Blog

The Long Way Around

Posted on by davidnewman

If you’ve dropped off or picked up your child this week, you already know what I’m about to say. Pecks Lane is a different road than it was a month ago.

When I pulled into school that first morning, I was caught off guard. My mind went straight to logistics — families arriving, drop-off lines backing up, the cascade of small frustrations that was surely on its way. Suddenly, the day was requiring more patience than I had planned on. But eventually, what felt like a disruption started to feel like something else entirely.

And then I thought: there’s an opportunity here. Not in the road work itself — that will resolve, as these things do. But in the moment it creates.

There is something quietly instructive about being inconvenienced, especially when our children are watching how we move through it. Learning, we believe, is never confined to a classroom. It happens in our hallways, on our campus, and yes — on Pecks Lane, on a Tuesday morning in May.

In Montessori education, we often talk about the prepared environment—the idea that everything surrounding a child is arranged intentionally to support their growth. It’s not just the physical place where children carry out their work, but the means through which they form their personalities and construct their character. The prepared environment extends into homes, into cars, and especially into the small, ordinary moments that make up life. One of the most powerful things we can place in that environment is the example of an adult who knows how to be inconvenienced gracefully.

This isn’t about performing patience. Children are extraordinarily good at detecting performance. It’s about the quieter work of actually developing it in ourselves—noticing when we’re frustrated, choosing not to catastrophize, modeling the internal language of “this is annoying, and I can handle it.”

What we want for our children is for them to grow up knowing that inconvenience is not an emergency. That waiting is survivable. That a plan falling apart is the beginning of a new plan. And the most direct path to that knowing is watching someone they love navigate it that way — not perfectly, but steadily.

So as we move through this final week together — road work and all — I find myself grateful for the small reminder. We are always teaching. And our children are always learning. Far beyond these walls, and sometimes, right at the end of our driveway.

Thank you for your patience and your grace. It does not go unnoticed — and I promise, it is not going unlearned.

Ms. Marissa: Weekly Update

Posted on by Marissa Frisk

The children have really been enjoying the Sharing Bag. They get excited to see whose turn it is each day and love showing their classmates something special from home. It has been a fun way for the students to practice speaking in front of the group, asking questions, and learning more about each other. If your child has not brought something in yet, not to worry, everyone will have a turn before the end of the school year!

We have also started talking about our whole school moving up ceremony. Toddlers, Kindergarten, third-grade, and fifth-grade students will be recognized as they prepare to move up to the next classroom level for next year. The children are excited to hear about the ceremony and what it means for the different grades. It has been a nice opportunity to reflect on how much everyone has grown this year.

Mrs. Wilson: Highlight of the Year!

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

The highlight of the year award goes to our Toddler Activity Day! It was such a fantastic morning filled with sensory fun and exploration. The children were invited to explore a variety of art materials and hands-on activities. They painted using different tools, stuck materials and scrap paper onto contact paper, explored fluffy shaving cream at the easel, and even used it to stick cut-up pool noodles together.

The splash pad was running, and the children had so much fun jumping and splashing in the water. We also set up sensory water buckets with activities such as fishing, boats, scooping, and pouring. For children looking for a dry activity, there was an obstacle course and a building area to explore.

After an hour of exciting play, the children were hungry and ready to enjoy some juicy watermelon. To end our special day, we had our final food tasting of the school year. The children enjoyed icy cold frozen fruit juice — also known as popsicles!

A very special thank you to Dylan Fisher and Jen Reid for creating such a fun-filled and memorable morning for the children. We would also like to thank all of our parent volunteers for helping the children safely navigate and enjoy each activity throughout the event.

It was a joyful morning full of laughter, creativity, sensory exploration, and summer fun.

Oh! And our butterflies all emerged from their chrysalis, and we released them into the wild.

Love and Light,
Cynthia and Sara

Ms. Vicki’s Weekly Update

Posted on by Vicki Downs

What an exciting week we had as we celebrated Field Day! The children were thrilled to wear their special Field Day shirts (which will be coming home next week) and participate in a morning full of fun activities.

