English | Español | አማርኛ | 中文 | 한국어 | Tiếng Việt | العربية | فارسی | اردو
From the Principals’ Desk
We had another wonderful week of connection and community at SEES! 🦅
Our Quarter 2 Grade Level SOAR Meetings with Pre-K, Kindergarten, 2nd, 4th, and 6th grade were a great success. Together with the administration, students explored what it means to be Optimistic and practiced it through fun, hands-on activities. Their enthusiasm and teamwork showed just how much a positive mindset can strengthen our school community. We will be meeting with the 1st-, 3rd-, and 5th-grade classes soon!
We also enjoyed our Family Thanksgiving Luncheon, where families joined their students for a special meal filled with smiles, laughter, and gratitude. Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make the day so memorable!
As the weather gets colder, please make sure your students come to school dressed for the temperature. We go outside for recess each day unless it’s raining or there’s a weather advisory. Our Lost and Found is also quite full right now—many warm items have found their way there! If your child is missing a coat, hat, or gloves, please have them take a look.
With appreciation,
April Martin, Proud Principal & Kassandra Flading, Assistant Principal
✨ Literacy Spotlight
What’s happened in Fourth Grade Reading this week?
FCPS Goal 3: Academic Growth and Excellence: Benchmark
 Fourth Grade Unit 3 Essential Question
How can government influence the way we live?
In this unit, students will read informational texts and fictional stories about the interactions between citizens and government. They will build schema around the following concepts:
- Local, state, and federal governments have and share different powers and responsibilities.
- All levels of government provide services that promote the wellbeing of society, such as education, transportation, and the protection of people’s health and safety.
- Elected representatives, government officials, and volunteers work together at all levels of government to solve problems in times of crisis.
- We can learn about power and the role of government not just through nonfiction but also through fiction and fictional scenarios
➕ Math Spotlight
What’s happened in Third Grade Math this week?
FCPS Goal 3: Academic Growth and Excellence - Student Centered Engagement
Third Grade Focus for This Week:
Our third graders are diving into geometry this week, and the excitement is shaping up beautifully! Students are exploring polygons—closed, flat shapes made of straight sides—and discovering how familiar figures like triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, and hexagons can be combined to create brand-new shapes. Using colorful pattern blocks, they’ve been exploring polygons and discovering just how magical geometry can be. This unit proves that math isn’t just logical, it is downright shape-tacular!
🎵Music Notes
5th grade beginner flutes were creating tone quality more akin to flautists who have been playing for 3-4 years, not 3-4 months!
Mr. Dave Jakes, band teacher, recently acquired new teaching tools for his beginner classes this year called “Pneumo Pros” for flutes, and “Vizi-air” for brass instruments. This tool creates a visualization of how flute students should direct their air with a good embouchure to achieve the best sound quality on their instruments. After 2-3 minutes of exercises with the Pneumo Pros this morning, students switched to their instruments and the difference was AMAZING!!
Dates & Reminders
November 26-28: Thanksgiving Break. School is closed for students and staff.
December 2: SEES & Richard Byrd Library Night. 6:00 p.m., Richard Byrd Library. See flyer to the right for details.
December 9: Band Concert. 7:00 p.m., Key MS. Student performers report at 6:30 p.m.
December 11: Strings Concert (5th and 6th grade). 7:00 p.m., Key MS. Student performers report at 6:30 p.m.
December 17: Three Hour Early Release. Students will be dismissed at 1:05 p.m. unless we have already received notification from their families that they should stay until 4:05 p.m.
December 18: Coffee & Conversation for Parents/Guardians. 9:30 a.m., SEES Cafeteria. Topic: Multilingual Strategies and Supports.
December 22 - January 2: Winter Break. School is closed for students and staff.
Click here to see the full 2025-2026 FCPS calendar.
|
SEES December Spirit Days
We have planned a month of special spirit days to help students and staff count down the days to Winter Break together! Please see the calendar below for details.
As always, there is no obligation to participate and, of course, school colors (blue and gold) are a great option on any spirit day!
|
