April 2009 School Wide News

Spring has Sprung!
The bulbs the children planted in the front of the school have started to peek their heads out as harbingers of the brighter days ahead. Thank you to everyone who helped us usher in this season of growth and new beginnings at our auction. Because of all of your generosity we were able to raise over $8,000 which will enable us to continue to provide your children with the enriching and innovative programs that make HIS such a distinctive learning environment.

Got Art?
Our next Parent Teacher Forum will be a combined preschool and upper school meeting and will be held Tuesday, April 7th at 4:00 pm. We will be discussing some new initiatives including some additions to our after school program. In partnership with Concord Community Music School and Petit Papillon Dance Academy we hope to offer a Suzuki violin program and ballet and hip hop lessons in our after school program next year. Representatives from these schools will be at attendance for questions.

Food for Thought/Thought for Food
Next year we hope to offer two additional options for families who would like to purchase lunch. In addition to Pizza day (to which we will add a salad option) we will also be offering a wrap day and a bagel sandwich day. We are piloting the wrap program for the month of April (see attached form) and would love your feedback. More discussion concerning the cost and implementation of this program is planned for the PTF on April 7th.

Call For Writers
Do you have a perspective or opinion about HIS that you would like to share? We are looking for articles for our next Stone by Stone Newsletter. The theme of the next issue is “Innovative instruction: preparing the next generation today for the learning paradigms of tomorrow.” If you have ideas or are interested in writing something about your child’s experience please let me know.

May Day May Day!!
Rehearsals for this year’s May Day play The Purple Finch are underway. Thank you to Annie Clark for volunteering to direct, to Liz Ayer for assisting her, and to Marlene Heinmiller for helping with costumes. A reception for grandparents and senior friends will take place from 10:00 to 11:00. The play will be performed in the community room at 11:00 and all are welcome. If you are unable to attend, the play will be videotaped and made available to you on DVD.

Invitations to our May Day celebration have been sent out to grandparents and senior friends. If you are interested in helping coordinate the reception, please let us know. For a full schedule of May Day events visit our website.

Sense of Wonder
To honor the life and work of Rachael Carson, the EPA, Generations United, the Rachel Carson Council, Inc., and the Dance Exchange are again holding an Intergenerational Poetry, Essay, Photo, and Dance Contest. Entries can be in any category but must be intergenerational projects involving persons from different generations. Submissions are due June 10th. Please see your child’s teacher for details and an entry form.

Early Sprouts
We have started planning our garden for next year and will begin planting near the end of May. The children have selected several vegetables they like to eat and that we hope to harvest and offer at lunch in the fall.

As part of our lunch curriculum in the preschool next year, we will be introducing the early sprouts program. In June the founder of this program will visit our school and give teachers a presentation on how to incorporate it into the weekly curriculum. In addition, Paula Ward is attending a workshop at UNH in May entitled Growing a Greener Future and will be starting a preschool gardening program this spring. Talk to Paula if you are interested in helping out with this initiative.

Faculty Favs
In Celebration of National Library Week (April 13th-17th) we will be sharing favorite stories at school wide meeting. A sampling of faculty’s favorite children’s books will also be on display in the front hall. Our Birthday Bash for the Library is planned for Friday, May 22nd. We will have wish lists of books available for each age group and a basket in the front hall in which to place your birthday presents. See Lisa Whipps for details about this soon to be new tradition!

Tea Time
Join us on Friday, April 17th at 2:30 for a tea in the library to welcome Joslin Heyn, our new upper school teacher and environmental education coordinator. If your child will be in grades 4, 5, or 6 next year this is a great time to meet their teacher. All are welcome.

Charmingfare Farm
Several HIS families are planning a trip to Charmingfare Farm for their Spring Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 4th. If anyone would like to join them you can meet at the Charmingfare Farm at 11:00 or at the park and ride at the end of 89 at 10:30. If you have any questions see Jill Stagner.

April Vacation
School will be closed from April 20th-24th. If you would like to sign up for vacation care please sign up in the office before April 10th.

Last Day of School
Our last day of school will be Friday, June 19th.

Interim Care
We will offer Interim Care for preschoolers will for the week of June 22nd. Camp will start the following week.

March 2009 School Wide News

Welcome back!!! I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable vacation. Although the recent storm may cause us to doubt it sometimes, spring is just around the corner and we have a number of upcoming community events to help us celebrate the season.

On the first day of spring, March 21st, we will hold our biannual auction from 5-8 at the Audubon Center in Concord. Letters with a list of the items for auction will go home at the end of this week and will also be posted on our website. The evening promises to be a fun social event and onsite childcare is available but limited so be sure to sign up as soon as possible.

Tickets for the tuition raffle can be purchased beforehand and will be on sale at the door as well—don’t miss this great opportunity to save on next year’s tuition and help out the annual fund.

We are planning a special Mayday celebration this year by combining the event with our regular theatre night performance. Grandparents will be invited to tour the school and then watch the Mayday dance and play. The performances will take place outdoors weather permitting. If you have not done so already, please provide the office with their grandparents’ name and address so that each class can send invitations out for this special day planned for Friday, May 1st.

Auditions for speaking parts in the play The Purple Finch, will take place after school on Wednesday, March 11th. All students in grades K-7 are encouraged to try out and should be aware that it requires a commitment of some after school rehearsal time. If you are interested in helping out with costumes sets and props please let us know.

Over the vacation the preschool teachers and I made a visit to the Reggio Emilia inspired Child Study and Development Center in Durham for a day of observations, discussions, and presentations. It was a very inspiring day and we have already started planning some of the changes we will implement next year in our classrooms. As always we value your input and questions as we move forward.

I am pleased to announce that Joslin Heyn will be joining our faculty as the new upper elementary teacher and Environmental Education Coordinator. Joslin comes to us from the Community School in Tamworth where she has been teaching science and working on their Rural Sustainable Schools Project. With a BA from Johns Hopkins in Environmental Studies and her MA in Forestry from the University of Montana, Joslin brings a wealth of experience in the area of wildlife conservation and environmental education. We are delighted to be welcoming her to the HIS community this June, as she will begin her job this summer as director of the Tuckernuck Environmental Camp Programs.

Speaking of Summer Camps, the brochures, schedules, and registration forms for our Beech Hill, Wind ‘N Willows, and Tuckernuck camps will soon be available. We have some fun new offerings planned for this summer and encourage you all to take a look. We will be offering group swim lessons open to the public through Swim New Hampshire in addition to our Family Swim Program. Forms for both of these are available in the office.

The children have been having a great time on their Wednesday snowshoe hikes and we will continue these excursions as weather permits. Feel free to join us any Wednesday at noon. During March and April and until the upper fields are clear and dry, we will be supplementing their wellness offerings with yoga classes that I will be helping the teachers guide. In addition, I am pleased to tell you that I will be teaching yoga for the Hopkinton Recreation Department on Monday and Friday evenings from 5:30-7:00 at the Slusser Senior Center near the library. This is an all levels class and no previous experience is necessary. See the poster on the information board in the front hall or speak with me for details.

You will have noticed by now the exquisite painting in the foyer of the barn and Snowflake the sheep. Brian Rossingnol has generously offered to make copies of this painting available to the HIS community at a reduced cost and to donate a portion of the proceeds to our annual fund.
As the days grow warmer and the snow begins to melt, conditions on the playground become mushy and muddy. Please be mindful of wiping your feet when you enter the building so that we can keep the halls and classrooms as dirt and mud free as possible.

Think spring!!



Heather Harwood