Beech Tree Principal.Message.11.12.2021

PRINCIPAL DAUGHERTY

Dear Beech Tree Families:

This week, Fairfax County Public Schools kicked off the national rollout of COVID-19 vaccination for children ages 5-11, when the school division welcomed First Lady Dr. Jill Biden to a clinic at the school where the first Polio vaccine was administered in 1954. “Widespread vaccination is key to keeping students learning in-person and preventing school or division closures and keeping our school staff and students safe. We are proud to be leading the way in the vaccination rollout for children ages 5-11, just as we did with the Polio vaccine in 1954,” said Superintendent Scott S. Brabrand.

More than 85% of Fairfax County students aged 12 and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. FCPS has successfully implemented layered prevention strategies since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, and continues to have both an extremely low positivity rate (0.35%) and transmission rate (0.02%) in its schools .

In collaboration with its partners, FCPS will soon host school-based vaccination clinics evenings, weekends, and during the school day. The school division has partnered with a private vendor to establish in-school clinics where students can be vaccinated with parent or guardian permission and with or without parent or guardian present. 

FCPS’ partner, the Fairfax County Health Department, is hosting multiple mass vaccination clinics, pop-up clinics at school sites in the evening and/or weekends as well as supporting school-based clinics during the school day. Inova Children’s is holding weekend pediatric vaccination clinics at the Inova Center for Personalized Health and Inova Cares Clinic for underserved communities, while Members of the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics will be delivering more than 3,900 vaccines per week through its pediatricians.

Here are some links to help you schedule an appointment:

https://www.inova.org/COVID19/vaccine-scheduling

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/health/novel-coronavirus/vaccine/registration

This Thursday morning, Ms. Patty Settel, our Advanced Academics Resource Teacher, held an information session on the Advanced Academics Program (AAP) student referral process. This link has reminders of upcoming dates: https://www.fcps.edu/registration/advanced-academics-identification-and-placement/current-fcps-students/testing-and. Please reach out to Ms. Settel with any questions about the identification and AAP referral process at pasettel@fcps.edu.

 

This weekend Beech Tree Elementary will be opening its doors to a Saturday PTA Book Fair. Our hope is that this will allow more families to visit and shop to support our PTA and fill our children’s bookshelves at home with a few more enjoyable books. The book fair will be accessible through the Cafeteria Door by the side parking lot from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Our PTA Board will be volunteering their time to the running of the book fair. Thanks so much to those who have reached out to our PTA President, Megan Laboy, to offer to help. This Thursday and Friday, students were given some time to check out the books they would like to buy and those who had money put on the e wallet or brought cash were able to buy some, as well.

 

Next week, on Wednesday, November 17th, please be sure the kids dress for their Fall Picture Day. The order forms will be sent home on Monday. Remember that the yearbook will need to be preordered at this link: https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/Order/LookupJob?jobNumber=14478822.

 

The next evening, we will hold our PTA Meeting virtually at 6:30pm via Zoom. The private link will be sent to you through eNotify that evening. The following week, we will have school on Monday, November 22nd and Tuesday, November 23rd, but will be closed Wednesday through Friday to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends. This year, I will give thanks for our health and that of our families.

 

As a reminder, “THANK YOU” goes a long way for our amazing staff. Thank YOU for taking a moment to recognize them through our FCPS Cares Program: https://www.fcps.edu/careers/employee-recognition-programs/fcps-cares-program

 

Ms. Maya Good, Kgt teacher, has been recognized by you as an employee who shows that FCPS Cares.

“I would like to recognize Ms. Good's effort to teach kindergarten students remotely. She did an amazing job teaching them to read, count, and be ready for the transition to in-person teaching.” This information is posted on the October 2021 FCPS CARES webpage, accessible at: https://www.fcps.edu/blog/fcps-cares-november-2021 .

 

Important Dates:

11/17 = Fall Picture Day

          Order forms will be sent home on Monday, November 15th.

 

11/18 = Virtual PTA Meeting

          Zoom link will be sent the evening of the meeting.

 

11/24 - 11/26 = School Closed for Thanksgiving Break

 

12/1 – 12/7 = Updated Fall Testing Dates for those who received a letter from the testing team

 

12/9 = Virtual PTA Meeting & Winter Sing Along

          Flipgrid link to record your family singing will be shared in December. Zoom link will be shared that evening.

 

12/20 – 12/31 = School Closed for Winter Break

 

4/1 = Deadline for Yearbook orders: https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/Order/LookupJob?jobNumber=14478822

          Orders are ONLY available online. There will be NO CASH collection.

