September 10, 2015 

Volume 25, Issue 1       Thursday, September 10, 2015

NOTES FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

  • Please return all emergency forms ASAP!

  • Please send a note to school when your child has an after school plan other than taking the bus home. We do not keep notes from previous school years. Attached to this Current are two bus notes ready for you to use when needed.

 

Greetings,

 

I hope you are all settling into a rhythm now that we have all returned to Swift River!  After a very busy summer here, we are very happy to see our students again.  We welcome parents to come in and see the changes that have taken place in the School and the developments that we’ve made on the Nature Trail. 

 

We start this year with some new additions to our staff.  We are very pleased to welcome Michael Cortina, music teacher; Nathan Gaetano, physical education teacher; Carla Becker, physical therapist; Rachel Vitello, occupational therapist; Robyn Vitello, preschool paraprofessional; Ciji Cody, paraprofessional; Mike Fenton, assistant and substitute custodian; and Barrett Grazioso, food service director.  The Swift River School community is very fortunate to have them.

 

I’d like to use this opportunity to introduce Barrett Grazioso, in particular, and to outline some of the changes that she will enact in Swift River’s food service program.  Barrett comes to us from her previous position as a food service director on Martha’s Vineyard.  She has worked in restaurants and as a pastry chef, and brings a lot of expertise to Swift River Café.

 

In addition to her prowess as a chef, she has ideas for how Swift River can reduce waste, provide fresh, healthy meals, offer more vegetarian options, and limit students’ intake of processed foods, sugars, and salt.

 

To reduce waste, we will limit menu options to those that are most popular; you may notice some small changes.  To provide fresh, healthy meals, we will utilize the Swift River garden for fresh ingredients, and we will add more fresh ingredients to our food orders.  Barrett has wonderful vegetarian recipes in her repertoire, and you will notice more vegetarian options on our menus. To limit students’ intake of sugars, processed foods, and salt, we plan to offer foods made from scratch in our kitchen; this will allow us more control over ingredients, and save the School money!  Since reducing sugar intake involves reducing menu items with corn syrup, we will cut back on chocolate milk availability to around two times per month.  We hope to encourage our students to make healthy choices!

 

You will notice that the menu looks different this month—this is our new menu format.  Each month, you will be given a calendar listing all of the breakfast and lunch choices for that month, along with two envelopes to send in lunch money (you may use one or two envelopes for the month at your discretion—more envelopes are available at the Office).  You may make selections by circling the menu option you’d like your child to have.  Lunch counts will also be taken in classrooms daily, to give the Cafeteria accurate, up-to-date numbers.  Students who have brought a home lunch will be noted during the classroom lunch count.

 

We look forward to a happy, healthy year together.  Welcome back!

Dean’s Beans Coffee Fundraiser

54% of Americans drink coffee every day and the world consumes close to 2.25 BILLION cups daily!

If you are part of this statistic please consider buying your coffee through the monthly PTCA Dean’s Beans fundraiser. For every pound of coffee sold, the PTCA makes a modest profit that goes directly back to our students. You can order your coffee online and pay via PayPal or credit card at SRSdeansbeans.weebly.com. A paper order form will also be sent home.

 

Next order due September 14th, subsequent orders will be due first Friday of each month.

 

The Enchanted Forest News

Welcome to The Enchanted Forest before and after school program! EF is open Monday through Friday in the mornings from 7:20 AM - 8:20 AM and afternoons until 5:30 PM. If you would like your child to participate in EF, please fill out a registration form (call 978-544-6926 to request one). You may choose to come on a regular basis or as a drop-in.  Also, please remember to send a bus note, so the office knows where to send your child for the afternoon.

 

I’d like to welcome three new staff members to EF! Barb Haydocy joins us on Wednesdays and is planning some fun cooking activities. Allie Barnes will be in EF all five afternoons and is already getting to know the children. Mez Ziemba shares her creative spirit with us on Fridays; watch for more information on “Fun Fridays with Mez!” coming soon.  We are fortunate to have returning staff members Karen Dean, Lisa Latwis, Elise Flynn and Tammy Richard!

 

I plan to offer some enrichment programs this school year, such as sports, cooking, creative movement and more! These programs will be available to all Swift River students and fliers will be sent home when a program is offered.

 

If you have questions regarding EF, please contact Betsy at 978-544-6926 ext. 206 or email [email protected].

 

Come join the fun!

EF Staff

COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

These announcements and events are not school sponsored.

 

New Salem Teen and Tween News

Saturday, September 19th at 1 pm, there’s a great Manga Workshop! September 19th at 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Join us for a Manga Comics Workshop with Marek Bennett Learn the historical roots of the medium, some basic mini-comics models and make you own. Manga book! This is for ages 10 and up. Call 978-544-6334 to sign up. "This program is supported in part by a grant from the New Salem Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency."

 

Also, the ever-popular LEGO Club will now meet the first Tuesday of each month! Open to anyone age 5 and up. Come build something!

Country Store: A Radio Play for the Stage

The 1794 Meetinghouse will present Country Store: A Radio Play for the Stage, a play written and directed by Dorothy Johnson. The Performances will take place at the Meetinghouse on Fridays and Saturdays, September 11, 12, 18, and 19 at 7:30 pm, and on Sunday, September 20 at 2:00 pm.

 

Country Store is a play written as if intended for the radio, and is set in a 1940’s general store in a rural area of central Massachusetts. The actors will have scripts in hand while the onstage narrative unfolds. The play is designed to evoke pleasures experienced before World War II, as America emerged from the Great Depression.

 

Dorothy Johnson directs Country Store with support from Ta Mara Conde, Genie Casey, Kate Jansyn, Hugo Frost, Carolyn Brown, Janet Paoletti, Linda Pisano, Brian Casey, Ricardo Conde, and Marcia Gagliardi. Dorothy Johnson offers special thanks to the Swift River Valley Historical Society. 

 

Proceeds will benefit the 1794 Meetinghouse.  Adults: $10; 13-17 year olds: $5; Children: Free! Tickets are available from cast members, the New Salem General Store, at the door, or online at www.1794meetinghouse.org information.

The New Salem/Wendell School District assures that all programs, activities and employment opportunities are offered without regard to race, color, gender, age, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, economic status, homelessness, sexual orientation and physical or mental disability.

Posted by On 10 September, 2015 at 2:45 PM  

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