Posted November 7, 2023
Dear Swigert Families,
It’s often difficult to explain what it means to be an International Baccalaureate (IB) School and why it sets Swigert apart. Swigert’s IB Program strives to put students at the center of the learning by using student interests, curiosities and background knowledge to steer the direction of each unit of inquiry. We truly strive to create authentic units that provide multiple opportunities for students to become critical thinkers, go deep in engaging topics, give back to the world around them and develop an international mindset. Last week we had so many examples of how IB is alive across the grade levels. I thought it might be helpful to share how IB plays out throughout the school on a daily basis.
Provocations
Every six week unit starts with a provocation- or an engaging experience- to spark interest, wonderings, and connect to prior learning. This allows teachers to get an idea of what knowledge and interests students are bringing to the unit and helps drive where the learning will go. For ECE’s How We Express Ourselves Unit – the focus is on artistic expression- our ECE team joined forces to present to their students about possible artistic expressions. Ms. Kelly played the cello, Ms. Jackie did interpretive dancing while Ms. Erica expressed herself through poetry and painting.
Transdisciplinary Units of Inquiry
The IB has 6 transdisciplinary themes that are used by every grade level. The themes are: Who We Are, How the World Works, Where We are in Place & Time, How We Organize Ourselves, How We Express Ourselves, and Sharing the Planet. Within each six week unit, students dive deep into science or social studies topics . For example, our second graders have spent the last six weeks in their How the World Works Unit- looking at erosion, the Earth’s physical characteristics, the impact of water, and understanding different types of rocks. They read, researched and studied about rocks and their culminating writing piece was a nonfiction book or poster about rocks. Using our reading and writing skills to learn more about the science and social studies topics ensures our students are immersed in the overarching concepts of the unit all day long, not just during a science or social studies lesson.
Yesterday, second graders were visited by a rock expert and made igneous rock fudge and today they left for their fieldwork to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to see the rocks exhibition.
Field Work
As an IB school we engage in integrated fieldwork, meaning all of our trips and presentations are tied to the current unit of study. For example, first grade is in the middle of their science unit. They are studying how animals adapt and change given their habitats. On Friday, they traveled to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to study bear adaptations- Bear Necessities Program The students became bears – they had to consider shelter and food in a given habitat. The kids had a ball!
Our third graders brought fieldwork to their classroom. As part of their weather unit, scientists from National Center of Atmospheric Research out of Boulder – (NCAR) did a virtual weather simulation where students had to take on different roles and make decisions in a storm and flooding scenario.
International Mindedness
Our Kindergarten families were invited in to share about their different cultural backgrounds and traditions- fostering an understanding and appreciation for different cultures. We also host displays for the major cultural holidays and celebrations to help students learn global traditions. Last week we had a display for Dia de las Muertos and created an ofrenda for students and families to honor family members who have passed.
Presentations of Learning
In at least one unit a year, students create presentations of learning where they share their learning with community members or peers in a culminating project. As part of their Colorado History Unit, our fourth graders created artifacts from Colorado History and tied together a historical narrative using historical context and their artifacts into a story. They shared their learning with third graders. Our fifth graders are currently working on researching a figure who has made a difference in our world. They will create a Wax Museum on Thursday, November 16th to share with families.
Learner Profiles
We focus our social emotional curriculum on the IB Learner Profile Traits– which encourage students to understand and display the following traits- risk taker, inquirer, communicator, knowledgeable, caring, principled, reflective and balanced. Teachers teach about the importance of these traits, share examples in our content, and we celebrate students at the end of each month for exemplifying different learner profiles. The students have opportunities to do peer celebrations where they call each other out for showing specific traits – one of my favorite pieces.
I hope that helps to give an overview, if you want to hear more about Swigert’s IB program and ask questions, please join us this Friday for Principal’s Coffee with our IB Coordinator, Caroline Dane. We will be in the library after drop off from 8:15-9:00.
Please reach out with any questions or clarifications. Have a wonderful week.
Sincerely,
Shelby Dennis
If your student rides the bus (morning and/or afternoon), please check in Parent Portal to see if your child(ren)’s information is correct. The bus stop, route, and times should all be populated. If only the stop is listed, you will not receive any updates, including route changes and delays.
If your information is missing or incorrect, please let the front office know so we can get it corrected. If you are receiving updates but your child doesn’t ride the bus, you can also let us know to have you removed from the notification list.
