Eagle News 5-28-2019

The unseasonably rainy weather cooperated for long enough on Memorial Day that Laura and I were able to hike up to Pine Hollow Meadow from the Pine Hollow Trailhead in American Fork Canyon. A bit muddy and snowy in portions of the hike, but enjoyable nonetheless. Can you believe that some of the Utah ski mountains are still open as we enter the month of June? Indeed, it has been a wet winter and spring, which bodes well for local farmers and those who travel to area reservoirs in the summer for recreational opportunities.

Only three days of school left. Hard to believe! As we conclude our school year, I want thank the entire Alpine Elementary Community for all you have done to make the 2018 – 2019 year an excellent one. Our dedicated staff continues to make every effort to provide the learning opportunities that will enable all students achieve to their full potential. The key student achievement metrics of DIBELS and RISE assessments clearly indicate that we continue to make growth in our academic improvement goals.

Just a reminder that we will have an early dismissal, 10:35 am, on our final day of school, Thursday, May 30. We will be watching an end-of-year video on Thursday morning that has been prepared by third grade teacher Aubri Elder. Thank you Ms. Elder! I will send the video link to parents later this week.

We have just a few spots left in the 8:45-10:30am session of Chinese Club for children entering 4th, 5th or 6th grades.  The link to register is below.  Please note that payment of $75 per child must be submitted to the school before the end of the day on the last day of school so that Mrs. Hadlock can close out her accounting for the school year.  Please direct any questions to [email protected]

Check out the new pavers around our Reader Board in front of the school! For his Eagle Project, William Proctor and his work crew laid the pavers over the weekend. An aesthetic improvement in my opinion. Thank you William and Proctor family!

We say goodbye or until we see you again to the following staff members and wish them the best of luck in the next steps in their professional journeys:

Jill Adamson—One-Year Sabbatical

Jamee Bennett—PGJHS

Ranae Black—Manila Elementary

Annie Burr—Polaris High School

Sierra Charlesworth—Full-time mommy

Elizabeth Chase—Teacher on Administrative Assignment at Cedar Ridge and Traverse Elementary

Penny Gardner—Instructional Coach at Highland Elementary

Natalie Jackman—English Language Arts teacher at South Summit Middle School in Kamas, Utah

Margie Perkins—Will be returning to Alpine and working as a Teacher Aide until October 2019 before retiring

Fred Roberts—Full-time alpaca farmer, basketball coaching consultant and on-call substitute teacher

Natalie Schurter—Literacy coach at Westmore Elementary

Elise Teerlink—School Psychologist who has been assigned to other schools

Condita Washburn—Intern Partnership Facilitator at Vineyard Elementary

I am pleased to announce that Lori Qian (pronounced Chen) will be our second grade Chinese Partner Teacher next year. Lori grew up in Chicago and has Masters in Applied Linguistics from the University of Illinois. She has taught third grade and middle school Language Arts at the American International School of Guangzhou in China for 10 years. Lori is married to a man from the Chinese province of Hubei, and she speaks Mandarin, an added bonus in our Chinese Immersion Program, even though she will be the English Partner teacher replacing Ms. Bennett.

And we are still waiting for some visa paperwork to clear with the State of Utah so we can hire Rui Chen as our third grade Chinese Immersion teacher. Rui recently completed her Master’s in Education at the University of Southern California and has had a student teaching experience in Chinese Immersion at a high school in California. Rui, her husband and two sons are anxious to move to Utah.

So here is the Alpine Elementary staff for the 2019 – 2020 school year:

Colleen Aitchision—will teach a morning session

Lizzy Snyder—will teach a morning and afternoon session

Bridgette Bailey

Mykel Johnson

Connie Faux—Chinese Partner Teacher

Rebecca Liston—Chinese Teacher

Maureen Wallace

Lori Qian—Chinese Partner Teacher

Daphne Blodgett—Chinese Teacher

Amy Duke

Aubri Elder

Meilina Moore—Chinese Partner Teacher

Rui Chen—Chinese Teacher

Natalie Davies

Denise Keller

Maudie Vipperman—Chinese Partner Teacher

Anna Moore—Chinese Teacher

Mckayla Hill

Kaylin Padgett

Jonathan Horan—Chinese Partner Teacher

Kitty Weakley—Chinese Teacher

Katherine Kaczmarek

Megan Reyes

Mimi Monson—Chinese Partner Teacher

Sharon Kuo—Chinese Teacher

All specialty teachers in Library, Computer, Movement, Music and Movement remain the same and are returning.

We wish our sixth graders nothing but success as they transition to Middle School.

I hope that your Summer Break is filled with fun and ongoing learning opportunities for your students.  Be safe and remember to have your children read during their time away from school. And as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!