Posada event at Mark Twain Elementary to increase family involvement

Administrators and educators at Carson City’s Mark Twain Elementary School will host Posada 2019, Tuesday, Dec. 17, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. The event, open to all students and families, is part of the English Second Language (ESL) Department’s iCan Initiative designed to increase parent and family involvement for students and to help reinforce and extend learning taught during regular classroom instruction. It will include piñatas, face painting, traditional Hispanic holiday food and music, family activities, photos and more.

We are hoping to build a strong home-to-school connection by providing these activities and allowing students to showcase some of their talents and traditions during this event, said Mark Twain Elementary Principal Ruthlee Caloiaro.

“Of the 600 students here, 58 percent are minorities with more than 300 that are English Language Learners,” Caloiaro continued. “We are also a Title 1 school, and 100 percent of our students receive free breakfast and lunch. This is just another way we can support an already disadvantaged population.”

We need to involve our families in the learning process to build a greater understanding of the type of learning that occurs at school, she said. By providing this event, we will educate and empower our families as we provide them with the knowledge and information necessary to support learning at home.

In September, Carson City School District announced 70 percent of the schools within the district showed improvements in the latest Star Ratings report, according to the Nevada Department of Education State. With the release of the Nevada School Performance Framework (NSPF), Mark Twain Elementary School was one of the schools in Carson City to improved enough to earn a higher star ranking, 4 stars up from 2 stars last year.