Dear MTUESD Community,
“Love was in the air” last Friday as classroom celebrations and demonstrations of kindness were apparent in every room. The kids were so excited to share their Valentines, and I appreciate all of the staff members at both sites that went to so much trouble for the kids. I didn’t have a lot of friends when I was a kid, but Valentine’s Day walking home with that file folder of grocery store Valentine’s was always a good day. Special times for sure.
A great time was had by all at the AMA tournament under the direction of Chelsie McDaniel. I don't think everyone realizes the time that goes into this and the opportunity it provides for kids. Please help out where you can. I know the 8th grade snack shack was relying on a core of volunteers but more help is needed for Volleyball. Congrats to our 7th grade first place winers and our 3rd place 8th grade finishers! I also wish to congratulate the middle school Sports Management Team led by the kids that led another great tournament. It’s always wonderful to see those students sitting at the table, checking people in and greeting them. Thank you Kacy Barnett and Jordan Gomez for a great job facilitating that program. The Mark Twain gym will soon feature a brand-new trophy case that was purchased courtesy of the Calaveras Community Foundation. This is the brainchild of Michelle Whitear and the student Leadership Team who wanted to find a way to showcase the decade's worth of trophies that Mark Twain alumni have earned. It’s pretty cool in our school that we have generations of families that have participated in the creation of the district’s sports legacy. Kudos to the students for this project and we look forward to celebrating them. I wish to thank the Calaveras Community Foundation for their generosity. We have many community partnerships, including the Copper Valley Women’s Club, who recently donated a significant amount of funding to Copperopolis to support the ski trips, and the work of the Soroptimist and Independence Hall Quilters as well. It is good.
For our 8th grade parents, please keep an eye out for those matriculation meetings with Bret Harte. I was beyond excited to learn that they are offering some additional college opportunities for high school students. I cannot tell you how important this type of program is for students to get those general education college requirements or career technical education requirements done with college credit while they are in high school. The benefit of this type of program lets students take a class that earns credit for both high school and college. It’s a no-brainer at NO COST.
In other news, lots of great work is happening in classrooms. I want to shout out to the math teacher leaders at both sites that are spending their Fridays with our math coach and we are seeing some really magical results in their classrooms related to student thinking and reasoning. This is going to be part of our process moving forward to create math achievement. I also need to thank Tyler Rosen and Justin Miller along with Samantha Austin and Jamie Mather for the successful science camp. The kids had a ball.
Please mark your calendars for those important Student of the Month and Honor Roll assemblies. Sometimes, people say we over message those, but I’d rather you knew more about it than less about it because the kids worked hard for that honor and we want to make sure that we give every opportunity for family to participate. Nothing like a full gym to share the good news of character and achievement.
A huge shout out as well to Jana Taylor, Tami Hildebrand, and Bill Redford as they have tackled the ELPAC testing for our district for students that are not English language native speakers. This is a state requirement that is quite time-consuming, but these folks are knocking it out of the park and the students, for the most part, are really giving a great best effort. We highly encourage students to test out early to ensure that they have the most access possible to educational opportunities and electives when they hit high school. If you ever have any questions about this, please reach out to your site.
The Copperopolis track will be receiving some patching. Our goal is to extend the life of that track. Just to replace the rubberized surfacing has come in at $80,000 at Copperopolis and we can’t afford that. My goal is to really get that repair buttoned up under the direction of Ken Malvini and keep it safe and runnable for the next four or five years. I’m still putting that magical wish out to the universe that the replacement funds for the Mark Twain track will appear. Ever hopeful as I am, I will continue to believe a generous donation pathway will happen for our kids.
As always, I appreciate your partnership.
Sincerely yours,
Louise Simson
Superintendent
EVERY STUDENT. EVERY DAY. EVERY POSSIBILITY.