Brooks PTA

Where the Brooks community comes together.

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Brooks Celebrates Black History Month

Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of Black Americans in U.S. history. Also known as African American History Month, the event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating Black history.

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This month, the Brooks PTA is proud to honor our school’s namesake Naomi L. Brooks. We are honored to have her name on our school building and will work hard to carry on her traditions of service and community involvement.

Naomi Lewis Brooks­
April 14, 1934 – May 21, 2020

Naomi Lewis Brooks was a wife, mother, educator, Alexandrian, and community leader. Please click here to learn her story.

The PTA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee resources for Black History Month

National Resources

National Museum of African American History and Culture
Center for Racial Justice in Education

Local Resources

Alexandria Black History Museum
Alexandria Black-owned Businesses

Media List for Families

Reading List for Students
Movie List

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Brooks Holiday Sing-A-Long on 12/11

Please join us for our annual holiday caroling event for Kindergarten and 1st grade on Saturday, December 11.

We will have a separate performance for each grade.

Saturday, December 11, 2021

Kindergarten Performance:

10:30 AM on East Oxford Avenue next to Stomping Ground 

2309 Mt Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA 22301

1st Grade Performance:

12:30 PM behind The Salvation Army in the parking lot-singing for the Vintage Flea Market

1804 Mt Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA 22301

Please note that this event is optional, but we would love to see you there! 

Students are asked to wear a mask and plenty of layers as it may be cold!

Please feel free to reach out with any questions!

Regards,

Ms. Sheikh (Vocal Music Teacher)

[email protected]

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PTA Meeting Monday 11/8/2021 at 6 p.m.

Please join us for our November PTA meeting on Monday, Nov. 8 at 6:00 p.m. 

Join via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89057210558?pwd=VHNvRFI2YVRlVzdIYVJSL1ZES0Zodz09

Laura Koss Sheikh, Brooks’ Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) coordinator (not to mention amazing music teacher!) will discuss the school’s PBIS program. We will also talk about the results of our recent “how are we doing” survey and share some exciting new events we are planning.

In addition, all members will be asked to vote on the minutes from our September meeting as well as the Financial Report. Links to all files are provided below:

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New sign unveiled!

On June 22, 2021 a new sign was unveiled, officially renaming Maury Elementary to Naomi L. Brooks Elementary.

Read more

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Meet the Finalists for Principal – 4/21 at 6:30pm

Come meet the two finalists for the position of principal via a Zoom virtual meeting on Wednesday, April 21, 2021 from 6:30pm – 8:15pm.
Come meet the two finalists for the position of principal via a Zoom virtual meeting on Wednesday, April 21, 2021.

6:30-7:15 pm— Candidate A 
7:30-8:15 pm— Candidate B

Please click the link below to join the webinar:https://zoom.us/j/94179207330?pwd=UmcvN2ZNS1ZIZkVDSUVtY3lTcHB3QT09 

Submit your questions for the candidates via the online Q&A during the session. There will be a form for you to offer feedback after the session.

Thank you for participating in this selection process. 

Sincerely,
John Porter, Search Consultant

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Register for the Spelling Bee!!

It is time for Maury’s Third Annual Spelling Bee, but first VIRTUAL Spelling Bee!  

As in past years, Maury will hold two levels of competition. For the first level, the Scripps National Spelling Bee has developed an online testing platform that will allow students to participate in the bee remotely from your homes.  For the second level, in place of our traditional in-person spelling bee, we plan to host a virtual spelling bee via Zoom.

The first step to spelling bee participation is for you to register for the Scripps National Spelling Bee’s online testing platform by visiting https://online-test.spellingbee.com.  Any student that is not registered cannot participate, so please sign up promptly! 

Once at the above website, click the “Register” button and type in Maury’s zip code, 22301, to find Maury, and fill in the requested information. We encourage you to watch this video tutorial that will walk you through the registration process. In addition, you may view detailed registration instructions here.

Once you have registered, we will be able to assign the appropriate grade-level test to your child. Your child must complete the test before the given deadline, and these tests can be taken on any device with a web browser, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. The window to take the test will be 1/20/2021 to 2/12/2021. List of study words attached.  Level 1 words are geared for 2nd and 3rd grades and Level 2 words are for 4th and 5th grades.  

We will select the students with the highest scores in each grade to move on to compete at the school level, our Big Bee. The full list of all 450 words (Levels 1, 2 and 3) that are used for the Big Bee is available here.  This year, our school-level competition will be administered via Zoom in an online Bee. Our school champion will then move on to represent Maury Elementary School  in the Northern Virginia regional spelling bee program, which also may include online tests in lieu of in-person spelling bee events.

First Step: register at online-test.spellingbee.com.

Please register at your earliest convenience as the Bee Coordinators will begin assigning tests to students soon. If you have already registered in the online testing platform for another child, you can log in to your account and add an additional child to that same parent account. There is no need to register a different email address for each child in your household.

Here is a quick list of how all of this will work with prizes and acknowledgements all along the way:


1. Register your student

2. Check your email for notifications regarding the test

3. Administer the test for your scholar – remember, no helping allowed!

4. View results

5. If your student advances to the Big Bee, they and you will receive additional information

6. Compete in a Virtual Big Bee via Zoom

7. Finalist will advance to the Regional Bee

Please reach out to the Bee Coordinators if you have any questions about our school spelling bee program. We look forward to having your child compete to represent our school!

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Attend Maury’s Virtual “Open House” on Friday, 9/4 10am-11:30am

Reminder! Maury’s annual Open House will be held on September 4th, virtually, from 10-11:30AM. There will be three tailored sessions based on grade level, as well as optional sessions from 11:00-11:30 with the School Support Team, Talented and Gifted Team or Special Education/EL Team. Zoom links will be sent by your child’s teacher to the email provided to the school. If for some reason you have not received a Zoom invite, feel free to reach out to the Administrative team, [email protected], Principal or [email protected], Assistant Principal, in advance of September 4th.

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ACPS Chooses “Virtual PLUS+” Model for Fall 2020

ACPS has announced that in Fall 2020, students will attend school virtually and have access to additional resources, including:

  • Enhanced and formalized social, emotional and academic learning supports 
  • Childcare options with community partners
  • Continued meal distribution
  • Expanded technology resources

On Friday, Aug. 7, the Virtual PLUS+ reopening proposal will be presented to the Alexandria City School Board to vote on before submission to the Virginia Department of Education on Aug. 14.

Learn more and provide your feedback through the ACPS website.