Dear Parents and Staff,

We got a taste of spring. To see snowflakes this morning shows us the extremes of Michigan weather!

Our last Community Eat & Meet is on Tues., April 25, at 6:30 pm. We'll start with a pot luck meal and finish up the school year. Come with your parenting hats on!

IMPORTANT date cancellation: The Enrollment Night planned for May 16, has been cancelled. The reason is that you will be able to complete all aspects of registration/ enrollment online. Thank you to Pauline and Tom Nagle for working diligently to make this happen. Stay tuned for further instructions.

I'll close with a quote. Use this on a day when you want to feel good:

"This is a wonderful day. I have never seen this one before."

Maya Angelou 11-2-22

Warm regards,

Elaine Kennedy, Head of School & Pauline Nagle, Associate Head of School

Thu Apr 20: First Chess Club meeting: Multi-Purpose Room 3:30-4:30pm

Tues Apr 25: Community Meet & Greet 6:30pm - bring a dish to pass; Kids' Club available during meeting

Tues May 16: Fall Enrollment Night 6-8pm

Thurs May 25 & Fri May 26: Records Day - No school all levels; full-day Kids' Club Thurs May 25, May 26-No Kid's Club

Mon May 29: Memorial Day - No school all levels

Wed June 7: Performance- PS, K/1, EL, MS, Graduation 6:30pm at the PARC

Thurs June 8: Field Day & Last day of school - Dismissal 11:30am, Kids' Club all levels 11:30am-6pm

Summer Science Camps are back at New Morning School for 2023! 4 weeks available for ages 3 through entering 5th graders. Ages 3-5 are half-days and those entering Kindergarten through 5th grade can enjoy full days. Before and After care also available!

Many New Morning School staff will be working during Summer Camp including Ms. Danielle, Mr. Russell and Ms. Lisa. You can have the confidence that your child will be in good care over the summer.

Check out the details in our brochure. Contact us with any questions you may have! Registration is open now. Space is limited, so sign up early!

Register at: https://www.newmorningschool.org/summer-science-camp

In a few weeks you'll be receiving a SignUp Genius notification. Please sign up for shifts to volunteer for our picnic and golf outing.

NMS families scheduled to clean the school this weekend are the Haas, Martzig, Corliss, Baker/Edwards and Huber families. Cleaning checklists will be available on the counter at the front desk Friday afternoon. Thank you for keeping our school sparkling clean!

Kids' Club will be available for NMS students during the Community Eat & Meet on Tuesday April 25 beginning at 6:30pm. Sign up at the front desk.

Grab some friends and join us as we continue to celebrate New Morning School's 50th Anniversary with a scramble format golf outing on May 20th! Click below to sign in and sign up! Space is limited.

Preschool Teachers:

Marisa Downs marisa@newmorningschool.com

Danielle Provencher danielle@newmorningschool.com

🌎Hello preschool families and friends🌍🌳

This week we are learning and celebrating, the home we all have in common, our Earth.

🌳In honor of Earth Day, this Saturday, 4/22, we will take time this week to learn how we impact our planet and what we can do to help make our planet. At our art centers, we will plant seeds for growth, collaborate with friends using finger and puffy paints. Our discovery centers will host, “Trash it or Recycle it”, a trash sorting game. We will create a visual representation of the impact the stuff we use every day has on our oceans. Hands will be helping sort trash and recycling at our sensory tables. We hope to enjoy a scavenger nature walk at the end of our week as well!🌻

Our wonderfully witty Teachers of the Week, for the letter W, this week are Willa & Gavin in Danielle‘s room and Lucas & Muyiwa in Marisa’s room.

*Families, we sent home two permission slips for signing last week. The 1st one is for sunscreen application here at school and the 2nd is for our field trip to the Hands-On Museum in Ann Arbor. Money is due Friday, April 28.

Here is the AA slip attached: Preschool Field Trip- Ann Arbor Hands on Museum

*It is time to take home winter gear, including sleds.

*Oreo and Snickers are available & looking for a summer vacation stay; consider opening up your home to our furry little friends over summer break.

*A link is attached for an Amazon wishlist for our piggies ♥️

☀️Here’s to a great week ahead ☀️

~Marisa & Daniell

“ I have learned you’re never too small to make a difference” - Greta Thunberg

Science Teacher: Russell Lightfoot russell@newmorningschool.com

Hi everyone. Here’s another little Science/STEM update for you!

Middle School: The students completed a shorter environmental science unit on air pollution around the world. Students researched how air pollution is generated and its impact on countries around the world and then brainstormed creative solutions for a country of their choosing, and crafted a Public Service Announcement. We used the IQAir website to help us to find out specific information about the places we had chosen to study. Everyone presented their findings to the class.

We then started a life science unit where the students complete some research on a prehistoric animal and then build a model that we aim to use in an animation.

