Six weeks until the first day of school! Important reminders! Dear Shepherd Families, I hope you and your family are having a safe summer so far. As we prepare to welcome your student back for a new school year on August 30, we want to keep you updated on our work and what you need to know to be ready for the first day of school. Please not that PK 3 and PK 4 programs start on September 2nd. In this email, you’ll find information on staffing, uniforms, health and safety protocols, virtual learning registration for medically eligible students, required immunization reminders for all students, afterschool registration information, dates for family activities and information for early childhood families. Staffing Updates Sabria Trotter who has taught Kindergarten for the last two years at Shepherd is excited to move to PK 3 this fall. Sarah Zepeda looks forward to moving back to Kindergarten. Janelle McCarthy will be our new third grade homeroom teacher. She has a background not only in general elementary education but special education and counseling. In term 4, Ms. McCarthy served as a substitute for in person learning classrooms and is already feeling at home in our Shepherd community. … Read More
Message from Principal Hedlund
Dear families, Happy summer! It was a lot of fun to have so many of you with us on the playground over the last week — a taste of things to come. We are excited to welcome you all back next year. The LSAT will be meeting in July to finalize our Comprehensive School Plan, but we have been discussing and planning strategy since March. Here is an overview of what we have planned for SY 2021-22 organized by the domains of the Comprehensive School Plan: Shared Leadership — We have created a number of teacher leader roles to support the accomplishment of our objectives. We will have two Family Engagement leads to support outreach, recruitment, and participation in school initiatives: Ms. Holt and Ms. Hagan. Ms. Zepeda and Ms. Montgomery will serve as mentors to teachers new to Shepherd. Dr. Rowe, our new special educator, will be our equity lead, and she will work with staff and families using the Courageous Conversations framework to extend what we began before the pandemic. She will also work closely with Ms. Mack to bring IB into Action with an emphasis on equity and social justice for students. Ms. Murali will serve as … Read More
PTO Bulletin
HAPPY SUMMER! This will be the last PTO Bulletin email of the school year. Whew – we made it! We’d like to thank the outgoing PTO Board, LSAT reps and the MANY, MANY parent and teacher volunteers we’ve had over the last two years who’ve helped us do Fall Fest, Auction/Gala, Movie Nights, Field Day, Book Fair, Restaurant Nights, Holiday Parties, Teacher Appreciation, School Beautification Day, Meet the Teacher Night, grant writing, PTO meetings, website revamping, Shepherd gear designs and many, many other events and initiatives we’ve done together. You all helped us keep things moving and growing for our kids and school community. We’re DEFINITELY looking forward to getting back together in REAL LIFE and engaging with our AMAZING community once again! Again, congrats to the new PTO Board and LSAT reps! We’ll be doing floor nominations for the two open PTO positions (Co-President and Assistant Treasurer) at our first meeting of the school year in Sept. And we’re looking for Committee Chairs too. More details to come there soon. REMINDER – “MOVING UP” CEREMONIES TOMORROW Come join us for popsicles and praise! The last few ceremonies will be tomorrow (Thurs, June 24) at the times noted below. Enter the playground through … Read More
Message from Principal Hedlund
Dear Shepherd families, It was great to see so many of you on Friday celebrating Ms. Johnson and her remarkable career serving children. There was so much love and appreciation on 14th Street yesterday. Thank you especially to our PTO co-Presidents, Liz Bradley and Taryn Beridon, and staff members, Ms. Akaba, Madame Gadie, Ms. Hagan, Ms. Holt, Mr. James and Mr. Velez (former), for their efforts to make it such a sweet and special event. We love you, Ms. Johnson. Unfortunately, our moving up ceremonies scheduled for yesterday had to be rescheduled, but fortunately, Juneteenth is now a federal holiday. Happy Juneteenth! Here is the new schedule for popsicles and praise: PK 3 Thursday 6/24 from 10-11PK 4 Thursday 6/24 from 9-10K Monday 6/21 from 2-31st Thursday 6/24 from 1-22nd Tuesday 6/22 from 2-33rd Thursday 6/24 from 11-124th Thursday 6/24 from 2-3 Enjoy the weekend! And please look forward to an overview of our vision for SY21-22 and end of year student achievement data next week. Phyllis
Message from Principal Hedlund
Dear school community, Happy Juneteenth from Shepherd. Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that DC will recognize Juneteenth on Friday, June 18. We celebrate the values of Juneteenth which include freedom, history, and joy, and we also reflect on the ongoing fight for racial equity and social justice that continues to this day. DCPS will be closed tomorrow in celebration of Juneteenth. Our school will be closed with no in-person or virtual instruction. Moving up events planned for Friday will be rescheduled. Our celebration of Ms. Johnson will still take place from 4:00-5:00 pm tomorrow out in front of the school. To read more about DCPS’s reflections on Juneteenth and our commitments as a school district, read today’s message from the Chancellor. I wish you a day of community and reflection in honor of this historic moment, as we come together as a nation to recognize the significance of Juneteenth. Sincerely, Phyllis
PTO Bulletin
