use the following link as you think about your contribution, and give generously:
Sliding Scale Guide. If you are unable to participate, but want to support this work, we would welcome your contribution.
Contribute Here
It is preferred that participants attend both workshops and continue with the monthly discussion group that will follow during the 2019-2020 school year.
We need a minimum of 8 participants to move forward, so please call
Elizabeth Fisher at (802)257-8584, or send an email to
livezestfully@yahoo.com
to REGISTER your interest and indicate the number of children who will need childcare. If you’d like to get a head start on reading this summer, pick up a copy of
White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo.
This is an exciting learning opportunity which we hope will benefit us, our children, and our school as we strive to become more diverse. I look forward to doing this important work with you,
Elizabeth Fisher
(UE Mom)
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