Posted August 15, 2023
Dear Swigert Families,
We are in the home stretch with the new year quickly approaching. We had a great kick off to the year on Monday, welcoming new and returning staff members. Our theme for the year is community and belonging. We start each year with a theme and a common read aloud, this year is – We Belong by Laura Purdie Sala. It’s a beautiful book about inclusivity and honoring individual backgrounds, ethnicities, and disabilities. We all bring our own assets and gifts to our community.
Swigert will welcome 655 ECE-5th grade students this year and close to 70 staff members including, para professionals, full time nurse, social worker, school psychologist, specialists, 4 student teachers from Metro State University, GT Coordinator, Multi language teacher, SPED teachers, interventionists, specials teachers and our leadership staff- check out our staff page! It’s a fantastic crew to work with.
Tonight we are hosting an information session for our ECE parents from 6-7 in the library. If you cannot attend in person we will share the slide show with the information. I look forward to seeing you and your kids at Meet the Teacher Night on Thursday from 5:00-6:00 pm. You’ll have an opportunity to say hello to your new teacher, sign up for an assessment time for all K-5th grade families (during the first two days of school in the afternoons), let teachers know your child’s plan for getting to and from school, and pick up any other pertinent information about the start of the year. The PTA will sell Spirit Wear and administrators will be making their way around to say hello. You can also bring your school supplies to drop off in the classroom. This is an open-house style event; you and your family can come by anytime during the window. We ask that you say a quick hello to your teacher and save a longer conversation for conferences in the fall. Please join us on the playground for socializing, photo area, music and a Kona Ice Truck. Sincerely,
Shelby Dennis
Shelby_Dennis@dpsk12.net
Here are the 3 floor maps labeled with where everyone’s new classroom location is!
We have new drop off procedures and spots as classrooms have shifted in the process of our move, see below.
Drop- off Procedures:
With our school expanding, we have had to make a few changes to our morning routine in order to ensure a safe and orderly start to the school day for all kids. Please see the attached map and bullet points for all the details.
Check out www.swigertpta.com for more information and check out the PTA table at Meet the Teacher Night and Back to School Night.
Registration is the process by which you confirm the information we have on file for your household. This is a DPS requirement that needs to be done every school year.
To register online, primary legal guardians of current DPS students must have an active DPS Parent Portal account. To get to online registration, go to your Parent Portal account and follow the below instructions:
DPS has informed us that ECE4 will be starting one day after everyone else due a district-wide required Compliance Day. ECE4 will have their first day of school Tuesday, August 22nd. 8:10-12. We’re sorry for the last minute change in your family’s schedule!
Tuesday, August 15th
6-7 PM
Library
Join the admin team to learn more about ECE and get questions answered!
If you haven’t ordered your school supplies through EPI yet, check out other ways and the lists here https://swigert.dpsk12.org/parent-resources/school-supplies-for-23-24/
Yearbooks from last school year are here! If you already ordered one, please come pick it up. We encourage those who can be here at one of the following times try to do so, as it will give students the chance to sign each other’s; however, if you can’t make it, you can come in any time the office is open (Mon – Fri 8 AM – 3 PM until school starts, and then 7:45 AM – 3:45 PM), or pick it up at Meet the Teacher Night.
Swigert officially begins school at 8:10 and ends at 3:10. If your student takes the bus in the morning they will arrive at school 20-25 minutes before the bell rings. We will provide supervised space in the library for these bus students.
Lunches will be free for all DPS students this year. They are asking for each family to still fill out a benefit form. Even if a household is “denied,” students are still eligible for meals at no charge. We encourage families to complete the You Benefit! Form to see if they qualify to receive discounted school fees, class materials, bus passes, utilities support and more.
If you are looking for a refund for you MySchoolBucks account, you can submit an online request through the Food & Nutrition website, under Refund policy.
To find out more about how to view the lunch calendar weekly, you can check out the website here: https://swigert.dpsk12.org/parent-resources/lunch-breakfast/ We also post the weekly food schedule on the Friends Swigert facebook page!
Thursday, August 17th, 5-6 PM
Join us at Swigert to find out who your teacher and classmates will be for the year! You’ll have an opportunity to say hello to your new teacher, sign up for an assessment time (during the first two days of school in the afternoons), let teachers know your child’s plan for getting to and from school, and pick up any other pertinent information about the start of the year. The PTA will sell Spirit Wear and administrators will be making their way around to say hello. You can also bring your school supplies to drop off in the classroom. This is an open-house style event; you and your family can come by anytime during the window. The Kona Ice Truck will also be on the playground!
The first two days – August 21st and 22nd – are half days. This allows students to ease into their new schedule and provide time for individual assessments in the afternoon. Your classroom teacher will reach out to you to set up individual time slots for these afternoon assessments. The arrival time is the same, with students arriving between 7:55 am and 8:05, with classes starting at 8:10. The dismissal time is noon, no lunch will be provided. Be sure to pack a water bottle and snack.
We will have our annual park to school walk on the first day. We will gather at 7:40am at the dog statue park at 35th and Xanthia Court. We will begin our walk to school at 7:50am. Parents and siblings are welcome to join us for this walk. Staff will be out on the playground beginning at 8:00 am to welcome students and guide them to their arrival door. If you are unable to join the walk, no problem. Staff will be out on the playground ready to greet your children. Buses will be running their regular routes for both arrival and dismissal. Wednesday through Friday will be regular days 8:10-3:10.
Fall 2023 After School enrichments are now available for browsing! Check out the link to the Brochure for Swigert’s spring offerings! Please take a look and get prepared for registration which opens Tuesday, August 15th at 6AM.The brochure below will also stay updated with current information, so please check this specific link for updated information.FALL ENRICHMENT BROCHURE
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:
| ROLE | NAME | |
| Instruction, Programing, etc | Shelby DennisAmber Holthus-Pera | Shelby_Dennis@dpsk12.net Amber_Holthus-Pera@dpsk12.net |
| Daily School Life | Emily Pool | Emily_Pool@dpsk12.net |
| Registration | Daphne Jolley | Djolley@dpsk12.net |
| Technology and events | Richard Fisher | Richard_Fisher@dpsk12.net |
| Health | Nurse Hoang Tran | Hoang_Tran@dpsk12.net |
| IB Program, Service Learning | Caroline Dane | Caroline_Dane@dpsk12.net |
| Swigert PTA | Cortney Dickey | president@swigertpta.com |
Key Dates
August 15 – ECE Info Night
August 17 – Meet the Teacher Night 5-6 PM
August 21 – First day of school, half day (NO ECE4)
August 22 – First Day for ECE4, half day for all
August 26 – Community Breakfast
August 31 – Back to School Night
September 4 – NO SCHOOL, Labor Day
September 11-14 – School Pictures!
September 22 – NO SCHOOL, Professional Development Day
