Afternoon Dismissal
Altura Preparatory School uses a school dismissal software program called PikMyKid for afternoon dismissal procedures. Parents, guardians, and designated caregivers must have their child/children's PikMyKid card or the assigned number for afternoon dismissal/pick-up. An Altura Prep staff member will take your child's number from the card and enter it into an iPad app to facilitate smooth pick-up.
Dismissal on the first day of school will take place with PikMyKid numbers. Your child will receive their PikMyKid placards at our Meet the Teacher event. (Returning families, students will have NEW numbers assigned to them this year, so be sure to attend to receive your card.) Please exercise patience and grace during the first week, as new families will be learning this routine and expect the queueing process to take a little longer. Please follow the directions of the staff members in the parking lot as they facilitate the dismissal process.
The Signal Avenue gate will be opened Monday through Thursday at 2:45 pm. Parents do not block Signal Avenue in the afternoon, so plan your arrival at school for pick-up so that you are not blocking the intersection while waiting for the gate to open. We work incredibly hard to be good neighbors to our surrounding community, and we ask that parents/caregivers NOT PARK along residential neighborhood streets while waiting for dismissal. Students must be picked up by 3:25 pm Monday-Thursday and by 12:40 pm on Fridays/early dismissal days.
Unlike morning drop-off, all lanes are used for pick-up in the afternoon. There are four pick-up lines in the afternoon for dismissal, as indicated in the picture above. The green, yellow, red, and turquoise lines indicate the four car lines you will see in the afternoon. We will begin each afternoon by putting cars in car line four (turquoise line), then car line three (red line), and then car lines one and two, the yellow and green lines in the photo.
Staff members will walk students to their vehicles and open car doors for students, so please make sure that the car's passenger side is unlocked and that the backseat and walkways are clear for your child to hop into their vehicle quickly.
Picking Up Students Early for Appointments
We highly encourage parents/caregivers to schedule their child's dental and medical appointments before or after school hours. Should you need to pick up your child early for a medical or dental appointment, we ask that your child be picked up before 2:30 pm. On Friday, children leaving early for appointments must be picked up before 11:30 am.
Back-to-School Curriculum Night
Our Back-to-School Curriculum Night will be held on Thursday, August 10, 2023. We will have two back-to-back sessions, allowing parents with more than one child at Altura Prep to attend each of their children's grade-level informational sessions. The first session will be from 5:00-5:45 pm, while the second will be from 6:00-6:45 pm. Curriculum Night is always a very crowded event. Please be prepared to park on Alameda Boulevard, as we can only use the parking lot of the offices adjacent to our building beginning at 5:30 pm.
Altura Prep's Back-to-School Curriculum Night is an adult-only event. A lot of information is being presented to parents in a short time, and we want all of our parents to be able to focus on the presentations without distractions. Teachers will give you an overview of your child's day, discuss the curriculum, review homework expectations, and provide tips on how you can support your child throughout the year.
School Bus Schedule
Altura Preparatory School provides one transportation route to and from school. For the 2022-2023 school year, the bus stops will remain at the San Pedro Public Library (5600 Trumbull Avenue SE) and the Tony Hillerman Public Library (8205 Apache Avenue NE).
Morning pick-up will occur at the San Pedro Public Library at 7:10 am and then at the Tony Hillerman Public Library at 7:20 am. Afternoon drop-off occurs at 3:40 pm at the Tony Hillerman Public Library and 3:50 pm at the San Pedro Public Library. On minimum days, students will be dropped off at the Tony Hillerman Public Library at 1:00 pm and the San Pedro Public Library at 1:10 pm.
Please note that these times depend somewhat on traffic, so we recommend arriving at your child's/children's bus stop at least five minutes before the scheduled pick-up or drop-off time.
School Breakfast and Lunch
School breakfast will be served each morning from 7:30-7:50 am. Our school meal program will continue to be a sack lunch prepared by our food provider, Canteen. If packing a lunch from home is an option for your child, we recommend sending your child to school with a lunch from home. Packing your child's lunch will give you more control over the types of food your child can enjoy for their mid-day meal and ensure that your child/children are eating foods they like.
Altura Preparatory School will continue participating in the National School Lunch Program this year. Breakfast will cost $2.50, and lunch will cost $4.25. Reduced-priced and free meals will be available for those students who qualify.
Changes to the School Breakfast and Lunch Program
We have recently learned more about the requirements for the free school lunch program offered to K-12 students in New Mexico through Senate Bill 4 for the 23-24 school year. To qualify for free lunch to all students, schools must provide a hot lunch line that meets several criteria. Due to our current facility space and staffing limitations, Altura Prep cannot host and staff a hot lunch bar. Unfortunately, we cannot participate in the new free school lunch program this coming school year despite our attempts to work with the New Mexico Public Education Department to request an exemption to the required criteria.
Therefore, our process for lunch for the 2023-24 school year will follow the same steps as for the 2022-23 school year. We will request that everyone complete a National School Lunch Program application form. If your child does not qualify for Free or Reduced Price Lunch, you will be asked to deposit funds into your child's MySchoolBucks account to allow your child to eat a school lunch.
