Monday, December 23, 2019

December 22, 2019

IMPORTANT DATES

  • Homework Club~ Every Tuesday from 2:00-3:30
  • Homework Club~ Every Wednesday from 3:00-4:30
  • No School - Early Winter Break - December 23rd- January 1st
  • Dining for a Cause at Grazers to Benefit NYC Trip~ Thursday, March 19th
  • Bottle Drive #2~ Benefits NYC Trip~ Saturday, March 21st
  • Big Basket Raffle Fun Night~ Saturday, March 28th

SWIFT POETRY SLAM







A post shared by Swift House (@swift_flyforever) on













BREAK OUT BOXES








FAP NOTES

Dear Swift Parents,

Here are the minutes and information from the FAP Meeting.  I will be handing over the reins at the end of the year and would love someone to step up and take on the FAP Parent role (it can be two people who want to co-chair!  You don’t have to take it on yourself.)  Please reach out if you are interested and we can chat further.  Thanks!

Shelly
shellymasson@comcast.net


DECEMBER 12TH NOTES

The monthly FAP meeting was held on December 12th. FAP is Williston's equivalent of a parent-teacher organization. We meet each month and the meetings are open to all.  Below are highlights from the meeting and the full minutes can be found by clicking here.

FAP Annual Fund

If you have not already, please consider donating to the Annual Fund here.

2020 Williston Variety Show -  January 31, 6:30  

Show us your stuff! Calling performers of all ages -- students and community members. Showcase your singing, dancing, comedy, mime, magic, or whatever other talent you're proud of.

·  Auditions are Monday, Jan 6th, 6-7:30 pm and Tuesday, January 7th, 5-6:30 pm
·  More information about auditions
·  Sign up for auditions online or grab a form in the front office of either school

Thank you and Happy Holidays!

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM SWIFT FACILITATORS!





Saturday, December 14, 2019

December 17, 2019

IMPORTANT DATES

  • Homework Club~ Every Tuesday from 2:00-3:30
  • Homework Club~ Every Wednesday from 3:00-4:30
  • No School - Early Winter Break - December 23rd- January 2nd
  • Dining for a Cause at Grazers to Benefit NYC Trip~ Thursday, March 19th
  • Bottle Drive #2~ Benefits NYC Trip~ Saturday, March 21st
  • Big Basket Raffle Fun Night~ Saturday, March 28th

INDEPENDENT PROJECTS

We will begin Independent Projects after vacation. Each student will select a topic to research related to their fall science and social studies classes. They will create focus questions, find resources, create an outline, take notes, write a report and present a visual over the month of January. Brainstorm potential topics with your son or daughter over vacation so they have some ideas about what they might want to study when they return! Eighth graders will continue on with their 8th grade challenge projects.


BOTTLE DRIVE

We made $1075 from last Saturday's Bottle Drive.  That's 21,000 bottles!  Thank you again to everyone who participated.  If you see any "Bottle Drive" signs out still, please pick them up and send them to the Swift House project room if you're able.


Learn To Ski/Ride Program- K-8th 

Registration Deadline- Sunday, December 29 

The program is a collaboration between Williston Recreation and Williston Schools. The emphasis is on learning to downhill ski or snowboard, through weekly lessons. The program is primarily for the participant that wishes to learn or improve on their skills. All participants will take a one hour weekly lesson. (Lower level participants will have weekly lessons that are longer until they progress up the levels). The Learn to Ski/ Ride Program is for children in grades K-8th.  Click here for registration.


SPARK SESSION 3

The 3rd session of Spark Enrichment, an after-school applied learning program for students in grades 5-8, takes place from January 9th - February 6th. These small group classes will be facilitated by school faculty and staff. Please access the link to the sign-up form below by January 7th. You will be able to rank your choices for better placement!!

Session Choices
  • Chess with our younger students at ABS
  • Watercolor painting
  • Olympic Games
  • Cooking with Sally
  • Card Games
  • Lego Building Challenges
  • Gardening & Sustainability - building a PVC greenhouse!
  • Design Your Own Anime Character
Further Details

POLAR EXPRESS

So it's true-- your kids truly are the perfect elves.  We had a blast at the Polar Express, greeting young people as they came off the train at the "North Pole," headed into the train station for storytime, and then sang their way upstairs to meet Santa.  We are proud to have supported this important fundraiser for the Children's Trust Foundation and look forward to returning again next year.















Our fabulous retired Swift-facilitator, 
Mr. Howard, returns as Santa.
All of the Swift elves!



Alumni elves- Tristan and Elliott- performed in 
the Madrigals and Mr. Clow paid us a visit! 

SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS

Swift 5th and 6th graders planned, organized, carried out and reported on experiments related to the human body, with a specific focus on the nervous system.  They invited 3rd and 4th graders from Equinox to be their "test subjects," looking for relationships between two variables.  Tests included "dizziness vs balancing time," "left and right hands vs reaction time," and much more.  See their tests in action and summaries of their work below.












Sunday, December 8, 2019

December 8, 2019

EVENTS

  • Homework Club~ Every Tuesday from 2:00-3:30
  • Homework Club~ Every Wednesday from 3:00-4:30
  • Polar Express Volunteer Opportunity~ 11:30-4:00 on Sunday, December 15th
  • No School - Early Winter Break - December 23rd- January 2nd
  • Dining for a Cause at Grazers to Benefit NYC Trip~ Thursday, March 19th
  • Bottle Drive #2~ Benefits NYC Trip~ Saturday, March 21st
  • Big Basket Raffle Fun Night~ Saturday, March 28th

TRIMESTER ONE CONFERENCES

We wrapped up Trimester One before Thanksgiving and your daughter or son has work to share with you! We have begun hosting student-led conferences. Please sign up here on your child's core teacher schedule for a time that works for you.


SUSTAINABILITY ACTION PROJECTS- PARENT SURVEY

In addition, please take a few moments to complete this parent survey about our Sustainability Action Projects (SSAP). Kevin and Amanda are participating in a course called Learning Lab, and exploring a research question about how we can make learning as engaging and personalized as possible for our students. We would truly appreciate your feedback sometime before the December break.


FROZEN- PARENT/STUDENT KICK-OFF MEETING

Come join the Drama Team for a brief meeting to hear more details-- Monday, December 9th at 6pm in the WCS Auditorium


SCHOOL DANCE & BOTTLE DRIVE

Thank you so much to all of you who supported the dance and bottle drive through donations, chaperoning, driving, advertising, etc.   We have a break until March on fundraising efforts!


POLAR EXPRESS

We are so looking forward to being our best elves next weekend at the Polar Express-- Sunday from 11:30-4:00.  We emailed home a list of students who registered earlier this week.  Click here for specific details on times, parking, what to wear and more.  E-mail Amy Skapof with any further questions.  Ho, ho, ho!


4-H TRY TRAINING



POETRY SLAM

Our current literature unit has all Swifties reading novels written in poetry verse,  It only makes sense to try our hand at writing poetry during this unit, and then of course, to celebrate at the end of the month with a "Poetry Slam."  The Poetry Slam will allow students to perform their poem for peers and a panel of judges.  The event is all about expression, not so much winning, as demonstrated by the two slam poetry performances embedded here.  Each year we're amazed by the number of students who find the courage to express themselves on stage.  We'll be sure to share pictures!  



PS These four women are from Burlington and South Burlington. They went from the local to the national stage with this performance.