The Maury PTA welcomes you to create an account for your family. Go to http://www.brookspta.org/home/maury-pta-on-line-membership-accounts/ for more information on how to get started!
Where the Brooks community comes together.
The Maury PTA welcomes you to create an account for your family. Go to http://www.brookspta.org/home/maury-pta-on-line-membership-accounts/ for more information on how to get started!
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Dear Brooks Community,
As discussed at Monday’s PTA meeting, ACPS has issued its Proposed FY 2024 Combined Funds Budget, available here. Public comments will be considered this Thursday, January 19, 2023 at a public hearing. Below are the key issues for Brooks, and how you can make your voice heard.
Of concern to many Brooks’ parents:
At the January 6 PTA meeting, we discussed comments that the PTA’s EC will provide to the School Board on the community’s behalf. But for our voices to be heard and effective, we need direct advocacy from parents who believe Brooks should be afforded two additional homeroom teachers and a full-time psychologist on staff. ACPS and the school board need to see that this issue is important to Brooks parents in order to get them to revise the proposed budget.
You may also share your feedback with the Brooks PTA by emailing Armita Cohen. Your comments will be incorporated into the PTA’s comments (anonymously).
The proposed budget will result in classroom sizes in grades 3 and 5 at Naomi Brooks that exceed the 26 student capacity limit for these grades. The proposed Brooks staffing budget should be changed to assign two additional homeroom teachers to Naomi L. Brooks Elementary, so that Brooks has three homeroom teachers at each grade level in FY’24.
The ACPS budget allots only two homeroom teachers for grades 3 and 5, relying on projections that assume enrollment in these grades will be lower than it has been for the last two years. This assumption is contingent on several current students not returning next year. It also requires that the capacity transfers students out of Brooks, who were not permitted to enroll at Brooks because their grades were full, will not be NOT enrolling in their neighborhood school in the next school year.
For FY’23, ACPS allotted only two homeroom teachers to each of grades 3, 4, and 5. By the fall of 2023, these grades were either at or over capacity, and new students who should have been able to attend Brooks were turned away and forced to attend schools outside their neighborhood. In the fall, Brooks parents engaged with several board members and ACPS staff members about the negative impact of these large class sizes on our students and teachers. ACPS hired instructional aides for Brooks, with the intention of hiring additional teachers next year. But that process understandably took several months, and has not been successful as one of the aides has stopped coming to work. The students are in the same position as they were before and many are frustrated and feel the classrooms are too noisy and crowded for them to concentrate. With so many students in the room, it is difficult for all students to get the individual help they need.
[If desired – add language about how the class sizes have impacted your child. If not – delete this insert before submitting comments]
The Brooks parent community agrees with and strongly supports the school board’s direction that ACPS prioritize small classroom sizes in this year’s budgeting process. ACPS capacity limits exist to ensure our teachers can provide individualized and differentiated instruction to all students, so that they all may have opportunity to learn and thrive. The class size limits recognize that teachers are not able to provide the same level of individualized support as class sizes grow beyond them.
Unfortunately, the ‘FY24 budget sets Brooks up to have class sizes that exceed the prescribed capacity limits. The budget projects Brooks’ classroom sizes for grades 3 and 5 will be at 51 students – just under the 52 student maximum capacity for two teachers – and assigns two homeroom teaching positions to each grade. But Brooks currently has more than 52 students enrolled in each of these grades. The projections also fail to account for the students that were turned away as capacity transfers out of Brooks this school year, and fail to leave space for the categories of new or returning students that must be allowed to enroll at Brooks even if the grade is at capacity. The result is that class sizes in grades 3 and 5 will exceed the 26 student capacity limit next year.
Fortunately, we are early enough in the budgeting process that the school board and ACPS can address the problem and ensure that in FY’24, students in grades 3 and 5 will have class sizes within the ratio. We urge you to allot two additional homeroom teachers to Brooks so that students currently enrolled in grades 3 and 5 may return knowing their class sizes will be within ACPS capacity limits. Recent, historical enrollment data supports that Brooks will need three homeroom teachers in each grade level in FY’24 for classroom sizes to be within the ratios set by the school board and in ACPS policy.
I write to urge ACPS and the school board to allot a full-time psychologist staff position to Naomi L. Brooks Elementary. Brooks is one of just three elementary schools that does not have a full-time psychologist on staff. Instead, our wonderful and very dedicated school psychologist is assigned to Brooks just three days a week, and works at other sites two days a week. A part-time psychologist position is grossly inadequate for Brooks students given the high demand for her services. It is also inequitable that Brooks students have more limited access to psychology services because of the part-time assignment.
Elementary school psychologists serve an important role, including at Brooks. Our psychologist provides counseling services to students, is involved in setting and implementing IEP and 504 plans, conducts student assessments for special education services eligibility, trains staff, consults with teachers and parents about behavior issues and does so much more. Unfortunately, the number of students our psychologist can support, and the degree to which she is available, is limited because she is not at Brooks five days a week.
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While it is encouraging to see the FY’24 budget increase the position from 0.6 to 0.8, it is still a part-time position, and our students need and deserve a full-time psychologist on staff. Crisis intervention, special education assessments and counseling services to more than 300 students cannot be provided on a part-time basis, and our psychologist’s special skills need to be available to students every day of the week. Brooks needs to have a full-time psychologist on staff, just like the other elementary schools in the district.
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Happy November everyone! Let’s make sure that all Brooks families have food on the table this Thanksgiving. Please consider donating some of the non-perishable food items requested by our school social worker, Ms. Lusk. These will go directly to the 40 families who need them. Sign up here: Food drive sign up genius
The food can be left anytime on the porch at 16 W Glendale. I will also have a table to collect donations at Brooks morning dropoff on Friday November 11th.
The last day we can receive your donations is Sunday, November 13!
On behalf of Ms. Lusk, we are thankful to all of you for your generosity and kindness!
Any donation, great or small, is always appreciated.
Aimee (mom to Lily in second)
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Our first in-person PTA Meeting since 2020 is TONIGHT at 6:15 pm in the cafeteria at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary.
Free pizza will be available as well as free childcare for elementary school-aged children.
Can’t attend in person? You can join us via Zoom – link and dial-in information below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89057210558?pwd=VHNvRFI2YVRlVzdIYVJSL1ZES0Zodz09
Meeting ID: 890 5721 0558
Passcode: 861057
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Meeting ID: 890 5721 0558
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/keqAXmRxsa
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Pamela breaks it all down in this awesome one-minute explainer video about our upcoming Bumblebee Bonanza weekend, May 21-22. Tickets on sale now!
Thanks Pamela!
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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.
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.
National Resources
Local Resources
Media List for Families
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We will have a separate performance for each grade.
10:30 AM on East Oxford Avenue next to Stomping Ground
2309 Mt Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA 22301
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)
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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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No meeting in May 2020, due to COVID-19 closures
PTA Meeting overview memo January 11th 2016
PTA Meeting Minutes December 14 2015
PTA Meeting Minutes November 9 2015
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On June 22, 2021 a new sign was unveiled, officially renaming Maury Elementary to Naomi L. Brooks Elementary.
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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 |