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Later this week most of us will gather with family and friends to eat a delicious meal and reflect on all that we are thankful for. And though I daily give thanks for all that I have been blessed with, this holiday season helps me to reflect on all that brings joy and meaning into my life: a faith that serves as my anchor and lodestar, a beautiful wife who is my best friend, five adult children and their spouses who are happy and healthy, 13 grandchildren, good health, and the opportunity to work at Alpine Elementary with a dedicated staff, kind and motivated students and supportive parents.
Our annual Candlelight School Coin Drive brings into clearer focus all that makes the Alpine Elementary Community so special, and for that reality, I am very grateful! In five days, we raised at least $10,410! I say “at least” because there is still money to be counted. Check out the past four-year Coin Drive contribution totals:
2016 – 17 $7,500
2017 – 18 $8,245
2018 – 19 $9,170
2019 – 20 $10,410
And once again, our Nutrition Services ladies, Whitney Wilson, Shirleen Jenks, Gina Lye and Tina Gast, modeled what it means to dig deep and generously give to a worthy cause. These ladies don’t give to be recognized, and I won’t embarrass them by giving you the total amount, but I will simply say these ladies gave a significant portion of the total amount contributed. Every year, Whitney Wilson tells me the Coin Drive Week is their favorite week of the year. Our Nutrition Services staff truly walk the talk!
I heard multiple Coin Drive stories that warm my heart and make me grateful for the students that attend our school. Kindergarten teacher, Colleen Aitchison, shares the following:
The kids were putting their coins in the can and I had one student bring 3 baggies full of coins and dollars. I said “Wow you sure brought a lot of coins today.” He told me that he brought all of his lemonade stand money from the summer so that the kids in Africa could have lunch.
And on a post-it note in one of the coin cans, a little girl wrote:
Im giving all the Qurters In my bangk because it fells like the rite thing to do.
From the mouth of babes! I thank all of the Alpine Elementary Community for their generosity and for doing the right thing last week!
The month is almost over, so keep clipping those Box Tops for our November contest deadline, which is November 27th. Treats are being generously donated by Sun Haven Tanning and Salon located at 238 E. State St. in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Check out their website: sunhaventan.us! They have been voted #1 tanning salon in Utah for 3 years! And they offer more than just tanning, they offer microblading, eyelash extensions and waxing services, also. Just text the word “Start” to (801) 285-9210 and you will get a free tan! Thanks, Sun Haven!
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized last week for consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Responsibility, Respect and Readiness to Learn.
Leah Christensen–5th Grade, Mrs. Weakley
Brooke Christoffersen–6th Grade, Mrs. Monson
Nolan Crawley–4th Grade, Mrs. Vipperman
Eliza Gooch–4th Grade, Mrs. Vipperman
Millie Greer–5th Grade, Mrs. Padgett
Jaxon Larkin–2nd Grade, Mrs. Wallace
Madi Morris–5th Grade, Mrs. Hill
Lincoln Peay–6th Grade, Ms. Kuo
Emerson Reynolds–1st Grade, Ms. Johnson
Ella Turner–6th Grade, Mrs. Reyes
Mia Wallace–6th Grade, Mrs. Reyes
Lexi Wing–1st Grade, Ms. Johnson
I hope that all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. Be safe in your travels, express love for those closest to you and give thanks for all that is yours!
Dave Perdue, Principal
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Elementary school students can sometimes try an educator’s patience with the things they say, do, or not do in the school setting. But if we look and listen, there are daily nuggets of joy and gratitude that students will bring into our lives. I recently experienced one of those moments when I was observing one of our teachers. Her students were seated in a circle on the carpet participating in a “Math Battle” where two students would stand up, receive a multiplication problem from the teacher, and the student who answered the math fact equation first and correctly continued standing to battle the next student who would stand to battle. In one battle, the student who had won several consecutive battles, barely beat with the correct answer another student. The student, a boy, lost the battle sat down a bit dejected, and a girl who was sitting in the circle opposite the boy, gave him two thumbs up, smiled brightly, and mouthed the words, “Good job!” The boy smiled. I’m sure feeling a little better about himself. The boy is a student who doesn’t always want to come to school and is trying to find his place in his grade level social circle. The little girl certainly doesn’t know all that the teacher and I know about the boy’s struggles, but she knew enough on that day to reach out to someone in need, and though the students in the room didn’t see it, there was a principal with a tear in his eye observing that simple act of kindness. On that day, in that classroom, during that learning activity, one little girl showed me, and more importantly a boy who needed some positive feedback, that there is love and kindness all around us if we take the time to simply notice. Our students can teach us all valuable life lessons if we will look, listen and feel!
