Dear Families,
February was a month filled with celebrations here at Shepherd Elementary, and our celebrations conclude with Jazz Fest this evening. Thank you to all who attended last night’s 3rd grade production of Now Let Me Fly. It was an outstanding performance, and by popular demand, we will have an encore performance very soon! Please stay tuned for the date and time. A huge shout to all students who participated and to Ms. Moorer and Ms. Denmark who initiated, directed and produced the play. It was unforgettable.

On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, students participated in the Black History Bowl, and they knew the information so well that it took two tie-breaking rounds to declare a winner. Please join me in congratulating Levi Sedalia 1st place, Ainsley Sedalia 2nd place and Sydney-Grace Ntim 3rd place for their extensive knowledge. Another huge shout out to Ms. Romero for organizing and leading the Black History Bowl. Thank you! Students are already clamoring for another one!

Today, thanks to our PTA, our students watched Step Afrika! Perform, and they were sensational. Students and adults learned the history of stepping and got on their feet to participate. Many thanks to Dr. Leonard who led the school in singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” to open our assembly. He has a beautiful voice that we are grateful he is willing to share with the community!

As we close out the month, I remind us of our responsibility to teach tolerance and respect. We have had several unfortunate incidents in the past several months when students have expressed intolerance to one another over differences in race, religion or ability. They are learning, and they need us to teach them. If you hear about any incidents occurring at school, please communicate them to me. We have skilled teachers and wellness professionals who can support individual classrooms or grades. We are willing to tackle any issue that comes to our attention to improve culture for our children and prepare them to make our world more just and equitable.

Hope to see you at Jazz Night tonight starting at 6:30. Bring the kids and a neighbor – all are welcome!

Sincerely,

Phyllis Hedlund, Ed.D.
Interim Principal