Alto All Star Gazette
September 10, 2021
School begins at 8:45 A.M.
HALF-DAY DISMISSAL 11:55 a.m. DISMISSAL TIME 3:38 p.m.
24-Hour Attendance Line 987-2625
From the desk of Principal Papes
Dear Alto Families,
We’ve had another fantastic week here! Our students have established great routines and our classroom learning communities are thriving. I continue to be impressed with the high quality teaching and learning I see taking place every day. We continue to reinforce to our students that they are Safe, Thoughtful, Accountable, and Respectful as Alto Alto Stars. They are doing a great job in all settings within our school. We have amazing kids! Thank you for all that you do to prepare them for success each day.
Alto All Stars/PBIS
We have again welcomed Alto students to the 2021-2022 school year as the “Alto All Stars” as we start our 7th year as a PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Support) school. This is a Lowell Area Schools district program that we continue to be very excited about. Our focus throughout the year will be teaching students to be STARs (Safe, Thoughtful, Accountable, and Respectful). We will continue to focus on several strategies that will help us teach students our school-wide behavioral expectations. Our teachers have been teaching lessons that focus on STAR behaviors throughout the school. A core principle of the PBIS program is that we teach students expected behaviors just as we would teach them to read and write. We will continue to review these expectations throughout the school year.
Another core belief of the PBIS program is that positively reinforcing appropriate behaviors increases the likelihood that the behaviors will happen again. To encourage and reinforce positive behaviors, Alto staff has begun giving students silver tickets (whole class recognition) and gold tickets (individual recognition) when they witness STAR behaviors. The gold tickets can be submitted for a raffle drawing at the end of each week, or students may collect them to earn rewards or experiences. Please see the attached PBIS Handbook for more information.
NWEA MAP (Measures of Academic Progress)
We will start our NWEA MAP testing next week. During the next several weeks, students in 1st grade thru 5th grade will complete the MAP fall assessment. MAP assessments are computer adaptive achievement tests. This means the difficulty of the questions is adjusted throughout the test so that each student essentially completes a unique set of questions based on responses to previous questions. As a student answers correctly, questions become more difficult. If the student answers incorrectly, the questions get easier. By the end of the test, most students will answer approx. half of the questions correctly. However, the adaptive test will identify each student’s level of achievement (RIT score). The RIT score has the same meaning regardless of a child’s grade level or age. This is very beneficial information that guides instruction for our teachers in the classroom. Furthermore, MAP results provide excellent information to measure student growth over time. 1st-5th grade students will take a fall and spring MAP assessment. The results of these assessments are analyzed to measure student progress over time. You will be receiving a MAP progress report for your child around P/T conference time in October. I encourage you to ask your child’s teacher any questions you may have regarding the results. P/T conferences will provide an excellent opportunity to do so.
YMCA Before and After School Care
The YMCA provides on campus before and after school care here at Alto. Contact Tyson Hoffman at thoffman@GRYMCA.ORG if you would like more information regarding this program.
COVID-19 Mitigating Measures
We ask students and staff to stay home and seek a healthcare evaluation when exhibiting any one of the following symptoms:
New cough
Loss of taste or smell
Shortness of breath
We ask students and staff to stay home and seek a healthcare evaluation when exhibiting two or more of the following symptoms:
Fever (measured or subjective)
Chills
Headache
Extreme Tiredness/Fatigue
Sore Throat
New congestion or Runny nose
Body Aches
Nausea/vomiting or Diarrhea
Kent County Health Department COVID-19 Toolkit for Schools and Childcare
https://www.accesskent.com/Health/CommDisease/pdfs/SchoolChildcareToolkit.pdf
K-12 COVID-19 Symptom and Testing Protocol
https://www.accesskent.com/Health/CommDisease/pdfs/K-12-COVID19-SYMPTOM-TESTING-PROTOCOL.pdf
A Big THANK YOU! to our parents for the communication and precautions that have been taken when your child has experienced symptoms. This is a challenge because COVID symptoms are similar to those of other illnesses. We are very appreciative of the cooperation of our parents in our shared efforts to keep all students and staff safe.
It really has been an incredibly successful start to the school year. This could not occur without the efforts of everyone involved (students, parents, and staff). Thank you for your continued support. I am always interested in hearing from you. If you have questions or concerns, please contact me at 987-2600 or ppapes@lowellschools.com.
Have a great weekend! Go Alto All Stars! Go Red Arrows!
With Appreciation,
Paul Papes
Principal
Alto Elementary
Lowell Area Schools.
616.987.2600
Picture day is coming!!!
Hello Alto parents!
School portraits are scheduled for
Wednesday September 15th
Please use the link below to order your school portrait package.
ALL ORDERS MUST BE SUBMITTED ONLINE.
NOTE THIS IS A LINK FOR ALTO IF YOU HAVE A STUDENT AT BUSHNELL OR CHERRY CREEK YOU MUST USE A SEPARATE LINK.
There will be no order forms sent home. If you would rather not submit an online order please call the studio 989-227-8441 and we will take your order over the phone.
Directions:
You will NOT need to enter a password. Simply search for your student by name. You can type either their first or last name and you will see student names pop up. If you have multiple students please submit separate orders for each child. If you do not see your students name, choose "New Person" and add their information during check out.
You DO NOT need to send the printed receipt to school. We will already have a record of your payment!
Click this link or Copy this web address below and paste into address bar
We are looking forward to photographing your children!! If you have any questions please call the studio 989-227-8441 or email Andrew@Canfieldjenkins.com
Breakfast and Lunch Menu week of 9/13
9/14: Mini blueberry pancakes or Blueberry muffin
9/15: English muffin egg sandwich or Cocoa Puffs cereal bar
9/16: Strawberry cream cheese bagel or Blueberry muffin
9/17: Apple frudel or Apple cinnamon beneFIT bar
*each breakfast served w/ choice of cereal, fruit and milk
Lunch:
9/13: Carolina bird dog or PB&J fun lunch
9/14: Mini turkey corn dogs w/fries or Cheddar, grapes, cracker fun lunch
9/15: Cheese pizza cruncher or Muffin & Goldfish fun lunch
9/16: Orange chicken stir-fry w/ rice or Nachos fun lunch
9/17: Cheese quesadilla or PB&J fun lunch
Alto Elementary
Website: lowellschools.com
Location: 6150 Bancroft Avenue Southeast, Alto, MI, USA
Phone: 616-987-2600
Facebook: facebook.com/altoelementary