Eagle News 1/24/2022

With the recent COVID spike, we are encouraging teachers to schedule online parent/teacher conferences the first week in February. If parents would prefer to meet in-person with their child’s teacher, you can still do so, but an online conference is encouraged during this pandemic resurgence. Teachers will be scheduling conferences with parents on Skyward. Contact your student’s teacher if you have any questions.

Some of you may have watched or listened to last week’s emergency school board meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss board plans for dealing with the recent COVID resurgence. As I listened to the meeting, my primary take away is that the Alpine School District School Board thinks that in-person learning for students is a much better option than online learning, and they are committed to making traditional in-person learning happen for the 80,000 students in the ASD while at the same time ensuring the health and safety of all children.

We are in need of a teacher aide to work in a 5^th grade classroom, 9:15 am – 2:15 pm, Monday – Friday. Please email Mr. Perdue if you are interested in a TA job or if you have any questions.

We recently received the Alpine School District results in the Assessment of Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL) that our 3^rd – 6^th grade Chinese Immersion students take each year. Check out our scores and how we compare with other Chinese Immersion Schools and all of the Dual Language Immersion (DLI) schools in the ASD. You will see that all of our Chinese Immersion teachers are doing incredible work, and our AAPPL scores compare very favorably with the other DLI schools in the ASD. Google tells me that gàn dé hÇŽo translates to well done in Mandarin. Gàn dé hÇŽo Alpine Elementary Chinese Immersion teachers!

Junior Achievement – We are grateful to all who have signed up to volunteer with the Junior Achievement program! The orientation meeting is today at 2:45 pm in the school library. Come sign a waiver, pick up your classroom kit and ask any questions of our JA representative Melanie Harker.

Dad Help Before School – The Alpine Elementary PTA is helping us round up some dad helpers (or grandfathers, uncles, or other dudes!) to help monitor outside the school while kids are out waiting to be let inside. We are looking for dads/dudes who can help monitor outside the school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8:45 to 9:15 am, starting tomorrow! Please sign up on this Google doc to help.

Chinese Lantern Festival – The PTA is hosting the school’s third annual Chinese Lantern Festival the week of February 7 – 11! Your student(s) should have brought home a flyer in the next day or so that explains the rules for creating a lantern. Lanterns are due back to your student’s homeroom by February 3. in time for the evening Chinese Lantern Festival Arts Night taking place February 7 from 6 to 8 pm. That night, we invite you and your families to come enjoy an evening celebrating the Chinese New Year. Come let your kids make fun Chinese arts and crafts, play games, and take a tour of the lanterns throughout the school! Also, we are looking for some extra help in classrooms that evening, and there are some one-hour shifts available (one shift from 6 to 7 pm and another from 7 to 8 pm). If you have an hour that night, we would greatly appreciate your help! Sign up here.

Note about COVID – Just a quick note about COVID. The evening celebration is an optional activity – feel free to come only if you are comfortable. We do suggest wearing masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. We will also continue to follow COVID safety protocols outlined by Alpine School District. If you have any concerns regarding these PTA-sponsored activities, please contact Suzanne Campbell, Alpine Elementary PTA President, at [email protected].

Kindergarten parents interested in applying to the first grade Chinese Immersion Program can go to the Alpine Elementary website and find both the application and an orientation video that replaces the orientation meeting we have had in previous years. Applications are due January 31.

Aaron Arkell-3rd grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek

Kennedy Burgess-Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison

Brynlee Cann-3rd grade, Mrs. Chen

Liam Casey-4th grade, Mrs. Vipperman

Lyla Ence-6th grade, Mrs. Hill

Livie Frazier-3rd grade, Mrs. Chen

Jonah Goodfellow-Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison

Mackenzie Jones-3rd grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek

Charlie Lind-4th grade, Ms. Moore

Timmy Lyon-5th grade, Mrs. Menssen

Sage Nielsen-1st grade, Ms. Johnson

Tristan Pontarelli-1st grade, Mrs. Faux

Benson Reynolds-1st grade, Mrs. Bailey

Ellie Slesk-6th grade, Ms. Kuo

Abe Woodman-5th grade, Mr. Horan

My wife is watching grandchildren in Oregon for 10 days while their parents are on a Caribbean cruise, so I am batching it at home. Fortunately, there were some very exciting NFL football games to watch on Saturday and Sunday. If you are an NFL fan, the four divisional games over the weekend were the best that I can ever remember. Hope your favorite team will be playing on Sunday for a chance to go to the Super Bowl.

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