All families must complete a Federal School Meal Application form each year, even if you plan to send lunch to school with your child. This application will determine whether your child will receive a free, reduced-price, or paid meal if/when they eat school breakfast or lunch. These meal applications also allow us to qualify for other potential funding sources we can apply for over the school year. Meal application forms are available on the school website under School Breakfasts and Lunches. If you prefer a hard copy, don't hesitate to contact Ms. Cynthia in the office. A meal application MUST be on file to deposit funds into your child's MySchoolBucks account (more information below).
Students will use a 4-digit Student ID number for cafeteria purchases, though our staff will input student meals by name for our youngest students. Please note that serving lines may be slower for the first couple of days with the system, but as the students familiarize themselves with the system, the lines should move much more quickly.
MySchoolBucks Meal Account
To fund your student's meal account, we ask that parents/guardians deposit money using MySchoolBucks. You can also use MySchoolBucks to receive low-balance alerts, set up automatic payments, and set daily/weekly spending limits. Altura Prep cannot accept cash or checks for school meal payments. All meal payments must be made through MySchoolBucks. You can register on the MySchoolBucks system beginning August 1, 2023.
Funds that remain in your student's meal account at the end of the school year will be carried over to the next school year. Please note that if your student's meal account runs out of funds, we cannot debit an account to a negative balance. Your child can only purchase breakfast or lunch once more money is added to their account.
If your student qualifies for free or reduced meal prices, the system notes this information. Your child's meals will be processed just as it is for all other students without any indication to school staff or your child's classmates.
If you have questions that cannot be answered using the school website under School Breakfasts and Lunches, please call the main office at 505-539-5369, and we will be glad to assist you.
Uniform Purchase Information for Lands' End and Local Retail Stores
Altura Preparatory School has partnered with Lands' End for additional uniform options and logos on most apparel. Click HERE for the link to the Lands' End Uniform webpage. Search for Altura Preparatory School or school number 900196932. From there, you will be able to view the uniform options available.
All details for Lands’ End school uniforms, including information on how to order through Lands' End, can be found on the school website under Uniforms. LINK (This link goes to the school website with updated uniform information.) Lands' End also provides a Get Started toolkit- access it at www.landsend.com/get-started. There is a current Back To School Savings Program with Lands' End. Please click HERE to see the flyer and access the QR code to take advantage of the savings for uniform apparel with or without school logos! A great purchase that we recommend for your student is the School Uniform Kids Full-Zip Mid-Weight Fleece Jacket in classic navy. It can be purchased with or without the school logo, and your child can easily wear this fleece inside and outside the classroom.
Parents may also purchase their school uniforms at any store that carries them. Target, Costco, Children's Place, and Wal-Mart are just a few local stores that carry uniforms. For a visual example, or if you have any questions, the link above will have helpful pictures. Note: If you have a Costco membership, there are some fantastic deals for school uniforms right now! School polo shirts are $13.99 for a 2-pack, uniform khaki shorts and skorts are $17.99 for a 2-pack, and khaki uniform pants are $19.99 for a 2-pack.
School-Appropriate Shoes
Students are required to wear sneakers/athletic shoes only each day. Ballet flats, boots, sandals, flip-flops, or other shoe types will not be allowed. Students must be able to run and play safely during their enrichment classes and recesses, and sneakers/athletic shoes are specifically made to support your child's foot and ankle during physical activity.
Water Bottles
Drinking fountains and water stations are available for all Altura Prep students. Although many Prepsters prefer to bring their water bottles home, they tend to misplace them during the school day. Water bottles MUST remain in students' backpacks or lunch boxes during the school day. Due to the highly distractible nature of water bottles in class, starting this year, students will be unable to keep them at their tables during classes.
Labeling Your Child’s Belongings
If a student's belongings are misplaced, it is much more manageable for your child to find them if they are labeled. We can quickly return students' items left outside on the playground and in other classes if their names are on their clothing and lunch/snack containers. Please label your child's sweaters/sweatshirts, backpacks, lunch boxes, and water bottles with their first and last name.
Ordering waterproof name labels that stick to your child's clothing, lunchbox, and other supplies is an easy and convenient way to help your child stay organized while at school. Altura Preparatory School has a fundraising partnership with Mabels Labels, which donates a portion of its sales from Altura Prep families to the school. Click here to go to Mabel's Labels website, and then go to the "Support A Fundraiser" tab and type in Altura Preparatory School before placing your order.
On-Site Student Medications
For any non-allergy or non-asthma-related medication, parents must provide a completed Provider Order and Medication Authorization Form (available on the school website under Student Health Forms).
If your child must receive medication while at school, the school must have your child's current (non-expired) medication by the first day of school. For returning families, please be prepared to bring in new medicines in case your child's on-site medications have expired.
Allergy/Asthma Action Plans for New School Year
If a student needs allergy or asthma medication on campus, parents must provide a complete and updated copy of the Allergy or Asthma Action Plan every year. Parents are responsible for updating students' medical action plans before the first day of school EACH YEAR. Forms are located on the school website under Student Health Forms. Completed medical action plans are a state requirement. While the school will review student health files, parents are responsible for providing completed forms and medications to the school.
All medications, action plans, and Provider forms should be sent to Mrs.Cynthia Hernandez in the front office. Email: [email protected]. Phone: 505-539-5369 Fax: 505-213-0080.
We look forward to seeing all our students and families at our Meet the Teacher event on Monday, August 7, 2023, and the first day of school, Tuesday, August 8, 2023.
Have an excellent rest of your summer!
Warmly,
Lissa and Meaghan
