Dear Parents and Families of Shepherd Elementary School, As Shepherd’s Instructional Superintendent for the upcoming 2022-2023 School Year, I am committed to helping our school leaders provide joyful and rigorous educational experiences geared toward the learning and success of all students. Communicating home about school leadership updates is a critical part of maintaining strong partnerships with families. I am reaching out to inform you that Principal Tiffany Emmanuel-Wright has resigned as the leader of Shepherd Elementary School for family reasons. I know she was deeply disappointed to make this difficult decision and we will continue to wish her all the best. Since learning of this news, I have worked with DC Public Schools leadership to identify a new school leader. With that, I am pleased to announce that Ms. Tyra Russell has accepted the position of Interim Principal of Shepherd Elementary for the upcoming school year. In 2016, Ms. Russell moved to DC to accept the Assistant Principal position at Savoy Elementary School within DCPS. During her time there, she had the opportunity to work closely with the principal on responsibilities including balancing the school budget, recruiting, and maintaining talent, coaching regarding English Language Arts (ELA) and Math curriculum, and … Read More
Message from Shepherd’s Instructional Superintendent
Dear Parents and Families of Shepherd Elementary School, As we close out another remarkable school year at DC Public Schools and turn our focus toward School Year 2022-2023, I am excited to announce that Tiffany Emmanuel-Wright was selected as the next principal of Shepherd Elementary! I want to thank Shepherd parents, families, and community members who participated in this process for providing compelling feedback in the selection of our new school leader. Mrs. Tiffany Emanuel-Wright is an experienced educator, administrator, and instructional leader with a passion for lifelong learning and leadership. Mrs. Emanuel-Wright advocates for student academic achievement. This philosophy aligns with her vision for educating and inspiring teachers, students, and families through developing independent, competent, capable, and action-oriented thinkers. Mrs. Emanuel-Wright brings to Shepherd 18 years of successful experience as an educator with results-driven experience. In her previous roles she spent two years as a reading coach, six years as a teacher, and four years as an assistant principal. Before accepting this position, she was principal of an elementary school located in Jacksonville, Florida, for the past eight years. During Mrs. Emanuel-Wright’s educational leadership career, she transformed a low-performing elementary school from a grade F to grade B, transformed … Read More
Message from Principal Hedlund
Dear Families, Happy Friday! We only have fourteen school days left, and we are grateful that the heat has subsided. It was hot out there during recess. So many thanks to Ms. Pereira and our talented students who performed so well at Lights! Camera! Action! In the multipurpose room last night. Students obviously enjoyed showcasing their talents, and the audience was enthusiastic and appreciative. Thanks to Ms. Murali and Ms. Mack who supported with tech and taping for streaming. Today, Madame Gadie took a group of fifth graders to participate at a Model UN debate at the Ronal Reagan building. They represented France. Our spirit weeks are coming, our spirit weeks are coming! The first one starts on Monday, June 6th. Here is what is in store: June 6 — Dress for the beach June 7 — Crazy Hat/Wacky Hair Day June 8 — Shepherd Spirit Day June 9 — FIELD DAY June 10 — Pajama Day June 13 — Crazy Sock Day June 14 — Twin Day June 15 — Shepherd Spirit Day June 16— College Spirit Day June 17 — Pajama Day Field Day in on Thursday, June 9th on the lower field and gymnasium. PK 3, PK … Read More
PTO Bulletin
Good morning Shepherd families and friends, We’re getting to the home stretch of the school year – but don’t let up yet! We’ve got a list of activities to send us home over the next few weeks! In this week’s PTO Bulletin… Shepherd Musical – Thurs, June 2nd at 6 pm (come watch!) Spirit Weeks – June 6th-June 18th Fifth Grade Exhibitions – June 8th Field Day – Friday, June 9th PK4 Move Up Ceremony – June 10th 5th Grade Promotion – June 22nd at 4:30 pm Calendar of Events Shepherd Musical – Lights! Camera! Action! -TONIGHT at 6:00 pm Join us to see our first live action performance in several years by our Shepherd Stars! Come cheer on your friends and watch them sing, dance and put on a great show! Come watch in person or live on TEAMS here. FIELD DAY – Thursday, June 9th The annual Shepherd FIELD DAY IS BACK! We’re excited to see everyone out on the field again playing games, bouncing balls, running, hula-hooping, and enjoying some popsicles! More details coming soon Spirit Weeks! We’ll have TWO SPIRIT WEEKS to close out the school year…get ready to have fun and be creative! June 6th … Read More
Message from Principal Hedlund
Dear Families, Happy Memorial Day weekend — our official kick off to summer! Summer means fun, and now that testing is over, Mustangs are geared up to have some fun. What is in store? Two spirit weeks, field day, moving up ceremony for PK 4, field trip for 2nd grade and exhibition AND promotion for our fifth graders. And other celebrations that have not yet been finalized . . . stay tuned. A savvy fifth grader negotiated not one but two spirit weeks to end the year, one the week of the 7th and the other the week of the 13th. Here is what is in store: June 6 — Dress for the beach June 7 — Crazy Hat/Wacky Hair Day June 8 — Shepherd Spirit Day June 9 — FIELD DAY June 10 — Pajama Day June 13 — Crazy Sock Day June 14 — Twin Day June 16 — Shepherd Spirit Day June 17 — College Spirit Day June 18 — Pajama Day Through exhibitions and in alignment with our IB into action for social justice initiative, our fifth-grade students are becoming expert fundraisers and social activists — we certainly need them. One of the exhibition groups is … Read More
