Green Tip from Quinn When you go to the grocery store don't use plastic bags; try to use reusable bags.
EWMS sells wonderfully convenient “Chico Bags” for $5.00 each. They come in many fabulous colors, have a handy carabiner so they can be easily attached to backpack, satchel or other carry-all, and have their own built-in pouch for storage. In addition to helping you help the planet, you’ll always have a bag at hand and can answer, “Neither, thank you,” to “Would you like paper or plastic?” These make terrific gifts. If you’re interested, stop in at the office.
Green Garden Club
The Green Garden Club will start meetings up again tomorrow, Thursday, January 7, 2010!
Open House Season
There is one more scheduled Open House in the month of January, Tuesday, the 19th. Anyone attending that Open House will have the application fee waived. If you know anyone who is interested in EWMS, let them know about this great opportunity. Open House hours are from 9:00 – 11:00 AM.
Alumni Update Danielle Radacosky-Pentoney sang a solo in the Wilmington Friends School’s Upper School Chorale concert. Danielle is a sophomore at Friends. Katie Russell received her M.Ed. at George Mason University and is teaching ESL in Charlotte, NC, where she lives with her husband, Adam.
Lauren Russell is getting married in Costa Rica next month. She and her fiancé, Ben, live in Atlanta, GA.
Welcome:
Kiran (EC2) and his family announce the birth of Rachel Priya at 4:42 AM on Saturday, January 2, 2010. Rachel weighed 6 lbs. and 5 oz. and is “healthy and strong.” Congratulations to all of you, and welcome, Rachel!
The Silent Journey
Have you ever wondered how your child can learn math concepts with the thousand chain or “stamps?” Do these materials seem foreign to you? Do you ever wonder how a Montessori education all comes together? To help parents find answers to these questions, EWMS will be repeating a terrifically successful parent education program called "The Silent Journey," that will take place on Saturday, February 6, 2010. The program is limited to 40 participants and spaces are already filling up! Call either McCrae or Victoria to sign up or to get more details about the program.
Fundraising News
As you know, every single donated dollar is helpful to this school. We are striving for 100% participation from our families in our fundraisers this year. If you were not eligible to donate your transportation reimbursement, did not choose to order Silpada, or a coupon book, couldn’t make it to Friendly’s, or do not work for a United Way organization, please consider making a donation to our Annual Fund campaign. A contribution in any amount will get us closer to both our fundraising goal and our 100%-participation-from-families goal. And every dollar given is a dollar we didn’t have before!
Images from: Amy Dwyer, BarrysClipart.com
Calendar
Saturday, 01/16
Maintenance Day, 8:00 AM – Noon
Monday, 01/18
Dr. MLK, Jr. Day Observed, no school
Tuesday, 01/26 – Friday, 1/29
Elementary Testing for elementary children second grade and older, mornings only
Saturday, 02/06
“Silent Journey,” 8:30 AM
Wednesday, 02/10
Valentine’s Day at EWMS
Thursday, 02/11
Ski Trip, weather and sufficient participation permitting. School in session.
Friday, 02/12
Teacher In-service Day, no day care available
Monday, 02/15
Presidents’ Day: No School
Saturday, 02/20
Maintenance Day, 8:00 AM – Noon
Friday, 03/05 and
Monday, 03/08
Conferences: Day Care Available
Recycle Bank Grant
Over the Winter Break, we learned that we are again the recipients of a grant from RecycleBank. This grant will fund a program to be conducted here during the 2010 – 2011 school year: Dr. Mary Ann Levan will teach an additional “special” next year, “Environmental Studies,” to all the kids once a week. The third and fourth graders will have a more intensive program with Mary Ann that will involve regular bi-monthly trips to the new Dupont Environmental Education Center at the Riverfront. We are thrilled to have Mary Ann back in the fold, to form another affiliation with a City of Wilmington organization, and to expand upon the environmental work the kids already do here.
