Fernwood Family Newsletter #33, 4/23/24 

~Wednesday, April 24th, 2024, 5:30pm, Race Talk with Nikki Janzen, Fernwood Library 

~Friday, April 26th, 2024, 8:45-10:00am, Special Friends Day, Fernwood Montessori Classrooms

~Monday, April 29th, 2024, 5:30pm, SEC Meeting, Virtual https://meet.google.com/hnp-uhmu-wpr

~Sunday, May 5th, 2024, 10am-4pm, Fernwood Arts Fest, Fernwood Montessori School

~CORRECTION Tuesday, May 7th, 2024, Fernwood Fund Meeting, Fernwood Library and Virtual-email benjaminmstocks@gmail.com for meeting link

~Wednesday, May 8th, 2024, 7:00-7:25am, Bike Walk and Roll to School Day, Fernwood East Playground and Falling Heath Doors

~Thursday, May 9th, 2024, 6:30pm, Music Parents Meeting, Virtual https://meet.google.com/fpf-rvca-uuk

~Tuesday, May 14th, 2024, 5:30pm, Spring Concert, Bayview High School Auditorium

~Monday, May 20th, 2024, 5:30pm, SEC Meeting, Virtual https://meet.google.com/hnp-uhmu-wpr

~Tuesday, May 21th, 2024, 6:00pm, PTO Meeting, Fernwood Library and Virtual http://meet.google.com/isc-jfjq-zow

~Thursday, May 23rd, 2024, Experience Day, Fernwood Montessori Classrooms

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Link to Fernwood Family-School Manual 2023-2024: Family-School Manual 2023 2024 SY.docx

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Chive Sale Episode 2: Attack of the Clones! April 26th!

Our prolific school greenhouse has chive plants for sale….again!  Please stop by the West Playground on April 26th to purchase your chive plant!  The sale will happen at 10:25am and again at 2:25pm on that day.  Plants are $2 (cash only and exact change appreciated).  Proceeds will go back to our greenhouse program which benefits all students. 
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Girls Soccer Game Tonight

We’ve got spirit, yes we do!  We’ve got spirit, how about you?  If you aren’t going to the Bucks game, you can come watch the 6th-8th grade girls’ soccer team playing tonight (April 23rd) at 7:15 at Lincoln Playfield.  Go Pirates!  Go Bucks!

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Lost and Found

There’s lots that has been lost and not much that has been found!  It is a jungle of fleece down there!  Please take a look at the lost and found (underneath the north east stairs in the basement) sometime in the next few weeks and claim your lost gear.. 

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Volunteer Appreciation Week is THIS Week!

It takes an army to pull off this much learning, fun, and community!  At Fernwood, we love our volunteers and quite honestly couldn’t do much of what we do without them!    In honor of volunteer appreciation week, we invite our volunteers to stop by the office annex to grab a small token of appreciation.  Please stop by starting on Monday, April 22 after school.  Gifts will be available until Friday, April 26th.

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Please Return Jerseys!-Parents of Students in Fall and Winter Sports

If your student played Fall or Winter sports, please make sure that they turned in their jerseys (these are expensive to replace). Coaches collected at the end of the season; however, many are still missing. Please recheck your closets and return your jersey to Mr. Comp.  Thank you!

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Requests for Donations to Fight Poverty

Girl Scout Troop 10153 is helping to fight poverty in our neighborhood. We are looking to gather donations to assemble Move in Baskets to donate to Hope House. Donations of the following items can be dropped off anytime until May 17th to Michelle Stehlik in the Main Office. Items must be new and unused.

Laundry Baskets,Blankets, Pillows, Cleaning Supplies, Paper towels, Toilet Paper, Childrens Socks, Canned goods, Towels, School Supplies, Kitchen Utensils, Bedsheets of any size, Pillows, Pack and Plays, Acrylic paints and other art supplies

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Race Talk is Tomorrow!

Please register for Session 2 of a Conversation about Race with Coach Nikki Janzen on April 24th at 5:30pm in the Fernwood Library. 

Conversations About Race Sign Up

Session Two: Exploring Stages of Racial Identity and Loving Ways to Interrupt bias. 

This one and a half hour session will look at the research on how people move through different stages of racial identity development. We will look at skills to call people into the work versus calling people out to avoid blame and shame. 

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Special Friends’ Day is this Friday!  PARKING INFORMATION!

Friday, April 26th is Special Friends’ Day at Fernwood.  This is a wonderful opportunity for students to invite guests (Grandma! Grandpa! Auntie! Your Mailman!) to visit their classrooms during one of two morning sessions, 8:45-9:15am or 9:30-10:00am.  Students will be able to share work that they are proud of and demonstrate some of their lessons. 

We ask that all guests enter through the glass doors on Falling Heath Place.  There will most likely be some road work happening on Falling Heath during our event.  Please do not park on Falling Heath on Friday, you may get ticketed!  

We will be looking for volunteers to help make this fun day a success.   Please consider coming in to help!      

                                           Volunteer Sign Up-Special Friends’

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PTO Funds in Action!  

