Posted May 9, 2023
Dear Swigert Families,
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week. I feel so fortunate to work with such an awesome group of educators and I know our teachers appreciate all the cards, treats and support from the community. I will send out a staffing update for the 2023-2024 school year in next week’s Eagle Post.
I wanted to send a gigantic shout out to our students and staff for coming together last Thursday for a wonderful day of service. Students made food and supply bags for the Colorado Collaborative Homelessness and There with Care (an organization that supports families with critically ill children). Students painted messages on delivery bags for Project Angel Heart and made sandwiches for the people who are homeless. Our fourth grade students read and sang songs with residents at a local elderly care center. Students ended the day with a fun run to Back on My Feet, an organization that supports our unhoused community members. All in all Swigert students put together 60 meal bags, 45 family toiletry kits, 200 decorated grocery bags, 150 snack lunches made and delivered to SOS locations for the homeless and brought cheer for the elderly at Balfour’s memory center. It was a pretty awesome day. Enjoy the photos and videos below.
Video 1. Swigert Eagles
Video 2. Congressman Crow
Safety Front
I know we had two security situations over the past week and it’s so hard for all of us- for our kids to navigate these situations in real time and for parents to wait to hear updates. Please let me know if you want your student to talk to one of our social emotional staff members to help process or share any worries. I also know it’s challenging to not know all the details of a situation. We will always share the details with you that we are able, but please know that often our own knowledge is limited and sometimes what we can share is limited due to privacy restrictions. I wanted to share our document that explains the different safety protocols and what each one means. Please see here: Swigert Safety One Pager
As a school leader, it breaks my heart to know this is the world we are living in and see what children are going through. This should not be our new normal. We need to do better and there needs to be change.
I am reaching out to ask for support to give feedback to the superintendent and board as they create a safety plan; we need to make real and meaningful changes to support our students and staff in schools. There are recommendations that the Denver School Leader Union shared that I believe would help to support schools including the following:
Innovation Front:
Thank you for advocating for Innovation with the DPS School Board. We have two opportunities for public comment before the June 8th DPS Board vote on our school and zone innovation plans. May 15th (sign up before May 11th) and June 5th (sign up before June 1st). We must sign up the Thursday before public comment at this link. This link will give you information about Zones and Public comment strategies. Please email Colleen to let her know you are speaking or to ask any questions about public comment (colleen@ndiz.org).
Sincerely,
Shelby Dennis
shelby_dennis@dpsk12.net
If you applied for ECE next year and did *not* get an acceptance notification, please complete the attached survey, so we can follow up with UPK and ensure correct priorities are applied when they fill the other two classrooms: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSchRXGmtd98K9-V1Cgae66JGqZPysZ9ALywsTxpe-ay840wlQ/viewform?usp=sf_link.
The Swigert playground has always been a place where kids play, and adults can connect after school has ended for the day. This is still our hope. It is however important to know that there are some guidelines that need to be respected at all times. When the school day ends there are still 2 different programs that use the outdoor space. Discovery Link, our after school care provider uses the playground and is promised 1 play structure for their exclusive use. If you are asked by a Discovery Link staff member to switch play structures, please respect their request. We also share all facilities with our partner school. While their day is in session, until 4:00, DDS has priority for any space on the grounds.
Finally, please be aware that Swigert does not provide any supervision for students playing on the blacktop after school. If you choose to use the space for play, please make sure you are supervising your student at all times. And make sure that you are respectful of any staff member making a request of you, or your child.
As the warmer weather sets in we are seeing different selections for clothing that don’t align with our policy on student dress. These policies are in place to ensure a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students. Please remind your kids of this at home and we will follow up here.
We are pleased to announce that EPI School Supplies are now available to order for the 2023/2024 School Year! Why order school supplies online?
To order, simply go online using this link https://www.educationalproducts.com/shoppacks/ to complete your order for your child next fall. The Swigert School Code is SWI028 (three letters, three numbers). Please note, supplies will be delivered directly to Swigert. The final day to order is June 30. Ordering by June 30th will ensure discounted pricing and will also ensure that your child’s supplies arrive in time for the start of the 2022-2023 school year.
Feel free to email Hana Oglevee with any questions about the school supply sale (helizabethschaefer@gmail.com).
Congratulations to the following students. Their art is on display at the Denver Art Museum through May 19 for the DPS Citywide Art Show. Admission to the Denver Art Museum is free for people under 18.
Artist’s Names
Zoe McKee
Xavier Fonseca
Gabby Labrillaso
Iver Hansen
Alexandra Dinh
Millie Reeves
It’s almost time for the spring book fair! This fair runs from May 22nd -May 24th and it’s a BOGO so it’s a great time to stock up for summer reading. Look for the flyer in your child’s Friday Folder this week to preview a few of the titles we will have for sale.
We are also looking for volunteers to help set up, work the registers, and break down the fair. I know May is a crazy month, but if you have an hour to spare to help we would truly appreciate it. You can sign up here :
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4CA5AC29A5FA7-book
Saturday, May 20th is Swigert Night at the Rapids. Come join your fellow Eagles as the Rapids take on Real Salt Lake. Tickets start at $25. Use our link to be seated in the Swigert section and $5/each ticket purchased is donated to our PTA.
https://rapids.spinzo.com/?group=swigert-international-school-rb3b
Objective: To help motivate students to read over the summer while also raising money to support the school.
