School Board Appreciation Week

On August 23rd at 6:00 pm. The Swallow School Board hosts their Budget Hearing and Annual Meeting.

Swallow Board President Scott announced this morning that the District has agreed to terms with Dr. Jill Ries to serve as Swallow’s Superintendent for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years.

The Swallow School Board is seeking to fill a vacancy on its Board created by the departure of member Haley Sweeney effective May 24, 2023. Those interested in being considered for this position should submit notice of their interest, in writing, to the Superintendent. Such notice of interest must be received by the Superintendent by Friday June 9, 2023 at 3pm.

The School Board has been deeply engaged in the process to identify a new Superintendent for Swallow School District. On May 15 the initial 18 candidate applications and video screening interviews were reviewed and six candidates were invited for in-person interviews. The Board conducted the first set of interviews on Thursday, May 18 and Friday, May 19, 2023. Those interviews assessed candidates utilizing the Key Characteristics identified in partnership with the Transition Committee.

Swallow is pleased to host a Celebrate Swallow Event and Fundraiser on Friday, June 2 from 3:30 - 7:00 pm. This event is open to the public and will feature: Tours of the school will be provided on the half hour. Get your piece of Swallow history! Purchase a brick from the 1894 building for $10! Donations of any amount will be taken for all artwork and athletic awards from years gone by Chick-Fil-A will be onsite with dinner available for purchase from 4 - 7 pm.

The Swallow School Student Council is pleased to be hosting a Blood Drive from 2-6pm Thursday, April 27, 2023.

The Swallow School District has hired McPherson & Jacobson, LLC to assist with the Superintendent Search process and appointed an Ad Hoc Transition Committee. Current Superintendent Melissa Thompson tendered her resignation in February.

Mike Hoida has been elected to the Swallow School Board. His new three-year term begins April 24, 2023 and runs through April 2026. This position has been filled by two-term Board member Peggy Moede, who did not seek re-election.

Do you have a rising 4K child? Are you a new resident family within the Swallow School District, or have you decided to send your already-resident children to Swallow?

Swallow is pleased to announce that 4K/New-to-Swallow 5K informational and enrollment processes are beginning in February.

The Wisconsin DPI announced that the Swallow School District earned a 92.6 and rating of Significantly Exceeds Expectations for the 2021-22 school year, making it the fourth best scoring District of 421 in the state, with subcategory scores of 93.8 for achievement, 83.1 for growth, 89.7 for target group outcomes, and 95.2 for on-track to graduation. District overall achievement in the sub-area of English-Language Arts was in the top 3 with a score of 92.4 and top 4 in the sub-area of Math with a score of 95.1.

November 7-16th Student Council is hosting the Annual Turkey Trot Fundraiser and Food Drive. The goal is to collect $1,250 to purchase 500 Thanksgiving Dinners and donate 500 canned good items to the Hartland Food Pantry.

On October 31, the Board of Education for the Swallow School District approved and authorized the tax levy of $4,889,863 to operate and maintain the District for 2022-23 school year. This tax levy is down $24,996 which equates to a 0.51% decrease from the previous year’s levy. The overall tax rate decreases from last year’s $4.94 per $1,000 of home value to $4.22, a decrease of 14.57%.

On Tuesday, October 4th, Swallow Middle School students went to the Waukesha County Expo center to attend the Waukesha County Business Alliance’s ‘Experience the Trades Expo’. Students walked around and were initially engaged by candy and door prizes, but candy was not the only takeaway! Hands-on experiences offered by each company in attendance provided valuable chances to learn about careers in the trades.

The Swallow School District received top rankings in the Milwaukee area as well as the state of Wisconsin from Niche.com for 2023. Swallow Elementary School is ranked #10 in Wisconsin out of nearly 1,100 schools while staff earned a 2nd place ranking. Swallow Middle School is ranked #7 in the state out of nearly 600 schools with staff also earning a 2nd place ranking. National rankings are just as impressive with staff ranking in the top 0.2% of all teachers in the country and school performance in the top 1%.

The Swallow School District is hiring four part-time aide positions to support students directly, daily substitutes, and long term substitutes for anticipated leaves of absence during the school year.

Registration will open for the 2022-23 school year is now open and fully online. Returning families and those new to the District who have already completed the enrollment process will receive an email with directions to assist in completing this process.

The Swallow School District's process to select flooring for the renovated spaces as a result of the 2018 referendum was featured in the June 2022 edition of Floor Focus magazine.

