Audition Notice: Spring Talent Show 2022
Dear Swan River Family,
Greetings from the music room! Auditions for the talent show are scheduled for Thursday, April 21st, right after school. The actual show is Thursday, May 12th at 1:30 (with a dress rehearsal on the 11th). Not everyone who auditions will be selected for the show. With that in mind, your student’s age-appropriate act should be almost “performance ready” for the audition.
On audition day, your student should:
- Be ready to go at 3:20; auditions are first come, first served
- Be prepared to perform the entire act
- Bring all props required for the performance
- Bring any background music required for the performance; I can provide background music if I know ahead of time
Thanks for your support and encouraging your child to participate in this exciting school event. If you need to contact me, please call me at school: 837-4528 during the day or email anytime: fuzesyb@swanriverschoolk-8.org.
Until next time,
Ms. Fuzesy music
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Swan River Swag is now available for pre-order!
Swan River Swag is now available for pre-order!
https://teamuptop.com/collections/swan-river
Pre-order is available until April 22nd and will take approximately 3 weeks to print after pre-order ends. Please let us know if you have any questions or need anything at all!
Thank you!
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Swan River School Newsletter
Stay connected with what is going on at the school through the Swan River School Newsletter. Written by our amazing and talented middle school students.
https://sites.google.com/swanriverschoolk-8.org/srs21-22newsletter/home
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2020-2021 School Supply Lists!
Yes, you read that right! It is time to start gathering those supplies for the 2020-2021 school year.
Kindergarten supplies
1st grade supplies
2nd grade supplies
3rd grade supplies
4th grade supplies
5th grade supplies
Middle School supplies
Ms. FitzPatrick’s supplies
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The Stories of Swan River School
View a collection of short documentary videos by the students of Mrs. Emslie’s 5th grade class (2018- 2019) at Swan River School in Montana. This project was made in collaboration with special guest, Mr. Ed Gillenwater.
Click here to watch!
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Closing Ceremonies: Concluding Thoughts
We now close our look at the 2012 education Olympiad and offer some concluding thoughts.
Again, 2012 may be somewhat outdated, but it was a special year in history when essentially all the major international, national, and local standardized tests were administered at more or less the same time. Those rare circumstances allowed for a cross analysis of these assessments, which yielded greater insight into comparisons about student achievement. That year also occurred at the height of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era in public education when our culture was fixated on standardized test scores.
It is very important to remember that this exercise in analysis and its conclusions, are only valuable to the extent one believes student achievement is measured exclusively by standardized test score results.
We looked at six categories, or events, that spanned three different subjects and two different grade levels. We learned that the USA, as a whole, would not have been very competitive against the top education nations in the world–failing to win or medal in any of the events. That conclusion aligns with the stigma often perpetuated during NCLB time–that our nation’s education was not measuring up. However, as a matter of new perspective, we considered the scenario of having Montana being the USA’s lone delegation to represent them in those six events. The result of that change in circumstances yielded significantly different results, with Montana medaling in three of the six events and finishing among the top nations in the world. We can thus conclude that while the USA, as a whole, may indeed have performed below expectations, that is not true of Montana. The final medal count is shown below and indicates Montana would be worthy of congratulations.
This same conclusion is also true of many individual states. On the next chart is a list of the general results had the same competitions included each of the fifty US states competing individually–not just Montana, alone. It should be noted that this additional change in circumstances basically doubles the amount of participants in the testing with roughly half of them being US states. In that scenario, there are some additional encouraging results. As an example, in 4th grade science, US states would’ve claimed seven of the top ten spots, and that jumps to nine of the top ten in 8th grade science. Even more outstanding is 4th grade reading, where US states also would’ve also taken nine of the top ten spots, including first place and sweeping the medals. Kudos to the many other US states for doing so well–many of whom would have fared just as well as Montana as the USA’s delegation in this Olympiad!
Since additional test results allowed for further extrapolation and projection at a more local level, there is still more remarkable insight comparing the world’s top nations in education with the USA, Montana, and even Swan River School. While a perfect science in this statistical analysis cannot be claimed, the results nevertheless showed at least the same pattern in each of the six events. The USA’s red performance bar was in each case the lowest. Montana’s blue performance bar was always higher than the USA’s. Moreover, Swan River School’s green performance bar was higher than Montana’s and near or surpassing the the black performance bar representing the world’s top nations. We can thus conclude that the quality of education in Montana was very good among US states. We can further conclude that within Montana, Swan River School’s education was also very good. Based on those results, it is possible to suggest that if Swan River School had been the USA’s delegation in the competition, our Warriors might have brought home four gold medals out of the six events. Outstanding!
