Dear Coates Community,
As some of you may know, my wife and I are expecting our second child in May and I will be going out on Paternity Leave for the last 6 weeks of the school year. We are beyond excited to welcome another little girl into our family and I wanted to share the transition plan that we have coordinated to ensure a smooth operation at Coates for the remainder of the school year. I hope to be here all during the month of April and I am looking forward to picking it all back up over the summer to finish preparing for the 2024-25 school year.
In the interim, Dr. Maureen Boland will be stepping in as the acting principal. Dr. Boland retired from FCPS after a 30-year career in which she served as an elementary teacher, instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal of both Haycock and Rolling Valley Elementary Schools. Dr. Boland also serves as an adjunct professor for the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development and as a university facilitator for the George Mason University College of Education and Human Development. Dr. Boland will be joining the Coates team intermittently over the next few weeks until I get the call to run home or to the hospital! She can be reached at MBoland@fcps.edu or by calling the main office at 703-713-3000.
Additionally, we want to congratulate Jessica King on her recent appointment to a Project Manager position with the Office of Strategic Planning in FCPS central office. She will officially begin this new role on May 1st, but will still have the opportunity to come back and support our end of year closeout for a couple of days here and there.
Jessica has given so much to the Coates community over the last 7 years as an assistant principal and we are certainly going to miss her. She has been a critical member of our admin team and has provided tremendous leadership, stability, organization, and a wealth of instructional knowledge to support positive outcomes for kids. Like many of you all, our team is just grateful to have been able to work with her and to call her a friend. Jessica is ready to leave school-based administration and to continue her leadership in Fairfax County in this new position where we know she will excel tremendously!
In the interim, Rachel Sweeney will join our team beginning on May 1st to support the closeout of the school year. Rachel has more than 30 years of experience as an educator. She started her career in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in 1998 as an elementary school teacher at Parklawn Elementary School, teaching grades K-2. In 2009 Dr. Sweeney had the privilege to be on the opening staff at Coates Elementary, working with multilingual learners as a member of the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) team for five years. For the past ten years she has worked at Rocky Run Middle School, first as an English and Literacy teacher and for the past several years as Dean of Students.
While Dr. Sweeney will support us at Coates for the remainder of this year, the Region 5 Leadership Team has appointed Tiffanie Wu to transition into the vacant Assistant Principal position at Coates and she will join our administrative team when she returns on contract in July. Tiffanie was born and raised in Vienna, Virginia, and attended Oakton High School. She graduated from Virginia Tech, where she received her bachelor’s degree and Master’s of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. Her first position in Fairfax County was a fourth grade teacher at Cardinal Forest Elementary School. During that time, she went to George Mason and received her Master’s in Mathematics Specialist Leadership. In pursuing her love for math, she worked at Providence Elementary School for ten years as a Title I math specialist and as an instructional coach. She later went back to George Mason to receive an endorsement in administration.
In her spare time, she loves spending time with family and friends. Most of her extended family still live in the area, and they always enjoy a large family gathering! She has a daughter in 8th grade and a son in 5th grade along with two dogs that keep her very busy! Tiffanie is in her sixth year at Centre Ridge Elementary as an assistant principal and is super excited to continue her administrative journey with us at Coates for the 24-25 school year!
Please join me in wishing Jessica the very best in her new role and in welcoming Rachel and Tiffanie to the Coates family!
Sincerely,
Paul Basdekis
Principal
L.L. Coates Elementary
Dear Coates Families,
It is with a heavy heart that I announce that I have accepted an offer to become the Program Manager in the FCPS Office of Strategy, Planning, and Learning. As happy as I am to be pursuing my next endeavor, I am also sad that I find myself saying goodbye to you and your children.
I would like to thank you for the opportunity you have given me to serve the Coates community over the last seven years. Coates is a very special place to me, and I am grateful that our paths have crossed in this amazing community. It has been my honor and privilege to have served such a special community.
All my best,
Jessica King
Assistant Principal
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Good afternoon Coates Families,
As you may know, this Monday we will experience a solar eclipse in our area between 2:03pm and 4:32pm with the peak at 3:19pm. This is certainly an exciting educational event that we want all of our students to participate in. Our plan is to provide teachers with resources to incorporate the event into their instructional day and to allow grade 4-6 students to view the eclipse with approved protective glasses that we have provided, while our students in grade K-3 will view the eclipse live online via the NASA website. If you have a student in grades 4-6 and would like them to stay inside during this event, please contact your child’s teacher directly or notify the main office at 703-713-3000.
