NEWS May 2

013

Here we are finding ourselves at the end of another school year.

We’ve had the great honor of watching your children grow and

learn. While we are all excited to spend time with our family and

friends this summer, we are also dealing with the grief of say-

ing good bye to so many we love and adore. I found this quote

which always gives me solace…“Goodbyes are not forever. Good-

byes are not the end. They simply mean I’ll miss you until we

meet again.” To this quote, I just received an invitation from one

of my students who just graduated with honors from TWU and

next week-end I will go watch one of my very first students get

married. Many of the children who leave here do keep us in their

lives as they travel forward, which makes it a tiny bit easier to

release them to the wind. This year we also lose our very dear

Anne Bailey who has been with us for eleven years. One of my

earliest memories of Anne was seeing a child bring in a backpack

of camping gear into her classroom.

Anne stopped everything to help the child set up a series of rugs

which held all of the gear, and soon all of the children in the

classroom were working together to label each item. It took all

morning, but everyone was so enthusiastically engaged! I remem-

ber thinking “This is what Maria Montessori meant by following

the child.” Seeing Anne’s passion for Montessori teaching made

me a better teacher and director. Thank you for teaching me,

Anne. I love and admire you.

Have a blessed summer with your families. We look forward to

seeing many of you back in the fall!

Mrs. Loree

Loree Birkenback head of school

MDO

WOW!!!!! What a great school year. We can't believe it's

already over. These children have learned and grown so much.

It has been a true blessing for us here is MDO watching all

them grow and learn.

We got up to 32 children potty trained JUST IN MDO this

year!!! We are so proud of the children and want to thank all

of our parents for making it a consistent environment. We

couldn't have done it without everyone helping.

We hope you all have a wonderful summer and we can't wait to

see you all back here in the fall.

Love,

Your MDO Teachers

Ethan is matching

colors. His new

favorite thing is

matching anything

Cyrus was observing

his work after he

completed matching

the fruits and

vegetables

Ms. Eva is

assisting Clara

Rose in making

a butterfly with

her fingerprints.

We used these

to decorate the

parent volunteer

breakfast. The

students were

very excited

to make

decorations for

this event

Toddler

We can hardly express our gratitude for the outpouring of love and

appreciation over teacher appreciation week. We love working with the

beautiful children of St. James and are honored with the opportunity

to nurture them and watch them grow. The last month of school is one

of excitement, special events, hard work, laughter and even some tears

as we say goodbye.

The children experience a greater amount of freedom and

independence outdoors and metamorphosis into social butterflies,

flitting around from friend to friend so as not to miss anything.

In our class the children have really been launched into the sensitive

period for small objects and attention to detail, and on garden walks

they notice every lizard, snail, roly poly, and butterfly that passes

by. To stay cool they have worked a lot with water- watering plants,

exploring the soapy water sensorial tub, scrubbing the deck and

polishing rocks. It is bittersweet to see the children growing up and

moving on and we will cherish the memories of our year together

always!

Love,

Ms. Charlotte, Ms. April and Ms. Lilly

Soapy water

sensorial tubs

Deck Scrubbing

Ty and Ms. Charlotte

practice yoga

Social butterflies

working together

Congratulations Graduates!

-Ms. Charlotte, Ms.April and Ms. Lilly

Our beautiful bouquets from Teacher Appreciation week.

Thank you children, we appreciate you too

Keeping academic works on the shelves year round is something of

importance at St. James. Ensuring our children have the materials they

need every day at school is critical to the work cycle we see in Montessori

classrooms. Iam pleased to say, despite the students having summer

fever, they have stayed on task and have been wonderful helpers thus far.

Meanwhile, summer is approaching quickly and toddlers need to move! We

have been having a ton of fun walking on the line to different songs and

moving our bodies as we dance with scarves during circle time. This is one

memory from our class I will treasure (dancing in the circle).

It's been such a wonderful 2012-2013 school year! It's hard to believe the

tiny lives we have taught and touched are moving forward and upward to

Primary! We are so proud and are going to miss the children dearly as they

embark on what is about to be the start of their Primary years. All of the

preparation in the toddler environment lays hand in hand with the teachings

of Maria Montessori and we are proud to see our children carry these

Montessori values forward. We are also going to welcome with open arms our

returning Toddler students and also new faces to come! Despite those leaving,

we are excited to gear up for the next school year. Creating new works and

brainstorming on improvements is always a fair priority to each ending school

year. We hope everyone has a fun, safe, summer!

Ms. Coral's class

Madeline sorting

Poms by color. A skill

she can carry into

Primary

David was very fond

of our shell polishing

work and worked very

hard scrubbing them

until they shined

Ms. Coral’s class loves to dance

Here we are dancing to Give Love and throwing scarves

in the air to catch

Congratulations Graduates!