Alternative Open Enrollment Applications are now being accepted for the 2022-23 school year.

Registration will open for the 2022-23 school year on Monday, August 1. This year, registration will take place ONLINE and be paperless.

Mrs. Jackie Hagenow has been awarded a Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Fellowship Award. Hagenow is in her 32nd year teaching at Swallow School. She is one of 100 teachers around the state to be chosen for this honor. Fellowship recipients are educators who have been chosen for their superior ability to inspire a love of learning in their students, their ability to motivate others, and their leadership and service within and outside the classroom.

Kim Khoury and Haley Sweeney have been elected to the Swallow School Board. Their new three-year terms begin April 25, 2022 and run through April 2025. These two positions have been filled by Darin Clark and Greg Zimmerman, neither of whom sought re-election.

The District's semiannual in-home newsletter, Swallow in the Spotlight, is in resident mailboxes today. This Fall/Winter 2022 edition features updates on several recent student and District awards received, property tax rate information, Long Range planning, and innovative student guidance programming along with announcements for upcoming opportunities for engagement. Be sure to check out the next steps with the exciting lobby and history project!

The Wisconsin DPI announced that the Swallow School District earned a 96.9 and rating of Significantly Exceeds Expectations for the 2020-21 school year, making it the top scoring District in the state, with subcategory scores of 96.1 for achievement, 95.4 for growth, 100 for target group outcomes, and 95.6 for on-track to graduation.

The Swallow School District received top rankings in Wisconsin in the U.S. News and World Report’s inaugural ranking of elementary and middle schools. The middle school is ranked 5th in the state out of 562 middle schools and the elementary school 26th out of 1030 elementary schools across the state.

Swallow School been recognized as a 2020-21 Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Distinguished School as one of only 310 elementary schools and 158 middle schools across the U.S. to receive this honor for providing broad access to transformative learning opportunities for students through PLTW Launch and Gateway programs.

The Swallow School District was recently honored by the Wisconsin School Public Relations Association (WSPRA) with two Spectrum Awards of Excellence for its work in school communications in the Social Media Campaign and Website categories. A submission on behalf of the District by CG Schmidt for the Virtual Grand Opening also won in the Special Purpose/Publication category.

Kevin Scott and Wendy Szafranski have been elected to the Swallow School Board. Their new three-year terms begin April 26, 2021 and run through April 2024.

At the end of any given day, at the corner of County Roads E and K in Hartland, Wisconsin you'll see Custodian Jeffrey Grunwald, Superintendent Melissa Thompson, and Principal Adam Scanlan directing traffic and leading families safely out of their parking lot at Swallow School District. From 4K-8th-Grade... students, cars, and buses pour out - unless there are cows in the way!

Swallow has earned three 2020 Wisconsin Promising Practices in Character Education awards. Ten public schools in five school districts and one private academy qualified for the annual designation made by the Wisconsin Character Education Partnership (WCEP). The Promising Practice Designation provides an opportunity each year for WCEP to identify schools that have developed ongoing activities and programs that incorporate the school's core values and engage students, faculty, staff, and families.

The Swallow School District will host a virtual Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Wednesday, August 26 at 5pm via the District's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SwallowSchool). Due to COVID-19, this event will be live-streamed for the first portion, then viewers will be taken on a virtual tour of the spaces renovated as a result of the 2018 referendum approved by District taxpayers.

The Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials (WASBO) has selected Jeff Grunwald, Head Custodian/Maintenance, of the Swallow School District, as the recipient of one of four 2020 WASBO Custodian/Maintenance Professional of the Year awards. Grunwald is the recipient from the Southeast Region of Wisconsin.

On Thursday, December 5 Swallow was awarded a Bronze Level Wisconsin School Health Award by the Wisconsin Department of Instruction (DPI). This award is presented to schools who are recognized and celebrated for their efforts to enhance policies, programs, and the infrastructure to support and promote school wellness, healthy eating, physical activity, physical education, health education, family and community involvement, and staff wellness.

The Swallow School District was recently honored by the Wisconsin School Public Relations Association (WSPRA) with two Spectrum Awards of Excellence, as well a Best in Category, for its work in school communications.

The Wisconsin DPI announced that Swallow School earned a 91.4 and rating of Significantly Exceeds Expectations for the 2018-9 school year. The Swallow School District has earned the same score and rating and based on these measures and has the top score (10/10) for eighth-grade mathematics achievement in the state