Eagle News 3/7/2022

Friday, March 11 will be a Minimal Day with students being dismissed at 12:45 pm. Lunch will be served to students who want a school lunch.

Last week, I was notified by school district administration that our 1^st – 6^th grade staffing for next year will remain the same. Four teachers, two Chinese and two non-Chinese at every grade level, except fifth, where there will only be one non-Chinese class. Fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Keller, is retiring and Mrs. Orgill will be moving back to fourth grade, and Ms. Dale will move from fifth to fourth grade. We will need to hire a second-grade teacher in the position vacated by Mrs. Orgill. All other teachers will remain at their current grade level assignments. Parents will have the opportunity to request a teacher in April.

Kindergarten registration continues until March 25. Go to the Alpine Elementary website https://alpine.alpineschools.org/ and you can register your next year’s kindergarten student online. Click on the Information tab at the top of the home page and you can find the online information.  Call the main office if you have any questions.

Unfortunately, we are only receiving staffing for two sections of kindergarten next year, as we have been staffed based on this year’s kindergarten enrollment. Originally, I thought that Mrs.  Aitchison would need to move to another school as Mrs. Malone taught the two sections of kindergarten, but in an amazing display of selflessness, Mrs. Malone is willing to reduce to a .5 teaching position so that Mrs. Aitchison can stay at Alpine Elementary and they can continue developing the very strong working relationship that they have. Mrs. Aitchison and Mrs. Malone would both like to teach morning kindergarten classes to enable better collaboration and the sharing of students for targeted interventions; however, Mrs. Aitchison will teach in the morning and Mrs. Malone in the afternoon if we have parents who need an afternoon kinder class. Please let us know if you need an afternoon kindergarten class. We are hopeful that we will have an increase in kindergarten enrollment to justify a return to two morning and one afternoon kindergarten class. The sooner we know what our kindergarten enrollment is going to be, the sooner we can determine how many kindergarten classes will be offered.

Parents can help us return items to students that leave personal items on the playground, coats, jackets, gloves, balls from home, lunch boxes, all items that are now piling up in our Lost and Found, especially on warm weather days. Please take the time to write your child’s name on their personal belongings.

The following students were recognized as Students of the Week on Friday, March 4. Teachers nominate students who are consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Being Respectful, Responsible and Ready to learn. Congratulations, Students of the Week!

Jaxon Ainsworth- 1st grade, Mrs. Faux

Charley Balser- 6th grade, Ms. Kuo

Kate Barlow- 4th grade, Mrs. Vipperman

Camila Booth- 6th grade, Mrs. Reyes

Massey Elder- 5th grade, Mrs. Menssen

Tyce Kirkham- 4th grade, Ms. Moore

Kimball Kraupp-1st grade, Ms. Johnson

Zephyr Lye- 2nd grade, Ms. Andersen

Solange Marquez- 4th grade, Mrs. Keller

William Murdoch- Kindergarten, Mrs. Malone

Crew Nelson- 5th grade, Mr. Horan

Elijah Phillips- 6th grade, Mrs. Reyes

Henry Stewart- 3rd grade, Ms. Elder

Paisley Walker- 6th grade, Mrs. Hill

Witt Willis- Kindergarten, Mrs. Malone

On Saturday, I watched our fourth-grade grandson’s Bantam basketball team lose a close game in the semi-finals of a tournament. Our grandson, Paxton, is one of the best players on his team and had spent the week sleeping with his basketball, with motivational sayings he had written himself, taped to his wall. A couple of many self-messages he posted on his wall. “You are a great basketball player.” “Be a leader even when it feels weird.”  After the game, Pax was devasted, sobbing to his mother, “Will I ever be a champion?” His father is his coach and our daughter played Division 1 basketball for two-years at Weber State, so they know what true champions are made of, and that champions are not always those who finish with the first-place trophy. Champions are made through hard work in the practice arena, their demeanor in the field of play, and how an individual deals with the losses in life that will always happen. Tough but valuable life lessons for a 10-year-old!

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