I hope you are enjoying the summer. Many thanks to our families who are sending their students to our summer school program. There is still time to sign up. I want to express my appreciation to all the staff members that are working this summer to create a fun-filled program for kids. Academics is a huge part of it, but so are those enrichment experiences. People often ask me how we can fund such a lavish program in the summer, and that is because we have those restricted Expanded Learning Opportunity funds that must be spent either before or after school or for a full 30 days of summer program.

If your student is enrolled, I would appreciate it if you could just take a moment and remind them that when they are at the pool or Fire Camp, it is important that they follow the directives of the adults. Partnering with Bret Harte for their programs and facilities is a privilege, and we need to make sure that we are upholding our end of the bargain. Particularly, if you can review with your student that when it is a scheduled pool day, they may only attend with their age level peers and not go to another session that is scheduled, and they also must stay in the area of the pool as directed by the adult or the lifeguard staff. We know this is an exciting opportunity for our students, and we want to continue it for years to come.

The heat picked up last week, so please make sure you are sending your student to school with sunscreen on, a hat, and a water bottle. Our staff keeps a close eye to make sure they’re okay, but that sunscreen certainly is an important thing to apply before they get to school. On pool days please send some with your student so that they can reapply if needed.

I also want to thank the parents that have already signed up for the paperless registration. There has been some confusion that people think it is just for new families. That is not the case. This first year, ALL FAMILIES new or returning need to complete the new registration enrollment so that we get the electronic data into our system, even if you are returning. In future years, the database will allow you to update the information, and it will not be as long a process. This is a huge project that we have been working on with the county office, and it will greatly lessen the data entry that secretaries will need to do on an annual basis. Most importantly, it will ensure we have up-to-date information regarding your student if we ever get into a fire emergency or other situation. So often the contact numbers we have are not up-to-date. If you are a returning student, we have created a workaround for uploading the vaccinations. The school site will work on that separately. If you are a new family, you must upload that vaccination proof or if you are an existing seventh grader because another set of shots is required at that grade level.  All families are required to upload the proof of residency. 

 Here is the link:  REGISTRATION LINK REQUIRED.   CLINK THE FIRST BOX NEW REGISTRATION TO GET STARTED PLEASE!  Please reach out to cstamatis@mtwain.k12.ca.us if you need any help or stop by the Mark Twain office.  Everyone must complete this BEFORE THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL in order to receive a class assignment.  Please do it now and beat the rush before school starts!

Thank you to the parents that came for the middle school reconfiguration discussion meeting. Will be presenting some additional clarifying information for you in August. Again, this is needed because of our on-going declining enrollment, and we need to figure out a way to rebalance the class sizes in middle school. We can either add sixth grade into the mix with the existing teachers, or we can figure out how to cut staff in middle school and have teachers teach multiple subjects. The second idea is not a preferred option by middle school staff and it’s not mine for achievement either. I know there have been questions about certain items such as restrooms and lunchtimes, and we can certainly provide clarifying documents about that. The restroom is under construction and is a new modular facility to replace the condemned bathroom, and that should be fully installed by December of this year.

We appreciate the partnership and look forward to a wonderful school year ahead.  Thank you to everyone for sending your student to summer school!

Sincerely yours,

Louise Simson

Superintendent

650-996-3290