Mark Twain Elementary School

My rate is hi.. I give 5star

bc , I was bullied and they did nothing about it and they're cell phon policy is horriable

My kids have attended this school for three years now and we continue to be unhappy with the way the staff (not teachers) communicate with the parents as well as how the school is managed. We take pride in being involved in our children's school but the staff makes it incredibly hard to stay involved, especially when the majority of handouts (if any!) are sent a day or two prior to event. We have been blessed to be able to have great communication with their teachers, but as much as the kids like their friends they have said they would rather go back to their previous (DISD) school or transfer out. We understand the kids need to focus on their learning, but we also know they are children which need some fun activities. That is not the case here. Kids are constantly asked to stay quiet in lunch room not to mention are rushed to eat their food. (When do they get to release their build-up energy?) There are very little field trips taken during the year, maybe 2 events in the year. The PTA is nonexistent. The teacher turnover is something I am highly concerned about. We never know what teacher they will get the following year.

My kids attend this school, although we love the teachers and principal, we are overall unhappy with this school. The school is made up of largely ESL and Spanish speaking children (71% in 2010), which we feel has been a disadvantage to our children. All handouts and meetings at the school are in Spanish. MTE has also become the overflow elementary school for the district which brings many children who frequently move around schools. 87% of the school is on free/discounted lunch program. There is not an active PTA, and many programs found in other elementary schools are not available (boy scouts, DI, girl scouts), largely due to lack of parental involvement. So many resources provided by PTA are simply unavailable. Our children feel out of place because they are not Spanish-speaking, and the school caters specifically to Spanish speakers. We have been told by several teachers over the past few years that our kids "don't fit in" and we should try to transfer out. Efforts to transfer have been denied. It is truly a shame as the quality of the teachers are excellent, and the principal puts great effort into improving the school overall. A++ for the staff.