Why a reading challenge? It is common for students to have some loss of their knowledge and learning skills over the summer, something commonly called the “summer slide”. Programs like this have been proven to help students retain more of their skills over the summer and start the school year better prepared for learning at the next grade level.
Why fundraising? With anticipated budget shortfalls this year, additional fundraising is necessary. By combining student reading with pledge donations, we hope to continue to fund the programs we value so strongly at Swigert like IB and support for paraprofessionals. **Please note that pledge donations are encouraged but not required to participate in the reading challenge.
When: The program runs from June 3, 2023 – August 20, 2023.
How it works: Your student can either track minutes read or use our fun summer reading BINGO card to track reading. At the end of the summer, you will enter the total number of minutes or BINGOs logged and your student will earn raffle tickets based on the total. You will have the option to make your suggested donation to the school also based on total amount read by your student. Prizes: For each 10 hours spent reading or one completed BINGO, your student will receive one raffle prize entry. For example, if your student reads 50 hours total over the summer, they will receive 5 raffle entries. 8 BINGOs = 8 raffle tickets. There is no limit to the number of entries your child can have. Raffle drawing and recognition for all participants will happen during a special assembly at school in the fall. Raffle prizes will include: $50 GameStop gift card, $50 Tattered Cover gift card, a class pizza party, a class popsicle party, and the opportunity to throw a pie in Mr. Fisher’s face and more!
Look for a link to sign up in Friday folders and future Eagle Posts soon!
Do your kids attend a Central Park area school? Interested in local, state, national education issues? Then you’ve got to check out the Central Park Ed News – CPEDNews.org!
It’s a new online source focused on local schools, Denver Public Schools and larger education issues. We’re interested in readers and writers. Let us know what you think and if you’d like to contribute!
CPEDNews.org is a project of The Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities.
We have heard your requests! This summer, join us for a “Get ready for 5th grade” summer program. In a small group setting, students will work with current Swigert 5th grade teachers to review 4th grade concepts and get a sneak peek at some 5th grade fun. We will be offering a literacy group and a math group, with the option to participate in one or both. The program will run for five weeks total, four weeks during the month of June and one week in August. This way, students get to enjoy their summer with the month of July off and they can get some quick refreshers in August before school starts. If you are interested in more details, please check out this link!
In celebration of the 5th graders’ years of hard work and imminent transition to middle school, we will host a 5th-grade dance on Friday, May 19 from 6 – 7 p.m. in the school gym. Information about volunteer opportunities will be emailed to 5th-grade parents in early May. Please mark your calendars for this fun event!
Hello 5th grade families! I cannot even believe it is time to think about our 5th grade exhibition and continuation ceremony. I am working on the video that will be played at the ceremony. I would love to get from every family a baby/toddler/younger picture of your child and then a more current 5th grade one to be used in the video.
You can upload them to this google drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1q_CyAsLuY5R2nE6htPh3_zrLuIx6WHGf?usp=share_link
Or feel free to just email them to me at emily_pool@dpsk12.net. Thank you so much and cannot wait to celebrate with you as our kids launch to middle school!
Swigert has Kiss ‘n Go lanes on both the east and west side of the school. We are challenged due to the United Construction Project using additional parking spots near the school, limiting our overall parking capacity. We are working with United to figure out a better plan. However, we still need to keep the Kiss and Go Lane’s moving so please do not park in an undesignated parking spot. These areas, indicated with a yellow curb, are designed for parents who want to quickly pull into the parking lot, let their kids out, and then continue on to work. If a space is not available, please continue to make circles in the lot until you connect with your student. Thanks for your understanding.
We’d love to connect with you as much as possible. You will be automatically added to our weekly Swigert Eagle newsletter that comes out every Tuesday during the school year. Please also visit our website at www.swigert.dpsk12.org to learn more about Swigert and events that are coming up. You can also join our “Friends of Swigert International School” private Facebook page – www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofswigert. When requesting to join, please include a note to say you are a new family. We post pictures of events at school, interact as a school family, and you can see friendly reminders of upcoming events.
Who to contact if you have questions about:
| Registration | Daphne Jolley | DJolley@dpsk12.net |
| Technology and events | Richard Fisher | Richard_Fisher@dpsk12.net |
| Daily School Life | Emily Pool | Emily_Pool@dpsk12.net |
| Instruction, Programing, etc. | Shelby Dennis Amber Holthus-Pera | Shelby_Dennis@dpsk12.net Amber_Holthus-Pera@dpsk12.net |
| Health | Nurse Hoang Tran | Hoang_Tran@dpsk12.net |
| IB Program/Service Learning | Caroline Dane | Caroline_Dane@dpsk12.net |
Key Dates
May 11 International Night
May 20 Swigert Night at the Rapids
May 22-24 Scholastic BOGO Bookfair