The children had a wonderful time moving their bodies through obstacle courses and cooling off with water activities.

There were lots of smiles, laughter, and happy squeals throughout the day!

Field Day also included some exciting sensory art experiences. The children painted with shaving cream and experimented with spraying paint from pump bottles, creating colorful masterpieces while strengthening their hand muscles and coordination.

Before heading back inside, everyone enjoyed a popsicle in the sunshine while drying off from all the water play. It was the perfect ending to a fun-filled morning.

We also got to celebrate a birthday in class and have chocolate chip cookies!

As hard as it is to believe, next week is our last week of school! Summer vacation is right around the corner, and we are looking forward to enjoying one more week together before the school year comes to an end.

Reminders:

  • Next Friday, we are having our Moving Up ceremony. If your child is going to Primary next year, we will see you there!
  • Friday is an early dismissal. Children will be picked up from the classroom, and I have a small gift for each family.

The Buzzing Hive in Lower El

Posted on by Carlie Taveras

Our second-to-last week of school has been so full. The hive is still buzzing away, and as busy as ever. The room is filled with lively energy and the hum of the children deeply engaged in their work. Spring is such an interesting time in the classroom. It often begins with what we like to call “spring fever”, when the children’s energy rises, the days feel full of anticipation, and excitement fills the air. During this time, the steady rhythm of the classroom becomes especially important. Familiar routines, purposeful work, and gentle reminders help the children find their way back to focus, and before long, they settle beautifully into the work again. That is what we are feeling right now. The classroom feels deeply settled. The lessons are flowing, the children are moving through the days with purpose, and their work habits feel that much more mature than they did even a month ago. They are older, more grounded, and more confident in themselves. They are advancing through the curriculum with such eagerness and excitement, and are even more engaged and actively participating in lessons than ever.

This week, we continued to fill our work cycles with new lessons while also tying up loose ends and reviewing important core concepts. There is a lovely balance in these final days. New discoveries are still unfolding, while familiar work is revisited with greater understanding and independence. It is hard to believe this is all coming to a pause in one short week. In some ways, it almost feels wrong to disrupt this buzzing hive. The classroom is alive with purposeful work, deep focus, collaboration, and joy. Yet, it is time. It is time to move on to summer. It is time for the children to relax, play, be outside, and have fun making core memories with their families. It is time for slower mornings and the kind of unhurried joy that summer brings. It is time to close this chapter, prepare for the next, and look forward to September, when they will return a little older, a little taller, and ready for all that is ahead.

Next week, we will have a few final lessons during our last work days together, while making plenty of time for fun as we enjoy these final moments as a class of 32. What a full and meaningful year it has been, and what a gift it is to watch this hive continue to buzz right up until the end!


Reminders for Next Week-

As we head into our final week together, we have a fun-filled schedule ahead!

  • Monday: Field Day
    The children will be divided into teams for a full day of outdoor fun. Each child will receive a Field Day t-shirt in their team color to wear for the day.
  • Tuesday: Pajama Day
    Children are invited to wear their pajamas to school!
  • Wednesday: Beach Day
    Wear your favorite beach day attire and accessories to school.
  • Thursday: Unconventional Container Day
    Bring your belongings in something other than your backpack. We can’t wait to see their creativity!
  • Friday: Moving Up Day
    Wear Fraser Woods colors or Fraser Woods merch. Friday will also be an early dismissal day.

The Moving Up Ceremony will begin at 10:00 a.m. While all students will participate in the ceremony, the spotlight will be on our students who are moving up to the next level. Parents of students who are moving up — T2S, Kindergarteners, 3rd graders, 5th graders, and 8th graders — are specifically invited to join us for the ceremony.

Middle School Trip: Washington D.C.

