IB Corner with Ms. Mack
As many of you all may know, Shepherd is in its self-study year for our upcoming IB Evaluation in December 2020. The self-study year is a chance to reflect as a school on our IB program’s strengths and weaknesses over the past five years. Here is a link to the survey. We want to hear from Shepherd parents on how we can improve our program! As always, if you have any questions please email me at avani.mack@k12.dc.gov.
Our learner profile attribute of the month is knowledgeable! Knowledgeable – we develop and use our understandings in a variety of subjects. We explore local and global issues and ideas. Below are some ways to teach this learner profile attribute at home.
• Explore local or global subjects that are interesting and appropriate to your child’s age
• You can ask the questions below about what they’ve learned in school.
o Why do you think this is important to know?
o Do you think there are such kinds of things in the world?
On November 18th, during International Education Week, we kicked off our Mini Embassy Adoption Program. Our Mini Embassy Adoption Program is an opportunity for teachers to globalize their lessons and to make connections to other cultures and perspectives in the classroom. Teachers shared videos and other resources to introduce their host country partner. If you are interested in supporting this program, please click this link to find out more information and to sign up: Parent Sign-Up.docx. We are looking for parents who are from these countries and/or are interested in helping teachers find resources to share more about these countries. We have several volunteers so far!
Shepherd is taking action! Each month our school is focusing on different United Nations Sustainable Development goals. We have a different action event planned for each month so that students can get involved in their communities! If you’d like more information about the United Nations SDGs, please click this
link:
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/.
International Day is on the calendar for May 21st at 6 pm. Please mark your calendars for an evening of fun. We will be asking for families to contribute international dishes for this event later in the school year.
ALL SCHOOL MORNING MEETING – TOMORROW at 8:45 am (Fri, Dec 13th)
2nd grade students are hosting – don’t miss it if you haven’t been to one before! They are a fun way to see how much our school community is growing and learning!
SCHOOL SAFETY REMINDER
Please be extremely careful and cautious as you pick up and drop off your children at school. We have had some near misses lately and want to remind everyone to slow down and to not let your children run across the street. Please use the cross walks!
Teacher and Staff Holiday Party – Wed, Dec 18th
The PTA is throwing our AWESOME teachers and staff a holiday party on Dec 18th at 3:30 pm and we need your help! Can you help decorate? Make cookies or cupcakes to decorate? Help us serve food? Help purchase with door prizes? Make some snacks? Help clean up?
If you can help us, contact Julia Lipton at jdlipton@hotmail.com.
HUGE thanks to Julia Lipton and Danielle Singh for helping to lead this effort!
USE AMAZON SMILE for the Holidays!
Make your purchase through AmazonSmile and they will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to the Shepherd PTA. Share this link on Facebook and Twitter to encourage your friends and family to do the same.
MORNING DROP OFF REMINDER
Just a friendly reminder that school opens at 8:20 am and only students who are registered for before care may enter the building prior to 8:20 am. To register for before care, visit Star Achievers site.
Local Information of Interest
EdFEST – Saturday, December 14th from 11 am – 3 pm
EdFEST is the District’s annual public school fair. All DC Public Schools (DCPS) and public charter schools that serve PK3 – grade 12 exhibit at EdFEST. You will also find organizations that are key to the educational journey of your child.
WE NEED HELP AT SHEPHERD’S EdFEST TABLE!
We would love parents, students and teachers to help talk with prospective parents and students, answer questions, and help Dr. Hedlund! Let us know if you can do a shift for an hour or so between 11 am-3 pm. E-mail PTA President Liz Bradley at shepherdptapresident@gmail.com.
EdFEST takes place Saturday, Dec. 14 from 11 am – 3 pm at DC Armory (2001 E Capitol St SE). If you are interested in attending, please RSVP here.
Reminder of Upcoming Dates:
• Friday, Dec 13th – ALL SCHOOL MORNING MEETING (2nd grade hosting)
• Saturday, Dec 14th – EdFEST at the DC Armory from 11 am-3 pm
• Wednesday, Dec 18th – LSAT and PTA meetings (4:30 and 6:30 pm)
• Wednesday, Dec 18th – Teacher and Staff Holiday party – 3:45 pm
• Thursday, Dec 19th – Winter Concert at 6:30 pm
• Friday, Dec 20th – Winter Concert for students at 9:10 am
• Friday, Dec 20th – LAST DAY OF SCHOOL BEFORE WINTER BREAK
• Wednesday, Jan 15th – LSAT and PTA meetings (4:30 and 6:30 pm)
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