In STEM the students did some more coding using Microsoft make code and also completed a lego challenge, where the aim was to build a famous monument from around the world.

The salmon are getting really big now and are almost ready for release! Our release date is Wednesday 3rd May. Please return permission slips if you haven't done so already.

5th grade: The students are getting to the end of our unit ‘Spaceship Earth’. We investigated why it is that the stars change with the seasons and we made a universe in a box to help us to understand. Next we studied moon phases and the lunar cycle. We found a dark room and used a styrofoam ball and a flashlight to make a model of what actually happens. Then we used a model of the solar system to work out which planets would be good for using solar energy.

4th grade: We completed our ‘Waves of Sound’ unit. The students worked out what would happen if you tried to scream in outer space. They experimented with sound to understand how it moves through the air and then considered what would happen in an environment like space where there is no air. Finally we used ropes and an online oscilloscope to discover why some sounds are high and some are low. Our new unit is ‘Human Machine’ and we have been working out why our biceps bulge. We have started to make models to show how our hands and fingers work.

2nd/3rd grade: The students finished the unit on ‘Invisible Forces’ by using what they had learned to design and make their own ice boards. Our new unit is ‘Circle of Life’. Students explored animal life cycles by thinking about their birthday buddies—all the animals that were born on the exact same day as they were born—and what happens to those birthday buddies over the course of their lives. We then tried to investigate what the best way is to get rid of mosquitoes by studying a town with a big mosquito problem. We listened to the ideas of several experts and used this to help us come up with a plan of action!

In STEM the elementary students all participated in the egg drop challenge. They designed something to hold the egg and then added extra things like parachutes and balloons. This was a fun activity which the students enjoyed! We also did a lego STEM building challenge.

K/1: The students had the chance to do some fun STEM activities. We used wooden blocks to see who could build the tallest tower. We talked about perseverance and resilience so if our tower did fall over we knew we could keep going! Next we did another STEM activity experimenting with magnets. We also had lots of fun participating in the egg drop challenge!

Our new unit is ‘Plant Superpowers’ and we started off by looking at some baby plants and tried to match them to what we thought they would grow into.

Take care,

Mr Russell

Teacher: Pauline Nagle pauline@newmorningschool.com

Lead Aide: Shelley Blakeney

Dear Parents,

It was so fun to spend time eating lunch outside and enjoying the sunshine. We hope that Spring returns soon so that we can do this more often!

Reading & Writing

We are having fun exploring different ocean animals and learning some amazing facts about them. We learned all about sharks, whales, and puffer fish last week. Did you know that puffer fish carry toxins in their skin and organs? Definitely not a delicacy!

Math

In addition to our regular math groups, we spent time learning about how long some of the largest animals in the ocean really are! We learned how to use a standard unit of measure, this time a yard stick, counting by 3's. We also used a non-standard unit, which was primary kids! We found out a Whale Shark is about 11 primary kids long when we lay down foot to head.

PBL - Ocean Life

We are integrating Ocean Life into all parts of the day, last week with measuring, reading and writing! We found out there are different zones or layers in the ocean. Ask your kiddo about the kind of fish that dwell in the midnight zone! This week, we'll change up our sensory bin to go with our theme and continue to learn more about our ocean.

Earth Day

Friday is earth day! We plan to have a zero waste day, as much as possible. Please send your child with lunch or snack with reusable containers and a cloth napkin. Please also send a hand towel for drying their hands after washing. We are going to attempt to track our waste on Thursday and compare it to less waste on Friday! Earth Day is a great time to remind ourselves of ways we can better take care of our earth.

We do have a small request....if you have any items for our Make-It center, we sure could use more toilet paper tubes and paper towel tubes! The kids love to make telescopes, binoculars and all kinds of other creative inventions with those! We could use small cardboard boxes or intersting packaging the comes in your deliveries!

Thanks so much!

Best,

Ms. Pauline

Teachers:

Hannah Diaz hannah@newmorningschool.com

Christine Jansen christine@newmorningschool.com
Cynthia Weber cynthia@newmorningschool.com

EL Lead Aide: Karen Staples

Welcome to Spring! The weather continues to be warm and wonderful.

Social Studies

Everyone has worked on learning more about their state and will present it tomorrow to the class so everyone can benefit from it. Then we are going to explore how the Lousiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark led to the westward expansion. In the coming weeks, expect to hear about their “familes” and their roles and new responsibilities! We culminate our Oregon Trail study by traveling into the unknown just like the pioneers did by taking them on the horse trails at Maybury State Park and giving them some challenges along the way..

To prepare for our trip, we will need wagons so we will have time to build them into covered wagons. If you have a wagon that we may borrow, please let us know. Thanks!

