Dear Shepherd parents and families, The Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) recently released the second annual citywide School Report Card that includes information about how every public school in DC performed in School Year 2018-2019. At Shepherd, we are focused on ensuring every student receives an excellent education. This letter provides an overview of our results this year and background information on the Report Card and STAR Framework. For the 2018-2019 school year, our school received a rating of 4 Stars, which is consistent with our rating from last year. Our rating of 4 Stars indicates that we have much to celebrate as a school community, including strong student achievement. We’re proud of the high-quality education we provide our students and the great things happening in our school. With your partnership, we look forward to continuing to build on these results to ensure all our students achieve academic excellence through a focus on classroom-level data to provide differentiated instruction that meets the needs of all students. More detailed information is available here. Our team works hard each and every day to improve outcomes for all of our students. To understand more about our focus areas as a school, please review … Read More
PTO Bulletin
International Education Week – November 18th-22ndJoin Shepherd ES as we celebrate cultures from around the world! Eat delicious foods from Cameroon and the Philippines! Share a special object from your own culture with your classmates during morning meeting! Throughout the week, we will all learn more about what it means to be a global citizen.• Monday – Mini Embassy Adoption Kick-Off Day• Tuesday – DCPS International Food Day• Wednesday – DCPS International Food Day• Thursday – Share Your Culture Day• Friday – Schools Around the WorldKindness Club Food DriveThe Kindness Club is holding a food drive for the Capital Area Food Bank. The food drive began last week and will run through Friday, November 22nd. The club is also collecting monetary donations for the food bank at the following link: https://giving.capitalareafoodbank.org/story/Kindnessclub.Each classroom has a box or bin outside their door to accept donations. There will also be a box in the atrium for a central drop off point.PTA Holiday Wreath Sale – on Sale Through Nov 26thThis year, the Shepherd ES PTA will be selling wreaths for the holiday season. We have partnered with Meadow Farm Nurseries to offer 20’ fresh Oregon fir wreaths to the Shepherd school community. All … Read More
PTO Bulletin
Hi Mustang families – please join us tonight as we welcome DCPS leadership at our PTA meeting. We’ll start at 6:30 pm and have childcare available from Star Acheivers. Winter wreaths, long-sleeve shirts, hoodies and jackets will be on sale too. See you this evening! Liz and the PTA board AGENDA Principal Hedlund welcome and updates/highlights PTA budget update and Oct PTA meeting minutes review LSAT meeting highlights PTA STEM purchase updates Responsive Classroom training in Dec for 5 teachers Community Center update DCPS Tech update – 3rd grade computer implementation Fall Fest recap and feedback Grants Committee update – gardening, play equipment, committee working on identifying others Winter Holiday concert and needs from the PTA with Ms. Periera Student Government update with Ms. Periera 2020 events: Camp Fair (Jan), Jazz Night (Feb), Talent Show (March – TBD), Gala and Auction (April) – looking for leads and committee members Upcoming Events: Winter greens fundraiser – through Nov 26 Annual Shepherd Bake Sale – Fri, Dec 6th from 3:30-6:30 GALA and AUCTION planning meeting – Wed, Dec 4 at 5 pm (will have a conf line) Ed Fest – Sat, Dec 14 from 11-3 (need teachers, students and parents) Shepherd teacher/staff holiday … Read More
Message from Principal Hedlund
Dear Families, Our Academic Leadership Team meets weekly and has worked hard on our Comprehensive School Plan and preparing for our upcoming IB evaluation. At this time, we are focusing our attention on classroom instruction and how to improve results for all students. As a faculty, we are working on differentiation, or tailoring instruction to meet individual needs. Differentiation is challenging and requires expertise, skill and a deep knowledge of students’ abilities. Teachers plan with the specific students from their class in mind. When they analyze results, whether it is from an exit ticket or a unit test, they think through the misconceptions students may have experienced and how to reteach the lesson. Our coaches and administration will support this work. To reach our goals for growth and achievement, we need to spend time analyzing and planning around classroom-level data. Shout out to the third grade and our emcee, Mr. Mack, for an uplifting and informative All School meeting on Friday. It was sensational. If you have not attended an All School meeting yet, I encourage you to do so. We learn, chant, share, and dance together, and it is a fantastic way to start the day. Please remember that … Read More
PTO Bulletin
All School Morning Meeting – Fri, Nov 15thOur November All School Morning Meeting will take place on Friday, November 15th at 8:45 am. The third-graders will host the meeting this month! If you haven’t attended one of the morning meetings yet, we strongly recommend it. They are always lively, informative, fun and entertaining!Winter Weather is Coming Soon…Dr. Hedlund and Mrs. Rottman are looking to build up indoor recess options for those days it’s too cold or wet to go outside. If you have any new or gently used games or puzzles, please drop them off in the office.Kindness Club Food DriveThe Kindness Club is holding a food drive for the Capital Area Food Bank. The food drive began last week and will run through Friday, November 22. The club is also collecting monetary donations for the food bank at the following link: https://giving.capitalareafoodbank.org/story/Kindnessclub.Each classroom has a box or bin outside their door to accept donations. There will also be a box in the atrium for a central drop off point.PTA Holiday Wreaths ON SALE NOWThis year, the Shepherd ES PTA will be selling wreaths for the holiday season. Wehave partnered with Meadow Farm Nurseries to offer 20’ fresh Oregon fir … Read More
