School Newsletter

Because of the pandemic, all of our teachers will be doing online Parent/Teacher Conferences October 7 -11. A few teachers are giving some parents the opportunity to come to the school to meet face-to-face with the teacher. If you are asked by the teacher to come to the school for a meeting, please do not bring any of your other children with you to the conference. As in previous years, we want all parents to sign up for conferences on Skyward. Contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions about conferences.

We will be having our Fun Run, 9:20 – 12:05 at Creekside Park.The class from each grade that brings in the most money will earn a Chick-fil-A lunch. The following message comes from our PTA.

There are many things that are different about this year, but we hope that we can run the same programs and do the same fun activities at Alpine Elementary that we have in the past. We might have to make a few adjustments, but we are excited to continue them. To make this possible, we need your support this year. Please consider donating. Thank you!

Two ways to donate:

We would love for you to sponsor your student in the Fun Run by donating to the PTA at Alpine Elementary. All the students will be participating in the Fun Run on Friday morning. If you’re available to cheer on your students, please come to Creekside Park.

9:20-9:35 – 1st Grade

9:50-10:05 – 2nd Grade

10:20-10:35 – 3rd and Kindergarten

10:50-11:05 – 4th Grade

11:20-11:35 – 5th Grade

11:50-12:05 – 6th Grade

The class from each grade with the most donations will be rewarded with lunch donated by Chick-fil-A. We would also like to thank those at Max Connect for donating the money for our Alpine Elementary T Shirts this year. Thank you!

Last week a scooter was taken from the bike rack next to our back baseball diamond. Can you please check in with your children to ensure that they didn’t mistakenly take the scooter. It’s a black ‘Fuzion’ scooter with gold wheels. If you see the scooter, please return it to the bike rack or the school office. See the attached photo.

The following students were recognized as Students of the Week on Friday, September 18. 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!

Cymry Beck–1st Grade, Ms. Johnson

Natalie Buchanan–6th Grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek

Tyler Clawson–1st Grade, Mrs. Chou

Benson Elder–2nd Grade, Mrs. Wallace

David Kono–6th Grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek

Bekah Owen–5th Grade, Mrs. Padgett

Kennady Pack–6th Grade, Ms. Kuo

Kennedy Rodman–5th Grade, Mrs. Hill

Ava Scoville–5th Grade, Mrs. Chang

Lucy Tom–5th Grade, Mr. Horan

Maren Tomkinson–3rd Grade, Mrs. Duke

Benji Tonga–3rd Grade, Ms. Elder

Akselander Wilcox–Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison

Anna Willis–3rd Grade, Mrs. Duke

London Wing–6th Grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek

A beautiful bike ride over the Alpine Loop on Saturday and another BYU football win! That is a great fall day from my perspective!

We can all definitely see and feel the changing of the seasons as fall becomes more of a reality with each passing day. Judging from the number of people I saw on my bike ride in American Fork and Provo Canyons on Saturday, many of you have taken the time to drive up into a nearby canyon to see the fall colors, take some family photos, or just enjoy the splendors of the changing seasons. Bumper to bumper traffic!

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

The following message comes from our librarian, Paula Ruesch:

Hello Parents,

Battle of the Books is a fun reading competition for students in 3rd-6th grades. Registration is open now and closes on Sunday, September 27th. This is the last week to register.

Click here for more information and to register your student.
https://sites.google.com/alpinedistrict.org/alpineelementarylibrary/home

T-shirts are $5. They are not required but are fun to wear as a team. If you order a t-shirt you can pay for it on the school website: https://alpine.alpineschools.org/
Just click on the tab on the slider that says CLICK HERE TO PAY SCHOOL FEES ONLINE.

We will start forming teams in October, students will receive their t-shirts in December, practice battles are scheduled for January, and the official competition will be in February and March.

Hurry and register your student — and let the reading begin!

Let me know if you have questions,

We are missing quite a few Take Home Reading books. If you have any Take Home Reading books at home, please send them back to the school with your student.

The Alpine School District updates school district COVID-19 data every Monday on the Return to School tab on the district website.

Please do not drive the wrong way on the one-way street west of the school. We have some parents who are driving the wrong way at the beginning of the school day when other parents are dropping off their students off for preschool and kindergarten. We are concerned about student safety and would encourage all parents to follow all traffic laws.

