Swift River

NOTES FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

Dear Families,

       We are at that time of year when we like to reflect on what we are thankful for, and I couldn’t be more thankful for my Swift River family. This fall, the staff at Swift River School has weathered through and supported each other during some tough situations outside of our Schoolhouse. One thing that stands-out to me is that our SRS family truly cares for each other and the students who learn here. Trying to get our staff to miss a day of work is very difficult! Everyone is very committed to what is best for our students. For that I give many thanks. 

       I am also very thankful for the PTCA and the work they do to support our School. At our last meeting, we did not have a quorum and were unable to vote on upcoming events. Because of the lack of participation, we are asking families to fill out an attached survey to help the PTCA determine their next steps. We would appreciate your feedback, so we greatly appreciate you taking the time to fill out the survey and return it to school as quickly as possible. The next PTCA meeting will be on Thursday, December 10 at 6:30 PM in the Cafeteria. Childcare will be provided. We hope to see you there!

       Mr. Cortina will be hosting his first Winter Concert on Monday, December 21 at 1:30 PM in the Gymnasium. I am very excited to announce that the Preschool will be performing at this concert!!! Because of this special event, we would like all Preschool students to stay for the afternoon and students who do not regularly attend on Mondays to contact Jennylou and make a plan for the Concert. I can’t wait!

       Last Friday the Gymnasium was transformed into a scientific exposition where young scientists shared their knowledge about soil and other fascinating experiments. I learned many new things at the Fair and enjoyed speaking with all of the scientists in attendance. It was wonderful to see that families took advantage of knowing the theme in advance and worked on their projects over the summer. Thank you to Karyn Briand, Todd LaPlante, Joe Bergman, and Liz Young for their hard work and dedication to the Science Fair. We are so fortunate to have such skilled volunteers working with our students. The whole evening was a huge success!

       I’d like to wish our SRS families and friends many blessings during the Thanksgiving break next week.

Fondly,

Kelley

PTCA News

The next PTCA meeeting will be Thursday, December 10 at 6:30 PM.  Childcare will be provided by the Mahar Key Club.  Please come and support the PTCA.

Library Lines

The Book Fair is coming! The Book Fair is coming!  The Scholastic Book Fair will be in your Swift River School Library from Tuesday, December 8 through Friday, December 11.  The hours are: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8:30 AM until 5:30 PM.

The Book Fair's past success was largely due to the help of wonderful volunteers. A sign-up sheet was sent home listing times when I anticipate we will need more help. There are many time slots still available:

Tuesday, 12/9 - 11:30 - 1:30, 1:30 - 3:30, and 3:30 - 5:30

Wednesday, 12/9 - 1:30 - 3:30, 3:30 - 5:30

Thursday, 12/10 - 11:30 - 1:30, 3:30 - 5:30

Friday, 12/11 - 3:30 - 5:30

Please consider helping with the Book Fair this year—it's lots of fun!

The Book Fair is a wonderful opportunity for holiday shopping, so mark your calendars! Teachers will also create a Classroom Wish List if you’d like to purchase a book for the classroom (hint: they make wonderful holiday gifts!)

This year we will participate in the Scholastic “All for Books” program.  Your donation (loose change or $1 would do) will enable children in our school to purchase books from the Book Fair who are unable to buy them otherwise.  Scholastic also matches monetary donations received by donating books to two charities—Kids In Need Foundation and Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc! The Swift River PTCA has made a generous donation to kick off our collection! Thank you for your participation in this program!

This week in the library we played "Library Bingo", which is a Bingo game using library terminology instead of numbers! The children hear clues, discuss the answer and mark their Bingo card if the correct word (or words) appears on it.  An example: What is the small dictionary located in the back of a non-fiction book? Glossary.  This has been a lot of fun and the game winners received a $1 "Book Fair Buck" to spend at the upcoming Book Fair!

Make time to read,

Betsy

December Dean’s Beans Order

Please be aware that there was a delay with the November order placement—all orders should arrive this week and will be sent home ASAP. Sorry for any inconvenience! Dean’s Beans is a local, organic and fair trade coffee roasting company. Please use the attached form to order coffee or hot cocoa for delivery during the second week of December. All orders are due by Friday, December 4.  Contact Nan Mead at the school if you have any questions.  Thank you for supporting our PTCA!

Annual Kids’ Clothing Swap

Time to clean out your closets!

What: Bring winter clothing, coats, boots, gloves, et cetera—anything that your family has outgrown. Hopefully you’ll find a bigger size to take home!

When: December 8 – 11 (During the same times as the Book Fair!)

Where: Swift River School Library

Clean items may be dropped off in advance to Nan Mead at the School.

Donations are NOT required to participate; come and take what you need!

If you are unable to make it to the Swap, feel free to call or email me with items and sizes of articles your child needs—I will be happy to look for you!

Nan Mead, RN

[email protected]

Student Council Scoop

The Student Council's next Spirit Day will be Thursday, December 3. (We changed it from Friday in order to support the 100 Mile Club Tee Shirt Day!!!)

The theme for our next Spirit Day will be Sports Day. Students and Staff are encouraged to wear anything having to with their favorite sporting activity—fishing, dancing, gymnastics, karate, baseball, swimming, football, soccer, running or walking... there are so many possibilities.

We will collect $0.25 donations. If you can donate for yourself or a friend please do so to help us buy holiday gifts for local families in need. Be a sport and show your support on Thursday, December 3! 

Science Fair Summary

Congratulations to all this year's Science Fair participants! This year's winner of the Best Class Participation Award went to the graduating class of 2018-- Mrs. Newman's 4th Grade! Excellent job! This year Grade 4 will receive a pizza party in celebration of their class spirit! Please keep your eyes open for a permission slip for your student to participate in the pizza party!

Unfortunately, two students' names were not printed in the Science Fair Program: Jacobia Tyminski and Gunnar Tyminski. They completed a fascinating project exploring air pressure, titled Magic or Science? Superb job, Cobi and Gunnar!

Plans for next year? A pizza party for all the Science Fair participants!!! 

See everyone next year! 

Karyn Briand, Science Fair Coordinator 

Help Our Community Grow!

Dollars for Wendell Scholars seeks new volunteers to make a small contribution of time for exciting rewards.

Three years ago we formed a scholarship committee; since then we have established an organization, raised funds, and awarded five substantial scholarships to Wendell students.  As we approach our second year of fundraising and scholarship distribution, we are looking for 2-3 new members.  The hard work has been done; we have a very successful template to follow.  The committee will need to meet only 4 to 5 times a year during the winter and spring.  Meetings are short and scheduled at the members' convenience.  No special talents are required; we need people willing to do committee work, help review applications and make decisions about awards.

If you are interested or have any questions, please email Christine Heard at [email protected] or call Joy Brenneman at 544-2252. 

New Salem Teens and Tweens

Some of our writers have been participating in NaNoWriMo and are working hard on their novels.  In December we will work on character and plot development.  Come join us!  You don’t have to share your writing.

On November 25, we will watch some of the Hunger Games movies on our projector.

In December, it’s henna tatoos!  How about an intricate snowflake?  Or a Mockingjay?

On December 23, come and make a craft to gift!

Every Wednesdat from 1:30 – 5:30 PM.  You can take the School Bus.  Just bring in a note from home.  Call 978-544-6334 for details.

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