Dear Beech Tree Families,
This Monday, November 11th, we celebrated giving thanks through our Thanksgiving Luncheon and then honored our veterans through a beautiful and respectful Veterans Day Assembly. Commander Smith, a Beech Tree parent, taught us about the creation of Veterans Day, its purpose, and reminded us of some well known veterans. Did you know that Darth Vader is a veteran? Ms. Cooper, our music teacher, taught all grade levels patriotic songs that each group of students proudly sang. Focusing on what unites us through all our interactions helps us build up our students and community. I am always proud to see our students graduate from Justice High School. Our school may be the smallest in the pyramid, but it houses the students with the most confidence in their abilities, pride in what unites them as a community, positive attitudes and kindness. They continue to progress in their future endeavors and they grow to be productive, contributing members of society we can all be proud of. Watching our students grow fills me with hope each and every day. They represent the best of us. As always, thank you for trusting us with that which is most dear to you.
As we experience colder temperatures we are finding friends who need a winter coat. Please help us out with “Winter Coat Drive”, encouraging members of the community to wash their gently used coats and consider donating them to Beech Tree.
This Thursday evening, our PTA will host their annual Book Fair & Ice Cream Social. Please come out to reinforce your child’s love of reading, while also supporting our PTA, which pays for our buses so we can continue to provide Field Trip experiences for all students. We will see you at 6pm Thursday night!
We are also continuing to collect gently used book donations for the Early Childhood Fair we are hosting the evening of Thursday, November 21st. We would like to make sure every child leaves with fair with a book. Donation boxes are in the lobby. Thanks so much to those of you who have already donated!
Also, please rsvp for our next Saturday Morning Family Field Trip. The flyers will go home again in our Wednesday Folders tonight. We are going to the National Museum of Natural History! We will leave Beech Tree by bus at 9:30am and leave Washington, DC at 12:30pm.
Fairfax County Public Schools will be closed for Thanksgiving Break Wednesday, November 27th through Friday, November 29th, my birthday—I always celebrate my birthday with a bunch of turkeys 😉
Mark your calendars for the PTA 5k on Saturday, December 14th and use the link below to sign up for the race, which can be walked, strolled, and skipped, as well as run hard! https://beechtreeelementary5k.itsyourrace.com/event.aspx?id=8319
This week, I’ve seen our students wearing their winter coats, boots, hats and gloves. Thank you for reminding them that although Northern Virginia afternoons may still feel like summer, our mornings will still feel like winter! As a reminder, I am including Fairfax County Public Schools’ Inclement Weather and Emergency Closing Plans below:
Inclement Weather and Emergency Closing Plans; Make Arrangements Now in Case of an Unforeseen Schedule Change
Cold and wintry weather will soon be here! Due to inclement weather or other emergency situations, it may be necessary to close schools for the entire day, to open schools late, or to close early.
Parents are urged to make arrangements now for the care of their children when schedule changes are made (and to provide for the rare situation when it is necessary to close an individual school because of a power failure or other circumstances). Children should know where to go if a parent will not be home.
FCPS has several schedules set up to deal with inclement weather; these are put into effect when conditions threaten the safety of students and staff members:
- Keep schools closed.
- Open two hours late.
- Close two hours early.
When Fairfax County Public Schools has a schedule change (closing or delay) due to inclement weather or other emergencies, the information is communicated in several ways as soon as the decision is made.
Note: The official @FCPSnews Twitter account (with blue checkmark) is generally the first and fastest mode of communication during emergency weather closings. Other communication channels will be updated as quickly as possible including email, text, website, other social media, and news stations.
Please be aware, due to the large volume of emails sent, there will likely be a lag between the time a FCPS Twitter alert is posted and receipt of an email in your inbox.
As always, thank you for your trust. Reach out to me if you have questions or concerns.
Karim Daugherty
Principal
Beech Tree ES
703-531-2600
https://twitter.com/BeechTreeElem
https://beechtreees.fcps.edu/
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell
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