And speaking of acts of kindness, the Alpine Elementary Community has the opportunity this week to participate in our annual Candlelight School Coin Drive! Each year we send our donations to the Candlelight School in Nairobi, Kenya and the money donated helps purchase rice and beans to feed the students. We ask any families that can help to donate.
Monday—Pennies
Tuesday—Nickels
Wednesday—Dimes
Thursday—Quarters
Friday—All types of money
Our community donated over 300 blankets during the two-week Blanket Drive! Thank you for your kindness. There will be many homeless people along the Wasatch Front grateful for a blanket to keep them warm during the cold winter months. Once again, the Alpine Elementary Community demonstrates their willingness to help those in need.
The month is almost over, so keep clipping those Box Tops for our November contest deadline, which is November 27th. Treats are being generously donated by Sun Haven Tanning and Salon located at 238 E. State St. in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Check out their website: sunhaventan.us! They have been voted #1 tanning salon in Utah for 3 years! And they offer more than just tanning, they offer microblading, eyelash extensions and waxing services, also. Just text the word “Start” to (801) 285-9210 and you will get a free tan! Thanks, Sun Haven!
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized last week for consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Responsibility, Respect and Readiness to Learn.
Hallie Alire–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill
Jordan Anderson–1st Grade, Mrs. Faux
Bria Basil–5th Grade, Mrs. Hill
Brady Beck–3rd Grade, Elder
Adrienne Bodily–4th Grade, A. Moore
Anna Rose Cox–1st Grade, Mrs. Faux
Elin DeGroot–1st Grade, Mrs. Liston
Ruby Jones–4th Grade, Mrs. Vipperman
Katie Kitchel–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill
Noah Larsen–1st Grade, Mrs. Liston
Collins Nelson–1st Grade, Mrs. Faux
Quincy Peper–5th Grade, Mr. Horan
Daniel Snow–4th Grade, Mrs. Vipperman
Benson Wood–1st Grade, Mrs. Liston
Calvin Wood–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill
Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal
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A warm enough day in November to ride your bike up the Provo Canyon to Vivian Park is a not to be taken for granted, so I took advantage of that gift on Saturday morning. Laura and I capped the day off by taking two of our grandsons (see attached photos) to the BYU football game. The Cougs were victorious, but I don’t think the outcome of the game was particularly important to Paxton and Easton. They were much more interested in consuming large quantities of hotdogs, popcorn, soda, salted pretzels, and of course Cougar Tails. And let’s not forget arguing over who got to use the binoculars, which I don’t think either boy either really knew how to use and get into proper focus. But a fun time nonetheless.
Don’t miss the opportunity on Veterans Day to have a discussion with your students on why we celebrate our veterans, past and present. The armistice to end World War 1, “the war to end all wars”, was signed at the 11th hour on the 11th month. Sadly, our country has been involved in multiple wars since November 11, 1918, but I am certainly grateful for the service rendered by veterans both living and deceased to protect our country’s freedoms. My wife and I are proud of our fathers’ war time service in World War 2 and the Korean War. We owe a debt of gratitude to our veterans that we can never fully repay.
One more week left in our Blanket Drive. It was gratifying to see the blanket donation box fill up every day last week. As of this morning, we have collected 102 blankets. Our goal is 700, so every donation helps. Here is the link to the updated Amazon Wish List page. Hopefully, this makes it possible for more people to help. Thank you for your generous support of this project and for helping others stay warm this winter.