Message from Principal Hedlund
It was a short week, but a productive one for faculty and staff at Shepherd. On Monday, we participated in a Responsive Classroom training on logical consequences and spent time completing some important tasks, including grading. The majority of us spent Tuesday in professional development with the rest of the schools in our cluster and attended a Turnaround for Children training as a faculty. Early Childhood and Specials teachers attended training specific to their content area. Having just read report card comments, I know that our students are working hard and achieving a lot. On Friday, I observed a 4th grade language arts classroom where students had a choice to either create a movie title or song to summarize a short story they had just read or select an animal to represent a group of characters in that story and explain their choice. Their work revealed a deep understanding of the text, their creativity, and their ability to collaborate. Last week, I also spent time with a special education teacher inside and outside of the classroom and observed the countless strategies she used to engage her student, including making her a character in the story they were reading. Earlier last … Read More
PTO Bulletin
All School Morning Meeting – Nov 15thOur November All School Morning Meeting will take place on Friday, November 15th at 8:45 am. The third-graders will host the meeting this month! If you haven’t attended one of the morning meetings yet, we strongly recommend it! They are always lively, informative, fun and entertaining!Winter Weather is Coming Soon…Dr. Hedlund and Mrs. Rottman are looking to build up indoor recess options for those days it’s too cold or wet to go outside. If you have any new or gently used games or puzzles, please drop them off in the office.PTA Holiday Wreath Sale and Bake SaleComing soon…the PTA will be selling winter holiday wreaths after Thanksgiving. More details will be shared soon – but make plans to buy your wreath from us to support Shepherd Elementary! Thanks to Alicia Williamson, Heather Holdridge and Kristin Baldwin for helping us with this effort.Shepherd Gives Back!We’ll also be hosting a bake sale in early December and will be looking for donated baked goods (NO NUTS OR NUT PRODUCTS, PLEASE!) as we aim to raise money to help our Shepherd community for the holidays.We’re looking for cub/boy scout troops and daisy or brownie troops to help usmanage … Read More
Message from Principal Hedlund
Yesterday was the best Halloween I have had in years! Thank you to all of you who cheered us on along the parade route. There was a lot of joy at Shepherd yesterday! Thank you all for your patience with Monday’s evacuation. Construction is supposed to begin on 11/4, and I have not received any additional information. I have strongly requested daily air quality reports and daily meetings with the project foreman. Please keep me informed of your concerns moving forward, and I will communicate everything I learn to you. Here at Shepherd we continue to emphasize social and emotional learning. On Monday, we will participate in a 90-minute Responsive Classroom training, and on Tuesday, we will attend a Turnaround for Children training on social and emotional learning. We will also be trained on differentiation, meeting students where they are and enriching or extending their learning. I deeply value these opportunities to learn with our experienced, exceptional staff. With a new month, we have a new IB Learner Profile, which is Thinker. As thinkers, we use creative thinking skills to better understand and take responsible action on difficult problems. We take initiative and make good choices. Thanks so much for … Read More
Message from Principal Hedlund
Last week’s Fall Fest was a tremendous success. Families and staff enjoyed the food, fun and perfect weather, and the Shepherd PTA raised more money than they ever have at this event. A huge thank you to all who attended and volunteered. A special shout goes to Ayana McIntosh who coordinated this year’s Fall Fest and brought tremendous energy and enthusiasm to this event. We are all grateful for your efforts on behalf of Shepherd. Please remember to check the Lost and Found, which can be found at the 14th Street Entrance to our building. With the fluctuating temperatures, it is overflowing with jackets and sweatshirts. We are hoping to donate items left after November 1, so please stop the Lost and Found this week, or ask your student to take a look. Thursday is Halloween and our Halloween Parade! Please feel free to cheer us on at 2:30 pm as we walk around the block, and come in costume if you can. You may sign your student out at the end of the parade. Remember no masks, no weapons and nothing too scary for the sake of our littlest Mustangs. Next Tuesday, October 29th, we will conduct our first … Read More
PTO Bulletin
Fall Fest Was Spectacular!WOW!!!!!!!You all really delivered for Shepherd this year at Fall Fest! And we want to THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!Let’s break it down by the numbers:• $23,000 was made this year (blowing well past our 2018 gross amount of $18,000)• 70 family sponsorships were sold (also breaking our previous year’s number of 54)• 5 key corporate/organization event sponsors – The Parks at Walter Reed, MCN Build, Children’s National, Shepherd Park Citizen Association, and CM Brandon Todd (a BIG thank you to them!)• 100+ volunteers (parents, staff, teachers and neighbors) helped us make Fall Fest a massive success!!!• 65 beautiful, dry and sunny degrees!!• Priceless fun had when we met new friends, dunked Mr. Garner, Dr. Hedlund and others, decorated pumpkins and cupcakes, climbed the rock wall, bounced in the moon bounce, got a Shepherd tattoo, won a Beyblade battle, and played carnival games!A HUGE THANK YOU to Ayana McIntosh, Ronni Pearcy, Siri Warkentien, Simon Messing, Rajan Sedalia, Jasmine Riley, Yolanda Grate, Sanjay Singh, Karen Sloan, Taryn Losch-Beridon, Sharon Bovelle, Michael Robbins, Esther Ntim, Lauren Benning, Andrea Smith, and all the ROOM PARENTS!A SPECIAL thanks to Shepherd parent, Sharon Bovelle, for these wonderful pics that … Read More