Even though those events were only in three subjects and two grade levels, it is a great credit to all our teachers, staff, families and community–and not just in 2012, but throughout the many years before and since. In this same vein, Swan River School met the increasingly rigorous No Child Left Behind expectations for standardized test achievement for ten consecutive years–a remarkable accomplishment, which had been thought to be unattainable. It is also worth noting that several other schools in our valley likewise achieved that same status and recognition, and we feel honored to work alongside them and appreciate their high standards for education.
The sample size for our school is no doubt very small in comparison to whatever the sample size may have been for the other states and nations that participated in those standardized tests. The reality is, our school is so small that we generally do not talk in terms of numbers, because one student in a typically sized classroom for us represents about 6% of the total class. That 6%, or one student, is probably enough, in these analyses, to make the difference between first place and tenth place in the final standings. Hence, when we talk about student achievement at our school, the truth is we talk in terms of individual students rather than percentages.
The final conclusion, therefore, is great education happens at Swan River School! Our teachers deliver high quality instruction. Our students work hard at their learning. Our parents and families do much good in promoting the value of education. It is claim backed by the evidence presented in this educational Olympiad.
Now what? Do we rest on our laurels? Of course not. To us is presented the challenge of taking what is already a great school and figuring out how to make it even better. Furthermore, with the departure from NCLB and its exclusive emphasis on standardized test results, and with the implementation of its replacement, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states and local schools are empowered to redefine success and achievement in education.
At Swan River School, we embrace this challenge.
#srsgreat
This same conclusion is also true of many individual states. On the next chart is a list of the general results had the same competitions included each of the fifty US states competing individually–not just Montana, alone. It should be noted that this additional change in circumstances basically doubles the amount of participants in the testing with roughly half of them being US states. In that scenario, there are some additional encouraging results. As an example, in 4th grade science, US states would’ve claimed seven of the top ten spots, and that jumps to nine of the top ten in 8th grade science. Even more outstanding is 4th grade reading, where US states also would’ve also taken nine of the top ten spots, including first place and sweeping the medals. Kudos to the many other US states for doing so well–many of whom would have fared just as well as Montana as the USA’s delegation in this Olympiad!
Since additional test results allowed for further extrapolation and projection at a more local level, there is still more remarkable insight comparing the world’s top nations in education with the USA, Montana, and even Swan River School. While a perfect science in this statistical analysis cannot be claimed, the results nevertheless showed at least the same pattern in each of the six events. The USA’s red performance bar was in each case the lowest. Montana’s blue performance bar was always higher than the USA’s. Moreover, Swan River School’s green performance bar was higher than Montana’s and near or surpassing the the black performance bar representing the world’s top nations. We can thus conclude that the quality of education in Montana was very good among US states. We can further conclude that within Montana, Swan River School’s education was also very good. Based on those results, it is possible to suggest that if Swan River School had been the USA’s delegation in the competition, our Warriors might have brought home four gold medals out of the six events. Outstanding!
Even though those events were only in three subjects and two grade levels, it is a great credit to all our teachers, staff, families and community–and not just in 2012, but throughout the many years before and since. In this same vein, Swan River School met the increasingly rigorous No Child Left Behind expectations for standardized test achievement for ten consecutive years–a remarkable accomplishment, which had been thought to be unattainable. It is also worth noting that several other schools in our valley likewise achieved that same status and recognition, and we feel honored to work alongside them and appreciate their high standards for education.
The sample size for our school is no doubt very small in comparison to whatever the sample size may have been for the other states and nations that participated in those standardized tests. The reality is, our school is so small that we generally do not talk in terms of numbers, because one student in a typically sized classroom for us represents about 6% of the total class. That 6%, or one student, is probably enough, in these analyses, to make the difference between first place and tenth place in the final standings. Hence, when we talk about student achievement at our school, the truth is we talk in terms of individual students rather than percentages.
The final conclusion, therefore, is great education happens at Swan River School! Our teachers deliver high quality instruction. Our students work hard at their learning. Our parents and families do much good in promoting the value of education. It is claim backed by the evidence presented in this educational Olympiad.
Now what? Do we rest on our laurels? Of course not. To us is presented the challenge of taking what is already a great school and figuring out how to make it even better. Furthermore, with the departure from NCLB and its exclusive emphasis on standardized test results, and with the implementation of its replacement, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states and local schools are empowered to redefine success and achievement in education.
At Swan River School, we embrace this challenge.
