Posted April 23, 2024
Dear Swigert Families,
We are almost done with CMAS, phew- just fifth grade science left this week. Our students worked hard and tried their best. We are busy getting back into the regular groove of school as we approach the busy month of May. Thank you to the PTA for sponsoring a fun BINGO community night last week. It was a fun way to come together and build connections.
Here are a few fifth grade highlights this week:
STEM Sphero Exhibition: On Thursday afternoon, Mr. Miller is hosting our first Sphero Mini Space Golf Course Exhibition! Students in Stem have been combining everything they learned about space science topics to design and build a space-themed course for the Sphero Mini robot. Each “hole” has a different space science topic and will aim to educate visitors while they also experience robotics through a user friendly device. The event will happen between 3:30-5:30, and while every “tee time” is booked, families are invited to come experience the event and see the projects for themselves.
Here are a few examples of the projects:
Also, as part of our arts integration program, fifth graders designed agamographs that will be displayed at the Sam Gary Library for the next three weeks. Fifth graders studied the work of contemporary Israeli artist Yaacov Agam, who is known for his kinetic works that involve movement and viewer participation. Students created their own Agamograph, a piece of art that is created on a zig-zagged panel so that the viewer sees one image when looking from one direction and another image when looking from the opposite direction. Students used a variety of art materials to represent opposing perspectives on a topic from their studies. The student work is on display at the Sam Gary Library through May 6. For example, Hudson created one shown here displaying ocean creatures on one side and an ocean oil refinery on the other.
The Swigert Climate Action Team recently interviewed Jason Crow to hear about how he as a lawmaker is approaching different topics related to environmental health and climate change, and we recorded that conversation as a special Earth Day (Monday 4/22) episode of the Swigert Stories podcast. You can find it linked here or on the Swigert Stories homepage on Spotify. 
Information for the 2024-2025 School Year:
Swigert Calendar for 2024-2025
Bell Times:
Our bell times will remain the same for the 2024-2025 school year. DPS was not able to shift our bus times for the morning shift so we will continue to host the morning bus riders in the library for next year. Please see the information on this page on our website and reach out with any questions.
Summer Connections:
Check out this free five week program sponsored by Denver Public Schools for rising first through 5th graders. Summer Connections Information
2024 Class Placement Process:
As a staff, we start the class placement process in May for the following school year, and there are many factors that we consider. We will use part of the green day May 3rd for this important process. Grade level teachers, administrators, and our mental health team work together to decide on the best placement for every child. We know your child well, and consider things such as kids who might benefit from being in class together, kids who may need to be separated, academic needs, and social/emotional needs. We also try to balance classes as far as gender, diversity, etc. We ask that you please trust the process. We know your children well and we will very thoughtfully place them with whom we think is best. The school policy is that we do not take teacher requests from parents. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to the admin team.
Reach out with any questions!
Sincerely,
Shelby Dennis
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 6th – Early Bird registration opens
For details and a step-by-step walk through of how to register your student for new year, go here: https://swigert.dpsk12.org/registration-2024-25/
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 17th: 5th Grade Dance, details TBD
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: ECE4 New Family Info Night
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.
We are swimming in lost and found. We will be putting out all the sweatshirts, lunchboxes and water bottles on the playground at the end of the day. Please come by and check it out. We will also put it outside the cafeteria during the day and encourage students to find their items. We will donate all unclaimed items on Friday.
Help us celebrate auction week with the following spirit days next week:
Monday April 29: Swigert Swag (blue and white)
Tuesday April 30: Two for Tuesday (twin with your friend or friend group)
Wednesday May 1: Wacky Hat Wednesday (get creative and make anything a hat)
Thursday May 2: Celebrate your Culture (in honor of International Night)
Friday May 3: NO SCHOOL
Early bird DPS registration opens May 6th through the 24th. For full details on how to register, go here: https://swigert.dpsk12.org/registration-2024-25/
Reach out to Daphne Jolley or Emily Pool with questions or to get your student’s ID number to create a parent portal!
Swigert has Kiss ‘n Go lanes on both the east and west side of the school. These areas, indicated with a yellow curb, are designed for parents who want to quickly pull into the parking lot, let their kids out, and then continue on to work. We are also struggling with the lack of parking due to the construction at our neighbor, United Airlines. Please do not double park in the parking lot. We can also utilize the bus lane (on the Syracuse side) for drop off in the morning because our morning buses have already dropped off by 7:50. There is often parking in the Sam’s Club parking lot if you need to park and pick up. If you would like to have a longer stop, please go ahead and pull into a parking space and do not park behind a car in a designated space. Thank you for understanding.
One way to become involved at Swigert is to join the SAC committee. The monthly meetings are OPEN to everyone to attend and provide information or input on important issues at school. For more information about SAC, check out the link on our website here- SAC
While the meetings are open, there are some designated elected positions. The SAC (School Accountability Committee) is holding elections for two parent representative openings for 2024-2025 school year. If you are interested, please submit a short blurb (one paragraph) about yourself, including why you think you would be a great addition to our SAC committee to Shelby at Shelby_Dennis@dpsk12.net by April 26th. If you have questions about SAC please reach out to our current SAC President, Amy Hladik at aallenba@yahoo.com. Voting will be held via an online ballot by the Swigert community and will end on May 3, 2024.
Please join us for our next Diversity and Inclusivity Working Group meeting: Monday, April 29 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.
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:
We’re starting to work on the video that will be played at the ceremony. We would love to get from every family a baby/toddler/younger picture of your child and then a more current 5th grade one to be used in the video.
You can upload them to this google drive: 5th Grade Continuation Photos
– Click on the drive clink.
– Click on your teacher’s name
– Click +New
– Then click File Upload
You can also feel free to email them to me if that’s easier at emily_pool@dpsk12.net.
We will also need help on the day of Tuesday, June 4th to help with decorating the gym, setting up a photo area, picking up cupcakes, and a few other things. If you could offer an hour or two of help, please consider signing up here and I’ll be in touch as the day gets closer: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4CA4A92DA3FAC25-49011106-5thgrade
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!
1st-5th Grade New Families Information
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 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
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 |