Shepherd Community Notification
Good afternoon families, Thank you for entrusting us with your children this morning. Our hearts were heavy as a staff when we met before the opening of school. It felt as if we could have held our moment of silence the entire day. We are holding the families of Uvalde, Texas in the light through their unbearable grief and know you are too. Here are some resources for how teachers and parents can help our children process their feelings in the wake of such tragedy. Some of you have reached out about our lockdown drill on Friday, May 27. I have received numerous emails that state drill and drill often. ECE families may opt out of Friday’s drill. We do monthly drills as a whole school in preparation for a range of emergencies – fires, evacuations, severe weather, neighborhood violence and active shooters. Teachers will prepare students for the lockdown drill, including what to do, and why we were doing it (so we can stay safe in case there’s ever an emergency in the building). The lockdown drill entails each class sheltering together in their locked classroom out of sight of doors and windows. We take every precaution possible to … Read More
Message from Principal Hedlund
Dear Families, Many thanks to Ms. Mack for all of her hard work this week as she served not only as test coordinator, technology coordinator, and IB coordinator but also as principal designee. I have been out with Covid this week with mild symptoms and have been working remotely. I am so grateful for her support of the Shepherd community every week but especially this week when I was unable to be in the building. I look forward to returning to school next week! We have been averaging one to two confirmed Covid-19 cases a day. If you are concerned about your student, please have them wear a mask in school. Masks remain optional per DCPS policy. Unvaccinated close contacts must quarantine between 5-10 days; vaccinating your children means they do not have to miss school unless they test positive for Covid-19. Our Panorama student, staff and family survey results are here. As I reported last week, Shepherd has seen significant gains in the Loved, Challenged and Prepared indicators for our students. Students are happy to be at school, and we all should feel happy about that! Have a good weekend, and I will see you next week! Principal Hedlund … Read More
PTO Bulletin
Good afternoon Shepherd families and friends, We’re getting to the home stretch of the school year – but don’t let up yet! We’ve got our camping trip this weekend and our Shepherd Musical coming up in early June! And we’re hoping to do Field Day towards the very end of the school year too! In this week’s PTO Bulletin… May PTO Meeting – Wed, May 18th at 6:30 pm Shepherd PTO Camping Trip – May 21-22 All-School Morning Meeting hosted by PK3 – Fri, May 27th Memorial Day (no school) – Mon, May 30th Shepherd Musical – Thurs, June 2nd Calendar of Events May’s PTO Meeting TONIGHT – 6:30 pm Join us tonight at 6:30 pm on TEAMS for our PTO call to hear about the GREAT results of the recent student, parent and staff Panoramic Survey from Dr. Hedlund and updates as we wrap up the year with the Camping Trip, the Spring Musical and PTO and LSAT elections. Shepherd PTO Camping Trip Details We’re going CAMPING! Here are the details for this weekend’s camping trip – arrive at Cunningham Falls State Park between 1-2 pm on Saturday and gather in the parking lots next to Hunting Creek Lake … Read More
Message from Principal Hedlund
(View full newsletter for accompanying graphics) Dear families, Unfortunately, we have a rainy weekend in store, but rain is great for sleeping, relaxing and cleaning. My youngest comes home from college tomorrow, and everyone will be in the house with me for a brief time. I cannot wait! Speaking of cleaning, we have moved all the lost and found items to the atrium. The atrium is open to families all next week to search through the lost and found. Items are sorted by color. Any items not retrieved by next Friday will be donated. There are many, many jackets and many, many sweatshirts in those piles. We received some excellent news this week that I will share in more detail at the PTO meeting. We have significant gains in our LCP index, particularly in the Loved domain:). Family survey data held steady with neither increases nor decreases. No major changes with staff data either, but it remains low. The comparison is to DCPS. Have a great weekend, and stay well! Phyllis Upcoming Events: LSAT 5/18 4:30 pm PTO 5/18 6:30 pm
PTO Bulletin
Good morning Shepherd families and friends, We had a MASSIVELY SUCCESSFUL AUCTION and it definitely exceeded our expectations! We’re only hundreds of dollars away from our $50,000 GOAL! You have until this Friday to place all final bids and donations. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT! A HUGE THANK YOU to our PLATINUM and GOLD LEVEL Gala and Auction sponsors: BLUE PATH LABS, LEDO Pizza and Shepherd Park Citizens Association! LOTS OF LOVE for our SILVER LEVEL SPONSORS: The Browder, Rijmen and Raglani families, Rock Star Pediatric Dentistry, Captain Cookie, and Crumbs DC And BIG CHEERS to all the BRONZE-level family sponsors: Beridon, Bingham, Boykin/Chase, Bradley, Eliot/Mueller, Francis/Liberto, Gallagher, Greenfield, Haynes, Johnson/Snyder, Ma/Holdridge, McIntosh, Robinson, Romine, Skapik, Taylor, Varda, C. and R. White, Yang, and Zettle families. In this week’s PTO Bulletin… PTO Restaurant Night at Mama Lucia – TODAY (Thurs, May 12th) Coffee and Convo with Dr. Hedlund and 4th grade families – Tues, May 17th at 8:45 am May PTO Meeting – Wed, May 18th at 6:30 pm Shepherd PTO Camping Trip – May 21-22 All-School Morning Meeting hosted by PK3 – Fri, May 27th Memorial Day (no school) – Mon, May 30th Shepherd Musical – Thurs, June … Read More