Our school nurse, Paige Price, asked me to send out the attached flyer on General Precautions for the Gastrointestinal Virus.
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized last week for consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Responsibility, Respect and Readiness to Learn.
Bronson Beck–1st Grade, Mrs. Bailey
Jackson Bruce–5th Grade, Mrs. Hill
Caden Bybee–5th Grade, Mrs. Weakley
Leah Clawson–2nd Grade, Mrs. Blodgett
Bridger Cook–Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison
Benson Elder–1st Grade, Mrs. Bailey
Cambree Hegerhorst–Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison
Nora Lee–2nd Grade, Mrs. Wallace
Tommy Lyon–3rd Grade, Mrs. Duke
Timothy Merrell–1st Grade, Ms. Johnson
Sawyer Petersen–5th Grade, Mr. Horan
Savana Smith–3rd Grade, Ms. M. Moore
Belle Spencer–Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison
Peter Taylor–1st Grade, Ms. Johnson
Have a great week, thank a veteran for his or her service, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal
Alpine Elementary
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Leftover Halloween candy, fall leaves removed from my lawn, all my favorite football teams victorious on Saturday, great participation in the Sunday School class I taught, and my cold is finally gone. Now that is a great weekend!
November has arrived! And sadly, at least in my opinion, the turning of the calendar means we are deluged with Christmas advertisements in all media forms weeks before sitting down for our Thanksgiving meals.
There will be a School Community Council meeting Thursday, November 7, 9:30 – 10:30 am in our Conference Room. The agenda is attached. All parents are welcome to attend.
All Alpine Elementary students who submitted Reflections Art entries will be recognized at our school Reflections Gala, 7:00 – 8:00 pm, Thursday, November 7 in the gym. Unfortunately, there was some miscommunication about due dates, and not all entries were judged in time to proceed to the Council level; consequently, none of our students will have Reflection entries advancing to the Lone Peak Council level.
Alpine Elementary will be participating in a Blanket Drive for the homeless along the Wasatch Front, November 4 – 18. Soul Food USA, a non-profit organization, is working to help keep people warm and provide dignity for those experiencing homelessness. Timberline Middle School is also participating in this Blanket Drive.
Any blankets donated need to be new and adult size and can be of any color or design. Please no homemade or baby blankets. Blankets can still be in store packaging when put in the donation box that will be in front of our main office November 4 – 18. On December 22, Soul Food USA will be handing out the donated blankets to the homeless at their Christmas Chili Party in Salt Lake City. If you have questions, contact Tres Hatch, the Blanket Drive Coordinator, 801-953-4276,
It’s not too late to join the Lone Peak Youth Wrestling Program! We have started our practices but the season is just getting started. Our practices are on Monday and Wednesdays, 4:30 to 5:30 for the Advanced and 6-8th grade wrestlers and 5:30 to 6:30 for the Novice and through 5th grade wrestlers. Our practices are at the LPHS Wrestling Room near the trophy case at the south end of the school by the gymnasiums. Signups can be completed at the practices. For more information, you can visit the Lone Peak Wrestling webpage at http://lonepeakwrestling.weebly.com/ or by emailing Coach Wallace at [email protected]. Go Knight Wrestling!
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized last week for consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Responsibility, Respect and Readiness to Learn.