Posted on by Michelle Lamb

*Before getting to the trip recap below, please see the information below regarding our exciting last week of the school year!*

SPIRIT WEEK

During the last week of school, 8th-grade students assign Spirit Days for the rest of the school to join them in. Here they are for planning purposes:

  • Monday, 6/1: Field Day
  • Tuesday, 6/2: Pajama Day
  • Wednesday, 6/3: Water Day! Bring in towels, water toys (no balloons), and an extra set of clothes for some afternoon water fun!
  • Thursday, 6/4: unconventional container day. Bring your stuff in something else! (For example, a suitcase instead of a backpack or a Tupperware instead of a water bottle). Be creative!!
  • Friday, 6/5: Moving Up Day: Fraser Woods Colors/Merch Day!

8th Grade Graduation

  • 8th Grade graduates, families, and friends will gather at Newtown Meeting House at 4:45 pm for a prompt 5 pm graduation. All are welcome.

Quick Reminder

  • We will be emptying the contents of students’ classroom cubbies and lockers during the week. Please send your child in with a few reusable shopping bags they can load up.

Trip to Washington, D.C.

**Parents, thank you for fueling our days and evenings with great snacks and drinks! We truly appreciate the variety and quantity!**

More photos here: MS TAKES DC!

Day 1: After an exciting send-off by MS families, students settled into their seats for the 5-hour ride. We comfortably made it down to D.C. before navigating the Metro system to head to our hotel. After check-in, students quickly dropped off their bags in their rooms and met out on the patio for delicious burritos and bowls catered by District Taco.

After fueling, we began the FWM student-guided tour of memorials and monuments. Students researched and wrote brief histories and facts about the following:

  • The White House
  • Vietnam War Memorial
  • Lincoln Memorial
  • Korean War Memorial
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
  • The Tidal Basin
  • National World War II Memorial
  • Washington Monument

In pictures, you will see them gathered while one or two students read their write-up before entering and viewing these landmarks. After this 3-hour tour (actually), the group headed back for the night.

Day 2:

After breakfast at the hotel, the group headed to the U.S. Capitol building for a scheduled tour of the building. We were able to hear many facts about the history of the building, including its intentional and symbolic architecture, art, and changes over time. Kudos to the 8th grade class who knew the answers to all of the tour guide’s US history questions! A quick stop for photos in front of the Supreme Court building ended our time on Capitol Hill, and we headed west along Constitution Ave. for lunch at their many food trucks before our scheduled afternoon museum visit.

Wednesday afternoon was spent at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Students were able to view their history, culture, and community galleries spanning 5 floors. This museum complements the 8th grade US history curriculum and has exciting exhibits about sports and entertainment. The 8th grade even met up and toured the museum with Mia, who left FWM last year for a move to the DC area.

After a quick stop at the hotel to change and refresh, we headed back out to The Wharf, an area of shops, eateries, and views. Students were able to relax, hang out with friends, and take lots of photos. We ended up cutting our time short at The Wharf due to an approaching storm, so we headed back to the hotel for board games and a reflective “High, Low, Weirdo” group share before bed.

Day 3:

This was our most ambitious day in D.C. with three museums on deck. After breakfast, we headed to the Hirshhorn Museum, a contemporary art museum. This museum had immersive pieces, interesting rooms, and gave us much to discuss. Next, we headed to the National Air and Space Museum. There is a lot to see and do in this expansive museum. With aircraft suspended from the ceiling and rooms documenting the history and future of air and space travel, the group really enjoyed their time here. They even took in a planetarium show. Finally, we ended the day at the International Spy Museum. Each student received their own mission and had to answer questions in each room to complete it. The 6th and 7th grade even found a room highlighting Russian spies after the Russian Revolution and the assassination of Leon Trotsky, which complemented their Animal Farm unit. At the end of our time in this museum, we viewed their special exhibition about camouflage.

The plan for our final evening was pizza and kickball! After eating some delicious local pizza, the group walked to the lawns surrounding the Washington Monument for a game of kickball. This was both memorable and beautiful as we played in an historic place right at sunset. Once it became dark, students took some final photos at the monument before heading back to the hotel for the night.

