Alta Mesa Elementary School Weekly Principal Communication
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Sunday Evening Message
Sunday, March, 29th 2020
Good Evening Alta Mesa Families,
This is Mr. Miller with your Sunday Evening Update. I hope this message finds everyone healthy and safe as we continue on in the Shelter in Place. I have a few announcements this Sunday. First, on Tuesday, March 31st we will be doing round 2 of Chromebook distribution. The distribution will take place at Alta Mesa School from 11 am-1 pm in the same location it happened last time which was the end of Wing 1 just passed the meal distribution area. If you have a kindergartener you will be able to get a CB this time through. I want to remind all that took a Chromebook the first time around, and those who plan on getting one Tuesday that they are filtered through the district filter. So students should be aware that they cannot go on unauthorized websites. Lunches will continue through this week, but we will not be doing lunch distribution the week of April 6-10 as it is our normally scheduled Spring Break. You will be receiving another update from the district office later this week with information for what things will look like after spring break. The information will be sent via a youtube link through school messenger. It will be also posted on our Facebook page as well as on the district's COVID-19 Information page. I am continuing to send out a Parent Newsletter through messenger on Monday's with additional information. That newsletter is also posted to Facebook and on our school's website altamesa.eesd.net. I have been in communication with our staff through school closure. Know that we all miss you and your children and cannot wait to see everyone again. Have a safe and healthy rest of your weekend Alta Mesa.Sunday, March 22nd 2020
Good Evening Alta Mesa Families,
This is Mr. Miller with your Sunday evening updated. This last week was a challenging week for us all. From the announcement that we would closing schools, to distribution of Chromebooks, work packets, and food, to then the announcement of shelter in place that was made Thursday afternoon it was quite a week. I want to thank all of the Alta Mesa families for really stepping up this week. Every interaction I have had with our Alta Mesa families has been positive and upbeat even during these trying times. This Sunday's message does not come with much more of an update than you've already had from our assistant superintendent last week. We are still planning on being out of school through the end of spring break. If that extends beyond spring break we will let you know immediately. This Sunday I want to focus on the educational resources that our district is providing parents to help you and your students at home. The best resources is our district website eesd.net , once you're there you can go to the resources drop-down menu and find "School Closure Educational Resources." This is a fantastic place where we have stored some great content. The first area I would check out is the "sample schedule" drop down that has great schedules for you to use through the week with your students. This week at some point teachers will push out a link for EPIC which is an online library for you to access. I wanted to let you know that we will be continuing our curbside meal service at the Alta Mesa Cafe Monday-Friday from 11 am-1 pm, you can sign up on our district website eesd.net. I will also be pushing out a Parent Newsletter once a week on either Monday's or Tuesday's with additional ideas and updated information. The newsletter will be pushed out through school messenger, posted to our website under "News and Announcements", and posted on our school's Facebook page. Speaking of Facebook, that is a great place to find additional news, links, and communication from the school through this closure. Lastly, because our office is closed during this time, if you have questions or concerns you can contact me through my school email "rmiller@eesd.net" I ask for 24 hours to respond to emails during this time as we gather more information and work with the district office on upcoming plans. I hope this message finds you safe and well with your family. I look forward to seeing everyone in the near future. Be safe Alta Mesa.
Sunday, March 8th 2020
Good Evening Alta Mesa Families,
This is Mr. Miller with your Sunday Evening Update. I want to preface this evening's update and let you know it will be a bit longer than usual. I will start off with the normal announcements for the week, but I will also share with you information on the Corona Virus or COVID-19 and how our district is preparing for it. First, for the normal announcements, I hope everyone was able to make the switch for daylight savings time and changed their clocks. Remember to spring forward one hour! This week is conference week so every day is a minimum day with dismissal at 1:20 and 1:25 all week. I look forward to having all of our parents meet with their teachers to get an update on how their child is doing in the classroom. We have three 4/5 basketball games this week. On Tuesday our teams travel to Mistletoe, on Wednesday we are at home against Shasta Meadows, and Thursday at home against Lassen View. Wednesday evening is the Alta Mesa Booster Club Meeting. Friday we will have volleyball club after school. Also on Friday is our Booster Club's Family Dance, this event will take place between 6pm to 8pm in our Alta Mesa Gym. I hope all of our families can come out to partake in the fun!
