Posted December 12, 2023
Dear Swigert Families,
We are in the midst of a celebratory week at Swigert. Students are excited about the Lexia challenge, Winterfest, and the upcoming holiday break. Friday is either a spirit day – wear the color blue or Swigert gear – and/or an ugly holiday sweater.
I wanted to highlight our Kindergarten fieldwork last week. As part of their History Unit, Where We are in Place and Time, they visited Balfour Learning Center. Each student created a question (or several) that they asked the Balfour residents to help further our understanding of how life was different in the past. They also sang some songs. It was quite a symbiotic experience with a great deal of joy.
There has been a great deal going on in the past few months with regard to our Innovation Zone NDIZ. I hosted a meeting to share more last night and wanted to send out the presentation, Innovation School/Zone Community Presentation. Please reach out if you have any questions or clarifications.
I look forward to seeing families on Thursday at 6:00 pm for our fourth annual community celebration- Winterfest. Please see details here: Winterfest. I hope you all have a joyful and restful break with your loved ones.
Sincerely,
Shelby Dennis
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#/
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 for the classes that are left:
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!
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!
If you are hoping to have an ECE4 student with us Fall 2024, DPS is changing the process again this year on how you will apply.
Families applying to enroll in an ECE-3 or ECE-4 program are strongly encouraged to submit a SchoolChoice application during Round 1. Submitting an application during Round 1 of SchoolChoice offers families the best chance of obtaining a seat at their desired preschool program. Round 1 opens at 10 a.m. on Jan. 11 and closes at 4 p.m. on Feb. 12, 2024. Following your DPS SchoolChoice application submitted during Round 1, DPS will reach out to families to provide the next steps for completing an application for funding support through Universal Preschool (UPK) Colorado. Visit the DPS Early Childhood Education (ECE) webpage for more information on how to apply!
Mr. Miller has collaborated with Swigert students and produced Swigert’s first ever podcast!
Have you ever wondered what’s in the minds of children in the 21st century? Swigert Stories is here to clue you in. Each episode brings a collection of written pieces from students of Swigert International School, located in Denver, CO. Anywhere from fiction, personal narrative, news stories, profiles, poetry, and scientific investigations – if it’s from Swigert, and it tells a story, it’s for us!
Check it out here – https://open.spotify.com/show/5VPNuViazFoZnbGYcFqeWV?si=4f077124d640406a
A Central Park-initiated Go Fund Me campaign has raised $14,400 for Ashley Elementary to help the hundreds of migrant children who unexpectedly joined the school since August. Read about it the Central Park Education News Weekly Roundup – cpednews.org. Donations are still welcomed!
Also read about the Gifted and Talented programs in Central Park schools.
One picture was not picture up off the Dia De la Muerta ofrenda. It was a picture of “In Loving Memory of Jaden Sanders McDaniel.” If this well-loved picture is yours, please reach out to your classroom teacher or Ms. Jones – we’d love to get it back to you!
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 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