While we prioritize regular school attendance and would prefer the students to access the eclipse experience through the planned classroom instruction, we recognize the novelty of this solar event. Therefore, if it is important to you to experience the eclipse as a family, you are welcome to check your child out of school early so that you can view the eclipse together.
Solar Eclipse Resources including a link to the live NASA viewing feed are located here on the FCPS website link.
Thank you,
Paul Basdekis
Principal
L.L. Coates Elementary School
In Islam, Eid-al-Fitr is a three day festival to mark the end of Ramadan. Muslims dress in new clothes, give charity, and pray in congregation. Eid is celebrated with the exchange of presents and delicious food with family and friends. Read more at Britannica.com.
Tuesday, April 9, has been designated as a half-O day. Half-O days are full school days, but important events will not be held after school on those days. Wednesday, April 10, is an FCPS holiday and all schools and offices will be closed. See the complete School Year Calendar.
As you know, Coates Elementary recently received Title I designation by the federal government and have been provided additional school funds to support a variety of instructional and community outreach initiatives. Due to this funding opportunity, our school team worked very hard on an aggressive timeline to coordinate a robust before-school program that would provide both co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities for our students. We have been able to invite hundreds of students to participate in Math and Literacy interventions based on need (Tuesday and Thursday), while providing open-enrollment to students for participation in our Wednesday morning enrichment programs.
We have sent information out about our program offerings via Talking Points over the past few weeks and we will send out additional information next week to outline any open spots that we still have in our Wednesday morning extra-curricular programs in case you might still be interested in enrolling your child. The programs run this week through the month of May and are offered before school from 8-9am. We do have the ability to provide transportation if needed, but due to the bus routes in place for the middle and high school students in FCPS, we are only able to provide a very early pick up time to help our students access these programs.
Please direct any questions to our Before-school Program Coordinator, Jessica Luecke at JLLuecke@fcps.edu
This event is open to all cultures including states across the USA, so please consider representing your state with a booth if you do not have another country outside of the USA to represent. You can use this form to sign up to represent your heritage at Multicultural Night.
April is School Library Month and it's a great time to celebrate the essential role that school librarians play in the lives of students. School librarians ensure students have access to a wide variety of high-quality books and resources that connect them to the world and build a culture of literacy. Librarians develop lessons that are meaningful to students and help them develop critical thinking, inquiry, and information literacy skills. They support learning across all subject areas by teaching students the skills to be independent problem-solvers and creative thinkers. By creating a safe environment for all students to be engaged and curious learners, FCPS libraries are places where everyone belongs.
Take a moment to learn more about FCPS Library Programs and share your appreciation of our school librarian, Ms. Meehan, rmeehan@fcps.edu!
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FCPS is proud to celebrate National Arab American Heritage Month in April. This special month provides an opportunity to recognize the history and valuable contributions of Arab Americans. Arab Americans have ancestry in one of the world’s 22 Arab nations, which are located from northern Africa through western Asia. The people of these nations are ethnically, politically, and religiously diverse but share a common cultural and linguistic heritage. Learn more about the heritage months, celebrations, and traditions celebrated in FCPS.
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Muslim American Heritage Month is a time for celebrating the history, contributions, culture, and an enhanced understanding of the diverse population of Muslim Americans. View the Fairfax County School Board resolution honoring Muslim American Heritage Month. |
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The FCPS CARES Program is an opportunity for parents, staff, and community members to recognize FCPS employees for going above and beyond to help others and show they care. We invite you to submit your story, so we can all acknowledge the good work of FCPS employees, specifically at Coates. |
8th- Solar Eclipse
10th- Student Holiday- Eid al Fitr
11th- AAP parent info night 5-6pm & PTA Meeting @ 6pm (Library)
19th- Military Child Appreciation Day & Multicultural Night 5:30-8pm
30th- SOLs Begin in grades 3-6
1st- Spring Picture Day
2nd- Kindergarten Orientation 5-6pm
3rd- Teacher Work Day- No School for Students & Orthodox Good Friday
6th-10th- Teacher Appreciation Week
7th- 6th grade Panoramic Photo
18th- National Speech Pathologist Day
27th- No School-Memorial Day
*The full FCPS 2023-2024 calendar can be accessed here.
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