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Starting 2023 with New Titles in Our Library!

Starting 2023 with New Titles in Our Library!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Birthday Book Club! Because of your generous donations, the school library has purchased many exciting new picture books to add to our collection. These books are a wonderful addition to our library and we are so grateful for your generosity and your commitment to our mission. Thank you for your support!

Every Little Kindness, Marta Bartolj

When one act of kindness sparks another, anything is possible! As a girl searches for her lost dog, a simple act of generosity ripples into a wave of good deeds. In the course of a single day, each considerate action weaves lives together and transforms a neighborhood for the better.

Heart String, Brooke Boynton-Hughes

Through backyards and neighborhoods, over mountains, and across oceans, this colorful heart string ties us all together. Out of sight yet undeniable, it joins our hearts so that we are never truly alone. Follow the thread of this reassuring story to see how, even in a world as vast as ours, there is always a bond that connects us to the ones we love—and to the world we share.

Papa, Daddy, & Riley, Seamus Kirst

Riley is Papa’s princess and Daddy’s dragon. She loves her two fathers! When Riley’s classmate asks her which dad is her real one, Riley is confused. She doesn’t want to have to pick one or the other. Families are made of love in this heartwarming story that shows there are lots of ways to be part of one.

Over and Under the Waves, Kate Messner

Over the waves, the sea lions bark and seagulls wheel and call. The bay is smooth and bright in the sun. But under the waves, there’s a whole hidden forest, full of whales and wolf eels, sardines and sea bass, leopard sharks and luminous jellies, as well as the waving kelp that shelters them all. Discover the magical depths of the kelp forest, and all the fascinating creatures living just a paddle’s length away—over and under the waves.

A Sweet New Year for Ren, Michelle Sterling

Little Ren looks forward to the preparation for and festivities of Lunar New Year, but she is always too little to help make the delicious pineapple cakes that are her favorite. She watches family members rolling out the dough and loves the mouth-watering smell. Watching and waiting, when will Ren be old enough?

A Tree is a Home, Pamela Hickman

A large old oak tree stands near an empty house. Like the house, the tree provides shelter and a place to raise a family. From its branches to its roots, six animals share the tree as a home. Readers follow along as the tree and the animals – a raccoon, opossum, acorn weevil, gray squirrel, blue jay and chipmunk – change and adapt through all four seasons, from one autumn to the next. Meanwhile, a human family moves into the empty house nearby, and we see their story unfold, and grow, at the same time as their animal neighbors.

The Kindest Red: A Story of Hijab and Friendship, Ibtihaj Muhammad

It’s picture day and Faizah can’t wait to wear her special red dress with matching hair ribbons, passed down from her mother and sister. Faizah’s teacher starts the day by asking her students to envision the kind of world they want, inspiring Faizah and her friends to spend the day helping one another in ways large and small. But when it’s time for sibling pictures, Faizah realizes that she and her older sister, Asiya, don’t match like her classmates do with their siblings. With help from her classmates inspired by Asiya’s hijab, Faizah finds that acts of kindness can come back to you in unexpected ways.

Lunar New Year Presentations

Lunar New Year Presentations

Several of our volunteers from the Johns Hopkins International Teaching and Global Leadership program presented their Lunar New Year traditions to our Children’s House and Elementary students.

Lunar New Year celebrates the first days of spring on the lunar calendar. Instead of tracking the Earth’s orbit around the sun, which is slightly over 365 days, the lunar calendar tracks the cycles of the moon. The holiday begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends on the first full moon of the lunar calendar, 15 days later.

Lunar New Year is celebrated around the world, though it goes by different names. China’s Lunar New Year is known as the Spring Festival or Chūnjié in Mandarin, while Koreans call it Seollal, and the Vietnamese refer to it as Tết. 

Each year in the Lunar calendar is represented by one of 12 zodiac animals included in the cycle of 12 stations or “signs” along the apparent path of the sun through the cosmos. 2023 is the year of the Rabbit!

Regional customs and traditions vary widely but share the same theme: seeing out the old year and welcoming in the luck and prosperity of a new year. Some people give their houses a thorough cleaning before the spring festival, which symbolizes sweeping away the bad luck of the preceding year and making their homes ready to receive good luck. Red is the main color for the festival, symbolizing prosperity and energy, so many people put up red lanterns and other decorations. Another Lunar New Year tradition is giving red envelopes, which have money in them, to children and seniors. Those who receive a red envelope are wished another safe and peaceful year. The Lunar New Year is often celebrated with parades that include lion and dragon dances, firecrackers, and fireworks.

Thank you, Brittany, Coco, Sharon, and Chelsea for sharing your traditions with us! We are grateful to all of the families and staff members who have shared your cultural traditions with our children this year!

