September 1, 2010,

Dear Parents,

Ms. Debbie Garrison

I would like to begin by thanking you and the wonderful Mitchell staff for the very successful beginning of the year. It was great to see so many of you at our picnic luncheon on the grassy field. I am sorry that I missed Curriculum Night – I was out with a sinus infection and a bad case of bronchitis.

One of our biggest changes this year is moving to the rainbow rotation for our specials. This means that rather than your child having PE, Music, Computer, or Library on an assigned day of the week, they have it on an assigned color day. This means that students will not miss specials due to holidays. Each family should have received a calendar indicating the color for each day of the school. If you did not receive this calendar or need another copy, please contact the office.

Some of our staff members have moved around this year, so I am going to take this opportunity to share these changes with you:

Kindergarten• Claire Saadia
2nd Grade• Erica Encinias and Lindsay Szwed are both teaching 2nd grade this year. Lindsay is now full time.
3rd Grade• Michelle Sandoval is teaching full time.
4th Grade• Simon Rothman is a student teacher from UNM that will be working with Kari Casias full-time this first semester.
MusicMitchell is lucky to have a music teacher for the full year. Kay Martin will be teaching our students all about harmony.
BandMitchell will continue the band program this year for our 4th and 5th graders, under the direction of Laura Eberhardt and Cheryl Pirard.
Educational AssistantsShirley Baca is now working with Priti Sangha in the morning.
Poornima Behl is now working with Christine Bauer
Kevin Cline is now working with Trish Evans.
Susan Davis is now working with Kathryn Griffin.
Carla Irwin is now working with Priti Sangha is the afternoon.
Kym Kuehl is now working with Brandee Martinelli.

Mitchell made Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) on the New Mexico Standards Based Assessment as required by the No Child Left Behind Act. Our students scored 60% in math and 68% in reading. According to the No Child Left Behind Act, by the 2013-14 school year, 100% of our students must score proficiency in Math and Reading. Each year the target number increases. The 2010-2011 target is 68% for math and 77% for reading. Just know that the Mitchell staff will continue to strive for improvement for all our students. Your encouragement and support sustains our work. As teachers and parents we are in this together. I think we make an unbeatable team!

Mitchell is a Title I school. This status is based on more than 50% of our students qualifying for free or reduced lunch. This status provides us with additional funding and resources for our students. You will hear more about this throughout the year.

I want to thank our wonderful PTO for all of the work they have done to get this year off to a great start. PTO meets the first Tuesday of each month in the main office and would love to have you join us.

I look forward to seeing you September 20th or 21st at Mitchell Night at Il Vicino.

If you have questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to call or come by the office to talk.

Sincerely,

Debbie Garrison
Principal