Important Dates:

• Wednesday Evenings - Virtual Storytime, 7pm. Code: Swansfield Storytime

• Saturday, November 7 - PTA Restaurant Night Fundraiser @ Chipotle in Maple Lawn, 5-9pm (see more PTA news below)

• Friday, November 13 - Registration Opens for Parent/Teacher onferences (see more below)

• Monday, November 16 - Report Cards Issued

• Wednesday, November 18 - Joint PTA Meeting, Restorative Justice Cohort Schools, 6:30-8pm (see more below)

• Thursday, November 19 - Registration Closes for Parent/Teacher Conferences (see more below)

• Monday & Tuesday, November 23 & 24 - Parent/Teacher Conferences.  Early Dismissal (see more below)

• November 25, 26 & 27 - Schools Closed

• Wednesday, December 2 - Deadline For Entries For Young Authors' Contest ( see more below)

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Parent/Teacher Conferences November 23 & 24.

Register for Conferences November 13 - 19.

Virtual Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held Monday, November 23, and Tuesday, November 24, following early dismissal for students.  

Next Thursday, November 12, you will receive a school email outlining important information as you prepare to register for Parent/Teacher Conferences.  Registration will open on Friday, November 13, and will remain open through Thursday, November 19.  If you need assistance scheduling a conference, please contact our front office staff at 410-313-6907.

Young Authors’ Contest

The Young Authors' Contest has begun! This contest is for students in grades 1 through 5 who like to write short stories and/or poems in their free time.  The contest begins at Swansfield where students will compete with their classmates for the best short story and poem. One winner from each category will be selected at each grade level to compete at the Howard County level. Winners from Howard County will then go on to compete at the Maryland State level.  
 
This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to showcase their writing talent to the Swansfield community and beyond! Students in grades 1-5 have received the guidelines, cover sheet, and writing rubric for the contest. Please have your child save his or her story as a WORD document and email it to keynora_greenwood@hcpss.org.  Swansfield winners will need to submit their entries to Howard County electronically. If you have any questions, please contact one of our reading specialists. The cover sheet and a flier with more information can be found on the Swansfield website.
 
The deadline for entries is December 2, 2020. We are looking forward to reading many amazing stories and poems. Happy writing!

Board Of Education Virtual Town Hall On Spring Semester, November 9

As part of ongoing efforts to receive stakeholder feedback and answer questions related to the 2020-2021 spring semester, the Howard County Board of Education will host a virtual town hall, Monday, November 9, from 7-9pm. The event will be streamed live and may be viewed on the HCPSS website, or on Comcast channel 95/Verizon 42 in Howard County.

The town hall will feature a panel of HCPSS leadership and Central Office staff, who will respond to pre-submitted questions. Panelists will address as many of the submitted questions as possible within the two-hour time period. Any staff, students, parents/guardians or community members may submit questions via Google form, which closes at 7am, Monday, November 9.

Please note, a proposed hybrid model for the spring semester was presented at the Board of Education meeting last evening. That proposal is available on the BoardDocs website. Stakeholders may find it useful to submit questions after reviewing the proposed hybrid model. Additionally, all stakeholders may continue to provide input to the Board of Education by emailing spring-input@hcpss.org.  

Joint PTA Meeting of HCEA Restorative Justice Cohort Schools

Please join us for a joint PTA meeting of the Howard County Education Association's (HCEA) Restorative Justice Cohort Schools on Wednesday, November 18, 2020 from 6:30-8pm. Hear from Dr. Kevin Gilbert, Howard County Public School System's Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Colleen Morris, HCEA president; Dwanna Nicole, from The Restorative Justice Partnership; and administrators from Laurel Woods Elementary School, Swansfield Elementary School, Mayfield Woods Middle School, Oakland Mills Middle School, Long Reach High School, and Wilde Lake High School as we explore:

• What restorative justice is (and is not).
• What it means to be part of the HCEA Cohort and the model we are setting for the rest of the school district.
• How restorative justice aligns with Dr. Martirano’s Strategic Call to Action.
• The many ways we are working to build a restorative justice culture at our schools.

Please sign up here to receive a meeting link.

#SwanFamily Staff Shout Outs