Farewell Drive-by for Ms. Johnson on FRIDAY, JUNE 18th (4-5 PM) In just two days, we’ll be waving goodbye to one of Shepherd’s long-time favorite teachers, Ms. Beverly Johnson, who is retiring after this school year concludes. Please join us for a “drive-by” celebration on Friday, June 18th, from 4 to 5 PM to thank her for all she has done for our children and wish her the best. If you and your child would like to bring her a small gift or card as a token of your appreciation, we are certain she would be very touched…staff and parents who are helping with the event will help to gather these from passing well wishers. We expect to see lots of creative signs, balloons, and don’t forget to honk those horns! To keep the drive-by procession flowing, we ask that everyone please enter 14th St from the north (Kalmia) side and head south in front of the school. Even if you can’t join the live celebration, please consider sharing photos/videos, memories, and well wishes on Ms. Johnson’s Kudoboard, a keepsake memory board that we’ll present to Ms. Johnson at the end of the school year. We look forward to seeing lots … Read More
Message from Principal Hedlund
Good afternoon families, I was out in California celebrating my daughter’s graduation last Friday and delayed the newsletter. There is considerable news to share with you as we close out the school year. Ms. Rottman will be leaving Shepherd at the close of this school year. In July, she will start her next chapter at Takoma Park where they are in dire need of a school leader with math expertise. She will be the community’s new assistant principal. After working with her for two years, I can say that we all need a little Ms. Rottman in our lives. She is organized, committed, kind, diligent and conscientious. She has been a tremendous partner to me since I arrived at Shepherd, schooling me in the DCPS way from the start. Her attention to detail has made school operations and the logistics of virtual and in person learning run so smoothly. Ms. Rottman cares deeply about the children, the work and our community. She is as sad to leave as we are to see her go. Please join us in wishing her well at arrival, dismissal or one of our moving up ceremonies. We will miss her. The personnel committee is comprised of Ms. … Read More
PTO Bulletin
Shepherd Park Community Center Final DPR Meeting – Thursday, June 17 from 6:30pm-8pm DPR will hold its final virtual community meeting regarding the Shepherd Park Community Center. They will review the program survey results, provide an update on the athletic field renovations, and discuss the new facility operations. Please join the meeting at this link with access code ‘172 815 1034’ and password ‘shepherd’. SHEPHERD PTO BOARD AND LSAT ELECTION RESULTS On behalf of the PTO Nomination Committee, we would like to congratulate the parents elected to the PTO Board and LSAT for the 2021-2022 school year! Co-President: Taryn Losch-Beridon Co-President: OPEN Vice President: Sara Faulman Treasurer: Andrea Smith Assistant Treasurer: OPEN Recording Secretary: Ayana McIntosh Corresponding Secretary: Liz Bradley LSAT PARENT REPS: Dominic Ju, Julia Marnon and Rich Pohlman “Moving Up” Ceremonies – DATES AND TIMES Dr. Hedlund and the staff are also planning “moving up” ceremonies in person for each grade level so students have the opportunity to see one another before we close out the school year. Below are the dates and times for each grade level celebration. PK3 – Fri, June 18 from 10-11 am PK4 – Fri, June 18 from 9-10 am Kinder – Fri, June 18 from 2-3 pm … Read More
Message from Principal Hedlund
Good morning Shepherd Families, I hope you all enjoyed the hot, sunny weather this weekend. Here at Shepherd we are busy closing out this year and preparing for the next simultaneously. We are closing out employee evaluations, ordering supplies for summer and closing out this year’s budget, drafting a summer schedule, securing our professional development for pre-service and beyond, and hiring for vacancies. A huge shout out to Madame Gadie who closed out our partnership with Quebec with a beautiful showcase of students’ learning (all in twenty minutes). It was a lot of fun, and this coming week, we have 5th grade exhibitions to behold. It is such a busy time of year, but so exciting to witness the student growth. Our end of year data is coming in, and another huge shout out to the first grade teachers and all the tutors who assisted first grade students these last two terms. I have seen a lot of data, and their growth is STUPENDOUS. Stay tuned for a EOY achievement data presentation soon. Fifth grade reading proficiency rates will also knock your socks off:). So far, it appears that Shepherd students have not suffered significant learning loss, and we will be … Read More
PTO Bulletin
5th Grade Promotion – Mon, June 21 at 10 am On Monday June 21, 2021 at 10:00 am, we will celebrate 5th grade promotion in person for all students and their families who would like to attend. The DPR field should be resurfaced by that date, but alternatively, we will use our playground space. We’re excited to get to celebrate these fabulous students and their major accomplishment! More details to come soon. “Moving Up” Ceremonies – DATES AND TIMES Dr. Hedlund and the staff are also planning “moving up” ceremonies in person for each grade level so students have the opportunity to see one another before we close out the school year. Below are the dates and times for each grade level celebration. More details coming soon. PK3 – Fri, June 18 from 10-11 am PK4 – Fri, June 18 from 9-10 am Kinder – Fri, June 18 from 2-3 pm 1st grade – Fri, June 18 from 1-2 pm 2nd grade – Tues, June 22 from 2-3 pm 3rd grade – Fri, June 18 from 11-12 pm 4th grade – Thurs, June 24 from 2-3 pm Calling all Rising Deal 6th Graders! Please sign-up for the following opportunities for rising … Read More