The final week of school was filled with celebration, laughter, and special memories. Field Day gave the children an opportunity to enjoy games, teamwork, and plenty of outdoor fun as we wrapped up another wonderful year together. It was a joyful way to celebrate the friendships, growth, and accomplishments that made this school year so meaningful.

As we said goodbye and wished one another well, there was plenty of excitement for the adventures that summer will bring. We are so proud of all the children have accomplished this year and grateful to have shared in their journey. We wish all of our families a summer filled with fun, exploration, and time together, and we look forward to seeing many familiar faces again in the fall.

Our classroom has been enjoying these beautiful spring days together. We were so excited to release our butterflies after watching their full life cycle unfold right in our classroom. The children observed each stage with such care and curiosity, and it was a wonderful way to bring our studies of nature to life. Kindergarten students also had a great time on our field trip, where the children explored ponds, searched for tiny critters, and learned more about the plants and animals that live in and around the water.

To end the week, we attended the middle school and upper elementary play together. The children loved watching the older students perform and were captivated by the music, costumes, and storytelling. Experiences like these help build a strong sense of community within our school and give our students opportunities to connect learning, creativity, and wonder in meaningful ways.

The children had so much fun preparing colorful fruit kabobs during food preparation this week. Carefully slicing bananas, threading blueberries and grapes onto skewers, and creating their own patterns gave everyone a chance to practice independence, coordination, and concentration while enjoying a healthy treat together. There is always such a sense of pride when the children prepare food with their own hands, and this activity was no exception. Some children have also continued working on our long cubing chains in the hallway, counting farther and farther each day as we make our way closer to 1000. The children are developing such patience and perseverance as they watch the quantities grow before their eyes.

As the school year begins to wind down, our classroom conversations naturally turn toward change and growth. Our Kindergarteners are preparing to move on to Lower Elementary, while we look ahead to welcoming new toddlers into our community next year. In many ways, it feels like our final lesson on life cycles – reflecting on how we grow, change, and make space for new beginnings. The children are beginning to recognize that just like the plants, butterflies, and animals we have studied throughout the year, classrooms also go through seasons of transformation.

This week, the children have been very excited to watch our caterpillars continue their transformation into butterflies. Each day, they check on them, make observations, and talk about the changes they notice. It has been a great hands-on way for the children to learn about life cycles and practice patience while waiting for the butterflies to emerge.

We also introduced a new food prep activity: ants-on-a-log with sunflower butter. The children had fun spreading the sunflower butter, adding raisins, and trying a new snack. It was a big hit in the classroom. Our kindergarteners are also finishing up their animal research books and are very proud of their hard work. They have enjoyed learning facts about their animals and putting together their final pages and illustrations.

We’ve been adding some new activities to the classroom that tie in nicely with our bird study. The children have been working on simple “life cycle of a chicken” books, focusing on sequencing and labeling each stage. We’ve also introduced color mixing, which has been a great way to bring more science and art into the classroom as the children explore how different colors combine and change. With the warmer weather, polishing sunglasses has become a fun and practical extension of our usual care-of-environment work.

Flower arranging continues to be a favorite, and lately the children have been experimenting with organizing flowers into rainbow patterns. We’re also inviting parents into the classroom to read to the group, which the children really enjoy. If coming in isn’t possible, another option is recording a story for our Yoto player—this has been a great way for children to hear familiar voices during the day. Our kindergarteners have also been doing a deeper dive into their animal research projects, showing a lot of focus and pride as they learn more about their chosen animals.

UPCOMING EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

This Week

• Friday, April 24
  ⋅ Parent/Teacher Conferences. Time slots are available throughout the week — please sign up if you have not yet done so.
  

We’ve been studying the life cycle of chickens in our 3–6 classroom, and it’s been such a special experience. We have real eggs in an incubator right in the room, and the children have been checking on them every day, watching, waiting, and asking the sweetest, most thoughtful questions about what’s happening inside.

It’s been a perfect fit with our bird study this April, making everything feel more real and exciting as we learn together. The children are especially drawn to the idea that these eggs will soon become baby chicks, and you can feel the anticipation building each day. It’s giving them such a meaningful, hands-on connection to what we’re learning about birds.