News

THANK YOU to all the parents who volunteered for Field Day last week, especially our Parent Co-Chairs Wendy Sandvi and Jaycina Almond, pictured left to right here! You helped to make our 2023 Field Day one of the best ever! Of course, the day would not have been possible without excellent coordination by PE Teacher Tiffany Orem and the enthusiastic support of Teachers, Assistants, and staff who made sure students enjoyed each activity!  Special recognition goes to all those who sat under the Soak' N Wet Bucket during the Elementary event!

Look for more photos on Facebook and Instagram!
 

We are excited to offer several opportunities for current and new families to gather on campus during our Summer Break! We have scheduled Toddler and Primary Playdates as well as early evening Picnics organized by academic level. Come out and meet some new Springmont families, connect with families in other classes, and have FUN! For the playdates, just show up with your children ready to play! For the picnics, bring a blanket and dinner for your family; we'll provide some games and activities!  See the schedule below and add the dates to your calendar. There's no need to RSVP!

Tuesday, June 20 - Primary Playdate, 10-11 a.m.
Tuesday, June 27 - Elementary & Middle School Family Picnic, 5-6 p.m.
Thursday, June 29 - Toddler Playdate, 10-11 a.m.
Thursday, July 20 - Primary Family Picnic, 5-6 p.m.
Tuesday, July 25 - Toddler Family Picnic, 5-6 p.m.
 

2023-24 Lower Elementary Students:  Summer is almost here – a time to celebrate the reading skills and strategies that students have acquired and practiced all year long. Summer offers children opportunities to discover new interests, new books, and the pure pleasure of reading just for fun. Click here to view Springmont's Lower Elementary Summer Reading Information. Questions? Email Leslie Wachter (lwachter@springmont.com)

2023-24 Upper Elementary Students: Summer is the perfect time to spend some pleasurable hours with a good book!  Rising 4th and 5th year Upper Elementary students will read three books, and rising 6th years will read four books during the summer. Click here to view Springmont's Upper Elementary Summer Reading List and Book Review Guidelines. Questions? Email Leslie Wachter (lwachter@springmont.com)

2023-24 Middle school Students: Students have a Summer Reading Assignment and a Summer Math Assignment.
 

Families returning for the 2023-24 school year will receive communications and reminders, including information about Enrichment, lunch options, Strings, Orientation, and more, throughout the summer. Class placement for new and move-up students will be emailed by the end of June.

As we approach Summer Break, we hope the following will be helpful for families this summer!

• Summer Office Hours for administrators are 9 am - 3 pm daily. Teaching staff are not on campus after June 2 and will return to campus on July 31.
• Our Toddler Summer Program and Primary Summer Camp will be in session 8 am - 5 pm the weeks of June 5, June 12, June 20, June 26, July 10, and July 17.  Questions? Email Cara Friedline (cfriedline@springmont.com) or Isaac Izemba (iezemba@springmont.com)
• Campus will be closed July 3-7.
• Elementary Summer Reading questions? Email Leslie Wachter (lwachter@springmont.com)
• Middle School Reading Assignment questions? Email Gretchen Stamps (gstamps@springmont.com)
• Have friends or neighbors still looking for an extraordinary learning experience for the 2023-24 school year?  Have them contact Andrea Restifo (arestifo@springmont.com) or call 404.252.3910.  Seats are very limited!
• Ready to make or fulfill your pledge to the 2022-23 Springmont Fund? Click here to use our online form or email Development@springmont.com. 
• Financial questions? Email the Business Office (busmgr@springmont.com)
• Other questions, comments, or concerns?  Email feedback@springmont.com

Click here for our 2023-24 Main Dates Calendar (Additional calendar items will be provided in early summer via the online school calendar.)
 

Springmont’s 20th Middle School Commencement Ceremony will be held in the Pavilion on Thursday, May 25, beginning at 6:30 p.m.!  All members of the Springmont community are invited to attend and parking is on campus. We look forward to celebrating these students and know you won’t want to miss hearing each of them speak about their Springmont experience and plans, hopes, and dreams for the future. The ceremony is expected to last an hour and a half, and light refreshments will be offered afterward. There is no need to RSVP.