Sofia Allen–1st grade, Mrs. Faux
Arianna Anderson–1st grade, Mrs. Liston
Ethan Bowler–5th grade, Mrs. Padgett
Connor Campbell–1st grade, Mrs. Faux
Crew Gustafson–1st grade, Mrs. Faux
Anya Hansen–1st grade, Mrs. Liston
Cooper Higginson–6th grade, Ms. Kuo
Grant Howard–2nd grade, Mrs. Andersen
Ethan Lokey–6th grade, Mrs. Monson
Jacob Marion–1st grade, Mrs. Liston
Margaret Merrell–5th grade, Mrs. Hill
Malyssa Moore–6th grade, Mrs. Reyes
Ella Packer–6th grade, Mrs. Monson
Eden Rasband–4th grade, Mrs. Keller
Brightyn Rodman–6th grade, Mrs. Reyes
Penny Turner–2nd grade, Mrs. Andersen
Tali Zito–6th grade, Ms. Kuo
Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal
Alpine Elementary
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On Saturday, I participated in a 100-mile bike race, the Tour de St. George. The 71-degree weather with little wind was perfect for a bike ride. I was able to meet my time goal and achieve a personal best for a Century Ride. Some may ask what enjoyment can anyone find in spending five hours and 55 minutes pedaling a bike on a small, hard seat. Like many of you who exercise, I find joy in painful personal physical challenges. As we rode our route, there were intermittent aid stations where you could refill water bottles and eat assorted snacks. My favorite stop was in Veyo where riders could eat slices of homemade apple or berry pie served by the Veyo Pie and Bakery.
We had another great Red Ribbon Week! We are so fortunate to have Andrew Young as one of our parents. The time and effort Andrew put forth in creating the four Red Ribbon Week videos was amazing and enhanced the learning experience for our students as they choose to make healthy lifestyle choices starting at a young age. It took me six takes to record my short appearance in the Friday video, so I can only imagine all that was required to create the professional-quality videos that Andrew produced. Andrew’s wife, Arica, who also helped with the video production, told me that Andrew spent some sleepless nights last week working on our videos, in addition to his full-time job responsibilities. Thank you Andrew Young! We are also grateful to all that our PTA did to help with Red Ribbon Week.
Thursday is of course Halloween. Please remember to not send your students to school with masks or replicas of weapons. Our Halloween Parade should be entering the gym between 1:30 – 1:40 pm, but you can come after we have our cafeteria/gym cleaned up from lunch at 1:00 pm.
I’ve attached a flyer for the Alpine City Halloween celebration tonight, October 28.
I know many of you have older students who attend Lone Peak High School. Friday’s lockdown at LPHS, though initiated by a miscommunication, had to be a frightening experience for students, parents and staff. The opportunity law enforcement agencies had to respond to the perceived threat will help to keep students safe in the future. This link gives an overview of Friday’s events. https://www.deseret.com/utah/2019/10/25/20932630/lone-peak-high-highland-utah-lockdown-alpine
If your students are riding bikes to school, please have them lock their bikes in one of our bike racks. We have had several bikes taken from the school in recent weeks. Some we have found in Creekside Park, others are still missing.
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized last week for consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Responsibility, Respect and Readiness to Learn.
Addie Armstrong–5th Grade, Mr. Horan
Annie Clarke–5th Grade, Mrs. Padgett
Annabelle Collins–3rd Grade, Mrs. Duke
Gwen Domike–4th Grade, Ms. A. Moore
Anna Jane Willis–2nd Grade, Mrs. Blodgett
Owen Layton–3rd Grade, Ms. Elder
Watson Mathis–1st Grade, Mrs. Bailey
Camryn Melvin–3rd Grade, Ms. Elder
Eleanor Oldroyd–1st Grade, Ms. Johnson
Kennedy Rodman–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill
Logan Rogerson–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill
Hawk Rosenvall–5th Grade, Mrs. Hill
Lindsey Tomkinson–1st Grade, Mrs. Bailey
Audrey Walker–1st Grade, Ms. Johnson
Marshall White–3rd Grade, Mrs. Duke
Have a spooktacular week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal
I heard from a friend who drove up into American Fork Canyon yesterday that there was a long line of people in cars wanting to see the many evidences of fall. Aside from gridlock traffic, how can you not love this season of the year? Crisp mornings, followed by days filled with sunshine that invite all of us to get outside and embrace the beauties of a fall day in the Utah Valley. Though the weather is better suited to afternoon, instead of morning bike rides, there are still grandchildren soccer games and yard work that give me the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful autumn weather. And there is no better place to ride my bike at this time of the year than the American Fork Canyon as the trees turn into a kaleidoscope of color!
Don’t forget that Thursday is Picture Make-up Day.
