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 our Comprehensive School Plan (CSP) Snapshots available online here. This snapshot shares our strategies for improvement and student success.

If you have additional questions about the STAR Rating Framework, please find a quick overview on the back of this page. In addition, please join us at our next PTA meeting on December 18^th at 6:30 pm in the multi-purpose room where I will be available to answer questions. If you cannot attend, or if there are any questions our team of educators can answer, please let me know by calling 202.329.2447 or emailing phyllis.hedlund@k12.dc.gov. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!

Sincerely,

Phyllis Hedlund, Ed.D.

Interim Principal

STAR Rating Background

OSSE’s School Report Card and the School Transparency and Reporting (STAR) Framework

In 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a new federal education law to replace No Child Left Behind (NCLB). As a result of this new law, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) created a citywide plan that includes goals for student achievement and a new accountability system, the STAR Framework. OSSE also created a new School Report Card to provide families with a range of information, including school points of pride, academic performance, attendance, and each school’s rating on the STAR Framework.

Explaining the STAR Rating

The STAR Framework measures a school’s performance for all students across multiple areas. The maximum points that can be earned for each area is shown in the chart below (up to 95 points this year). Schools earn points based on students’ performance in each area compared to students across the city. The STAR Framework also measures performance for specific student groups including students with disabilities, students who are at-risk, English Learners, and each racial/ethnic group in the school. The school’s STAR Rating is based on its overall score, which is calculated by combining the school’s performance of all students and the performance of each student group.

*if applicable

STAR Rating by Score:

• 5 Stars: 80 – 100 score
• 4 Stars: 60 – 79 score
• 3 Stars: 40 – 59 score
• 2 Stars: 20 – 39 score
• 1 Star: 0 – 19 score

For more information, please visit https://dcschoolreportcard.org/.