For all of this to happen, we will need your help: We must earn 50,000 RecycleBank points pretty (by March 15th) quickly to realize this grant. So many of you graciously donated your points to us last fall, that we feel sure we will have no trouble meeting this new goal (and we’re already nearly a quarter of the way there!). To donate your points to EWMS, log into the Recycle Bank website. Click on “Get Rewards” at the top and then on “Donations” on the left. Scroll through the grant recipients until you get to Elementary Workshop Montessori School. Thank you in advance for your help
School Hours
Morning drop-off times are from 8:20 – 8:40 AM. Children dropped off by 8:40 AM are able to start their days in the classroom in a peaceful, organized and routine way. When children arrive later to school, they miss out on the opportunity to socialize briefly with their classmates, and often miss morning meetings during which they learn about their day, have a new lesson, and do some centering or movement exercises. Please plan your mornings so that your children can start their day well here at school.
Annual and Teachers’ Fund Contributors 2009 - 2010
Anonymous
Erika and Giri Addanki
Shari and Chuck Aldous
Bill Amos and Josephine Eccel
Katherine Ball-Weir
Connie and David Beattie
Robin and John Boyd
Eric and Lisa Braunstein
Elva Brooks
Martha Brown
Robin Brown
Don Callender and Mimi Boudart
Caryl Carlson
Curtis and Carol Clapham
Liza Clapham
Penny and Rashmi Contractor
Dan and Susan Cornett
Bob and Cindy Cook
John Day and Darla Max
Paula Debnum
Dan DePietropaolo and
Lisa Lalama
Ken and Perrie Dyrsdale
Helen Eliason
Ann Waring Faggard
Mike and Sally Farley
Bonita Frawley
Kelly and Jeff Furman
Matt and Elizabeth Gehrt
Vicki and Tom Gehrt
Forrest Collier and
Diane Gilman
Charlie Gilbert and
D'Arcy Webb
Caroline Glaeseman
Roberta Golinkoff
Lori Good
Rajeev and Christine Gorowara
Susan Greenstein
Irwin and Mary Lou Gross
Cynthia Haley
Cynthia Harker
Jim Harker
Noel Hasty
Denison and Wendy Hatch
Margaret Rose Henry
Marcus and Diliana Henry
Chuck Holdeman
Victoria Hostin
Vivek and Rupa Jha
D. Marie Keefer
Ray Kirkpatrick
Marilyn Knapp
Ronald and Elizabeth Kocher
Michael and Joelle Lacter
BG Eugene and
Mary Lanzillo
Gene Lanzillo and
Mary Maguire
Dave and Sally Leva
Jason and Allison Levine
Mark and Debbie McDowell
Lois McGinnis
Jane McGonegal
Doug McNames and
Kim Reighley
Mel and Laura Messinger
Andy and Melissa Molter
Carol Moore
Barry Mosher
Denny and Wendy O'Keefe
Elizabeth Orshich
Darko and Laurie Orsic
Cathleen Peipher
Ken and Christine Pierce
Shelley Pierce
Sourabh and Mythili Pisolkar
Dick and Eunice Pryor
Rich and Maribeth Przywara
Mark and Jill Pyle
Stew and Nancy Rafert
Tom and Evelyn Randolph
Tim Randolph and
Jessica Randolph-Reed
Michael Ratchford
Jesse and Kanchalee Reeves
John and Pamela Reilly
Mike Ritchie and
E. McCrae Harrison
Juliane Robinson
Shawn and Carrie Saathoff
Ron and Jean Samuels
John and Julia Scott
Atul and Lillian Shah
Nancy Shuman
Robert Shuman and
Joyce Lenhardt
Mary Beth Snowberger
Bob Snowberger
Ehyal and Kerry Shweiki
Gary and M. Kay Stumpf
Chevalit and Kanchana Svetvilas
Vinay Tambe and Shruti Sharma
Tom and Susan Trezise
John and Kathleen Turner
When you go to the grocery store don't use plastic bags; try to use reusable bags. 
EWMS sells wonderfully convenient “Chico Bags” for $5.00 each. They come in many fabulous colors, have a handy carabiner so they can be easily attached to backpack, satchel or other carry-all, and have their own built-in pouch for storage. In addition to helping you help the planet, you’ll always have a bag at hand and can answer, “Neither, thank you,” to “Would you like paper or plastic?” These make terrific gifts. If you’re interested, stop in at the office.
Calendar