Good Afternoon Swansfield,
The newsletter is coming out a few hours later than normal today because the admin team had to get out and enjoy the snow day too. All three of us were out sledding with our own children. ????
What a strange week it’s been. We only had one day of school this week, but it was a productive day. Our 3rd - 5th grade students were able to perform in the winter concert at Wilde Lake High School last night and the place was packed. The students did an amazing job! We are proud of them. Also, a huge shout out to our music department for all their hard work in preparing students for the performance.
Due to the cancellations this week, the Board of Education has pushed back the end of quarter 2. It now ends on January 25th. Grades are due on January 30th. Therefore, we have pushed back our quarter 2 awards assemblies. Please see the revised schedule below.
Stay warm this weekend and feel free to cheer on the Baltimore Ravens!
~ Anthony J Esposito, Principal
Important Dates
- January 25th - Grade 3 Title I Family Night
- January 26th - Perseverance Day
- February 2nd - Spelling Bee
- February 5th - Q2 Awards K: 9:00 & Grade 5: 2:15
- February 6th - Q2 Awards Grade 1: 9:00 & Grade 4: 2:15
- February 7th - 3 hour Early Dismissal / Parent Teacher Conference
- February 8th - 3 hour Early Dismissal / Parent Teacher Conference
- February 9th - Professional Learning Day / No school for Student
- February 12th - Q2 Awards Grade 2: 9:00 & Grade 3: 2:15
- February 15th - Science Fair
- February 22nd - Black History Trivia Night
New Information
Parent Teacher Conferences
Elementary school parent-teacher conferences will be held February 7th & 8th. Parents/guardians can register via HCPSS Connect Synergy beginning at 8a.m. Monday, January 22nd through 4p.m. Friday, February 2nd. Directions on how to register are available online.
- Wednesday, February 7th afternoon conferences will be in person only.
- Wednesday, February 7th evening conferences will be virtual only.
- Thursday, February 8th conferences will be virtual only.
Road to Kindergarten Workshop
Save the date! HCPSS’ Road to Kindergarten workshops begin tomorrow, Jan. 18 at 6:30 p.m. at Centennial High School and continue through the end of the month. Each workshop will provide information on expectations for school readiness, the HCPSS kindergarten program, and more. Childcare will be available for children ages 2 and older. No registration is required, but attendees are encouraged to allow ample time for parking, childcare drop off, and check in.
Lost and Found
Parents/Guardians there are several personal items that your students have left behind. You are welcome to stop by the main office anytime to look in the cafe’ during school hours. Items from the lost and found will also be in the main lobby during Parent Teacher Conferences on February 7th until 3:00pm. All clothes that are not retrieved by February 9th will be donated to our Clothing Recycle Bin.
PTA News
UPCOMING PTA EVENTS
The 2024 Read-a-thon is here! Sign up for a read-a-thon page today!
We are excited for students to participate in the 2024 Swansfield Read-a-Thon! 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 5 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/2024readat/addme. Make sure to include your email address since this is required to track your minutes.
- 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. Donations can be made anytime between now and Sunday, February 4th.
- Record how many minutes you read every day outside of school between Monday, January 15th and Sunday, January 28th.
- Set your goal and take small steps each day! For younger readers, reading with a grownup counts too! Swans meeting their goals will receive a book as a prize!
- Preschool - 1st Grade goal: 200 minutes total, about 15 minutes a day
- 2nd - 3rd Grade goal: 275 minutes or about 20 minutes a day
- 4th - 5th Grade goal: 350 minutes, or 25 minutes a day
- Enter your daily minutes on your personal read-a-thon page, which you will receive via email after signing up. You can also track your minutes on the paper reading log sent home in your Friday folder and enter them at the end of the Read-a-Thon.
Check out our school Read-a-Thon page to see who is participating: https://app.99pledges.com/fund/2024readat/
Prizes: All participants will receive a special prize. Students who meet their total reading goal (200 minutes for Pre-K-1st, 275 minutes for 2nd-3rd, 350 minutes for 4th-5th) will get a book!
In addition, the 10 students with the most minutes and homerooms with more than half the students participating will receive special Swansfield recognition! The top 10 readers will get to choose from an individual lunch bunch with a teacher of choice, checking out an extra media book, a special picture with LaSwan James, sitting in the special/ rocking chair for the day, reading a book with a staff member outside, or being a guest reader in another class! Homerooms will get to choose from pajama day, no homework day, pick your seat for a day, class lunch bunch, guest reader, or outside buddy reading.
Questions? Contact Read-a-Thon chair, Michelle Li at Readathon@Swansfieldpta.org
Restaurant Night: Tuesday, February 6th at Neo Pizza
Plan on having Neo Pizza on Tuesday February 6th to support the Swansfield PTA! Neo Pizza will donate 20% of all proceeds from sales to the PTA. Stay tuned for more details, and keep an eye out for a flyer to present when ordering!
Sign up for the 2024 Swansfield Elementary Science Fair!
The Swansfield Science Fair will take place in-person on Thursday, February 15, 6:30 - 8pm.
This year's science fair will include the opportunity for students to present their science fair project on a trifold board (provided by the PTA for students that sign up). Projects will be judged during the fair with awards issued and prizes for all participating students awarded after the fair.
For more information on participating check out:
- Science Fair Student Packet - includes written step-by-step directions on how to formulate a science fair project and lay out your trifold board
- Science Fair workshop video - includes recorded information on how to come up with a good question, hypothesis and way to test your hypothesis (only 14 minutes long!)
- Science Fair consult (optional) - if your student is feeling unsure about their project, they can opt to participate in a 15-minute consult with a science-loving adult (virtual and in-person options available) to discuss their project and get feedback. Please indicate your student’s interest in this option when signing them up for the science fair on the science fair interest form.
If your child is interested in participating, you must fill out the Science Fair Interest Form. If you have more than one student, please fill out a separate entry for each student participating.
If you want to volunteer, we will need parent judges for the night of the fair and science-loving adults for the student project consults! We also welcome any members to join the science fair committee. Please let us know if you can help as a volunteer on the volunteer sign up form.
Questions? Contact your Science Fair Co-Chairs: Teryn Thomas and Jeanie Prescott at sciencefair@swansfieldpta.org
PTA NEWS & UPDATES
Volunteer for the PTA Nominating Committee
All six of the PTA board positions will be open for a two-year term beginning at the end of this school year. The Nominating Committee is a 5-person committee who will solicit volunteers for the board positions and develop a list of candidates for the positions. The Nominating Committee will begin their work in March and the vote will be held at the May 2024 general membership meeting. Time commitment will be approximately 3-4 hours total between March and May. If you are interested in joining the Nominating Committee, please email president@swansfieldpta.org
Interested in volunteering for the PTA Board, but want more information about the roles and responsibilities of board members? Please email president@swansfieldpta.org. We’d be happy to chat with you about it!
