Swanson Elementary May News
Home of the Squirrels!
Message from the Principal
How can it be May already? What a wonderful year we have had together. This years theme as been "Better Together" and as I close out the year I am thankful to all our staff, students and families for coming together during a challenging year and moving forward as a team.
This is the last week of our of year assessments. In review of our aimswebPlus, MAP and i ready data I am pleased with our student academic growth. Last week I sent out a Title 1 parent survey and results show that families would like more information about assessments. Feel free to reach out to your child's teacher or call me anytime. I encourage summer reading. Please check out this website to explore books that are just right for your child's reading level. https://hub.lexile.com/find-a-book/search You will need your child most current Lexile reading level. When adding the range I would suggest 50 points above and then 50 points below to give yourself a range in reading. Next, select book categories and then hit search. Happy Reading. Feel free to call me with any questions.
Walking through the halls this week and also playing outside on the playground I have been impressed to hear our students problem solve and work with each other. It's been an honor to go into classrooms and pass out Lexia CORE 5 certificates. Keep up the great work squirrels! Lexia CORE 5 is purchased with our Title 1 funding and your child will have access until the end of July for at home learning.
Next week is a busy week for our squirrels. Looking forward to seeing you at the music concerts and our final Title 1 event of the year is Thursday from 5:00-6:30. Thank you again for a great year and sharing your children with us.
In partnership and support,
Tammy Halfacre
Principal
Ready, Set, Grow family engagement Title 1 event
Swanson Elementary 2nd annual Ready, Set, Grow Title event. Come join Swanson's staff on the playground for a fun family event where you will get to meet staff, discover fun math games, literacy activities, handwriting skills and learn more about why being a Title 1 school is so important. Click on the link below to register for the event and sign up to receive your free pizza from Papa Murphy's Pizza. Deadline to register is May 9th.
Weather permitting we will be outside. The backup plan location will be indoors.
It's Field Trip Season!
We are planning all of our Spring trips. When permission slips come home, please complete them ASAP and make the payment as soon as you get them. All of the trips require payment prior to students attending. If your family is experiencing financial hardships, please do not let that prevent your child from attending. We are always able to provide a scholarship based on need when we are made aware.
Students may not go on Field Trips with out permission slips.
Attendance Matters!
The student school calendar in the MATSU has 172 student contact days. It is important that students are at school as many of those days as possible. Students who are absent 15 days or more are considered chronically absent. We know that this year, due to COVID some of the absences our students experienced were unavoidable. However, we had far to many students this year chronically absent and we would like to help fix this for next year. Our teachers can't teach your children when they are not in school. Students receiving packets of work or completing lesson they can online is not the same as face to face instruction. Please help us by getting your children to school and on time every day and keep this in mind when scheduling vacations and doctor appointments next year. Let us know how we can help you if you are facing a hardship or if there is an extenuating circumstance preventing your child from being at school regularly.
Last day of school for students is May 20th
2022-23 School calendar
file:///C:/Users/tl018390/Downloads/Revised%202021-2022%20calendar.pdf
Please coordinate vacations with the school calendar to minimize absences. Attendance is important!
Teacher Appreciation Week
NO MORE FREE BREAKFAST & LUNCHES
The waiver to offer free breakfast and lunch to all kids will NOT happen next school year. This means families will need to submit the free and reduced lunch application for next school year.
There'll be more information about this in the future, but we wanted to get it on your radar.
Lost and Found is overflowing!
Spring concerts!
The students are working hard on their spring concert songs and are so excited to present them to their families! I hope they are singing them for you at home. If they want to sing along with the recordings, go to our website https://bit.ly/35J43
Concert days and times
Second Grade May 9th at 6:00-6:30
First Grade May 10th 6:00-6:30
Kindergarten May 11th 6:00-6:30
Spring Book Fair
Come to the Spring Book Fair at Swanson with Fireside Books
When: May 9-12 from 3:30 - 6:45
(Closed 5 minutes before and during music concerts)
Where: In the Swanson Lobby, just in front of the library.
What: Find great books for summer reading for the whole family, and gifts too. Cash, check and credit cards are accepted.
Why: Summer reading is a lot more fun when your child can find the new books they want to read. Shop locally and help the School Library, too. Thank you for your support!
Tooth camp
For anyone interested in more ideas to help children and families with tooth care, (in or out of school) Fine Motor Boot Camp founders have started a Tooth division and have a live on Facebook Thursday, May 12th from 3-4 AK time.
https://facebook.com/events/s/smiles-not-struggles/972623433392645/
Upcoming Events
- May 9- 2nd grade concert @ 6:00-6:30
- May 10- 1st grade concert @ 6:00-6:30
- May 11- Kindergarten concert @ 6:00-6:30
- May 9-12- Book fair- before and after all concerts
- May 12- Ready, set, grow Title event @ 5:00-6:30
- May 20- Last day for students ~ Summer Break Begins!