Dear Shepherd Families,

What an exciting week we have had for staffing! Ms. Raji, mom to Lena, Adham and Adam, is serving as an instructional aide in PK 4 Holt, and she is fully onboarded and in the building! Ms. Oursler, third grade homeroom teacher, received her offer letter yesterday, and after observing and planning this week, she is teaching her students today! Please welcome these new members of our community and let them know how much we appreciate them. Many, many thanks to all of those who covered the gap between Ms. McCarthy and Ms. Oursler: Ms. Hagan, Ms. Romero and Ms. Weng. Those children will miss them, their outstanding teaching, abundant positivity and admirable flexibility. Our English Learners will be thrilled to have Ms. Hagan to themselves again, and our students in need will thrive with Ms. Romero and Ms. Weng. Thank you and WELCOME!

Ms. Pereira, our Music teacher, is using our virtual All School Meeting for our Winter Concert this year. Please see the schedule below if you would like to dress your child in festive attire for next week’s taping. I wish it could be in person since it was so joyful two years ago. Enjoy your weekend, and please read the important announcements that follow.

Phyllis

Virtual Food Drive

As an IB school, Shepherd is committed to caring by supporting our local community and The Capital Area Food Bank.  Will you join us in donating to our Virtual Food Drive starting on Friday, November 19 – Friday, December 10th?  We want to support the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal of “Zero Hunger.”  Our goal is to donate $500. There will be a cupcake party for the grade level that collects the most donations!  

Please give here and record your giving for the competition here. No gift is too small.

Shepherd Elementary’s Winter Concert

The music room is excited to be putting on a virtual “Winter Concert” in the form of December all school morning meeting. There will be two viewings: one during its normal time on Friday morning at 9:15am on December 17th and Tuesday night at 6:30pm on December 21st.

Next week December 6th-10th the students will be recording the songs they have been working so hard on during their music classes. If your children would like to come to school dressed in their seasonal clothes (tops, sweaters etc.) it will help make these recordings in the spirit of the season. This is, of course, optional.

Please see the following schedule for next week and be on the look out for Ms. Pereira’s “remind” reminders.

Monday Dec. 6th
-PreK3 Ms. Trotter
-Kindergarten Mrs. Zepeda

Tuesday Dec. 7th
-5th Mrs. Caola
-1st Mrs. Denmark-Lawal

Wednesday Dec. 8th
-2nd Mrs. McIntyre
-PreK3 Mrs. Akaba
-PreK4 Mrs. Hunter

Thursday Dec. 9th
-4th Dr. Wilson
-2nd Mrs. Murali
-3rd Ms. Montgomery (Ms. Mack)
-5th Ms. Scott
-Kindergarten Ms. Rajwani
-PreK4 Mrs. Holt

Friday Dec. 10th
-4th Ms. Brown
-3rd Ms. Oursler
-5th Dr. Leonard
-1st Ms. Saxton