 

As always, I thank you for your trust and support! Let me know if you ever have any 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


REMINDERS:

Beech Tree Office Contacts

Spanish Speaking Parent Liaison: Stella O’Brien at msobrien@fcps.edu

School-Based Technology Specialist (logging on/using programs): Mike Meyer at mkmeyer@fcps.edu

Technology Specialist (laptop issues): Tom Kindregan at tpkindregan@fcps.edu

Registrar: Susan Do at sndo@fcps.edu

Attendance Secretary: Sheila Hudson at skhudson@fcps.edu

Principal’s Secretary: Esther Baca at ebaca@fcps.edu

Assistant Principal: Maureen Lopez at mmlopez1@fcps.edu

Advanced Academics Resource Teacher: Patty Settel at pasettel@fcps.edu

 

PTA Information

PTA Officers:

President: Megan Laboy, meganlaboy@gmail.com

Vice-President: Sonali Khadilkar, sonali@khadilkarlaw.com

Secretary: Penny Yiannarakis, pennyzoutis@gmail.com

Treasurer: Elizabeth Allison, elizabethmallison@hotmail.com

For Memberships, t-shirts, race sign-ups, etc: https://beechtreepta.memberhub.com/store

 

Fundraising:

Smile.amazon- Beech Tree Elementary School Falls Church VA

Harris Teeter VIC card: Must be renewed every year – our number is 4085

Boxtops- Download the app and choose Beech Tree Elementary School, Falls Church, VA

 

FCPS Calendar

The following link provides you with the 2021-2022 Calendar: https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/2021-22-standard-school-calendar.pdf

November 24-26    Holiday (Thanksgiving)

December 20 - 31  Holiday (Winter Break) - Classes Resume on January 3, 2022

January 17   Holiday (Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday)

January 20   End of Second Quarter - 2-hour Early Release

January 21   Student Holiday (Teacher Workday)

January 24   Student Holiday (Professional Development Day)

February 21 Holiday (George Washington’s Birthday and Presidents’ Day)

March 3        2-hour Early Release

March 4        Student Holiday (Professional Development Day)

March 31      End of Third Quarter - 2-hour Early Release

April 1            Student Holiday (Teacher Workday)

April 4-8        Holiday (Spring Break)

May 30          Holiday (Memorial Day)

June 10         Last Day of School (Early Release)

 

Health & Safety Procedures:

Visitors in the Building

Beech Tree visitors may enter by appointment only, with limited access to the building. All must have an ID, such a driver’s license or passport, and will be asked to respond to a Health Screening Questionnaire. Parents may drop off and pick up materials, as needed, by ringing the doorbell and communicating with office staff. Office staff will then bring the materials to you at the door or receive the materials from you at the door.

 

Water Fountain Use

Students should bring their own water bottle for use during the day. School staff will supervise the refilling of  water bottles, as necessary. Water fountains should not be used as usual. Water fountains can be used to refill water bottles when practical, but students and staff should not drink directly from any water fountains or faucets, which could contribute to illness transmission; individual water bottles should be used instead. 

 

Lunch Time

  • Students will be required to wear masks in the cafeteria when not actively eating and drinking.
  • They will need to wear their masks while going through the serving line. 
  • Students will put their mask back on when they finish their meal. 
  • Cafeteria spaces will be regularly and thoroughly cleaned with a sanitizing solution. 
  • It is recommended that students wash their hands with soap and water or use hand sanitizer before and after eating.
  • FCPS Food Nutrition Services works closely with the Fairfax County Health Department to ensure proper food safety and sanitation. 
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture extended the offering of no-cost breakfast and lunch to all students through school year 2021-2022.  Visit the FNS website

CDC Requirements for Playground Areas

  • Face masks are not required on the playground
  • Handwashing and Hand Sanitizing
  • Students are to wash hands before going to playground areas and immediately following with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
  • Hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol is to be made easily accessible in playground areas for students and staff. 
  • Daily Health Screening
  • The CDC recommends that parents, caregivers or guardians, should be strongly encouraged to monitor their children for symptoms of infectious illness every day through home-based symptom screening and students who are sick should not attend in-person instruction.
  • Parents/guardians are required to complete the daily health screening questionnaire prior to sending the student to school each morning.  The required screening must be completed for all school-aged children in the household.  In order to reduce the spread of communicable disease to student and staff, it is critical that parents/guardians accurately complete this screening daily and keep their student home from school when exhibiting any symptoms. The daily health screening questionnaire will be completed on an honor basis and will not be required to be submitted to the school.
  • daily health screening questionnaire is available in the following languages: EnglishAmharicArabicChineseFarsiKoreanSpanishUrdu, and Vietnamese.
  • Parents/guardians will receive frequent reminders from FCPS via multiple modes of communication, reminding them to complete their daily health screening questionnaire and to keep sick students at home. These communications will be developed in collaboration with the Office of Communications and Community Relations (OCCR), Office of Professional Learning and Family Engagement (OPLFE) and Language Services.
  • All staff and visitors must complete the daily health screening questionnaire prior to arriving on campus. The daily health screening questionnaire will be completed on an honor basis and will not be required to be submitted to the school. 
  • Any student, staff or visitor demonstrating symptoms of illness should stay home to help “Stop the Spread” of COVID-19.