Day 4:

This day began with breakfast and checking out of our hotel rooms. The students did a great job leaving their rooms clean and packing up. After dropping off our bags in the lobby, we headed to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. With all students having learned about the history and events of the Holocaust in Humanities classes during their time at FWM, the teachers felt this would be a meaningful experience. Out of respect for both the weight and tone of the exhibits and the personal experiences of our students, we did not take many photos. The museum certainly left an impact.

We headed to lunch at L’Enfant Plaza before our trek back to Connecticut through the DC Metro and Amtrak rails.

Thank you again for your support for our travels. This annual overnight trip gives so much life experience for our students that branches far beyond the planned activities: living together, understanding how to use their money, interacting with businesses, trying new things, building resiliency, hygiene care, and stretching their stamina are just a few of the skills that are tapped into on the trip.

What a way to go into the final week of school!

Field Day Fun with Ms. Mollie’s Class!

Posted on by Mollie Smith

 

This week, our toddlers had the wonderful opportunity to participate in Field Day, and what a magical day it was! The children explored a variety of activities thoughtfully planned just for them. They created beautiful works of art at the art station with Mrs. Reid, challenged themselves through an obstacle course created by Mr. Fisher, and delighted in cooling off at the splash pad filled with exciting water activities.

We are filled with gratitude for the time, energy, and care that went into creating such a special experience. Watching the children move through the day was a beautiful reminder of the importance of play. They were fully present, deeply engaged, and completely immersed in the joy of the moment. Laughter echoed across the field as friendships blossomed, confidence grew, and imaginations flourished.

As educators, these are the moments we treasure most—seeing children free to explore, discover, and simply be children. Their carefree smiles and wholehearted enthusiasm reminded us that childhood should be filled with wonder, movement, play, and joy.

What a beautiful day of making memories together! Thank you to our parents who brought in watermelon and popsicles for us to cool down with and enjoy! The children loved them both!

Our butterflies also surprised us with their transformation over the weekend. The awe on the children’s faces speaks volumes about the wonderment and fascinating process of transformation!

With Full Hearts,

Ms. Mollie and Ms. Lizette

Ms. Handibode: Beavers, Butterflies, and Books

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

On Tuesday, our Kindergarteners spent the day at Flanders Nature Center in Woodbury. We hiked to Botany Pond, where the children caught and identified all kinds of creatures — tadpoles, beetles, newts, giant water bugs, leeches, and salamanders. We spotted turtles sunning on a rock and fish in the water, though the frogs managed to hide from us this year! Before we left, the children gently released everything back into the pond.

We also got up close to a beaver lodge, which was a real highlight. A Flanders volunteer explained how beavers dam up a culvert each night — and the children were genuinely amazed by how clever these animals are. On the walk back, several kids said it was one of their favorite days ever. Flanders is open to the public, and we highly recommend a family visit.

Back in the classroom, we welcomed four butterflies into our habitat and released them outside after a few days together. Watching that transformation never gets old.

We also had two wonderful guest readers this week — Jasper’s mom read The Weirs and Brooks’ mom read Dragons Love Tacos. The children had so many great questions and comments. We love having families in the classroom!

Extending Learning at Home

Flanders Nature Center is a beautiful spot for a family outing — the children would love to show you around. At home, you might look up beavers together or find a field guide to freshwater animals at your local library. Your child will have a lot to say about what they found in that pond!

 

UPCOMING EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

This Week

  • Monday, May 25
    No School — Memorial Day
  • Tuesday, May 26
    Playground Volunteer: Jeremy H.
  • Tuesday, May 26
    Sharing Box and Flowers: Remi L.

Looking Ahead

  • Monday, June 1
    Sharing Box and Flowers: Hannah B. | Field Day
  • Friday, June 6
    Last Day of School — 11:30 Dismissal