Christina Richardson, Occupational Therapist of Fulcrum Therapy, provides hippotherapy to our students.
In December it starts with a Christmas tree ~
Once our kiddos are on their horse, the tree is put up next to them so they can add or take off an ornament. They learn balance and precision - in addition to just having a great time. Here are 2 photos of Alex and Hunter at work.
The crew from Public Service of New Hampshire - PSNH - spent the day here yesterday as part of the United Way's "Day of Caring."
In the spring and fall, various companies commit to spending a day volunteering at a non-profit, helping with whatever needs to be done.
Here at the school, we are getting ready to build our playground in April/May 2011. So we asked the crew from PSNH to clear the area in the woods where the playground will be. You can't tell much from this photo but here's a peek through the trees into our new space ...
... and a full view of the dumpster that's holding all the trees and brush that was removed.
So in addition to clearing out the forest, the PSNH team spread stone to create a path around the greenhouse, weeded the playground (current one) and cleared out another area where our kiddos play in the pool. Thank you all so much for your work; we really appreciate it.
Here's a picture of the PSNH team ~
Standing: Carol George, Cataline Celentano, Buck West, Dana Flanders, Stephen Foster & Randy Perkins Kneeling: Mike Andrews & Steve Turcotte (not in photo - Sam Bosse)
Vern created a new room outside for us ... check it out. It's just in back of our playground - the trees are planted in such a way to provide us with windows as we sit on the grass. Beautiful ~
So it has happened again ... another summer has passed us by. Quickly. Last I knew it was still May!
As I sit here typing, I am noticing the leaves outside my window starting to change colors ever so slightly. Which is a great way to talk about how beautiful it's looking around here.
All thanks to Verne Fisher, Owner of Visionary Landscapes LLC.
Verne is a HUGE fan of our kiddos. Which is to say he is a HUGE fan of our school.
The work he is doing on our gardens and landscaping around the school is nothing short of FABULOUS. Beautiful, really ~ you need to come and check it out. Here are just a few photos ... I will add more this coming week.
Coming into our driveway ...
The view as you are pulling into our driveway ...
More to come ~
As part of the United Way of the Greater Seacoast's "Spring Day of Caring," eight volunteers from the Engineering Department at Lonza (Newington, NH) donated time and talent to the Monarch School of New England. These fine folks include:
(L to R): Matt Reitan; James Araujo - Team Captain; Matt Sarcopski;
Karen Wiseman; Andy Harris; Mike Wilson; Scott Matthews and Joe Passanisi
Our nature trail behind the school needed a huge amount of work. We currently use the trail as a recreation area for our students; in the near future, we have plans to incorporate a Memorial Walk into this area. The crew from Lonza came and conquered, helping to make the trail look beautiful. Their efforts included reworking the shape of the nature trail, spreading and leveling out the stone dust, cutting back the shrubs, raking the leaves and cleaning out all the debris accumulated on the trail over the winter. More photos:
We hope this great crew will return next year ... when we will again feed them our great food from Wendy's kitchen. Thank you again for all your help. Our trail looks BEAUTIFUL!!
Teacher Diane McManus's class just completed a Lesson Plan on "Being a Good Citizen." As part of this project, her class conducted a food drive, collecting cans of food for the Rochester Food Pantry. This is Destiny, one of Diane's students, holding her own with an orange bag full of food.
And here is a photograph of her students getting ready to deliver the food ... it was a great success.
For details on the Lesson Plan, check it out on our web site at http://monarchschoolne.org
A team from Children's Hospital came to the Monarch School this past week.
Several of our families are participating in an autism study being conducted by the hospital. Research staff spent the better part of the day here, interviewing parents and their children. Another part of the study involved obtaining blood samples in an effort to learn more about the link between autism and genetics.
The partnership between the Monarch School of New England and Boston Children's Hospital is relatively new, perhaps a year old. But it is the start of a great many things. Children's Hospital hopes to do more work with schools north of Boston, we (the Monarch School) is the first. We continue to work with them to develop more outreach in this area; as the initiative progresses, we will keep you posted.
For more information on this study, please go to the Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital.
Spring has sprung here at the Monarch School of New England. As such, we are beginning a process of looking at new playgrounds for both our sites - 61 Eastern Avenue in Rochester and Route 125 in Gonic. We are collecting input from teachers, staff, our students and their parents ... once we have that information, we will work with a playground company to develop the best design for our sites.
Part of this process also includes looking for funding - if you have any ideas or suggestions, please let us know as we are always open to ideas. In the meantime, stay tuned ...
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