 

  • Care Rooms
    • The predetermined care room is a designated location and must be separate from the health room. It may be necessary for schools to identify a second care room due to the requirement for physical distancing and room capacity.
    • A designated staff member must be assigned to supervise students while in the predetermined care room should the need arise. The staff member will be provided with a gown or lab coat, gloves, and a face shield as appropriate. Staff will need to be available at various times throughout the day to supervise any student exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 while awaiting pick up by the parent or guardian.
  • *At Beech Tree, the designated Care Rooms, so as not to impact student instruction, are the principal’s conference room and the principal’s office. The designated staff, so as not to impact student instruction, are the assistant principal, Maureen Lopez, and the principal, Karim Daugherty.

 

  • Student Return to School After Illness
  • In order to return to school, the parent/guardian must provide to the school, a completed SICK STUDENT NOTIFICATION and RETURN to SCHOOL FORM
    • This form will be completed by the child’s healthcare provider and returned to the school.
    • This form is to be filed in the student’s cumulative folder.
    • Copies of FCHD clearance letters (SARA alert forms) provided by the FCHD or a healthcare provider note will also be accepted. These documents should be stapled to the Return to School Form and filed in the student’s cumulative folder.
    • The Sick Student Notification and Return to School Form is available in EnglishArabicChineseFarsiKoreanSpanishUrdu and Vietnamese.

*FCPS will no longer require the SICK STUDENT NOTIFICATION and RETURN to SCHOOL FORM for students who are called in absent with COVID-like symptoms/illness.

Students who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, may not return until:

  • It has been at least ten (10) days since my child first had symptoms AND
  • My child has had no fever off anti-fever medicines (ex: Tylenol, Ibuprofen) for 24 hours AND
  • My child’s symptoms are getting better

*If someone in the household has been diagnosed with COVID-19, or the student is exposed, the student must remain home for 14 days after their last exposure to the household member. 

 

Protocols for Potential Temporary COVID-19 Closure

  • VA public schools required under SB 1303 to provide five days a week of in-person instruction.
  • FCPS is committed to continuity of learning during the 2021-22 school year and the school division is using layered prevention strategies to do everything possible to ensure our schools remain safe, healthy and open. Our plan is to remain open using these strategies unless directed otherwise by health officials or Executive Order.
  • FCPS has plans in place to ensure continuity of learning in the event health authorities or an Executive Order require a temporary closure to protect the health of students, staff, and the community.

 

INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS

Threshold to Initiate Closure: If student is directed by healthcare provider or FCHD to quarantine or isolate, or FCPS is directed by FCHD to pause that student’s in-person learning as a matter of public health, but school and class remain open. 

Support: Asynchronous assignments

INDIVIDUAL TEACHERS

Threshold to Initiate Closure: If teacher is directed by health provider or FCHD to quarantine or isolate, or FCPS is directed by FCHD to pause teacher’s in-person teaching, but the teacher’s school and class remain open for students.

Support: Schools will secure a substitute/alternate coverage.

 

CLASS

Threshold to Initiate Closure: FCPS is directed by FCHD to temporarily close the class as a matter of public health. 

Support: All students/staff in the impacted class will transition to virtual learning for that class (period for secondary students) until the class can reopen. Students would access asynchronous assignments.

SCHOOL

Threshold to Initiate Closure: FCPS is directed by FCHD to temporarily close the entire class as a matter of public health.

Support: All students and staff at the school will transition to virtual learning.

DIVISION

Threshold to Initiate Closure: FCPS is directed by FCHD or VDH, or Executive Order to temporarily close the division as a matter of public health. 

Support: All students and staff  will transition to virtual learning until in-person instruction can resume.

HVAC System

 

FCPS designs and operates many different types of equipment to maintain an acceptable indoor air temperature and indoor air quality in buildings.

 

- FCPS operates 220 facilities every day of the year

- At 27 million square feet of covered space, FCPS is larger than 4 Pentagons

- There are nearly 37,000 pieces of HVAC equipment in FCPS

- Including over 5,000 different types and models of HVAC equipment

- There are more than 45,000 active air filters in FCPS

- Including nearly 800 different sizes and types

- Air filters are changed every 90 days

- FCPS replaces over 180,000 filters each year

 

All HVAC systems are maintained and operated efficiently and effectively using the latest procedures and technology. FCPS performs scheduled preventive maintenance to all HVAC systems. OFM uses a maintenance management system that documents HVAC maintenance requests and actions.

Portable air filters (based on HEPA or UV technology) have been considered and purchased. I purchased county approved, portable air filters for the two classrooms that do not have windows and the division purchased them for our two CARE rooms which Ms. Lopez and I have to monitor when we have students exhibiting COVID symptoms, since those students may not remain in the clinic.