Music with Dr. Fred

This Thursday will be the last day of music this semester. It has been wonderful listening and watching our scholars interact with the Schoolcraft College students. We look forward to seeing what musical journeys Dr. Fred takes us on next year.

Reading

We are continuing to work on our novel studies. All the scholars seem to be liking their books and they are learning some great vocabulary words. Each group is taking their work seriously and working hard to complete the assigned chapters. I am reminding them that quiet reading is a great time to read for our group if they need extra time. It can be hard to make that choice sometimes. I hope they are coming home and sharing about how good their books are!

Writing Groups

We wrapped up our Spring Break writing pieces. It was great seeing scholars using the proofreading skills we’ve been practicing, both on their own work and for proofreading each other’s work. They are feeling more confident in recognizing their own mistakes and feeling empowered to correct them. We journaled about what we love about spring and we wrote our own math story problems. We enjoyed solving them!

This week we will be reviewing some grammar terms as well as introducing new ones like compound and complex sentences as well as prepositions. Younger groups will be working on combining sentences, while older groups will be identifying fragments and comma splices.

Math Groups

Math is everywhere! I hope everyone is enjoying playing games together and working on their math facts at home. The story problems they wrote for the journal last week will appear this week to solve!

Everyone is working on mastering the math facts that stump them and completing their work each week.

ForteNite Kittens - We are continuing our study of Kitten Math with feeding schedules and weighing them. Too bad we don’t have actual kittens to study! We continue to review telling time to the minute and addition with regrouping.

Pug Puppies - They create name art to determine the area and perimeter of their names. This week we will continue to build on those skills. We will also explore multiplication with more than one multiplicand. This is where multiplication gets tricky!

Bagels - Last week we worked on dividing with decimals and now we are going to put it all together. The group works hard on completing their work.

Cactus Clan and Floopa Blades - We are continuing to explore fractions and learning to apply their multiplication facts in new ways! We will be comparing fractions and coming up with equivalent fractions.

Math Fun Fair is scheduled for Thursday, April 27 - please be sure to send in the math fact and math games bubble sheet by Wednesday, April 26. We have some fun activities planned, weather permitting, for outside.

Thank you Joan for our wonderful visitors we have had in the last few weeks! It is always great to see how eager and welcoming our scholars are to our new friends! I couldn’t be prouder for them for greeting them so warmly.

Teachers:

Linda Hyde linda@newmorningschool.com

Nicole Matoian nicolem@newmorningschool.com

Greetings Middle School parents!

We hope you got out to enjoy the wonderful weather this weekend as we welcome back a return to more seasonable weather this week. Our best advice to students is to still wear coats and dress in layers until the warm weather returns.

Last week our 7th graders completed the Stanford Test which went smoothly. We will inform parents of the scores as soon as they are sent to us later this spring.

Thank you also for everyone's prompt return of the permission slips for the Salmon release.

This will be a busy week. In Language Arts, Groups B and C will finish reading The Outsiders and begin to analyze more of the literary elements of the novel like conflicts, dynamic characters, symbols, motifs, themes, and literary allusions. Students will also prepare for an assessment on the novel that will occur next week.

In Language Arts Group A, students will come close to finishing the novel, Kira Kira, but we will probably carry over the conclusion until next week. Students will begin to explore the literary elements of the novel as well. Additionally, students in all groups will study and be tested on 10 vocabulary words from their novels this week.

In Social Studies, students will make their presentations on European Explorers. While watching the group presentations, students will complete an assessment of their understanding of key facts about each explorer and their significance.

In Math, Group A will begin a new unit on Expressions and Equations. Students will learn to understand and use the terms variable, coefficient, solution, equivalent expressions, exponent, independent variable, and dependent variable. We will begin by using substitution to determine whether a given number makes an equation true. We will also begin solving both sides of an equation by using a visual representation of a balanced hangar with shapes that represent different weights.

Group B will begin a new unit on Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities. Students will begin using tape diagrams to represent parts of a situation and relationships between them, use the tape diagram to find an unknown amount in a situation, and write an equation to represent the situation. Students will also match equations and tape diagrams that represent the same situation.

Math Group C will begin a new unit on Exponents and Scientific Notation. Students will expand on their knowledge of exponents to explore patterns and identify a rule to multiply and divide powers of 10. Students will also explain and use a rule for raising a power of 10 to a power. Finally, students will describe how exponent rules extend to expressions involving negative exponents.

Have a great week!

Ms. Linda and Ms. Nicole

Office Phone: 734.420.3331

Email: nms@newmorningschool.com

Elaine Kennedy, Head of School elaine@newmorningschool.com

Pauline Nagle, Associate Head of School pauline@newmorningschool.com

Joan Barrett, Admissions Director joan@newmorningschool.com

Kit Zrull, Administrative Assistant nms@newmorningschool.com