We are delighted to announce that this year Great Hearts Irving Lower School will be participating in the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the very first time! The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a nationwide spelling competition that begins with classroom bees all around the United States and culminates in the National Finals the week of Memorial Day. Previous National Spelling Bee winners have come from right here in Irving, so the next National Spelling Bee Champion could very well be a Great Hearts Irving Lower School scholar!

How It Works

The Great Hearts Irving Spelling Bee is open to all students in Grades 1 through 5.

Classroom Bees

Your child’s first step on the road to the National Finals is their classroom spelling bee. All students in 1st through 5th Grades will be coming home with a word list in advance of their classroom bee they can use to study in their spare time (and after any homework is completed, of course). Classroom bees will be held during the school day at a convenient time sometime prior to Friday, December 1.

Grade-Level Bees

The top speller from each classroom will advance to their grade-level bee. Grade-level bees will be held during the school day at a convenient time before Winter Break. Classroom teachers will communicate with finalists about the day grade-level bees will be held.

Great Hearts North Texas Regional Spelling Bee

In addition to the School Bee to determine Great Hearts Irving Lower School’s attendee at the Dallas Area Charter Bee, all grade-level finalists will compete in the Great Hearts North Texas Regional Spelling Bee against our fellow Metroplex Great Hearts Lower Schools. See below for full details.

School Bee

On Tuesday, January 9, 2024, our five grade-level finalists (1st-5th Grades) will compete in a school-wide spelling bee. Grade-level finalists will be given a special “Words of the Champions” list to study over Winter Break prior to the School Bee. Parents and siblings of grade-level finalists will be invited to attend this bee and should look for that invitation via email. The winner of the School Bee will be crowned our Great Hearts Irving Lower School Spelling Bee Champion and will advance to represent our entire school at the Dallas Area Charter School Bee.

Dallas Area Charter Bee

The Great Hearts Irving Lower School Spelling Bee finalist will move on to compete in the Dallas Area Charter Bee to be held from 5 to 8pm on Friday, February 16, 2024 at Harmony School of Excellence in Dallas.

66th Annual Dallas Regional Spelling Bee

If the Great Hearts Irving Lower School finalist who attends the Dallas Area Charter Bee should be victorious in that event, he/she will advance to the Dallas Regional Spelling Bee to be held at 10am on Saturday, March 9, 2024. Location TBD.

Scripps National Spelling Bee

The top two spellers in the Dallas Regional Spelling Bee will receiving all-expenses paid trips to the Washington, D.C. area to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee during Memorial Day week 2024.

Great Hearts North Texas Regional Spelling Bee

This spring, separate from competition in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, all four Great Hearts Lower Schools in the Metroplex will come together for our second annual Great Hearts North Texas Regional Spelling Bee! After each school hosts their own spelling bees, grade-level finalists from each school will be invited to attend the Regional Spelling Bee.

Where and When

Thursday, February 29
6:15pm

Sign in will begin at 5:30pm.

Movie Tavern Bedford
2204 Airport Freeway
Suite 450
Bedford, Texas 76022

Pizza Party

To help make the event extra special for finalists (and to make things easier for their parents), we’ll be providing pizza for all participants from 5:30pm to the start of the bee at 6:15.

How to Become a Finalist

Each Great Hearts North Texas school is designating finalists according to its own Spelling Bee plan. At Great Hearts Irving Lower School, each 1st through 5th Grade classroom will hold a classroom bee. Class finalists will then compete in a grade-level bee to determine the grade-level finalist who will participate in the Great Hearts North Texas Regional Spelling Bee. Parents of grade-level finalists will receive communication via email inviting them to attend the Regional Spelling Bee.

Please note, that while Great Hearts Irving Lower School and other Great Hearts schools may also participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the Great Hearts North Texas Regional Spelling Bee event is being held separately within Great Hearts only and has no bearing on any student’s participation in the Scripps competition.

For questions about the Spelling Bee, please reach out to our Dean of Students at Gabriel.Michalak@greatheartstxschools.org.