Upcoming Dates to Remember |
April 23
K-3 No School, Assessment Day
Grades 4-8 School In-Session
Grade 6 CogAT Screening
April 27
Futures Committee 3:30pm
April 26-27
Grades 2-3 CogAT Screening
April 29
May Day - In School Festival
May 3
No School - Teacher Work Day
May 8
May Faire Community Festival
|
|
Each year has its seasons that we at Mountain Song love to celebrate. The upcoming May Day festivals are the first that we will celebrate in person since well over a year ago! The anticipation that we can now gather (carefully) has our hearts bursting! We hope you will join our May Day celebrations.
Over the last week, public health orders have shifted toward county control, and we have been working closely with El Paso County Public Health to understand the changes. Fundamentally, nothing will change in the normal school days, and the state mask mandate is still in place. What has changed is our ability to hold outdoor events. We continue to receive clarifications from the county as we plan our spring celebrations. How our events in the next two weeks go will help determine specifics for our end-of-year events.
Please help us keep these gatherings safe, in which we protect each other while we rejoice in our community bonds. I can hardly wait!
Blessings,
❤
Dr. Teresa Woods
|
|
Internal May Day Festival (In-School) - April 29th |
Mountain Song is excited to hold our in-school May Day Festival next Thursday 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 outdoors during a scheduled time on April 29th. Families will be able to come to the school and view their child's class performance in a designated area outside. Class teachers sent the performance schedule to families this week.
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 maintain social distance and will have limited spacing.
We suggest students wear white or light colored clothing to celebrate the arrival of spring.
|
|
May Day Flower Donations
April 28-29
|
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
|
|
Explore Mountain Song on social media!
|
|
Celebrating Earth Day on Fox21 News |
Mountain Song shared the spirit of Earth Day yesterday with Colorado Springs. Sarah Kreger, Director of School Performance, and Azul Arnedo Spencer, 7th grade student, appeared on Fox21 News to demonstrate how to make “seed bombs” for Earth Day! We are proud of our programs at Mountain Song that connect students and families to caring for our precious Earth.
|
|
Fairy Festival in the News |
A festival of fairies visited our local parks last weekend, putting Mountain Song in the news again! This time, Fox21 News aired a story featuring our Parent Council’s Fairy Festival for Mountain Song families. We hope families had a chance to participate. We extend our gratitude to the Parent Council for creating this opportunity for families!
|
|
Mark your calendar for May Faire! We look forward to celebrating in-person as a community on May 8th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We’ll have crafts, activities, singing and dancing as we relish in the new beginnings of spring.
Over the next two weeks, we 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. Stay tuned for ways that you can give.
For May Faire sponsorship opportunities, please contact Lauren Ferrara at lferrara@mountainsongschool.com.
|
|
Teacher Leadership Council |
This week, Mountain Song launched its new Teacher Leadership Council (TLC), a group with members selected by their peers to represent each area group of the school. Members include Gina Nicoletta-Budler (Kindergarten), Amy Siebert (Elementary), Eli Peak (Middle School), Adam Wright (Specials Subjects), Angie Strickler (MTSS), Donald Samson (Pedagogical Coordinator), and Dr. Teresa Woods (Principal). Members will serve a one-year term and may serve multiple terms.
The TLC's purpose is to create and review proposals for the Executive Leadership Team regarding the educational program at Mountain Song, including curriculum development, professional development, parent education, assessments, festivals, school culture, etc. The TLC met for the first time this week and established protocols for making decisions and reporting back to the MSCS staff, and began outlining initial priorities. The TLC will be meeting twice a month.
As a Waldorf-inspired school, Mountain Song is dedicated to enacting the educational principles inspired by Rudolf Steiner and developed further by Waldorf Education experts. As a member of the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education (APWE), Mountain Song is committed to APWE’s 7 Core Principles that ensure public Waldorf education is ever-evolving and continuously renewed through practice, research, observation, and active reflection. The Core Principle of Collaborative Leadership has inspired the formation of a Teacher Leadership Council (TLC) at Mountain Song.
|
|
2021-2022 Academic Calendar Approved |
The Mountain Song Board of Directors has approved the 2021-2022 Academic Calendar, which was developed by a team of teachers and staff.
|
|
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!
|
|
Agricultural Arts Needs Spice Jars! |
We need clean, glass spice jars TODAY! 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!
|
|
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.
|
|
Parent Council Meeting Dates |
|
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.
|
|
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.
|
|
Pikes Peak Permaculture is offering Permaculture Works at the Westside Community Center, 1628 West Bijou Street, 80904, this Saturday (tomorrow)!
April 24th, 2021
Session One: (9am-12pm)
Session Two: (1pm-4pm)
Each Session is $15, or the entire day is only $25. Pikes Peak Permaculture is an educational non-profit organization and is able to offer sliding scale fees for those in need. To register or for more Information, please email Brian at truthcoach@yahoo.com or call Becky at 719-685-0290.
|
|
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)
|
|
Mountain Song Community School | 2904 West Kiowa St, Colorado Springs, CO 80904 |
|
Looking for past issues of the Songbird or to sign up new recipients click here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
