The BeeLine

Greetings, Fairmont Families!

Welcome to November! This is such a beautiful time of year with all of the fall colors showing off in our beautiful mountains! I hope you take some time to enjoy the outdoors.

This month, we are looking forward to Fairmont's 2nd Annual Multicultural Night on Thursday, November 19, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. Many of our Fairmont families will be participating and highlighting their individual cultures. There will be a free hot dog dinner served in the cafeteria. Come on out with your families to enjoy an evening of learning and fun!

In November, we will also be collecting food donations for Thanksgiving boxes. For more information, please see the "Holiday Service Project" section below. Thank you in advance for your generosity! Additionally, please remember school will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday November 25-27.

Please continue to support our faculty and staff and review Fairmont's B.E.E. Excellent Every Day Expectations with your child-B- Be Respectful, E-Engage in Learning, E-Exhibit Responsibility. Every morning, before learning begins, we go over these expectations and recite the B.E.E. Pledge as a school community. Most of our students have memorized the Bee Pledge. We are so proud of our students and the excellent choices they are making every day.

In closing, November is a great time to pause and reflect on all we are thankful for. At Fairmont, I am thankful for all of our amazing faculty, staff, students, families, volunteers, and PTA! I hope you are able to spend time with your families during this Thanksgiving season reflecting on all of your blessings.

Thank you for helping us make Fairmont the place to bee! As always, thank you for your support of our wonderful school!

Dr. JoDee Dotson, Principal

Classes w/ 100% Perfect Attendance ALL week-will get a pizza party:

O'Neal, Pappageorge, Mays, Seeley

Classes w/ highest percentage for the week per grade level-will get extra recess and popsicles:

O'Neal, Pappageorge, Mays, Ratner, Seeley, McLaughlin, Meisenzahl, Mueller

Congratulations!! Thank you for being at school!

Morning drop off begins at 7:45. Students may not be dropped off before this time. It is unsafe for students to wait outside the building without staff members on duty to supervise. It is important that students stay in cars until 7:45. The gym is not open until that time for early car line drop off.

If you would like for your child to walk home from school we must have a permission form on file. You can ask your child's teacher or contact the office (423) 434-5275 to get a permission form. You will need to determine if your child will exit the school from the front door at the office or the back door at the cafeteria. Each location will have a designated staff member responsible for keeping track of the students leaving the building as walkers. We want to make sure each child makes it to you safely.

Every family will receive a Johnson City Transit Disciplinary Code. Please read over this form and make sure students understand the behavior expectations while riding the bus.

If you would like to utilize bus transportation, please complete a bus request form. You can get a form in the office or request a copy from your child's teacher. These are required for each student before riding the bus. Once we receive approval from transit you will get a phone call to notify you of approval.

Students in kindergarten through second grade must have an adult at the bus stop for students to be allowed off the bus. If there is not someone at the stop for these students, transit will return the child to the school and they will have to be picked up in the office. If students are brought back to the school by transit more than twice, they will not be allowed to ride the bus for a period of time. This is the policy from JC Transit.

The safety of all our students in our #1 priority. Thank you for your cooperation!

Our annual Holiday service projects are in full swing and we are counting on our super generous Fairmont family to help. To celebrate the spirit of giving, we will be sending home boxes of needed items to some of our families over the Thanksgiving break. Food item collection will run from now until Friday, November 20. You can send in your donations to your classroom teacher. Each class will have a box for items outside of the door. Feel free to send in 1,2, or 10 items!

Thanks for helping bless others this Holiday season. This is what makes Fairmont great!

Please consider filling these boxes with the items:

● PreK/K, CDC Classes:­ Breakfast items (pop tarts, instant oatmeal, boxed cereal, mini muffins, breakfast bars, canned milk)

● 1st Grade: Canned Vegetables (green beans, corn, carrots, peas)

● 2nd Grade: Stuffing Mix, Cornbread Mix, Mashed Potatoes, Rice.

● 3rd Grade: Canned Fruit, Pudding, Jello, Applesauce

● 4th Grade: Snack items ( Crackers, Goldfish, Granola Bars, Easy Mac n Cheese, Peanut Butter, Popcorn)

● 5th Grade: Easy Meal Makers (Hamburger helper, Tuna helper, Pasta, Marinara/Alfredo sauces

We will collect socks, Hygiene items, underwear, long pants and light weight jackets of all sizes again this year for Christmas. Be on the lookout for a reminder after Thanksgiving and start collecting these items for our students if you see a good deal!

We are reaching the time of year where our students require warmer clothing and winter gear. Please send coats/jackets with students as they will be going outside for recess as long as the temperature and weather allows it. If your child needs a coat, hat, or gloves please let us know. We have items here at school that can be sent home with students needing cold weather gear. Please contact the office, your child's teacher, or school counselor if you need any winter clothing.

