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Principal's Message |
Greetings Tiger Families!
Yesterday, November 30th, was the birthday of our school’s namesake, Samuel Langhorne Clemens – pen name: Mark Twain. Twain is widely considered one of the most important and influential authors and humorists of his time, and in American history. Like many of the Twain Tigers that walk our halls, his success did not come without many challenges along the way. This included tragically losing his brother and having to file for bankruptcy. And, also like our Twain Tigers, he succeeded, both despite, and because of those failures and tragedies. Over 150 years ago Mark Twain modeled the goal directed and resilient individual that is a part of the FCPS Portrait of a Graduate that we work to instill in our students. His story also reflects some of our International Baccalaureate (IB) Learner Attributes – including being a “risk taker, inquirer, and thinker.”
Thank you to our generous PTA that provided all Tigers with a free cupcake at lunches as the central part of our annual celebration. A special and specific thank you to all families who donated cupcakes to make this happen and helped pass them out to grateful students during lunch. If you haven’t already, please consider joining our PTA at this link.
Finally, I’ll leave you with the same quote Mark Twain quote I shared with our students on Thursday morning “The best way to cheer yourself up is to cheer somebody else up.” In honor of our namesake, and in the spirit of being a good citizen, I encouraged all of our students to take a moment not just on this day, but every day to do something that will make someone else smile, laugh, and feel appreciated. Our community, and our world, can certainly benefit from that energy.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Matt
Twain’s Weekly Schedule
Monday, December 4: Anchor Day Schedule
Tuesday, December 5: Odd Day Schedule
Wednesday, December 6: Even Day Schedule; Reading VGA – altered Bell Schedule: 4th, 2nd, 6th, 8th
Thursday, December 7: Odd Day Schedule
Friday, December 8: Even Day Schedule
Reading VGA, December 6
On Wednesday, December 6, all students will complete the Reading Virginia Growth Assessment through their 4th period Learning Seminar classes. Please be aware that on that day, the bell schedule will be 4th, 2nd, 6th, 8th so it’s important that students arrive to school on time. Please ensure your student is able to get a good night’s sleep Tuesday night and arrives to Twain on Wednesday morning with a fully charged laptop. If you have any questions about the Reading VGA , please reach out to our Testing Coordinator, Sara Joy Lebowitz, sjlebowitz@fcps.edu.
PTA Updates
Mark Twain’s Birthday Celebration Thank You!
Many thanks to the wonderful volunteers who donated their time and cupcakes for the Mark Twain Birthday Celebration that happened on Thursday, Nov 30th. During the celebration, all students and staff were treated to a complimentary cupcake organized by the PTA. We couldn’t have done it without you! We value your support! Thank You for making this day a memorable and yummy day for our students and staff.
Staff Holiday Luncheon Donations
The holidays are fast approaching and what better way to recognize all of the hard working and dedicated staff at Twain MS than by donating food for them. The PTA will be providing a delicious lunch for the staff on Friday, Dec 15 during the lunch periods. We need volunteers to donate a few food items- finger-food holiday desserts, fruit, and cheese/cracker trays. Please sign-up by visiting this LINK
Donations will be collected on Thursday, December 14th and Friday, December 15th. Please drop them off in the office no later than 9am on December 15th.
Book Fair Volunteers
Volunteers are needed to help Ms. Howard in the library for the Scholastic Book Fair happening December 4th – 8th. Please sign-up by clicking this LINK.
Panera Bread Spirit Night
Mark your calendar for our next Spirit Night at Panera Bread in Kingstowne on December 12th from 4:00 – 8:00 pm. Panera Bread will donate 25% of the sales to Twain PTA. Eat good food and support the PTA.
PTA Membership
Did you know? PTA Membership is valid for one year. If you joined the PTA for the 2022-23 school year, please renew your membership for the 2023-24 school year. PTA dues provide for many of the events and programs, including teacher mini-grants, Tiger Night, and staff appreciation events.
Changes to the Calendar/Bell Schedule: Jan 22 and 25
Thursday, January 25 will now be an Early Release Odd Day Schedule (previously an Early Release Anchor Day schedule.) This means that Monday, January 22 will now be a regular Even Day schedule (previously an Anchor Day Schedule.) These changes have been posted to the Bell schedule page on the Twain website. You can find the information about schedule changes for the year under Important Dates: Schedule Changes and the Early Release Odd Day bell schedule under 2 Hour Early Release Bell Schedules.
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