Time to Say Goodbye

The end of each school year evokes a plethora of emotions - from a touch of melancholy, stemming from the passing of time, to anxiousness, as we anticipate future change.

Our school embraces this transitional time with its' annual Sundowner Gathering. Heading to Moonlight Beach on the last Friday of the school year, we partake in the merriment of our comrades under the canopy of the summer evening sky. Families picnic, children play & adults chatter. The event marks a beautiful finale to another wonderful year. For they are all wonderful aren't they...each in their own special way?

So the chapter closes & we bid adieu until we open the book again next fall.
Happy summer.

Cottonwood's Crawdads

Sanderling’s Sander-Scouts ( aka ADVENTURE CLUB ) are at it again! This month’s jaunt - fishing for crawdads at Cotton wood Creek park.

According to mom, Leslie Rucker, “deep in the tall reeds is a hidden swamp with hundreds of crawdads! These little guys were biting the turkey and salami bits hanging from our bamboo fishing poles! It was a magical misty day! :) “

The Sander-Scouts have adjourned for the summer – be on the look out next fall for upcoming outings!

Frogs, Fish & Snakes...Oh My!

Ms. Melanie's first grade boys enjoyed an end-of-the-year field trip to Quail Botanical Gardens. Mom, Lindsy Richards, escorted the "true blue boys" to an afternoon filled with frolicking in ponds and catching snakes - the flora and fauna were admired as well!

Quail opened the new Hamilton Children's Garden on June 13th providing an expanded environment for children and families to explore their natural world. Check out Quail Botanical Gardens for more information.

I Have Found a Golden Goose

As a final adieu to their beloved playmates, the students of Nursery/Kindergarten, who will be fledging into first grade next year, hosted a puppet show.

The Golden Goose was performed with a full cast of hand crafted puppets. Simpleton, his two brothers, a little gray man, a king, a princess, and let’s not forget the story’s namesake – the golden goose - were among the characters brought to life amid soft light and lyrical voices.

The Brothers Grimm would have been proud of this adaptation of their classic fairy tale. If you would like to relive the moment, check out The Golden Goose for a paper copy.

Hammertime

One of the unique aspects of our curriculum is that it reaches students on more than one level. These levels are often summarized as “head, heart, and hands” and “thinking, willing, and feeling.” A carefully integrated, rich and developmentally appropriate curriculum leads to growth in seemingly unrelated areas of life.

The inclusion of woodworking is a prime example. Woodworking encourages students to reach deep within themselves for unused and undiscovered skills and capacities. These new capacities are then available for other aspects of life.

Complex thinking, visualization skills, patience and feeling a part of a “society” all come together during this exercise. Each week, Lisa Pool leads “next year’s 1st-graders” in a project. We’ve seen fairy boxes, stomping blocks and even custom tool boxes emerge from their “wood shop.”