Category Archive

Dear Parents and Families of Shepherd Elementary School, As Shepherd’s Instructional Superintendent for the upcoming 2022-2023 School Year, I am committed to helping our school leaders provide joyful and rigorous educational experiences geared toward the learning and success of all students. Communicating home about school leadership updates is a critical part of maintaining strong partnerships with families. I am reaching out to inform you that Principal Tiffany Emmanuel-Wright has resigned as the leader of Shepherd Elementary School for family reasons. I know she was deeply disappointed to make this difficult decision and we will continue to wish her all the best. Since learning of this news, I have worked with DC Public Schools leadership to identify a new school leader. With that, I am pleased to announce that Ms. Tyra Russell has accepted the position of Interim Principal of Shepherd Elementary for the upcoming school year. In 2016, Ms. Russell moved to DC to accept the Assistant Principal position at Savoy Elementary School within DCPS. During her time there, she had the opportunity to work closely with the principal on responsibilities including balancing the school budget, recruiting, and maintaining talent, coaching regarding English Language Arts (ELA) and Math curriculum, and … Read More

Dear Parents and Families of Shepherd Elementary School,  As we close out another remarkable school year at DC Public Schools and turn our focus toward School Year 2022-2023, I am excited to announce that Tiffany Emmanuel-Wright was selected as the next principal of Shepherd Elementary! I want to thank Shepherd parents, families, and community members who participated in this process for providing compelling feedback in the selection of our new school leader. Mrs. Tiffany Emanuel-Wright is an experienced educator, administrator, and instructional leader with a passion for lifelong learning and leadership. Mrs. Emanuel-Wright advocates for student academic achievement. This philosophy aligns with her vision for educating and inspiring teachers, students, and families through developing independent, competent, capable, and action-oriented thinkers. Mrs. Emanuel-Wright brings to Shepherd 18 years of successful experience as an educator with results-driven experience. In her previous roles she spent two years as a reading coach, six years as a teacher, and four years as an assistant principal. Before accepting this position, she was principal of an elementary school located in Jacksonville, Florida, for the past eight years. During Mrs. Emanuel-Wright’s educational leadership career, she transformed a low-performing elementary school from a grade F to grade B, transformed … Read More

Good afternoon families, Thank you for entrusting us with your children this morning. Our hearts were heavy as a staff when we met before the opening of school. It felt as if we could have held our moment of silence the entire day. We are holding the families of Uvalde, Texas in the light through their unbearable grief and know you are too. Here are some resources for how teachers and parents can help our children process their feelings in the wake of such tragedy. Some of you have reached out about our lockdown drill on Friday, May 27. I have received numerous emails that state drill and drill often. ECE families may opt out of Friday’s drill. We do monthly drills as a whole school in preparation for a range of emergencies – fires, evacuations, severe weather, neighborhood violence and active shooters. Teachers will prepare students for the lockdown drill, including what to do, and why we were doing it (so we can stay safe in case there’s ever an emergency in the building). The lockdown drill entails each class sheltering together in their locked classroom out of sight of doors and windows. We take every precaution possible to … Read More

Dear Shepherd Community, I hope that this letter finds each of you well. Serving as principal of Shepherd has been a great joy and privilege. However, I am sending this letter to inform you that I will not be returning as principal for School Year 2022-2023. When I joined this community in July 2019, I served as your interim principal and would never have imagined that I would be appointed principal in a global pandemic during which we would serve virtual learners for nine months. We worked hard last year to bring back as many children in person as we possibly could, and I am so grateful to have all your children back in the building this school year. It has been a journey, and this community has demonstrated tremendous grace, generosity, and adaptability during my tenure here. In April 2020, numerous families were wary of accepting a laptop because someone may have needed it more than they did. When I walk out of my office after a long day and a parent thanks me for addressing an issue or communicating succinctly, that is Shepherd. And our magnificent teachers and staff who always hold high expectations and show abundant love … Read More