Now for some information regarding the Corona Virus or COVID-19. While at the time of this message there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19, the chances of a positive result sometime in the future is likely. We are working with our county office of education and the county department of health so that the proper protocols are put into place should the virus appear in our community. Currently, the best measures to protect our students are to ensure that they are utilizing healthy hygiene. Our custodians are working hard to clean every classroom so that they are as sanitary as possible. Here are some proactive tips to help reduce the risk of any infection. If your child is feeling ill or even has the lowest of fevers, the recommendation is to stay home. In addition, if your child visits our school’s health office and has a fever or other flu-like symptoms, we will call you to pick up your child. Please have a plan ready so your child can be picked up promptly. Wash your hands frequently with soap for at least 20 seconds. Use hand sanitizer when soap is unavailable. Avoid close contact with people who are sick. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with your hands. Cover your mouth with a tissue or sleeve when you sneeze, then put tissues directly into the trash after use. I will be in continuous contact with our district, who again, is working with county health officials to monitor the situation and follow any precautions that are recommended. Our goal is to keep our students and staff safe at all times. Thank you and have a wonderful rest of your weekend.Sunday, March 1st 2020
Good Afternoon Alta Mesa Families,
This is Mr. Miller with your Sunday Evening Update. This week is going to be a busy one as we have a lot of great things happening on campus. To start this week is our "Read Across America" Week. Each Day we will have a dress-up days and different activities going on for the week. Here are the dress-up days- Monday is Wear Silly Socks Day, Tuesday is Pajama Day, Weds is Wacky or backward clothes day, Thursday is Wear your Favorite Hat Day, and Friday is our Vocabulary Parade so we won't have a specific dress up for that. Speaking of which, This Friday will be our Vocabulary parade at 1:00 in the gymnasium. This is a great opportunity to celebrate our student's love of words! Also this week, we would love to see as many families as possible Thursday Night for our "Family Literacy Night" in the gym. This is a great evening for the whole family. The theme is "Read Like a Pirate." Food and drinks will be provided as well as prize drawings! So come one, come all this Thursday from 5:30-7:00 in our gym. This month is also our literacy month. All of our students will be given a reading log to take home for the week. Each grade level has a reading target for the week. On Friday we will collect the reading logs and tally up the student who have met their goal and award them a prize. The literacy month will go for four weeks. We have three 4/5 Basketball games this week. On Tuesday and then again on Weds our teams are at Boulder Creek. On Thursday our teams travel to Rother. Volleyball Club kicks off this week on Friday after school. Lastly, but certainly not least this Saturday we are hoping to arrange the playground painting day that we missed due to weather earlier in the year. I will keep all parents updated whether this event gets postponed a second time due to weather, but as of right now we are planning on good weather and getting out and doing some much-needed painting on the playground for those who would like to help out we plan on being out there from 8am-Noon. There's definitely a lot happening this week at Alta Mesa, I look forward to a fantastic week and hope everyone has a wonderful rest of their weekend.
Sunday, Feb. 23rd 2020
Good Evening Alta Mesa Families,
This is Mr. Miller with your Sunday Evening Update. I hope everyone had a wonderful President's week off, and are ready to get back to school tomorrow. Here's our announcements for the upcoming week. Tomorrow is a minimum day as usual. Pick up time is 1:20 and 1:25. YES Club is on Tuesday-Thursday after school. Our Basketball Teams are at Lassen View on Tuesday and at Shasta Meadows on Thursday. We will still be allowing students in 4th and 5th grade to sign up for volleyball club on Friday's after school. Please sign up ASAP. Garden Club will be Weds after school. I look forward to seeing everyone back tomorrow for another great week at Alta MesaSunday Feb. 9th, 2020
Good Evening Alta Mesa Families,
This is Mr. Miller with your Sunday Evening Update. The weather has started to lift and the sunny skies were a welcome sight this weekend. Here are our announcements for this week. Monday is a minimum day as normal, pick up at 1:20 and 1:25. I would like to say thank you to our Eagle Leaders as they not only hosted last week's KINDNESS Week but also presented at the board meeting. Great job Eagle Leaders! We have Boys and Girls basketball games this week. On Tuesday we play Rother at home, boys play at 3pm and girls at 4pm. On Wednesday we play BC at home as well, girls are at 3pm that day and boys at 4pm. On Thursday we are home yet again against MT. Girls are at 3pm and boys at 4pm for start times. YES Club is this week Tuesday-Thursday. Garden Club is in Room 8. Permission slips are available in the office for a newly formed Volleyball Club. the Club will be on Friday's from 2:30-3:30 in either our gym or cafeteria. We will start the Friday we get back from February Break. Speaking of February Break. I would like to remind all our parents that next week IS our February Break so there will be no school from Feb. 17th-21st for President's Week. I hope this message finds everyone enjoying the nice weather for this weekend, and I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow here at Alta Mesa.