The following students were recognized as Students of the Week on Friday, September 18. 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!

Jordan Anderson–2nd Grade, Mrs. Blodgett

Johnny Atalifo–1st Grade, Ms. Johnson

Jacob Buchanan–4th Grade, Mrs. Keller

Tommy Clarke–1st Grade, Mrs. Faux

Kolton Devereaux–6th Grade, Mrs. Reyes

Ashley Hauck–1st Grade, Mrs. Bailey

Millie Johnson–4th Grade, Ms. A. Moore

Ivy McEwan–1st Grade, Mrs. Faux

Alexa Muskat–2nd Grade, Mrs. Wallace

McKenzie Perez–Kindergarten, Mrs. Malone

Elijah Phillips–5th Grade, Mrs. Padgett

Grace Reid–Kindergarten, Mrs. Malone

Benjamin Saas–2nd Grade, Ms. M. Moore

Daphne Turner–1st Grade, Mrs. Chou

June Villarreal–2nd Grade, Mrs. Andersen

Calvin Wood–5th Grade, Mrs. Hill

The days are getting shorter, the air is a bit brisker and the leaves on the trees are starting to drop. All indicators of autumn coming our way.

Last week, I biked to the American Fork Canyon summit and to Granite Flats and there are multiple signs in AF Canyon of fall as the trees are starting to change colors. I even saw some mountain goats on one of my rides! For me, this time of the year has always been my favorite!

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

Today, Monday September 14, is ACADIENCE testing for our K-3 graders. ACADIENCE is the assessment we give our students three times a year to measure their proficiency in the five foundational reading skills: Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension.

Teachers have commented to me how compliant our students have been in wearing masks at school. What we anticipated before school started would be a possible problem, has not materialized as a result of the overall student compliance. The only reason that students should not be wearing a mask is if they have an exemption for health reasons signed by a physician.

We are missing quite a few Take Home Reading books. If you have any Take Home Reading books at home, please send them back to the school with your student.

With the current state of affairs with the pandemic, I want to give parents some forewarning about upcoming events. It is likely that many of the Parent/Teacher Conferences in October will be conducted online. Stay tuned for more details. And we will not be able to have parents come into the school on October 30, as there will be no student Halloween parade this year. Students can still dress up, but there will be no parade.

The Alpine School District updates school district COVID-19 data every Monday on the Return to School tab on the district website.

Please do not drive the wrong way on the one-way street west of the school. We have some parents who are driving the wrong way at the beginning of the school day when other parents are dropping off their students off for preschool and kindergarten. We are concerned about student safety and would encourage all parents to follow all traffic laws.

For the second consecutive year, we are recognizing Students of the Week who teachers nominate because students are consistently demonstrating behaviors that align with the Alpine Big 3 of being: Responsible, Respectful, and Ready. Congratulations to each of last week’s Students of the Week!

Banks Anderson–1st Grade, Ms. Johnson

Eliana Batchelor–4th Grade, Mrs. Keller

Bronson Beck–2nd Grade, Ms. M. Moore

Eli Casey–1st Grade, Mrs. Bailey

Henry Fong–4th Grade, Mrs. Vipperman

Hank Gillespie–2nd Grade, Mrs. Wallace

Lily Goodwin–5th Grade, Mrs. Chang

Sophie Goss–5th Grade, Mr. Horan

Ellie Greenwood–5th Grade, Mrs. Hill

Tristin Hansen–3rd Grade, Ms. Elder

Maggie Hauck–5th Grade, Mrs. Padgett

Landon Johnson–4th Grade, Mrs. Orgill

Layla Lambert–1st Grade, Mrs. Chou

Claire Owens–1st Grade, Mrs. Bailey

Jacey Robbins–6th Grade, Mrs. Reyes

It is wildfire season in the western United States! Did any of you see the fire on the east bench above Pleasant Grove on Saturday night? As an Oregon native, it is heartbreaking to see the devastation that is resulting from the wildfires in my home state. My wife is in Oregon visiting our daughter and is dealing with very smoky conditions. Wildfires have burned more than a million acres in the state. Many of the beautiful areas in the Cascade Mountains where our family vacationed and or camped have been consumed by fire. I fully understand the devastation and loss to life that wildfires can cause. On July 6,1994, a young lady, Bonnie Holtby, that I had taught and coached in basketball at Redmond High School, was working as a hotshot firefighter on Storm King Mountain in Colorado, where she perished along with 13 other brave firefighters. To see the loss of homes, personal property, natural resources, wildlife and human life in these wildfires is a very sobering reality.

