A Welcome Message from Director of the Nest Michelle Dolan

Dear Nest Families,

It’s time to look forward to the 2023-2024 school year! Welcome to our new families and welcome back to our returning families. I’m excited to see you soon at the farm. I hope you had a fun summer where great experiences were had and lasting memories made.

I treasured the extra time over these past months to spend with my 12-year-old son, Paul. While he has his own interests and passions like woodworking and swimming, he still enjoys coming with me to the grocery store and farm stand to select ingredients for us to cook together. We made donuts, scallion pancakes, and grilled pizza, and along the way, visited a few favorite summer ice cream shops where we treated ourselves to ice cream for lunch!

I also took time to slow down and enjoy the little moments. For a few minutes each day, I sat in a shady spot outside, quieting the rush of the world around me. Listening to the birds’ different songs and sounds, and watching them fly in and out of the leaf canopy with acrobatic precision, was mesmerizing and spectacular. This practice encouraged me to become more mindful and engage my senses to connect with the rhythms of nature. It reminded me how interactions with the natural world hold children’s attention and inspire them to be inquisitive. Perhaps if they had been in my “sit spot” they would have wondered how it feels to fly like a bird or questioned what the birds were saying to one another.

At the Nest, nature will serve as a mentor for your child(ren) to develop resilience and perseverance, empathy, social skills, and scientific curiosity. Guided by their teachers, the cycle of the seasons will engage the children in ongoing discoveries where asking questions and finding answers is at the heart of joyful, hand-on collaborative learning. They will become naturalists, engineers, inventors, and storytellers, all while building essential skills and a solid foundation for their future.

Preschool is a wonderful time in your child(ren)’s life when their world opens up to new people, experiences, and ideas. They become more independent and confident, enjoy friendships, and a love of learning. Without a doubt they will grow in leaps and bounds this year and achieve many “firsts”! You will be delighted to be on this journey with them and their teachers, and cheer on all of their accomplishments as a Chickadee, Mockingbird, Peaceful Pine, or Mighty Oak.

You have already received the Nest Gear List and an email with Important Nest Dates. Be on the lookout for information that will be shared in the upcoming weeks about class placement as well as a welcome email from your child(ren)’s teachers and details about home visits. Please make sure to complete the health forms you’ve received from Wheeler’s Health Services.

These are the first of many communications you will receive from Wheeler this year. Your child(ren)’s teachers will send newsletters and photographs to share what is being learned in the classroom, I will send Nest-wide updates, and you’ll also have opportunities to engage with the Wheeler School Parents Association (WSPA) and the Lower School Parents Association (LSPA). We hope you find them helpful and informative and see them as an invitation to become involved in the community. I can’t wait to welcome our Nesters to campus and look forward to partnering with you this year.

Warm regards,
Michelle