The Titan Times: 11/4/24-11/8/24

WHO: All Jack Swigert community members!

WHAT/WHEN: Remember to update your clocks and plan ahead for the end of Daylight Savings Time on 11/3/24.

WHO: Calling all Veterans!

WHAT: Please submit a picture and description of you or a family member who served in the military as we would like to post these images around school to show you our appreciation.
WHEN: We'll recognize our community Veterans on November 11th, so please share your pictures and messages of gratitude before then!

WHERE: We'll highlight our Veterans in the weekly newsletter and on campus displays.
WHY: We are thankful for the service of our Veterans and the freedoms we enjoy as a result!

HOW: Please use this form to share: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0gBzxbVVaBWuXa8fl-AS_jY6fYIZyd3_tVyEuuh16P4ksyQ/viewform?usp=pp_url

WHO: All 8th grade students with signed permission slips and selected 8th grade chaperones

WHAT: Field trip to attend a matinee performance of the fall high school play, "The Drowsy Chaperone." Parents/Guardians, please return your 8th grade student's signed permission slip so they can participate in this free trip!

WHERE: Mitchell High School

WHEN: November 13th from 9:00 - 11:15 AM.

WHY: 8th grade students will have the opportunity to see high school aged peers highlight the performing arts as well as learn about the opportunities to get involved in the arts at Mitchell High School.

November 13th is World Kindness Day and each advisory teacher will be receiving a packet of "Kindness Postcards" for their advisory class. Students will complete a postcard to be delivered to a peer or staff member. How are YOU recognizing World Kindness Day?

WHO: Interested staff and parents/guardians

WHAT: Pastries with Parents/Guardians: Enjoy meeting other parents with coffee, pastries, and plenty of conversation!

WHERE: Library Media Center

WHEN: 11/21/24 from 7:45 - 8:15 am

WHY: When parents and school staff partner in support of student success, students thrive!

WHO: All are invited!

WHAT: Scholastic Book Fair

WHERE: Jack Swigert Middle School Library Media Center

WHEN: December 2nd - 9th

WHY: Support reading and literacy at Jack Swigert Middle School by supporting our book fair! It's just in time to get gifts for folks on your holiday lists.

WHO: We will welcome the community to Jack Swigert.

WHAT: Our 2nd Quarter Title Night will be hosted by several departments and include learning for families and students

WHEN: December 10th from 5:00 - 6:00 PM

More details coming soon!

Winter Weather Season is quickly approaching! District 11 uses a mass communication system to notify the community of any delays, closures, or remote learning days. In addition to receiving notifications via email, text message (if you opted in for texting via The Loop), and mobile app notifications, an alert window will pop up on any page on the District 11 website you visit. This will ensure you receive the notification in a timely manner.

D11 Loop - Notifications by email and mobile app push are enabled by default. Text alerts must be opted into. These settings can be modified after logging into the D11 Loop website or Mobile App.

Please note that due to the early hour, morning delay and closure notifications will not be sent out via phone calls.

Please visit www.d11.org/Weather for more information about our notification system and how to ensure your information is up to date. To find out the current status of District 11 Schools, you can always call 719-520-2300. Notices will be posted on The Colorado Springs School District 11 Facebook page (@cosschoolsd11), our D11 Instagram page (@cssd11) as well as to the District Flash News Alerts feed.

In the event of a two hour delayed start, we will follow the schedule below, which is also posted on our website.

6th grade students went on a field trip to the Plains Conservation Center. They learned about what life was like for the Cheyenne tribe on the high plains. Students explored how the Cheyenne adopted the lifestyle of semi-nomadic hunters/gatherers to thrive on the prairie. They also learned about flora and fauna of the prairie while engaging in real field science. Check out the photographs shared by trip leader, Ms. Yael Horowitz!

We will be giving out our Awards to students on Wednesday for their accomplishments on STAR. Here are the award categories: Most Growth - the student with the most growth in each Advisory will earn 5 minutes early to lunch pass and a full-size candybar. Most Growth Class - The top Advisory class in grades 6-8 with at least 95% participation that shows the highest average growth will earn a donut party with the principal. Students Who Moved Up a Level - Every student who increased their achievement by at least 1 level (color band) gets a positive phone call home and a Certificate of Achievement. Congratulations to all our students who will be receiving awards this week!

We are celebrating Ms. Donna Farmer for the great work she's doing in her mathematics classes! Ms. Farmer "grew the top" by 6% from the fall benchmark assessment in August to our progress monitoring in October. That means that 6% more of her students met or exceeded grade level expectations on October progress monitoring in math than did on the August benchmark assessment. That's great improvement. Way to ELEVATE teaching and learning in mathematics, Ms. Farmer!

We are also celebrating Mr. Ari Moreno for his great work in mathematics! Mr. Moreno teaches 7th grade math and teaches a multi-lingual mathematics course for students whose native language is not English. He "grew the top" by 5% from the fall benchmark assessment in August to our progress monitoring in October. That means that 5% more of his students met or exceeded grade level expectations on our October progress monitoring assessment in math than did on the August benchmark assessment. That's awesome! Way to ELEVATE teaching and learning in mathematics, Mr. Moreno!

Ms. Eryn Stivison manages budgets and accounting, works closely with our principal, coaches volleyball and girls' basketball, and supports administrative office operations. She is a helpful, friendly person with an incredible amount of knowledge and strong relationships that fuel success and positivity at Jack Swigert Middle School. We are thankful for Ms. Eryn!

We saw an increase in per period average attendance last week. Let's keep working together to continue to exceed our 92% per period average attendance rate!

• Staff can help us stay on track with this goal by not admitting late students to class without an e-hall pass. This system ensures that students' attendance is updated from being marked absent to being marked tardy when our attendance team pulls e-hall pass reports and updates attendance.
  
• Families can help us stay on track with our goal by getting students to school on time and scheduling appointments outside of school hours whenever possible. Please call us to share updated information about student attendance as needed at 719-328-6900.
  

Hello families! Thank you so much for your continued support during our Football, Cross Country, and Volleyball seasons! It is great to see our community come out and support our scholar athletes!

For all things sports-related, please reach out to Ethan Moore: 719-328-6930 or Ethan.moore2@d11.org

Our Lady Titans will compete in their first basketball game of the season this week. They'll take on ACL/West here at Swigert on Tuesday, November 5th. Tipoff is at 4:45 in the gym. We hope to see you come out and support our scholar athletes!

Weekly Grade Checks will be done by the coaches and school Athletic Director every Monday.

Scholar athletes are not eligible to play if they have any Ds or Fs.

• If a student has a “D” or “F” they will be given a slip to take to their teacher to get missing work and check with teacher.
• If a Student Athlete is not eligible, they will not be allowed to play in the games for that week. If a student is placed in ISS or ISD for a period or the day, the student will not be allowed to practice or participate in the game for that day. If a student is suspended out of school, they will be removed from the team.
• Students must be at school the day of the game.
• If miss entire day = Not allowed to play in the game/match/meet
• If half day missed = Sit out 2 quarters of the game/1 match
• If 2 periods missed = Sit out 1 quarter of the game/Subs in
• If students know they are going to be absent from school, they must communicate with coaches.
• Students must also be at practice the day before a game/match/meet, or they sit out from the game/match/meet.
• If students are going to miss practice, they must let the coaches know ahead of time and get it approved.

Reach out to our Athletic Director & Dean, Mr. Ethan Moore, with any questions about athletics.

@JackSwigertMiddleSchool

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