Messenger 02.07-2011 DRAFT mkr

Volume 46 Issue 11
Wo o d la n d H i l l
Montessori School
F e b r u a r y 7 , 2 0 11
T HE M ESSENGER
Kindergarten Pinning Ceremony
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Lunar New Year
2
Diamonds in the Rough
3
New Score Board
4
Alumni Panel
7
Primary Enrichment
8
CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
• 2/8 Dr. Pat Schuler workshop 8:45
a.m.
• 2/8 Exploring the next steps - High
School Exploration Cmte 4:30 p.m.
• 2/9 Capital Region Spelling Bee @
Proctors 5 p.m.
• 2/12 Voyage of Discovery -Math
8:30a.m.-12:30 p.m.
• 2/14 LE to the Egg for “Let’s Go
Science” show 9:30 a.m.
• 2/14 MS Valentine Fundraiser
• 2/16 Development Meeting
a.m.
8:30
• 2/17 MS Hot Lunch
• 2/17 (1 p.m.) and 2/18 (9 a.m. and 1
p.m.) Julie and Kristi’s class play
• 2/18 UE to Shakespeare & Company
(Founders’ Theatre)
• 2/18 Re-Enrollment Contracts Due
• 2/21 –2/27 Presidents’ Week
No School/NO Enrichment on 2/21
• 2/28—3/4 Montessori Education
Week
• 3/4 Lake George Opera - Jack and the
Beanstalk 9 a.m.
• 3/4 MS Dance 7 p.m.
• 3/6 Friends Roller Skate Day,
Rollerama, Rotterdam, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
• 3/7 Staff Development Day
No School/Enrichment available
Congratulations!
Page 2
CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION
AT
WHMS
We were very fortunate to again welcome Grandmaster Jiang Jianye from the Capital
District Tai Chi & Kung Fu Association. WHMS students were able to watch, and
them participate in, the Chinese Lion Dance. The traditional Lion Dance is a great
way to celebrate and honor Chinese New Year - the most festive of Chinese celebrations. Grandmaster Jiang Jianye also demonstrated calligraphy to the students, and
the flowing movements of Tai Chi.
The celebration was captured by Times Union
photographer Michael P. Farrell and published
on-line (http://www.timesunion.com/default/
photo/Grandmaster-Jiang-Jianye-from-the-Capital558503.php) and in the printed edition of the
Times Union on Friday, February 4.
“An Education for Life”
LUNAR NEW YEAR
Emmy and Jodi’s class held a New Year’s celebration on Thursday.
Eva Nevid, Liam’s mom, told students about
how Chinese families celebrate by cleaning
their homes, getting haircuts and putting on
new clothes to start the new year fresh. They
celebrate the new year for 15 days.
Emily Shim’s mom, Eunseon Park, told about
how Korean families begin the first day of the
new year by dressing in fine clothes and bowing to their parents as a sign of respect for
their ancestors.
Students enjoyed spring rolls and stuffed dumplings,
rice and traditional New Year treats.
Page 3
Volume 46 Issue 11
Woodland Hill Montessori presents speaker
Pat Schuler, Ph.D., NCC, LMHC
Diamonds in the Rough:
Smart Kids Who Learn Differently
Join us Tuesday, February 8 at 8:45 am.
Continental breakfast will be served.
Woodland Hill Montessori School is pleased to welcome
Dr. Pat Schuler to speak about the challenges and joys in
educating gifted
students, especially those who have other exceptionalities.
Dr. Schuler will provide information and resources to help
parents understand and guide their child.
She has successfully worked with many of our Woodland Hill students over the years.
Please RSVP to [email protected]
or call the office at 283-5400
Our January 22 Open House was a great success!
We had 21 families come tour the school on a frigid
Saturday afternoon!
We have started offering a Montessori 101 session at 1
p.m. during Open Houses. Led by Susan Kambrich,
the program was very well received.
Parents and Student Tour Guides
Hannah Raleigh
Laura Mandel
Jaxon Evans
Katie Kambrich ’08
Sharada and Sandeep Alampalli
Shari Mantini and Kaylie
Thank you to the entire WHMS community for spreading the word, inviting friends to come and placing signs
out around the Capital Region.
An additional thank you to the faculty and tour
guides for giving of their weekend in service to Woodland Hill.
Chris Wasik and Olivia
Carmel Schettino and Aniella
Debbie Ripchick
Beth Everett and Zoë
Wendy Gilman
Aminah Praileau
Teachers
LE - Julie, Sandy and Ann
UE - Sherrie and Michele
MS - Leah
Spanish - Nieves
The Messenger
Page 4
TORI GERNERT-DOTT
TO
SPELL
AT
PROCTORS
Seventh grader Tori Gernert-Dott reigned supreme at the annual Spelling Bee.
