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Eagle News 3/30/2020

By Newsletters
Alpine Elementary News
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!
Dave Perdue, Principal
Alpine Elementary
Alpine School District

Eagle News 3/23/2020

By Newsletters
Alpine Elementary News
We enter week two of remote online learning and the never-ending tentacles of COVID-19. Can you believe how quickly our lives have changed in the past 10 days? This pandemic is impacting almost every facet of our everyday lives, including the way we do school. These are truly unprecedented times. Add an earthquake to the equation, and our world has literally been rocked, in more ways than one! Adversity and life challenges can bring out the best and the worst in people. And I have seen only the best from the Alpine Elementary faculty as they quickly mobilized to provide online instruction for your students. I am so proud and appreciative of the diligent efforts of our staff as they have quickly and without complaint figured out how to do school in a new way.
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. This online learning model is a work in progress.
I have attached flyers for a State of Utah Spirit Week that you and your children can participate in that will perhaps bring some joy and laughter to your homeschooling experience.
The big question is how long will the schools be closed. Over the weekend, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Sidnee Dickson, shared the following with Utah school leaders:
All of you are likely wondering how long we can expect to be in the situation of “soft closure;” meaning that most adults should be out of the building and students are learning at home. The COVID-19 Task Force, Utah Dept. of Health, and Governor Herbert continue to monitor and assess the risk and will provide formal guidance soon. In the meantime, I would encourage you to plan for continuation of out-of-school learning until further notice. We will be reassessing every two weeks; so rather than waiting until March 27 to determine next steps, I would encourage you to plan out an additional two weeks now. Staying ahead with lesson plans two weeks out will hopefully help you feel less anxious about a certain date of return, which at this point cannot be determined.
So parents only have to make one trip to the school, starting on Monday March 23, students can pick up a breakfast and lunch meal at the same time, 8:30 – 11:00 am, at the table set up by Nutrition Services by our front door. This meal service is provided to all students in the Alpine School District, including middle and high school students, free of charge. You can send your child or children to the school to pick up meals without a parent accompanying the student.

Please only send one student into the school to pick up meals so that we can follow social distancing protocols of no more than 10 people in a group, while maintaining a six foot distance between all individuals.

Also starting on Monday, our office will only be open 8:00 am – 12:00 pm.

This state was founded by a people, ancestors to some of you, who faced difficult challenges both in their migration west and in settling communities along the Wasatch Front. Faith and hard work enabled them to overcome the many trials they encountered. Those same attributes will enable us to successfully overcome all that this pandemic requires us to navigate. We will make it through these challenging times!

Outside the Principal’s Office.
Faith, family and exercise are my anchors during difficult times. All five of our children, their spouses and our grandchildren, like all Americans and people across the globe, have been impacted by COVID-19. Laura and I choose to be optimistic about future outcomes, even when there are questions about the health, job security and financial obligations of our family. Three times last week, I biked up to Pine Hollow Trail Head in American Fork Canyon, which is where the gate is locked and snowpack begins. As I pedaled up the mountain, I repeatedly said to myself, “Lead your family and school in love, faith and calm assurance that these trying times will make us all stronger, and that these difficult days will pass.” I truly believe that mantra!
Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal
Alpine Elementary
Alpine School District

