April 2020

The Alpine Elementary staff thought the April 22 parade through Alpine neighborhoods was a great success. As we all deal with a Groundhog Day Mentality of all the days seeming to be a repeat of the previous day, the parade was a nice change of pace and lifted the spirits of our staff in multiple ways. Thank you to the students and parents who cheered us on as we drove the parade route!

I am attaching a letter that all parents should have received last week from the Alpine School District informing you of important end-school-year dates.

Mrs. Ruesch sends the following information about Battle of the Books:

Battle of the Books Virtual Competition – May 4th-8th

All students who signed up to participate in Battle of the Books will receive an email from Mrs. Ruesch with the date, time and Google Meet link for their battle.

May 4 – 5th/6th Grade Battles

May 5 – 3rd/4th Grade Battles

May 6 – Top scoring teams will be posted on the library website. https://sites.google.com/alpinedistrict.org/alpineelementarylibrary/home If your student’s team is listed, they will receive an email from Mrs. Ruesch with the date, time and Google Meet link for their battle in the semi-finals.

May 7 – Semi-Final Battles Finalists will be posted on the library website after 4:00 pm. If your student’s team is listed, they will receive an email from Mrs. Ruesch with the date, time and Google Meet link for their battle in the finals.

May 8 – Final Battles for 1st and 2nd place
Final results will be posted on the library website after 1:00 pm.

Good luck to all our awesome readers, and feel free to contact Mrs. Ruesch at [email protected] if you have questions.

Outside the Principal’s Office.

I continue to deal with the after-effects of my April 20 bike accident. The road rash which covers all of my appendages heals with each passing day. The post concussive issues are my biggest challenges now. I still have blurred vision, headaches, drowsiness, and a general sense of a pervading brain fog encompassing me. Thank you for all of the well wishes. I hope to emerge from my current state of being in the coming days. Though I have no memory of my accident a week ago, one of our former parents posted the following on Facebook last Monday night:

Please don’t be alarmed by this post, I feel very fortunate to have only spent one night in the hospital and the mental fog caused by the concussion dissipates more and more with each passing day. I will be back in the saddle soon!

Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!

As we enter week five of the school closure, and after hearing last week from Governor Herbert that Utah schools will remain closed for the remainder of the school year, I’m sure there have been challenges at home as you encourage and help your students with their school work.

I have two daughters who received their teaching degrees and taught at the elementary and high school level before choosing to stay home with their children. And even these trained teachers have told me of the challenges they are facing helping their children with at-home learning. Our six-year-old grandson, Easton, told his mother this past week, a lady who taught at Provo High School for five years, that she was not as good of a teacher as his kindergarten teacher at Brookhaven Elementary in Eagle Mountain. Ah, the unexpected collateral damage of COVID-19!

I have attached a visual collage of the Alpine Elementary Staff telling our students how much we miss them. Thank you to our Social Committee of Mrs. Chen, Ms. Johnson, Ms. Lizzy (Snyder), and Mrs. Weakley for taking the time to assemble this awesome collage. You have one guess as to which staff member had the plainest most ordinary sign.

And because we miss our students so much, our staff is going to do a drive-through car parade in city of Alpine neighborhoods on Wednesday, April 22. The parade will start at the school at 10:00 am. I will send all parents a parade route on Tuesday, April 21. We are encouraging parents who live out of boundary, or will not have the parade passing by their homes, to park their vehicles at the school, Creekside Park or somewhere that the car parade is passing to wave and say hello to our staff, while observing social distancing guidelines. You will be getting more details about the parade on Tuesday.

After conferring with students who signed up to participate in Battle of the Books, Mrs. Ruesch and the students have decided to do a virtual Battle of the Books  May 4 – 8.

Each student will receive an email invite with a link to join their battle. Each team will participate in one battle. The top eight scoring teams will battle again to determine the top two scoring teams. Those teams will compete in one more battle for 1st and 2nd place. Any student who does not want to participate is not obligated. Please contact Mrs. Ruesch at [email protected] if you have any questions.

The Alpine Eagles Running Club will continue through May 22. Parents can email weekly miles ran to Colleen Hodgkinson at [email protected].

If you have questions or concerns about your student’s online learning expectations, please communicate with your child’s teacher.

Outside the Principal’s Office.

On April 19, 1980, I made the most important and best decision of my life when I married Laura Lynne Call in the Salt Lake City Temple. COVID-19 put the kibosh on our Spring Break plans to travel to Hawaii, but my ever-creative wife had a surprise anniversary date planned for us on Saturday, April 18. We took a daylong trip down memory lane visiting all of the important locations in Provo and surrounding areas that were a part of our courtship. We went to her student housing apartment (was Pinveview, now Glenwood Apartments), special spots on the BYU campus, Wendy’s on State Street in Orem, Bridal Veil Falls, Sundance Canyon, Lavell Edwards Stadium (it was Cougar Stadium in 1980), and of course the temple in SLC. At each spot, and they all have stories that I don’t have time to share, we took selfies (Laura has aged much more kindly than I have in 40 years), and did some journaling about our memories of that specific time and location. We will share the photos and journal entries with our children and grandchildren, hopefully, giving them something to smile about while being homebound because of COVID-19. It was one of the best dates we have ever had, even in this socially-distanced world!

Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!

I hope that all of the Alpine Elementary Community had a relaxing and healthy Spring Break. As we all do our best to follow social distancing guidelines, I am guessing your Spring Break was different from what you envisioned two months ago.

The Alpine School District recommends the following online homework guidelines for elementary age students:

K-3: 1-2 hours daily

4-6: 2-4 hour daily

If you have questions or concerns about your student’s online learning expectations, please communicate with your child’s teacher.

The Alpine School District is encouraging all employees, if possible, to work from home. Consequently, the main office will be closed until COVID-19 social distancing restrictions are lifted. Phone calls to the office will be forwarded to Office Assistant, Sheri Davis’s cell phone, enabling her to work from home.

We will continue to distribute free meals, both a breakfast and a lunch bag, Monday – Friday, 9:30 – 11:00 am, to all students in the Alpine School District. Alpine School District students can pick up free meals at any Alpine School District school. We have Chinese Immersion parents who live in other communities and transport their children to Alpine Elementary. Your student can get a free meal at the school closest to where you live, without having to travel to Alpine Elementary.

Congratulations on helping your students reach our school goal in the Million Minute Reading Marathon. Students reading for a million minutes is an incredible accomplishment!

Our school Social Worker, Gina Zupan ([email protected]), is available to meet with students remotely who are experiencing any mental health issues during these unprecedented times.

Alpine Elementary continues to receive 20% of the proceeds from Chick-Fil-A on designated Spirit Nights. And Monday, April 13 is the next Spirt Night at the Lehi-Pointe location.

Outside the Principal’s Office.

A 40-year wedding anniversary is milestone to be celebrated. Four decades ago, Laura and I were married in Salt Lake City after completing what seemed like a never-ending semester at BYU. We had planned on taking our first trip to Hawaii during Spring Break to celebrate the best 40 years of my life! (You would have to ask my wife if she agrees with that statement.) Needless to say, COVID-19 postponed those travel plans, but I was able to get some yardwork done, go on daily bike rides and spend uninterrupted time with my best friend over the break. Not Maui-like fun, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Undoubtedly, our new normal caused many of you to alter your original Spring Break plans as well. If you and your family continue to enjoy good health, and you are surrounded by those that you love, offer a prayer of gratitude and continue to press forward!

 Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!

Remember when Governor Herbert announced a “soft school closure” on March 13? Although he didn’t use the phrase “hard school closure” last week when he announced that all Utah schools would be closed until May 1, I think we have transitioned out of the “soft closure” phase.

Last week the Alpine School District made the decision to close all schools to the public, meaning that parents and/or students will no longer be allowed to come into any ASD school.

We will continue to distribute free meals, both a breakfast and a lunch bag, Monday – Friday, 9:30 – 11:00 am, to all students in the Alpine School District. Alpine School District students can pick up free meals at any Alpine School District school. I know we have Chinese Immersion parents who live in other communities and transport their children to Alpine Elementary. Your student can get a free meal at the school closest to where you live, without having to travel to Alpine Elementary.

April 6 – 10 will be our Spring Break. Online instruction will not be offered during Spring Break, and there will be no meal distribution.

During these uncertain and unprecedented times, we did receive some good news  last week. Alpine Elementary will have a half-time counselor next year. We are able to hire a counselor that will be split between our school and Westfield Elementary because of the Teacher Student and Success Act (TSSA). The Alpine School District, with School Community Council approval, has made the decision to spend TSSA funds on helping our students with their Social and Emotional Well-Being. Having worked with a full-time school counselor while I was a principal in Oregon, I am confident that a half-time counselor will be a great asset to our school!

You know your children better than anyone. Though we do encourage you to schedule “school time” each day, there is certainly no expectation to have students doing school work for six hours a day. We apologize for all the emails coming your way, but teachers need to communicate with your students. If you have questions or concerns about the online learning expectations, please communicate with your child’s teacher.

As we enter week three of the school closure, we encourage all parents and students to follow al social distancing guidelines.

Outside the Principal’s Office.

Are the days starting to blur together for you? During this school closure time, I sometimes have to ask myself what day of the week it is. Friday night date night for Laura and me has certainly changed as we decide what restaurant drive-through we want to experience, and then ask ourselves is there anything on Netflix we want to watch. This past Friday night, the choice was Cubby’s. It took us 42 minutes from the time we got into the long line of cars until we received our food. The line at Chick-Fil-A across the parking lot was even longer! COVID-19 has changed all of our lives in multiple ways!

Laura and I had an anniversary trip to Hawaii planned for Spring Break. That obviously won’t be happening. We will celebrate quietly at home grateful for the good health we continue to enjoy.

Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!