Mission

The mission of the Swanson Elementary School's staff and parents, based upon consensus of our educational family, is to place an equal amount of emphasis on a child's intellectual, social, physical and emotional development. We believe a student's educational needs are best served when a close and cooperative relationship exists between home and school. We feel this partnership fosters a positive environment for students to learn to make wise choices, solve problems, develop a positive work ethic, exhibit a joy from learning and build strong character for personal achievement and responsible citizenship.

Belief Statements

We believe children:
Thrive as learners in a positive, supportive, challenging environment
Require varied teaching styles
Need realistic goals to accommodate diverse abilities
Need meaningful experiences and opportunities to become productive
citizens and independent responsible learners

We believe our learning environment:
Includes school, home, and community
Communicates evidence of learning to teachers, students, parents and community
Encourages lifelong learning
Celebrates individual and group achievement and acknowledges personal growth
Accommodates learning styles
Encourages children to use their prior knowledge and natural curiosity to support their learning
Is outcome focused and process/product oriented
Recognizes the importance of all curriculum areas in the development of the whole child

We believe that a positive school climate:
Nurtures a child centered environment
Fosters honest communication based on trust and respect
Encourages collaboration and cooperation
Values diversity
Promotes equality through shared decision making

We believe that positive risk taking and problem solving:
Occur in a non threatening, supportive environment where we recognize
mistakes as part of the learning process
Need positive reinforcement and recognition
Create opportunities for students and adults to share ideas and model strategies
Provide a real life connection between making choices and accepting consequences