Upcoming Dates to Remember |
April 17
Parent Council Fairy Festival 10:00am - 6:00pm
April 19
MSCS School Accountability Committee 6:00pm
April 20
MSCS Board Meeting 6:00pm
April 20-21
School Picture Days
April 23
K-3 No School, Assessment Day
Grades 4-8 School In-Session
April 27
Futures Committee 3:30pm
April 29
May Day - In School Festival
May 3
No School - Teacher Work Day
May 8
May Faire Community Festival
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Mark your calendar for May Faire! We look forward to celebrating in-person as a community on May 8th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For those unfamiliar with this treasured Waldorf tradition, May Faire is a festival that celebrates the arrival of spring and the new beginnings that come with the season. Join us on this day of renewal as we sing, dance, and give back to our beloved Mountain Song Community School.
Our fundraising goal between now and May Faire is to raise $20,000 as we set our sights on a new permanent building, where Mountain Song Community School will plant roots.
In the coming weeks, we will challenge each Mountain Song family to invest in our school and our future so that Southern Colorado children can learn, grow and be inspired in the Waldorf tradition for years to come.
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“I feel ready to go to college... and then to Mars and Saturn.” - overheard at Kindergarten pickup.
Explore more Mountain Song musings like this on social media!
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School Picture Days
April 20-21, 2021
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Colleen Harvey Photography is scheduled to take student pictures outside in the school garden on April 20-21, 2021. Please mark your calendars! Click here for the order form that needs to be turned in to classroom teachers with payment by picture day.
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Internal May Day Festival
(In-School) - April 29th
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Save the Date! Mountain Song is excited to hold our in-school May Day Festival this year on April 29th. Our Games and Movement teacher, Denise Neal, has been hard at work with all of the students to prepare their class Maypole dances. All classes in Grades 1-8 will be performing their Maypole dance during a scheduled time on April 29th. Families will be able to come to the school and view their child's class performance that day in a designated area outside. Please keep in mind that families who come to watch their child's performance should come only for their child's class time as we are working to social distance and will have limited spacing. Look for more details on timing and specifics from your class teacher. We are really looking forward to celebrating the arrival of spring together!
So many of the class activities, events and festivals that we cultivate here at our school are done so to bring an experience to the children that can last a lifetime. However, when children see videos and pictures of themselves doing these activities, it takes this special experience away from them in a profound way. It is so important for children to see the adults in their life fully present with them in these times. Please keep this in mind when taking pictures or videos of your children, or when viewing these things from others. These are lovely memories we want to cherish, but these things can affect our children in a big way!
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May Day Flower Donations
April 28-29
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Imagine our students adorned in beautiful flora as they excitedly approach the May Pole for Mountain Song’s annual May Day (In-School) Festival. Our students are practicing and preparing for this event on April 29th and we need flowers! Yes, many, many flowers! Bouquets of all varieties and rose petals galore!
Please bring any flowers you can donate to school on Wednesday and Thursday, April 28th & 29th. We will have buckets of water ready to receive all flower donations for the children to carry and/or wear for May Day!
Thank you!
Internal Festivals Committee
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We’re sad to announce that our wonderful school social worker, Ms. Erin Kivo, needs to step back from her position at Mountain Song to attend to unexpected personal circumstances. She has been carefully working with staff and students to make this transition smooth, and today (April 16th) is her last day with us.
We are actively working to hire another school mental health provider for the rest of the school year for our special education students and will keep you posted.
We all know what a gift Ms. Kivo has been to our school in providing support to our students, families, and staff. She has personal responsibilities she must attend to now, and I ask that you join me in warmly supporting her to do so.
Our heartfelt gratitude to you, Erin!
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Grades 3-8 CMAS Testing Underway |
CMAS Testing is underway for Grades 3-8! Many students completed CMAS testing this week, and others are scheduled next week. Please check in with teachers for specific dates and times. Makeup days are available. Students in Remote Learning do not need to come into the school building solely for testing.
