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Welcome to Mark Twain Elementary School! Our motto at Twain is "We are a responsible, respectful, caring community." The students and staff at Twain demonstrate these character traits every day. Please stop by our wonderful community to see learning happening every minute of every day.
I am excited to be a part of the Twain family. I encourage you to reach out to me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Jason McGinnis, Principal
(319) 688-1165
mcginnis.jason@iowacityschools.org
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Information from Principal McGinnis
As a principal, it is my goal to make teaching and learning my primary focus. Everyone knows how day-to-day management tasks and outside distractions can take us away from our desired goals. As a result, I am participating in a nationally tested and proven professional development process called SAM. It uses a unique set of tools to help principals focus on activities that are directly connected to improving teaching and learning.
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Student Meal Pick-Up Locations
The Iowa City Community School District has established drive-through or walk-up meal pick-up locations at a number of District sites while schools are closed. Beginning Monday, March 23, 2020, the following schools will provide both lunch for the day and breakfast for the following day. Meals will be distributed between 11 am and 1 pm. Families are asked to stay in their car and wait for the meals to be brought to the vehicle and passed through the window. The District will provide a number of meals based on the number of children in the car ages 1-18. Per USDA federal guidelines, children must be present in order for meals to be provided.
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Student Meal Service Update and Additional Locations
Based on newly-released USDA guidance, parents/guardians/caregivers may pick up meals for children at Grab & Go meal sites unaccompanied by the child. This means that children do not need to come to the Grab & Go location in order for a guardian to pick-up a meal for the child. Children are welcome to come to the sites; however, this new guidance assists the District in providing even more meals to children throughout the community. Meals are free and available to children age 1 – 18. While not required, a parent/guardian/caregiver will be asked to share the school name where each child attends when picking up a meal (if the child is of school-age). The identified school does not have to be in the Iowa City Community School District and, again, this information is suggested (and appreciated), but not required.
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Community Update
We would like to take a brief pause from our daily information-packed updates. Today, we encourage you to join us in taking a moment to slow down, breathe, and focus. We understand the uncertainty and fear that surrounds this situation, however, our hope is that we have been able to provide some stability and support to each of you throughout this trying time. We miss our students and our colleagues dearly, but, right now, we know that keeping schools closed is what is necessary to keep our community safe.
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Student Access to Buildings
We appreciate the feedback that we have been receiving from students, parents, and staff throughout this situation. Open dialog with our community helps to ensure that we are meeting the needs of those at the center of our focus. One request that we would like to address is the need for students to access our buildings to collect necessary personal items for use while schools are closed. While we want to ensure that we can maintain the health and safety of our students, we believe that we can offer access to the buildings in a structured manner that adheres to social distancing and large gathering guidelines.
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Resources for Parents
We understand that many parents and students are anxious and eager to continue learning at home during this period of school closure. The Iowa City Community School District has developed and is continuing to enhance a list of optional resources to assist you in providing opportunities for your children. You may access these resources at the following link:
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Update on COVID-19 and Technology Access
It is important that students and families are able to gain access to educational, news, and communication resources during this challenging time. To this end, Technology & Innovation staff are preparing to make Chromebooks available to elementary school students who do not have access to computers within the home. Families of elementary students that do not have access to a laptop computer, desktop computer, or tablet in the home may complete this request form or call (319) 688-1950, after which you will be contacted with instructions for picking up the device. We do ask that requests be made by families who lack computing resources at home, as we wish to ensure that devices are available to all families in need of service.