Students are required to read and take tests on AR books that they read in the classroom and at home as homework. The tests are scored and points are awarded based on the score. Student goals are set each 9 weeks or quarter. Each 9 weeks students that meet their AR points goals will receive a Chick-Fil-A card featuring a free menu item.

As students meet their AR reading goals each 9 weeks Johnny Brusco's will reward them with a certificate for a free kids personal pizza.

If parents are going on field trips with students they must check in at the school first. Parents will need to come into the office and sign in with their ID and get a visitor badge. All parents must wear the visitor badge while on the field trip. If permitted, and parents chose to take their student home straight from the field trip, they must be signed out with the teacher. If it is not permitted, parents must come back to the school to sign students out if they are leaving early.

If you would like your child to have access to our school's Care Counselor, Mrs. Revis, please make sure you have signed and returned the consent form. This form gives her permission to see your child and speak with them at school if there is a need. Mrs. Revis provides student focused mental health support services. Students, parents, and/or teachers can request that the care counselor check in with a student.

Please DO NOT send any medication to school with your child in their backpack. This includes cough drops. ALL MEDICAITON MUST BE CHECKED IN THE CLINIC BY A PARENT OR GUARDIAN. All over the counter medication must be new in unopened original packaging. Prescription medication must also have Dr. orders to be kept and used at school. If you have any questions or concerns please contact our school nurse, Nurse Erin.

Organizations and nonprofits that coordinate volunteers or use group participation numbers can also log hours or earn cash/fundraising rewards back through The Goose Chase Gives Back program, which includes chances to win bonus awards like $500 for logged volunteer hours. Please indicate Fairmont as your organization when you sign up to volunteer. Each year we have so many volunteers that the school wins a monetary reward that goes back into the school to benefit our students.

What a great night for Fairmont! We had an amazing turnout for our Spirit Night at Freddy’s, with so many students, teachers, and families coming out to support our school!

Thanks to our incredible Fairmont community, we brought in $3,545 in sales, earning a $530 donation for our school! 🎉

A big congratulations to Mrs. McLaughlin’s 4th grade class for having the most students in attendance! 🏆

🍦 Free Freddy’s Custard Winners:

Annie Garrison, Jack Elliott, Avery Smith, Isaac Los, Felix Lake, Millie Garrison, Charlie Bolton, Isabelle Forrester, Grayson Mays, Mason Rannick, Henry Gilbert, Abby Stampley, Mya Fusher, Finley Alexander, Tobias Bran.

We will deliver gift cards to classrooms this week!

🎉 Just Jump Gift Card Winner: Parker Upchurch!

A huge thank-you to Freddy’s for hosting us and to all of our Fairmont families who participated! We are so proud of the school spirit our families continue to show. It's amazing what we can accomplish when our Fairmont family comes together!

Calling all student writers! Students are encouraged to participate in the Citizenship Essay Contest and share their thoughts on what it means to be a good citizen!

Interested students can pick up contest details and entry information in the main office.

All entries are due Friday, November 20!

Scan the QR code or click on it to find the link to join PTA.

The 2026-2027 Food City School Bucks Program registration is now open. For every dollar you spend at Food City using your ValuCard, one point will be earned for your school. The more points earned, the larger share of the cash your school will receive. All you have to do is link your ValuCard to your school (Fairmont) and you'll automatically earn points every time you shop. Food City is making $800,000 available to participating schools to invest in classrooms, equipment, and essential supplies. You must register your school to your ValuCard each year to continue earning points.

Since its inception, School Bucks has provided nearly $22 million to regional school - all with the help of community members like you.

Click the picture above to visit the website to register for the School Bucks Challenge. You can also watch the video below to walk you through registration.

Fairmont's First "Friday" Ice Cream for November will be on the first Thursday-Thursday, November 5. You can send money in to purchase ice cream for your student or you can put money on their MySchoolBucks account. If there is money in the account please remind your child to let the cafeteria staff know that they will be using MySchoolBucks to pay for the ice cream. The link to sign up for MySchoolBucks is below the lunch menu. The other way to purchase ice cream is to send money directly to the cafeteria to be added to your child's lunch account. Please enclose this money in an envelope with your child's name, teacher, and cafeteria money on the outside. Ice cream costs .75 and it is very helpful to the cafeteria staff to have money already on the account or to pre pay the .75 the week of Ice Cream Friday.

November 2-20: Holiday Service Project (see graphic above)

November 3 - NO SCHOOL/Parent Teacher Conferences/Election Day

November 5 - Ice Cream Day

November 11 - Veterans Day

November 19 - Fairmont's International Night @ 5:30-7:00 pm (see graphic above)

November 25-27 - Thanksgiving Holiday/NO SCHOOL

November 26 - Turkey Trot

November 30-Back to School