August 19, 2025

Dear Swigert Families,

It was so wonderful to see all of our students back at Swigert yesterday - what a gift. The first two days of school were filled with positivity and joy. I know the first two half days are difficult for parents and we so appreciate your flexibility and support. We use the half days to do beginning of year assessments to help teachers get a gauge on where students are starting the year. Tomorrow is our first full day with specials so students will have either STEM, Physical Education, Art, Music or Spanish. It takes a bit for students (and staff :) to build up their stamina so I predict you will have some tired kids when they get home.

A few reminders for drop off and pick up. Swigert has Kiss ‘n Go lanes on both the east and west side of the school. These areas, indicated with a yellow curb, are designed for parents who want to quickly pull into the parking lot, let their kids out, and then continue on to work. We can also utilize the bus lane (on the Syracuse side) for drop off in the morning because our morning buses have already dropped off by 7:50. There is often parking in the Sam’s Club parking lot if you need to park and pick up. If you would like to have a longer stop, please go ahead and pull into a parking space and do not park behind a car in a designated space. Please do not double park in the parking lot, it is really challenging for families to get out.

If your student is a bus rider it is super helpful for us if you have their name and bus number attached to their backpack. This will help us as we support students finding their bus in the afternoon.

I wanted to invite you all to our Annual Community Welcome Breakfast on Saturday from 8:30-10:00 on the Swigert Playground. This PTA sponsored event is a great way to connect with students, staff and families. It is open house style, so come and go! We will have coffee and breakfast treats, crafts and music. Please see details below and please reach out with any questions, we are here to support.

Sincerely,

Shelby Dennis

Shelby_Dennis@dpsk12.net

See all the photos we took on day 1 here.

Who do I tell for absences?

There are three ways to report attendance, whether your student will be out for the day or just late from an appointment.

You can call the school attendance line at 720-424-4740
Email our office staff and the teacher - amy_parent@dpsk12.net & kwarlum@dpsk12.net
From Parent Portal, go to Infinite Campus/IC; at the bottom of the left menu, select "more", then select absence requests. Please note that if the office marks a student's excuse after 9:30 AM, parents will still get the auto-phone call saying we need to know why the student is absent. You can ignore that.

If you get a call saying that your student is absent when you believe them to be at school, please do not call the attendance line; after 9:30 AM, it is rarely checked throughout the day. Instead, please call the main office directly at 720-424-4802 so you can confirm attendance immediately.

What's for Lunch?

What Special Do I Have?

Your K-5th grade students will start specials tomorrow! They have each special for one day to meet all the teachers and then will move to our 2 day in a row specials rotation. They will begin to learn their rotation schedule, but if you're curious or need to know when to pack PE shoes, you can see the schedule on our website here:

https://swigert.dpsk12.org/parent-resources/specials-rotation-schedule/

If you'd like to add the specials schedule to your google calendar, you find that HERE.

Community Welcome Breakfast

We're excited to see you at the PTA welcome breakfast this Saturday. This is a come and go event, so feel free to stop by anytime!

Back to School Night

If you need any translation services for this evening, please reach out to Ms. Tate - (mdonald@dpsk12.net) and we will provide them.

We are excited to invite you to Back to School Night on Thursday, August 28th! This will be a chance for you to hear from your child’s teacher(s) in more depth about the upcoming year. You’ll hear about their schedule, some of the things they’ll be learning, and be able to ask questions!

Teachers will hold 2 identical sessions in their classrooms, one at 5:30pm and one at 6pm.

There will also be two identical sessions in the library for school wide information. We will hear from our admin team. Those sessions are 6-6:25 and 6:30-6:55.

If you cannot attend or have more than 2 students, all the information will be emailed out the following day.

We do ask that this be attended by adults only if possible (and of course young babies)!

Questions, please reach out to Emily Pool, the community liaison, at emily_pool@dpsk12.net.

School Picture Days!

Picture Days will be here quickly. We're working on the class schedules so you'll know what day your student has their picture taken. We take pictures outside and there will be a full body picture along with some close ups. All previewing and ordering of the pictures is done through Bloom's website. More details coming!

https://thebloombeehive.com/swigert

Tuesday, September 9th
Individual Picture Day
Class Schedule TBD

Wednesday, September 10th
Individual Picture Day
Class Schedule TBD

Wednesday, October 15th
Retake Day
Sign-Up Required

Read Around the World Book Club

✈️ Pack your suitcase—let’s travel the world through books!

The Read Around the World Book Club is open to all Swigert students, with book choices best suited for grades 3–5. Parents can decide if selections are right for their child.

🌍 Each month, we’ll read an own-voice book set on a different continent—celebrating the joy of reading while exploring new perspectives. Students can read independently, listen to an audiobook, or enjoy being read to. Participation should fit each family’s style.

📚 No fee to join, but families provide their own copies of the books if possible. Swigert will provide copies if needed--we want anyone interested to participate!

🛂 Members will receive a Book Club passport, stamped each time they attend. Students may come every month or just when it works for them.

📅 Meetings: 3:15–4:15 in Room 212 (Mosley’s Classroom). Pickup outside the main office.

Questions - reach out to Ms. Mosley at l_holcomb-mosley@dpsk12.net

Dates:

September: Thursday, 9/25/25: South America

October: Wednesday, 10/29/25: Australia

Full Flyer

Critical Needs Funds

If you would like to donate for scholarships for our critical needs students, here is a link in My School Bucks to do so!

https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/prdembd?ref=ZZI5ZQ2XQU04MZG_ZZJGCLMIHD0H0TC

Volunteers Needed!

Sign up to help in your child’s class, host a party, participate in things like the Color Run or Trunk or Treat, and more! All PTA Volunteer sign-ups are online this year! Find out more and get involved at Swigertpta.com/volunteer

PTA Membership

The Swigert PTA supports 6 community wide events, 2 major fundraisers, runs 12 committees and is responsible for things like the Food Pantry, School Garden, Book Fair, Dine and Donates, Spirit Wear, Trunk or Treat, covering all IB costs, and more!

Everyone is welcome and we need member support and involvement! Explore membership at swigertpta.com/membership or stop by and visit us under the Yellow Dome at Back to School Night. We’d love to volunteer with you!

Change to SchoolChoice Round 1 Dates

The SchoolChoice timeline is changing!

The DPS SchoolChoice open enrollment process is for any student who wants or needs to attend a new school for the following school year. For 2026-27, the Round 1 window will open on Dec. 2, 2025, at 10 a.m. and close on Jan. 20, 2026, at 4 p.m. Families will be notified of placement results in late February. This change will allow families more time to submit their application and learn of their placement or waitlist positions earlier in the year.

We’ll share additional information in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, visit the SchoolChoice website to learn more.

We strive to have great communication about all things Swigert. Please visit our website at www.swigert.dpsk12.org learn more about Swigert and events that are coming up.

If you need translation services for ANY Swigert event, please reach out to Megan Tate at mdonald@dpsk12.net

You can also join our Friends of Swigert International School, a private Facebook page. We post pictures of events at school, interact as a school family, and you can see friendly reminders of upcoming events.