Eagle News 3/15/2020

By Newsletters
Alpine Elementary News
I usually send out the Eagle News on Monday morning, but with the announcement on Friday by Governor Herbert that we will have a two-week “soft closure” of schools in the state, I wanted to communicate with parents what that means for our students at Alpine Elementary.
Teachers will be receiving training on Monday and Tuesday, March 16 and 17, on how to best provide online instruction to students. Teachers will communicate to parents before 4:00 pm on Tuesday what the online learning expectations are for students in their classes.
Parents will need to determine if they have sufficient devices at home to accommodate the teacher’s online learning expectations. Chromebooks grades 3 – 6, or iPads grades K – 2, can be checked out from the school. Your child’s teacher will tell you how that process is going to work.
The Alpine Elementary office will be open 8:30 am – 3:30 pm each school day during the two-week closure.
The school will be providing daily “Grab and Go” breakfast, 8:00 – 9:00 am, and lunch, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm for all students who want to come to the school grab a meal and leave. As “Grab and Go” plainly states, the meals will not be eaten at the school.
This is definitely a new way of doing school, but when the World Health Organization announces that COVID-19 is a worldwide pandemic that has swept into 114 countries, we all need to take the necessary precautions.
Whether or not the school closures extend beyond two weeks will be determined by Governor Herbert and those leaders on his team as they receive updated health information from medical experts.
If there are families in need of food or basic household necessities, please let me know. There are community resources available to those in need. If you or your children need something, we can help!
Battle of the Books competitions have been postponed but will rescheduled, meaning students will have more time to read their books, an excellent learning opportunity during the school closure!
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized last week for consistently demonstrating the 6 C’s: collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, citizenship and character.
Briggs Ballif–4th Grade, Mrs. Vipperman
Jaxton Bennett–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill
Camden Blackham–5th Grade, Mrs. Weakley
McKinlay Cluff–6th Grade, Mrs. Reyes
Addison Cook–3rd Grade, Ms. Elder
Gage Kirkham–5th Grade, Mr. Horan
Kate Larkin–3rd Grade, Ms. Moore
Abbie Menlove–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill
Sterling Raven–6th Grade, Mrs. Reyes
Jaxon Raven–5th Grade, Mrs. Padgett
Parker Rodman–2nd Grade, Mrs. Wallace
Chloe Rogerson–5th Grade, Mrs. Hill
Claire Seedall–6th Grade, Mrs. Monson
Grady Slesk–6th Grade, Ms. Kuo
Zia Taylor–5th Grade, Mrs. Weakley
Outside the Principal’s Office.
Yesterday, Laura and I went to see “Seussical” at the Hale Theater in Orem where one of our former students had one of the lead roles as he portrayed Horton the Elephant. A delightful performance! I continue to ride my bike and eat at my favorite restaurants. First time since my volunteer service in Guatemala 40 years ago, that I have not been watching any sporting events on TV on a March weekend. Amazing how much time I now have to do other things! And this morning, Laura and I had our own church services, which was truly a spiritual experience! Don’t know if I would be able to say the same thing when we had all five of our children at home. In short, I make daily life choices that bring me and my family joy and fulfillment, and encourage all of our parents to do the same. And I have not been to “ground zero”, the paper products aisle at Costco or Walmart, so life is good!
We all learn new things during challenging times. Though I have never heard the phrase before, I now know what “social distancing” is, and will do my best to not get into anyone else’s personal bubble. I continue to be optimistic that we will all successfully navigate this time frame of school closures.
 Have a great week, and remember even during a pandemic and in a world that has changed for all of us, it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal
Alpine Elementary
Alpine School District

