January 25th, 2014

 New Literature Sign-Ups

Please use this link to sign up for February literature groups. This month's literature class will be based on choice novels. It will begin on Monday, February 3rd and will take place every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until March 7th. Recommended reading levels are listed with each book, but students may choose a book outside of the grade level recommendations if they want a more challenging selection or if they have a particular interest. Please help your child sign up for their selections accordingly.

 

Open House- Monday, February 3rd @ 6:30 pm

Students have completed the second drafts of their Independent Projects and are working on their visuals for the Open House on Monday, February 3rd at 6:30 pm.  Visuals may take the form of a trifold, a Prezi, a video, a slide show, or any other product that allows them to present images and text. These visuals are due by Wednesday.  Students will then start presenting in school for their peers in order to practice for the Open House.  

Attendance at the Open House is required for all students and they will be looking to present to at least three adults beyond their parents, so be ready to learn a lot from enthusiastic students!  They truly have become experts in their fields.

Swift House Sponsored School Dance- February 7th

Thank you so much to the folks who have already signed up to chaperone the dance.  If you would like to do so,  you can sign up here.  This is just a reminder that we need as many families as possible to bring in items to sell for concessions. We are asking for the following:

• Hunt/Donnelly two 2-liter bottles of juice, soda, etc. 
• Skapof/Laberge- Individually wrapped snack items 

If you are coming to chaperone you can bring the concessions with you. Otherwise, please send them into Swift house on Friday, February 7th so we can get the concessions set up ahead of time.

Engineering Challenge 

Our 7th and 8th graders have begun working on this year's spring school-wide science event, in which each group of 3 or 4 students is constructing a design to achieve one of four engineering tasks. On Tuesday, March 18th, all 7th and 8th graders at WCS will converge in the auditorium to compete for prizes and bragging rights. This will be an all day event with time slots set aside for each of the four tasks. More details to come, but we wanted to let you know ahead of time since parents are invited to join us if possible!

Skyping with Germany

Swift House brothers Yoni and Ben H. have spent the past month living and going to school in Germany.  We had the unique opportunity to "Skype" with them using an iPad last week.  During our "face to face" conversation with them students asked questions about school and life in Germany.  The reception was amazingly clear for an international video chat.  Students enjoyed hearing Yoni and Ben speaking German and learning about German foods.

Ben and Yoni Skyping with Kiva

VKAT Retreat

Matt Y, Claire R., Madi H. and Sam L. participated in the VKAT Pizza Putt retreat last week. The focus of the retreat was analyzing the results of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).  This survey is administered each year to students around Vermont to collect data about student behaviors. VKAT members will soon be sharing the results of the YRBS with teachers around WCS and presenting action items for the school.

Alli, Madi and Claire

Matt Y Presenting

Zach and Sam Presenting Out

FAPAC

January Meeting Highlights
To: Swift Parents From: Liz Neeld, Sarah Forbes, FAPAC Representatives

Happy NewYear! The FAP held its January meeting on Thursday, January 9, 2014. As the parent-teacher organization for Williston schools, the FAP meetings are open to all. We will send highlights of the meeting each month but if you are interested in reviewing the complete minutes, you can read them HERE. The following are just a few highlights from our meeting.

Administration Report Walter Nardelli, District Principal, talked with the group about the school budget and the intent of the administration to minimize any potential increases. Please see the full minutes for more on this very important topic. SPARK Academy sign up is happening now for the next 5 week Enrichment session; there are many exciting opportunities for student enrichment through the program.

Amazon Opportunity We have an agreement with Amazon, every time you shop, at no cost to you, money is donated to the Williston FAP. To help generate that revenue, use this link: AmazonLink:

Williston Annual Fund Contributions are still coming in. The Annual Fund funds field trips for every child in Williston in addition to other programs. In order to keep these opportunities available to every Williston student, please make your donation online now by clicking HERE. Upcoming FAP Events January 22, 2014 6:30-8:00 p.m.- Technological Empowerment: Parenting with Technology- This will be a presentation focused on media and its impact on our kids. Also included: workshop and 1:1 support on parental controls on your own devices. Save the Date- May 17, 2014 -Williston Runs for Education! 5k Run and Walk and Kids Fun Run Save the Date- Lake Monsters for Williston families on Sunday, June 29, 2014

January 10, 2013

Change of Date for Open House

Due to the January 30th Open House at CVU for incoming freshman, we have changed the date for the Swift House Open House to Monday, February 3rd at 6:30 pm.  Thanks for taking note of this!

5th-7th graders are now working on taking notes for their Independent Projects.  We reviewed the process of note taking and using notecards this week.  They have already completed outlines and gathered resources.  8th graders submitted their first drafts of the written portions of their 8th Grade Challenge on Friday!  To see the upcoming due dates, please follow this link.

8th Grade Events

As mentioned above, 8th graders and their families have a meeting at CVU on Thursday, January 30th.  They are also meeting with CVU counselors this Tuesday, January 14th, in the auditorium.  They will be receiving information about the enrollment process and freshman year in general.

