Category Archive

Dear Families, Spring has sprung at Shepherd Elementary, and students are enjoying a comfortable outdoor recess. In the last several weeks, we have seen an uptick in behavior incidents. Please spend some time over the weekend speaking with your student about what it means to be a good friend and community member. Remind them when to seek help from adults. Review strategies for remaining calm in a crisis or when things do not go their way. If you find out any information you think you should share, please contact me. I can only address issues when I know about them. Thank you, as always, for your partnership. Thank you so much to everyone who completed our Panorama survey! We have reached our goal, and I will share the results with you as soon as we receive them. Ms. McIntyre’s 10th Annual Toiletry Drive in honor of Women’s History Month, which benefits DASH Safe Housing Alliance, ends on Thursday. Please donate toiletries in the bins in between the doors at the man entrance. Have a great week! Phyllis Dates to remember: April 5th – Deal Feeder School Chat for Shepherd 5th grade families at 6:30 pm April 11-15 – Spring Break … Read More

Dear Families, I hope you enjoyed your weekend and the warmer weather. I was able to see the cherry blossoms on my way to the East Potomac Park yesterday, and all the tourists who were in town to see them too. It definitely seemed like old times. Please pardon the delay with this week’s newsletter. My youngest was back from college for Spring Break, and I tried to spend all my non-Shepherd time with him until I dropped him at the airport this evening. The Panorama family survey window is open, and I encourage every family to complete the survey. You can find it here. At this point, we have 180 responses, which means we need 20 more responses to meet our Comprehensive School Plan (CSP) goal of maintaining or increasing the parent participation rate of 69% survey participation rate from last year. Please know that the data from the survey informs our Comprehensive School Plan, and your participation matters a lot. Ms. McIntyre’s 10th Annual Toiletry Drive in honor of Women’s History Month, which benefits DASH Safe Housing Alliance, is in full swing. Please donate toiletries in the bins in between the doors at the man entrance. Have a … Read More

March 12, 2022 Dear Families, I hope you enjoyed meeting with your child[ren]’s teacher on Thursday and gained some insight on their achievement and how you can best support them at home. The big news yesterday was that masks for students and staff will become optional on Wednesday, March 16th. If you have individual concerns regarding this protocol shift, please reach out to me at phyllis.hedlund@k12.dc.gov. If transmission rates increase (fingers and toes crossed that they don’t), mandatory mask use could be reinstated. It has been two long years as we all know, and although a return to normalcy feels like a relief to some, it may induce anxiety in others. Please let us know if your student needs support through this transition. The Panorama family survey window is open, and I encourage every family to complete the survey. You can find it here. At this point, we have 101 responses, which is a distance from our Comprehensive School Plan (CSP) goal of maintaining or increasing the parent participation rate of 69% survey participation rate from last year. Please know that the data from the survey informs our Comprehensive School Plan, and your participation matters a lot. Ms. McIntyre’s 10th … Read More

Dear Families, Welcome back from break! The week felt a little lighter than the rest of this school year. Maybe it was some warm weather during recess or the lifting of the outdoor mask mandate or just entering the month of March with its longer days. Next week, we will only have students in the building for three days. On Thursday, we have parent teacher conferences. Please make sure you sign up to learn about your child’s progress with their teacher. Friday is district-wide professional development for all staff. The Panorama family survey window is now open, and I encourage every family to complete the survey. You can find it here. The data from the survey informs our Comprehensive School Plan, and your participation matters a lot. Ms. McIntyre has launched the 10th Annual Toiletry Drive in honor of Women’s History Month, which benefits DASH Safe Housing Alliance. Please donate toiletries in the bins in between the doors at the man entrance. Thank you for your commitment to this project, Ms. McIntyre. I know I am always bragging on our Shepherd staff, and I know you do too. They think beyond the parameters of their classrooms and work collaboratively and … Read More

Dear Families, I hope you had the opportunity to watch at least part of today’s All School Meeting celebrating Black History Month. It was uplifting, educational and sentimental — I get teary every time I hear PK 3 singing “It’s a Wonderful World.” Our students make our worlds wonderful, and every month, I am awestruck when I watch them leading the way. Go Mustangs! Picture Day will be Tuesday, March 1st. If you want your child to have their individual picture taken, please send them to school with the envelope that was sent home in their backpack this week. Otherwise, homeroom pictures will be taken on that day. Middle of the Year (MOY) Data was reviewed at the PTO meeting on Wednesday. The PowerPoint I used for the presentation is here. Please feel free to reach out with any questions. We are seeing growth, but two years ago, our proficiency rates were higher at this time of year. We are on track to achieve the academic goals on our Comprehensive School Plan. Overall, the students in grades K-2 are trending lower in reading than they were pre-pandemic, and students in grades 3-5 are trending lower in mathematics. If your child … Read More