CMAS is the Colorado Measures of Academic Success. It is the state summative assessment for Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies. Testing requirements were reduced for all grades this year. Grades 3, 5, & 7 are testing in English Language Arts only. Grades 4 & 6 are testing in Math only. Grade 8 is testing in Math and Science. CMAS is designed to gauge how well students are mastering the standards and are prepared for their next grade. CMAS results provide a picture of student performance and show how students are progressing academically. Teachers use CMAS results to enhance instruction in order to meet individual student needs. Schools and districts use CMAS results to make adjustments to instructional programming for the following year. Individual student results become available in the fall. Each school in Colorado is given a ranking based on the Spring CMAS assessment results. Mountain Song Community School has earned a Performance ranking, the highest given to schools, for four consecutive years.
Thank you for your support of Mountain Song Community School.
For questions about our testing, or to request students take both ELA and Math assessments this spring, please contact Sarah Kreger, Director of School Performance, at skreger@mountainsongschool.com. To learn more about assessments at Mountain Song and how to opt students out of state assessments, please see our Assessment Policy.
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In this challenging year, computers have connected kids to school all over the world. This is especially striking in Waldorf schools where we specifically ask that children be spared media influences.
As we make our way out of the pandemic, let’s focus on switching the screens off when possible. We are concerned about our children and dependence on electronic media.
And it’s not easy to switch the screens off. Electronic games intentionally keep players engaged, using the brain’s addictive responses to play another round, and another, and another.
You may know that Waldorf schools are popular among technology entrepreneurs. As described in this article about Silicon Valley tech designers, they understand better than most the negative effects of technology on child development and mental health, and know that kids should interact with the world unplugged. So, many of them send their kids to Waldorf schools.
Victoria Dunkley, psychiatrist, describes the impacts of technology on children’s mental health in these articles: This is Your Child’s Brain on Video Games, and Screen Time Impacts Kids’ Moods. Also, children who spend more time on screens have been shown to eat a poorer diet, and get less sleep and exercise than children with minimal screen time. In fact, Gaming Disorder has been added to the World Health Organization’s list of diseases.
The amount of time we adults spend on electronic devices also takes away from the real person-to-person time children need with us. Diane Sawyer reports on how much our adult behavior on screens impacts the children around us. We should unplug, too!
The good news is that at Mountain Song, we encourage activities that do support sound development and health in our children. For instance, by integrating arts and crafts with academics, we help develop imagination, resourcefulness, creativity, teamwork, design, resilience, and problem-solving skills, as discussed in this insightful article about surgeons and handwork. Immersing children in nature is another enduring way we encourage healthy and whole child development at Mountain Song.
Let’s share the many ways we can unplug and tune in to what’s really important!
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Agricultural Arts Needs Spice Jars! |
We need clean, glass spice jars by April 23rd! Agricultural Arts students will help package for sale dried herbs and spices from Mountain Song’s garden, such as dill, fennel, rosemary, sage, bay, lavender, and lemon verbena. We have more herbs and spices than jars! There will be single harvest jars and some wonderful blends. So, let’s reuse some of those expired jars in the pantry! Please send in your clean glass spice jars today!
Label your donation “Ag Arts” and drop them off at the front office or send them in with your student(s).
The more jars we receive, the more we can fill.
The more we fill, the more we can sell!
Thank you for supporting Ag Arts!
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Fairy Festival - This Saturday April 17th! |
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Join the Festivals Committee for a Fairy Hunt tomorrow April 17th, 10am - 6pm!
This activity is absolutely free and engages families in exploring local parks in a fun way. Participants follow a map to find the treasures at each park. Pick one park or search them all! The Festivals Committee created a map to all of the parks holding treasures. Maps are available today in hard copy at the Parent Council shed (behind the Chicken Coop on the staff parking lot side of the fence) or online April 15th at the Parent Council Festivals webpage.
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Warm Gratitude for Mountain Song’s Parent Council |
MSCS Parent Council continues to support our faculty and staff in many ways. This week, the Hospitality Committee provided beautiful breakfast bags of delicious snacks and meals for Staff Appreciation Day to all staff, being sure to include specialty bags for those with food allergies or aversions. All the food was absolutely scrumptious!
Thank you, Parent Council, for your outpouring of moral support throughout this year! We send out our warmest gratitude!
