Schools enroll now at spellingbee.com
Contact: Connie Hill, chill@houstonpublicmedia.org
PARTICIPATION AND ENROLLMENT
Student participation in HPM’s Scripps affiliated program is through an enrolled school. All schools are eligible to participate: public, private, parochial, charter and home schools.
Enrollment is open through December 20, 2020. The fee is $175 per school. Enroll at www.spellingbee.com.
Home School Associations, Groups, Co-ops enroll as schools. If a home school student is not part of a group, the student’s family can enroll. The home school family fee is $120. (Additional information for home schools)
RE: COVID-19
To address pandemic circumstances during this school year, Scripps National Spelling Bee (SNSB) has developed a new, online testing platform to give teachers, districts and regions maximum flexibility in the administration of their spelling bees, whether students are learning in the classroom or remotely from their homes.
Teachers will have the option to use this online testing platform to conduct classroom- or grade-level spelling bees, and each school coordinator can also use the platform for the school-level spelling bee. The online tool may be used to narrow the field of competitors or in place of oral competition. If a school, district or region uses the online test, students will be able to take the test on any device with a web browser.
The following 2021 Regional Bees will be Virtual using SNSB’s online tool: Zone 2, 3, 5, 9, Harris County Private, Harris County Charter, and Harris County Home Schools; dates in February TBD. (Additional regional and district bees could be added to this list.)
The 2021 Houston Public Media Spelling Bee will not be a live, in-person event and will not have video production. The 2021 HPM Spelling Bee will be in virtual form using SNSB’s online tool on Tuesday, March 9. HPM will send one champion to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
TIMELINE
School Spelling Bees (Fall Semester)
- School Bee Coordinators enroll schools at www.spellingbee.com.
- School Bee Coordinators distribute study materials to students.
- School Bees Coordinators conduct school bees before Winter Break with extended deadline of January 15.
School District and Regional Spelling Bees (January/February)
Champions from School Bees will compete in a School District Bee or a Regional Bee as shown below.
- District Bees:
- Aldine, Alief, Alvin, Clear Creek, Crosby, Cypress Fairbanks, Deer Park, Fort Bend, Galena Park, Goose Creek, Houston, Humble, Katy, Klein, La Porte, Pasadena, Pearland, Sheldon, Spring, Spring Branch, Tomball
- Regional Bees:
- Archdiocese Galveston-Houston Schools
- Harris County Charter Schools
- Harris County Private Schools
- Harris County Home Schools
- Zone 1, Brazoria County (all schools except Alvin ISD, Fort Bend ISD, Pearland ISD, Archdiocese Galv-Hou)
- Zone 2, Fort Bend County (all schools except Fort Bend ISD, Houston ISD, Katy ISD, Archdiocese Galv-Hou)
- Zone 3, Galveston, Chambers Counties (all schools except Clear Creek ISD, Archdiocese Galv-Hou)
- Zone 4, Jefferson, Liberty, Orange Counties (all schools)
- Zone 5, Matagorda, Wharton, Colorado, Austin, Waller Counties (all schools)
- Zone 6, Newton, Tyler, Jasper, Hardin Counties (all schools)
- Zone 7, Angelina, Houston, Nacogdoches, Panola, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby Counties (all schools)
- Zone 8, Montgomery, Walker, San Jacinto, Trinity, Polk Counties (all schools except Tomball ISD, Archdiocese Galv-Hou)
- Zone 9, Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Robertson, Madison, Washington Counties (all schools)
Important Dates
- December 20, 2020: School enrollment deadline
- Fall Semester: Download, read and plan your spelling bee program from kick-off to end of bee.
- Fall Semester: Distribute study materials, procedures, and timelines to all involved.
- Fall Semester: Conduct school bee, report your champion, give regional bee information and study materials to your champion.
- January 15, 2021: Absolute Last Day to Conduct school bees and report school champion on spellingbee.com
- January/February 2021: School Champions compete in District/Region Spelling Bees.
- March 9, 2021: Houston Public Media Spelling Bee (online)
- June 1-3, 2021: Scripps National Spelling Bee
HOME SCHOOL INFORMATION
If you are a Home School Association or a Home School in Harris County: (Starting this year, all home schools/associations must enroll directly with SNSB. There is no local sponsor handling enrollment for the greater Houston area.) Enroll through spellingbee.com and participate in an online regional bee whose champion will advance to the Houston Public Media Spelling Bee. Contact Connie Hill if you need clarification on how it works and how you should enroll; chill@houstonpublicmedia.org
If you are a Home School Association or a Home School in the following counties: Angelina, Austin, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grimes, Hardin, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Matagorda, Montgomery, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Polk, Robertson, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Trinity, Tyler, Walker, Waller, Washington, or Wharton; Enroll through spellingbee.com and participate in a Regional Bee for Zones 1-9. Contact Connie Hill if you need clarification on how that works and how you should enroll; chill@houstonpublicmedia.org
OFFICIAL SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE MATERIALS
Scripps School Study List and Words of the Champions are available from your School Bee Coordinator.
For School Bees – Scripps School Study List
School bees consist of TWO separate sections:
- First Section: words selected from the Scripps School Study List
- Second Section: words not on the Scripps School Study List
For District/Regional Bees – Words of the Champions
District/Regional Bees consist of TWO separate sections:
- First Section: words selected from Words of the Champions
- Second Section: words not in Words of the Champions
For Houston Public Media Bee – Words of the Champions
Houston Public Media Bee consists of TWO separate sections:
- First Section: words selected from Words of the Champions
- Second Section: words not in Words of the Champions
*Vocabulary might be incorporated into the HPM Bee. Check here for an update by February 1, 2021.
All words come from the Official Dictionary: Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online