Congratulations to our STRIDE and Girl on the Run teams. They competed in a 5 K on Saturday and we couldn't be more proud of their effort! A special thank you goes out to our fabulous coaches: Heather Sigafose, Kyle Byrd, and Karli Komar for STRIDE and Amanda Chamberlain, Julie Reed and Leah Archer for GOTR. Thank you for your commitment to our students.

Looking at the week ahead, on Monday we will have a Military Coffee Talk @ Nuova Luna Cafe 9am. On Tuesday, OCS Interested in Becoming a Teacher webinar 4-5 pm (see flyer above, must pre-register).Tuesday is also our Burrito Shack Spirit Night. On Thursday we will have our EOG Volunteer Proctor Training at 9 am in the cafeteria. Don't forget that Monday is Memorial Day and there will be no school on Monday.

Graduation pictures were sent home with our 5th grade and kindergarten students. Please purchase what you would like and send the rest back in. As a reminder, parents will be charged for any pictures that are not purchased or returned. Also as we begin to wrap the school year up, please make sure that you take the time to pay any remaining balances such as school fees and lunch balances. Also, if your child has any overdue library books, please try to find and return those. All library books are due by May 31st. Fee waivers do not cover for pictures or library books. You will be charged for these items and this debt will remain with your child throughout their school career in OCS. Please take care of this as soon as possible.

It is also time for our yearly parent surveys. Currently only 4% of our parents have completed the survey. Our goal is to have at least 20%. The survey only takes a few minutes to complete and our Strategic Planning Team always reviews these survey results and uses the data to improve our school. We appreciate your feedback! Click here to take the SBES Parent Survey: https://eprovesurveys.advanc-ed.org/surveys/#/action/222843/10032.

Looking ahead, please mark your calendars for a few important dates: EOG state testing is required for all students in grades 3-5. May 31st is third grade Reading EOG and fifth grade Science EOG. June 6 is Reading EOG for forth and fifth graders, and RTA test for select third graders. June 8th is Math EOG for all students grade 3-5. Please make every effort to have your child here on time and ready to do their best on the EOG. If you would like to see what an EOG is like or have your child take a practice EOG, you can access released EOGs on the following website: https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/testing-and-school-accountability/state-tests/end-grade-eog#ReleasedFormsandSupplementalMaterials-1423.

If you would like to volunteer to proctor for the EOG, we could definitely use your help. Our proctor training will be held on Thursday, May 25th at 9 am in our cafeteria. Please email Elizabeth.Wilsey@onslow.k12.nc.us if you are interested in proctoring.

Our kindergarten and fifth grade students will have a special graduation ceremony on the last day of school, June 9th. Kindergarten will begin at 9 am and fifth grade at 11 am. Due to capacity restrictions, we ask that you keep it to 2 guests only per student. Thanks.

We have just 14 more days of school for students and I am encouraging everyone to give it their absolute best so that they end the school year on a great note. I know that this is an exciting time of the year, but school rules still apply through the very last day on campus. Many teachers have fun end of the year activities scheduled; however, students that do not follow the student code of conduct, will not be able to participate. Please make sure that your child is aware of expectations and consequences.

Parents please follow the car pool procedures and make sure that everyone signs in at the front office. Visitors are not allowed to go directly to classrooms and we do not interrupt instruction to address concerns. You must schedule a conference if you would like to meet with teachers or administration.

At SBES, we do not assign much homework, however, all students should be completing at least 45 minutes per week on iReady (math) and at least 45 minutes per week on Amplify (reading). These programs are adaptive and are based on your child's individual needs according to their diagnostic assessments. Reading nightly and practicing math facts will also help our students reach their fullest potential. We appreciate parents support of our efforts.

Looking to pay school fees, pay for a field trip, sign a permission form or buy spirit wear? This is all done online through schoolcashonline.com. A few field trip reminders: 1. Everyone must have a signed permission slip to attend a trip (even those with fee waivers). 2. If forms are not returned by the due date, your child will not be able to attend. We have to secure food, transportation and purchase tickets ahead of time; therefore, we are unable to accommodate last minute additions. 3. Chaperones are not allowed on all trips, but for those in which chaperones are needed, the chaperones MUST be fingerprinted and approved through OCS. This is a lengthy process which is why we encouraged everyone to attend the volunteer training sessions at the beginning of the school year.

