Dear Mark Twain Community,

The October calendar is full of activities at Mark Twain. On Wednesday, October 9th at 8:00 a.m. we will host the All Parents Meeting in the cafeteria. This meeting will be a general information meeting that will provide an overview of our assessment scores from last year, our School Improvement Goals, IB program and a report from our PTO president, Tony Houck.

When you receive the October calendar, make sure that you look at all of the activities that are coming up.   Several of those events are student centered and I encourage you to participate in as many of those activities as you can.   Our biggest event for children is the Spooky Spaghetti Supper which is our version of a fall carnival. It will be held on Saturday, October 19th.   The decorations that you see around the school are to publicize the event and were provided by the parents that are organizing the Spooky Spaghetti Supper. It is a fun day for all and I hope to see you there!

I want to encourage all parents to communicate with classroom teachers when questions arise. Whether you have questions about homework, expectations, or anything related to the class, the teacher is best equipped to answer and address your concerns. My administrative staff is always available to assist if needed, but the classroom teacher should be your first contact.

Providing a safe environment is one of our most important duties as educators. Although we have systems in place there is always room for improvement. In the last couple of weeks there have been several concerns over arrival and dismissal in regards to traffic flow around the school. Below are some general guidelines that we should all adhere to.

• There are no left turns into the carpool lane. Carpool lane is entered from Braes.
• There are never two lanes of traffic in the carpool driveway. This is a very dangerous practice and I respectfully ask that you not form a second lane.   For a number of reasons arrival might be backed up on any given day. Please be patient.
• Cell phones are not allowed in the school zone area.
• Kindergarten gates - the gate leading to Helen's Park and to the kindergarten parking lot must be kept closed at all times. Those gates will be propped open only until 8:00 a.m. If you arrive after 8:00 you will need to enter at the front of the building. Please do not prop the gates open at any time.   The gates have been broken a number of times due to manner in which people prop them open. The gates are there to provide security for your children, please help us to keep them closed at all times.

On Monday, Sept 30th we experienced a gas leak in the neighborhood. I sent out several alerts via Living Tree to inform parents of the situation.   The school does have a plan for all types of scenarios. In this case we brought all of the children into the main building, turned off the air conditioning system and had CenterPoint checking the air quality on a regular basis both in the building and in the immediate area. This is standard procedure.   At the All Parent Meeting next week I will provide more details on our safety plans.

All is well at school - both the teachers and students handled themselves beautifully on Monday. Thank you as always for your patience and support, particularly during trying times!