Sunday Feb. 2nd, 2020
Good Evening Alta Mesa Families,
This is Mr. Miller with your Sunday Evening Update. I hope this message finds you well on this Superbowl Sunday. (This message was recorded prior to the game so I hope if you're hearing this during the game the Niners are doing well) Here is what's happening around campus this week. I would first like to say a "great job" to our Eagle Leaders as they hosted our Kindness week this last week. It was a great opportunity for our own students to model what it looks like to be kind and work to stop unkind behavior and bullying. Great Job Eagle Leaders! Monday again is a minimum day with release times at 1:20 and 1:25. Yes club is Tuesday-Thursday after school. For our families where English is the second language we will be having an ELAC meeting on Thursday at 8:30-9:30 we look forward to hearing how we can serve you better. I would like to remind parents that our parent surveys are now available online at our website altamesa.eesd.net. In order for us to grow and serve our students and families the best way possible, we need feedback. Please go on and fill out the parent's surveys so we can continue to improve on the quality of education at Alta Mesa. It's going to be another great week at Alta Mesa, and I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of their weekend.
Sunday Jan. 26th, 2020
Good Evening Alta Mesa Families,
This is Mr. Miller with your Sunday Evening update. I hope this message finds everyone having a great weekend. Here are some things in the upcoming week happening at Alta Mesa. First, Monday is a minimum day so pick up with be at 1:20 and 1:25. This week is Kindness Challenge Week at Alta Mesa. Our leadership students have prepared a week full of Kindness activities for our students to participate in. As parents, you will get information home on Monday evening with a list of the activities our students will doing over the course of the week. The Great Kindness Challenge is an opportunity for our students to focus on ways they can treat it other with kindness and respect. Our students are given opportunities to step up in kindness to eliminate bullying and other negative ways of treating people. Our leadership group is giving each class a jar to raise money in a campaign called "Kindness Coins for Mexico" so if you have the ability to spare some change it is going to go to a great cause. The class that raises the most money will win an ice cream party. Other things happening this week we have our YES club running Tuesday-Thursday. I hope that everyone has a pleasant rest of their evening, and I look forward to a fantastic week here at Alta Mesa.
Sunday Jan. 19th, 2020
Good Evening Alta Mesa Families,
This is Mr. Miller with your Sunday Evening Update. I hope everyone is enjoying their Martin Luther King Jr. 3-day weekend. I also hope that as families you are able to have conversations about why this weekend is so important and role that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. played in the fight for equality. I wanted to first remind you that this is a three-day weekend, so there will be no school on Monday. Tuesday is a normal day with normal pick-up times. Garden Club will be Tuesday after school from 2:15-3:15. YES Club will be after school on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I also wanted to let parents know that we will be having a Lockdown drill on Friday so please don't be alarmed if you hear that the school lockdown alarms are going off on Friday. I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of their 3-day weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday.
