Fall 2016

Feeling Thankful ~

Clarke School Thanks Veterans ~ Wall of Honor

Clarke 4^th Grade students Quinn and Jack stand in front of the Clarke School Veterans Day Wall of Honor.  Both Quinn and Jack’s  father currently serve in the military and we are thankful for their service tour country.

Hadley School Kindergartners are Thankful for their Families!

 

SMS Turkey Drive

Mrs. Baer and Mrs. Vanderhoof want to thank all of the Middle School staff and students who made this year's Thanksgiving Gift Card Drive such a success. As always, our success is attributed to a school-wide effort. A special thank you to Gail Anderson and her Garden Club, the National Junior Honor Society, and the 8B kids who volunteered to collect money at lunch and make flyers.

We were able to collect over $850 in cash and gift cards which allowed us to purchase 38 gift cards in various denominations.

Your efforts will directly help local families in need to have a Thanksgiving Dinner. The staff at My Brother's Table is so grateful and appreciative of our donation. Daily, they serve between 300-450 guests. They expect to serve almost 500 people on Thanksgiving day at My Brother's Table in addition to supporting numerous individual families to have their own Thanksgiving dinners.

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

 

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

On Friday evening, November 4th, our High School Principal, Mr. Bob Murphy was inducted into the Salem State University's Educators Hall of Fame.  Mr. Murphy was the recipient of the Northeast Region Educator Award. This award is presented to an educator who demonstrates leadership and has made significant contributions within the Northeast Region.  Congratulations, Mr. Murphy!

The annual Thanksgiving Stretch Award Food Collection is happening with Swampscott High School's Interact Club.  Teachers, parents, students, teams, other groups, and community members are invited to donate some non-perishable or canned foods. This collection benefits the Swampscott Food Bank which serves Swampscott, areas of Lynn, and Salem. The Interact Club is the youth branch of the local Swampscott Rotary.  Stop and Shop has donated the grocery bags, high school students have prepared the bags for people to fill and have placed them in the lobby of the Swampscott High School.  Bags to fill are also available in the main office of the high school or call 781-581-2834 for pick up of food you are donating.  Food collected will be delivered to the food pantry on Wednesday, November 23, 2016. This project is a memorial for Joe Stretch Balliro, a local pharmacist and volunteer part-time girls basketball coach.  Thank you for your support!

Looking forward to attending Future Ready School Summit Monday and Tuesday, with our Technology Team sponsored by DESE's Office of Digital Learning.  Please see link for more information: http://www.doe.mass.edu/odl/futureready/

Our School Committee Meeting this coming Wednesday, November 16th, will feature guest speakers Representative Ehrlich and Senator McGee.  We welcome your attendance!

Fall 2016

At a recent School Committee meeting, we had the pleasure of celebrating some of the academic achievements of our students:

Congratulations to Senior, Charlotte Westhoven, who was the recipient of the Massachusetts Association for School Superintendents Academic Excellence Award.  This award is given to high school seniors who have distinguished themselves in pursuit of excellence during their high school career.  We are all so proud of you, Charlotte!

In addition, Mr. Murphy recognized Commended Students in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program. Certificates of Commendation were given to students who placed among the top five percent of more than 1.6 million students who entered the 2017 competition by taking the 2015 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). Congratulations to Arthur Kautz, Ella Parker, Joshua Segedy, Charlotte Westhoven, Joshua Young, and Nathan Young!  We are very proud of your achievements.

Last spring students in sixth through eleventh grades took part in a Youth Risk Behavior Survey as part of our Mental Health initiative.  On Tuesday evening, November 1st, a Parent Forum was held at the high school to review the results.  What followed was a great conversation between the parents in attendance and our staff.  It is critically important that parents be part of this dialogue. As a school district you are partners in the process of recognizing the challenges our children face and brainstorming solutions.  Mental Health Task Force tri-chairs: Mr. Craig Harris (High School Psychologist), Mrs. Sarah Kelley (High School Adjustment Counselor), and Mrs. Cathy Kalpin (Elementary Guidance Counselor), and myself have received lots of positive feedback around this event. Before posting the results of the YRBS survey on our website, we will be holding one more identical Parent Forum to hopefully, share the results with an even larger audience.  Stay tuned for the date and time of this event.

At the METCO/Swampscott Pancake Social lots of families and students made connections over this breakfast for supper event. However, many of our METCO students are still looking for HOST Families here in Swampscott to serve as their home away from home. If you are interested in opening your home to a student from Boston for any amount of time, please contact our METCO Director, Mr. Jason Greene at greene@swampscott.k12.ma.us for more information and the application.