It will be a busy week with Parent/Teacher Conferences and our Book Fair. If you haven’t already done so, please get on Skyward and sign up for a conference with your child’s teacher.
Scheduling Parent Teacher Conferences through Skyward
1. Use a computer, not a smartphone.
2. Use your parent login to log in to Skyward. https://skyward.alpinedistrict.org/scripts/wsisa.dll/WService=wsEAplus/seplog01
3. If you have more than one child, select a child’s name from the ‘All Students’ drop down at the top of the page.
4. Click the ‘Teacher Conferences’ link on the left of the screen.
5. Click the link titled ‘All Conferences’.
6. Click the ‘Select a Time’ link under the text ‘Not Yet Scheduled’.
7 Find a date and time that works for you and click on the “Select’ link to the right. If the ‘Select’ button doesn’t work, try a different web browser.
8. Click ‘Save’ to confirm that date and time — Your conference is now scheduled.
9. Repeat steps 3-8 to schedule appointments for additional children.
When you come to Parent/Teacher Conferences, we encourage you to come visit our Book Fair. We are grateful to parents Vivian Hsiao and Chelsea Hertig for creating a winter wonderland as you enter our library and Book Fair because of course “It is snow fun to read!”
Also, when you are in the school for conferences, please swing by the Lost and Found near the gym entrance to see if you can reclaim any lost items that belong to your student.
I have attached the agenda for our October 10 School Community Council Meeting, 9:30 – 10:30 am in the Conference Room. Any parent is welcome to attend.
There is also an attached flyer for the Lone Peak Youth Wrestling Club. Tracy Wallace, the husband of second grade teacher, Maureen Wallace, is the head wrestling coach at LPHS and also oversees the Youth Wrestling Club.
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized last week for consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Responsibility, Respect and Readiness to Learn.
Rockwell Alexander–4th Grade, Mrs. Keller
Max Bergquist–4th Grade, Mrs. Vipperman
Macie Collins–5th Grade, Mrs. Padgett
Davidson Egan–6th Grade, Mrs. Reyes
August Gheciu–5th Grade, Mrs. Hill
Patrick Gheciu–2nd Grade, Mrs. Wallace
Joe Hansen–1st Grade, Ms. Johnson
Gabe Hansen–3rd Grade, Mrs. Chen
Sydney Hogge–1st Grade, Ms. Johnson
Tiger McCann–5th Grade, Mr. Horan
Aven Oh–5th Grade, Mrs. Hill
Isabella Price–6th Grade, Mrs. Monson
Kason Reynolds–3rd Grade, Mrs. Duke
Quinlan Wallace–6th Grade, Mrs. Reyes
Jane Wilson–4th Grade, Mrs. Keller
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
Last day of September. October here we come! The trees are changing colors and the leaves are starting to drop. And our younger students are still trying to master my two-syllable name. I had a kindergarten student last week cheerfully say to me, “Hello Mr. Peedoo!”
Once again, the Alpine Elementary Community came together as we met the PTA Fundraiser goal of raising $10,000! We had brought in $5,200 through Thursday of last week and then had a huge day on Friday to get over the $10,000 mark. The PTA will use every dollar to directly benefit all students at Alpine Elementary. Thank you Alpine Elementary Community for your generous donations! And huge shout out to Ryan Johnson and Max Connect Marketing for providing t-shirts for all of our students! We are also grateful to Chick-Fil-A for donating lunches to the classes that brought in the most money and to Zurchers Party Store for donating decorations for the Friday dance party.
For the past four years we have used an assessment for our K – 3 grade students called DIBELS to measure what we call the Big 5 reading components: Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension. There is a multitude of research to indicate that the foundation for individual student success in elementary school is the ability to read at grade level. The DIBELS assessment is now called Acadience, but the grade level tests have not changed. We administer the Acadience test three times a year to our students. The Beginning of Year (BOY) assessment lets teachers know where students are with their foundational reading skills. I have attached Alpine Elementary’s Beginning of Year assessment scores for the past four years. You will notice that our scores continue to improve. We of course want all students to be proficient readers, meaning they are in the blue or green categories. Students who are yellow or red have some gaps in one or more of the Big 5 reading components. Because of improved reading instruction at the lower grade levels, the number of red and yellow students have decreased over the past four years, which is reason to celebrate. Congratulations to our dedicated teachers for the outstanding instruction students are receiving! Parents of K – 3 grade students will learn more about their child’s reading assessment at Parent Teacher Conferences October 7 – 11.