Pictured above, left to right: 
Front row: Layla Ritterskamp, Finn Bennett, Ava Codelli, Gia Codelli
Second Row: Alexa Campos, Velika Nayak, Amelia Martin
Third Row: Kian Collins, Ashley Allen, Gabe Wolfersberger
Back Row: Davis Sharp, Jeremy Spain, Sven Kite-Powell, Juliet Martin
 

We are excited about Field Day on Friday!  Please note the special dismissal schedule noted below. 

Students should arrive on campus in clothing that can get wet and messy. Tennis shoes and socks are required. Please apply sunscreen at home and send your child with a hat and water bottle.

Field Day parent volunteers have been provided off-campus parking information and the shuttle schedule. Please note that there will not be any parking available on campus and that the shuttle will only run before and after each session, not during the events. Parking on Long Island Drive and Mitchell Road is not permitted. 

Due to the work being done to remediate the erosion on the Lower Field makes, which limits the space available on campus, we are not able to accommodate parent spectators this year. 

• Primary classes will have Field Day in the morning (9-11 am). ALL Primary students will be dismissed via carpool 11:45-12:00. There will not be class in the afternoon, and All Day care will not be offered.
• Lower & Upper Elementary classes will have Field Day in the afternoon (12:30-2:30 pm) and be dismissed via carpool 3:00-3:15. Extended Day will not be offered.
• The Middle School has decided to enjoy a day of bowling!  Student drop-off and pick-up will be on campus, and Permission Forms have been provided. Middle School students will be dismissed via carpool 3:15-3:30. Extended Day will not be offered.
• Half Day and School Day Toddlers will have class as usual. All Day Toddlers will have class until 3:00 and should be picked up 3:00-3:15. Families can look forward to joining their Toddler’s class for age-appropriate activities held in conjunction with their individual class picnics. Teachers and Room Parents have shared additional information.  
• Campus will close at 3:30 p.m. on May 19.
   

We are excited to be sending home complimentary copies of Springmont’s 2022-23 Yearbook and class photos at the end of this week! Students will each receive a copy of the Yearbook with their class photo temporarily attached inside the back cover. Your child’s Yearbook will include a bookplate with your child’s name and class inside the front cover. 

As we wrap up the school year and look forward to Summer Break, we hope our Elementary & Middle School students are recalling the many fun adventures they had at the Landschool this year!   

If you are wondering what to do with the hiking boots, rain jackets, hiking pants, and other Landschool-related gear your child has outgrown, Springmont parent Ann Colonna is collecting these items today through Thursday, May 25, in a labeled bin in the Pavilion.  As the 2023-24 school year begins, she will make the items collected now available to parents preparing for Landschool trips!
 

Springmont’s Middle School will hold our seedling sale - Leaves and Lemonade next week. Items for sale include a variety of seedlings and well…lemonade. If you’re a plant-lover or a lemonade-lover who is supporting our leaves factor, come check out our inventory! This event will be taking place on May 16, from 2:45 to 4:00 pm, in the cul-de-sac. Seedlings will cost between $1 and $5, and lemonade will cost $2-3. You will also be able to pick up a dozen Springmont eggs for $8. Cash only, please!

As if gardening wasn't enough, our animal friends also remind us that the growing season is here! We have some new and some "coming soon" additions to our campus barnyard and the backyard farms of some Springmont families!

Every year, I am asked by students, "When are we getting chicks in our classroom?" Their persistence invariably pays off because I am a pushover when it comes to children and soft, fluffy chicks! This year is no exception, and for the last four weeks, Ellen and Patricia's Elementary classes have been taking care of chicks. Once fully grown, they will go to a couple of Springmont families to join their backyard flocks.

Meanwhile, Middle School students incubated eggs in their classroom, and through the process of candling, they watched the lightning-fast development of a chick embryo happen before their very eyes. It is a miraculous process, one that mimics the embryonic development of many other species, including humans! Out of six eggs, we had two successfully hatch, and they are now being raised in Nathalie's Upper Elementary class.

Not to be outdone, Jenny, our turkey hen, has started sitting on her clutch of thirteen eggs! Turkeys are quite different from chickens in that they only lay one clutch of eggs per year, while chickens lay all year round, some almost daily. When she has laid all her eggs, a turkey then sits on them for twenty-eight days (as opposed to chickens which hatch in twenty-one days). While unlikely that all thirteen will hatch, we are hopeful that a few will and that Jenny will be a more diligent mom this time around! (If you have read The Tale of Jemima Puddleduck by Beatrix Potter, you will understand when I say that Jenny is a lot like Jemima!)

