August 13, 2014     Dear Parents,   We are excited about welcoming the children to the 2014-2015 school year. The teachers are enthusiastically preparing their rooms for the students. These first two weeks, our teachers are participating in professional development centered around literacy. They will attend district level training focused on the HISD Literacy by 3 initiative, and the new math and science textbooks. Several members of our own staff have provided training in the areas of math, Writers Workshop and inquiry. Over the course of the last few weeks we have experienced an influx of new registrations. After careful analysis of our numbers, I have decided to open another second grade class. We are delighted to report that Rebecca Zirczy, who is currently a multi-grade teacher at Mark Twain, will move into the position. Rebecca has taught second grade, fourth grade and most recently our GT enrichment program and we are delighted that she will step into this position. As an IB school, the planners that are developed and implemented by all classroom teachers include the tenets of the GT framework. I will work closely with Ms. Blakeslee and Ms. Rawson to evaluate our GT programming needs to determine how we can best continue to meet the needs of all students, including those identified as gifted and talented. I look forward to seeing all of you at the Back to School Rumble on Thursday, August 21. The meet and greet with teachers will be between 4:00-5:30 p.m. Class assignments will be mailed out Monday morning.  If you do not receive your postcard before the Rumble you can check at the front desk on Thursday. Best regards, Melissa Patin Principal Mark Twain Elementary