-Ms. Coral & Ms. Linda

“A child’s life is like a piece of paper on which every person

leaves a mark.” -

-Robert Heinlein

Toddler 2 has had an amazing school year and Ms. Bea and I are so sad to see it come to an end. We have had so much fun and learned so much from our young toddlers. We loved learning about the different seasons of the year and the sun, moon and stars. We enjoyed story time with the felt board,learning the stories of the Bible, and singing songs of Gods love. The children learned about color mixing and how to glue, cut with scissors and peel and stick even the smallest of stickers. Our art work was so beautiful, the children could not get enough as I'm sure you enjoyed their monthly art packets. Make sure to continue the practical life over the summer, as they have all turned into great little chefs; measuring, stirring, pouring and mixing all the ingredients for yummy snacks this year. They also love to help clean and maintain the beautiful working environment. Starting the school year off as young little toddlers and leaving strong independent students. A wonderful year had by all and special relationships made for with our hearts.Thank you so much for a very blessed school year Mrs. Anna and Ms. Bea

Congratulations Graduates!

-Ms. Anna & Ms. Bea

Primary

The month of May in our classroom has been filled with fun and the joyful

excitement of the children working. “Savannah chooses Shell Matching”. “Freddie

observes Caroline’s chrysalis opening!” “This is Caroline’s Butterfly, totally out

of its chrysalis, drying its wings.” “Elise draws, decorates and cuts out the parts

of the turtle” while Evellyn and Hayes work on Phonogram Lists and Ms. Kalindi

reads The Life Cycle of the Butterfly. We all go to the garden to release Caroline’s

Butterfly. “Caroline is giving her Butterfly a pink flower to sit on”. It wasn’t

ready to fly and starting to rain so we put the butterfly sitting on its pink flower

deep inside of a bush.Back in the classroom, Villy, Hayes, Dawson and Miriam are

working in our classroom library.

Friday is an especially fun day with Gardening and Jayla’s Birthday Celebration.

Jayla chooses Maya to pass out her Birthday Bread napkins. In the afternoon,

all the children decide we need to have a Peace Lesson with Hayes reading the Peace

Story Book. Jayla and Miriam have mastered The Peace Work! Best Summer

Wishes from all of us in P1! This year we have had lots of fun making many

new discoveries and new friends as well. Some of us will be returning next year

and others are ready to leave the comfortable nest of St. James.Landon, Aubrey,

Harper, Miriam, Dawson and Hayes, we will certainly miss you but we know

we’ll see you soon and we’ll always be good friends. I, myself, will carry all of

you in my heart, forever!

Love, Anne Bailey.

Classroom

library

Peace

Storybook

Savanah chooses

Shell matching

Caroline is

giving her

butterfly a pink

flower to sit on

Emma and Hayes watering the garden

“A great teacher takes a hand, opens a mind and touches a heart.”

We have counted down the days of another school year. We have learned, made friends, had disagreements, had fun, had a few tears, had a lot of laughs,and made a lot of memories. We have truly enjoyed teaching your children. We have learned that if we relax and enjoy them we can learn so much fromthe students. When exposed to lessons children learn so much by themselves. They have the ability to absorb information so quickly. It has been enjoyable watching each child move for-ward and mature in the daily works and tasks in the class-room. We will miss the students that are leaving this class-room. We wish you the best of luck forever and always. May God Bless you and be with you in all that you do. We look for-ward to seeing all of the returning students in August. Have a fun filled summer and enjoy all that you do.

Much love,Mrs. Barrineau and Ms. Ana

Wow! It's hard to believe that it is already the end of May! Even though the end of another school is upon us, the children have still been getting lots of work done! Lukas, Max, Austin, and Eddie all completed the United States map. Sophia and Nico have written stories in their journals. Conor, Lily, Summer, and Brooke learned how to make new patterns using the pink tower and broad stairs. Leo, Henry, Allie, and Danielle had new lessons with the skip counting chains. Parker, Madison, and Sophie worked with the life cycle of a butterfly, ladybug, and frog. Mason and Claire completed the 100 board. The children have been very busy!During May, our class had the opportunity to release the mature ladybugs that we observed in our ladybug habitat. The children watched them through their life cycle: larva, pupa, and then ladybug! The children assisted in letting the ladybugs go in the St. James garden. We even saw some of them while working during gardening class!We have really enjoyed the time spent with your children throughout the year. We are very proud of everyone! Congratulations to our graduating Kindergarteners, Sophie Bellon, Madison Hernandez, Austin Payton, Lukas Elliott, Nico Duplan, and Sophia Baeza. We love you and will miss you!We wish all if you a wonderful, relaxing summer!Ms. Elizabeth and Ms. Ashley

Here we are in the last week of school! The last few weeks have gone by so fast. The children have enjoyed some special end-of-the year activities such as the school picnic, snow cones, crazy socks, and a visit from the Gentle Zoo. They have also been busy in the classroom finishing up ongoing projects and making sure that all their works are in order to send home. It is remarkable to see the progress that each student has made through the curriculum and how the interests of each child have grown and developed.

