November 4th

Polar Express Elf-Fund

Thanks to all who have volunteered to be elves at the Polar Express on Decemeber 10th.  If you're still interested and didn't sign up, please e-mail Amy Skapof directly.

Once again, the Vermont Children's Trust Foundation is hoping that us elves can help with the fundraising efforts.  Please see our fundraising page here.  Donate if you'd like and send it on to friends and family who might like to sponsor us.  Thank you!

Theater Wrap Up

Thank you so much for your support of our Theater Festival!  We were proud of these 93 students for putting together 1000s of lines, lights, costumes, props, pinrails, sets, and sounds on stage.  Our evening performance is the ultimate performance assessment, so thank you for being a great audience!  We also asked students to write a reflection about their experience.  Just a few costume pieces linger in the kiva, but we otherwise celebrated and moved right on into our new literature unit on Monday.

Please see the Swift Shutterfly Site for many more photos, thanks to Ms. Bisbee.  Passwork: flyforever

Phantom Tollbooth

Midsummer Night's Dream

Nick Parker in the light booth, with the stage reflected in the glass

Thanks to Ms. Bliss, we had a customized celebration.

Our cast party = cake and reflections

Seeking Cassette Players- Really!

Crazy as it sounds, Swift House needs cassette players! We have many audio books that are still on cassettes. Students who struggle to stay up to date on their literature reading listen to these tapes of the literature book. We have one player, but we have multiple students who are trying to access it at core time. If you have a working cassette player (or CD player) that is gathering dust in your attic, please send it in! You can help a student who wants to catch up on reading! Thanks!

Youth Theater Group Performs Henry IV

Please consider the following...

My name is Lauren Palmer. I live in Williston, and I graduated CVU this past year. Within my gap year, I am directing/running an adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part One performing at the Off Center for the Dramatic Arts in Burlington on November 17th, 18th, and 19th (7:00, 7:00, and 2:00 respectively). All my actors/actresses are youth (ages 12-15) from the surrounding communities. As this is a unique opportunity for students in the area to go to (especially for Swift since you do a Shakespeare play as well), I am wondering if you would be interested in passing on the word within Swift House? You can go to the website: hourglassyouththeatre.weebly.com for more information. Thank you, Lauren

Washington DC

Reminder: Washington DC Permission Slips are due Friday, November 11th.  See last week's Flyer for details.

Having many chaperones each year allows us to visit a wide variety of locations with small groups.   If you are interested and available, please complete the following forms to initiate the background check process if you have not already done so.  Contact Stephanie Bliss with further questions.

Chaperone Forms: 

• Overnight Chaperone Procedures
• Abuse Registry Form
• Record Check Release Form
• Confidentiality for Volunteers
• Fingerprint Authorization Form

Swift House Election Results

Students voted on Monday using real ballots (voided out, but real ballots), thanks to April Pillsbury.  With much help from Ms. Granoff, who completed the counting by hand, we have our official results summarized here:

While there were a number of write-ins, such as Bernie Sanders for president, and Kesha for VP, our results are often an interesting view into the town and state in general.  It certainly looks like a tight race for governor.

Penguin Plunge

Fri 12/2 Grade 5-8 Recess/lunch assembly in auditorium from 12:30 to 1:10 to learn more about and sign up for the Penguin Plunge on 2/4/17

Join the WCS Penguin Plunge Team! We need YOU to join our Williston Wildcats Penguin Plunge Team! This is our 7th year having a school team participating in the Penguin Plunge. The Penguin Plunge is a fundraiser for the Special Olympics and all the participants jump in Lake Champlain! It is very cold but lots of fun. The date is Saturday, February 4th and it takes place at the Burlington Waterfront. We want students, teachers, staff, parents, and siblings on the team! Please email Jodi Bartley at jbartley@cssu.org or Jessica Haskins at jhaskins@cssu.org or if you have questions. Go to our Special Olympics page to register with WCS Wildcats

WCS Musical~ The Sound of Music

See details in last week's School Bell

FAPAC October 2016 Meeting Highlights Information

To: Swift House Parents
From: Shelly Masson, FAPAC Representative
cc: House Teachers and Teaching Assistant

 The FAP Advisory Council held its monthly meeting on October 13th. FAP is Williston's equivalent of a parent-teacher organization. We meet each month, our meetings our open to all, and you will receive an email like this every month with highlights of the meeting and a link to the FAP website for the full minutes. Check the full minutes in a PDF format by clicking HERE. Below are a few meeting highlights:

 FAPAC Meeting Recording
 The October FAPAC meeting was recorded and is available at this LINK online. 

Administration Update
 Greg Marino spoke about the upcoming Election Day, which will take place at Williston Central School again this year. Due to the expected increase in voters, the main entrance will be at the front door of the school, with an additional entrance in the band room. Community member volunteers will be at the entrances directing voters along with uniformed police officers. Greg also discussed the school budget. Decision packets were due on October 15th. FAP will be reviewing the packets before the November meeting. Approvals will be moved up this year due to the school budgets being consolidated.
 Upcoming Events

•  Craft Show: Saturday, November 5th, 2016 from 9:30 am – 4:00 pm (We are still in need of more volunteers for the day of the show. Please consider and Sign up here!) 
• Families and Technology – Digital Citizenship: Thursday, November 10th from 7:00 – 8:30 pm (More information here.) 
•  Scholastic Book Fair: November 28th – December 2nd 

 Educational Grants
 Some portion of FAP funds go to educational grants that teachers or staff submit to FAP. These grants cover items not included in the school budget, but that would enhance the learning environment. The Grant Committee reviewed all grants that were submitted and provided recommendations on funding. The recommendations were reviewed in the meeting voted on. The grant package was approved as presented. Letters have been sent to all applicants.