Our Adolescents’ Visit to the Mexican Cultural Institute

Our Adolescents’ Visit to the Mexican Cultural Institute

For Spanish enrichment, the Adolescent Community visited the Mexican Cultural Institute of Washington, DC this month. We have been studying the murals and researching the themes and iconography chosen by the artist Roberto Cueva del Río. Our tour of the Institute was completely in Spanish, a fact that certainly challenged our students’ linguistic abilities. Students composed two questions in Spanish about their sections of the mural that depicts the history of Mexico from the pre-Columbian through the early twentieth century. In the next month, we will review video taken from the tour and work to translate and understand their experiences.

December 2022 Capital Project Update

December 2022 Capital Project Update

Eight years ago at Greenspring, an ambitious and inspiring campus-wide vision was born of expansive prepared environments—indoors and out, state-of-the-art facilities, and a well-stewarded, earth-friendly home to students, staff, and families. From that, an essential student-centered plan of action was set in motion, phase by thoughtful phase, accompanied by a long-term timeline to guide the way. The reality, however, was always the true timekeeper–i.e., concerned citizen groups, slow motion permitting processes, layers of nearly impenetrable ledge, and ultimately a pandemic. Thus, in true Montessori fashion, patience and humility became the watchwords for the better part of a decade in manifesting that vision and staying the course throughout this big work. As a result, the Elementary Village is nearing completion. Really!

Our Elementary students had a chance to tour their new building recently – it is a joy to see their reactions!

At the heart of the original vision was the desire for every student to possess a modern, healthy,
right-sized, and safe home of their own that calls them to learn and play, explore and grow. The Elementary Village brings the campus one integrated and holistic step closer to that goal. The new structure is tantalizingly close to welcoming students into its 5,560 square feet of beautiful, warm, inviting, developmentally-sensitive spaces. No matter the time of day or which classroom, the natural light is stunning, the interior flow apparent, the scale perfect, and the building’s textures and tones soothing. With all but the interior doors needing to be hung, mechanical systems powered up, life-safety systems installed and activated, and the various minor odds and ends attended to, the building is nearing the finish line.
At present, the new structure is scheduled to be ready for occupancy in mid-January 2023. It is also expected to be completed on budget—no small feat given the extended timeframe and being constructed amidst a period of steadily rising interest rates and prices. Perhaps no one is more eager for the ribbon to be cut than the Elementary students themselves, yet, no one has been more patient and respectful of the process from start to finish. How Montessori of them. Their new home will surely be worth the wait.
Kwanzaa Presentations in Children’s House and Elementary

Kwanzaa Presentations in Children’s House and Elementary

We would like to thank Greenspring parent, Kisha Carrington, for coming in today and sharing her Kwanzaa traditions with our Children’s House and Elementary classes. Kisha showed our students how to light the Kinara, described the seven principles of Kwanzaa, and brought a basket of fresh fruit to share with each class. Special thanks also go to the Upper Elementary volunteers who helped Kisha throughout the morning with her presentations!⁠ ⁠

Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26 through January 1 to celebrate African American culture. ⁠ Each of the seven days are devoted to one of the principles:

  1. Umoja – Unity in family and community
  2. Kujichagulia (Self-determination) – To define and name ourselves, as well as to create and speak for ourselves
  3. Ujima (Collective work and responsibility) – To build and maintain our community together and to solve our problems together
  4. Ujamaa (Cooperative economics) – To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together
  5. Nia (Purpose) – To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community
  6. Kuumba (Creativity) – To do always as much as we can in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it
  7. Imani (Faith) – To believe in our people, our parents, our teachers, and our leaders

We are grateful to all of the families and staff members who have shared your cultural traditions with our children this year. ⁠

Partnering with Johns Hopkins School of Education

Partnering with Johns Hopkins School of Education

We are proud to welcome 10 extended learning students from the Johns Hopkins University School of Education Master of Science in Education International Teaching and Global Leadership (ITGL) cohort to our Greenspring community.

During Extended Learning, ITGL students volunteer at a variety of educational institutions in the Baltimore area to gain experience in their focus areas and help prepare them to become Global Education Leaders. Ten ITGL students in the current cohort were matched with opportunities at Greenspring Montessori School.

The Greenspring Center for Lifelong Learning prepared three trainings for our ITGL extended learning students. They were first given a full day workshop titled An Introduction to Montessori Education. This was followed by a half-day workshop on No Drama Discipline and a half-day New Employee Orientation. The Extended Learning Students met with their mentor Guides to set goals and schedules. And our first students started volunteering in classrooms at the end of October.

Learning is hands-on for our adult learners too!

We are grateful that all of these young, aspiring educators are choosing to spend time in our classrooms as they explore the Montessori model of education. We appreciate the hard work of Dr. Mark Trexler from the Johns Hopkins School of Education for coordinating this program and partnering with us. We look forward to sharing more updates on our ITGL learners throughout the year!

“I am amazed at how fantastic these students are at such a young age! They not only have a wide range of knowledge, but also have the ability to do their own research. They are able to participate and even lead the community management. They know themselves well and are able to articulate. I enjoy learning from the children. In addition, I am very grateful for the guidance I received from Mr. Beven. He asked me about my ideas after each lesson and taught me a lot.”

Xuxiaoyi