Posted October 5, 2021
Good afternoon Swigert Families,
As an internationally minded school we celebrate cultural diversity and one way is through learning more about the history and traditions of different cultures throughout the year, as well as during the designated cultural months. This month is Hispanic Heritage Month. Our art teacher, Ms. Delap, focused several grade level projects on Hispanic artists and artistic representations.
Our arts integration specialist, Juliet Biagi and Multi Lingual Educator, Megan Tate, worked with our students from Lantix and Hispanic backgrounds to create a video showcasing their cultural familial traditions – it will be ready to share on Friday. Sallie Shultzabarger, our school librarian, put together this great collection of books you can check out to learn more and read with your kids at home.
Click this link to see Swigert’s Hispanic American Heritage Month book collection.
Last night we hosted a parent and staff workshop about the experience of our Asian American students at Swigert. I am including the slide presentation from the workshop – it has some great resources: Asian American Pacific Islander Workshop Presentation .
We would like to invite you to share what topics you want to see more of at Swigert around diversity and inclusivity using this form linked here:
https://forms.gle/HZC5JjLyX4Y5sHGc8
Sincerely,
Shelby Dennis
shelby_dennis@dpsk12.org
As Dr. Marrero shared on Friday, DPS has made great strides in keeping our schools open for in-person learning, in large part through the mask mandate for everyone inside DPS schools and buildings and the city’s public health order requiring COVID vaccines for all staff. Those measures, along with your support in following the DPS 5, have maximized the strength of our health conditions and minimized learning disruptions.
In looking at the numbers, this hard work continues to pay off:
As our health partners shared in a recent update: “The clear message is that in-person learning can be done quite safely, and that when appropriate measures are taken (universal masking and vaccinations, for those eligible), in-person learning is not associated with increased risks for children.” At Swigert we currently have 0 staff or student cases. I will update you if that changes
Our Youth Climate team has started up again with 4th and 5th graders. Our current focus is to re-educate students and staff in our school on how to properly compost and recycle!
If you’d like to read our whole community introduction written by fifth grader Alison Saarela you can find it here:
Student Newsletter on Climate Activism
If you ordered pictures from Lifetouch, they will go home in your student’s Friday folders. If you believe you should have received a package but didn’t, please reach out to your child’s teacher to see if they still have it. If they don’t, please contact Lifetouch at 1-800-736-4753 or go to Lifetouch.com. If you have an account, sign in and navigate to the account dashboard. From there, you can click on Order History and expand the View Status drop-down next to your order, or click See Order Details to view additional status information and track shipped orders.
Parents of this year’s 4th and 5th Graders (last year’s 3rd & 4th graders) who attended Swigert last year and took the CMAS will receive the results in this week’s Friday folders. If you believe you should have received one but didn’t, please reach out to your child’s teacher to see if they still have it.
We are so excited to be able to start welcoming adults into the building! Before we start tours for the next year, we want to give our current families a chance to walk through the building. We are hosting two CURRENT family open houses for you to be able to walk the building with your student. They will be open house style (no guided tours), come anytime during these hours, look around your student’s classroom and take a peek in the specials rooms. We ask that all adults be vaccinated and everyone masked. Siblings are welcome.
Saturday, October 9th from 9-11am
Monday, October 11th from 5-7pm
Please reach out to Emily Pool emily_pool@dpsk12.org with any questions.
Hello Swigert Families!! I hope everyone is enjoying the start to the fall season. I wanted to touch base about a few upcoming events at Swigert and the community as well as a few items to note!
Please email Courtney at president@swigertpta.com if you have any questions or concerns! I am looking forward to all the events this October and being able to connect with many families.
Yearbooks are now for sale! To order, go to Yearbookforever.com (Swigert-Hard for the hardcover options; Swigert-Soft for the softcover option) or use the order form (attached as a PDF or Word Doc) and return with cash (exact change only please) or check to the front office or in your child’s Friday folder. If returning by Friday folder, please email the office so we know to look for it!
The earlybird pricing (good through October 31st) is $21.25 for softcover or $26.25 for hardcover. That price goes up to $26.25/$31.25 on November 1st, rises again on December 1st to $31.25/$36.25, and goes to the full price of $36.25/$41.25 on January 3rd until they’re sold out.
The Lunch menu is continuing to change based on availability, so we will keep you as updated as much as possible.
The menu for the rest of this week is:
Wed 10/6: Cheeseburger (no fries) OR Chorizo Mac & Cheese OR Mac & Cheese
Thu 10/7: Beef & Cheese Burrito OR Bean & Cheese Burrito
Fri 10/8: BBQ Chicken OR Mediterranean Grilled Cheese Sandwich OR Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich (Wow butter for students with a Meal Modification Plan for peanut allergies)
The menu for next week is:
Mon 10/11: Beef Nachos OR Cheese Nachos OR Cuban Sandwich OR Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich (Wow butter for students with a Meal Modification Plan for peanut allergies)
Tue 10/12: Chicken Hot Wings OR Grilled Cheese Sandwich OR Turkey Cheese Wrap w/Ranch OR Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich (Wow butter for students with a Meal Modification Plan for peanut allergies)
Wed 10/13: Cheeseburger (no fries) OR Grilled Cheese Sandwich OR Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich (Wow butter for students with a Meal Modification Plan for peanut allergies)
Thu 10/14: Stromboli Pepperoni OR Stromboli Vegetable OR Yogurt Basket w/Blueberry Muffin
Fri 10/15: No School for Students
If your child has a peanut allergy and needs Wow butter, please be sure you’ve completed the attached Meal Modification Form. Food & Nutrition Services requires this form even if you have an allergy/anaphylaxis form on file with the nurse. You can return the form to our kitchen manager or the front office.
Welcome to International Mindedness Moments!
–This regular segment will feature an activity you can do with your child to reinforce International Mindedness learning at home and to take action!–
IB states: “An internationally minded person is open-minded about the common humanity of all people and accepts and respects other cultures and beliefs. The internationally minded person takes action through discussion and collaboration to help build a better and peaceful world.”
Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15 through October 15. Watch for our celebration video next week, featuring Swigert students and staff with connections to a variety of Hispanic and LatinX cultures!
In the meantime, check out this short video from PBS with your child!
And here are some picture books celebrating Hispanic heritage.
Talking points:
-What connections do you have to Hispanic and LatinX countries and cultures?
-What would you like to learn more about?
More resources:
Wondering about the history of the terms Hispanic, Latino, Latina, and LatinX? Check out this article from NPR:
Yes We’re Calling It Hispanic Heritage Month And We Know It Makes Some of You Cringe
From Sallie Shultzabarger, our school librarian:
Click this link to see Swigert’s Hispanic American Heritage Month book collection.
And here is a Sora list of books written by Hispanic Authors.
Happy fall everyone!
I hope the school year is going well for you and your families. It has been such a breath of fresh air to be back in the building working with students in person! My husband and I were just reminiscing about how last year at this time we were trying to teach kids online while making sure our kindergartner and second grader were engaged as students online. Suffice it to say there are far fewer tears this year all around!…
See full letter here
Oct 8th Monster Mash
Oct 9th Open House 9-11am
Oct 11th Open House 5-7pm
Oct 15th-19th No School for students
Oct 27th Dine and donate date
Nov 3rd PTA Meeting and guest speaker Dr. Sherly Ziegler