Monthly PTO meeting – TOMORROW – Wed, March 24th at 6:30 pm Join us on TEAMS for this month’s PTO meeting featuring updates from Dr. Hedlund on Term 4, Spring family engagement events planned for April and May, and more mental health resources to be shared by our own school psychologist, Dr. Brown. NEW Shepherd ONLINE GEAR SALE EXTENDED until Mon, March 29! All of you who’ve been asking about buying gear – especially stuff for adults…here you go! New adult and youth options with some of your favorite brands like Nike and Adidas! Youth options include t-shirts, hoodies, and masks, also find stadium chairs, blankets, winter hats and tumblers…all shipped directly to your home. Place orders by MON, March 29. Orders shipped after March 29. Get your new swag here! Shepherd’s Spring Fling Family Engagement Events Let’s get together and raise a little money for our school as we plan for Term 4 and next school year! SAVE THESE DATES! Sat, April 24th at 5pm – virtual family baking class hosted by Tiny Chefs, add-ins include ingredient kits and Shepherd aprons and chef hats to be purchased. Appropriate for all ages. Thurs, May 6th at 8 pm – Adults-only “Shaken AND Stirred” cocktail making class hosted by the … Read More
PTO Bulletin
Get Your NEW Shepherd GEAR – PLACE ORDERS BY MARCH 22 All of you who’ve been asking about buying gear – especially stuff for adults…here you go! New adult and youth options with some of your favorite brands like Nike Adidas! Youth options include t-shirts, hoodies, and masks, also find stadium chairs, blankets, winter hats and tumblers…all shipped directly to your home after the end of the sale. Place orders by MON, March 22. Get your new swag here! DPR Shepherd Rec Center Survey – please respond by Thurs, March 25 Thanks to those that offered in-person and written testimony for the DPR hearing last week and offered feedback on the Community Center. DPR moved forward with a survey without community input and it is framed unfairly. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ShepherdParkSurvey Please consider the following when you complete the questionnaire: The objective of our negotiation as a parent body with DPR is to obtain fair and open access to specified areas of the DPR center both during and immediately after school, which will give Shepherd flexibility for student enrichment programs after hours, e.g., having the space dedicated such that our basketball teams may train and play games in the wonderful new gym, etc. Wherever possible … Read More
Message from Principal Hedlund
Dear Families, Earlier this week we learned that we passed our IB evaluation that was conducted in early December. The team reported that we had addressed the recommendations from the last evaluation and issued us commendations and recommendations on our program. I have attached the report for those who are interested. Our IB Coordinator, Avani Mack, did an outstanding job of documenting our work and coordinating interviews and documents required for the process. Thank you to her, our entire staff and all families who participated. It is wonderful to have good news! Term 4 Many of you are aware that the Mayor relaxed some restrictions in her Covid-19 situational update on March 15th. You can find the Mayor’s presentation here. Guidelines for schools were included, notably removing the cap on cohort sizes. I am awaiting further guidance on what that means for Shepherd Elementary and will communicate as soon as there is clarity. Regardless, the demand for in person learning seats is very high. 69% of the 259 families that completed the survey responded that they would send their children to school if they were offered a seat for in person learning. When we analyzed the data, demand was high across all … Read More
PTO Bulletin
DPR Shepherd Rec Center Survey – please respond by Thurs, March 25 Thanks to those that offered in-person and written testimony for the DPR hearing last week and offered feedback on the Community Center. DPR moved forward with a survey without community input and it is framed unfairly. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ShepherdParkSurvey Please consider the following when you complete the questionnaire: The objective of our negotiation as a parent body with DPR is to obtain fair and open access to specified areas of the DPR center both during and immediately after school, which will give Shepherd flexibility for student enrichment programs after hours, e.g., having the space dedicated such that our basketball teams may train and play games in the wonderful new gym, etc. Wherever possible in the survey, please consider indicating times that you would be interested in using the facility (e.g., weekends, weekday evenings after 6PM, etc.) which would not conflict and, indeed, would support the position of our advocacy team that the DPR center (and field), with the exception of the fitness room, should primarily be available to Shepherd students on weekdays (including after school) during the entire school year. Further, we call attention to the portion of the survey … Read More
Message from Principal Hedlund
Dear Families, I hope everyone enjoyed checking in with teachers today and learning about their child’s progress. This past week, after meeting with the LSAT, I submitted our SY 2021-22 budget for approval. As a reminder, we are budgeted to open business as usual in the fall. Over the next several weeks, the LSAT will meet as the Recovery Community Corps. Shepherd will receive funding to run a summer program for students who are below grade level. The staff has already launched a tutoring program for those students. We currently are working with first grade and will start tutoring students in Kindergarten and second grade next week. By the end of March, all K-5 students below grade level in reading will receive tutoring from Shepherd staff. Students who are below grade level will receive an invitation to attend a summer program at Shepherd Elementary in early April. Staffing will be comprised of teachers, instructional aides and a summer school principal. DCPS supplied us with several models and time frames to evaluate for Shepherd. These efforts will continue through tutoring next school year. We will be publishing dates for the Recovery Community Corps if you would like to attend. Please stay … Read More
