Good evening families,

We are almost at Thanksgiving Break — a well-earned respite from screens, mute buttons, chats and participant lists. We are on the verge of saying goodbye to 2020, and even though it has tested us, we continue to be reminded of how much for which we are grateful. When I count my blessings on Thursday, all of you will be among them. I am so thankful for the warmth, support, compassion and commitment of our community. 

This week, we received some ELA achievement date and the results of the Student Panorama survey. Beginning of the year data for ELA conveys that students are performing at approximately the same level at BOY as they did in SY 2019-20. Although Shepherd saw a decrease of 6% in Dibels (K-2), which measures early literacy, for 20-21 BOY, there was a 2% increase in TRC (K-1), which measures fluency and comprehension, and a 7% increase in RI (2), which measures comprehension.

The Student Panorama data, which is collected through a survey of students in grades 3, 4 and 5, demonstrated that virtual relationships, though not what we desire, are working, and Shepherd continues to make gains in making its students feel love, challenged and prepared, even during a pandemic. There was a 7% increase in the percentage of students who feel loved, a 1% decrease in the percentage in students who feel challenged and a 4% decrease in the percentage of students who feel prepared. Our overall index for loved, challenged and prepared was up 1%. We want to increase all of those percentages, and that is one of our primary objectives on our Comprehensive School Plan. 

At our next PTA meeting in December, I will share the data results in much greater detail. By no means, am I saying that this data is good enough, but I was reassured that there were not considerable drops in reading achievement and our social emotional learning measure. I will leave you with that good news. Please enjoy the time off and hopefully the company of a few loved ones.

With love and gratitude,

Phyllis