Alta Vista Students Rock the Gym

Music Welcomes the Gathering in the Alta Vista Gym

Boy, did they have a good time!  The youngest of the Alta Vista school students probably didn’t fully comprehend the award being given to this school this past Tuesday, October 16, but they definitely understood, “It’s time to sing”. 

Alta Vista Administrator, Talara Coen

The Alta Vista Charter School had the distinction of being the first school in the nation to achieve CHPS Verified Leader recognition.  CHPS stands for Collaborative for High Performance schools.  Alta Vista was renovated last year into a modern, energy efficient school and expanded into 16,000 square feet from the original brick building erected in 1917.  That building was preserved, as explained by school administrator, Talara Coen, for historical purposes, but was also renovated with all the modern upgrades required for a green school design. 

Here, This Call is for You!

Coen explained how Alta Vista is maintaining some of the old and necessary traditions of teaching, which includes a lot of parent involvement through the year.  She explained how the original school, built in 1893, had only 23 students who either rode horses or walked to classes each day.  By 1917, when the red brick building was built at a cost of $14,000, the enrollment was up to 38 students and one teacher who received $75 a month salary. Today, Alta Vista has 130 students from K through the 6th grade.

All the youngsters, decked out in red tee shirts entertained the gathering with two songs.  The final was their own song about how Alta Vista rocks.  Following the half hour recognition ceremony, all the kids were out on the playground, enjoying the warm, fall afternoon.  Alta Vista features super-insulated walls, daylight harvesting, room sensors to control lighting and a geo-exchange heat pump system for heating and cooling.

Speakers included Adele Wilson from Slaterpaull Architects, Bill Orr from CHP Schools, Prowers County Commissioner Henry Schnabel and Talara Coen.

By Russ Baldwin