Allowing students to raise chicks in their classrooms and being able to watch animals raise their own young promotes empathy and compassion in students. It also encourages students to think beyond their own needs and fosters a deep sense of accomplishment as the young thrive.

Maria Montessori was passionate about exposing children to nature and having animals in classrooms. Caring for and being responsible for animals is a cornerstone of a Montessori education, and the different animals on Springmont's campus fulfill children's deepest desire to care for living things.

"Children have an anxious concern for living beings, and the satisfaction of this instinct fills them with delight. It is therefore easy to interest them in taking care of plants and especially of animals." – Maria Montessori
 

It’s all happening at the Spring Book Fair!  Sure, it’s a convenient way to stock up on books for the summer, but it’s so much more! Book Fair a fun event in and of itself; students are so excited to shop independently, calculate their budget, and share the love of books with other students.  It also supports our local bookstore, and the profits go directly back into the media center.

Shopping Hours:
•       Tuesday - Wednesday 8:30 am – 2:30 pm 
•       Thursday - 8:30 am - 12 noon 
Parents are invited and encouraged to shop during any of the book fair hours.

Student Shopping:
• Half Day Toddler and Half Day Primary students may shop with their parents after mid-day dismissal carpool. 
• Older Primary students who do not nap will come with their class.  Please send $15-$30 cash in a labeled envelope. (This option is only for children who do not nap.)
• Elementary and Middle School students may shop independently throughout the week. Children should bring cash in a labeled envelope. Parent volunteers will assist children with selection and payment. Typically, $20-$30 will cover the price of 2-3 paperback books.
• The Book Fair also gives teachers an opportunity to build up their classroom libraries. Teachers will preselect books that will be set aside for them. If you'd like to purchase a classroom gift book, send a little extra cash and we can add one to your purchase! 

Volunteers needed: We still have a few slots remaining for volunteering on Wednesday and Thursday. Sign Up Here if you have a couple of hours. Questions? Email Leslie Wachter at lwachter@springmont.com
 

The Springmont Parent Association (SPA) will be hosting its annual Faculty & Staff Appreciation Potluck Lunch on Tuesday, May 23. This long-standing and beloved event allows teachers, assistants, specialists, and administrators to enjoy a lunch prepared by parent volunteers!

If you can cook, bake, or toss up a dish for the hardworking faculty and staff, please click the link below for details and to sign up:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090944aea62ca2f49-spring?useFullSite=true#/ 

Items may be dropped off at arrival carpool on Tuesday, May 23. Please include a note with the name of your dish/recipe. If you bring a reusable casserole dish or plate, please make sure to label it with your family’s name so that we can be sure to return your items.

Thank you so much!
 

We are excited to let families know that a complimentary copy of our 2023 Springmnont commUNITY Dinner Cookbook will be sent home to each family this week!  Thank you to all who shared recipes for their family's favorite entrees, appetizers, side dishes, and salads brought to our Springmont commUNITY Dinner in February!
 

Families who will be returning for the 2023-24 school year, our 60th Anniversary, will also receive a complimentary travel mug displaying our 60th Anniversary logo and made from eco-friendly plastic made with 51% reclaimed wheat straw. This is just the first in a series of celebratory initiatives recognizing this important milestone. Mark your calendars now for a special adults-only celebration being planned for Saturday, April 13, 2024!

As you may know, our theme this year has been “Anchored in Service.”  Throughout the course of this school year, our parent volunteers have shared the gift of their time and talents as garden helpers, classroom volunteers, Room Parents, library helpers, animal caretakers, and event volunteers, all in service to the Springmont community!  These gifts of service have helped to reinvigorate our vibrant sense of community.  

As a token of our appreciation, we invite all parent volunteers to join us for some coffee, fruit, and breakfast treats at our Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast on Friday, May 5, at 8:45 am in the Pavilion. (This gathering will also be our final Springmont Parent Association (SPA) meeting of this school year.)

Kindly click here to RSVP by Thursday, May 4, at 3 pm.