From the desk of Principal Papes
Dear Alto Families,
Thank you for taking the time to meet with our teachers last week for Parent/Teacher Conferences. The teacher-parent-student relationship is one that we greatly value at Alto Elementary and believe is critical to your child’s success in school. Thank you for your continued support! Additionally, a HUGE THANK YOU to the parents who brought meals in for our staff on Monday and Wednesday. Everything was delicious, and the meals were much appreciated by staff during those long days.
You received a NWEA MAP report for Reading and Math if your child is in grades 1-5. 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 the MAP test again in the winter and spring. I encourage you to ask your child’s teacher if you have any questions regarding the results.
Fundraiser Prizes
Students will be receiving their fundraiser prizes today to bring home. Please reference the attached Golden Ticket for the leveled prizes students will receive based on the donations they collected. There are 4 levels of prizes. Additionally, we awarded the PS5 today to a very happy 3rd grade student! Thanks again for your generous support with this year’s fundraiser!!
Halloween
We will be celebrating Halloween on Thursday, October 31st. The school parade will start at
11:00 AM. Parents are encouraged to join us! The parent viewing area will be outside unless we have inclement weather that day. If we have inclement weather, the parent viewing areas will be moved inside. The plans for class parties and activities will be communicated by your child’s teacher. The teachers will also reach out regarding volunteer opportunities. We ask that parents do not “drop in” at parties unless they are signed up to volunteer or prior arrangements are made with the teacher. We hope that this relieves some pressure parents often feel to attend class parties because they think it is expected that every parent attends. We encourage students to bring costumes to wear for the parties and parade. Please note: Toy weapons, blood, gore, etc. are not allowed with costumes at school. Teachers will be communicating their requests for donated treats or other items. Our Alto staff has decided that we will continue to require that all treats be store-bought (no homemade treats please). This will also continue to apply to birthday treats as well. We’re looking forward to this fun event!
Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Paul Papes, Principal
The beautiful world of ART!!!
The school year is off to a great start! We have been busy doing lots of painting! First we started painting with watercolor paints as we learned/remembered and practiced how to use and care for all that is involved with painting in the art room. More recently, students have been working through the primary colors and mixing these primary colors to make the secondary colors (3rd-5th have also been mixing tints and shades).
We are very excited that our fall themed artwork is about ready for display and should go up in the halls and at the Alto Public KDL Library next week!
Ski and Snowboard Club
It's time to get your ski club cards! Lowell Ski and Snowboarding club is a chance for Lowell students and their families to ski and board together. Families can buy discounted punch cards at Cannonsburg to use anytime or meet up with the rest of the club on a designated night during the ski season. To sign up for the club please fill out this form. Click here for a flyer with more information from Cannonsburg. Feel free to reach out to the club sponsor, James Grulke, at jgrulke@lowellschools.com for more information.