Jupiter Grades and Work Sent Home

In response to parent feedback about having more regular updates about student work we have made two changes to our regular reporting systems.  First, we are attaching Jupiter Grade reports for math and word study to Greensheets once a month.  We hope this will help you to have regular discussions with your child about his or her learning and studying strategies in these classes.

Secondly, we are asking students to bring examples of their completed work home each week.  They should be putting this in their new Friday Folders or sharing with you on their Google Drive.  We are hoping this will help keep you all in the loop about what students are learning!

 Poetry Slam Videos

Want to see more of our Swift Poets in action? Check out the WSD school Youtube channel. Follow this link.  When you are there, you can subscribe to the channel to see all the exciting things happening at WSD.

NYC Update 

As you know the bottle drive was cancelled due to icy conditions. Here is an updated list of future fundraisers:

• 1/24 Marko the Magician: please look for information coming in the Flyer with regards to ticket sales. Each NYC family is being asked to sell 4 tickets to this event! 
• 2/7: Swift House dance: we will have access to a photo booth, and the proceeds !! Top Hat Entertainment has generously offered to donate all proceeds. Pictures will cost $2.00 each, so spread the word, students should bring extra money to have pictures taken with their friends, a great souvenir! 
• 2/14: Fun Night: We will need many volunteers for this event so please look at your calender. Fun Nights are very lucrative and this will be a great opportunity to make up for the loss of the bottle drive this weekend and the fall tractor rides that were flooded out.

Swift Dance Chaperones

We would still love more chaperones for the February 7th dance. Sign up here!

January 1, 2014

Poetry Slam

The Poetry Slam was a smashing success.  Over 40 students performed their poems for the team, focusing on clear voice and expression.  A panel of student judges scored the poetry while the audience cheered in appreciation.  Congratulations to each poet who had the courage to stand up and perform their own written work.  Also, congratulations to Bennett and Baxter (read by Jeff) who tied for first place, and to Hugo whose came in a strong second with a powerful performance of his own.

Madi and Melana prepare to share

Aaron finishes his poem

The judges share their scores

Eliza and Molly share the poem they wrote together

For more photos (of almost all of the performers) please visit our photo site.  The password is flyforever. There are also many new photos from the Polar Express from December, and new photos from last spring from our home team field trip.

Fundraising Dinner for CY Mentoring

The Hinesburg Public House has chosen CY Mentoring to be the beneficiary of the January Community Dinner in honor of National Mentoring Month: Tuesday, January 7 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM The Community Meal is $20.00 for a set meal...a soup, salad, entree, and dessert. CY Mentoring will get $10.00 from each meal.  See the detailed flyer here.

New York City Update

Our second bottle drive (originally scheduled for January 4th) has been rescheduled to Saturday, January 11th. This extra time will allow ample time for folks to sign up to volunteer. Please be advised that if your student has not participated in any fundraiser, it is required that he/she participate in at least 2 of our scheduled fundraisers. The success of these bottle drives depends solely on the participation of our families!! Please click here to sign up as a driver and as a student volunteer.

The next fundraiser following the bottle drive will be Marko the Magician on Friday, January 24th. Tickets will go on sale after break. They are $8 for general admission. It would be great if each family could spread the word and help sell at least 4 tickets. Our break-even point is at 150 tickets. We will also need concession donations. We are hoping someone would like to step forward to coordinate this fundraiser. Liz Neeld has already printed tickets and fliers for weekly folders and submitted an announcement to the Bell. She is happy to sit down with someone to show them what else needs to be done.

In addition, as we are drawing closer to the trip we will need to finalize our numbers for both the buses and lodging. If you are a chaperone going on the trip, however, are not planning on riding the bus, please let me know! We are currently over bus capacity. Or, if you as a chaperone, or your student, are no longer interested in going on the trip, please email myself or Mr. Hunt (Khunt@cssu.org) so that we may finalize our numbers.The due date for this is Friday, January 11th.

When the students return we will commence bi-weekly NYC meetings during recess time to go over trip details, project deadlines, and other information. We will be sure to overview this information in the Swift Flyer! Mr. Hunt and I are really excited for the trip!!

Swift House-Sponsored Dance 

Swift House will host the WCS school dance on February 7th. We are looking for parents to chaperone the dance. This duty involves keeping an eye on students in the lobby and the gym, or selling concessions. We also are asking for all families to send in items for the concessions if possible. We are asking for the following:

• Hunt/Donnelly two 2-liter bottles of juice, soda, etc. 
• Skapof/Laberge- Individually wrapped snack items 

If you are coming to chaperone you can bring the concessions with you. Otherwise, please send them into Swift house on Friday, February 7th so we can get the concessions set up ahead of time. Please sign up to chaperone the dance here. Thank you so much for this support. The dances are excellent fundraisers for our field trip funds.