Sunday, Jan. 12th, 2020
Good Evening Alta Mesa Families,
This is Mr. Miller with your Sunday Evening Update. Well, we are back into the swing of things and entering our second week of school post-break. We had a great first week back. I could tell our students were getting used to being back. Just a reminder that all Monday's are minimum days. We still have a good amount of students not being picked up after school on Mondays at the appropriate time. This week we have boys and girls 4/5 basketball practice after school, please check with the coaches for practice schedules. Booster club meets this week on Wednesday at 5:30 in the Library. For those parents who signed up for the powerful parenting evening at our district office, that will be Thursday, Jan. 16th from 5:15-7. That event was one that had a required sign-up. I'm looking forward to another great week at Alta Mesa, I hope you and your families have a pleasant evening.Sunday Jan. 5th, 2020
Good Evening Alta Mesa Families,
This is Mr. Miller back at you with a Sunday Evening Update. Welcome to 2020! We are not only starting a new year, but a new decade as we come back to school. I just wanted to remind you of a couple of things as we go into the year and the second half of the school year. Reminder that there is no school tomorrow for students. It is a staff buyback day. Students return to school on Tuesday, Jan. 7th. This week is both girls and boys 4/5 basketball tryouts after school. I look forward to starting a new decade this week with everyone back at Alta Mesa. I hope that everyone had a restful, relaxing and joy-filled Holiday Break.Sunday, December 8th, 2019
Good Evening Alta Mesa Families,
This is Mr. Miller with your Sunday Evening Update. We are down to 9 days until Christmas break. Our week starts with our normal minimum day on Monday with pick up at 1:20 and 1:25. If you are interested in purchasing a yearbook the early bird prices are still available currently so get your order in ASAP before the price goes up increases after Christmas Break. We have two soccer games this week. On Tuesday our team travels to Shasta Meadows, start time at 3:00. On Thursday we face Boulder Creek at home, also at 3:00. I would like to thank our Booster Club for putting on a wonderful family movie night this last Friday. It was a great event for our students and families. I look forward to another great week at Alta Mesa, and hope everyone has a pleasant evening.
Sunday November 17th Announcements
Good Evening Alta Mesa Families,
This is Mr. Miller with your Sunday evening update. This week is parent-teacher conference week. It is a great opportunity for all our parents to connect with their teachers and continue the partnership between home and school. All parents should have been contacted in various forms by their teachers to schedule parent-teacher conferences. If you were not contacted please let your teacher know so that a conference date may be set up. As this week is conference week it is important to note that every day this week will be a minimum day for conferences. Make sure that you pick up your child at either 1:20 or 1:25 depending on their grade level. Our 5th graders will be participating in the Unite Camp Fun Run Fundraiser on Thursday. Please consider donating to our 5th graders as they raise money for their environmental camp. You can go onto our facebook page to connect to the Fun Run website to donate. Book fair is this week in the library. The book fair will be open from 8:00-2:00 daily throughout the week. And finally, I would just like to remind everyone that next week is our Thanksgiving recess and there will be no school. I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of your weekend, and I look forward to another great week at Alta Mesa.
Sunday, November 3rd Announcements
Good Evening Alta Mesa Families,
This is Mr. Miller with your Sunday Evening update. Halloween/ Red Ribbon week was a great success. We had many campus activities going on including a door decorating contest and of course our "Pie the Principal" Cookie Dough incentive. For pictures from the past week please visit our facebook page, facebook.com/altamesaschool. This coming up week we will be having our first 5th Grade Unite Camp parent information meeting. This meeting will include information about the camp as well as fundraising information for parents. That meeting will be Tuesday, November 5th from 4:30-5:30 in room 15. This month we will be hosting an Alta Mesa Family Game/Math Night in the Alta Mesa Gym. Please mark your calendars for Wednesday, November 13th for our Game/Math Night. Garden Club is this Weds from 2:15-3:15. We will end our week with our Trimester 1 Awards Assemblies on Friday. I'm looking forward to another great week at Alta Mesa, and I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your weekend.
Sunday, October 27th Announcements
Good Evening Alta Mesa Families,
I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. I also hope, once again, that you did not experience power outages due to the wind. If you did, I hope the outage was minimal and did as little disruption to your normal routine as possible. We had a fantastic fall carnival over the weekend. Pictures from the carnival are up on our facebook page. I would like to thank our Booster Club for hosting an amazing event. I would also like to thank the various group who had student volunteers come out to help run the booths. This week continues as our campus Red Ribbon Week. This week priortizes keeping our students safe and away from drugs. One of the activities for the week is dress-up days. Here are the dress-up days for this week: Monday is "Mix it up Monday" where students are encouraged to mismatch their clothes. Tuesday is "Superhero Day" where students can dress up as their favorite superhero. Wednesday is "Sports Day," students may wear their favorite sports teams apparel. Thursday is "Future Self Day" where student can dress up in the career that they would like to have in the future. Here are some other announcements for this week. Monday is a minimum day as usual, pick-up times are 1:20 and 1:25. There is no school on Friday as the district has a staff development day. This school year is going by fast as Thursday marks the end of the first trimester. I look forward to an even better second trimester. Thank you Alta Mesa Families and have a wonderful rest of your evening.