#srsgreat
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Sixth Event: 8th Grade Science
Now for the final event of our worldwide education Olympiad, we have come to 8th grade science which shares some characteristics with the ski jump. In this event, competitors upon skis descend a long ramp to pick up speed before then ascending a short ramp that abruptly ends, thereby sending the ski jumper through the air. Like a bird gliding in flight, the athlete assumes a posture in the air that intends to take full advantage of aerodynamic properties in order to fly higher and farther than any other competitor. While ski jumpers are no doubt athletes, to an extent they are also scientists as they consider such factors as velocity, trajectory and wind resistance. By 8th grade, students have learned a significant amount of science content in the areas of earth, life and physical sciences.
The 2011 TIMSS provides data on 8th grade science results among nations across the world. On the left, we see the USA finishing 10th. Again, multiple states also took the TIMSS and top individual scores are placed on the center list. Note Massachusetts finished with the second highest score in the world. Montana was not one of the states that participated independently in the TIMSS, but Montana and Massachusetts both took the NAEP science test for 8th graders at about that same time. NAEP’s interpretation of the scores indicates that there was no significant difference between the results for Massachusetts and Montana on that 8th grade science test. Therefore, the list on the right depicts the results based on NAEP’s interpretation of scores and the hypothetical scenario of the USA having Montana as their only delegation in this event. In that scenario, Montana-USA would impressively finish second among nearly 60 nations in the world.
Your medal winners in 8th grade science are Singapore with gold, Montana-USA silver, and Chinese-Taipei bronze.
What about Swan River School? What if the USA delegation were even smaller than Montana and they could only send our Warriors to compete in this 8th grade science event? How might we do? Is there a way to possibly predict this? Well, using the MontCAS data allows for something of a data based guess at this. As you can see, the extrapolated green bar is most impressive in this case with Swan River School finishing with achievement scores an astounding 18% higher that Montana’s. Where Montana was already in the second place position in the world, this score that is 18% higher would propel Swan River far beyond Singapore’s TIMSS score and earn the Warriors a gold medal.
With that as the concluding event, we next look forward to our closing ceremonies and final thoughts.
#srsgreat
The 2011 TIMSS provides data on 8th grade science results among nations across the world. On the left, we see the USA finishing 10th. Again, multiple states also took the TIMSS and top individual scores are placed on the center list. Note Massachusetts finished with the second highest score in the world. Montana was not one of the states that participated independently in the TIMSS, but Montana and Massachusetts both took the NAEP science test for 8th graders at about that same time. NAEP’s interpretation of the scores indicates that there was no significant difference between the results for Massachusetts and Montana on that 8th grade science test. Therefore, the list on the right depicts the results based on NAEP’s interpretation of scores and the hypothetical scenario of the USA having Montana as their only delegation in this event. In that scenario, Montana-USA would impressively finish second among nearly 60 nations in the world.
Your medal winners in 8th grade science are Singapore with gold, Montana-USA silver, and Chinese-Taipei bronze.
What about Swan River School? What if the USA delegation were even smaller than Montana and they could only send our Warriors to compete in this 8th grade science event? How might we do? Is there a way to possibly predict this? Well, using the MontCAS data allows for something of a data based guess at this. As you can see, the extrapolated green bar is most impressive in this case with Swan River School finishing with achievement scores an astounding 18% higher that Montana’s. Where Montana was already in the second place position in the world, this score that is 18% higher would propel Swan River far beyond Singapore’s TIMSS score and earn the Warriors a gold medal.
With that as the concluding event, we next look forward to our closing ceremonies and final thoughts.
#srsgreat
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Fifth Event: 8th Grade Math
The fifth event is 8th grade math, which is something like alpine skiing. The assortment of skiing events includes bouncing through moguls, maneuvering around flags, flying off jumps, and rocketing very quickly down a mountain, all while maintaining balance. In 8th grade, math students bounce through algebra and geometry, maneuver in statistics and probability, fly through functions–rocketing through these many varied challenging math concepts as they prepare for high school.
Referring again to the TIMSS for 8th grade math scores, we see on the left that the USA ranks 9th in the world. The center list shows that several states took this same test independently, and four of their scores comprise the latter half of the top ten with Massachusetts finishing highest among them, at number six. Referring back to the NAEP scores for 8th grade math, the results again indicate that there was no significant difference between Massachusetts score and Montana’s. Here again, therefore, we see on the right the results as if Montana were the only state to represent the USA in this competition, and again, it is reasonable to conclude that in such a circumstance, Montana might have finished 6th in the world. That is a good effort, but not enough to win a medal.
