Marathon Kids
Letter from the PTO President
August 23, 2010
Dear Mark Twain Families,
Welcome back to another GREAT year at Mark Twain Elementary! I would like to extend a special greeting to those of you who are new to our school this year. We are excited to have you and your children join our dynamic community. We would also like to welcome the new staff to the Mark Twain family. I truly look forward to serving with you this year as the President of the PTO.
I hope everyone has been able to visit our newest addition, Huckleberry Park - our outdoor classroom and garden. I want to extend a special thanks to Mark Twain parent Sam Smith and the rest of the Outdoor Classroom Committee for all their hard work this past year. Sam has been diligently working this summer to ensure that Huckleberry Park is ready for our children when they return on Monday, August 23rd. This beautiful new space is the result of a collective effort of teachers, parents, students, administration and the Braeswood Place neighborbood and exemplifies everything that we stand for – Mark Twain PTO: United We Build Community. It is our vision that Huckleberry Park will be a place where our community can connect, learn and grow for many years to come.
As members of the PTO, you as individuals and us as a collective group of families will make this year at Mark Twain a great success because of the unique talents, backgrounds and perspectives that we each possess. We will act as a support system to our principal, teachers and staff in numerous ways which positively impacts the educational experience for all of our children. Please fill out the membership form provided in this packet and return it to school and complete your information for the student directory. If you are able, we encourage you to make a monetary donation through the Friends and Family Campaign. Your participation, whether through volunteer hours, monetary donations and/or making certain your children are successful is vital to building a strong community at Mark Twain.
Because of the amount of paper we use that eventually gets thrown away, we are continuing an effort this year to dramatically reduce our paper usage. This will help our environment AND reduce our expenses. Rather than send home fliers, we will send emails and post information on our website. In order to be an informed member of the community we will encourage you all year to use the Mark Twain website at www.marktwainpto.org. This is an invaluable resource to keep you up to date regarding upcoming PTO events. One of our primary methods of communication is the weekly electronic newsletter that families receive via email on Tuesdays. If you do not have access to a computer, we invite you to use the computers in the Mark Twain Library. We also encourage you to attend PTO meetings that are held on the first Tuesday of each month in the school library. Free babysitting is provided at every meeting.
On behalf of the Mark Twain PTO, I would once again like to extend a warm welcome and best wishes for a successful school year. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments. I look forward to working with each of you so that together we can make a positive impact on our children’s education at Mark Twain.
Best,
Deanna Sheaffer, President
Mark Twain PTO: United We Build Community.
