ATTENTION 5TH GRADE FAMILIES – DEAL MIDDLE SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE TODAY Join prospective families and Principal Neal for the virtual open house on TODAY at 10 am. Register here to get all the meeting details. DCPS Town Hall – TODAY at 5 pm Hear from Chancellor Ferebee and his colleagues about the latest Re-opening Plans for Term 3 from a district level. Click here to register. Shepherd PTO meeting – TODAY at 6:30 pm Join us on Wednesday, Jan 27 at 6:30 pm. Click here to join the meeting via TEAMS. We will cover Term 3 updates with Dr. Hedlund, Shepherd Park Library updates, Shepherd advocacy updates, PAVE updates, plans and activities for the Spring, etc. Black History Month Committee Planning Meeting – TODAY at 5 pm Please join us in planning Shepherd’s celebration of Black History Month. This year’s focus will be on Washington, DC. Our first meeting will be on Wednesday, January 27th at 5:00 pm in advance of the PTO meeting. Please join us here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85470721682?pwd=aFBVelE5blZmNUs0c1pXV3RIaDZVZz09 Meeting ID: 854 7072 1682

ATTENTION 5TH GRADE FAMILIES – DEAL MIDDLE SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE THIS WEEK Join prospective families and Principal Neal for the virtual open house on Wed, Jan 27 at 10 am. Register here to get all the meeting details. DCPS Community Town Hall – Wed, Jan 27 at 5 pm Hear the latest from Chancellor Ferebee and his colleagues on the plans for Term 3 Re-opening. Click here to register.  PTO meeting – THIS WEDNESDAY! Join us on Wednesday, Jan 27 at 6:30 pm. Click here to join the meeting via TEAMS. We will cover Term 3 updates with Dr. Hedlund, Shepherd Park Library updates, Shepherd advocacy updates, PAVE updates, plans and activities for the Spring, etc. Eureka Math Workbook Pick Up TODAY AND TUESDAY Attention K-5 families: Eureka Math workbooks may be picked up at Shepherd Elementary Monday, January 25th and Tuesday, January 26th from 8:30-3:30 in the multi-purpose room. Please use the Jonquil entrance. Thanks! Black History Month Committee Planning Meeting – Wed, Jan 27 at 5 pm Please join us in planning Shepherd’s celebration of Black History Month. This year’s focus will be on Washington, DC. Our first meeting will be on Wednesday, January 27th at 5:00 pm in advance of the PTO meeting. Please join … Read More

DECEMBER PTO MEETING – TOMORROW (Wed, Dec 9th) at 6:30 pm Join us via TEAMS here for our monthly PTO meeting. Dr. Hedlund will be updating everyone on: Re-Opening Community Corps updates Launch of the first CARES class New ELA and Math data Shepherd’s Panorama Survey results HVAC updates GET YOUR HOLIDAY WREATHS AND GREENS AND SUPPORT THE PTO – only 5 days left to order! We’re excited to be working with Lynch Creek Farms again this year to do online order and direct home delivery of holiday wreaths and greens for the season. Their products are lovely and anyone across the country can order items and help support Shepherd PTO. Share with your family and friends near and far! Every time someone shops for holiday decor through our group’s fundraising page, Shepherd PTO will receive 15% of the purchase! Help us reach our $1000 goal! Order here and share the link with family and friends – https://www.lynchcreekfundraising.com/c/253742    D.C. Council Roundtable on the Return to In-person Instruction for DCPS  Chairman Phil Mendelson and Councilmember David Grosso hosted a joint roundtable of the Committee of the Whole and the Committee on Education on the Return to In-person Instruction in the District of Columbia … Read More

Good morning Shepherd families, We’re SOLD OUT NOW and are going to have to even use 2 days! To those who’ve signed up, more details coming soon re: time slots and date options for the mini sessions. We’re also closely watching the weather for Saturday – really, really hoping we don’t have rain! If you didn’t get in this time, we’re looking to do another photo session in the Spring. Stay tuned.  BUT…you can still support our efforts AND get something for the holidays!  We’re excited to be working with Lynch Creek Farms again this year to do online ordering and direct home delivery of holiday wreaths and greens for the season. Their products are lovely and anyone across the country can order items and help support Shepherd PTO. Share with your family and friends near and far! Every time someone shops for holiday decor through our group’s fundraising page, Shepherd PTO will receive 15% of the purchase! Help us meet our $1000 goal and make purchases online at https://www.lynchcreekfundraising.com/c/253742.   Happy Holidays! Shepherd Exec Board

RE-OPEN COMMUNITY CORPS SURVEY FOR SHEPHERD PARENTS Please take some time to fill out this important survey to inform Shepherd’s Elementary reopening plans. The deadline is 12/4. It will only take a few minutes. Happy Thanksgiving! Click here to complete the survey. Tómese un tiempo para completar esta importante encuesta para informar los planes de reapertura de Shepherd’s Elementary. La fecha límite es el 4 de diciembre. Solo te llevará unos minutos. ¡Feliz día de acción de gracias! Clic aqui “Porchtrait” Family Photo PTO Fundraiser – Sat, Dec 5 We’re bringing back holiday family photo sessions this year – but with a twist! Our photographer, AJ, will come to your home and do pics on your porch, back yard or front yard. You’ll pay the sitting fee as a donation to the PTO and then purchase pics from the photog directly. Photos will be ready about a week after they’re taken. DATE: Sat, Dec 5th TIME: 15-min sessions will start at 10 am – everyone will be scheduled based on your location so we can minimize travel time for the photographer and you’ll find out a few days before the event your specific time slot. COST: $50 sitting fee (donation to … Read More

