Good afternoon Shepherd families,

Today, in consideration of guidance from DC Health, Mayor Bowser announced that we will start School Year 2020-2021 virtually with all students learning at home.

This will apply for all grades — Pre-K through 12 — and last at least through Term 1 from August 31 to November 6. Summer Bridge for students in grade 3 will also be virtual. You can watch this short video DCPS prepared for our students and families for additional information. You can access sample student schedules here.

Now that we are no longer working with hypothetical scenarios, we can dig in and start planning for school year 2020-21, and I hope and believe it will end with us all back in the building together. I certainly would enjoy my “first” Field Day, gala and live promotion ceremony. Late spring field trips would be another bonus. We will get there!

Next week, we will be attending School Leadership Institute and will learn a lot more about the resources DCPS staff has been creating for the last several months. The previews I have seen are exciting, and Shepherd staff has become seasoned virtual educators and communicators, which will make the opening of school less stressful than the work was last March.

That said, let’s all start thinking about how we can put a Shepherd spin on things and make our community as special as it can be for your students during these difficult times. If you come up with any great ideas about opening, team building, all school celebrations over the next few weeks, send an email so we can start planning. As always, our community is our greatest strength. There is nothing we cannot do together so please as we enter another ambiguous phase of schooling, do not hesitate on offering feedback and suggestions — we need them! And I hope we continue to support each other as we did in the spring. If you are interested in serving on a Shepherd task force around virtual learning, please let me or PTA President, Liz Bradley, know.

I miss you all and will provide updates as soon as possible,

Phyllis