Rudolf Steiner School

Early Childhood Building Renovations

The Early Childhood Building renovations during the Summer, 2005 made it possible for the school to have two nurseries and three kindergarten rooms - each with their own bathroom and kitchen. The extra space allowed for Jo Valens, previously a kindergarten assistant, to take on her own class in the new "Star Room". The Early Childhood program has increased the number of families we serve from forty to sixty.

Extra Thanks
by Mary Campbell Case

Several months have past since the renovated Early Childhood building welcomed children in the fall. Huge thanks go to Max Dannis for his vision and coordination, Linda Gatter for her architectural design, Paul Clark for dealing with permits and town officials, and general contractor, Tom Seirau , who took on the lion's share of the project.

Not in many years has the school seen such extraordinary generosity. When Tom's wife, Christine, was unexpectedly hospitalized, parents, teachers and friends appeared with tools in hand ready to pitch in. Michael Thomas swooped in to line-up contractors and coordinate the remaining work.

The list of projects and names of contributors are so numerous we risk botching any effort to accurately detail the specifics. Yet, our gratitude to those who gave up the last of their precious summer for the school's betterment demands a full accounting. Please let us know if we've missed anyone so we can thank them personally.

Sheena Ryan served as project coordinator, organizing volunteers and encouraging everyone with her perpetual grace and tasty treats. She and Hartmuth Sommer-deRis were constantly present, assisting in every aspect of the effort. Ron Banks ran errands and organized material procurement. Brian McElhiney built beautiful cubbies. Shelving and kitch- ens were carefully created by Knold Blak, Bob Redpath, Alan Papscun, Corrado Fasciano, and Amalae Mc Cloud. Corrado Fasciano, Sarah Brennan, and Simeon Joffe pitched in with sheet rock and spackling. Adrian Bennet helped install the dropped ceiling downstairs, and Steve and Gillian Bell, friends of Tom Sierau helped lay the floor in the Robin's Nest. Other friends of Tom who came to the rescue were Ted Vining and John Ryan.

Claudia Laslie, Amalae McCloud, Lorimer Burns, and Jonathan Baum - with his children - assisted in the painting. Gary Casarsa designed and installed each bathroom's beautiful mosaic. Judith Blak and Kim Gershon, with an army of cleaning and child care fairies - Christine Joffe, Christine Casarsa, Kathy Fracasse, Brooke Redpath, Martin and Anne Albert, Tessa Wohl, Heather Bellow, Anna Seirau, Asa and Penny Hardcastle and Jessie Cooney, (to name just a few) -- made the classrooms ready for the opening of school. Kathleen Bailer took on landscaping work as Mario deRis designed and installed a magical foot path and play space outside.

The SCRIP women - Claudia Laslie, Heather Bellow, Kim Gershon and Christine Seirau - commissioned $1,200 from the proceeds of this program to purchase a hand-made climbing structure for the Robin's Nest.

Finally, our devoted EC teachers and assistants - Michelle Kuzia, Andrea Clarke, Christine Zelehoski, Somer Serpe, Christine Inglis, Jaime Cooper, Heather Alston, Diane Prusha and Jo Valens - put in untold hours above and beyond their "jobs" to insure that the children would make a smooth return to school in the fall.

Please don't miss an opportunity to clap these amazing people on the back or enfold them in your appreciative arms with thanks for their generous demon- stration of love for our school.