Posted April 2, 2024
Dear Swigert Families,
I hope everyone enjoyed Spring Break! Our staff worked together today to plan out the next eight weeks with a focus on elevating student agency through thinking strategies. We also planned to reset expectations for behavior across the school including classroom and recess- spring brings a lot of emotions and it’s a good time to reset. I wanted to acknowledge that this green day (professional learning) was different then other schools across the district. When the calendar committee met last year they decided to move the district green, scheduled for April 19th, to today. Families felt like it was better to tack it along a green day longer break then have an isolated day in the middle of the month. It also allowed teachers planning time to map out the upcoming weeks
The last eight weeks of school are such a busy and exciting time for our school. There are so many events and celebrations on the horizon. I created a list of some of the big upcoming Swigert events to help me organize my own frazzled brain in hopes it will support you as you look forward.
Upcoming Events:
April 5th: Community Coffee
Join us for a community coffee and conversation on Anxiety and Perfectionism. It will be this Friday after drop-off in the library. Coffee is provided.
April 8th: Solar Eclipse
We have ordered protective glasses for all students. We will have students come out during the eclipse at some point with their class. North America will be experiencing a solar eclipse! While Denver will only receive about 65% totality, this rare event is still amazing and it can be a great opportunity for your students to experience some space science first hand! The United States will not see another solar eclipse until 2045, so hopefully we can take full advantage on Monday! The eclipse will begin in Denver around 11:28 AM, and continue until 1:54 PM, with 65% totality occurring at around 12:40 PM
April 18th: Bingo Night
Join us for our first ever Community Bingo Night. It’s a family event to come together and have some fun. Mr. Shutts and Senor Amador will be our Bingo caller and there will be some fun prizes to win. Thank you PTA for hosting this community event.
May 2nd: International Night, 6-8 pm
A celebration of our school diversity. A way to honor, celebrate, and learn about the diverse cultures represented at our school as well as share the harvest from our school garden. We will have different multicultural activities and performances as well as have family picnics on the field. There will be lettuce from our garden to share.
May 3rd : Green Day – no school for students.
May 4th: Swigert Auction
This is a wonderful way to meet families, talk to our staff, enjoy delicious food and have fun together as a community. It is also one of our largest fundraisers and helps to support our school wide IB program, para professionals and spanish. For more information check out this link:
May 10th: Service Day
This will be our 5th annual service day. We start the day with a whole school assembly and invite speakers to share about the importance of giving back. This year we will have Representative Crowe spearhead the event. After the assembly each grade level partners with a different non-profit to do a community service project including Project Angel Heart, There with Care, Bin Blessed. We also do some grounds projects around our school. Parents are welcome to come lend a helping hand (details to come).
May 17th: Swigert Field Day
Mr. Shutts organizes a day where all students participate in a variety of activities; including but not limited to relay races, hurdles, shoe toss, tug a war and water games. We split the day into two and ECE-2 goes in the morning and 3-5 in the afternoon. Parents are welcome to come watch.
May 16th – ECE New Family Info Night
Information coming!
May 22nd: New Family Information Night for 1st-5th grade
An opportunity for any new families to learn about the year ahead. We will meet together in the library at 6pm. We will do Q&A at the end.
May 23rd: Kindergarten Round-Up
An opportunity for our new to Swigert kindergarten families to get information about kindergarten and let our kinder teachers meet the new faces.
May 27th: No School, Memorial Day
June 4th: 5th Grade Exhibition and Continuation
Swigert Fifth grade students will share their culminating IB exhibition projects to the community and then we will have a continuation ceremony to honor fifth grade students.
June 5th: 5th Grade Clap Out
All ECE-4th grade students and 5th grade parents will join us to clap the 5th graders out of Swigert and on to middle school- It’s a pretty emotional event. The clap out will begin around 11:50 am.
June 5th: ½ Day Last Day of School
The last day of school is a noon dismissal. No lunch is served.
Sincerely,
Shelby Dennis
shelby_dennis@dpsk12.net
Spring Class Pictures are live! Head to our picture dashboard at: https://bloomschoolpictures.com/swigert
Scroll down to the bottom and click on the teal button that says 2023-2024 GALLERIES, enter email, click Spring 2024, find your kids name and enter their school ID for the password. Whew, you’re in!
You can order directly from their site.
