Beach Families,

There will be no school today due to the PAT Teacher's strike. Please monitor communications sent directly from PPS with updates as this will be the primary communication source. Beach is a meal distribution site with pick-up today between 11:30-1:00 at the cafeteria entrance by the playground. The building is closed for all other business.

As we head into a new month and evolving seasons, I find myself reflective of what has been accomplished by our team already this year and focused on the momentum that is building as we learn about and connect with our students over time.

This past month I have personally learned a lot, and know there is much more to learn. From my earliest conversations to today, I am hearing many shared goals and hopes for how school will support each of our students in being affirmed, confident, prepared, and finding joy in learning. A clear sentiment has also emerged about feeling the loss of celebration and tradition after multiple years navigating important safety measures and pauses on how we come together.

As a school, we are committed and energized by the ability to rebuild and re-imagine our school experiences and opportunities that bring us together, in community. We are actively working to design school specific events as a staff and through partnership with other organizations, such as the BCU. Our actions will be guided by the commitment to inclusivity and being mindful of how our decisions contribute to a sense of belonging and learning.

I am hopeful and confident that what we will create will expand and honor the spirit of our shared goals for each of our students. No matter the day of the year, this is what we are always seeking to accomplish.

We look forward to sharing more and appreciating the contributions of ideas for what brings us together!

- Kelli

Hello Friends of Beach Gardens,

A little over 30 years ago, a Madison High School student named Joseph Janson had a simple wish. He wanted to go to a dance. But nothing was simple for Joseph, who was born with Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy and was confined to a wheelchair. 

He confided his wish to Tony Nitz, who at that time was an educational assistant at Madison (now Leodis V. McDaniel High School). Tony had been working one-on-one with Joseph for months and he immediately went about making the young man’s dream come true.

“The truth is, I would have done anything for Joseph,” Nitz said. “He was a unique person, and we had a very special bond.”

Madi Bourdon’s first book practically wrote itself. 

According to the Glencoe Elementary School counselor and Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) coordinator, it only took them an hour and a half to finish A Kid’s Book About Chosen Family, which came out this March with A Kid’s Co. publishing.

For the past three years, Alondra Nieves Barajas has been both student and teacher.

Most days, the senior from Roosevelt High School attends class, does her homework, and spends time with her friends just like any other 18-year-old. But on Wednesday nights, you can find her at the front desk, teaching adults – often much older than herself – the ins and outs of the United States naturalization test.

When Aaron Presberg first got the email from the White House, he thought it was some sort of prank. 

Then he shared the message with a few colleagues who assured him that it was no joke, and the exciting reality that he had been invited to Washington, D.C. to present at the White House’s first-ever Summit for Sustainable and Healthy K–12 School Buildings and Grounds started to sink in.