Eagle News 3/9/2020

By Newsletters
Alpine Elementary News
This will be short week for your students. Monday, March 9 is a Professional Development Day for teachers, meaning that students have the day off from school. And Friday will be a Minimal Day with students being dismissed from school at 12:35 pm.
Monday night will be our Chick-Fil-A Spirit Night, 5:00 – 8:00 pm at the Lehi location. 20% of proceeds will go to Alpine Elementary.
We have reached 778,850 minutes in our Million Minute Reading Marathon!  Our goal is to hit the million-minute mark by the end of March. We can do it! Click Here to Log your reading minutes!  If you would prefer a paper copy to enter minutes, your child can get one in the library from Mrs. Ruesch. Keep reading!
We are all reading daily updates on the impact of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) across the world. This is the letter sent out to parents last week by the Alpine School District.
The Alpine Elementary School Community Council will be meeting 9:30 – 10:30 am on Thursday, March 12. The agenda is attached and any parent is welcome to attend.
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized last week for consistently demonstrating what we call the 6 C’s: collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, citizenship and character.
Piper Ainge–2nd Grade, Mrs. Blodgett
Charlotte Ashton–2nd Grade, Mrs. Wallace
Ruby Barrett–2nd Grade, Mrs. Andersen
Brynnlee Cann–1st Grade, Mrs. Liston
Hank Challis–2nd Grade, Mrs. Andersen
Sutton Fronce–1st Grade, Mrs. Faux
London Johnson–3rd Grade, Ms. Elder
Timmy Lyon–3rd Grade, Ms. Elder
Candace Mellor–4th Grade, Ms. Moore
Levi Moore–3rd Grade, Mrs. Chen
Ezra Nuttall–1st Grade, Ms. Tau Tau
Anna Packer–3rd Grade, Mrs. Chen
Brinley Raven–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill
Stella Eve Riding–1st Grade, Mrs. Faux
Joshua Zhou Fu–2nd Grade, Mrs. Blodgett
The winner of February Box Tops by a huge margin, almost 200 more than second place, is Mr. Horan’s class with 233 box tops! They will receive the yummy mint brownie dessert pizza sponsored from Pizza Pie Café, Alpine Location. That brings our box tops total to $602.50.
Outside the Principal’s Office.
43 years ago, while attending Ricks College, I went to an on-campus concert featuring the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The opening act that night was a young comedian named Steve Martin (prior to his Father of the Bride fame) who I remember being quite funny with his one-liners as he incorporated banjo play and creating balloon figures into his act. Saturday night, Laura and I watched Bright Star at the Hale Center Theater. The play, definitely not a comedy, was excellent with outstanding musical talent and a touching and engaging storyline. The playwright and musical composer? Steve Martin. Some would call that sequence of events serendipity.
Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal
Alpine Elementary
Alpine School District

Eagle News 3/2/2020

By Newsletters
Alpine Elementary News
Friday, March 6 will be the final day of the second trimester of school. Can you believe that is already March and we are 2/3’s of the way through the school year?
Our 4th graders will be performing their State of Utah program for parents at 9:30 am on Thursday, March 5 in the gymnasium. Later in the day, they will be performing in a school-wide assembly that begins at 2:30 pm.
We have reached 564,294 minutes in our Million Minute Reading Marathon!  Our goal is to hit the million-minute mark by the end of March. We can do it! Click Here to Log your reading minutes!  If you would prefer a paper copy to enter minutes, your child can get one in the library from Mrs. Ruesch. Keep reading!
Kindergarten registration week has arrived! If you will have a kindergartner for the 2020 – 2021 school year, we encourage you to register your student March 2 – 6. Kindergarten Registration materials will be available in our Main Office beginning today, March 2.
Many of our students have been participating in the Storytelling Contest over the past few weeks. Last week, two students were selected by adult judges to move forward to the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. The lower grade winner was second grader, Gage Sterzer, and the upper grade winner was fifth grader, Maggie Myers. The runner-up participants were third grader, Hattie Jones, and fourth grader Jane Rasmussen. Congratulations to all of our students who shared a story in the competition!
The Alpine School District has designated April 6 as the snow make-up day for the February 3 Snow Day.
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized last week for consistently demonstrating what we call the 6 C’s: collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, citizenship and character.
Taytem Adams–6th Grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek
Drake Anson–6th Grade, Mrs. Maczmarek
Kaci Beagley–1st Grade, Mrs. Faux
Charlotte Gerber–1st Grade, Mrs. Liston
James Gheciu–Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison
Lily Hancock–6th Grade, Mrs. Kuo
Connor Hertig–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill
Jacob Mercado–1st Grade, Mrs. Faux
Kennady Pack–5th Grade, Mrs. Weakley
Jane Rasmussen–4th Grade, Mrs. Keller
Jacey Robbins–5th Grade, Mrs. Padgett
Madison Sardoni–2nd Grade, Mrs. Wallace
Ella Smith–4th Grade, Mrs. Vipperman
Joshua Struchen–1st Grade, Mrs. Liston
Louella Zurcher–5th Grade, Mr. Horan
Outside the Principal’s Office
March roars in like a lion,
So fierce,
The wind so cold,
It seems to pierce.
The month rolls on
And Spring draws near,
And March goes out
Like a lamb so dear.
                          ~Lorie Hill
50-degree temperatures on February 29 and snow and cold wind on March 1 reminded me of this oft-repeated poem, and our Utah Valley weather. I was able to bike from our home in Cedar Hills to Vivian Park on Saturday afternoon. Just an FYI to you hikers and bikers, still quite a bit of snow and ice on the Provo River Canyon Trail from Bridal Veil Falls up to Vivian Park. I needed to get on Highway 89 for that portion of the ride.
Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal
Alpine Elementary