The PTO gives each teacher the opportunity to get reimbursed for some classroom supplies each year.  Read on for a note from Ms. Makula about how she spent her funds!  

Thank you so much for your generous gift to the Art room this school year.  With the money, we were able to purchase various essentials and novel materials for passion projects including: tables for the two potters wheels, materials for an AD student’s large canvas painting celebrating the MPS 50th Montessori birthday (which is now on display at our school), turmeric and isopropyl alcohol for a UE figure drawing mannequin study/painting project, and metallic and acrylic paint pens and Posca markers for LE students to create the insects for the upcoming Beans and Barley art show.  With your support we have been able to enhance many students’ projects and bring much joy to all.

With Gratitude,

Laura (Ms. Makula)

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Fashion Camp at Mount Mary University

Slay!  Fashion camp is happening this summer at Mount Mary University!  Please follow the link for details.  

Fashion Camp

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Fernwood Summer Camp Enrollment – DUE April 26th

Starting Wednesday, April 17th, families are allowed to pick up an enrollment packet for all children interested in attending Fernwood’s Summer Camp 2024! Packets are due no later than 3PM on Friday, April 26th. Packets should be filled out completely and returned to the main office for each individual child. Please keep the following in mind:

-No late or incomplete packets will be accepted. 

-Students will be enrolled via a lottery system on May 6th (details to follow) and we will not rely on a first come first serve basis.

-Number of children enrolled will be based on staffing levels and availability.

-There is no deposit due until you are accepted. 

-Camp is $150/week.

-Camp will run from 8AM-5PM Monday through Friday.

-Camp will run from June 17th through August 16th.

-Students must attend at least 3 days per week to be eligible for enrollment.

-Students cannot miss more than 2 consecutive weeks to be eligible for enrollment. 

-Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner service provided.

Any further questions should be directed to Michelle Stehlik at stehlim@milwaukee.k12.wi.us.

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Save the Date: Spring Concert

Announcing the Spring Concert!  The concert will be held on May 14th at 5:30pm (performers and volunteers arrive at 5:00pm) in the Bayview High School Auditorium (2151 S Lennox St).  Performers include Adolescent Guitar, Percussion, and Rock Band; Upper Elementary Percussion and Choir, the Lower El Choir that is run by Ms. Molly, Harp Students, and 3rd Grade Recorders.  The Lower Elementary choir that is run by Mr. Miller will not perform.  Please consider taking a volunteer shift to help make this event happen!  Hope to see you there!  

Spring Concert Volunteers  (Use the Spring Concert tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet)

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Save the Date: FERNWOOD ARTS FEST!

Please mark your calendars for the Fernwood Arts Fest on May 5th from 10am to 4pm!  This fun event raises money for the Fernwood PTO and is a great celebration of the Arts and our community!  Please bring cash for the door and for shopping (some vendors will take cards).  

This event is only possible if we have lots of volunteers to support it!  Please consider taking a volunteer shift using the Sign Up Genius below.

Arts Fest Volunteer

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Arts Fest Performers Wanted!

Calling all Students that take lessons on an Instrument and/or Voice!  We want YOU to be a part of the Arts Fest Fernwood Recital.  

Fernwood Music Parents want to let as many students studying an instrument and/or voice share their work with the Fernwood Community! 

On Sunday May 5th during Fernwood’s Arts Fest, there will be a Fernwood Student Recital in the courtyard (or Auditorium if weather is inclement) between 1pm-2pm.  Sign up by filling out this quick form here by April 26th.  Thank you for encouraging your child to share their talents, no matter what developmental stage they are at currently.  Any questions, email Molly Pufall-Brown at mpufall@gmail.com.

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SAVE THE DATE – FERNWOOD FLIGHTS END OF YEAR CELEBRATION

Mark your calendars and start arranging your childcare for this year’s Fernwood Flights on Sunday, June 9th (11am-3pm) at The Sugar Maple.  Fernwood Flights is the annual end-of-year celebration where Fernwood parents and community members gather to meet new people, laugh with old friends, enjoy some good food and beverages, win some great auctions, and have fun raising money to enhance the learning experience and environment at Fernwood Montessori.  Tickets are on sale now at https://events.readysetauction.com/mpsfdn/beerscheers24. 

P.S. If you would like to learn more about donating auction items, being a corporate level sponsor, or getting involved as a parent volunteer with the Fernwood Fund, please send an email to Brett at brett.mytys@gmail.com.

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Our School is Cool!

There’s always something cool going on at Fernwood! This year the adolescent program has started selling popcorn on Friday with the help of the Orville Redenbacher of Fernwood, Mr. Jerabek.   But, it’s not just popcorn, people!  Running a micro economy is a part of the Montessori adolescent curriculum as put forth by Dr. Maria Montessori.  Read below for some information on what this activity does for students (meaningful work, moving toward adulthood, economic independence).  

 https://hollismontessori.org/blog/2022/9/19/achieving-economic-independence

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Music Information from Mr. Miller

There is LOTS of information from Mr. Miller about Choir and MANY other music opportunities for our students.  Please see the link for his update which includes ways to sign up to help.

Fernwood Music 2023-24 _________________________________________________________________________________________