Dear Altura Prep Parents and Caregivers,
May is an exciting time of year because of the anticipation of the last days of school, summer vacation, and planning for a new school year. However, with these last few weeks of school, we still have much to do as we continue learning and celebrating our successes with many end-of-the-year, culminating classroom activities.
Teacher Appreciation Week- May 8th - 12th, 2023
We can't wait to be able to celebrate our AMAZING Altura Prep Teachers and Staff next week! Let's show our teachers and staff how much we love them!
Monday, May 8th: Class Bouquets! We ask that each Altura Prep student brings three to four flowers (garden-picked, store-bought, or handmade) to add to their teachers' vases to make a beautiful, unique bouquet for their teachers to enjoy all week long.
Tuesday, May 9th: Special Treats! Remember your teachers and bring them each a special treat. Click HERE for a list of your teachers' favorite treats.
Wednesday, May 10th: Noteworthy Gifts! Please have your child write each of their teachers a note or a handwritten card to let them know how much they have impacted their life this year or what makes that teacher so unique.
Thursday, May 11th: Teacher Swag Day! Bring a special gift of your choice for your teachers. Click HERE for a list of some of your teachers' favorite things.
Friday, May 12th: Color Their World! Have your Prepster draw, paint, or color a beautiful picture for each one of their teachers, thanking them for an incredible year!
Special Video
We want all of our parents to send us a short video of their child/children from their phone, no more than 15 seconds long, with the introduction, "I am thankful for my Altura Prep Teachers because…." OR "We are thankful for our Altura Prep Staff because…." Anything your child feels they would like to share that lets our staff know how much they care would also be appreciated! Parents and Grandparents– we would love to hear from you, too! We will use these videos to make a special keepsake for our teachers and staff. We will also post excerpts on our Instagram and Facebook pages. Please email these video clips to [email protected] by Monday, May 8th. We can't wait to see your unique video appreciation!
Teacher Appreciation Week 2023 Lunch Sponsors
Show your gratitude as a family by sponsoring lunch for your child's teachers! Click HERE to make a $25.00 donation to provide lunch for our teachers during teacher appreciation week. When they pick up their meal, our teachers and staff will see a special acknowledgment with your child's/children's name/s on the lunch table. Cash or checks (made payable to Altura Schools) can be sent with your child in an envelope to Ms. Cynthia Hernandez.
Thank you in advance to all of our Altura Prep families for helping make this a unique and memorable week for our fabulous teachers. Your partnership and support of our excellent teachers and staff make our school an incredible place. We can't thank you enough for acknowledging the teachers and support staff that work incredibly hard each day to help your Prepster learn and grow!
Home-School Binder Book Pockets and Readers
We will begin collecting our Home-School Binder Book Pockets this week. Students who have lost their binder book pocket will be charged a $10.00 replacement fee.
NWEA MAP Testing
All of our students are required to take part in various assessments throughout the school year. Kindergarten through fifth-grade students will be administered the NWEA MAP test at Altura Prep the week of May 8th-12th. This test will measure your child's achievement and growth in math, reading, and language usage.
Altura Prep's Showcase of Learning & Open House
On Thursday, May 18th, from 5:30 to 7:15 pm, our Altura Prep hallways and classrooms will shine brightly, ready for your children to showcase a year's worth of memories and classroom work! Our Showcase of Learning is truly a "Can't-Miss" event, so we hope to see all of our Prepsters and their families there to celebrate. It is always a great feeling to watch our excited children and their proud teachers display and discuss the countless innovative learning experiences that have been happening throughout the year in our classrooms. Thank you in advance to our dedicated teachers and hard-working students for making this evening possible for our Altura Prep families!
Due to parking constraints, we will have students with the last names of A-K attend the Altura Prep Learning Showcase and Open House from 5:30- 6:15 pm, and families of students with the last name of L-Z attend from 6:30-7:15 pm. Please make sure you attend at your given time slot.
A Gentle Reminder: Our Showcase of Learning and Open House is not an appropriate time for an impromptu parent-teacher conference or to interview the next grade level's teachers on their educational philosophies and curriculum. Altura Prep teachers will be focused on helping their current students celebrate their many accomplishments by sharing their artifacts with their guests. Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Yearbook Distribution
Our 2022-23 Altura Preparatory School Yearbooks will be distributed on Monday, May 15th. Ms. Cynthia and Ms. Idali worked non-stop this year to assemble a yearbook that tells the story of our extraordinary year. We are excited to share it with our students!
Carnival Celebration
We had promised our students this past fall that we would have a celebratory Carnival at the end of the school year (when the weather was warm) to recognize all of our students for working so hard during our State Testing last April, which helped Altura Prep to place in the top 1% of elementary schools in the State of New Mexico. Therefore, we will send out a SignUp Genius next week for Altura Prep parents to volunteer for various stations on Tuesday, May 23rd, for our student carnival celebration. Note: Parents who want to volunteer must have a cleared background check. More details to follow!
Last Day of Classes
Our students last day of classes will be Friday, May 26th. Therefore, we will follow our regular noon dismissal schedule.
Breakfast/Lunch for the 2023-24 School Year
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation in March to provide free school meals to all students regardless of family income. We will provide sack lunches for students for the 2023-24 school year, as we cannot serve hot meals to over 250 students. We are asking parents to let us know if they will be opting into the breakfast and lunch program by emailing Cynthia at [email protected]. so that we can order the appropriate amount of breakfasts and lunches each day. Your plans may also be changed and modified weekly throughout the school year.
Note: We still anticipate asking parents to fill out lunch applications this fall. In order to determine if our school qualifies to receive Title One monies, the federal government often uses the number of children who are eligible for free and reduced lunch under the National School Lunch Program as a calculation. We will keep you posted if this should change.
Any student balances in your child's My School Bucks account will be refunded as a mailed check after May 31st.
Balances may also be donated to the school if a parent so chooses. A letter will be sent home to parents of students who have My School Bucks credits to fill out stating their preference (reimbursement or donation) before the end of the school year.
Save the Date! 2023-2024 Back-to-School Newsletter
Mark your calendars! The Altura Preparatory Back-to-School Newsletter will be emailed to families on July 8th. All the information you will need in planning for the 2023-24 school year will be included in this letter.
First Day of Classes for the 2023-2024 School Year
All students' first day of classes for the 2023-2024 school year will be Tuesday, August 8th. Please be advised that students not in attendance on the first day of school will be dropped, and their spot will be given to a student on our waiting list.
Lastly, we are so thankful to all of you for participating in your child's educational journey this year. We couldn't do this without you!
In partnership,
Lissa and Meaghan
