Posted December 5, 2023
There has been a great deal going on in the past few months with regard to our innovation status, North East Innovation Zone and I wanted to take a moment to share about recent events, what it means to be an innovation school and why it matters at Swigert. If you have specific questions or want to find out more I will be hosting an information community gathering next Monday December 11th at 5:00 in the library.
There are 52 innovation schools in Denver Public Schools and three Innovation Zones. The impetus for innovation was to allow schools to innovate and flex their budgets, calendar, curriculum and programming to meet student needs. Swigert is proud to be one of these innovation schools in an innovation zone. The zone allows a group of schools to work together in professional learning and collaborate in a smaller ecosystem. I so appreciate leading in an innovation school and our high staff retention rates shows that our staff does as well- we have averaged a 97% retention rate over the past 5 years. Our plan does not ask for any waivers from the DCTA contract.
As an IB school we are able to provide additional planning time for teachers to create engaging units of study and develop a rich, relevant program. It would be really challenging to maintain our IB status without being an innovation school. Our staff and student culture benefit from this flexibility and autonomy. Teachers come to Swigert due to the IB program and opportunity to create a vibrant curriculum, a school that supports and encourages teacher voice in our practices and programming.
Every three years our innovation plan is up for review. We went through a year-long process in 2022-2023 and our school innovation plan was renewed in June, 2023. We are now waiting for our zone plan to be approved as well as the McAuliffe International Plan. They are engaged in a dispute resolution process right now and we are awaiting next steps. Please let me know if you have specific questions and I can try my best to answer them.
There is an excited buzz in the building as the holidays approach. We have hosted many guest speakers to share about different holiday traditions from around the world. In that vein, I look forward to seeing everyone next week at our fourth annual community celebration- Winterfest, please see details here. Winterfest
Thank you!
Sincerely,
We cannot wait to see you next week at Winterfest! We would love if you could bring a dessert to share with our community. We’ll provide storytellers, holiday displays, crafts from around the world, and hot cocoa!
We’re also looking for a few more donations of hot cocoa, marshmallows, cotton balls, and your time. Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4CA4A92DA3FAC25-46384303-winterfest#/
December 5th -15th
Calling all musicians! Any student is welcome to sing or play a song for their classmates during music class on these days. These optional performances are a great time for kids to play music for each other in a pressure-free environment.Here is a more detailed schedule:
Tuesday, December 5 (E day): Draper, Ms. Susan, Ramos, Lavezzo
Thursday, December 7 (A day): Aggarwal, Hopper, Ms. Aarti, Mosley, Burdett
Monday, December 11 (B day): Marijke, Page Edge, Kline
Wednesday, December 13 (C Day): Ms. Shannon, Ziegler, Colter, Ross, Adler
Thursday, December 15 (D day): Marisol, Margulies, Capozza, Jones, Appleman
Thank you for supporting your child’s creativity in the arts!
December 5th Spelling Bee Results: While Swigert did not have a student in the top five their effort was commendable. Better luck in the 2nd District Bee in January!
Champion: Samantha Bui, 5th grader at Willow
2nd Place: Finnley Brown, 5th grader at Westerly Creek
3rd Place: Peyton Church, 5th grader at Westerly Creek
4th Place: Beatrix Peterson, 5th grader at Westerly Creek
5th Place: Devi Hayutin, 7th grader at DSA
Winning Word: Limeade
Today is Colorado Gives Day!
It only takes a little to make a big impact. All online donations today get an extra boost with a $1M+ Incentive Fund and additional prizes. Swigert International is one of the amazing non-profits eligible for the additional incentives. Swigert or any of the other amazing organizations I invite you to give today.
https://www.coloradogives.org/organization/SwigertPTA
Happy Holidays! The Critical Needs Committee is collecting money for Walmart/King Soopers gift cards for our families participating in the Critical Needs Program.
Providing families with gift cards over the holidays allows families flexibility to purchase groceries for a family meal to celebrate their holiday. It also allows families the joy of selecting gifts that their children need or will most enjoy.
If you would like to contribute, please bring gift cards to the front office or Venmo Mr.Fisher at @swigert-richard_fisher.
We will pool the monetary donations and purchase gift cards for distribution. Thank you for your support!
Happy Fall everyone,
It has been a fun-filled and busy fall in gifted programming at Swigert. In GT Groups we have been exploring geometry through tangram puzzles, delving into the four components of creativity through math, exploring Depth and Complexity icons, and taking on rigorous math and literacy tasks… to read the full newsletter, please click here.
Ashley Elementary has enrolled 200 migrant and refugee students driving the need for donations and volunteers. Read about it in Central Park Education News Weekly Roundup – www.CPEdNews.org!
Also, new DPS board members and officers were sworn-in last week promising to focus on issues, not drama.
Sign up for the nonprofit www.CPEdNews.org, a project of the nonprofit Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities, www.fsucommunities.org.
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
December 5: Swigert Hosting District Regional Spelling Bee 9:30-11:30
December 14: ECE Presentation of Learning AND Winterfest
December 15: Spirit Day
December 16-January 2: Winter Break
January 10: PTA Meeting
January 11: Swigert hosting Naturalization Ceremony for citizenship
January 18: Third Grade Presentation of Learning 5-6