Tori will represent WHMS at the televised
Capital District Spelling Bee on Wednesday,
February 9, at 5 p.m. at Proctors Theatre in
Schenectady.
The Capital District Spelling Bee is an
exciting event open to the public.
MONTESSORI
AND
ME!
Woodland Hill Montessori School welcomes the return of Montessori & Me, a
Parent-Child Play and Discussion Group, which will run for seven Wednesdays,
starting on January 26. The one-hour playgroup will meet from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
from Wednesday, January 26 until Wednesday, March 16 and is led by a Montessori-certified teacher.
Each week, there will be a presentation of a Montessori
theme or lesson, followed by a discussion period while
the children play. The first week will focus on an Introduction to Montessori Philosophy. Future weeks will focus
on the Montessori Environment; Practical Life; Language
Development; Basic Math & Sensorial Exercises; Culture, Science, Art & Music Exercises; and Montessori in the Home
and Beyond.
Support the
WHMS
Basketball
Teams!
• 2/13 Grades 6-8 WHMS vs. East
Greenbush @ home 3:30 p.m.
• 2/19 Grades 6-8 WHMS vs.
Troy CYO @ home 2:30 p.m.
• 2/20 Grades 4-5 WHMS @
Duanesburg 4:00 p.m.
• 2/26 Grades 4-5 WHMS vs.
Troy CYO @ home 2 p.m.
SCORE!
Thanks to Renee Parsons and
Paula McBath who purchased
this scoreboard for WHMS.
There is a $50 participation fee per family. To register,
or for more information, contact Kris Gernert-Dott at
283-5400 ext. 12 or [email protected].
Trevor Eissler Presentation
iMontessori: Making Montessori Personal
Trevor Eissler visited WHMS on Friday, January 21 to a crowd of nearly 60 parents and educators from WHMS as well as
Our World Montessori School, River Run Montessori, Montessori Magnet School, Malta Montessori and the
Albany Montessori Education Center.
During his entertaining presentation, Trevor was able to draw parallels between the basic tenets of the 100 year old philosophy and the lessons our children are learning today. His humorous and enthusiastic take on the Montessori method and how
it translates into the “real” world was sprinkled with personal stories from his family life and surprising similarities
found in his work life as a jet pilot and flight instructor.
There is a limited supply of his book, Montessori Madness! Available at a special WHMS price - just $10 each compared to the
list price of $20. Contact Moira Rienzo - [email protected] - if you’d like to purchase a copy.
Volume 46 Issue 11
Page 5
Save the date for the 13th Annual Gala
Friday, April 1 at 6:30 p.m.
at the Franklin Plaza Ballroom in downtown Troy
Invitations will be mailed in February.
In Social Studies, Middle School students have been studying the movement of goods, people and ideas during the Industrial Era. Most recently, students selected a topic to research and report to the rest of the
class about through PowerPoint presentations. These topics included
important trends, concepts, events or people
during this time period.
On January 21, students visited the Burden
Iron Works museum in Troy to learn more
about the rich industrial heritage of the HudsonMohawk valley. The Burden Iron Works museum educates visitors about the history of iron
working in South Troy as well as the transformation of the region around
the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers in the 19th century.
Thank you to all
those who have
donated so far!
We have raised
$28,458!
* as of 02.07.11
Leadership Circle
Anonymous
Rahim and Salimah Dhanani,
in honor of Zoya and Maheen
Sara and Michael DeLeonardis
Marianne DeMario and Paul Simeone
Cheryl and Evan Eckman
Michael Endler and Lise Hafner
Frederick and Laura Galt
Bob and Nina Green
Sarah Hazel
Karen and John Mason
Debbie and Jonathan Ripchick
SEFCU
Investors
Fredericka V. Slingerland Family Foundation
Robert and Jocelyn Kivort
Vincent and Kara LaBella
Kathryn and David McCorkle*
Cyril and Lydia Rodriguez*
Charles Weissman & Susan Weaver
Koethi Zan and Stephen Metcalf
Benefactors
Robert and Patricia Altman
Christopher and Natasha Bang
Chris and Susan Calyer
Christine and James Chung
Joan D. Couch*
Pat and Emil DeToffol
Laura and Geoff Dunn
Diana and David Ehrlich
Tanja Eise and Michael Schwarz
Susan and David Evans
Fernando and Olga Febus
The Fogel Family
The Gernert-Dott Family
Susan and Jim Kambrich
Joshua and Laura Mandel
Robert Millar and Shari Mantini
David and Nancy Picchione
Tobi and Gary Saulnier
Eileen Stack and Matthew Clarke
Target Take Charge of Education
Connie Walsh & Michael Slik,*
in honor of Eleanor and Frances Toomey
Friends
Nancy D. Allen*
American Clothing Recycling Co. Inc.