PTO meeting – TONIGHT at 6:30 pm via TEAMS. Click here to join. Agenda: Updates from Dr. Hedlund Shepherd IB Evaluation Update – Ms. Mack PTO Meeting minutes review – Sara Faulman PTO Budget review – Andrea Smith and Karen Sloan Upcoming Fundraising – PTO team Parent Amplifying Voices in Education (PAVE) update – Meaghan Mountford Questions? Closing – next meeting is Wed, Dec 16th at 6:30 pm GIVING TUESDAY – Tuesday, Dec 1 Take advantage of your employer match or give a little extra this holiday season to help us prepare for the unexpected and ensure our students and staff have what they need this year. Please consider giving to Shepherd’s 180 Fund this Giving Tuesday. Shepherd PTO EIN number is 47-0879109. The PTO has recently purchased touchless thermometers and docu-scanners to aid in virtual learning to support teachers and staff this school year. We would appreciate your support for the 180 Fund this year. Click here to donate.  Annual DCPS Ed Fest – Dec 12th Come help us talk with prospective parents about Shepherd at this year’s virtual event. If you can volunteer some time to be in our “booth”, please let Ms. Mack know – [email protected]. Date: Saturday, December 12, 2020 Time: … Read More

Updates from Dr. Hedlund Our staff is continuing to engage in professional development and deepen our knowledge of social emotional learning. We’ve recently spent time exploring the relevancy of the five love languages in school. As a staff, we are deeply invested in ensuring your students feel loved while they are in our care. Ms. Browne, our social worker, defined different types of bullying that occur in school and strategies to prevent bullying. Ms. Mack, our IB Coordinator, began preparing us for our IB re-accreditation evaluation, which will occur virtually in early December. Finally, Ms. Bosman, our Central office team member for Special Education, spoke with us about the eligibility process for special education and service delivery. Last Friday, the faculty spent time grading and writing student comments for report cards. This week you will receive an email about parent portal access in Aspen. I wrote about this earlier this fall in several newsletters asking families to contact me if they did not want access to the portal. You will have the capability to review grades through the portal, but will also receive paper report cards in the mail. More specific information will follow from DCPS this week. Last week, … Read More

VIRTUAL Shepherd Halloween Parade!! In lieu of our annual school parade, the PTO will host a “virtual parade!”  We’ll collect photos of kiddos in their costumes for a slideshow for our website and for Facebook, so our community can share those amazing, creative, and spooky costumes!  Please send a photo of your costumed kiddo to [email protected] anytime between now and Monday, Nov 2. A NOTE FROM THE WASHINGTON TEACHERS UNION On November 9th, DC Public Schools (DCPS) plans to begin offering in-person classes for 7,000 students. While we understand the desire to return students to our classrooms, we, as teachers, do not believe the plan put forward by the city is in the best interest of students and our community. Teachers believe that every school community must receive clear, transparent information on how we’ll be safe before we return to our school buildings. To date, DCPS has refused to share detailed information about the improvements they’ve made to ensure the air we’ll breathe in our classrooms is healthy and free of the coronavirus. They have not provided clear protocols or information on the protections that will be in place for your students and for us, as teachers. The DCPS plan to reopen schools … Read More

Hi Shepherd family, Just a reminder about the two virtual meetings tonight relating to the DCPS Re-opening Plans: 5:00 – Update from Mayor Bowser and the Chancellor 6:30 – Parent Huddle with Dr. Hedlund Call-in details are below. Tele-town Hall with Mayor Bowser – TODAY at 5 pm Please join the Bowser Administration for a Telephone Townhall on the DCPS Reopening Plan. This call will focus on facility and operations readiness details on how we are prioritizing health and safety while preparing our educational campuses for in-person learning.  Wednesday, October 28, 2020  5:00 p.m. Dial-in: 844-881-1314 mayor.dc.gov/live This event can also be streamed live on DCN Channel 16, Twitter, and Facebook Parent Huddle with Dr. Hedlund – TODAY at 6:30 pm Right after the Mayor’s Update, Dr. Hedlund with share any more info she has relating to Shepherd and will answer questions as she can. Join here.

Thanks to the MANY parents, teachers and staff who joined the PTO call tonight.  As promised, here are a few follow up items: Sharing Your Concerns on the Reopening Plans Friday, Oct 23 will be a rally/alternative hearing hosted by the WTU in front of the John A. Wilson building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW) in downtown DC at 2:30 pm. Masks are required and please maintain social distancing. You can also submit a question or statement you would’ve shared had there been an official Council hearing. Click here to share with the WTU. Also, email your statement to Chairman Mendelson at [email protected] and CM Brandon Todd at [email protected].  A few issues to bring up: online class sizes when some teachers are back in the classroom (particularly how smaller schools will be impacted), how testing will be handled for all going in person, and how to ensure schools have all the gear, materials, and updated HVAC systems and working water fountains, soap dispensers, dedicated space for those with symptoms, etc. Support Our Shepherd 180 Fund  We’d love your support in lieu of Fall Fest and the many other fundraisers we’d be doing this fall. 180 accounts for 180 days of school for our kids, so it means … Read More