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Principal's Message |
Greetings Twain Families!
Our students and staff have been working to continue our strong start to the school year this week and we all look forward to a restful extended Labor Day Weekend this Friday through Monday. I hope that you are able to take some time for friends, family, and yourself over these four days. Please note that when we return on Tuesday, we will do so with an odd day (periods 1,3,5 & 7). We will then quickly prepare for our annual Back to School Night on Wednesday, September 6th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Our primary objective for this important evening is to further build the bridge between home and school to foster success for our students this school year. We can do that by providing an opportunity for our Twain families to learn about, and connect with, their student’s teachers, identify ways families can support learning at home and briefly dive into each course’s curriculum. We will have our wonderful PTA set up in the cafeteria selling Twain spirit wear and they will be ready to invite all families into PTA membership if you wish. I look forward to greeting our families and will be available starting at 5:45 pm in the cafeteria and main entrance to engage with you as you arrive.
Please take care and I look forward to seeing you soon.
In partnership,
Matt
Twain’s Weekly Schedule
Monday, September 4: Holiday – No School Today
Tuesday: September 5: Odd Day Schedule
Wednesday, September 6: Even Day Schedule
Thursday: September 7: Odd Day Schedule
Friday: September 8: Even Day Schedule
Reading Inventory, Sept 6
On Wednesday, September 6, all students will complete the Reading Inventory through their 4th period Learning Seminar classes. Please ensure your student is able to get a good night’s sleep Tuesday night and arrives to Twain on time Wednesday morning with a fully charged laptop. During the Reading Inventory, students have the option of listening to the directions being read out loud but will need to bring their own headphones in order to access that option. If you have any questions about the Reading Inventory, please reach out to our Testing Coordinator, Sara Joy Lebowitz, or your student’s English teacher.
Back-to-School Night
Please join us for Back-to-School-Night on Wednesday, September 6th from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. We are excited to welcome parents/guardians to our building to learn about all of the wonderful things going on in our school.
A few points to note:
- Parking will be extremely tight (we will be using our back fields when our parking lot spaces fill up)
- We highly encourage people to carpool and arrive by 6pm
- This event is for parents/guardians only – we anticipate a high number of attendees and space inside the building will be limited
- Parents/guardians will follow their child’s Anchor Day schedule (periods 1-8, except period 4)
- We will have schedules available to pick-up, however, you can follow your students schedule via ParentVUE
Health & Physical Education
Tuesday, September 5th, will be the official start to our Health and Physical Education units. Teachers and students have been working together the past couple of weeks on getting to know each other, team building, locker room logistics, and sharing roles and expectations both in the classroom and schoolwide alongside their administrators and counselors. In order to deliver a well-rounded curriculum and for our students to safely receive and engage in safe and meaningful learning experiences, we must ensure each student comes to class prepared.
As per FCPS regulation 3210:
“Appropriate physical activity clothing MUST be worn by all students participating in physical education class. To support health and hygiene, it is recommended that students change clothes for physical education.
Clothing should be appropriate to the instructional activity. Shoes MUST be appropriate to the instructional activity and designed to provide support, fit securely, and prevent injury”.
Please support our HPE team by ensuring that your child comes to school with appropriate footwear and athleticwear. Sneakers are required and changing is strongly recommended. If you would like to purchase a PE uniform, please visit the My School Bucks website and our HPE teachers will deliver the uniform to your child in class.
Thank you for your continued support and partnership in education.
The Twain HPE Department
AVID Tutors Needed
Attention families - looking for a flexible and part-time position at Twain MS? FCPS is hiring AVID tutors for the 2023-2024 school year. AVID tutors work with small groups of approximately 5-7 students during the school day in an academic elective class called Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID). These groups use questioning strategies to help students develop a variety of college preparatory skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. Tutors earn $18.42 per hour and should either be a college graduate or currently enrolled in college. If interested, please email your resume to Lisa Shields at LBShields@fcps.edu or AVID@fcps.edu.
2023-24 Opt-Out Information and Booklets
The Fairfax County School Board is committed to protecting student and family privacy (see Policy 1445) and wants all parents to be aware of their rights and the ways that information is treated in relation to:
- Parents’ rights to inspect, and to consent or opt out, before their child participates in certain surveys administered to students.
- Parents’ rights to inspect instructional materials used as part of the educational curriculum.
- FCPS’ maintenance, retention, and disclosure rules regarding student scholastic records including parents and eligible students’ rights to inspect such records, to request amendment to such records and to opt out of disclosure of directory information about the student.
- FCPS’ disclosure of student information for graduation photographs or other commercial purposes and the right of parents and eligible students to opt out of this disclosure.
- FCPS’ disclosure of secondary school students’ names, addresses, and telephone numbers to military recruiters and the right of parents and students to opt out of this disclosure.
- Parents’ right to opt out of any physical examination of their child not required by state law.
- The FCPS school counseling program and parents’ right to opt out their child from participation in academic, career, and/or social or emotional counseling.
- Student participation in the Library Equity Access Pass Project, and the rights of parents to refuse participation in the program.
- Parents’ rights to opt out of their child’s access to Tutor.com.
- Student participation in the Social and Emotional Learning Screener and the rights of parents to opt out of the Screener.
- The process by which parents and students may file complaints if they believe their rights as referenced above have been violated.
In its Annual Notice of Survey, Records, Curriculum, Privacy, and Related Rights and Opt-Out Forms (Annual Notice), FCPS provides explanations of the rights listed above as well as forms that may be used to exercise opt-out choices. Two versions of the Annual Notice are available—a grades K-8 version and a grades 9-12 version. Parents with children at different grade levels should read each applicable version of the Annual Notice because the notices and opt-out rights vary depending on the student’s grade level.
Opt-Out Booklets
Any parent or guardian who objects to their child’s participation in any or all of these activities should complete and return the appropriate form(s) to their child’s school.
Parents may also request a paper copy from the principal’s office at their child’s school. If you wish to opt your child out of any of the activities mentioned above, you must complete and return the appropriate forms to your child’s school.
New Family Liaison
Meet Twain’s new Family Liaison, Keytlin Antezana Soto. She can be found at Twain every day from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm.
PTA Updates
Join the PTA
Become a member of the Twain PTA. Your membership goes to support the programs and events sponsored by the PTA. Don’t have a lot of time to volunteer? That’s ok. Joining the PTA doesn’t mean you have to commit to a lot of volunteering. Our PTA is funded mainly by our membership dues. Join now at Mark Twain Middle School PTA Store
Nominate a Staff Member
Know a great staff member at Twain? Each month the PTA awards one of our hard-working staff member the honor of being the - Staff Member of the Month! In addition to a gift card to a local restaurant, the Staff Member received a prime parking spot and a cool trophy! We need your nominations. Please tell us about a Staff Member at Twain that you feel deserves this award and why by completing this Staff of the Month Form by August 31st.
Spirit Night
Eat at Panda Express located at 6477 Old Beulah Street on Tuesday, September 12 from 10:30 am to 8:30 pm and the PTA will receive 20% of the event sales. Enter 357783 when you order online or visit Twain-Panda Express for a copy of the paper flyer.
First PTA Meeting
Join us for the next PTA meeting on Wednesday, September 13th at 7:00 pm in the Twain Library. All are welcome to attend! We have several items of PTA Business to conduct and we need your vote! A zoom link will be available prior to the meeting.
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