On the podium for 8th grade math we have South Korea winning the gold medal, Singapore takes the silver, and the bronze goes to Chinese-Taipei.
How might Swan River School do in this event? MontCAS data from that year shows the our Warriors really delivered an epic performance, finishing an astounding 14% higher than Montana. The extrapolation for those results would seem to vault us even beyond South Korea into a first place finish.
Thus far, no medals for Montana-USA in the 8th grade portion of the events. Will that change in the final event, 8th grade science?
#srsgreat
Referring again to the TIMSS for 8th grade math scores, we see on the left that the USA ranks 9th in the world. The center list shows that several states took this same test independently, and four of their scores comprise the latter half of the top ten with Massachusetts finishing highest among them, at number six. Referring back to the NAEP scores for 8th grade math, the results again indicate that there was no significant difference between Massachusetts score and Montana’s. Here again, therefore, we see on the right the results as if Montana were the only state to represent the USA in this competition, and again, it is reasonable to conclude that in such a circumstance, Montana might have finished 6th in the world. That is a good effort, but not enough to win a medal.
On the podium for 8th grade math we have South Korea winning the gold medal, Singapore takes the silver, and the bronze goes to Chinese-Taipei.
How might Swan River School do in this event? MontCAS data from that year shows the our Warriors really delivered an epic performance, finishing an astounding 14% higher than Montana. The extrapolation for those results would seem to vault us even beyond South Korea into a first place finish.
Thus far, no medals for Montana-USA in the 8th grade portion of the events. Will that change in the final event, 8th grade science?
#srsgreat Related
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Fourth Event: 8th Grade Reading
The fourth event of the 2012 worldwide education Olympiad has us shift our focus from 4th grade to 8th grade. Let’s begin by looking at 8th grade reading. If 4th grade reading was like skeleton, we’ll liken 8th grade reading to a similar event, the bobsled. The Bobsled race is a team event and is the fastest of the sledding events. By 8th grade, students are zooming through text at an even faster rate than in 4th grade. They are more often working together as they navigate through increasingly more difficult text and at higher rates of fluency.
The 2011 PISA test results show on the left a disappointing 24th place finish for the USA in reading among students who are about one year removed from 8th grade. The center list includes individual states performance on the PISA, and of the few that participates, we note Massachusetts placed 6th in the world. Massachusetts also took the 8th grade reading NAEP test, as did Montana. The results of that NAEP test indicate no significant difference in the test scores of Massachusetts and Montana. Thus, if Montana were the lone state to represent the USA in this competition, it is reasonable to conclude that our state would have placed 6th in the world, as shown on the right That’s not good enough to make the podium, but it’s a far cry better than 24th in the world.
Your medal winners for 8th grade reading are Shanghai-China taking gold, Hong Kong the silver, and Singapore with bronze.
MontCAS test results from that same year allow for a glimpse of how Swan River School might fare were they the only representative in the competition. Here we see the green bar showing that our Warriors again outpaced Montana by 2%. It wouldn’t be enough to catch Shanghai-China, nor would it probably be enough to medal. However, as added insight, in more recent years, our 8th graders have performed exceptionally well on standardized reading tests, typically finishing about 10% higher than the average Montana score. That huge margin certainly would be enough to medal and surpass Shanghai-China for gold.
The next event up will be 8th grade math, which something like alpine skiing.
#srsgreat
The 2011 PISA test results show on the left a disappointing 24th place finish for the USA in reading among students who are about one year removed from 8th grade. The center list includes individual states performance on the PISA, and of the few that participates, we note Massachusetts placed 6th in the world. Massachusetts also took the 8th grade reading NAEP test, as did Montana. The results of that NAEP test indicate no significant difference in the test scores of Massachusetts and Montana. Thus, if Montana were the lone state to represent the USA in this competition, it is reasonable to conclude that our state would have placed 6th in the world, as shown on the right That’s not good enough to make the podium, but it’s a far cry better than 24th in the world.
Your medal winners for 8th grade reading are Shanghai-China taking gold, Hong Kong the silver, and Singapore with bronze.
MontCAS test results from that same year allow for a glimpse of how Swan River School might fare were they the only representative in the competition. Here we see the green bar showing that our Warriors again outpaced Montana by 2%. It wouldn’t be enough to catch Shanghai-China, nor would it probably be enough to medal. However, as added insight, in more recent years, our 8th graders have performed exceptionally well on standardized reading tests, typically finishing about 10% higher than the average Montana score. That huge margin certainly would be enough to medal and surpass Shanghai-China for gold.
The next event up will be 8th grade math, which something like alpine skiing.
#srsgreat