Eagle News 2/24/2020

By Newsletters
Alpine Elementary News
Our Internet Safety Week was a great success! The Hank Smith and NetSmartz assemblies provided our students with lot of great information about how to make good choices with electronic devices and Social Media. I hope parents were able to have some discussions at home with their children about the power, both positive and negative, of Social Media, and how screen time on electronic devices can be monitored at home. We appreciate all our PTA did to organize Internet Safety Week!
There will be a School Community Council meeting at 9:30 am on Tuesday, February 25. The SCC meeting agenda is attached and all parents are welcome to attend:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aAa1ChvfK487C0Z5klWIm6EqsZfBFXZXGHqUVaxG5i8/edit?usp=sharing
We have reached 500,000 minutes, half way to our goal, in our Million Minute Reading Marathon!  Click Here to Log your reading minutes!  If you would prefer a paper copy to enter minutes, your child can get one in the library from Mrs. Ruesch. Keep reading!
This is the final week, deadline February 28, to make application to our first grade Chinese Immersion Program. Here is the application. link:  https://forms.gle/vKuYYrFf5KGrqFWv7
If you will have a kindergartner for the 2020 – 2021 school year, we encourage you to register your student March 2 – 6. Kindergarten Registration materials will be available in our Main Office beginning March 2.
If you haven’t already heard, April 6 will be the day that we make-up the February 3 Snow Day.
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized last week for consistently demonstrating what we call the 6 C’s: collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, citizenship and character.
Zander Allen–2nd Grade, Mrs. Andersen
Lila Crawley–1st Grade, Mrs. Liston
Reese Davidson–1st Grade, Mrs. Faux
Allie Gardner–2nd Grade, Mrs. Blodgett
Grace Hancock–Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison
Miles Hogan–1st Grade, Mrs. Faux
Luke Johnson–1st Grade, Mrs. Liston
Sean Kelly–6th Grade, Mrs. Monson
Evan Luby–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill
Audrey McCann–2nd Grade, Mrs. Andersen
Sam Petty–2nd Grade, Mrs. Wallace
Rebecca Schmidt–6th Grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek
Ellie Slesk–4th Grade, Ms. Moore
Grace Verzello–Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison
Zane Vigil–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill
Outside the Principal’s Office.
Saturday night was a great night to be a BYU basketball fan as the Cougs defeated on Senior Night, and the last home game of the year, the number-two ranked team in the country, Gonzaga. Four of our children are BYU grads, and the other is a BYU-Idaho graduate. And of course, our children grew up seeing and hearing me being an enthusiastic BYU supporter for the past 40 years. That family culture was evident Saturday night during the game as we, minus the BYU-I grad, were all texting each other about the ebb and flows of the game.  We had a son at the game, and children in Beaverton, Oregon, Eagle Mountain, and Rapid City, SD all cheering on the Cougars while communicating with each other electronically. Laura and I were babysitting our 18-month granddaughter (fortunately she was asleep in her crib for most of the game) as her parents went to the game. The exciting game and victory, combined with the family texts, made for a fun Saturday night. But I am guessing there were many of you who like our one daughter and daughter-in-law, have no interest in BYU sports whatsoever, and find other things to do with your time on a Saturday night.
Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal
Alpine Elementary