Who: All Swigert students and families
What: A celebration of our school diversity. A way to honor, celebrate, and learn about the diverse cultures represented at our school as well as share the harvest from our school garden
What to bring: A picnic for your family including water/drinks, plates, utensils, and A DISH TO SHARE
During the school day:
During the evening we will provide:
If you will be needing Discovery Link for before or after school care for the ’24-’25 school year, registration for that opens on May 17th at 6am. You can get more details about that HERE
Save the date for exhibition and continuation on Tuesday, June 4th. Also start looking for your favorite baby/younger kid picture of your student and a current picture for the slideshow!
I wanted to share our CMAS testing schedule for our 3-5th grade families. Please mark these dates on your calendar. Please try your best not to schedule appointments during these times.
Find the full resolution printable here:
This year, the auction committee is bringing back class art projects and decreasing the class baskets so that there is only a grade level basket. We’ve made this shift to direct auction efforts toward more sentimental items whenever possible.
In order to create class art projects we are asking for donations of both time and supplies. Schoolwide, we are seeking donations of exterior house paint in a rainbow of colors. Do you have a fabulously colored Central Park front door? Could you share some of the paint remnants with us? Paint can either be dropped off at the school, or you can email Christina Ethier (ckethier@gmail.com) to arrange pick up.
In addition, below is a list organized by grade level that includes sign ups for volunteers and Amazon Wishlists for supplies. Please note, communication for ECE classrooms will be sent separately.
| Kindergarten | Sign Up Genius | Amazon Wishlist |
| 1st Grade | Sign Up Genius | Amazon Wishlist |
| 2nd Grade | Sign Up Genius | Amazon Wishlist |
| 3rd Grade | Sign Up Genius | Amazon Wishlist |
| 4th Grade | Sign Up Genius | Amazon Wishlist |
| 5th Grade | Sign Up Genius | N/A |
All materials on the Amazon Wishlists will ship directly to Lisa Carlson, the art teacher, at Swigert. Any unused portion of supplies will be left in the art room with Ms. Carlson for future use with Swigert students.
If you have an item to donate that meets the item on the list please reach out to Christina Ethier (ckethier@gmail.com) as all donations are welcomed. Finally, if you prefer to donate via Venmo, feel free to send any amount to Christina (@Christina-Ethier) and indicate the grade level for which you are donating. We look forward to sharing finished art projects with the community in the next month!
Some class art from a previous auction:
Experience Dyslexia Simulation
Apr 21, 2024, 3:00 PM – 5:30 PM
3239 E 2nd Ave, Denver, CO 80206
DenCoKID is excited to offer a free dyslexia simulation to the Denver community. Participants will experience some of the challenges and frustrations faced by people with attention, processing, and language-based learning differences like dyslexia. They are guided through learning tasks commonly encountered in the classroom or workplace. This empathy-building experience benefits everyone, including parents, guardians, grandparents, educators, principals, students, coaches, employers, clergy, and anyone with an interest in dyslexia or learning differences. Light refreshments will be provided and childcare for school-aged children is available upon request via email. And parking is free! Learn more and RSVP today!
The 2024 Olympic Games are coming to Paris, France this summer! Might you or your entire family want to attend?!
Mr. Hopper, Swigert parent and husband of Mrs. Hopper, one of Swigert’s first grade teachers, has lodging available in the center of the city through his company, Journey to the Games. The price is normally $1500 per person for 7-nights (check-in on Sunday, July 28th, 2024 and checkout on Sunday, August 4, 2024). He is offering a discount to friends and family of Swigert International School, decreasing the price to $1000 per person AND he is giving back 50% of funds spent to our school! This is an incredible opportunity to snag an amazing lodging opportunity in Paris while also supporting our beloved Swigert. For more information, please check out https://www.journeytothegames.com and/or contact Merritt at merritt@race2adventure.com.
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
April 5th – Community Coffee about Perfectionism and Anxiety
April 9th – SAC Meeting 5-6
April 18th – Family Bingo Night
April 19th – ECE not in session, K-5th there IS school
May 2nd – International Night
May 3rd – No School
May 4th – Auction!
May 10th – Service Day
May 16th – ECE Info Session
May 17th – Field Day
May 20, 21, 22 – Scholastic BOGO Book Fair
May 22nd – New Family Info Night (1st-5th Grade)
May 23rd – Kindergarten Round-Up
May 27th – No School, Memorial Day
June 4th – 5th Grade Exhibition and Continuation
June 5th – 5th Grade Clap Out, Early Dismissal for all 12pm, LAST DAY!