Joseph Apuzzi*
Michael Ardman and Cheryl Bovair
Niranjan Baji and Vinita Shekhar,
in memory of Mr. K. Bhimarao
Taeim Bang,* in honor of Nicholas Bang
Paul and Jennifer Bashant
Leah Blind
Kevin and Monica Brady
Heather Briccetti
Esther Bruck*
Liz and Tim Cahrenger
Wai Kin Chan and Shujing Jiang
Jake Colwell
Dora & Jerry Connolly,*
in honor of John Patrick Altman
Terry Cunningham*
Christian Day and Carmel Schettino
Terry Dott*
The Earley Family
Mrs. Lauretta Eckman*
Mary-Jo Ehrlich
Charlotte Endler,* in honor of Kit
and Jeffrey Endler
Janet and Jason Eveleth*
Rachel and Ted Eveleth
Robert Fantauzzi
John and Laura Giarrusso
Green Fiber
Cassandre Hall
Danielle and Jake Hall
Cora and Scott Heiser
Felipe and Maria Olga Hernandez
Laura and Holland Hopson
Melissa and John King
Mr. and Mrs. Karl Klein,*
in honor of Caroline and Julia Galt
Evelyn and Ernest Lail*
Thomas Lail and Tara Fracalossi
Ye Liu and Zhigang Qiu
The Ma Family
Tami Meek
Alton and Pam Malcolm
The Montgomery Family
Heidi and David Nathanielsz
Marion Newton and Christian Heller
Maria Papa
Meg Parascandola
The Peaceful Center
Moira K. Rienzo
Janis Rink
Maggie and Luke Schmonsky
Olaf and Cora Stackelberg*
Stephanie and Bryan Staff
Peggy & Larry Suek,*
in honor of Ty Ardman
Nancy and Norman Tellier*
Maureen and Jim Tusty
Patricia Ward*
Brad White and Jill Augustine
Kevin and Jean Wynne
*denotes WHMS Grandparent
Volume 46 Issue 11
Page 7
You are invited to become the child
in our Montessori classrooms for
a morning. Please join us for our
next Voyage of Discovery on
Saturday, February 12, from 8:30
a.m. -12:30 p.m
Nancy Hillengas (Primary),
Maryann Montgomery (Lower
Elementary), Cindy Bishop
(Upper Elementary) and Leah
Blind (Middle School) will be
presenting lessons from the
Montessori Math curriculum. All
concepts will be presented to you
as we would present them to your
child with a hands-on approach
using the Montessori materials.
The Voyage is a favorite Parent
Education Event and your participation is strongly encouraged as it
provides you with valuable insights into the materials that your
child uses to learn each and every
day.
Some quotes from past participants: “It was fascinating to
become immersed into the Montessori world in such a short
amount of time.” “The Voyage gives parents an opportunity
to actually see what the ‘nothing’ is that our children say they
do each day!” “I felt like a seven-year old all over again!” “I
loved seeing how the higher grade levels work and the enthusiasm of the teachers. The more I see, the more I like!”
We will end the morning’s lessons with a
delicious catered lunch.
Childcare is available for a fee of $12 for the first child in the
family and $8 for each additional child. Please pack a peanutfree lunch for your child. [Siblings are welcome but must be
toilet-trained.]
Alumni Panel
The Middle School students spent their lunch hour last Wednesday hearing from a few of their former classmates about the
transition from the WHMS Middle School to public high school. Haylie Gernert-Dott (‘10),
Anna Passero-Koenecke (‘10), and Portia Melita had the day off due to NYS Regents week.
The alumni had very insightful and important information to pass along to the younger
students. Among the topics covered by our alumni were academic workload and course
selection, homework, teachers, making new friends, extracurricular activities and transitioning
between classes. The Middle School students also had the opportunity to ask the 9th grade
students questions which included:
“Do you take a lot of notes?”
“What are lunch and recess like?”
“What academic skills can I develop now that will help me the most next year?”
We are very proud of how well our alumni are doing and would like to thank them for
coming in on their day off to share their experiences with us. We look forward to hearing
from more of our alumni about their transition to 9th grade.
“They talked about the transition from middle school to high school and what it was like. It was really interesting and a lot of
fun.” – Jeffrey Endler
“I thought it was great to hear what high school is like, so I can be better prepared” – Justin Bruck