Have a great week, and even with a worldwide pandemic and wildfires raging in the western United States, it is still a great day to be an Eagle!

I hope you all had an enjoyable and relaxing Labor Day weekend. The nearby fires certainly impacted our air quality over the three-day weekend!

Thursday, September 10 will be our Picture Day. Your students should have brought home a flyer detailing the different photo packages available for purchase. Call the office if you have any questions.

As of August 30, 2020, Alpine School District reported a total of 67 active COVID-19 positive cases throughout 91 schools and 6 general district office facilities. Alpine serves communities in 14 cities. Of the 67 active positive cases, 41 of them are students and 26 are employees. Of our total 81,493 students, 76,000 are attending our schools face-to-face daily along with more than 8,400 employees.

With the teachers’ permission, I share the following. Two of our teachers, Ms. Johnson in first grade and Mrs. Monson in sixth grade were exposed to family members who tested positive for COVID-19. Ms. Johnson tested negative and quarantined at home for 10 days and has returned to work. Mrs. Monson has tested positive, although she is asymptomatic, and has been quarantining at home since August 24 and will remain in quarantine until September 14.  Both teachers followed social distancing and sanitation protocols while at school and teaching their classes.

We have had one student, who was in neither of the classes mentioned above, who has tested positive, but that student only attended the first three days of school and has been quarantining at home since August 21. We are grateful that we haven’t seen an increase in COVID-19 cases at Alpine Elementary similar to what the Pleasant Grove Schools are experiencing.

All of our 1^st – 6^th grade students will be taking beginning-of-the-year Language Arts and Math assessments so that teachers can have some baseline data to determine the current proficiency levels of students after missing two and half months of school March – May. All students will be tested sometime in the September 1 -18 testing window.

Our first School Community Council (SCC) meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 10, 9:30 – 10:30 am in our Conference Room. Any parents are welcome to attend. I have attached an agenda for the meeting. We welcome three new parents to serve on our SCC to join returning members Tracy Nuttall and Brittany Nelson. Our new SCC members: Cortney Finlayson, JoLynn Greenwood and Monica Howard. We express our gratitude to the outgoing SCC members: Brooke Bennett, Chelsea Hertig and Vanessa Hogan. Thank you for your dedicated service on the SCC!

.Outside the Principal’s Office

It was the best of weekends for me! After a three-month hiatus because of two serious crashes in April and May, I rode my road bike on Saturday, a ride from my house in Cedar Hills to the Trefoil Ranch Gate above Southfork Park in the Provo Canyon. It felt so good to be back on my bike! And my goal is to stay upright on all upcoming rides and to not have to share with you anymore bike accident details.

And after a shorter bike ride on the Murdock Trail on Monday morning, my beloved BYU Cougar football team dominated the Navy Midshipmen on Monday night, a 55-3 victory! To those of you who are Ute, Aggie or fans of any football team in the west, I’m sorry that your team is not playing this fall. And to my friends who are Ute fans, please ignore the cockiness of any BYU fan after a single victory. Utah has beaten BYU nine consecutive times, so I believe it is best for Cougar fans to keep our mouths shut until we can prove victorious in a head-to-head matchup.

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

COVID-19 has changed all of our lives! As we enter our third week of school, we are making every effort to keep all students and staff safe and healthy. Because of Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) laws, I cannot share with parents information about who in our school community has tested positive for the virus, but I know there can sometimes be rumors about the impact of the virus in our school. I am able to say that to date, we have not had any students test positive for the virus. We have had two teachers, one in first grade and one in sixth grade, who have needed to quarantine at home because of family members who have tested positive.

Please keep your students home if they are demonstrating any of the following symptoms: fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste of smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea.

Thank you for sending your students to school with a mask! Any parent entering the school needs to be wearing a mask.

