May 2020

I’m sure the Alpine Elementary Community joins with me in celebrating the fact that we only have four days of school left in the 2019 – 2020 school year, a year that will be forever remembered as the COVID-19, worldwide pandemic, school closure for 10 weeks, school year.

Teachers submitted grades for the third trimester report card on Friday. If they haven’t already done so, your students’ teachers will communicate with you what is happening in these final days of school. Aren’t you all looking forward to a reduction in school-related emails in your Inbox?

Thank you to the many parents who expressed gratitude to the Alpine Elementary staff for the outstanding work they did during the school closure. I have had multiple parents talk to me about how grateful they are for the job our teachers have done for the past 10 weeks, often telling me stories of relatives or friends in other parts of the country or state who have not had the same type of online learning experience as our Alpine Elementary students.

In addition to our classroom teachers, I would like to thank our entire staff for a terrific school year. Our faculty includes teacher aides, Nutrition Services staff, specialty teachers, library, custodial, and office staff.  All of our school team showed flexibility and an ongoing focus on what is best for kids during the school closure. Thank you, Alpine Elementary faculty!

For those of you who are parents of seniors in high school, I know that the lack of formal commencement ceremonies is a disappointment to most students and parents. So along with our departing sixth graders, I pass on my congratulations to the students who transition in their educational journeys.

Tuesday, May 26 will be the final Grab and Go Meal day, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm.

Thanks to the hard work and organizational skills of Mr. Horan, we were able to hold Student Council elections remotely in recent weeks. We are grateful to all the students who ran for office and for their excellent efforts in the nomination and election process. Here are the sixth grade student officers for the 2020 – 21 school year. Congratulations!

President: London Wing

Vice President: Millie Greer

Secretary: Emma Swenson

Treasurer: Maya Jackson

If you didn’t get the chance to see our end-of-year slide show, produced by third grade teacher, Aubri Elder, here it is once again. Thank you so much Ms. Elder, for helping us all to have a sense of closure to a very unique school year!

Outside the Principal’s Office.

As hard as it is for me to believe, I am completing my 36^th year as an educator, 8 as a high school language arts teacher and basketball coach, and 28 as a high school and elementary school administrator. I am at a stage in my professional journey, where I can hang up my spurs whenever I want to, but I love my job as the principal at Alpine Elementary because of the students, parents and staff, and will continue to lead this great school for the foreseeable future.

Have a great Summer Break, enjoying quality family time, good health and safety. And as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!

During these unprecedented and uncertain times, I find strength and a sense of assurance in the consistency of nature. As I see trees bloom, grass turn green, weeds popup where not invited, and newborn lambs and calves calling out for their mothers in surrounding farmland, I am reminded that though much has changed in our lives, many things stay the same.

We should all have shouted hooray when on Friday, Governor Herbert, moved most of the state from a moderate (orange) to a low-risk (yellow) level for COVID-19 precautionary measures. You have to check ahead of time, but there are restaurants and other public places that are open to the public. We are making progress!

This will be a busy week:

Elder—9:00 – 10:00 am

M. Moore—10:00 – 11:00 am

Chen—11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Duke—12:30 – 1:30 pm

Parents of the award winners should have already been notified. The awards will be given out in front of the school.

Last week we told you that Chromebooks could be returned on May 19, 20 and 21. We have changed the return time to Tuesday and Wednesday. Please use the east roundabout to return Chromebooks. We will have staff members in the roundabout giving you directions.

Please completely charge the battery before returning the Chromebook.

Wipe down the power cord and all surfaces (including the screen) with a Clorox wipe. When you pull up a staff member will check the condition of the Chromebook and ask you to power it up.

If you have any questions, please contact Jaime Clement, the computer teacher.

Some parents are under the mistaken impression that school ends on May 12. Though that is the last day new online instruction, please know that May 13 – 22 will be used for review, interventions, assessment, and extensions. Your child’s teacher will be communicating with parents what will be happening with remote instruction for the last two weeks of school.

And though new online instruction concluded on May 12, we are still serving Grab and Go Meals. Our meal distribution numbers were down last week. Perhaps because parents thought meals weren’t being handed out after May 12.The final three days of Grab and Go Meals, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm, will be :

This week we will have boxes in front of the school for Box Tops, Take Home Reading and Library Books. Thank you for turning in these important items!

Outside the Principal’s Office.

