800 East 11000 South, Sandy, UT, 84094
801-826-7675

US News Utah’s Top Ranked Elementary School Badge
Spanish Dual Language Immersion School

Monday Minute 9.30.24


Dear Parents,

Thanks for coming to conferences last week! We appreciate meeting with parents and partnering in your child’s education.  We also are truly grateful for the dinners provided for teachers during the two nights of conferences.  Thanks so much PTA and others who volunteered to bring food! 

Attendance Policy Starting as early as preschool and kindergarten, regular attendance is essential for students to gain the academic and social skills they need to thrive.  Research shows that when students are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of the school year), they are less likely to read proficiently by third grade, achieve in middle school and graduate from high school.  In addition to the learning losses, students also lost opportunities to develop socially and gain skills in problem-solving and self-regulation, all which are needed to grow and learn.(https://awareness.attendanceworks.org/) Altara will begin an attendance incentive for classrooms starting on Oct. 1st.  Each class will receive a Potato Head to display in their room.  Every day the class has 100% attendance, they will add one accessory on the head (an arm, the eyes, the ear, etc.)  Once their Potato Head is fully assembled, the class will earn a reward.  They will start over assembling the Potato Head again to earn the next reward.  We won’t include tardies or early check-outs for now. We want to encourage great attendance, but we don’t want students coming to school sick with a fever.  We are hoping to encourage students to make school attendance a priority, but we understand there are days that will and should be missed.  If a week has passed with a class unable to add an accessory, we may lower the percentage needed if the absences are unavoidable.   

Choose Kindness  We are on the lookout for any acts of kindness at Altara.  Here are some examples of kindness happening at our school these past couple of weeks.  We have the best students! Norah Carter (3rd grade) Thank you for always looking for ways to help me & help other students! Thank you for always choosing KIND!Benson Thomas (2nd grade) Benson was kind by pushing in a classmate’s chair so we could sit down for morning meeting.Hamza Aden (3rd grade) Hamza is so kind to pick up all the trash on the playground. He has been so great!Everett Foster (kindergarten) Everett was kind to a friend who got stung by a bee by helping and comforting him.Isaias Guevara (5th grade) Your willingness to help when needed shows how much you care about your classmates and your school community. You are always ready to offer a helping hand and your kindness does not go unnoticed! Isabella Riches (kindergarten) One of our art cart drawers got dumped out accidentally. Isabella volunteered to help clean up the mess!Max Garcia (1st grade) Max helped clean trash off the playground without being asked.Alexzander Gongora (1st grade) Alexzander helped clean trash off the playground without being asked.Trent Vinson (1st grade) Trent helped others get their desk area cleaned up.Andrea Fragoso Mejia (kindergarten) Helping another student when they were struggling.Evelyn Rowe (4th grade) She helped another student clean up a water bottle spill.  

School Website:  https://altara.canyonsdistrict.org/ 
Instagram:  altaraelementary
Parent Volunteer application link:  https://www.canyonsdistrict.org/depts/external-relations/volunteer/ 
 Upcoming DatesOct. 2nd—5th grade Field Trip to Hale Center TheaterOct. 4th—Career DayOct. 8th—Secure DrillOct. 14th-16th—Digital Citizenship WeekOct. 14th—Hearing Screening (Note date change)Oct 14th—Digital Citizenship WeekOct. 17th-18th—Fall Break; No schoolOct. 21st—Teacher Professional Day; No schoolOct. 22nd-25th—Red Ribbon WeekOct. 25th—Assembly for the school to celebrate Red Ribbon WeekOct. 31st—Halloween Parade will be outside starting at 8:45; Classroom parties will be throughout the day determined by each grade level  Have a great day!   Julie Fielding, PrincipalAltara Elementary  

PTA NewsThis is the last chance to order your student a FREE Altara t-shirt! Each year, the Altara PTA provides ‘Spirit’ t-shirts FREE of charge to our students and teachers. Please follow this link and provide the shirt size for your student(s). https://forms.gle/uDuwTm3kJprt74PYA.  We’re off to a great start with Box Tops and are excited to announce we have already raised $240! Mrs. Platt’s class is in the lead for the September/ October contest! It’s never been easier to support our school—many products you already buy qualify. Just scan your receipt every time you shop, and you can contribute at no extra cost to you. When you sign up, use our referral code- SMJ714KW- to earn an additional $5 for Altara.  Let’s make this a fun and rewarding experience for our school! Download the app at http://boxtops4education.com  We’d like to thank all those that volunteered to help support our teachers with dinner during Parent Teacher Conference. The PTA catered dinner for one night of the parent teacher conferences and, through the donations of our generous volunteers, we are able to provide a community donated meal for the second night. We appreciate you!! If you haven’t already signed up to volunteer with our PTA, reach out to Chantell Nielson to get on the list! chantell.nielsen@gmail.com

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