As you grocery shop for the upcoming holidays, please consider picking up extra items to help stock the Swigert Food Pantry! Our pantry makes a significant difference for our families during the holidays.
Please bring in the following items the week of November 13th – 17th:
ECE/Kinder – Peanut Butter, Almond Butter, Jelly
1st – canned chicken, canned tuna, Spam
2nd – cereal, granola bars
3rd – canned vegetables
4th – canned fruit, beans
5th – pasta, pasta sauce, mac n cheese
Donations for gift cards to help them shop through the holidays are also greatly appreciates. Please Venmo, @swigert-richard_fisher
Thank you for your support!
Wednesday at 6pm in the Swigert STEM room. You can also join virtually but in person is best. Lots of information on all things Swigert. Hope to see you there!
Unfortunately, since we set our dates in advance we are competing with NDIZ so we will meet in the STEM room.
PTA Meeting
Wednesday, November 8 · 6:00 – 7:00pm
Time zone: America/Denver
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/pyw-vbfj-kyo
If families want to eat together, parents should pull students with the later lunchtime to eat at the earlier time, with the exception of ECE. ECEers should be pulled to eat with their older siblings, due to limited space in the ECE classrooms. Times for lunches:
ECE (in classrooms): 11:30 – 11:55
Kdg: 10:45 11:15
1st: 11:45 – 12:15
2nd: 11:15 – 11:45
3rd: 12:15 – 12:45
4th: 12:45 -1:15
5th: 1:15 – 1:45
Adult lunches are $7; non-Swigert siblings are $5 (if they will have their own lunch). Tickets must be pre-purchased through the front office, by cash or check only; or by venmo to @swigert-richard_fisher (please include note indicating it is for Thanksgiving).
In addition to the lunch tickets, we’ll also require a reservation this year. All guests should complete the reservation by noon on Wednesday, November 15th, whether or not you’ll be eating the Swigert lunch. Please complete the form at https://forms.gle/Azkwq8wEjPpEpHHm7. Please note: this form does ask for the visitor’s birth date, as this will enable us to pre-print the visitor passes.**
Menu:
There will be no Vegetarian alternative. For a vegetarian lunch, just omit the Turkey & Gravy
Roasted Turkey with Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Stuffing
Fruit
Green Beans
Dinner Roll
Sweet Potato Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
It’s already time to check out our winter enrichment options!
Registration starts WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25th at 6am and ends THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9th at 10pm. Please see the attached brochure for classes and registration information.
Please e-mail enrichment_extendedlearning@dpsk12.org if you have any questions.
Attend Northeast Denver Innovation Zone (NDIZ) Community Council
Please help us create a richer education for our students through community involvement. Join the NDIZ Community Council. November 8th at Swigert at 5:30 in the Library.
Please RSVP to Colleen O’Brien at Colleen@NDIZ.org to join the Zone Community Council
McAuliffe International students are losing hundreds of hours of instruction time because the district’s Healthy Start Times mandate took away the school’s legal right to set its own daily schedule. Read about it in this week’s Central Park Education News Weekly Roundup – www.CPEdNews.org!
Don’t forget to sign up for CPEdNews.org! A project of the nonprofit Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities.
The 4th graders will present “Colorado History” and the 5th graders will present “Friendship” THIS Thursday, November 9.
At 5:45 PM, 4th grade students will meet in their classrooms. Their concert begins at 6:00 in the gym.
At 6:25 PM, 5th grade students will meet in their classrooms. Their concert begins at 6:40 in the gym.
Dress for this concert is nice clothes.
If you cannot make it to the evening concert, you may attend the dress rehearsals, Wednesday November 8 and Thursday November 9 during the school day: 8:15 (4th grade) and 9:20 (5th grade).
See you there!
Join us for coffee and learn more about our IB program!
Friday, November 10th after drop off in the library
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 Dennis Amber 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
November 7th – Election Day, SAC Meeting 5pm
November 8 – NDIZ Community Council Meeting 5:30, Library, PTA Meeting 6pm in STEM room
November 9 – 4th & 5th Grade Art show and Music Concert
November 10 – Principal Coffee, 8:15am
November 16 – Thanksgiving Lunch, 5th Grade Wax Museum, 5pm
November 20-24 – Thanksgiving Break!
November 29-Dec 1 – 5th grade teams to Ballarat
December 14 – Winterfest
December 18-January 2 – Winter Break