September 20, 2013

Parent Retreat

Parent Retreat- 6:00 pm, Thursday, September 26 Calling all Swift House parents. Please join us for a potluck dinner and discussion of Swift House now and in the future at 6:00 pm on Thursday, September 26th. As the world changes we need to continually look at our system and make changes that result in our students building those skills necessary for their future. Topics to discuss include, but are not limited to: home/school communications, technology and 21st century learners, impact of the Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. The Bohmanns have graciously offered to host the event this year at 596 Southridge Drive, Williston. This is a great opportunity to meet or catch up with other parents while thinking about the future of learning and education in Swift House and beyond. Click here to RSVP. Please also post what dish you will bring and any questions you may wish to discuss.

Swift Virtual Book Club 

Ms. Longchamp, one of the original Swift Teachers who retired in June, is running a Virtual Book Group. The first book is going to be Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. This book is a free download to your tablet, cell phone, computer, etc. or you can purchase this at your favorite bookstore. It is also downloadable as an audiobook free of charge at http://librivox.org/author/189. If interested in joining, students should email Ms. Longchamp at jlongchamp@cssu.org. She has set up the blog and will email students the link. This is not open to the public.

New York City Field Trip

On Thursday in kiva students viewed a short presentation over viewing our June 2014 trip to NYC. The trip is scheduled for June 3-June 6th. If your student is interested in attending they will be bringing the permission slip home with them this week. In looking forward, we would like to form a planning committee made up of interested parents. Specifically, the planning committee would help to organize fundraising efforts, and help coordinate details of the trip. Fundraisers already scheduled include:

• WCS Fun Night (10/4) 
• Bottle Drive (12/7) 
• Marko the Magician (January) 
• Theater Festival (April) 
• Hanging Baskets (May) 

If your student is interested, but forgot their permission slip at home you can find it here.

The Odyssey at the Flynn

Ms. Donnelly and Mr. Glass have organized an enrichment reading group for the Odyssey this fall.  Students signed up on a first-come first-serve bases and are currently reading excerpts and summaries of the Odyssey during lunch and recess.  They will then attend a trip to the Flynn in October to see the Odyssey performed.  Thank you so much to the facilitators and the engaged students for taking advantage of the many opportunities the Flynn has to offer.  All Swift House students will attend a trip to the Flynn in March to see the Golden Dragon Acrobats!

Lunch Time Literature Group

Fun Night

Fun Night, scheduled for Friday, October 4th is being sponsored by Swift. Fun Night coincides with the first middle school dance and is open to all K-5th graders to attend. It is a fabulous fundraiser in support of our end of the year field trip to NYC. We need parent volunteers to make this evening a success! Please click here to sign up to volunteer. If you happen to have any small "trinkets" that could serve as prizes during Fun Night please send them in to school and ask your student to give them to Mr. Hunt or Ms. Donnelly. Last spring we ran out of goodies at our prize table!!

Curriculum Night

Thank you to those able to join us for Curriculum Night last week.  We made introductions, reviewed the Swift House mission statement, schedules, our curriculum calendar and special events throughout the year.  We also answered questions about homework and greensheets. To see the presentation slides please click here and feel free to contact your child's core teacher with further questions.