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March 2011

Volume 10, Issue 7 Swanton SchoolNews868-5346/868-4920www.swantonschool.orgThe Vermont Dept of Education has

released NECAP (New EnglandCommon Assessment Program) results

to schools throughout Vermont. The

NECAP examines student aptitude in

reading and math in grades 3-6 andwriting at grade 5. Student results are

shared with us based on subgroups and

grade levels for school use. We alsoreceive individual student results similar

to what is sent home to families.

We are in the process of reviewing the

results in an effort to look for strengths

and areas in need of improvement as weimplement district wide curriculum.

While we continue to bolster our effortsto provide a rigorous and relevant

learning experience for our students, weare frustrated in regards to the lack of

progress of our school as a whole. We

are especially frustrated by the lack ofgains for our economically

disadvantaged students and special needs

students.

As a school we have adjusted our

intervention model and continue ayearlong initiative called Keeping

Swanton NECAP Update

Learning on Track. This initiative

focuses on formative assessment andgives teachers strategies to make

adjustments in their teaching during

lessons and units rather than waiting

until the end of a unit. We are hopefulthat adjustments in our intervention

model during the 2010-2011 school

year will prove successful, as we haveincreased instructional time for all

students in the areas of math and

reading. This summer teachers will beinvolved in professional development

about how to implement a high quality

writers workshop into the classroom.We have high expectations for this

model and its impact on NECAP scoresand our students readiness for the

writing demands of middle and highschool.

The entire Swanton School staffremains committed to improving every

students performance and will

continue to review programs that are inplace to help students who struggle on

the NECAP assessment and make

necessary program adjustments andmodifications.

Thank you for your support with the Odyssey of the Mindfundraiser. Your donations generated $1,100 for theprogramand Ms. Rouelle and Mrs. Sullivan were good sportsto have their hair dyed BLUE!

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Swanton sixth grade studentsenthusiastically took part in a poetry

slam in the central school library on

February 14th. Our Slam-masterwas Geof Hewitt, a VT poet, author,

and educator who entertained and

educated students, expanding theirunderstanding of poetry. Students

competed by reading poems that they

had written and wereevaluated byjudgesselected randomly from theaudience. Audience participation was

6th Grade Poetry Slamlively, with students cheeringontheirpeers. Our sixth graders poetry

topics and tones ranged from thestrange and silly to heartfelt and

serious, showing great variety in their

writing. All poems were thoughtfullywritten and performed well

including poems performed by the 6 th

grade teachers! This was an excitingopportunity for everyone to

experience poetry in a new way and

we hope to make it a sixth grade

tradition.

Calendar

March 2nd PTOMeeting, CentralCafeteria, Topic:Literacy, - 6 pm.

March 10th Red BarnFundraiser Orders aredue

March 14th SchoolBoard meeting inCentral Library, 6:00pm.

March 17th Spirit Day Wear Green!

March 17th InternetSafety Presentation,Central Library, 4:00-5:30 pm and 6:00-7:30pm

March 17th (4:00-8:00pm) Parent Teacherconferences

March 18th -No School:Parent-teacherconferences

March 25th day ofschool Inservice

March 31st Pick UpDate for Red BarnFundraiser

April 6th Earth DayCelebration

April 11th SchoolBoard meeting in

Central Library, 6:00pm.

April 18th-22nd - NoSchool, Spring Break

April 28th Spirit Day Beach/Hawaiian Day(no bathing suits)

Its that time of yearwhen we

begin looking ahead to next year! Tohelp us with the placement process, we

ask parents to fill out an input form to

provide us with your perspective onyour child. This form will be used by

the placement team to make the best

possible match for your child for nextyears classroom. The placement

team, which is made up of

administrators, special educators

Student Placement

Alyssa Berthiaume (a former Swantonstudent), the Technology Safety Program/Coordinator from Prevent Child Abuse VT willcover a range of topics, both defining particulartechnologies and the risks/benefits of childrenusing the internet. Presentations will be from 4:00-5:30 pm and 6:00-7:30 pm on March 17th in theCentral Library. All are welcome!

and guidance counselors, will spend

many hours going over parent andteacher input forms to create balanced

classrooms. If you would like to shar

your thoughts with us regarding yourchild, please be sure to fill out the

student placement form that is

enclosed in the Wednesday Weekly.These forms are due back to the office

by March 18th. Thank you!

Please take a moment to call the school to sign up for aconference with your childs teacher on Thursday March 17th-from 4:00-7:30 pm or Friday, March 18th from 7:30-11:40 am (noschool on this day). Please call Mrs. Tessier at 868-4920 orMrs. Ellis at 868-5346 to schedule your conference!

Internet Safety