Thursday, November 17th 2022 at 10:00 AM
Dear City Garden Community,
Happy November! As we head toward the end of the fall semester, City Garden has much to celebrate, from academic achievements and teacher development, to student leadership and the magic of Montessori! I invite you to read below to hear what has been happening at City Garden.
As we celebrate this season of bounty and gratitude, we are thankful to each of you and all you do to help make City Garden a wonderful place for children.
City Garden’s “north star” priority is to eliminate academic disparities and to ensure all of our students master the skills and competencies that will prepare them for a lifetime of choice and opportunity. We are excited to share that our 2021-22 academic outcomes show notable progress towards achieving this!
According to data collected from the our PreKindergarten Observation Form (PKOF), a normed school readiness tool, City Garden nearly eliminated the kindergarten readiness gap among racial and economic groups in our preschool classrooms during the 2021-22 school year.
Our Early Childhood program was recently highlighted in a blog post published by The Opportunity Trust. The article shares information on the exciting progress made last school year towards eliminating opportunity gaps. We are so grateful to our school leadership, instructional staff and our families for their hard work toward this milestone!
This year City Garden has launched a new Montessori Mentorship Program in our Early Childhood program. Our Montessori Mentors include:
1. Ms. Amy Willems, Kindergarten Lead Guide (top left)
2. Ms. Dennia Butler, Kindergarten Assistant Guide (top right)
3. Ms. Shannon Adams, Preschool Lead Guide (bottom left)
4. Ms. Hilary Fischman, Preschool Lead Guide (bottom right)
The Montessori Mentorship Program has provided an opportunity for teacher leadership, with long-time Montessori teachers and assistants supporting and connecting with newer Montessori educators, exploring ways to strengthen their practice, innovate in classrooms, and develop additional opportunities for collaboration.
The Board of Directors was thrilled to hear from the four mentors at the October Board Meeting, where Ms. Hilary Fischman shared...
This fall City Garden launched the Student Ambassadors Program, which is designed to provide leadership development, offer skill building workshops, and center the voices of students through various opportunities, like building tours and public speaking.
The Ambassadors Program kicked off at our Donor Thank You event in September with students giving tours and answering questions about their City Garden experience. You can catch them next at City Garden's Open House for Prospective Families on November 20th!
If you haven't already, we invite you to check out our Gratitude Report – celebrating City Garden’s students and their achievements during the 2021-2022 school year.
City Garden’s Annual Fund has kicked off, and all are invited to participate!
This fall, we are focusing our Annual Fund campaign to ensure City Garden can provide the top-notch education that we believe all children deserve. This includes providing an average of $5,000 in financial support per preschool student and sponsoring City Garden teachers in Montessori training. Our Annual Fund also makes it possible to have two adults per classroom, beautiful hands-on Montessori materials, robust wrap-around and special education services to meet the needs of the whole child and the whole family, art, outdoor education and other specials classes, and healthy school breakfast, lunch and snack.
We invite every community member to make a gift, no matter how great or small, to help City Garden achieve our big goals this school year!
Last Monday marked the inaugural Magic of Montessori Night at City Garden's Early Childhood Education Center! Under the bright vision and leadership of Principal Crystal Isom, families were invited to campus in the evening and into their children's classrooms to explore Montessori materials, connect with teachers, and learn more about the power of this approach to education.
My gratitude to Ms. Crystal and Ms. Mary Swofford, our Food Services Manager, for whipping up delicious chili for over 300 guests. It has been such a gift to gather in community like this.
Thank you for being part of the City Garden community, and for all you do to support our mission. We wish you well!
In partnership,
Christie Huck
CEO/Executive Director
