April 9th

Posted April 9, 2024

Dear Swigert Families,

We had so much fun experiencing the Solar Eclipse yesterday as a school community. We were all in awe and the students handled it all beautifully. There was definitely a buzz across the school all day! It was a poignant example of the beauty and power of mother nature. One third grade student asked if he could hold on to the glasses for the next one in 20 years. I told him it would be impressive if he still had them around! Here are a few photos:

I wanted to share resources from our community coffee last Friday. Kim Irk, our School Psychologist, and Robin Bresnahan, our Gifted and Talented coordinator, shared important information and resources for parents around student anxiety and perfectionism. We are definitely seeing more anxiety in our students since Covid and these resources are quite helpful:
Anxiety and Perfectionism Presentation

Sincerely,
Shelby Dennis
 


Upcoming Events

April 9th: CMAS Starts for Grades 3-5:  Schedule

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: Swigert Auction- Spring Fling

May 10th: Service Day
This will be our 6th annual service day. We start the day with a whole school assembly and invite speakers to share about the importance of giving back. After the assembly each grade level partners with a different non-profit to do a community service project including Project Angel Heart, Balfor, 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 16th: 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 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 22nd: New Family Information Night for 1st-5th grade new families 
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: ECE Round-Up
An opportunity for ECE families to learn about the year ahead. You can sign up for a one hour time spot. We will meet together in The Nest for an admin presentation and then you will spend 30 minutes in the class with your child!

May 27th: No School, Memorial Day

May 31st 2:50: Second Annual Swigert Alumni Walk Through
Celebrate our High School Graduates- Swigert alums  from different schools across the metro area will walk through the school with their caps/gowns and celebrated with  a clap through. Families welcome.

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.

Swigert CAT


Swigert Artist of the Month

April’s Artist of the Month is fifth grader Sosuke Shirai! Sosuke is always open minded, caring, and principled when he comes to class. He does a great job and has a great attitude! Here he is holding his Original Works art project, Loon Lake. Way to go, Sosuke!


Family Bingo Night


International Night!

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:

  • Students will share in morning meeting about their cultural backgrounds
  • Students will walk the hallways to see table displays
  • Interested students and staff will dress up in traditional cultural clothing
  • Students will harvest lettuce from our school garden

During the evening we will provide:

  • Salad bar from our school garden
  • Student Mexican Folk Dancing Presentation
  • Swigert Singer’s Choir
  • Student Bollywood Dancing Presentation
  • Polynesian & Ukrainian Dancers
  • Chihera Family Band (Marimbas)
  • African Drumming
  • Temporary Tattoos of flags from around the world

New Family Welcome Events

We have lots of events this spring to help welcome all our new families for the fall. See below for links to all the details!

ECE Round-Up information

Kinder Round-Up Information

1st-5th Grade New Families Information 


Discovery Link for Next Year

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 


Swigert at the Rapids

Swigert International friends, families, and community are invited to Swigert Fundraising Night, where you will receive special discounted ticket pricing for the Rapids home match on Saturday, May 25th and June 15th. Use our link to purchase tickets. Select section 112 or 113.
https://rapids.spinzo.com/?group=swigert-international-school-rb3b


CPEd News

Meet McAuliffe International’s new principal, Brian Duwe, in Central Park Education News – cpednews.org!

And read how CP elementary schools are delivering mental health support to younger students.

Don’t forget to sign up for our free, weekly news roundup at the nonprofit www.CPEdNews.org!

CPEdNews.org is a project of the nonprofit Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities.


CMAS Testing Dates

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. 

SCHEDULE


Supporting Students with Dyslexia


Swigert Staff Spotlight


Communication 

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:
 

ROLENAMEEMAIL
Instruction, Programing, etcShelby Dennis
Amber Holthus-Pera    
Shelby_Dennis@dpsk12.net
Amber_Holthus-Pera@dpsk12.net   
Daily School LifeEmily PoolEmily_Pool@dpsk12.net
RegistrationDaphne JolleyDjolley@dpsk12.net
Technology and eventsRichard FisherRichard_Fisher@dpsk12.net
HealthNurse Hoang TranHoang_Tran@dpsk12.net
IB Program, Service Learning   Caroline DaneCaroline_Dane@dpsk12.net
Swigert PTACortney Dickeypresident@swigertpta.com

Key Dates
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 – Kindergarten Round-Up
May 17th – Field Day
May 20, 21, 22 – Scholastic BOGO Book Fair
May 22nd – New Family Info Night (1st-5th Grade)
May 23rd – ECE 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!