Alto All Star Gazette
March 12, 2021
From the desk of Mr. Papes
Dear Alto Families,
It was a great first week of the 3rd trimester! Our face-to-face and virtual classrooms continue to thrive. We have such hard working kids with grit! We welcomed back several students to face-to-face learning this week, and the weather was beautiful. On that note, please monitor the weather and have your children come to school with layered options. As you know, there is often a big range in temperatures this time of year.
March is Reading Month
It has been fun to celebrate our enthusiasm for reading this month! As a reminder, the reading challenge slips are due Monday, March 15th. There was a typo on the slips saying they are due March 22nd. Sorry for the confusion. We have been reminding students throughout the week that they are due on the 15th. Students were asked to read for at least 30 minutes at home on 5 different days this week, Monday through Sunday. If students return their completed slips with parent signature on Monday, they will receive a Tootsie Pop. They will also be entered into a drawing to win prizes. If your child completed this challenge, but you can’t find the slip, please record the information on a separate piece of paper and send it in (picture attached).
While things look different this year without guest readers in the building, we’re thankful that our Alto Firefighters and Sara McMullin from the KDL Alto branch have taken the time to record video read alouds. It’s been great for our students to be able to view these and we’re thankful for their support!
Next week, we will launch our Book Madness: Tournament of Books. This will be a bracket-style competition to determine Alto Elementary’s favorite book. Classes will select books to enter into the competition, and the books will go head-to-head with other books until we have voted on a winner.
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Parent/teacher conferences are a critical opportunity to meet as partners in supporting your child’s education. Our teachers look forward to meeting with you to share successes and areas of improvement. As communicated previously, our grade levels were able to choose between February and March conference weeks to best align the timing of conferences with the information they will share with parents. The conferences will be held virtually in the same format as fall conferences. Grades K-3 conferences were held the week of February 8th. Grades 4 and 5 will be held next week. Please sign up with your child’s teacher if you have not already done so.
Kindergarten Enrollment
Attention families with incoming 2021-2022 kindergarten students! Kindergarten enrollment for next fall is open. If you have a student who will turn five years old by September 1st, 2021, they can start their school journey! You may also sign a waiver for your child to start school if they turn five by December 1st, 2021. Paperwork required includes proof of residency, original birth certificate, up to date immunizations and a health appraisal. Information can be found on our Lowell Area Schools website: https://www.lowellschools.com/our-district/enrollment/
Please contact our office at 987.2600 with any questions you may have.
COVID-19 Mitigating Measures
We have remained diligent with our COVID protocols and have continued to experience success in keeping our students and staff safe and healthy. We could not do it without the diligence you have exhibited on your end. Thanks again!
Kent County Health Department School Toolkit:
https://www.accesskent.com/Health/CommDisease/pdfs/SchoolChildcareToolkit.pdf
As always, please contact me with any questions you may have. Have a great weekend!
With Appreciation,
Paul Papes
Principal
Alto Elementary
Lowell Area Schools
Art
Creative Juices Flowing
We are having a wonderful time in the Art room! Your children are amazingly creative and artistic. They love to “make stuff” and I love that about them!
While these children are busy creating, they might not realize that their brain is being exercised. The act of “creating” engages many cognitive skills, such as:
· problem solving
· sequential organization
· analyzing
· deconstruction and construction
· decision making
It also develops eye-hand coordination, fine motor skill, special awareness, tactile stimulation and ability to communicate ideas.
Here is a peek into the Art room:
Kindergarten: We are studying the Native American culture. Students have made Story Tellers in a “Draw Along” lesson and have created a collage decorated with hand cut zig-zag trim. The Pinch-pots have been fired and are ready to be painted…. we’re excited about that! This week, we have begun making Wampum Beads, which will be used to make jewelry that holds a promise. I bet you are eager to find out more about that. 😊
First Grade: These students are learning about the Ancient Mayan culture. Please know that I will be offering a first-grade level appropriate look into the traditions of this culture.
We are creating Mayan Masks and there are two main problems to be solved with this assignment…how to make paper 3-dimensional and how to use the entire 18x24” sheet of paper.
Second Grade: Artists have taken off on a trip to the other side of the world! We are “visiting” Thailand and wow, is it ever beautiful! We are in the middle of a collage/craft, making a Golden Stupa with mosaic design. We will continue exploring this intriguing culture and make art in textiles, and perhaps ceramics, if time allows.
Third Grade: Students are engaged in an Art Appreciation unit, learning about Impressionism and its inventor, Claude Monet. We are working on some really gorgeous oil paintings of flowers using the Impressionistic style……. not like little kids anymore!
Fourth and Fifth Grade: It’s CLAY up to our elbows in here! Both grade levels are working on ceramics projects and finding that clay is not always easy to deal with, but so rewarding when the product is complete. Fourth grade students are making boxes with lids (Cupcakes, Creatures, or Decorative with handle) Fifth grade students are working on Coil Texture Bowls, which are a press mold technique using coils or what you might know as “snakes”. 😊
Office Notes
Attention Virtual Families: If your student has achieved at least 100 AR points in reading, let us know! We would like to recognize their hard work with a certificate and a tee-shirt. Please send an email to aboston@lowellschools.com with your student's name and tee size!
Last call for Lost and Found! The tables are overflowing with winter gear. Have your student stop into the cafeteria to take a look if they are missing something. Any unclaimed items will be donated after next Friday.
Attention families with incoming Kindergartners!
Mark your Calendar!
3/15-3/19: Parent Teacher Conferences for 4th & 5th grade (virtual)
Breakfast and Lunch Menu for the week of 3/15-3/19
3/15: Frudel or Cereal
3/16:Cini Minnis or Breakfast Bar
3/17: Muffin w/ String Cheese or BeneFIT Bar
3/18: Strawberry Parfait or Frudel
3/19: Breakfast Pizza or Cereal
*each breakfast served w/ fresh fruit and choice of milk.
Lunch:
3/15: Crispy Chicken Sandwich w/ fride or Muffin & Goldfish Fun Lunch
3/16: Rotini in Meat Sauce or PB&J Fun Lunch
3/17: Turkey and Ham Sub or Strawberry Parfait w/ Granola
3/18: Pepperoni Pizza or Muffin & Goldfish Fun Lunch
3/19: Mini Strawberry Pancakes or PB&J Fun Lunch
*each lunch served w/ fruit, veggie and choice of milk.
Alto Elementary
Website: lowellschools.com
Location: 6150 Bancroft Avenue Southeast, Alto, MI, USA
Phone: 616-987-2600
Facebook: facebook.com/altoelementary