Director’s Report
“The students whom we send out into the world from our schools represent the potential and the promise of our future, and we can trust that these young people will carry out that responsibility well.” – Jane Fremon, Princeton Friends School
VISITOR – On July 7, we had visitors from West Chester Friends School, an elementary school outside of Philadelphia. The teachers had met Sabina Zeffler at a gathering of early childhood teachers and wanted to see the school.
GOOD-BYE AND WELCOME –
We said good-bye early to a couple of our children this summer. Harrison Swain has left to spend the summer with his grandmother. Carolina Childs and her family are moving to the Boston area where they are relocating for work. We wish them both well and will miss them.
Back with us this summer are Zora Thompson, Matteo Scano, Axton Peng, Markus Heitfield, & Andrea Cass. It’s always lovely to have back alums.
WHERE OUR DEPARTING CHIDLREN WILL ATTEND SCHOOL NEXT YEAR. We are always eager to follow our grads. Here’s where I think they are going:
- Jana Abdel-Gawad – British School
- Tate Appleforsberg – Powell Public School
- Ayal Arrington – Ross Public School
- Nyiema Celey – Peabody Public School
- Carolina Childs – probably UMass Boston Center
- Caleb Clark – St. Ambrose
- Bianca De Michelis – School without Walls/Francis-Stevens
- Rory Felton – Bridges Public Charter School
- James Fowlkes – Janney Public School
- Simon Geffen – Oyster Public School
- Alejandro Gonzalez – Mundo Verde Public Charter School
- Peter Haun – Mundo Verde Public Charter School
- Mirabelle Hershenson – Sheridan School
- Catalina Lutz – Aiden Montessori
- Micah Newman-Pollack – Inspired Teaching Public Charter School
- Kai Oelberger – Willow House Preschool
- Ava Rosenberg – Key Public School
- Tristan Souchaud – Georgetown Day School
- Harrison Swain – Cleveland Public School
- Deven Sweeney – School without Walls/Francis-Stevens
- Claire Weidman-Savage – Bridges Public Charter School
- Adlai Weissman – Sheridan School
- Isaac Weissman – Sheridan School
THE ESSENCE OF QUAKER EDUCATION – Creating learning communities – Friends schools create learning communities in which collaboration is key. Through collaboration each person brings her/his own “light” into the process.
The Quaker belief in the light of every individual and the value of working together to create and sustain community support provides a pedagogical model for the collaborative nature of the whole learning community. The Friends school classroom offers the opportunity for all voices to be heard and respected. This fundamental practice of including all voices encourages and celebrates divergent thinking, creativity, critical thinking, and respect for difference. – from the Winter 2014 “Chronicles of Quaaker Education”
Quaker House Newsletter
Hello Quaker House Families,
As we prepare to send our Quaker House kids off to kindergarten, many parents pose this very important question; “Is my child ready for kindergarten?” No single factor determines readiness, and several fronts such as social/emotional, cognitive, physical and language development are used to help evaluate a child’s readiness.
It is important to remember each child learns at a different pace and has their own strengths and challenges. When addressing kindergarten readiness, very few children are equally competent in all the areas. While some children may be adept physically, others may have delays in other areas such as language.
When preparing for kindergarten, people sometimes use this checklist, as a guide and the QH children meet majority of this check list;
1) Can my child listen to instructions and then follow them? Children need these skills to function in class, to keep up with the teacher and with their peers.
2) Is he/she able to put on his or her coat and go to the bathroom by themselves? Children need to be somewhat self-sufficient by school age.
3) Can he/she recite the alphabet and count?
4) Can he/she hold a pencil? Cut with scissors? He/she will need these fine motor skills to begin working on writing the alphabet and to keep up with classroom projects.
5) Does he/she show an interest in books? Does he/she try to “read” a book by telling a story based on the pictures?
6) Is he/she curious and receptive to learning new things? If a child’s curiosity is stronger than his fear of the unfamiliar, they will do well in school.
7) Does he/she get along well with other kids? Does he/she share and know how to take turns?
8) Can he/she work together with others as part of a group? The ability to put his or her needs second, to compromise and join in a consensus with other children, is also part of emotional competence.
We have worked on all of these skills and more in the past months with your children at Quaker House and are confident that they are ready for this big next step! We wish all of you all the best and thank you for entrusting us with your children. You will all be very missed, and hope to hear how they are doing! Thank you!
Thank you,
Quaker House Teachers
Rainbow Room Newsletter
As the school year comes to a close, the Rainbow Room teachers reflect on our amazing experience together with the children. The Rainbow Room teachers want to thank the parents for entrusting their children in our care. We also appreciated the support that was given to us throughout this year. During the year we have fond memories that we will always remember about the 2013-2014 class.
