Mountain Village School News

At MVS we work hard every day to provide high-quality care and education for our children. But a reality of our work is that we can't accommodate every family that needs our services. A 2016 analysis of Vermont's early childhood landscape found that over 70% of children under age 6 have all available parents in the labor force, meaning they are likely to need care. 79% of those infants and toddlers do not have access to high-quality programs, and 47% don't have access to regulated programs at all. Let's Grow Kids is a public awareness campaign that is working to educate Vermonters about the impact of early childhood experiences on brain development as well as the current challenges for families of young children and early education providers. Their website  includes more information about brain development, the economic impact of child care, and a petition you can sign in support of increasing public investment in early childhood education. They also have a big event...

A schoolwide project that we've been thinking about for a while is building an insect hotel. Insect hotels provide a hibernation space for insects during the winter as well as nesting space during the summer. They support ecological diversity and also act as indirect exterminators as the insects who take up residence will destroy pests such as mites. As a school, we have always found that children are fascinated by insects of all kinds, so we think this could be a great catalyst for learning. We foresee many conversations about the role insects play in our ecosystem, how they adapt to the changing seasons, connections to books and scientific tools, and our responsibilities as stewards of the environment. An ecologically-beneficial learning opportunity–sounds like an MVS win-win!  (source:  https://www.installitdirect.com/blog/diy-bug-hotels-as-homes-for-beneficial-garden-insects/ ) We plan to build ours in the grassy side yard, using stacked wooden pallets as the main s...