Alta View Elementary has been recognized as a National PTA School of Excellence, a designation awarded to schools that demonstrate strong family-school partnerships and a commitment to student success.

The National PTA School of Excellence program is a two-year initiative that guides schools through a process of gathering family and staff feedback, creating an action plan and reflecting on the progress. The goal is to strengthen communication, inclusion and shared decision-making between schools and families.

PTA President Dawn Davis said the recognition reflects years of consistent effort by parents, teachers and administration.

“We have a really active PTA at Alta View and we have for years,” she said. “I assumed that was normal until now that I’m more heavily involved and realize that it really isn’t. We’re lucky.”

The work that led to the award was spearheaded by Katie Rowley, last year’s PTA president and current membership officer. Rowley led the application, deploying surveys to families and staff, analyzing feedback, implementing improvements and submitting a final reflection to the National PTA.

“Our PTA is dedicated to emphasizing a strong home-school connection and student success,” she said. “It definitely was a community effort.”

Feedback from participants highlighted several key areas for growth, including the welcoming and inclusive school environment, two-way communication about student progress, support for learning at home, increased advocacy and opportunities for families to participate in decision-making. Language access and cultural representation also were identified as priorities, especially for Alta View’s Spanish dual immersion community.

With that input, the PTA established a two-year plan to foster inclusivity, to make improvements with efforts in enhancing communication through multiple platforms and to strengthen parent involvement in decision-making.

“We worked hard on educating people about what they could do for their voices to be heard: attend the PTA meetings, come to the SEC meetings, follow on Instagram, read the newsletter on Parent Square, make sure that you are completing the surveys when they're sent out; send a message to your child's teacher—and even, here's a list of questions that you can ask when you go to parent teacher conference,” Rowley said. “Again, our principal welcomes communication. He wants to be involved and help people so send him an email with questions.”

She said it resulted in parents having a better knowledge on the school and who to talk with about their concerns.

“When we sent a follow-up survey, they said, ‘Now I do know how to reach out. Now I do know how to get in contact with people. I know how to have my concerns heard. I know how to get something on the SEC agenda. I know how to bring something up with the PTA board. I know who to talk to in the classroom and the school,’” Rowley said. “I know sometimes as parents, we just go with the flow. But we’re here to help people have a voice and ask questions above and beyond to gain that understanding. We are here to empower and enable people to find their voice and know the different channels they can get information and ask questions they have.”

Alta View’s success also reflects a collaborative school culture where parents consistently volunteer their time, support schoolwide events and partner with teachers to enhance learning opportunities from assemblies and field trips to family engagement activities.

Principal Scott Jameson said it’s the second time the school has received the honor in recent years.

A banner now hangs at Alta View recognizing the honor. Alta View was one of six schools in Utah to receive the recognition. Draper Elementary also earned the two-year designation.