Dear Beech Tree Families, This weekend, my son and I welcomed home a two year old husky from a rescue and it was wonderful to spend the last two days focused on something other than COVID-19 and Distance Learning! However, it’s Sunday evening and tomorrow, I will return to the drawing board with our fabulous Beech Tree Staff! Until we have final schedules, I wanted to let you know some county-wide information about FCPS Bell Schedules: The bell schedule for virtual learning will more closely resemble the start and end times our schools were using in 2019-20 before the school closure: High school and secondary day will be from 8:10 a.m. – 2:55 p.m. Middle school day will be from 7:30 a.m. – 2:15 p.m. The bell schedule for elementary schools varies. Individual schools will share the specific start and end times of instruction for their elementary students during the first week of August - Beech Tree’s Pre-COVID Schedule was 9:15am – 4:00pm. We are able to follow these schedules in a virtual environment because transportation arrangements are not needed. We want to provide as much of a sense of normalcy in our daily schedule as we can in this most unusual of circumstances. The bell schedule for all schools will change when we begin in-person instruction when it is safe to do so during the school year. Sample Fully Virtual Elementary Schedule

Note:  Start and end time will follow SY 2019-2020 (pre-closure) schedule. Instructional blocks may include whole and small group lessons as well as teacher assigned collaborative and independent work. The instructional times may vary for our youngest learners.

Fully Virtual Middle School Schedule (Grades 6-8 or 7-8)

Note:  Students will enroll in 7 courses and 1 period will serve as an advisory with a focus on social emotional wellness, making connections, and time for interventions as needed.

Instructional blocks may include whole and small group lessons as well as teacher assigned collaborative and independent work.

Fully Virtual Secondary and High School Schedule (Grades 7-12 or 9-12)

Note:  Students will enroll in 7 courses and 1 period will serve as an advisory with a focus on social emotional wellness, making connections, and time for interventions as needed.

Instructional blocks may include whole and small group lessons as well as teacher assigned collaborative and independent work.

As a reminder, laptops were purchased for all Middle School students and 5th graders at Title I Schools, like ours. During the month of August, laptops will be collected from soon-to-be 5th and 6th graders at our Justice Pyramid elementary schools. All Glasgow Middle School students will be receiving new laptops, once they are imaged and ready for them, as will our 5th graders. In order to be assist with this process, Beech Tree will be collecting laptops from those students who were in 4th or 5th grade during the 2019-2020 school year this Tuesday, August 4th from 9am to Noon at the front of the school. We will place a table for the laptops outside our front doors and a box for you to place the laptop chargers.

Once laptops are ready to be loaned out, we will contact you regarding the distribution of laptops for our students in Preschool – 5th grade, prior to students’ first day of school, which is Tuesday, September 8th. We will also mail out teacher and class assignments to you prior to the start of the school year.

In the meantime, if you still need assistance with internet access, please complete this form to be loaned a MiFi devices from Fairfax County Public Schools:

https://forms.gle/CiEvUmnQqPGUczmo9

Megan Laboy, our PTA President, and I, will host a PTA Family Meeting via Zoom very soon. I would just like to provide you with as much information as possible, before we schedule the meeting. Mike Meyer, our School Based Technology Specialist, will also be hosting a Family Tech Night along with admin and teaching staff, later this month, to provide you with as much guidance and support, as possible.

As always, I thank you for your trust. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Stay safe,

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

REMINDERS:

Laptop Return

Beech Tree will be collecting laptops from those students who were in 4th or 5th grade during the 2019-2020 school year this Tuesday, August 4th from 9am to Noon at the front of the school. We will place a table for the laptops outside our front doors and a box for you to place the laptop chargers.

Internet Access

If you still need internet access and would like to borrow a MiFi device from Fairfax County Public Schools, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/CiEvUmnQqPGUczmo9 

“Kindergarten Registration!”

Please let your neighbors know that Kindergarten Registration has continued, thanks to our incredible Mrs. Do! If they have a child who will be five on or before September 30, 2020, please have them contact Mrs. Susan Do, Beech Tree Registrar, at sndo@fcps.eduto make arrangements for specific enrollment information. 

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates:

Please continue to check updates through our Fairfax County Public School website.  We hope that you and your family are staying safe, happy and healthy during these ever changing times. 

To find the last updates from Fairfax county please go to https://www.fcps.edu/news/coronavirus-update

You can also find updates from The Center of Disease Control and Prevention at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/index.html

3401 Beechtree Lane, Falls Church, VA 22042  | Main Phone: 703.531.2600
Attendance: 703.531.2626 | Web | Twitter