Volume 24, Issue 3 Thursday, October 2, 2014
NOTES FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK
Dear Families,
Thank you to all the families that attended Open House last night. I enjoyed catching up with many of you throughout the evening. Open House is a valuable part of our school culture and we hope that it provided you with a good understanding of what your children will be learning at Swift River School. We also had a great crowd for Ed the Wizard. He certainly captivated the audience and left our ears ringing!
I hope parents took the opportunity to sign up for parent teacher conferences at Open House. Conferences will be held on October 22, 23, 29, and 31. Parent teacher conferences are an important time to discuss your children’s academic and social progress. At SRS we encourage parents to schedule conferences whenever they have questions or concerns about their children that cannot be answered via a short email or a phone call.
Exciting things are always happening at SRS. This week our track has been installed and we had our first inaugural run on it yesterday. The cafeteria is getting a face-lift. We had the walls painted “Grand Canyon” and it has added a warm feel to the room. We also replaced the 30 year-old carpet on the stairs of the stage! Be sure to check it out!
Please join us tonight, Thursday, for the monthly School Committee meeting at 7:00 PM. Also the PTCA will meet next Thursday at 6:30 PM, to finalize plans for the Fall Fest. I hope to see you there.
Fondly,
Kelley
PTCA News
The PTCA will be sponsoring our annual Fall Fest on Saturday, October 18th from 10:00 - 2:00. This is a great low-cost event for the whole family to enjoy! Thank you to everyone who has already volunteered to help! If you have a 1/2 hour to spare in one of the following time slots on Fall Fest day, PTCA can use your help too!
- 8 AM - 10 AM setup
- 10 AM - 2 PM Fall Fest
- 2 PM - 3 PM clean up)
Please email Jodie Vezina: [email protected]
The next PTCA meeting is Thursday, October 9th at 6:30 in the library. We will be putting the finishing touches on Fall Fest and electing PTCA officers. Free childcare is available. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend! See you there!
Fall Festival Basket Raffle
The beautiful baskets are filling up! If you have yet to send an item for your class’s basket, please do so soon. For those of you who may not be able to attend Fall Festival this year, or would just prefer pre-ordering your tickets; use the attached order form to purchase your raffle tickets. Please be sure to return the form and payment no later than 3:00 pm on Friday, October 17th. Tickets will also be sold at Fall Festival on Saturday, October 18th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, with the prize drawing at 2:00 pm. Please contact Nan Mead at the school if you have any questions.
October Dean’s Beans Order
Dean’s Beans is an Organic and Fair Trade Coffee Roasting Company. By ordering through the PTCA, not only will you be helping raise funds for Swift River School, but you will also be helping improve the lives of small coffee farmers around the globe! Please use the attached form to order coffee or hot cocoa. Please note, we have added several kinds of ReCups (for Keurig type coffee makers) to our order form this month! All orders are due by Friday, October 10th. Contact Nan Mead at the school if you have any questions. Thank you for supporting our PTCA!
Field Trip Fundraiser
The Genevieve’s Fall Fundraiser is off to a great start! Thirty-one Frog Frenzy Coupon #1s were turned in on time on Tuesday. This tells us that approximately $1000 of merchandise has already been sold! Frog Frenzy Coupon #2 is due Tuesday, October 7. Sell at least 6 fund raiser items and return the coupon on time to receive a frog keychain. will take place September 25 to October 15. All proceeds from this fund raiser will offset the cost of field trip buses. Delivery will be the week of Thanksgiving.
Library Lines
The Book Character Pumpkin Decorating Contest will be held at Fall Fest (Saturday, October 18). Choose your favorite book character and decorate a pumpkin (or gourd, squash, etc.) at home to look just like him or her or it. Bring your decorated pumpkin to Fall Fest by 12:00 noon to display and fill out an entry ticket. Judging will take place at 1:15 p.m. and one prize will be awarded for each grade level. Please do not put your name on the pumpkin.
Pumpkins must be painted, not carved; acrylic paints or permanent markers work best. You may add yarn, pipe cleaners, fabric, cardboard, glitter, etc. Please bring the book (or a copy of the cover) to display with your pumpkin. There are many examples of decorated pumpkins on the library windows or you may look online for ideas. It’s easy and fun for the whole family!
Christine Morin and I will have a “Technology Meets Reading” raffle basket for Fall Fest. Included are a Kindle, a Kindle case and an Amazon gift card. Please support the library and computer lab by purchasing tickets for this awesome basket!
Lunchtime Book Club will begin the week of October 6 for 5th grade students. We will read Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein, which is described as part Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, part A Night at the Museum and a whole lot of fun! Additional Lunchtime Book Clubs will begin in a few weeks.
Make time to read,
Betsy
Box Tops 4 Education!
Swift River is collecting Box Tops for Education. Each Box Top is worth 10¢ for our school. Please send in your clipped Box Tops with your child or drop in the collection jar in the school lobby. You can find Box Tops on many items that we use every day. For more information you can go to http://www.boxtops4education.com.
If you are interested in helping collect, sort and mail Box Tops please email Robyn Vitello; [email protected].
Fall Fund Raiser for Field Trip Buses
September 25 - October 15
Thank you for your support!
COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD
These announcements and events are not school sponsored.
New Salem Library News
Kids Club
Starting Tuesday, October 7th and continuing on Tuesday for the school year children in 3rd grade through 6th grade will be welcomed at the New Salem Library KIDS CLUB from 3:30 to 5:00 pm.
Lego Club
The LEGO CLUB for children ages 5 and up will begin Thursday, October 9, from 3:30 to 5:00 pm.
Be sure to send a bus note to Swift River School to let them know if your child is going to ride the bus. These events are sponsored by the New Salem Public Library. Snacks will be provided.
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.