Please mark your calendars!  Fall Fest, the PTO's annual fall FUNdraising effort, is returning to Shepherd and will take place on Sunday, October 20th from 12 PM - 4 PM.  

For those families that haven't been to Fall Fest before, 14th St. between Jonquil and Kalmia will be closed for the festivities. There will be bounce houses, a DJ, carnival games, arts & crafts, cotton candy, popcorn, snow cones, and more! 

Sponsorship Opportunities

Do you or your friends own businesses that would be interested in sponsoring Fall Fest? Sponsorship opportunities are available at various levels, each offering unique benefits such as promotional visibility at the event, social media recognition, and more.

If you know of any businesses that would like to support our school and gain exposure in return, please encourage them to contact us at pto@shepherd-elementary.org. Together, we can make Fall Fest a memorable event for everyone involved! Thank you for your support!

Students Need Service Hours?

The Shepherd Elementary School’s Annual Fall Fest is calling Middle School & High School Students to Volunteer for set-up, concessions, carnival games, ticket sales and break-down to earn service hours. Sign-up here. 

Join Shepherd PTO to raise money for Shepherd and have beautiful family photos ready for your holiday cards and gifts! We are partnering with AMAZING KatieJettWalls for mini-sessions on 9/28-9/29. They are offered at the following dates & times.

• Saturday, September 28 9:00am - 11:00am at  Dale Drive Neighborhood Park in Silver Spring - 4 SPOTS REMAINING

• Saturday, September 28 4:30pm - 6:30pm at Historic Rose Garden at Walter Reed - 4 SPOTS REMAINING

• Sunday Morning, September 29 9:00am - 11:00am at Dale Drive Neighborhood Park in Silver Spring - 4 SPOTS REMAINING

• Sunday Afternoon, September 29 4:30pm - 6:30pm at Historic Rose Garden at Walter Reed - 2 SPOTS REMAINING

$125 fee will secure a spot, with $50 of the fee applied to any photo package (digital or print) purchased. If you are interested in signing up for a sitting fee, please complete the form here.

After completing the form, please proceed to the PayPal site to make the $125 donation.

Please join Shepherd’s PTO and the Health & Wellness committee along with students, parents and staff for the National Walk & Roll to School Day event on Wednesday, October 9th.

Either walk, bike or scooter from home along your customary route or meet us at one of three meet-up locations to join a “walking school bus.” 

The meet-up locations are:

• Marvin Caplan Park at the corner of Alaska Avenue and Holly Street NW– Group will leave promptly at 8:10am.
• Triangle park at the corner of Luzon Avenue and Van Buren Street NW– Group will leave promptly at 8:00am.
• Lowell Field at the corner of Kalmia and 17th Streets NW – Group will leave promptly at 8:10am.

We will need several parent volunteers with the walking buses.  Please email pto@shepherd-elementary.org if you can help.    

Thank you and we hope to see you on the walk to school! 

Volunteers Needed!

We will need several parent volunteers to operate the walking buses. If you can be a group leader, please sign up here.

SESSA's "No School Day" schedule is now on our website. "No School Days" are a full day of coverage provided by Star Achievers for DCPS professional development and parent-teacher conferences. We are not open for holiday/vacation breaks. Our program starts at 9am and ends at 6pm, with a 3pm pick up option as well. No school days are open to any current Shepherd Elementary student, current SESSA families will have to enroll for NSD's if needed. They are not included in your monthly tuition. If you have any questions on how NSD's operate feel free to ask eric.viera@sesstarachievers.com. Link is attached here for sign ups.

Our rollout of SESSA after school clubs will be postponed, as we work with the Shepherd Administration to review which days and spaces we will be able to operate in this fall. Once we have the approval of dates and times we will be able to post our registration links with a clear registration window so all families can sign up. In the meantime, we can share the proposed list of clubs we plan to offer for this fall:

Prospect SESSA Clubs:

• Violin: AM only; K-5th, meets Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• Robotics: K-5th, meets on Monday & Wednesday.
• Chess: K-5th, meets Tuesdays & Thursdays.
• Cooking in Spanish: 2nd-5th meets on Thursdays.
• Capoeira: K-5th meets on Tuesday.
• Music Production: K-1st meets on Tuesday, 2nd-5th meets on Wednesday
• Zumba: all of PK3 meets on Mondays. All of PK4 meets on Wednesdays
• Basketball: K-5th. Late OCT/Early NOV.
• Soccer: PK-K meets on Mondays & 1st-5th, Wednesday. 

Club availability and meeting days are subject to change by Shepherd Administration.

Mustang Express

Check out this week's Mustang Express, SES's weekly newsletter from leadership. 

Shepherd Elementary Groups.io

As a reminder, the Shepherd PTO has a Groups.io that can be used to communicate with the community. To actively join our Shepherd Elementary School Parents groups.io, please click here and select the blue button that says "Apply for Membership in this Group." If you have any questions, please email info@shepherd-elementary.org.

Shepherd Elementary Calendar

You can also add the Shepherd Elementary Google calendar to your personal Google account. Log into your Google account and navigate to the Shepherd Elementary Calendar website. In the lower right-hand corner of the calendar, there's an icon that says "+ Google Calendar." If you click this icon, it will redirect you to your personal Google calendar and prompt you to "add" the Shepherd Elementary calendar. More detailed instructions can be found here.

Flag Star Camp on 10/11

We are thrilled to be partnering with The Jackson Reed Football team to offer our ambitious ballers a few hours of skills, drills and fun as a fundraiser! Register here. 

Where: Jackson Reed High School, 3950 Chesapeake St NW

What: Three hours of skills, drills and games along with the chance to meet and play with the Jackson Reed Football Players

When: October 11th 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Who: All Skill Levels - Girls and Boys 2nd - 7th Grade

Cost: $85.00

Email HQ@flagstarfootball.com for financial aid and any other questions*

Youth Soccer Camp on 10/14

The Boys Varsity Soccer Team at Jackson-Reed HS is holding a soccer camp on Monday, October 14th (DCPS does not have school that day). We are looking for 1st through 5th Graders who want to spend the morning learning some soccer skills and playing fun games. (limit 50 kids) The camp will be at the Jackson-Reed High School Soccer Field. We did this in June and it was a huge success and the kids had a great time. Register here. 

When: 9AM -12PM on Monday, Oct 14th (DCPS does not have school that day)

Where: Jackson-Reed High School Soccer Field

Cost:  $40/camper, includes a pizza lunch at 12PM. 

For any questions, please email Quinn McInerney (Captain - Jackson-Reed Varsity Soccer Team) at quinnmci28@gmail.com.