ALTARA ELEMENTARY
Principal:	Scott Jameson
Address:	800 E. 11000 South Sandy, UT 84094
Phone:	(801) 572-7000
Fax:	(801) 302-4903
Mascot:	Kittyhawk
School Colors:	Blue & White
Home Page:	http://schools.jordandistrict.org/altara/
	View boundary description View student achievement

Altara Elementary School is recognized for education excellence. Since its debut in 1980, Altara has become a school rich in academic tradition where students work hard and have fun.

• Awards:
• Altara was selected as one of the 200 best public schools in the nation by the U.S. Department of Education,1985-1986.
• Altara had the distinction of being selected as one of Utah's five outstanding schools in promoting visual and performing arts.
• Altara was a Centennial School, 1995-1998.
• Altara was recognized as a Model School by Renaissance Learning, 2000-2002.
• Altara was the first school awarded the new 5-Star Award for Excellence by the Jordan School District for “Outstanding School Public Relations,” 2004-2005.

Altara’s Mission Statement:
“More Students Doing Better Schoolwork and Becoming Better Citizens”

Belief Statements:
1. We believe in creating a positive and fun learning environment in which teachers love to teach and students love to learn.
2. We believe in maintaining high academic and social standards for all students.
3. We believe all students can learn regardless of challenges.
4. We believe a child’s optimal education requires the unified and collaborative effort of students, parents, educators, politicians, and the entire community.

• Facts about Altara:
• Altara Elementary serves 683 students on a traditional calendar.
• The school day begins at 8:15 a.m. and ends at 2:55 p.m. except on Fridays when students are dismissed at 1:15 p.m. to allow planning time for teachers.
• Altara has exceptional teachers who not only individualize instruction, but motivate and inspire students. All teachers are licensed and many have advanced degrees.
• The teacher/pupil ratio is 1 to 22.3 in first grade, 1 to 22.6 in second grade, 1 to 24.1 in third grade and 1 to 26.70 in grades four, five and six. The actual class sizes vary.
• The school follows the State Core Curriculum guidelines, including an emphasis on language arts, mathematics, and science.
• Development of good citizenship, high self-esteem, problem solving, and artistic abilities are also promoted.
• Altara has an optional early-morning orchestra and after-school band program with talented music teachers.
• An updated computer lab is provided, and a student-run newscast is being developed and shown throughout the school each Friday.
• Special education services are provided for students with learning disabilities and for students with speech, visual, hearing, physical or behavioral disabilities.
• An active Parent-Teacher Association, School Community Council, and Parent Volunteer Program benefit the school.

Criterion Referenced Tests (CRT)
The Core Criterion Referenced Tests (CRTs) are administered at the end of each school year to help assess how well students have mastered the standards and objectives set forth in the State of Utah Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science core curricula.   Student achievement is reported as the percent of students reaching “proficient” by earning a Level 3 or Level 4 performance on the Core CRT.

Year	1st Lang. Arts	1st Math	2nd Lang. Arts	2nd Math	3rd Lang. Arts	3rd Math
2003-04	88%	86%	85%	76%	82%	70%
2004-05	77%	77%	89%	86%	79%	74%
2005-06	81%	85%	90%	88%	89%	74%
2006-07	81%	75%	79%	84%	77%	69%
2007-08			94%	86%	72%	68%
Year	4th Lang. Arts	4th Math	4th Science	5th Lang. Arts	5th Math	5th Science
2003-04	88%	76%	67%	92%	74%	81%
2004-05	80%	73%	71%	86%	81%	75%
2005-06	82%	75%	72%	78%	63%	70%
2006-07	83%	68%	66%	70%	64%	65%
2007-08	76%	75%	65%	72%	61%	69%
Year	6th Lang. Arts	6th Math	6th Science
2003-04	88%	87%	80%
2004-05	91%	81%	76%
2005-06	92%	86%	74%
2006-07	80%	77%	69%
2007-08	76%	66%	73%

Detailed Core CRT results by student subgroups

IOWA Tests
The IOWA Test of Basic Skills provides a comparison of achievement to students across the United States in reading, language arts, math, science and social studies.  The IOWA test is given each fall to students in grades 3, 5, and 8.  The Jordan School District School also administers the IOWA to students in grade 6.  Results are reported as the average percentile rank.  The national average is the 50th percentile in each area.

3rd Grade
Norms	Year	Reading	Language	Math	Core Total	Soc. Studies	Science	Total Composite
2000 Norms	2004-05	66	55	53	59	57	64	61
2000 Norms	2005-06	69	56	56	62	69	71	69
2005 Norms*	2006-07	64	57	47	57	61	70	63
2005 Norms*	2007-08	62	49	45	56	60	65	63
5th Grade
Norms	Year	Reading	Language	Math	Core Total	Soc. Studies	Science	Total Composite
2000 Norms	2004-05	66	65	62	64	60	71	66
2000 Norms	2005-06	65	60	55	60	63	70	64
2005 Norms*	2006-07	60	51	46	53	57	61	57
2005 Norms*	2007-08	60	53	47	54	55	64	57
6th Grade
Norms	Year	Reading	Language	Math	Total Survey
2000 Norms	2004-05	62	60	60	61
2000 Norms	2005-06	69	70	62	68
2005 Norms*	2006-07	60	60	38	53
2005 Norms*	2007-08	49	49	50	48

* It is not appropriate to formally compare school results between the old norms and the new norms.

Direct Writing Assessment (DWA)
The Direct Writing Assessment (DWA) is designed to assess the writing skills of 6th and 9th grade students in February and March each year.  The following six components of writing are assessed: ideas & content, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions.
 

Grade 6	Average Points Earned
Year	Ideas / Content	Organization	Voice	Word Choice	Sentence Fluency	Conventions	Composite
2003/04	3.5	3.4	3.5	3.2	3.5	3.4	20.3
2004/05	2.9	2.8	3.2	3.0	3.0	3.0	17.9
2005/06	3.3	3.3	3.4	3.3	3.3	3.2	19.9
2006/07	2.9	2.8	3.0	2.9	2.9	2.9	17.4
2007/08*	2.7	2.7	2.8	2.9	2.7	2.8	16.6

* Each year the direct writing prompt changes, therefore caution should be used in making year to year conclusions.
 

Begin at 700 E. and 10600 S.; east along 10600 S.; (south side) to 1300 E.; south along 1300 E. (west side) to 11400 S.; west along 11400 S. (north side) to 700 E.; north along 700 E. (east side) to 10600 S. View Alta area elementary boundary map