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Welcome to Swiftwater Elementary!
We would like to extend a warm welcome to the parents, staff, students and community members of Swiftwater Elementary Center. As a united community, we can “prepare our students for tomorrow’s challenges and opportunities.” Swiftwater Elementary Center is not a great school by accident. Our greatness is a result of members of the school community truly working together for the benefit of our children. The combination of cooperation and commitment on the part of parents, children, teachers and community members is vital to the success of Swiftwater Elementary Center. Our school’s spirit of cooperation and mutual respect should be celebrated. We welcome your participation in our Parent Teacher Organization and the Volunteers in Education program. |
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On-going communication between home and school is very important to ensure a positive connection with all aspects of school life. The use of our school website and our monthly newsletter will keep parents aware of upcoming events and continuing successes. We will also be utilizing the automated phone system, Parent Link, to disseminate information to families regarding upcoming events and activities. All of our teachers have the capability to communicate daily/weekly homework assignments and activities to parents and/or childcare providers via e-mail. We encourage all families with an e-mail account to sign-up for the homework e-mail program. We are hoping these various forms of communication will enable parents to be directly involved in the educational process.
Due to federal legislation from President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind,” increasing student achievement is a topic that you will hear a great deal about during this school year. Our School Improvement Committee met during the summer to help analyze current student achievement data and develop a comprehensive school improvement plan. The plan outlines specific achievement goals as well as strategies to be implemented throughout the year to help attain the stated goals. The goals outlined in the school improve plan are the following:
- The overall percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced on the Reading PSSA will increase from 59.1% to 63%.
- The overall percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced on the Math PSSA will increase from 72.1% to 74.1%.
- The overall student attendance rate will be 90% or higher for the 2007-2008 academic year.
Throughout the school year, many strategies will be implemented to help all students reach their maximum potential. We are continuing our writing initiative in all grades and all subjects. A writing portfolio will be created and maintained in order to measure students’ growth in the area of writing throughout the school year. As an entire school, we are continuing to increase the cross-curricular teaching of the state standards providing students with multiple opportunities to grasp and master the curricular content. Lastly, through more efficient scheduling, we have maximized instructional time by providing larger blocks of time for core subject area instruction. Through the discussed initiatives as well as additional instructional strategies, we are confident that we will be able to meet the goals established by the School Improvement Committee!
Again, we welcome your involvement in our school and look forward to working with you this year. Please feel free to contact us with your questions and/or concerns. We wish everyone a safe, successful and rewarding school year!
Tamala Toleno
Courtney Lepore
Phyllis Cournan
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