June 2024
I Can’t Believe It’s June Already!! The 2nd busiest month of the school year!!
-We are preparing to celebrate our 12 graduates who are leaving the program to attend community school, either in grade 1 or kindergarten. Each graduate will be having their cap and gown sent home the week of June 17th. This way families can do photos should they wish to prior to the graduation ceremony. The ceremony is planned for Thursday June 20th at Montessori, unfortunately, due to fire regulations, only staff and graduating families can attend.
-We are excited to welcome 2 new staff to our team over the next few weeks: Miss Kiana Ivey and Miss Madison Zilkie. Both girls are fresh graduates (at the end of June) from MHHS and are exploring careers in childcare. Over the month of May, both Mrs. Fruin and Miss Schneider had to resign their positions due to medical issues, and neither will be returning to the program. We feel very fortunate to have found Miss Ivey and Miss Zilkie and look forward to them being here full-time once exams and graduation are over. Once the girls are here on a consistent basis we will have 1 in the toddler room and 1 in the preschool classroom.
-The older groups of children have 2 field trips planned for June. The first being June 5th for the Sunshine Trolley City Scavenger Hunt and then June 27th they will meet at Athletic Park and enjoy the afternoon with the Mavericks ball team. Everyone must have a permission slip signed prior to the field trip. We will be asking for parent helpers for the Maverick’s trip.
-Please make sure your child has a sun hat at school. We are hoping to get outside everyday this month. It is important that your child is protected from the sun and is wearing proper footwear. Runners and socks are the best for tiny feet: it is more comfortable, less smelly and a safer option to avoid blisters when we are out and about.
-We did not have any major issues with sunglasses during walks so this is something that I would like to continue with through the next few months. Please label sunglasses and ensure that they are child sized for their heads, adult glasses fall off and cause tripping issues.
-The older children will begin taking their water bottles on walks in the afternoons now that the weather is warmer. It is extremely helpful if the children have smaller water bottles with handles that they can independently use and carry. We have found that the bigger water bottles get too heavy for them and often get dropped and broken. As always please label them for easy identification.
-I will be sending home notices to each family to reflect the fees for the summer and fall as many of you are adjusting days of attendance. If there are any errors with days, please let me know and I will fix it. Families using the subsidy system are still reminded to maintain 100 hours through the summer to have full coverage; it is your responsibility to pay the difference.
-Make sure your child has a full and healthy lunch. They have been working up an appetite on their morning walks and when they return at lunch they are famished!!
-With the warmer days the lunches need to have an ice pack put inside to keep them cold and maintain freshness of the food.
-We aim to leave for walks by 10:30, please come on time to school if you want your child to participate. Most days there will not be staff remaining at the school and the doors will be locked. We will leave a phone number to reach the group. Please call the number to the appropriate age group. For privacy reasons we don’t want to put the staff names beside their numbers. Please let the staff know if you are coming early to get your child in the afternoon. This way we can plan our walks or leave your child with the afternoon group at the school, so you do not have to track us down.
-If the weather gets hotter early in the day, we will have the children in the yard first thing (on arrival) and inside during the heat of the day and back outside in the afternoon when the yard shades over.
-Please continue to apply sunscreen before school, it was a huge time saver for staff on those few sunny days. We will reapply it at lunchtime.
-We will also monitor the mosquitos on our walks, so far it has been fine but we will keep this in mind as we head out.
-We will be sending clothing bags home soon to be restocked with season clothing. Please refill and return as soon as possible.
-The white bags on your child’s hooks need to be gone through as well, they only need 1 pair of shoes/slippers in there and a sun hat. All mittens and toques can go home as can artwork, rocks and other treasures that have been collected. We have noticed that they are bursting with miscellaneous items that are unneeded at school.
-If your child is going to be taking additional holidays, please let us know so we can mark it down for reference.
-Last day of school for the EA’s for the school boards is June 14th.
-Last day for kindergarten is Wednesday June 26th, after that day we will be joining the main class for all activities.
-This is the last month for some of our older children to be attending Montessori. Some have been with us for a short time of 1-2 years and others have been here since their siblings came, 6+ years. We are excited for these children to go onto elementary school, but they will be missed dearly. Each is part of our Montessori family, and we know our paths will cross again within our community. We encourage drop-in visits if you’re in the neighborhood!
-To our families who are taking the summer off, going part-time or leaving for good, we appreciate your kindness and support over the past 10 months. It’s been another year of learning and growing and we are grateful that you have trusted your child(ren) to us and stuck with us through times of change. Thank you for everything!!
Happy June everyone!