October 13
Parent Enrichment Night
October 20-23
No School - Professional Development Days
October 27
Hearing Screening
November 1-2
No School - Parent Teacher Conferences
November 3
No School - Teacher Work Day
November 6th
Skate City Fundraising Night
November 17
Half Day for Kindergarten
November 20-24
Fall Break
December 1
Winter Spiral (in-school festival)
December 4
Urban Air Fundraiser
December 9
Winter Faire
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Dearest Mountain Song Community,
Thank you for dropping everything, turning on a dime, and extending so much grace during this unexpected week. Please know we do not make decisions to close lightly, and we do so only after exhausting all options. That said, we are clearly in desperate need of substitute teachers. If this week has motivated you to apply, we hope you will do so! Also, please review “How sick is too sick” and keep your children home when needed.
In lighter news, our Stone Soup Harvest Festival was so much fun! What brings me the most joy is seeing how everyone comes together, steps up, gives what they can, and creates a beautiful moment for our students and our community. We could not be more grateful to our Parent Circle and our Festivals Committee. We also raised more than $2000 during this kickoff to our Annual Fund!
A few housekeeping notes… for obvious reasons, we will not have Coffee & Conversation today (and no Morning Assembly). We will also postpone our inaugural Mountain Song Adult Choir practice to next Friday. We hope you’ll stick around after the assembly on October 13th for both events!
Finally, we are modifying our Parent Enrichment Conference next weekend to feature only the Friday Evening online session with parenting expert, Kim John Payne (Simplicity Parenting) on October 13th. (See below.) You won’t want to miss it!
Cheers to ten years,
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Teresa M. Woods, Ph.D.
Executive Director
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UPDATED: Parent Enrichment Night
Featuring Kim John Payne
October 13th 6:30p.m.
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We are postponing much of our Parent Enrichment Conference next weekend, but don’t worry! Our keynote speaker, Kim John Payne, will still host a talk for Mountain Song families on Friday, October 13th at 6:30 on Zoom. You can enjoy his talk from the comfort of your home. Look for a Zoom link next week.
“Kim Payne provides a useful model for choosing our parenting stance—Governor, Gardener, or Guide—depending on the situation. Most powerfully, Payne begins with the radical view that children are not disobedient but rather disoriented. The upshot of this shift in perspective is that discipline is about helping children orient themselves effectively, not about controlling or chastising.”
— Lawrence J. Cohen, Ph.D., author of Playful Parenting
We look forward to offering our FULL Parent Enrichment Conference in the spring of 2024. Stay tuned for a new date in the coming weeks.
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Welcome to Mountain Song’s new online home! We are excited to announce the launch of our brand new website, designed with you in mind. We hope to provide you with an engaging experience that captures the heart of our school, while also making it easy and fun to navigate. You can learn more about parent education opportunities, read about the festivals we celebrate and why, support our school, and much more!
Questions or concerns? Please reach out to Lauren Ferrara, our communications and marketing director, at lferrara@mountainsongschool.org
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Cheers to our Pioneers!
Ms. Sarah Kreger
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Whether you were at Mountain Song Community School back in 2013 or now in 2023, you will without a doubt recognize Ms. Sarah Kreger, our Director of School Performance. Sarah oversees enrollment, assessments, school improvement planning, data submissions and also greets our students at the door with a huge smile each morning.
Sarah heard about what would soon become Mountain Song Community School from a friend who invited her to a Meetup group back in 2012. An avid beekeeper and environmentalist from a long line of artists and musicians, Sarah was instantly intrigued.
“I loved the idea that kids would learn how to grow and cook their own food and make their own things,” said Sarah. “I loved that art would be infused in everything we did. I was so enamored with the concept.”
The initial Meetup group met at Old Colorado City Library, listened to lectures about a Waldorf-inspired education, and a steering committee took the necessary steps to make this dream a reality. At that time, Sarah had no aspirations of working at Mountain Song. She just knew in her heart that this school needed to exist here in Colorado Springs.
Read the rest of Sarah’s story HERE
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Mountain Song in the News |
It was a delight to chat with the Gazette’s education reporter Nick Sullivan as we celebrate 10 years of Mountain Song! Photojournalist Christian Murdock also stopped by during our Festival of Courage.
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We’re Hiring Substitute Teachers! |
We are in need of substitute teachers at Mountain Song! We have a vibrant team of teachers who occasionally need to be out. We rely on clear and compassionate substitutes who can step in and lead the classes with care, making a positive impact on the lives of our students. Teachers provide lesson plans to follow, and our staff is supportive and helpful for substitute teachers. Substitute teachers play a critical role in keeping our school functioning in a healthy way.
If you have successful experiences working with children, we would love to have you apply. If you are interested, please contact Kirsten Meehleis at kmeehleis@mountainsongschool.org for more information, or pick up an application and drop it off to the front office as soon as possible. We look forward to hearing from you!
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Greetings supporters, families, friends and faculty! As we embark on this 2023-2024 school year to mark a decade of Mountain Song Community School, we want to express our deepest gratitude for your unwavering support. Your commitment, both financially and through your time and talents, has been instrumental in elevating our Waldorf-inspired programs. We can’t wait to share the exciting developments ahead!
During the launch of our annual fundraising appeal, we had 6 new recurring monthly donations and a total of 19 donors for a whopping $2,242.70 funded towards our $50,000 goal! This is in collaboration with our very successful Rummage sale!
Thank you to the MSCS Board for their matching donation of $500 towards our annual funding kick off!
Click HERE to become our MSCS’ next recurring donor!
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Village Homeschool Spotlight |
Our Village K-1 Monday class participated in several Michaelmas related activities – making dragon bread, drawing pictures of the harvest from our school garden, and each receiving a dragon eye to take home as a reminder of their own bravery and courage.
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A great day was had by all at the annual Festival of Courage on Friday. We were so proud of our students as they tried new and hard things, dug deep, and successfully completed the obstacle course. We were equally proud of our eighth graders who woke up early to set this up for the whole school. They were also the most incredible cheerleaders for the younger children!
October 3, 2023
For a peek into the classroom, we hope you'll follow along on Instagram and Facebook!
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Coffee & Conversation & MSCS Adult Choir
No Meeting TODAY
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There will be no Coffee & Conversation or Mountain Song Adult Choir today, October 6th (and no Friday Morning Assembly).
We do look forward to seeing you next week and encourage you to listen to Kim John Payne’s Simplicity Parenting Podcast #139: Rhythm and Creative Family Flow ahead of time which we’ll discuss with our executive director, Dr. Teresa Woods.
Assembly 8:20 a.m. - 8:40 a.m. (in the Gym)
Coffee & Conversation 8:45 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. (Homeschool Room)
Mountain Song Adult Choir (Homeschool Room)
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Chalk art by Ms. Miranda Barness |
VOLUNTEER IN THE GARDEN
MARK 10 YEARS WITH $10
JOIN A COMMITTEE
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Mountain Song Community School | 2904 West Kiowa St, Colorado Springs, CO 80904 |
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Looking for past issues of the Songbird or to sign up new recipients click here.
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