I truly appreciate all the well-wishes that have come my way since my April 20 road biking accident. And though my wife and children are somewhat hesitant for me to resume riding up and down mountains, I have zero trepidation, and have been looking forward to rides more challenging than the Murdock Trail, the only place my wife has allowed me to bike for the past week that I have been riding once again. On Saturday, I rode from my home in Cedar Hills to the top of Suncrest and back. A doctor could not have prescribed a better post-accident activity for me. It was a joyous and glorious day back in the saddle! Alpine Loop next Saturday!

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

I hope you all had an enjoyable Mother’s Day. For those of you who are mothers, a child’s card, homemade breakfast, or sincere expression of love can make the challenges of entering week eight of homeschooling worth all of the time and effort.

Thank you to our librarian, Paula Ruesch, and her aide, Janece Thompson, for enabling our students to do Battle of the Books last week remotely. It was no small feat to organize and stage the battles. Our students were recognized for all of the reading they have done, and the BOB teams had fun in the activities facilitated by Paula and Janece. Thank you ladies! We congratulate all of the student participants! Here are the winning teams:

Ella Packer, Emily Tomkinson, Abbie Frazier, Maren Kofford & Dani Reynolds

Olivia Snow, McKinlay Cluff & Malyssa Moore

1st Place – Glitter Girls
Lillian Hsiao, Ruby Jones, Adrienne Bodily, Bailey Braden & Mollie Otis

Timmy Lyon, Tommy Lyon, Connor Hertig & Grady Zito

Brody Burr, Jacob Smith, Jane Rasmussen, Logan Sterzer & Alex Orgil

Anna Packer, Skylee Gunn, Zachary Fugal

As we all deal with school closures as a result of COVID-19, it would only make sense to cancel Staff Appreciation Week. But our incredible PTA went above and beyond to recognize our staff for all the great work they are doing. We all received an Amazon gift certificate and a cookie shaped like a bottle of hand sanitizer. How creative and cool is that? Additionally, several parents had gifts for staff members. I know I speak for our entire staff when I say thank you to our PTA and all of the parents who gave a gift to a staff member. We are grateful for your kindness and generosity for Staff Appreciation Week.

Some parents are under the mistaken impression that school ends on May 12. Though that is the last day new online instruction, please know that May 13 – 22 will be used for review, interventions, assessment, and extensions. Your child’s teacher will be communicating with parents what will be happening with remote instruction for the last two weeks of school.

We received quite a few Take Home Reading materials last week in the box that was placed in front of the school, but there are still Take Home Reading supplies in homes that need to be returned. Once again, a return box will be in front of the school all of this week.

Where: Northeast parking roundabout in front of the school

No appointment necessary – come anytime between 10:00 and 1:00.

Please completely charge the battery before you return it.

Wipe down the power cord and all surfaces (including the screen) with a Clorox wipe.

When you pull up a staff member will check the condition of the Chromebook and ask you to power it up.

If you have any questions, please contact Jaime Clement, the computer teacher.

Outside the Principal’s Office.

April 20 was when I had my bike accident. On Saturday, May 9 I went on my first bike ride since the accident, a 30-mile ride up to Vivian Park. I was chastised by my wife for going further than I was supposed to go. Though I have lost a lot of my fitness, it felt good to be back in the saddle again.

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

May has finally arrived! Is it just me, or did April seem like a long month? The month of April and the last two weeks of March are a time none of us will ever forget as we all deal with the effects of a worldwide pandemic. We are doing school in a different way, but I draw strength and optimism from the way our faculty and entire Alpine Elementary Community have responded in these unprecedented times. Continue to press forward!

If you want to make a teacher request for the 2020 – 2021 school year, you need to fill out the attached form, put the request in a sealed envelope, and put the envelope in the box that will be in front of the school, 9:00 – 12:00 pm, Monday – Friday, May 4 – 8.

There is also a box in front of the school for the return of all Take Home Reading materials. Please put the name of your student’s teacher on the Take Home Reading envelopes and baggies before returning them to the school. We need these materials returned ASAP. Thank you!

Our librarian, Mrs. Ruesch sends the following information about Battle of the Books that will be taking place this week, May 4 – 8.

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.

Even as our world has changed as we all deal with the effects of COVID-19, life goes on. Births, deaths and weddings continue to take place with much smaller gatherings of people. Haley Faux, a former teacher aide at Alpine Elementary, and the daughter of first grade teacher, Mrs. Faux, was married on May 2 before a small gathering of immediate family in the American Fork Canyon. Life goes on!

Four of our five children are building houses, starting new employment or moving to another state in the next month. It is almost as if our children, and many others throughout the world, are saying, “You have changed my life in many ways COVID-19, but I will not allow you to derail my life goals and dreams.”

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