Posted January 30, 2024
Dear Swigert Families,
February is the official month to recognize Black History Month, knowing that Black History is not something we solely focus on during the month of February but throughout our days, throughout our curriculum, and throughout every school year. That being said, it is critically important to take this time to understand, reflect and honor the lives and accomplishments of Black individuals in our nation. The purpose of this month was originally created to teach school-aged children about Black history so we could spearhead change and transformation in our society; and that holds just as relevant and true today. As our third graders just studied, Black History Month was born during the1920s during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Here is a great article outlining the history:
https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/knowing-past-opens-door-future-continuing-importance-black-history-month. In Denver, Five Points was considered the Harlem of the West. –History of Harlem of the West
I know this work is more than just the month and we are continuously adjusting our IB units to reflect Black History and diversifying our resources and libraries. Throughout this month we will take some additional time to elevate Black history for our students during morning meetings. Each staff member is choosing a black person who has influenced or inspired their life and sharing a one page about their influence. We are encouraging students to do the same and are creating a joint display in the main hallway.
We wanted to share about our 4th and 4th grade Black Alliance Group that group meets bi monthly to talk about their experiences, ask questions and learn about each other. It is facilitated by fourth grade teacher Sandra Ross and our special education teacher, Leslie Raynor . Last week students from McAuliffe’s Brown Girls Dreaming group joined our girls. There is a similar group at McAuliffe so we invited them over yesterday to share with the girls about their own group and talk to them about being black and a girl in this world. It was a wonderful experience and we are going to continue to partner twice a month until the end of the year.
We also had McAuliffe students, as part of their service learning initiative. visit today to read with our ECE students, what a meaningful time for all the students involved.
Sincerely,
Shelby Dennis
shelby_dennis@dpsk12.net
On Tuesday, January 23rd, our GT Coordinator, Mrs. Bresnahan held a virtual session regarding Magnet Eligibility in DPS. Here is the link to the slide deck for those who want to dig in a little deeper and also for those who were unable to make the session. ME Session. Reach out to Robin with any questions.
The PTA is looking for leaders to support our school for the next school year to help continue to make Swigert Elementary a place where every child can reach their potential. The PTA is a volunteer organization where all are welcome.
“Serving on the PTA board has given me the opportunity to feel more connected at Swigert and to develop a closer relationship with the administration. I am so grateful for the lengths that our teachers and staff go to to ensure the highest quality education for our kids and it’s been a pleasure and a privilege to show appreciation to them and give back in this small way. The future success of our students and our school hinges on parent involvement and this is a great way to get involved!” Ashley Fallhowe- PTA Secretary ‘23-’24
Submit your nominations for the 2024-25 School Year before February 11, 2024. Nominees can include yourself or another PTA member. The nominating committee will contact all nominees to confirm they wish to accept the nomination. The election will be held at the PTA meeting by voting members on March 13, 2024.
PTA Officer roles to be filled:
Learn more about the PTA Officer roles and responsibilities.
If you have questions about the roles or process, please contact Laurel Walk at laurelwalk@gmail.com.
In this week’s Central Park Education News, www.cpednews.org: Choice enrollment will end in two weeks. Read about how choice works and how it could be better.
Also, an influx of migrant students primarily from South America has doubled Ashley’s enrollment. Check out how the school is adapting in www.cpednews.org!
CPEdNews is a project of the nonprofit Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities.
Yearbook sales have closed. I did order a few extra of each (softcover, $36.25 or hardcover, $41.25) which will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. These are available on MySchoolBucks, under School Store. This is *not* the lunchroom portion of MySchoolBucks!
Please join us for our next Diversity and Inclusivity Working Group meeting: Monday, March 4 from 6:00-7:00 p.m. in the Swigert Library. If you are interested in meeting families of all backgrounds committed to celebrating diversity, building International Mindedness and making Swigert even more inclusive, please join us! Please RSVP to shelby_dennis@dpsk12.net.
Childcare will be provided, please include your children’s names and ages in your RSVP if they will be joining us. Thank you!
Some of our students now have smart watches and cell phones, and we want to reiterate our school policy. Smart watches are ONLY used as watches during the school day. Please don’t call or text with your students during the day through the smart watch. Students should not be calling home or using apps at any time. If they need to call home during the day they need to ask permission from a staff member. Phones are to be put away before class starts in your backpack and not be used during the day. If there is a change of plan for a pick up please notify Daphne at the front office and your teacher. If phones or smart watches are being used incorrectly in class, teachers will take the phone or watch for the remainder of the school day and return it to the student at the end of the day.
Visit www.SwigertBlooms.com to view examples of Valentine’s bouquets available to purchase your Valentine! A big thank you to @snowflowerbyjenni for your generous participation in this PTA fundraiser!
If you haven’t signed up yet for the science fair, this week is the last week to do so. Registration will close on January 31st.
Students will bring poster boards with them to school on March 1st, or any day of the week of Feb 26-March 1st. Please remember to label your poster with your student name and grade.
Winners will be announced in the evening 5:30 pm-7:00 pm on March 1st. If you have any questions please visit our website: https://www.swigertsciencefair.org
1st and 3rd grade families:
The 1st and 3rd grade concerts are coming soon!
The 1st graders will present “Storytelling” and the 3rd graders will present “Immigration” on Thursday, February 1.
At 5:45 PM, 1st grade students will meet in their classrooms. Their concert begins at 6:00 in the gym.
At 6:25 PM, 3rd 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 January 31 and Thursday February 1 during the school day: 10:25 (3rd grade) and 2:10 (1st grade).
See you there!
Does your Swigert student have a talent they want to share? Have them sign up for our first ever talent show! Important information and dates below.
Dates:
1/30 – Auditions (3:30-5:30 in The Nest)
2/13 – Rehearsal (3:30-4:30 room 304)
2/21 – Dress Rehearsal (3:30-5:30 in the gym)
2/22 – SHOW NIGHT! 5:30 PM in the gym
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
February 1st: 1st and 3rd grade music concerts
February 16th: No School, Green Day
February 19th: No School, President’s Day
March 1st: Swigert Science Fair
March 8th: ECE not in session, K-5th there IS school
March 13th: PTA meeting, 6pm
March 25th – April 2nd: No school, Spring Break