Important Dates
- March 16 - 3 hour early dismissal, No Pre-K
- March 21 - K&1 Virtual Science Fair
- March 22 - 2-5 Virtual Science Fair
- March 23 - PTA General Membership Mtg.
New Information
Grade 5 MISA Testing
All HCPSS 5th-grade students will be taking the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA) during the month of March. Each test session is 40 minutes each. The test assesses the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
We will give the assessment on the following dates at 9:00 am.
Monday, March 14
Tuesday, March 15
Thursday, March 17
Friday, March 18
Make-up assessments will be given primarily during the following week for students that are absent. If students arrive after 9:00 a.m., they will not be allowed in the testing session and will have to complete the test during the designated make-up time.
Students should get a good night’s rest, eat a hearty breakfast, and come to school on time. Students should plan to bring their charged Chromebooks to school on Monday and leave them at school throughout the week unless they are needed for homework. They do not need to do anything special to prepare for the assessment.
For more information, click the links below:
https://www.hcpss.org/academics/testing/misa/
http://marylandpublicschools.org/about/Pages/DAAIT/Assessment/MISA/index.asp
Related Arts Color Day Rotation Survey
HCPSS is seeking feedback on the elementary related arts color rotation schedule. The color rotation schedule was implemented to mitigate loss of instructional time due to school closures for related arts classes scheduled on Mondays and Fridays, sometimes up to nine classes per school year. This feedback will be utilized in conjunction with additional stakeholder input to determine the 22-23 related arts schedule model. Thank you for your time in completing this feedback form by March 25, 2022. https://forms.gle/qz2JZGtophiXPT7h8
Congratulations!
Goes out to Soraya Mitchell and Maxwell Sekerak who performed in the Howard County Elementary Honors Orchestra on March 5th! We are so proud of you representing Swansfield as exemplary music students!
Parents of 2nd and 3rd grade students!
Please look for the new seminar sign-up sheet in your student's FISH folder. 2nd grade Games from Around the World and 3rd grade Forensics will begin after spring break.
4th Grade Unheard Perspectives Showcase March 14th 1:15 - 3:00
We are very excited to present to you the Unheard Perspectives showcase! Your student has been working very hard to learn more about American innovators whose voices are often unheard. Students have developed research skills, created impressive presentations, and honed their presentation skills. Please log in to hear more about Jerry Lawson, Ella Fitzgerald, and Mae Jemison just to name a few innovators.
Follow this link to join us virtually:
4th grade Unheard Perspective Presentations
Monday, March 14 1:15 – 3:00pm
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/suu-zcgq-pfi
BSAP Corner
(Instagram @ses_bsap)
Amanda Gorman…..Wordsmith. Change-maker.
Amanda Gorman is the youngest (age 23) inaugural poet in U.S. history, as well as an award-winning writer and cum laude graduate of Harvard University, where she studied Sociology. She has written for the New York Times and has three books forthcoming with Penguin Random House.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, she began writing at only a few years of age. Now her words have won her invitations to the Obama White House and to perform for Lin-Manuel Miranda, Al Gore, Secretary Hillary Clinton, Malala Yousafzai, and others. Amanda has performed multiple commissioned poems for CBS This Morning, and she has spoken at events and venues across the country, including the Library of Congress and Lincoln Center. She has received a Genius Grant from OZY Media, as well as recognition from Scholastic Inc., YoungArts, the Glamour magazine College Women of the Year Awards, and the Webby Awards. She has written for the New York Times newsletter The Edit and penned the manifesto for Nike's 2020 Black History Month campaign. In 2017, Amanda Gorman was appointed the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate by Urban Word – a program that supports Youth Poets Laureate in more than 60 cities, regions, and states nationally. She is the recipient of the Poets & Writers Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, and is the youngest board member of 826 National, the largest youth writing network in the United States.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuOMApb1qBs&t=3s
Reminders
Update to 2022 Battle of the Books
Battle of the Books will now be held in one location - Merriweather Post Pavilion - on April 29. (The original tentative date was April 22.) Please direct questions to Melissa Daggett.
Swansfield Wish Lists
We will continue to update our wish lists throughout the school year.
Student Lounge Wish List
Classroom Wish List
PTA Updates
Swansfield PTA Read-a-thon: March 21st-April 3rd
Sign Up for a Read-a-thon page now!
We are excited for students to participate in the 2022 Swansfield Read-a-thon! March is National Reading Month, and we hope that the read-a-thon will inspire Swans to spend extra time reading outside of school and track their reading minutes each day.
Students can participate in the read-a-thon in 4 easy steps:
- Sign up for a read-a-thon page to track your reading minutes. The process is quick and easy! https://app.99pledges.com/fund/swansfield2022/addme. You can make your page now!
- Ask friends and family to sponsor your reading goals (optional). All donations will go towards supporting Swansfield PTA activities and school support initiatives! Sponsors should select a simple, one-time donation, since per-minute donations are often larger or smaller than expected! You can start getting sponsors now!
- Record how many minutes you read every day outside of school between Monday, March 21st and Sunday, April 3rd. Set your goal to read for at least 15-20 minutes per day! For younger readers, reading with a grownup counts too!
- Enter your daily minutes on your personal page on 99pledges.com. You can also track your minutes on paper and enter them at the end of the read-a-thon. A reading log will be distributed next week.
All participants will get a special Swansfield Read-a-thon bookmark. In addition, the 5 students with the most minutes and the homeroom in each grade with the most minutes will receive special recognition!
Questions? Contact Read-a-thon chair, Debbie Goldberg, debbie.s.goldberg@gmail.com
Help Swansfield find its next PTA Executive Board
All 6 Executive Board positions will be open in June and your PTA needs great leadership! Members are needed for a Nominating Committee. Any member may volunteer, including staff. Here’s how the process works:
- Individuals interested in being on the nominating committee should contact Lizz Hammon (vp.schoolrelations@swansfieldpta.org) by March 28
- The current PTA executive board will formally elect members of the nominating committee on April 1
- Members of the nominating committee will elect their own chairperson by April 8
- Nominating committee activities may begin once a chairperson has been established. The committee will prepare a slate of candidates that must be distributed to current members no less than 10 days prior to the June 15 election.
Members of the nominating committee may be included among the slate of candidates.
Order your yearbook before April 1st online by going to www.strawbridge.net Your online Code is: YB113041
Upcoming Science Fair - Sign on to support your friends!
The Swansfield Science Fair will take place online on Monday, March 21st for students in Kindergarten and 1st grade and Tuesday, March 22nd for students in grades 2-5. All Swansfield students are invited to join the Google meet and support their classmates.
Use Google meet code: ses-science fair.
Harper's Choice Festival April 23
You are invited to the Harper's Choice Festival to be held April 23 from noon to 3 p.m. in the courtyard of the Harper's Choice Village Center behind Kahler Hall. Local faves Freezer Burn will play hot blues, classic rock, and originals while free hot dogs and veggie dogs grill. We expect to have a magician and other kid-friendly activities. Area nonprofits and small businesses will be highlighted, with crafts and other unique products and services for sale. And all parents voting in the day's village elections will be entered into a raffle to win a gift certificate from Patra's Sweet Treats.
The Harper's Choice Festival is being organized by Neighbors for a Vibrant Harper's Choice in coordination with the Harper's Choice Community Association (for more information, please contact Lia Nigro at hcvibrant@gmail.com). Hope to see you there!
