Mark Twain Middle School (Virginia)

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Mark Twain Middle School is a middle school that is attended by children in grades seven and eight, and is located in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of the city of Alexandria. It is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools system. It is located in cluster 5 and feeds into Edison High School. The student body consists of 7th and 8th graders, with a total count of 837^[1]. The school is named after the famous writer Mark Twain.

[edit] School summary

Mark Twain Middle School has adopted a Professional Learning Community[1] (PLC) model. Teachers have created "PLC's" or teams of teachers that meet weekly to discuss content instruction. Their purpose is to develop common formative and summative assessments that will help guide instruction, academic intervention and enrichment. Twain students are assigned to teams of approximately 125 students. Each team is coordinated by the four core teachers (from English, mathematics, science and social studies), a guidance counselor and an administrator. Teaming at Twain gives all involved the sense of belonging, the opportunity to share common goals, to support one another, and to create more cohesive, smaller learning communities in the midst of a larger school setting. Twain operates seven teams, each with its own name, logo and school spirit. They are the Quasars, Thunderbirds, Superstars, Pathfinders, Mustangs, Patriots and Aces.

The design of the block schedule allows students to rotate to all seven classes each Monday, then spend longer blocks of time in classes on Tuesdays through Fridays attending odd and even numbered classes. Longer class periods afford flexibility in instruction and opportunities to delve deeply into hands-on projects, labs, presentations, research and other formats for life-long learning. Twain's schedule also allows both teams and departments to meet regularly for planning and conferencing purposes.

Families of Mark Twain Students are invited to connect with the school to support student achievement and enhance the learning environment. Staff members stay in touch with parents through the monthly Twaingram PTA Newsletter, the school website, FCPS 24-7 or Blackboard accounts, progress reports, group and individual emails, Touching Bases, and a variety of informational and fun evening events throughout the year. Students benefit when parents are active as volunteers and advocates!

The Department of Student Services enhances the efforts of teachers and staff by providing students with counseling, tutoring, and assistance with social and emotional development. These educators are an important link between the classroom and the home, and between Mark Twain Middle School and all of the other schools within the Edison Pyramid.

Mark Twain Middle offers the Gifted and Talented program, Special Education program, and ESOL.

[edit] Demographics as of June 2007

As of June 2007, 48.78% of students were female, and 51.22% were male. The ethnicities in the school are as follows: [2]

• Asian or Pacific Islander: 12.22%
• Black: 18.86%
• Hispanic: 22.12%
• White: 39.81%
• Other: 6.98%

[edit] Administration

• Aimee Holleb: Principal
• Jorge Gonzalez: Assistant Principal
• Cheryl Katzenell: Assistant Principal
• Susan Kannengiesser: Assistant Principal
• Stephanie Gray: Director of Student Services
• Debra Boullianne: Principal's Administrative Assistant
• Vanessa Thompson: Finance
• Kerry Merek: Attendance

[edit] Teams

The school is divided into groups of students called teams. The teams are named as follows:

• 7th grade: Quasars, Thunderbirds, Mustangs and Superstars
• 8th grade: Pathfinders, Mustangs, Patriots and Aces

The Mustangs team has students in both seventh and eighth grades.

[edit] External links

• Mark Twain Middle School website
• FCPS website

[edit] References