Category Archive

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

PTO MEETING TOMORROW – Wed, Oct 21 at 6:30 pm We’ll dedicate a full 30 mins to a conversation with Dr. Hedlund about the DCPS School Reopening plan, process and next steps. To expedite the Q&A, please send your questions in advance to [email protected] by 3 pm tomorrow (Wed, Oct 21). Join the virtual meeting on Teams here. Support the 180 Fund in lieu of Fall Fest The 180 Fund is Shepherd PTO’s annual fundraiser that supports the many things the PTO covers each year – classroom supplies, STEM materials, field trips, in-school performances, annual Jazz Night, Camp Fair, Movie Nights, Beautification Day, support for our sports and academic teams, etc. The 180 Fund will allow us to rise up to meet the unexpected challenges we are presented and meet our goal to provide a safe and stable environment for our students, staff, teachers and families.  We would normally be planning and hosting the annual Fall Fest FUNdraiser – a super fun, community-building festival out in front of Shepherd with dunk tanks, climbing walls, carnival games, face painting and treats…but given the circumstances, we’d appreciate your support for the 180 Fund this year. Buy your Shepherd Gear online now! We’ve got a new online store set … Read More

Attention all NEW families to Shepherd This Thursday, October 16th from 6:30-7:30 pm, we will be hosting an informal Zoom meet-up with families who are new to Shepherd. We’ll do some introductions, answer questions, and try to establish some connections by grade level. If you are interested in attending, please email Caroline Smith (mom to Henry, grade 4) at [email protected] for the link. Congrats to our new PTO Board Members and LSAT representatives! Liz Bradley and Taryn Losch-Beridon win, PTO Co-Presidents Ayana McIntosh wins, PTO Vice President Karen Sloan wins, PTO Treasurer Andrea Smith wins, PTO Assistant Treasurer Sara Faulman wins, PTO Recording Secretary Sara Faulman, Dominic Ju, and Tina Moss win, Local School Advisory Team (LSAT) Member OPEN – LSAT Member (taking nominations at the Oct 21 PTO meeting) OPEN – Corresponding Secretary (taking nominations at the Oct 21 PTO meeting) Support the 180 Fund in lieu of Fall Fest The 180 Fund is Shepherd PTO’s annual fundraiser that supports the many things the PTO covers each year – classroom supplies, STEM materials, field trips, in-school performances, annual Jazz Night, Camp Fair, Movie Nights, Beautification Day, support for our sports and academic teams, etc. However, this year our school year looks much different than in the past. Despite our … Read More

Hello Shepherd Families! A QUICK reminder to vote for the PTO board members and LSAT representatives by midnight TONIGHT (Tues, Oct 6). Look for an email from Shepherd Elementary School via ElectionBuddy Elections and check your spam folders if you haven’t seen it. Only those registered in AtoZ Connect (the PTO’s email database) received an online ballot. Again, thanks to Julia Marnon Lipton, Michelle Musgrove and Ronnie Pearcy for leading this year’s nominating committee. DCPS RE-OPENING INFO SESSION TONIGHT – Oct 6th at 5:30 pm! The Chancellor is hosting an info session to go over the news shared in yesterday’s press conference on the schedule and specifics for the first groups to come back to school in person in Term 2. Click here to register for tonight’s session at 5:30 pm. KIDS RIDE FREE CARDS Card pick up is cancelled for tomorrow – we’re waiting on more cards. Next pick up day will be announced soon.

Make Sure to VOTE – PTO Board and LSAT Representatives If you’re in AtoZ Connect, you should’ve received an online ballot from ElectionBuddy. Make sure to vote by Tues, Oct 6th at 11:59 pm. 2020 PTO Budget and Bylaws Approved Thanks to the many who voted – we’re happy to announce the proposed PTO budget for the 2020-2021 school year shared at the first meeting was approved. The updates to the PTO bylaws were also approved and will be updated. Both will be posted on the school’s website.  Mayor’s Oct 5th COVID Update – DCPS News Click here to see the latest updates for Term 2.  Are You New to Shepherd? Attention New Shepherd Families! The PTO would like to host some Zoom meet-ups for parents new to the school. We’d like to do some large group sessions as well as smaller group meet-ups. And, we’d also love to get new students connected with other Shepherd students!  If you are a new family and have any interest in being a part of these Shepherd meet-ups, email Caroline Smith (mom of Henry, 4th grade, [email protected]). Please include your name, contact information, and the names and grades of your students. Connecting with Specials’ Teachers This Friday … Read More