Video: Canterbury Woods ES Sends Teachers Home in Style

Months of secret meetings and practice paid off Thursday for the 600 students hoping to surprise three retiring teachers.

Reading teacher Gail Kozak, fifth grade teacher Marge Tabellario, and instructional assistant Ines Fierro were surprised to find the crowd waiting for them behind the school. They planned to retire at the end of the school year, and hearing the news, the school's staff and students started rehearsing in January and February to send them off in style.

The students performed speeches, skits and songs, with a finale flash mob number to the Frankie Valli hit, “Who Loves You (Pretty Baby)?”

Tabellario, who has spent about 30 years in the Fairfax County Public School system, said she had no idea what they had planned.

"I knew my friends had something up but I didn't know what, and it's beyond anything I'd ever imagine," she said.