Eagle News 2/17/2020

By Newsletters
Alpine Elementary News
Our PTA has planned a great Internet Safety Week (formerly known as White Ribbon Week) for students and staff. We are excited to have well-known motivational speaker, Hank Smith, speak to our students about the importance of kindness on Tuesday. And we will have two NetSmartz assemblies on Wednesday. I have attached the Internet Safety Week plan that our PTA has developed, which includes some At-Home Challenges for students and parents.
We have reached 400,000 minutes in our Million Minute Reading Marathon!  Click Here to Log your reading minutes!  If you would prefer a paper copy to enter minutes, your child can get one in the library from Mrs. Ruesch. Keep reading!
The online application process for the first grade Chinese Immersion Program is now open and applications will be accepted until February 28. Here is the link:  https://forms.gle/vKuYYrFf5KGrqFWv7
If you will have a kindergartner for the 2020 – 2021 school year, we encourage you to register your student the first week of March. Kindergarten Registration materials will be available in our Main Office beginning March 1.
If you haven’t already heard, April 6 will be the day that we make-up the February 3 Snow Day.
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized last week for consistently demonstrating what we call the 6 C’s: collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, citizenship and character.
Eliana Batchelor–3rd Grade, Ms. Elder
Tate Beal–5th Grade, Mrs. Weakley
Aiden Cluff–5th Grade, Mrs. Padgett
Juan Amor Garcia–5th Grade, Mrs. Hill
Olivia Heise–2nd Grade, Mrs. Wallace
Dallin Layton–6th Grade, Mrs. Reyes
Maverick Mantz–6th Grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek
Austin Nielsen–4th Grade, Mrs. Keller
Lexie Orgill–4th Grade, Ms. Moore
James Riding–5th Grade, Mr. Horan
Colin Spigarelli–3rd Grade, Ms. Elder
Jordan Struchen–6th Grade, Ms. Kuo
Jaxon Struchen–3rd Grade, Ms. Moore
Alton White–6th Grade, Mrs. Reyes
Grady Zito–4th Grade, Mrs. Vipperman
Outside the Principal’s Office
After weeks of riding the stationary bike in the gym, it was nice to bike Snow Canyon near St. George last Thursday afternoon. As I was pedaling out of the park, and the steepest part of the ride, toward Highway 18, the road from St. George to Veyo, I heard someone behind me say, “To your left.” And two gentlemen, I’m guessing in their 70’s, easily passed me as they were “pedaling” their electric bikes up the steep incline. A bit of a blow to my pride, but not enough that I want to trade in my road bike for an electric bike.
I debated internally whether to share the following, but I imagine the news will eventually get out somehow. At the statewide Utah Association of Elementary School Principals (UAESP) Conference that I attended in St. George last week, I was recognized as the state of Utah Elementary Principal Mentor of the Year. To be voted by my elementary principal peers as the school district honoree was recognition enough for me, but to win the statewide award was very humbling and unexpected.
Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal

Eagle News 2/10/2020

By Newsletters
Alpine Elementary News
Thank you to all of our parents who attended Parent/Teacher Conferences last week. We are also appreciative to everyone who visited our Book Fair and for all of the grandparents and special guests who came to our school on Grandparent Day.
Tonight, February 10, 5:00 – 8:00 pm is our Chick-Fil-A Spirit Night. Just mention Alpine Elementary and 20% of what you pay for your meal will come back to Alpine Elementary.
We have reached 250,000 minutes in our Million Minute Reading Marathon!  Click Here to Log your reading minutes!  If you would prefer a paper copy to enter minutes, your child can get one in the library from Mrs. Ruesch. Keep reading!
The online application process for the first grade Chinese Immersion Program is now open and applications will be accepted until February 28. Here is the link:  https://forms.gle/vKuYYrFf5KGrqFWv7
Last Thursday, the snow, wind and low temperature resulted in a day of no outside recess. The sensation of cabin fever sets in, nerves are frayed, it is more difficult to focus on the desired learning objectives, each minute of the day seems longer and there is more attention focused on the clock, and many are “climbing the walls.” Not to mention the fact that the kids also want to go outside:)
Mrs. Orgill’s class was January’s Box Top winner with 126 box tops!  The 4th graders in Mrs. Orgill’s class will get a pizza party, which is generously donated by Eckes Paving!
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized last week for consistently demonstrating what we call the 6 C’s: collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, citizenship and character.
Oscar Ainge–6th Grade, Mrs. Monson
Neil Alexander–3rd Grade, Mrs. Duke
Alivia Barnes–4th Grade, Mrs. Vipperman
Spencer Bergquist–1st Grade, Ms. Johnson
Noah Goeckeritz–6th Grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek
Emery Goeckeritz–5th Grade, Mr. Horan
Eliza Hill–6th Grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek
Hallie Luby–6th Grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek
Ryker Nielsen–1st Grade, Ms. Johnson
Kael Owens–6th Grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek
Katie Proctor–4th Grade, Ms. Moore
Lizzie Pusey–5th Grade, Mrs. Weakley
Chloe Shephard–1st Grade, Mrs. Bailey
Violet Walker–1st Grade, Mrs. Bailey
Deakon Zentner–3rd Grade, Mrs. Duke
Outside the Principal’s Office
Anyone else besides me starting to get Spring Fever? I go to the gym almost daily to exercise, but the stationary bike is not the same as riding my bike in American Fork Canyon or other parts of the Utah Valley. Certainly, the recent snowfall is needed to increase the snowpack, fill up reservoirs, and meet the demand of summer water needs along the Wasatch Front, but I am anxious to bike the Alpine Loop as winter turns into spring.
Each year, as part of my evaluation process, I survey teachers, parents and one grade level (5th grade this year) of students. I have attached the results of the recent surveys.
Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal

Eagle News 2/3/2020

By Newsletters
Eagle News
As I write this at Alpine Elementary this morning, I can hear the shouts of glee from your children after hearing from you or some other source the two words that brings joy to any child’s heart: Snow day! I hope your children enjoy their day away from school.
I attended BYU when Andy Reid played football for the Cougars, so I was happy to see Coach Reid and his Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl yesterday.
I saw several Alpine Elementary students and parents Saturday night in the Marriott Center at the BYU vs. St. Mary’s basketball game, and what an exciting game it was, as the Cougars prevailed in a heart thumper!
It is our “Welcome to the Jungle” Book Fair week. Don’t forget that Tuesday, February 4 is Grandparent Day. Grandparents or other guests can come to the school and meet students in the library to attend the Book Fair.
If you haven’t signed up for Parent/Teacher Conferences, please do so on Skyward. I have attached instructions on how to sign up. We look forward to having all parents meeting with their student’s teachers.
Before or after your teacher conference you can eat at the Pizza Pie Cafe this week, February 3 – 6, mention Alpine Elementary, and 25% of your purchase will come back to our school!
In our Million Minute Reading Marathon, we have reached 75,074 minutes with only 62 submitting their minutes!! That’s amazing! Just think of how far we can get if we have everyone enter their minutes!! If you were not able to enter your minutes the first week of our reading marathon, you can combine the first two weeks in this entry. Here is the link to enter your minutes. https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd6eSuA-gUbxL-34syxaH8dUpx9W_E_Efl7wptMpq8AJr_VLQ/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1__;!!P-Vt7t5jJSrPd9zQ!_BfdJ1fby9BWjMQ6cB227XC7Ak_gMTE8mvHV_NGifNNQ_wGGDQ7yBZ4arRG0fwpywP1V$ If you would prefer to use a paper copy to enter minutes, your child can get one in the library from Mrs. Ruesch.
There will be a PTA Meeting Thursday, February 6, at 9:15 am in the Staff Room. All are welcome!
Thank you to Bianca Collings and Erin Stanley for helping with all of the Missoula Children’s Theater logistics last week. And a special shout out to the Hamilton family for hosting the MCT directors at your home. We are grateful that over 60 students had the opportunity while performing in “Jack and the Beanstalk” to experience in five short days all that is involved in preparing for and staging a play: memorization of lines and songs, choreography, costumes, makeup, hitting your marks and stage presence. Well done student performers and student production assistants!
Sometimes kids say or write the darndest things. One of our teachers told me that last week she did a 100-days in school (January 27 was our 100th day in school) writing activity in her first-grade class and asked her students to write what they thought they would be doing when they were a 100-years old. One little boy wrote: When I am 100-years old I want to own a Tesla, have a wife and live at home. Isn’t it good to have long-term goals in life?
The online application process for first grade Chinese Immersion is now open and applications will be accepted until February 28. Here is the link:  https://forms.gle/vKuYYrFf5KGrqFWv7
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized for consistently demonstrating what we call the 6 C’s: collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, citizenship and character.
Michael Chi–6th Grade, Mrs. Monson
Eleanor Fleming–3rd Grade, Mrs. Chen
Gracie Gillespie–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill
Evie Hansen–2nd Grade, Mrs. Andersen
Jackson Hebbert–Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison
Lillian Hsiao–4th Grade, Mrs. Vipperman
Jeni Morris–5th Grade, Mrs. Hill
Rachel Proctor–2nd Grade, Mrs. Blodgett
Jacob Pusey–2nd Grade, Mrs. Andersen
Landon Reynolds–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill
Zarina Taylor–3rd Grade, Ms. Moore
Miles Taylor–2nd Grade, Mrs. Blodgett
Rome Verzello–3rd Grade, Mrs. Duke
Miles Walker–2nd Grade, Mrs. Wallace
Jaxx Wing–3rd Grade, Mrs. Duke
Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal

Eagle News 1/27/2020

By Newsletters
My wife is currently in Southern California with our daughter, son-in-law and their three children for a long-anticipated trip to Disneyland. Today was supposed to be their first day in the “Happiest Place on Earth”, but my wife will be staying in the hotel room with our 6-year-old grandson who started vomiting at 2:00 am this morning. Life never goes as planned, as we saw yesterday with the tragic passing of NBA legend, Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and seven other individuals.
This is Missoula Children’s Theater performance week. The students who will be participating in Jack in the Beanstalk have already been notified and will be rehearsing in our gym after school Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with a rehearsal at Timberline on Thursday. The students will perform at Timberline Middle School at 7:00 pm on Friday night and 11:00 am on Saturday.
We appreciate all of the parents who attended our Chinese New Year and Lantern Festival celebration on January 23. Special thanks to Suzanne Campbell and other PTA volunteers who helped organize the lantern festival. Our Chinese Immersion program gives Alpine Elementary a culturally rich international learning experience, both for students and parents.
We had a large turnout at our January 22 Parent Informational Meeting for parents interested in applying for admission for first graders into our Chinese Immersion Program. Please remember that the online application will open on February 1 and close on February 28. Parents will be notified by March 13 if their student has been accepted into the program.
Registration for the Alpine Elementary Inclusion Preschool for next year will open January 28 at 10:00 am  alpineschools.org/preschool/.
Hopefully, you have heard from your student about our Million Minute Reading Marathon. The goal is for our students to accumulated a million minutes of reading time. We need every parent to enter each student’s weekly reading minutes. The link provided is four simple questions. Please determine with you student(s) how many personal minutes read, listen to, or on any reading apps. Fill out the form for each student.  Also determine how many minutes your family read and listened to and enter them only one time per week. You will want to divide among siblings the family minutes. If you would like a paper tracker they will be in the library. Thank you we know this might take a few minutes of your time to add up minutes and enter minutes, but it will be amazing when meet our goal of 1 million minutes!
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized the week prior to the Holiday Break for consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Responsibility, Respect and Readiness to Learn.
Sage Bolen–1st Grade, Mrs. Faux
Clara Domike–1st Grade, Mrs. Liston
Nikki Hughes–1st Grade, Mrs. Faux
Brooklyn Jones–6th Grade, Mrs. Reyes
Tom Lacey–1st Grade, Mrs. Liston
Ella Locke–2nd Grade, Mrs. Wallace
Berkley Nelson–1st Grade, Mrs. Liston
Eleanor Oldroyd–1st Grade, Ms. Johnson
Brooklyn Proctor–6th Grade, Mrs. Kuo
Eva Rawlings–5th Grade, Mrs. Weakley
Avery Spigarelli–5th Grade, Mrs. Hill
Avery Taylor–5th Grade, Mrs. Padgett
Vienna Wickens–6th Grade, Mrs. Reyes
Brynlee Wood–5th Grade, Mr. Horan
Vincent Xanthos–1st Grade, Mrs. Faux
Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal