Posted July 30, 2024
Dear Swigert Families,
We continue to gear up for an exciting new year. We can’t wait to see families and students in the next few weeks. Teachers are unofficially coming in to start setting up their classroom space and attending training. They will be officially back on August 12th!
The office is now open and Daphne and Hannah will be here from 8:30-3:30. Krystie Warlum, our office manager for the past 12 years, will be taking a leave for this year to support her family. Hannah Bickford is joining us from McAuliffe where she supported the front office there.
I know there is a lot of information coming out as the school year approaches. We want to keep you informed and don’t want you to feel too overwhelmed at the same time. We will do our best to answer questions that are coming up via the Eagle Post Communication, but if you have specific questions please continue to call or email. We are here to help!
Sincerly,
Shelby Dennis
shelby_dennis@dpsk12.net
What if we have to miss Meet the Teacher Night, how do I find out our child’s teacher?Teachers will be sending out communication on Monday, August 12th to all families in their class to sign up for beginning of year assessment spots. From there, you can communicate with your teacher regarding any questions you have about the year ahead.
What is the drop off and pick up procedure at Swigert?
Supervision will be provided on the Swigert playground beginning at 7:55 am, so parent drop off and walkers/bike rider arrivals are welcome anytime between 7:55 and 8:10 when school starts. All students in 1st – 5th grades will play on the main playground in the morning until the whistle at 8:07, students will make their way to classrooms lines. The bell officially rings at 8:10. They will then line up at their class’s designated spot on the playground and their teacher will walk them inside to start their day. There will be spots marked on the concrete indicating where each grade level lines up, and on the first day teachers will be outside showing students where to go. Kindergarten students will play on the small ECE/Kinder playground until the bell rings at 8:10. They will then line up in their class’s designated spot on the small playground. Their teachers will walk them through the doors near the cafeteria and to their classrooms.
ECE families should come in the main east doors of the building and walk their student to their classroom. There they will sign them in and drop them off. (We will have balloons at the ECE drop off door on the first day so that you know you are in the right place!)
Any late arrivals will need to buzz in through the front doors of the school and check in with office staff before heading to class. For safety reasons, please don’t ever try to enter an alternate door after the start of the school day.
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 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.
What if my student takes the bus in the morning?
For the 2024-25 School Year, school hours are 8:10 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. unless your student is a morning bus rider. Morning bus riders will arrive to school by 7:40 and will have a 15-20 minute supervised reading time in the library.
What is Swigert’s Dress Code Policy?
Students should come to school dressed in a manner that is appropriate and not distracting.
Students should dress for weather – especially on field trip days. Please label all outer garments and your child’s backpack, lunchbox, and water bottle with his/her full name.
What is Swigert’s Cell Phone and Smart Watch Policy
We recognize students have cell phones and smart watches to communicate with their parents. We want to honor this need, but also don’t want cell phones and smart watches to distract or impact our students from learning.
Cell Phone and Smartwatch Policy
This is your August at a Glance calendar. A full resolution printable of this and instructions on how to link our google calendar to yours can be found here: https://swigert.dpsk12.org/about/calendar/
Get connected with the Swigert Family Mentorship Program! Are you a current Swigert Family that loves this community and wants to make sure new families feel welcome and included? Are you new to Swigert and have heard how amazing our community is and want to make sure you get involved? If so, this mentorship program is for you. As a Mentor, you will send an initial introduction and offer a warm welcome. We then ask that Mentors be available to answer any of their mentee’s questions throughout the year. As a mentee, you will be matched with a veteran Swigert family to answer all of your little and big questions and be a friendly face in this wonderful community. If you are interested in joining this program, please fill out the form in this link Swigert Mentorship Program. Feel free to include any additional details about what family might be a good match for your family. If you have any questions, please email Stacy Babbitt at stacybabbitt4@gmail.com.
Registration is the process by which you confirm the information we have on file for your household. This is a DPS requirement that needs to be done every school year. It reopened yesterday and you have until the end of August to complete it. For the full details on how to complete registration, please see HERE.
You can still buy your school supplies through our vendor, EPI! At this point in the summer, the supplies will be shipped to your house and you can bring them on meet the teacher night. Click HERE for school supply details on how to order or how to find the list to do your own shopping at a local store.
If you are wanting your student to ride the bus and you are eligible (you live more than a walkable mile from school), you need to opt in through the parent portal. Here is how you do that – https://www.dpsk12.org/o/transportation/page/transportation-opt-in-program
Here are the enrichment offerings for fall: SWIGERT FALL 2024 OFFERINGS
Registration Starts: North Region: Thursday, August 8th at 6:00 am
Registration Ends: August 21st at 10pmQuestions? Email enrichment_extendedlearning@dpsk12.org
Thursday, August 8th, 5:30 PM and Sunday, August 10th, 9 AM
We have two New Family Playdates scheduled in August to give parents and kids a chance to meet classmates and other families and to feel more comfortable on the first day of school. Just come to the playground for hanging out and popsicles. Current Swigert families are encouraged to come!
Thursday, August 15th, 5-6pm
Join us at Swigert to find out who your teacher and classmates will be for the year! You’ll have an opportunity to say hello to your new teacher, sign up for an assessment time (during the first two days of school in the afternoons), let teachers know your child’s plan for getting to and from school, and pick up any other pertinent information about the start of the year. The PTA will sell Spirit Wear and administrators will be making their way around to say hello. You can also bring your school supplies to drop off in the classroom. This is an open-house style event; you and your family can come by anytime during the window. The Kona Ice truck will be on the playground as well for purchase.
We will have our annual park to school walk on the first day. We will gather at 7:40am at the dog statue park at 35th and Xenia St (MAP). We will begin our walk to school at 7:50am. Parents and siblings are welcome to join us for this walk. Staff will be out on the playground beginning at 8:00 am to welcome students and guide them to their arrival door. If you are unable to join the walk, no problem. Staff will be out on the playground ready to greet your children. Buses will be running their regular routes for both arrival and dismissal. Wednesday through Friday will be regular days 8:10-3:10.
Saturday, August 24th, 8:30-10:30 am
We would love for you to join us at our annual welcome back community breakfast. This annual event, sponsored by our PTA, is a wonderful way to meet new families and reconnect with students and staff. It will be on the playground from 8:30-10:30 am. There will be delicious food and activities for the kids on the playground.
We strive to have great communication around all thing Swigert. 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. 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, Programming, etc | Shelby Dennis Amber Holthus-Pera | Shelby_Dennis@dpsk12.net Amber_Holthus-Pera@dpsk12.net |
| Daily School Life, Eagle Post | Emily Pool | Emily_Pool@dpsk12.net |
| Registration & Office Support | Daphne Jolley Hannah Bickford | Djolley@dpsk12.net Hannah_Bickford@dpsk12.net |
| Technology and Building Use | 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 | Dani Mossburg Ankita Jhaveri | president@swigertpta.com |
Key Dates
August 8th – Fall Enrichment Sign Up
August 8th – New Family playdate
August 10th – New Family playdate
August 15th – Meet the Teacher Night
August 19th – First day of school, noon dismissal
August 20th – Noon dismissal
August 24th – Welcome Breakfast
August 29th – Back to School Night
September 2nd – No school, Labor Day