And thanks to our School Community Council for paying the $12 per student assessment fee, our 4th – 6th graders are receiving the Acadience assessments this year for the first time, so our upper grade teachers will have reading assessment data to help them with their in-class instruction.
Beginning of Year (BOY)—Number of Red and Yellow Students
2016 – 2017—95 students
2017 – 2018—68 students
2018 – 2019—51 students
2019 – 2020—47 students
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized last week for consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Responsibility, Respect and Readiness to Learn.
Camden Abbott–6th Grade, Ms. Kuo
Ellie Fugal–5th Grade, Mrs. Weakley
Lupita Gallardo Figueroa–6th Grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek
Bella Gerber–6th Grade, Ms. Kuo
Becca Hale–Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison
Beckham Larkin–Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison
Tim Neves–5th Grade, Mrs. Padgett
Quacy Omane’ Brimpong–6th Grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek
Rachel Schmidt–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill
Eliza Smith–3rd, Mrs. Duke
Alexis Smith–Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison
Cora Spencer–3rd Grade, Mrs. Chen
Maren Tomkinson–2nd Grade, Ms. Andersen
Libby Topham–5th Grade, Mrs. Weakley
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
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You don’t need to look at a calendar to know that September 23 is the first day of fall. The shorter days, the brisk mornings, the changing tree colors and the need for more layers of clothing send us all the message that Autumn has arrived. I hope you all found time over the weekend to get outside and enjoy a beautiful fall day.
PTA FALL FUNDRAISER
The Fundraiser will start TODAY, Monday, September 23 and run through Friday the 27th, ending with a Dance party! We are branching out a little from the traditional Fun Run this year, and instead we are going to get the kids moving with a dance party with DJRob!! DJ Rob Ferre has worked in the family entertainment capital of the world, including at Disney, Nickelodeon, Universal Studios, and Radio Disney.Now he provides fun, educational, and wildly interactive assemblies! He is going to come and help us celebrate the end of our fundraising week!
Parents are invited to join the celebration on Friday.
PreK-3rd grade @2:05-2:30
4th-6th grade @2:45-3:10
Donations can be made by one of the following:
1. Cash
2. Check (made out to Alpine Elementary PTA)
3. MemberHub (a small processing fee will be applied) https://alpineelementary.memberhub.store/
The class, from each grade, with the most $$ raised will win lunch generously donated by Chick-Fil-A!
We really appreciate any amount you can donate!
A huge THANK YOU to:
1- Max Connect Marketing for donating the money for our Alpine Elementary spirit T-shirts
2- Chick-Fil-A for donating lunches to our winning classes and
3- Zurchers party store for donating the decorations for our dance party
The annual Reflections Art Competition is an opportunity for students to explore their own thoughts, feelings and ideas, develop artistic literacy, increase confidence and find a love for the arts. This year’s Reflections theme is Look Within. Each student can submit ONE entry per category (Visual Arts, Dance, Film, Literature, Photography, Music). Go here to find entry forms and information about each category. Your student can also get entry forms in the school library. Entries are due Friday, October 25th in the library. If you have any questions, email Erin Stanley.
We still have slots available for 4 year-old students in our preschool, including “tuition-free” grant slots for those who qualify. See the attached flyer.
The following students were nominated by their teachers and recognized last week for consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Responsibility, Respect and Readiness to Learn.
