Dear Mark Twain Community, 

Last Thursday, the District hosted a community meeting at Pershing Middle School to share a proposal to ease overcrowding at Roberts, Twain and West University Elementary Schools.  The proposal was presented and community members were given an opportunity to provide input and ask questions.  At this time no final decisions have been made. The draft plan will be presented to the HISD Board of Trustees for approval so until that time, nothing is final. 

State law does require that schools request waivers for each classroom in grades 1-4 that exceeds the 22:1 student-to-teacher ratio.  Currently, all schools in our immediate area with defined attendance zones have classrooms that exceed the 22:1 student-to-teacher ratio.  The State has notified HISD that they must act now to reduce the number of classrooms that exceed the class size maximum requiring a waiver.

The current proposal will allow all students currently enrolled and continuing to live in the Mark Twain school zone to return next year.  Under the proposal, we will track the date and time of completed registrations for new zoned students enrolling for the 2015-2016 school year. When we reach the maximum number at a grade level, parents will be notified that enrollment will be processed on a space available basis on the first day of school. Space is being reserved at The Rice School for families that register after we have reached maximum capacity at a grade level.

There was much discussion at the meeting about any preference for siblings registering for the first time to attend Kindergarten. At this time, the proposal calls for a first come, first served approach.  As always, we will notify the community of early registration for Kindergarten, usually taking place in late March and early April. We will continue to accept registrations throughout May and June.  Based on data from the beginning of the current school year, with the exception of one class, enrollment did not exceed the maximum 22:1 ratio in Kindergarten when school began in August.  

There are several measures we are taking to ensure we are able to accommodate as many zoned students as possible. First, we will be requiring proof of residency from all current students who plan to return. We recently sent home a questionnaire asking families if they are planning to return next year and to provide updated documentation of residency.  When there is a question about residency documents, we will verify residency with a home visit. We will monitor the status of currently enrolled students throughout the summer, and will require new proof of residency in August for all students enrolled or registered.  If you are not zoned to Mark Twain or do not have an approved transfer you will not be able to return to Mark Twain in the fall.   Please provide us with the requested information as soon as possible. 

We expect this may only impact families who are registering late in the summer and after school has started. It will be very important that your child is at school on the first day. Any students who are not in attendance on the first day will be dropped from our enrollment and may not be able to re-enroll at Mark Twain. This may impact families who travel out of the country and families who plan late summer vacations, and return after school begins.  We cannot guarantee a space for your child if your child does not attend the first day of school. 

The concept of "capping" enrollment occurs when all classes on a grade level exceed the 22:1 ratio. During the current school year, several of our grade levels were capped and those families that enrolled after we were capped were sent to Longfellow Elementary.  In the current proposal, students whom we are not able to enroll for the 2015-2016 school year will receive a capped transfer to The Rice School which is located within our boundary zone. The Rice School is a K-8 Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Magnet school.  In the proposal, The Rice School would be offered as a boundary option choice for families living in the Roberts, Mark Twain and West University attendance zones. 

This proposal will be shared with the HISD Board and then voted on at the regularly scheduled monthly meeting on March 13, 2015. You may provide any comments or feedback to me through email at mpatin@houstonisd.org with the subject line "Proposal to Ease Overcrowding" and I will ensure your comments and feedback make it to the right people.  You can find the proposal for our school online at http://www.houstonisd.org/Page/125470.  

I will provide an overview of the Community Meeting at our next PTO Meeting on Wednesday, March 11. The meeting will begin promptly at 8:00 am. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can answer any questions. 

Melissa Patin

Principal