Originally delivered on 5/1/2025 3:00 pm

SUBJECT: Shepherd PTO Bulletin - 5/1/25

Shepherd PTO Bulletin - April 24, 2025
Social Hour at Juneberry Garage May 2

Please join the Family Engagement Committee for a Social Hour at Juneberry Garage (6810 Cameron Dr NW) on Friday, May 2nd at 5:00PM. Juneberry Garage is the beer garden patio next to the dog park at the Parks at Walter Reed. We can't wait to see you all! Cheers!

Spring Fling Details...

We are excited to announce Shepherd Elementary is hosting a Spring Fling on May 9th! There will be fun & games and a DJ all conveniently located in the Shepherd Multipurpose Room. 

You can send a payment of $5/person to your homeroom teacher. Please remember to include a slip of paper with your child's name and how many people will attend. 


The PTO is also looking for volunteers to help with the event! We are requesting volunteers to chaperone for the 3rd - 5th grade session. Please visit this sign-up genius if you are able to assist!

TAP Nominations

The Teacher Appreciation Program, or TAP, gives parents an opportunity to recognize a teacher at Shepherd for their great work and dedication. TAP invites parents to write a letter of appreciation recognizing a teacher who has been especially helpful or admirable in the classroom. 

Once a month, a special teacher will be selected from the nominations to receive a Wishlist fund bonus. The recognition letters will also be shared with the selected teacher and school community.

Nominate a TAP teacher today by submitting a nomination here.

Shepherd Soccer Team Needs Referees

Our soceer team is in great need of parent volunteers to referee each home game. If you are interested, please reach out to Ms. Caola at Jessie.Caola@k12.dc.gov.

SESSA Updates

Soccer Stars Enrichment

SESSA will be having one more enrichment to close out our school year! Soccer Stars will be coming to SESSA. We will have two classes available, one for PK3-PK4, and one for Kinder-5th grades. Meeting on Wednesday's from 4:10-4:50pm and 4:50-5:35pm respectively. Class sizes will be small! So if you're interested, please sign up online at sesstarachievers.com/register. Enrollment will open May 1 at 10am. For all other details please review the program description listed on the JumBula website.


Board Positions Available

Help shape the future of before & aftercare at Shepherd Elementary!

We’re looking for enthusiastic parents, caregivers, family members (aunts, uncles, grandparents) and Shepherd Park community members to join the Star Achievers (SESSA) Board of Directors for the upcoming school year!

SESSA is a vital resource for our school community, providing a safe, nurturing, and enriching environment for students beyond the traditional school day. It supports working families by offering dependable before and after care and engaging activities that promote learning, creativity, and social development. For many parents and caregivers, this program is not just convenient—it’s essential, helping to ensure their children are well cared for while they manage work and other responsibilities. Star Achievers plays a key role in strengthening our school community and enhancing the overall student experience at Shepherd Elementary!

Why join?

  • Support our amazing scholars and staff
  • Help develop engaging enrichment programming for scholars
  • Build strong school-community connections
  • Make a meaningful impact with other engaged board members

What’s involved?
Monthly virtual board meetings (usually no more than 1.5 hours long)

Occasional but minimal additional support required for staff recruitment and advocacy/ communications efforts with Shepherd's community stakeholders 

2-year term minimum commitment preferred


We are looking for board candidates willing to lend their talents and expertise including graphic design, external communications, finance/accounting, or grant writing.


Interested? Please reach out to the SESSA board of directors to receive an application at sessaboard@gmail.com.

Currently, SESSA's board is made up of Shepherd Elementary alumni, parents, Shepherd community members and friends of the community. Parents/caregivers don't have to have a child enrolled in SESSA to join the board. 

Thank you To Our 180 Families! 72 Families and Counting....

McIntosh Family

Daly Family

Ma-Holdridge Family

Singh Family

Archer Family

Anne Brumbaugh

Raglani Family

McNeill Family

Batler-Landau Family

Riley-Keck Family

Tivol-Kaufmann Family

Elizabeth Henthorne

Snyder-Johnson Family

Boykin Family

Reddy Family

Bowie Family

Fagen-Marks Family

Jabaily-Messing Family

Kane Family

Krill Family

Rebecca Livengood

Boyd Family

Rijmen Family

Toussaint Family

Browder-Kotlarewsky Family

Christopher Dye

Humphries Family

Masters Family

Bingham-Snyder Family

Arellano Family

Westley-Zongker Family

Schiefelbein-Tang Family

Mike and Marquisha Thomas

Mayorga Family

Callie Eideberg

Maiers-Woods Family

DeAngelo Family

Marrkand Family

Warren and Amber Romine

Kominakos Family

Godoy Family

Hauge Family

Cooper Family

Hoehn Family

Ju Family

Cendrine Robinson

Arellano Family

Walejko & Markham Family

Frias Family

Goodman Family

Prabhu-McDonald Family

Howard Family

Hechter Family

Marnon Family

Van Aelst - Saulpaugh Family

Zettle-Kresiberg Family

Nguyen-Stevens Family

Nguyen-Stevens Family

Miller Family

Castillo-Schreuder Family

Shireen Sarraf

Scott Family

Mainor Family

Rollins Family

Ariel Vaagen

Benedetti Family

Jacob Monninger

Mokodean Family

Paige Newson

Gilberg/Prince Family

Kate Healy

Shauna St.Clair

Hayes Family

Staying Connected

Mustang Express

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

Shepherd Elementary Groups.io

The Shepherd PTO has a Groups.io that can be used to communicate with the community. To join, please click here.

Shepherd's IB Monthly

Check out this month's IB Newsletter here.  

Shepherd Elementary Calendar

Add the Shepherd Elementary Google calendar to your personal Google account. Need instructions on how to add to your own calendar? Click here.

PTO Meeting Invite

PTO Meetings are on the 3rd Wednesday of every month at 5:30PM. Access them by using the Zoom link here

Follow Shepherd PTO on FB and Insta

Keep up with the latest updates, events and fun things going on at Shepherd by following our FB page (@ShepherdElemPTO) and Instagram (@shepherd_elementary).

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