Dear Shepherd Elementary School, This letter is to inform you that an individual who was last present at Shepherd on October 26 has since reported a positive test for coronavirus (COVID-19). The individual is no longer on campus and will not return until medically cleared. As determined by the DCPS Contact Tracing team, DC Health, and in accordance with the district’s COVID-19 health and safety guidance, unless you have received instructions directly, your student has not been identified as a close contact of the positive individual and does not need to be tested or self-quarantine. Persons for whom we know were in close contact with the positive individual were notified and provided guidance on next steps, including how any students impacted would receive instruction during quarantine. For your awareness, DC Health defines a close contact in a PK-12 setting as, “Someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes over a 24-hour period, starting from two days before illness onset (or for asymptomatic infected people, two days prior to positive test collection) until the time the infected person is isolated.” Since DCPS has layered mitigation measures in place at our schools, students who were … Read More

Dear Shepherd Elementary School, This letter is to inform you that an individual who was last present at Shepherd on September 27 has since reported a positive test for coronavirus (COVID-19). The individual is no longer on campus and will not return until medically cleared. As determined by the DCPS Contact Tracing team, DC Health, and in accordance with the district’s COVID-19 health and safety guidance, unless you have received instructions directly, your student has not been identified as a close contact of the positive individual and does not need to be tested or self-quarantine. Persons for whom we know were in close contact with the positive individual were notified and provided guidance on next steps, including how any students impacted would receive instruction during quarantine. For your awareness, DC Health defines a close contact in a PK-12 setting as, “Someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes over a 24-hour period, starting from two days before illness onset (or for asymptomatic infected people, two days prior to positive test collection) until the time the infected person is isolated.” Since DCPS has layered mitigation measures in place at our schools, students who were … Read More

Dear Shepherd Elementary School,   This letter is to inform you that two  individuals who were last present at Shepherd on September 23 have since reported a positive test for coronavirus (COVID-19). The individuals are no longer on campus and will not return until medically cleared.   As determined by the DCPS Contact Tracing team, DC Health, and in accordance with the district’s COVID-19 health and safety guidance, unless you have received instructions directly, your student has not been identified as a close contact of the positive individual and does not need to be tested or self-quarantine.  Persons for whom we know were in close contact with the positive individual were notified and provided guidance on next steps, including how any students impacted would receive instruction during quarantine.   For your awareness, DC Health defines a close contact in a PK-12 setting as, “Someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes over a 24-hour period, starting from two days before illness onset (or for asymptomatic infected people, two days prior to positive test collection) until the time the infected person is isolated.”  Since DCPS has layered mitigation measures in place at our schools, students who were in a classroom and  within 3 to 6 feet of another student who reported a positive test such that all were engaged in consistent and … Read More

Dear Shepherd Elementary School, This letter is to inform you that an individual who was last present at Shepherd on September 17 has since reported a positive test for coronavirus (COVID-19). The individual is no longer on campus and will not return until medically cleared. As determined by the DCPS Contact Tracing team, DC Health, and in accordance with the district’s COVID-19 health and safety guidance, unless you have received instructions directly, your student has not been identified as a close contact of the positive individual and does not need to be tested or self-quarantine. Persons for whom we know were in close contact with the positive individual were notified and provided guidance on next steps, including how any students impacted would receive instruction during quarantine. For your awareness, DC Health defines a close contact in a PK-12 setting as, “Someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes over a 24-hour period, starting from two days before illness onset (or for asymptomatic infected people, two days prior to positive test collection) until the time the infected person is isolated.” Since DCPS has layered mitigation measures in place at our schools, students who were … Read More

Dear Shepherd Elementary School, This letter is to inform you that an individual who was last present at Shepherd on September 17 has since reported a positive test for coronavirus (COVID-19). The individual is no longer on campus and will not return until medically cleared. As determined by the DCPS Contact Tracing team, DC Health, and in accordance with the district’s COVID-19 health and safety guidance, unless you have received instructions directly, your student has not been identified as a close contact of the positive individual and does not need to be tested or self-quarantine. Persons for whom we know were in close contact with the positive individual were notified and provided guidance on next steps, including how any students impacted would receive instruction during quarantine. For your awareness, DC Health defines a close contact in a PK-12 setting as, “Someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes over a 24-hour period, starting from two days before illness onset (or for asymptomatic infected people, two days prior to positive test collection) until the time the infected person is isolated.” Since DCPS has layered mitigation measures in place at our schools, students who were … Read More