We have watched your child mature and grow right in front of our eyes: from the curious three-year-olds with chubby faces and huge eyes to the inquisitive and ever-energetic four and five year-olds, and finally into the tall, strong, confident six-year-olds who are ready to conquer the world! We are so thankful for the each child and each family. Our hearts are especially full for our kindergarten children who will be graduating this Friday. We are overjoyed and full of pride for all that our graduates have accomplished and we wish them the very best at their new schools.

- Ms. Julia and Ms. Tamara

James - multiplication

with beads

Gentle Zoo

The time soon comes for parting,And our time is at an end,The rest of your life is starting,And we have no time at all to spend.

You knew one day you’d have to go,But thought you’d have more time.We can’t reverse time’s one-way flow,But at least you’ll have this rhyme.

You had your shining moments,Upon this life’s darkened stage,And in my book of wonderments,You’ll never be just another page.

Like the exploding of a star,You’ve changed me in and out,Your light will travel with me far,Past when all other lights go out. -Megan R. Bokowski

Congratulations Kindergarten Graduates!

we will miss you.

The Little Plant

In the heart of a seed,

Buried deep so deep,

A tiny plant

Lay fast asleep.

“Wake,” said the sunshine,

“And creep to the light.”

“Wake,” said the voice

Of the raindrops bright.

The little plant heard

And it rose to see,

What the wonderful,

Outside world might be.

Thank you for gardening with me this year!

Mrs. Loree

Just a few more days until summer and we have still been learning and growing together in Chapel! There have been so many stories, concepts and heart changes we have experienced this year in Chapel lessons. We have covered everything from Jonah and the big fish to the story of Jesus’ great rescue! As we remember all the stories and songs that come to mind we see one theme. To love God and to love people. In every piece of scripture we see people striving to learn and act out this command. The greatest command! This month in Chapel we have focused on loving other people. The children came up with an idea to help homeless people. We decided to make care packages for people in need. These packages include items from the Dollar Tree such as; tooth brushes, deodorant, socks, protein bars, wet wipes, hand sanitizer and tissues. The children started by laying all of the products out to see how many care packages we could make. There were enough items to fill ten bags! The children then took turns placing the items into the bags to make a complete package. As they were doing this we all discussed what it meant to be homeless, less fortunate or just someone who needs a little extra help in life. They all concluded that Jesus would have done the same thing in helping those in need. They literally lived out this great commandment!!! To love God and love people. After we finished the care packages they decided we should donate them to a homeless shelter for those in need. I’m happy to report that those bags were heartily welcomed!

As we come to a close this school year I get to instruct the children on one last lesson! In my opinion it’s the most important lesson they will ever learn. It’s a lesson that has been said time and time again throughout the school year. God loves you soooooooooooooooo much. Simple. If they don’t remember anything else from Chapel this year I pray that this lesson sticks! God loves them so much!

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May the Lord make His face shine on

you and be gracious to you.

May the Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.

— Numbers 6:24-26May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

May the Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.

— Numbers 6:24-26

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May the Lord make His face shine on

you and be gracious to you.

May the Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.

— Numbers 6:24-26

Tip!

Tip!

I can’t believe another school year is over. The end of

this school year marks my 16th school year with St. James

and I have enjoyed every year as much as the last. I have

watched your children blossom and grow this year. I

see toddlers that were in tears at the start of the school

year, arrive in ASC, put away their belongings and sit at

the snack time with independence and confidence. My

primary students have grown as well this year. We have

worked on conflict resolution and care of their environ-

ment. I am always proud to see them resolve conflicts

and love to see all the helpers that I have when it is time

to clean up at the end of the day.

It has been a wonderful year and I thank you for allowing

me to watch your children “after hours”. I have loved get-

ting to know them and share in their day.

Have a safe and wonderful summer and can’t wait to see

all of you in the fall!

Lisa Wilson and the ASC Staff

Good Bye

See you later, Alligator!

After while, Crocodile!

In an hour, Sunflower!

Maybe two, Kangaroo!

Gotta go, Buffalo!

Adois, Hippos!

Chow chow, Brown Cow!

See ya soon, Baboon!

Adieu, Cockatoo!

Better swish, Jellyfish!

Chop chop, Lollipop!

Gotta run, Skeleton!

Bye-bye, Butterfly!

Better shake, Rattlesnake!

Our school days now end, so goodbye dear friends!

Love, the St. James Staff

Summer Camps 2013

Click for more info