- Trajan: his love of cars and planes, ability to read teachers’ e-mails
- Nyiema: caretaker of classroom, last to rise from nap
- Campbell: passionate about all things transportation, transformation of his personality
- James: his unique style and fashion sense, always up for an intellectual challenge
- Liam: sharer of dreams and stories, nonjudgmental and accepting of others
- Simon: logical thinker, sense of humor
- Dmitri: Peter Pan and trains, risk taker
- Peter: everlasting energy, book lover and ability to retell stories
- Teo: cuddling with his teachers, his sense of fairness
- Nadia: curiosity, love of nature (“Mud Queen”)
- Kadence: Michael Jackson, adoration of animals
- Emma: angelic smile, incredible memory
- Kai: love of his teachers and peers, storyteller
We wish all of the Rainbow Families the best of luck as the children transition to Quaker House or Pre-K!!!
Thanks,
Rainbow Room Team
Green Room Newsletter
We had a wonderful year in the Green Room. We have had many fun-filled, interesting teaching and learning experiences. We will miss:
- Adam’s hearty singing, his great monster growls and the sight of him sitting quietly reading books.
- August’s boisterous laughter, his speedy feet and his kindness to share toys from home.
- Deven’s helpful nature, his boundless energy and his joyful greetings of his teachers and peers.
- Rory’s quiet and nurturing spirit and her willingness to help her peers do any task or activity.
- Corey’s conversations about life, his affectionate hugs and his humorous expressions.
- Claire’s curiosity, her friendly spirit and her daily goodbye hugs.
- Carolina’s unique laughter, her happy face portraits and her creative dance.
- Bianca’s ballet dancing and singing and the sight of her quietly reading books wherever there is a place to sit.
- Sebastian’s monsters and robots stories and his lunch time conversations about various issues.
- Micah’s quiet and energetic spirit and the sight of her playing and singing in ‘The Shovel Band’.
- Elly’s adventurous and independent spirit and her performing her role as the Class spokesperson.
- Claudia’s fascination with all the things in nature, her gymnastic feats and giving some insightful answers to some of the teachers’ questions.
- Norman’s humor, his hearty singing and his frequent rendition of ‘I’ve Been Working On the Railroad’ and ‘You Are My Sunshine’.
Blue Room Newsletter
As the school year comes to an end, the Blue Room would like to thank all of the wonderful parents for being so supportive and helping us have such an amazing year. The children have grown so much, and it has been wonderful watching (and helping) them develop into curious, creative, and talkative three year olds. We have learned them all very well, and to close out the school year, we would like to share a few special memories we will always cherish about each child.
- Aidan- His love of cars, buses, fire trucks, dump trucks, and any of type of vehicle. When the motorcade drives by, he is one of the first children on the stool looking out the window.
- Cyrus- He jumped right in never missing a beat. We will always remember Cyrus for his super silly personality, his lunch time naps at the table, his love for the mud pit, and his new found curiosity always asking why?
- Harrison- His infectious laugh, jolly personality, and his love for trains, jumping, and riding bikes are what we will remember most.
- Jessie- She will always be remembered for her mature conversations she had with everyone in the school. She knows all of the Blue Room parents by name as well as the Blue Room teachers’ mothers’ names.
- Lavinia- Her love for shoes, braids, and accessories. She enjoyed switching shoes with her classmates throughout the day and was always helping to take care of the other children.
- Micah- He will be remembered for his silly personality and willingness to help his teachers out. At the end of the day, he would often greet parents at the gate outside and take them to where their child is playing.
- David- He was our super cleaner. From the first day, he knew where everything belonged in the classroom and was always eager to help during clean up time. He knows the rules and helps the teachers enforce them with his peers.
- Catalina- We will remember Catalina for her calm and quiet demeanor and her love for the sandbox. She has always been very independent, wanting to try herself before asking for help.
- Isa- His admiration of pirates, The Hulk, and other Super Heroes. He is always the first to notice when there is a change in the daily routine.
- Emilia- Her love for art and always staying at the table until every inch of the paper was covered. Also the complex buildings she began creating using blocks or magna-tiles.
- Kai- We will remember the pretend play Kai enjoyed which was always around riding the Metro home. He would also tell us all the different things he saw riding on his bike to and from school.
- Jackson- His love for playhouse and cooking food for his teachers. He also loves the spinner outside and tickles, although he likes to pretend he doesn’t.
Thank you again for allowing us to be a part of your child’s first years of education. We hope you enjoy the rest of your summer and we look forward to seeing the returning families in the Fall. For the families who will not return, we wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.