Mark Twain Union Elementary School District

My walk along the creek on Saturday morning was super fun as trout season was open and the fish were practically jumping out of the water saying “Catch Me!”   It was great to see so many families out there. My beautiful Blue Heron made a return appearance on Friday and as I was staring at him in my high heels by the road, it was so nice that Officer Miro from California Highway Patrol stopped by to make sure I was OK. The next morning, I saw that heron in the field because he was getting away from the excitement of the fishing in the creek. That Blue Heron always seems to lift my spirits at the right time.

I am so very proud of this student and staff community for their effort in the state testing. Whether you think it’s a fair and appropriate way to measure school performance with a standardized test that is a personal belief. I think it is just one measure and not the most effective, but it’s the one I’ve got to work with from the State, and a tsunami of bad things happen related to community impressions and reporting when we don’t do well. I want to thank everyone–kids, staff, and parents for their effort and commitment to turning around the test scores, which are the public face of our school district. Students were really giving a solid effort and the staff were giving them the tools to make sure they felt comfortable and knew what was expected. I also appreciated a couple of parents that redirected their kids to give a best effort because it was important to their teachers. This is what school pride looks like and I’m super grateful.  If we want to protest how the State measures performance, we need to do it at the State level with our representatives, but until that game changes, we are going to do our very best to present MTUESD as a district on a positive trajectory. School achievement equates to increased property values, increased business development and retail options, essentially, increased opportunities all around. Let’s be the driver of a thriving community with expectations and results.

In other news, the Big Bike Build is this Saturday and Sunday. If your student is on the list to receive a new bike, please make sure you come at the appointed drop off time on Sunday. Michele Speyer will be reaching out with phone calls. Next weekend, we have the amazing Junior Frog Jump. Don’t miss this fun in the Mark Twain gym. Life in a small town definitely has its perks and leaping frogs in the middle school gym is definitely one of them!  Go have some fun with your kids.  This is a wonderful partnership with our local business community.

We are getting pricing on the new replacement playgrounds for the small Copper structure and the middle school structure at MT.  These come out of those restricted funds and cannot be used for student achievement.  I know…don’t get me started.

Eighth grade parents, make sure you are monitoring those report cards. The last thing I want to have happen is for me to make a call and say your kid can’t walk. I appreciate the staff going out of their way this year to make sure we were in contact early and often so that your student had every opportunity to correct their path.  Reach out NOW if you have any questions.

Wishing you a happy week ahead. The crazy fair fun is almost here. Please make sure your kid comes to school on Monday after the fair. I know that Monster Mash or whatever that car mashing derby is called is pretty exciting and a late night, but school really matters. Sometimes, I feel like students feel like school is over after the fair but in reality we have three more weeks, and we have a lot to cover. 

If your student is not signed up for summer school, do so now please.  We have an amazing program set up and our youngsters are going to get some very personalized instruction in very small class sizes. Don’t miss this chance. You can sign up for morning or afternoon for sessions A or B or both.  Do so now please!  This would be a great chance for your student to enter their new grade with a leg up in academics. I thank Tessa Pyle, Kelly Felix, and Emily Mucks Anderson for their work on the program. There is a bus run from Copper in the morning and back again after lunch. There is not a late bus for the afternoon session. Both sessions will have transportation.

We are sad to announce that Alex Kunesh will be leaving our district and serving Bret Harte full-time as the grant funding for her position has ended at MTUESD.  She has been an amazing resource to our families and students and staff  WE THANK HER FOR HER SERVICE.

I love you all and appreciate your amazing partnership this year.  It has been an extraordinary year…

Sincerely yours,

Louise Simson

Superintendent

650-996-3290