Last week, Alpine School District employees received a message from Superintendent Sam Jarman announcing that he will be retiring at the end of this school year. The ASD school board is starting a national search and wants to have a new superintendent chosen in November, even though Superintendent Jarman will continue with his job duties until July 1. I have very much enjoyed working with Superintendent Jarman who is the 11^th superintendent I have worked with in my 37-year career as an educator. Sam leads with integrity and a compassionate heart for the welfare of all students in our school district. He will be very much missed, and we are hopeful that the next superintendent will continue to lead our school district with vision and a laser-like focus on how to best meet the educational needs of over 80,000 students in the Alpine School District.

We still have room in our Preschool. Students can be enrolled throughout the school year if space is available. We would love to register some more students! Direct any of your questions to our preschool teacher, Kathy Thompson, [email protected].

Summer reading journals are due! Please contact Rachel Lyon at (801) 380-7000 or [email protected]. Please include your student’s name, current grade and teacher, and number of journal entries.

I have attached a photo of the Alpine Eagle welcoming kindergartners to school on their first day of school, August 25. Don’t tell your kindergartners, but I was inside that very warm costume. I greeted students both in the morning and afternoon, had several parents take pictures, and gave a lot of high fives, and not one person said anything about an Eagle wardrobe malfunction. It wasn’t until I came back into the school in the afternoon and was waving at some fifth graders going to lunch that I heard a fifth-grade boy say, “Hey Eagle, those feathers are supposed to be on your tail!” Leave it to a man to mistakenly zip up a costume in front, not in back as designed. Lesson learned by the Alpine Eagle!

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

As a teacher or administrator, last week was my 37^th start of a new school year, 22 as a high school educator, and 15 as an elementary principal. Kids are always excited to return to school, but the joy and excitement I observed and felt last week from students was unlike any other year. The students who returned to school were so happy to be reunited with friends and school staff. The impact of COVID-19 is real and changes daily, but we are hopeful we can continue to provide face-to-face instruction to those of you who are sending your children to school. And for those of you who are keeping your children at home, we understand you are doing what you feel is best for your children and family.

We are excited to welcome our youngest learners, preschooler and kindergartners, to school this week. There is likely to be some tears, perhaps more from parents than students, on Tuesday when parents drop their little ones off at school, but your babies will be well taken care of at Alpine Elementary! One thing I have learned in my 37 years as an educator, if I want a quick pick-me-up, I go visit our preschool or one of our kindergarten classes where the excitement for learning and life in general is palpable!

We have a school counselor, Tyrene Hartsell, working at Alpine Elementary on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and every other Monday. She splits her time between Alpine and Westfield Elementary. If a parent expresses interest in their student receiving counseling services, please contact Mrs. Hartsell directly through email at [email protected].  Mrs. Hartsell will follow-up with a parent contact.

It may also be helpful to understand how the counseling process works in our district when speaking with parents who would like to access this support.  Please note that the school counseling services at our school are not meant to be long term therapy, but can help students in the following ways. If you have questions about counseling services, please contact Mrs. Hartsell.

Tier 1: Schoolwide Instruction (SE Classroom Lessons)

Tier 2: Additional Time and Support (Small Groups focused on specific social/emotional skills)

Tier 3: Intensive Remediation: (Short Term Individual Counseling, usually 4-6 sessions max)

Our librarian, Paula Ruesch, sends the following message to parents of online students:

Alpine Elementary online students have access to library books through these three options:

SORA – our school’s online library. You can check out ebooks and audiobooks on SORA, just like you check out books from our library. Download the SORA app or visit soraapp.com.

To log into SORA:
-Select Alpine Elementary from the dropdown menu.
-Enter your student number (you can find your student number on Skyward)
-Enter your last name (all lower-case letters)

Holds & Pickup–place library books on hold and pick them up at the school. You’ll receive an email letting you know when your books are available to be picked up.

Visit the Library in Person – make an appointment to visit the library in person by emailing Mrs. Ruesch our librarian at [email protected].

The smoke-filled air last week reminded me of living in Central Oregon for 27 years during forest fire time. Hard to believe that forest fires in California had such an impact on our air quality in the Utah Valley.

I haven’t been on my road bike since May 30, and my wife and doctor have grounded me from my bike for another month, as I continue to recover from my two bike crashes (April 20 and May 30) this spring and summer. Last week’s smoky air was one time that I was grateful to be on a stationary bike in the gym, when I am usually missing being on my bike during this time of the year. My wife went to visit her sister in Seattle last week and before getting out of the car at the airport, she made me promise to not ride my bike while she was gone. And yes, I kept my promise!

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

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!