Week of November 17-21st,  2025 Just a reminder that there is NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS NEXT WEEK, November 24-28th.   Monday from 4-8pm and Tuesday from 8am-8pm we have set aside for our teachers and families to meet and discuss your students' progress and goals.  The best way to sign up is to see the information that each teacher has posted information in Parent Square for signing up for an appointment, but you can also call the office to get help with scheduling Parent Teacher Conferences for your student. PLEASE stop by our Scholastic Book Fair and our overflowing Lost and Found in front of the office when you come to visit for conferences. We will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, Wednesday through Friday and will reopen on Monday, December 1st.  MARK TWAIN SAFETY DRILLS OCCURING THIS WEEK This week, all of our classes were visited from officers from Silverton Police Department in preparation for our upcoming Lockdown Drill. While we do not want to think that there could be an opportunity to put emergency protocols into place during the school day, we know that by being prepared, our staff and students are best prepared for unexpected emergencies or situations if they should arise. Our officers did an amazing job of explaining about the drills in a calm, appropriate and reassuring way.  In the younger grades, they used the book, "LiaRia and the Lockdown Drill" as a springboard for conversation about the drills, and in the older grades, they reviewed the procedures with our students and opened it up to questions to help students feel assured and safe about the drill and procedures we do during the lockdown event.  Our school will be practicing our first Lockdown Drill for the year on Thursday afternoon between with the help and support of the Silverton Police Department.  We talk about and prepare for this drill with our students so that they know it is for practice, which helps them feel safe and more confident about the process.    During our drill, we will be unable to check students in or out of school and we may not be able to answer the phones.  Please communicate with our office staff earlier in the week if you will need to pick up your student or make changes to their afterschool plan to ensure we have all the information we need to help support your plan for your students. PENNY WAR FUNDRAISER  THIS WEEK! This week our students can participate in our first fundraiser for the school year, Penny Wars. In this fundraiser, students bring in spare change and coins to see which grade level can collect the highest value of points while donating toward our schoolwide goal of $2000 which is dedicated to field trips for the year. Each grade is working to collect the highest amount of points by collecting pennies in their jars (positive points) and placing silver coins (negative points) in the jars of other grade-levels. At the end of the week, the grade with the highest value wins a popcorn party from PTC- and if we reach our schoolwide goal, we will host a whole-school dance party! Mark Twain Book Fair is Coming! We are excited to have our Fall Scholastic Book Fair open to students and families during Parent Teacher Conferences.  Scholastic Book Fairs present a great chance for families to foster the love of reading in our students by purchasing books, but also help us add books to our classroom and school library for all students to enjoy. This event is  a 100% volunteer-ran event so we count on the generosity of our friends and families to donate time so that we can keep it open for all families to be able to attend. We are still short a few volunteers and would ask you to consider signing up to help if you're available and have completed and been approved to volunteer through the district office.    We will raffling off twenty $10 gift certificates to  our volunteer team to spend at the book fair as a thank you for volunteering their time. To Sign Up to work at the book fair please see this schedule/sign up genius: Book Fair Sign-up Genius IMPORTANT DATES & REMINDERS FOR FAMILIES CONTACT US Mark Twain Elementary School 425 N Church Street Silverton, OR 97381 503-873-6341 Office Specialist- Mrs. Tracy fitzke_tracy @silverfalls.k12.or.us Office Specialist- Mrs. Amy spanfellner_amy @silverfalls.k12.or.us Office Specialist- Mrs. Ana torres_ana@silverfalls.k12.or.us 971-453-1828(ELD Phone) THIS WEEK MONDAY TUESDAY 5th Grade Band  2:10-2:40 PM  4/5th Grade Choir   3:00-3:30 PM WEDNESDAY OBOB TEAM PRACTICE 7:45-8:15 AM 3:00-3:45 PM THURSDAY Mark Twain Lockdown Drill AFTERNOON Please see below for details.  Students will not be able to be checked in/out of school during our drill time. 5th Grade Band  2:10-2:40 PM  4/5th Grade Choir   3:00-3:30 PM Please connect with Ms. Cram for details and sign ups. FRIDAY Dress Up:  Plaid and Flannel Day Monthly Assembly: 2:10pm VOLUNTEERING AT  MARK TWAIN If you would like to volunteer in the classroom, or visit during the school day at recess or at lunch, you must have a current background check on file through the school district.  If you saw Superintendent Kellison's message last week, the board has approved adding 6 early-release dates to the school calendar to provide additional time for staff for training, collaboration, and planning in order to continue to best meet the needs of our students.   Early release will occur once a month on Thursday and students will be dismissed 2 hours early at 12:45.   Early release will occur on the following dates: December 11th January 15th February 12th March 12th April 9th May 14th UPDATED BUS ROUTES WERE POSTED THIS WEEK ON THE DISTRICT WEBSITE! https://silverfallsschools.org/bus-routes/

[Saturday, Nov 15 at 2:30 PM]
To clarify on this week's update: there is NO SCHOOL, November 24-28th. This week, November 17-21 is a full week of school for students and staff.