Zoi Bruni—4th Grade, Mrs. Keller
Reese Clark—1st grade, Mrs. Liston
Pearl Cluff—3rd grade, Ms. Elder
Daisy Elder—5th grade, Mrs. Padgett
Abigail Frazier—6th grade, Ms. Kuo
Lincoln Goodwin—6th grade, Ms. Kuo
Hugh Howard—1st grade, Mrs. Faux
Sam Myers—1st grade, Mrs. Faux
Max Petty—6th grade, Mrs. Reyes
Cheyenne Pulham—6th grade, Mrs. Reyes
Tyler Pusey—6th grade, Mrs. Monson
Beth Sampson—5th grade, Mrs. Hill
Emily Tomkinson—6th grade, Mrs. Monson
Ada Villareal—5th grade, Mr. Horan
June Villareal—1st grade, Mrs. Liston
Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal
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I was in a meeting last week with 150 other people and a survey was taken of which season of the year was the favorite of those in attendance. Fall was the overwhelming choice, with over 60% of the participants indicating this time of the year is their favorite. Saturday was the ultimate fall day for me. Early morning Alpine Loop bike ride, Cougar Tail at Lavell Edwards Stadium, family companionship, another heart-pounding BYU overtime victory, evening wedding reception with lots of good food. If all of my Saturdays could be that enjoyable!
Our K – 3 graders take their beginning-of-year reading assessments today. For the past three years we have administered three times during the school year a test called DIBELS to our K – 3 graders. The only thing that has changed is the name of the test. Instead of DIBELS, it is now called the Acadience Test. This assessment gives our K – 3 grade teachers data on the foundational reading skills of our students in phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. A team of testers that the Alpine School District has trained come into our library and administer the assessment. Each student’s assessment will take less than five minutes. The Big Five reading skills mentioned above are the foundation for at-grade-level reading skills. Once teachers have their Acadience results, they can more effectively diagnose what needs to be done to help each and every child be a proficient reader.
We are grateful that our librarian, Paula Ruesch, invited children’s author, Jennifer Nielsen, to our school last week. Our 4th – 6th graders attended an assembly where Jennifer shared how she became an author, and she also encouraged the students to explore their creative talents.
The following students were recognized as Students of the Week last week for demonstrating the characteristics of the Alpine Big 3, being Respectful, Responsible and Ready to learn. Congratulations!
Benson Anderson
Molly Barnes
Tessa Christofferson
Crew Feaster
Merced Francom
Gabby Ross
Hank Gillespie
Braden Hazel
Dean Hsiao
Lillian Hsiao
Crew Nelson
Phoenix Reinwand
Corbin Smith
Gabe Taylor
London Wing
I have attached a flyer for flu vaccination clinics being offered in our area
Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal
Some members of my family and I headed southeast of the Utah Valley for a weekend getaway. There was one point in the trip, the conclusion of an event we were watching, that was particularly enjoyable. I have attached some photos. I went to a similar family gathering a little closer to home on August 29. and for some reason, my friends dressed in red enjoyed that experience more than me. Interesting how the trips we take in life can cause such contrasting emotions.
School pictures are on Thursday, September 12. Your students should have brought home a flyer explaining the different photo options.
If you want to help support our school, take your family to the Chick-Fil-A in Lehi, not American Fork, tonight for dinner, 5:00 – 8:00 pm. A percentage of the total sales will go to Alpine Elementary.
Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Aitchison, shared a few of the comments her kindergartners have shared with her in the first two-weeks of school. If I ever need a pick-me-up and something to smile about, I go spend some time in a kindergarten classroom.
“Teacher did you know I’m going to Chinese Inaversion next year?”
“If your hands are cold then you’re turning into a Grandma.”
“Teacher what’s up with that shirt you’re wearing?”
“My birthday is in the summer…a long time away. I don’t know why my mom did that.”
“Do you know why I’m not allergic to dogs? Because they are so fluffy and cute!”
Bright Ideas is an extra-curricular theme-based program open to all interested elementary students. This year’s theme is Fact vs. Fiction focusing on different branches of STEAM education: science, technology, engineering, art and math. I have attached a flyer giving you more information.
Have a great week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!
Dave Perdue, Principal
Alpine Elementary