Monday Minute 4.20.2026

Red Shoes Living Award

We want to extend our appreciation & excitement to our amazing SEL Team members: Mandy Stevensen, Anna Hansen, and Katie Gibbons for receiving the Red Shoes Living award recently. All three support students’ social, emotional, and behavioral well-being in very powerful ways. All three go out of their way to get to know students and learn about their interests – they have quickly become our resident experts in Pokemon, Minecraft, axolotls, aliens, and every 3D printed toy known to man.

Most of all, it is clear that Katie, Mandy, and Anna genuinely care about the students with whom they work with. They are dedicated and committed to supporting students in meeting their goals; they consistently go above and beyond to provide additional encouragement when needed. 

We are so very lucky to have them as members of our Kittyhawk family!

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Ken Garff Road to Success Bike Winner

Congratulations to Kayson Schiffman for winning the “Road to Success” bike!

By reading at home almost every day Kayson logged over 10,000 minutes and completed the Road to Success Challenge. Way to go Kayson!

Many students had raffle entries into this challenge but Kayson came out as the bike winner! Enjoy that new ride Kayson!

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Book Blitz Winning Team

We would also like to recognize the following students for representing Altara Elementary in the district wide Book Blitz competition:

-Trygve Carlson

-Sam Mayer
-Grant McCallson
-Jonas Gleason
-Mason Riches

Thank you for representing our school proudly!

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What is Book Blitz?                                                                                                         

Book Blitz is an optional district and school-sponsored, PTA-supported extended learning opportunity open to any 4th and 5th grade student, at a participating school, with an interest in and love of reading.

During Book Blitz Jr. team meetings, 4th and 5th grade students work together in five-person teams to read and study twelve books over the course of the school year. They then participate in “Jeopardy-style” competitions to demonstrate their knowledge of the books, first at the school level, followed by the winning 4th-5th grade team moving on to the district competition against 4th-5th grade teams from other district elementary schools.

Wheels (bikesscooters, this INCLUDES rollerblades and rollerwheels)

We appreciate your support in reminding your students to “walk their wheels” (bikes, scooters, rollerblades, roller shoes, etc.) on school grounds and while crossing streets or crosswalks. Once students have left school property safely, they are welcome to ride. We appreciate your support in enforcing this if you child uses ones of these to get to school and home.

Learning Environment Requests                                                                            

Parents who feel their child has specific needs that may not yet be fully recognized are welcome to provide input regarding student placement for the 2026–2027 school year. Forms will be available for families who wish to share the type of learning environment in which their child will thrive most in. The form is attached below. Completed forms must be returned to the school no later than April 30, 2026. You are welcome to send the form back to the school office or email the form directly to Principal Julie Fielding (julie.fielding@canyonsdistrict.org).

Class placements are thoughtfully developed to support both individual student needs and the overall balance of each classroom. Grade-level teams collaborate closely to create class groupings, and significant time and care are given to this process. We appreciate your thoughtful input and ask that you keep the complexity of this work in mind when submitting requests.

From the PTA           

🎪 Fundraiser envelopes are going home today, please make sure to check backpacks for them – and start collecting your donations! If students bring envelopes back by 4/29, they will receive a custom Kittyhawk water bottle sticker!!

Friendly reminder to purchase your tickets in advance using the QR code below and avoid lines the evening of the carnival.

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Questions or donations: taelorsaxton8@gmail.com

🥖 Spirit Night at Jersey Mike’s!

Support Altara PTA while grabbing dinner! A portion of all app and kiosk orders will be donated to our school.

📅 April 22nd (This Wednesday!)

⏰ 4:00–9:00 PM

📍 74 W 11400 S

🥨 Box Tops for Education

We’ve earned $1,342 toward our $1,500 goal for the 2025–26 school year! Keep scanning your receipts to help our school.

Download the app and use referral code SMJ714KW to earn an extra $5 for Altara.

🕺 PTA Meeting – Join Us!

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, May 5th at 10:00 AM in the Altara Conference Room.


🔗 Helpful Links 🔗

PTA Instagram: @altarapta
Givebacks: Membership & Donations
Watch DOGS: Signup Calendar

School Website:  https://altara.canyonsdistrict.org/ 

Instagram:  @altaraelementary

Calendar Items & Looking Ahead

April 24: Kindergarten Orientation 2:00-3:00 pm (for incoming kindergarteners & their families)

May 1: School Carnival 5-7 pm

May 5: PTA Meeting

May 4-15:  RISE Testing for grades 3rd-5th 

May 25: Memorial Day ~ No School!

May 28: Kindergarten Field Day

May 29: Grades 1-5 Field DayMay 29 (Friday): Last Day of School! ~ Early Dismissal Day!

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Statement

Canyons School District is committed to making this website compliant with the ADA. At this time, we recognize that not all areas of this website may be ADA compliant. We are currently in the process of redesigning and creating new website content to be compliant with the W3C Level Two guidelines. If you are experiencing issues with this website, please contact us here communications@canyonsdistrict.org