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Dear Altura Prep Parents and Caregivers,
We hope that all of you had a wonderful weekend and a nice break. Our teachers had a jam-packed three days in Los Angeles at the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) conference, attending dynamic workshops and sessions with mathematics educators from across the nation. A big thank you to our families for working with us to give our teachers this time to hone and develop their skills. We firmly believe that our Altura Prep students deserve the best trained, most motivated, and incredibly passionate teachers we can give them. When we cultivate and prioritize the professional development of our excellent teachers, we are, in turn, investing in our children.
October Calendar-at-a-Glance
Wednesday, October 5th: Regular Dismissal at 3:00 pm
Thursday, October 6th: No School- Fall Break
Friday, October 7th: No School- Fall Break
Monday, October 10th: No School- Indigenous Peoples’ Day
October Value of the Month: Helping Others
Our October Value of the Month at Altura Prep focuses on Helping Others. By teaching our children to learn to help others, we are helping to teach our children that it is our moral responsibility to help and care for all members of our community. There are many easy and practical ways to instill in your child a lifelong habit of helping others.
- Charity begins at home. It is our duty to help our family members. Encourage these habits by having your child complete chores at home, like placing the dirty dishes in the sink or wiping down the bathroom counter after they wash their hands.
- Entrust your child with responsibilities. By the time your child begins kindergarten, they are capable of doing many things on their own. Remind your child of all that you do for them, and then give them the responsibility of doing some of these chores independently to help you. Keeping an eye on a sibling while you are making dinner, setting dinner plates on the table, and getting their backpack and supplies ready the night before, are a few simple things that your child can do to help you as a parent. By giving your child responsibilities, you will find that with time, your child will also learn to extend a helping hand outside the home.
- Repeat to reinforce, “Practice makes permanent.” Select a habit that your child can do daily to help others. For example, have your child put an elderly neighbor’s newspaper by their front door every morning before leaving for school. Encouraging your child to continuously engage in acts of helping others will reinforce the habit of helping.
- The power of selflessness. Read books or share news articles with your child about people who put the needs of others before their own. Research has shown that children who serve their community have more successful, healthy, and satisfying lives and are likelier to do well in school.
- Teach your child to love their community. Begin to instill community-mindedness in your child, which will help them develop a sense of belonging, ownership, and social concern for others. For example, pitch in at the park by picking up litter as a family or deliver items to a food pantry. Having children volunteer alongside their adults teaches them how important it is to be in service to others.
Don’t forget that praising, recognizing, and appreciating your child’s good deeds will help to work wonders as they begin to understand how their helpful actions make a tremendous difference in making our world a better place. In addition, teaching your child the habit of helping others from an early age will help to ensure that this habit stays with them throughout their lifetime.
MySchoolBucks
Just a friendly reminder that students cannot use MySchoolbucks funds if their parents have not submitted a lunch application. Beginning Monday, October 3rd, 2022, should your child forget their lunch and we do not have a submitted school meal application in our files, parents will be immediately notified and will have to bring their lunch to school before 11:00 am.
School meal application forms can be downloaded from the school website HERE. We ask that everyone do this, even if you do not anticipate your child eating school meals. This way, we can give your child a meal if they forget their lunch box at home. Ms. Cynthia will also be calling and/or sending an application home if your child does not have a completed meal application on file. Feel free to scan and email the completed application back to Ms. Cynthia or send it in an envelope addressed to her in your child’s Home-School Binder.
Yearbooks
Families can now order their yearbooks through this link. You can also order through our school website under the tab Student Life tab. Please do not send any money to the school. Instead, order directly from the website. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ms. Cynthia.
Pick Up Reminders
Please plan your arrival at school dismissal to follow traffic rules:
- Do NOT make a left turn from Signal into the pick-up line. We have asked all families to enter from Signal Ave heading west so that we only block one way on Signal Ave. Please respect the school’s neighbors. Turning left into the school causes several traffic issues. We appreciate your cooperation.
- Time your arrival at school so that you do not feel a need to wait along Signal Ave. Again, this has caused challenges with the surrounding neighborhood association. We open the gate for pick up at 2:30 pm, and you are welcome to wait in the school lot after that time. Do NOT form a line along Signal Ave east of the school. We have received several complaints from our neighbors about this issue.
Attendance
Please report any absences to Cynthia Hernandez at cynthia.[email protected] or 505-539-5369. Parents must notify the school of a student’s absence by 8:00 am so that we can ensure accurate record-keeping for all students and an accurate count of students on campus daily. If you have a physician’s note, feel free to email a picture of it to Ms. Cynthia or send it in your child’s Home-School binder, and we will make sure the absence is marked as excused.
COVID Related Reporting
If your child is experiencing COVID-related symptoms (runny nose, cough, fever, chills), it’s strongly recommended that you give your child an at-home test. If your child tests positive or was in close contact with someone (at home, for example) who tests positive for COVID, families must notify the school so that we can advise you about the appropriate protocol for attendance and masking per our directions from the NMPED/NMDOH. In addition, families of students in close contact with positive individuals while at school will be notified. We know these seem like tiresome requests, but they are crucial for ensuring that our entire school community can remain healthy through the fall. Also, the school provides testing on-site for your convenience. If you wish for us to test your child, please call Ms. Cynthia. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Have a wonderful Fall Break!
In Partnership,
Lissa and Meaghan
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