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Teacher Positions Available |
Educate children in the Waldorf tradition in the shadow of Pikes Peak - "The Most Desirable Place to Live" according to U.S. News & World Report.
We're hiring a kindergarten teacher, a 1st grade teacher and a 6th grade teacher!
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Book Buzz:
Hunt, Gather, Parent
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Sometimes we come across books growing in popularity among parents and Waldorf communities. A recent find, Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans, authored by Michaeleen Doucleff, has some families rethinking parenting practices. Doucleff sought out traditional approaches to parenting in various world cultures, resulting in positive changes to her parenting style. These approaches include engaging young children in meaningful work, guiding children to develop emotional regulation, using pedagogical stories, the importance of sleep, and so much more that we practice in Waldorf schools.
Browse these links for more insight about this book buzz:
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The pandemic and compound crises our country has faced in the past year has illuminated the need for self-care. ASSET Education wants to offer our community (you!) free self-care sessions with two of their favorite people: George Ramsay and Brittany Simone Anderson.
Britt will offer somatic yoga and breathwork experience on Monday, April 19th, 5-6pm MT, and George will offer a breathwork session on Thursday, April 29th, 5-6pm MT.
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April slots are open for volunteers in the farm and garden. Please consider becoming part of our team! Our garden is growing in the greenhouse awaiting the warmth of May garden beds, and our animals love our warmth and attention. Families can help by watering plants, feeding animals, and cleaning their habitats.
This is a wonderful way for you and your family to engage with our school garden. If you haven't volunteered in the garden before, please contact Mr. Adam Wright at awright@mountainsongschool.com so he can arrange a time for you to be trained.
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Parent Council Spring Festival |
Mountain Song’s Parent Council continues to showcase creativity with remote festivals. Please take a moment to peruse the Festivals page for the current Spring Festival.
Preheat the oven and try making something new! Recipes include Bunny Buns and Gluten-Free Hot Cross Buns, as well as a recipe link to an entire meal for Ostara - the celebration of the Spring Equinox. Scroll down the page just a tad to find a few crafts, such as Natural Easter Egg Dye, Paper Flowers and Sprouting Wheat Grass. Below the recipes and crafts, enjoy video stories recorded by our very own Mountain Song teachers: Miss Maple's Seeds, How Fletcher Was Hatched, Festival of Colors, and Rachel's Day in the Garden.
As a Waldorf-inspired school, Mountain Song festivals are a vital part of our education. Festivals mark the rhythms of the seasons with the richness of story and song, light and food, celebrating our shared humanity.
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Parent Council Meeting Dates |
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The mission of the Parent Council is to facilitate parent involvement and to support teachers in preserving the vision of the school. Please support Mountain Song by joining one of these Parent Council committees.
The Festivals Committee and the Health and Wellness/Hospitality Committee met early this month on April 6th at 4pm. If you missed the meeting because of the date change, please reach out to our Parent Council Chair for updates via email at pcchair@mountainsongschool.com .
Our normal schedule is as follows:
Festivals Committee
Meets 2nd Wednesday each month at 4pm
Health and Wellness/Hospitality Committee
Meets 2nd Tuesday each month at 4pm
Parent Council
Meets 3rd Thursday each month at 4pm
All Parent Council committees seek volunteers. Remember, involvement in Parent Council committees satisfies volunteer requirements for Mountain Song! Please contact Cambria at pcchair@mountainsongschool.com if you are interested.
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Innovation Learning for Summer 2021 |
Innovation Learning is offering Camp Discovery at The Vanguard School this summer! This is an all-day program for K-8 students June 1st through July 30th. Mountain Song students are invited to attend. If you are interested in joining Innovation Learning’s summer camp, please click here for information about how to register.
CCCAP is accepted. CCCAP is the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) that provides child care assistance to families who are working, searching for employment, or are in training, and families who are enrolled in the Colorado Works program. View the Family Income Guidelines for CCCAP eligibility.
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Article or announcement contributions must be submitted to Ms. Sŏnia Cruz by Tuesday at 5 p.m. for inclusion in each week’s Songbird newsletter, typically distributed on Fridays. (scruz@mountainsongschool.com)
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Mountain Song School Calendar |
Mark your calendar with these important Mountain Song Community School dates.
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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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