July 23, 2025

Dear Swigert Community,

We hope you are all having a wonderful summer. We are gearing up for the upcoming school year and look forward to seeing everyone soon. We just wanted to share a short update as we’re about 26 days out from school starting.

If you have any specific questions please reach out, we are here and ready to support.

Shelby Dennis, Principal - Shelby_Dennis@dpsk12.net
Amber Holthus-Pera, Assistant Principal - Amber_Holthus-Pera@dpsk12.net
Emily Pool, Community Liaison - Emily_Pool@dpsk12.net
Krystie Warlum, Office Manager - kwarlum@dpsk12.net

The office staff will be back on Monday, July 28th from 8:30-4:00, ready to assist!

Below you will find some important summer and back to school dates!

Sincerely,

Shelby Dennis

School Communication

If you're getting this email, then YAY. . .your email is in the system to get all our communication.

If someone in your family does not get this email, it means you need to do one of two things: 1)complete your DPS registration when it reopens July 28th or 2) update your contacts in the Parent Portal. If you still need help you can email Krystie (kwarlum@dpsk12.net) or Emily Pool (Emily_Pool@dpsk12.net) to make sure we have the correct emails for all guardians in Infinite Campus (IC).

An additional reminder, please do not unsubscribe from any DPS emails or texts that you get. We are all on a linked system and it will unsubscribe you from Swigert communications. Please just delete the emails you don't want. :) Thanks!

August at a Glance

This is your August at a Glance calendar. A full resolution printable of this and instructions on how to link our google calendar to yours can be found here: https://swigert.dpsk12.org/about/calendar/

Registration

Registration is the process by which you confirm the information we have on file for your household. This is a DPS requirement that needs to be done every school year. It will reopen again July 28th and you have until the end of August to complete it. For the full details on how to complete registration, please see HERE.

School Supplies

Click HERE for school supply details. You are no longer able to buy through our vendor EPI, but use the lists to buy from any of your favorite local or online retailers. Please bring your supplies on Meet the Teacher Night.

Bus Riders

We understand that everyone in the parent portal under transportation is showing “No DPS Transport,” even if your students rode the bus last year. We have reached out to DPS Transportation to get clarification on your next steps to ensure your student can ride the bus if you are more than a walkable mile from school. As of today, July 23rd, Transportation has said to sit tight and wait, no need to fill out the exemption form yet. They have shared there will be no opt-in feature and that kids will be assigned a route but as of today, no one has been assigned a route. We'll keep you posted!

Fall Enrichments

Fall Enrichment sign up will happen on August 6th starting at 6am. Take a look at the options below. Enrichment activities run one hour after school. Students can participate in both Enrichment and Discovery Link on the same day by registering for both programs! You have to sign up for an Arux account to be able to register, so do that now.

https://dps.arux.app/courses/category/11/school-year-enrichments%E2%80%942/swigert%E2%80%942

Summer New Family Playdates

Thursday, August 7th, 5:30 PM and Sunday, August 10th, 9 AM

We have two New Family Playdates scheduled in August to give parents and kids a chance to meet classmates and other families and to feel more comfortable on the first day of school. Just come to the playground for hanging out and popsicles. Current Swigert families are encouraged to come!

Meet the Teacher Night

Thursday, August 14th, 5-6 PM

Join us at Swigert to find out who your teacher and classmates will be for the year! You’ll have an opportunity to say hello to your new teacher, sign up for an assessment time (during the first two days of school in the afternoons), let teachers know your child’s plan for getting to and from school, and pick up any other pertinent information about the start of the year. The PTA will sell Spirit Wear and administrators will be making their way around to say hello. You can also bring your school supplies to drop off in the classroom. This is an open-house style event; you and your family can come by anytime during the window. The Kona Ice truck and Pozetti's Gelato will be on the playground as well for purchase. More details coming soon.

First Week Information

The first two days – August 18th and 19th – are half days. This allows students to ease into their new schedule and provide time for individual assessments in the afternoon. Your classroom teacher will reach out to you to set up individual time slots for these afternoon assessments. The arrival time is the same, with students arriving between 7:55 am and 8:05, with classes starting at 8:10. The dismissal time is noon, no lunch will be provided. Be sure to pack a water bottle and snack.

We will have our annual park to school walk on the first day. We have a new location to begin our walk this year. We wanted to eliminate the challenging crossing on Central Park Blvd. This year we will gather at FlyteCo Tower in the parking lot (MAP). We have permission to park in their lot. Grab coffee at Panda Coffee House from 7-9:30 and they'll be giving Swigert 20% back!

We will begin our walk to school at 7:45am. Parents and siblings are welcome to join us for this walk. If you are unable to join the walk, no problem. Staff will be out on the playground ready to greet your children at 7:55. Buses will be running their regular routes for both arrival and dismissal.

Community Welcome Breakfast

Back to School Night

Thursday, August 28th from 5:30-7:00 pm.

This event is for parents to learn about the year ahead from their classroom teacher and school wide programming from the leadership team. We will send out details as it gets closer.

Visit https://www.swigertpta.com/ to learn more. PTA will have a table at Meet the Teacher Night to be able to sign up!

DPS Back to School Events

Pick the location that works best for your family!

Join us for FREE school supplies, activities & more!

For all DPS families

Lincoln HS – Aug 9 | 2285 S. Federal Blvd | 11am–2pm

Manual HS – Aug 13 | 1700 E. 28th Ave | 3pm–7pm

Evie Dennis – Aug 16 | 4800 Telluride St | 11am–2pm

RSVP HERE

Youth Basketball Camp! This fun and skill-building camp is open to boys and girls entering 4th, 5th, or 6th grade. Over two half-days, campers will develop their basketball fundamentals, play games, and build confidence, all while having fun in a positive environment.

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.