Student Voices
Dear Parents,Swan School continues to be the focus of a lot of positive energy when it comes to talk of education in our area. For 25 years we have been offering a holistic education for children in small classes within the framework of a nurturing learning community. If you have been following my letters for the past 4 years you know how much I enjoy teaching here and the high regard I have for our school. You probably also know that I am not the only one who feels so strongly about what a great place Swan School is; our children also feel this way. They seem to know intuitively that the learning environment they experience everyday is something beyond the ordinary.
As we prepared for last Friday's open house, students throughout the school felt that they would like other children and adults to know how they felt about Swan. Here are a few of their letters.
Dear Visitors,
I like Swan School because people help you.
By Peach (Kindergarten)
Dear Visitors,
I like learning.
By Marcela (Kindergarten)
Dear Guests,
Art is fun because you get to make your own thing. In P.E. sometimes you learn to dance. Sometimes in Spanish you get to make paper dolls. In reading you get to read to yourself. You get to give other people books for the book exchange in December. You study different things. The teacher reads a book before you leave. Sometimes you have a choice. In math sometimes you do story problems. Sometimes they're easy and sometimes they're hard. Swan School is fun. I think you should go to Swan School.
Ellison (1st grade)
Dear Friends,
My best school I went to is Swan School and now I have nice friends. And when I get hurt people help me. And now my head is smart. Every day I get smarter. Art and P.E. is really fun!!! Sometimes at P.E. we dance. And at art we do cool stuff. I think that Swan School is a good good good school! You should come too!!
I love love love Swan School!!! Swan School is awesome!!!!!!!!!!
Your friend, Aila (1st grade)
Parents,
You might be wondering about what I like about Swan School. Well these are the things I like: P.E. because I get to play all sorts of games, I get to learn dances every year! Spanish is fun too. I get to play a game called Jeopardy; we learn a lot of Spanish there too. Art is fun also, we get to create our own projects and bring them home. Homeroom is fun too. We do certain projects and they are very very fun. So parents, bring your kids here now!
Your friend, Hayden (1st grade)
Dear Visitors,
Hello my name is Cassidy and I like Swan School so much because we have reading, math, Spanish, P.E., and art. And we study stuff such as: the rain forest, community cultures, landforms, and rocks. We have electives, I like electives because we do all these fun activities. We do a lot of things but I can't list them all. We have homeroom. Here are some of the things that we do in homeroom: water drops and posters. Everyone in Swan School is super nice.
Your friend, Cassidy (2nd grade)
Dear Visitors,
Swan School is a great place to be. There is "just right" math, lots and lots of books. There's spelling, penmanship, and more!! We have ways to solve problems without getting into fights. We do lots of projects so we don't get bored. We have lots of field trips such as O.P.I. (three days at Olympic Park Institute). Elective classes are really fun. Homework projects are fun, I repeat fun. And that is why so many kids love Swan School!!
Sincerely, Ben (3rd grade)
Dear Visitors,
Swan School is great because we get art, P.E., Spanish, keyboard (piano), violin, and choir. There are no bullies and lots of nice kids to play with. You will feel welcome and happy the very first day. My favorite thing at Swan School is we get to go to O.P.I. (Olympic Park Institute). We get to go on hikes and go canoeing. We stay 3 days and the food is great! Come to Swan School, it is awesome!
Sincerely, Spencer (4th grade)
Dear Visitors,
I think Swan School is great because we have an awesome playground and nice teachers. The teachers are: Loida, Marcy, Karen, Russ, and Melinda. Stacy is the P.E. teacher and Russ' aide. Loida is the Spanish teacher and she teaches the preschoolers. Diane is the art teacher. In art we don't just paint and draw, we make art out of wood, string, paper, and other things. I'm in Russ' class, he teaches 3rd and 4th grades (I'm in 4th) and I really like it because we have lots of great books. We even have mascots! We name them every year. Right now their names are Frizzy and Lizzy. I have been at Swan School for five years and I am glad I came. I hope you join.
Sincerely, Madelyn Fourth grade, Navigators class
The students in the Adventurer classroom used their skills with technology to create a marvelous video explaining what makes Swan School so special for them (and I'm sure that if you made it to their room during the open house you got to see it).
Listening to our children's words, looking inside at what they are truly saying, gives one the clear picture that those who experience it every day, love Swan School. Speaking for myself, when I look around at all the bad news that seems to be so prevalent everywhere else, I find Swan School a fresh breath of spring where stories bring smiles rather than anxiety.
I end with one final letter.
Dear Visitors,
I love Swan School because Russ is a very good director. There are also good teachers. You get to cook pizza and can sometimes bake a cake.
Your Friend, Matthew (1st grade)
I too am looking forward to that pizza and cake :-)
Russ