Check out Tutor.com, a free online tutoring services available to all military families. It is for all grades and all subjects and you can even schedule a live sessions.

Please keep in mind that meals are NOT free for students this year. If a child does not bring a lunch from home and does not have money, we will allow the student to charge a meal. Parents will be responsible for paying balances.

Breakfast $1.25

Lunch $2.50

To apply for free or reduced meals, click here: https://www.lunchapplication.com/

To add money to your child's meal account, click here: https://www.k12paymentcenter.com/

To access the school menus, click here: https://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/index.php?sid=1501179229405&page=menus

All parents are encouraged to sign up for Parent Portal. You can monitor attendance within the Portal and you can see your child's grades, assignments & due dates for students in grades 3-5. Click this link to sign up: https://onslow.powerschool.com/public/. You can contact the data manager Lori Jones at lori.jones@onslow.k12.nc.us to help with this process. She can look up your child's ID number when you email her the completed form and copy of your ID.

If you are interested in either of these positions, please visit the Onslow County Schools webpage for more information!

*Send in used sneakers, no matter the condition, and we will get paid to recycle them!

*Link your Lowes Foods Card to Swansboro Elementary and a portion of sales on Lowes products will go to our school.

*Sign up for Box Tops and link to our school. No more clipping, it's digital! Download the Box Tops for Education app here: https://btfe.smart.link/c2jjdifkw?referral_code=NQGY5JLL

*Participate in our SBES Spirit Nights:

Burrito Shak- 4th Tuesday of the month. In person and call in orders only. No online orders.

Sweeter Things- 3rd Friday of the month. You must tell them you are here to support SBES!

1. The teacher is always the first point of contact. If you cannot resolve an issue after meeting with the teacher, please schedule an appointment to meet with administration.

2. See our data manager (Lori Jones) to sign up for Parent Portal. This gives you up to date info on student attendance and assignments for (3rd-5th grade).

3. Pay attention to the weekly ALL CALL and EMAIL that is sent out every Sunday evening. If you don't want to listen to the message, no worries, the email contains the transcript as well as important links and cute pictures of our students:) If you are not receiving the call and email, please let Lori Jones (lori.jones@onslow.k12.nc.us) know so that we can make sure your info. is up to date. This is the method that we will use to communicate with parents in the event of an emergency, so you need to make sure that you are receiving these calls.

4. Check out our school website: https://www.onslow.k12.nc.us/swansboroes

5. Check out our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/swansboroelementaryschool/

6. Remember, for safety reasons, we do not give out student information over the phone and all changes in transportation must be done through School Dismissal Manager.

7. If there are custody issues, we must have a copy of the current custody paperwork on file with a judge's signature. If not, both parents have equal access to the student and their educational records.

8. If you have concerns regarding bus routes, stops, schedules and drivers, please direct those concerns to our transportation coordinator Barbie Massey at 326-1436. SBES does not have direct communication with the buses; therefore, this must go through the transportation dept. Please remember if you would like to stay up to date with bus changes and delays, please download the Edulog Parent Portal App. More info can be found here:https://www.onslow.k12.nc.us/Page/1266

May 8-26 EOY Math & Reading Diagnostics

Mon 5/22/2023 Military Coffee Talk @ Nuova Luna Cafe 9am

Tue 5/23/2023 OCS Interested in Becoming a Teacher webinar 4-5 pm (see flyer above, must pre-register)

Tue 5/23/2023 Burrito Shack Spirit Night

Thu 5/25/2023 EOG Volunteer Proctor Training at 9 am in the cafeteria

Mon 5/29/2023 Holiday- No school

Wed 5/31/2023 EOG Reading Grade 3 & Science Grade 5

Fri 6/2/2023 End of Grading Period

Tue 6/6/2023 EOY Reading Gr 4-5, RTA Gr 3 Select Students

Tue 6/6/2023 6:00 PM Board of Education Meeting

Thu 6/8/2023 EOG Math Gr 3-5

Fri 6/9/2023 Last Day for Students- K graduation at 9am, 5th graduation at 11am

Congratulations to Benjamin Sewell (Sparks), Logan McDowall (Fenner), Lavin Nelson (Byrd), Aryn Warmath (O'Brien) for being selected as our Attendance Heroes. These students all had perfect attendance. Way to go Pirates!