PTO Bulletin
DCPS REOPEN Town Hall – Wed, March 3 at 5 pm Join DCPS Leadership as they share updates on In-Person and Virtual Learning in Term 3. Register here to join. Family Panorama Survey – SHARE YOUR VOICE! We currently have 170+ responses to the family survey — thank you! Please help us obtain a complete data set by completing the survey as soon as possible. Share your comments here. DCPS Performance Oversight Hearing – Tues, March 9 at 9 am Sign up to represent Shepherd at next week’s DCPS Oversight Hearing. See more details here. We’ll be sharing messaging later this week. Supporting Mr. Garner Mr. Garner is continuing to improve and hopefully heading home from rehab soon. If you’d like to help him or his family, Dr. Leonard is collecting funds through CASH APP, his name on the app is $dreducator. Money will be spent on food, groceries, home items that are needed, etc. Ward 3 EdNet Meeting – Mon March 8 at 7 pm Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kihn will be on hand to talk about reopening, school budgets, and overcrowding. Mr. Kihn will begin with some remarks and then we will have a Q&A session. ****************************************************************** The Ward 3 … Read More
IB Newsletter
UPCOMING EVENTSStay up-to-date on all upcoming IB events March- Women’s History MonthMarch 5th- Parent-Teacher ConferenceMarch 12th-Classrooms Going Global Friday Morning MeetingMarch 19th- Classrooms Going Global Friday Morning MeetingMarch 26th- Classrooms Going Global Friday Morning Meeting FEATURED IB FAMILY CONNECTION RESOURCE How to Celebrate Women’s History Month with Kids IB PROGRAMME OF INQUIRY AND IB POLICIES Click here IB LEARNER ATTRIBUTE OF THE MONTH: THINKER Click here APPROACH TO LEARNING SKILL OF THE MONTH: THINKING SKILLS Click here for family resource HAS YOUR CHILD TAKEN ACTION IN HIS OR HER COMMUNITY? Click here to nominate your child for an IB award Shepherd’s Virtual IB Programme Overview VideoWatch this video to find out more about Shepherd’s Virtual IB Programme! Contact Shepherd’s IB Coordinator, Avani Mack, for more information.
Message from Principal Hedlund
Good afternoon families, Wow! Wow! Wow! That was truly amazing. We did justice to this year’s theme for Black History Month. There was so much rich information shared this morning, and I am sure many of you were teary-eyed like me. Thank you to Derek Musgrove and Michael Wallace for their participation, and another special shout out to the committee who made it all come together seamlessly for the community: Ms. Johnson, Dr. Leonard, Ms. Mack, Ms. Moorefield, Ms. Murali, Ms. Pereira and Ms. Rottman. Parent Oni Jones created the theme of Black History in the District for this year’s celebration. The meeting was recorded, and we are analyzing media releases now to uphold family’s wishes and edit as needed. A link is forthcoming. I have several announcements this week: Parent Teacher Conferences Parent teacher conferences will take place virtually on Friday, March 5th. Your homeroom teacher may have already reached out or will do so soon. Please use the following links to sign up for a conference with a Specials teacher: Ms. Blake–Library Madame Gadie–French Senor Hernandez–Spanish Ms. Pereira–Music Coach Langrock–P.E. Family Panorama Survey We currently have 121 responses to the family survey — thank you! Please help me … Read More
PTO Bulletin
February PTO meeting TONIGHT – Wed, Feb 24 at 6:30 pm At this month’s PTO meeting, we are bringing in experts to talk with us about mental health concerns facing parents, teachers and students during the pandemic. We’ll tackle everything from the stress and challenges faced when kids are learning from home while parents are working from home to managing the transition of returning to in-person learning for students, parents and teachers alike. Our panelists will include: Dr. Gishawn Mance is a clinical psychologist with a practice in downtown Silver Spring. She is also an asst. professor at Howard University. She will give a short slide presentation on how to identify what you’re feeling, understanding that you are not alone and suggesting coping mechanisms to overcome it. Barbara Paulson is deputy director of Child Services at DC’s Dept. of Behavioral Health. She will give a short slide presentation on available services in DC to help overcome the challenges. Hahva Gallagher is a licensed clinical social worker and a Shepherd parent to a first grader. She will have the dual role of giving perspective from both sides. If you have a question to ask, please send to info@shepherd-elementary.org. Join us here on TEAMS for the discussion … Read More
PTO Bulletin
Next PTO meeting TOMORROW – Wed, Feb 24 at 6:30 pm At this month’s PTO meeting, we are bringing in experts to talk with us about mental health concerns facing parents, teachers and students during the pandemic. We’ll tackle everything from the stress and challenges faced when kids are learning from home while parents are working from home to managing the transition of returning to in-person learning for students, parents and teachers alike. Our panelists will include: Dr. Gishawn Mance is a clinical psychologist with a practice in downtown Silver Spring. She is also an asst. professor at Howard University. She will give a short slide presentation on how to identify what you’re feeling, understanding that you are not alone and suggesting coping mechanisms to overcome it. Barbara Paulson is deputy director of Child Services at DC’s Dept. of Behavioral Health. She will give a short slide presentation on available services in DC to help overcome the challenges. Hahva Gallagher is a licenced clinical social worker and a Shepherd parent to a first grader. She will have the dual role of giving perspective from both sides. Join us here on TEAMS for the discussion tomorrow evening. DCPS REOPEN Town Hall – Wed, Feb … Read More