May 24, 2023 In this week's bulletin....
- Shepherd ES Parents Google Group Migration - Please take the DCPS Boundary Study Survey! - Upcoming Events - PreK-3/4 Bingo & Bites Night
- May All School Morning Meeting
- Coffee at Drop-Off
- NEW! Parent/Teacher Softball Game Announced!
- NEW! Field Day Announced/Volunteers Needed
- IB Corner - 2023-2024 IB Ambassador Program
- International Day
- IB Exhibition
- Global Field Games
- Ways to Give Back - Community Offerings - Alice Deal Middle School Presents Matilda Jr.
- Teacher Appreciation Program (TAP) - Shepherd 180 Fund - Other Important Dates - May 29th - Memorial Day, No School
- May 31st - International Day
- June 19th - Juneteenth, No School
- June 22nd - Last Day of School!
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Shepherd ES Parents Google Group Migration As announced at last week's PTO meeting, the former Shepherd Elementary School Google Group has migrated to a PTO-sponsored groups.io. For families that were a part of the Google group, you may have seen a notification over the weekend. Groups.io is widely used, has better user interface, offers a mobile app, many collaboration tools and supports subgroups (i.e. classroom & committees subgroups). If you were not part of the former Google group or did not receive a notification about the migration, you can still 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. |
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Please take the DCPS Boundary Study Survey! Thank you to those Shepherd families who were able to join the Deputy Mayor for Education's (DME) Townhall last week. For those of you unable to join, much of the discussion was about prioritizing the guiding principles that the Advisory Committee will use to make their recommendation for future feeder patterns. While Shepherd was successful in sharing messages about the importance of continuity in an IB pathway and its racial & ethnic diversity, we still need your help with feedback. The DME has released a survey explaining the guiding principles and asking families to rank them. Please take a moment to complete the survey here. Please note, that prioritizing the IB programmatic pathway to Deal would be considered a guiding principle under "predictability and continuity." You can also prioritize/rank different guiding principles for for elementary school vs. middle school vs. high school. If you have any questions about the survey or the townhall, please email info@shepherd-elementary.org.
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| PreK-3/4 Bingo & Bites Night The final Bingo & Bites night for PreK 3 & 4 will take place in the Multi-purpose room on Thursday, May 25th from 5:30 - 7:00 pm. This is a family event so all students must be accompanied and supervised by an adult. While the game will be targeted for Pre-K 3 & 4, siblings are welcome to attend. Some light snacks will be provided. If you feel inclined to bring dinner, please remember, Shepherd is a nut-free facility. Please RSVP here |
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| May All School Morning Meeting The May All-School Morning Meeting will be hosted by Prek-3 on Friday, June 2nd at 9:00 am (NEW DATE!) and include a celebration of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the IB Learner Profile Attribute of the month: Communicator and Approaches to Learning: Communication Skills. You won't want to miss it! Please join us virtually here. |
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| Coffee at Drop-Off Hosted by the Family Engagement Committee Please join the Family Engagement Committee for the last monthly coffee at drop-off. Coffee will be available on June 5th from 8:20 am - 9:00 am. After dropping off your students, please take a moment to enjoy the morning pick-me-up and briefly socialize with other families. |
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| 1st Annual Teacher/Parent & Caregiver Softball Game As announced at last week's PTO Meeting, the Family Engagement Committee has been working hard to organize a Teacher/Parent & Caregiver Softball game. We're excited to share that DPR permitting has been approved! This is a great opportunity for parents and teachers to come together, have some fun and show off their softball skills. Whether you're a player or spectator, there will be fun for the whole family. Please see the details below. What: Teacher/Parent & Caregiver Softball Game When: Tuesday, June 6th (Raindate June 7th) Time: 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm Where: Shepherd Lower Field Who: All parents and teachers are invited to play in the game. Students are welcome to cheer-on their favorite team. No practice or experience necessary! If you would like to join us for an afternoon of fun, community, and school spirit, please sign-up below: Parent & Caregiver Sign-up Genius Teacher Sign-up Genius |
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| Field Day Announced/Volunteers Needed
Please join us for a day of fun at Shepherd Elementary's AnnualField Day on Thursday, June 8th!
9:00am - 11:30am - Field Day for PreK - 2nd Grade 12:30pm 3:00pm - Field Day for 3rd - 5th Grade **Rain Date is Friday, June 9th** We are looking for volunteers to manage all the amazing stations we have prepared for our students. Kindly sign up for a time slot and indicate if you have a station preference and we will do our best to place you at that station. Please sign up no later than Monday, June 5th! Below are some of the stations planned: Water Balloon Toss / Tug of War / Parachute Ball Game / Sack Race / Egg & Spoon Race / Soccer / Moon Bounce / Relay Race / Darama / Kho Kho / Weme |
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2023-2024 IB Ambassador Program As we are planning for next year we would like to start earlier with our IB Ambassadors program. Our IB Ambassadors will be expected to represent the school and our expectations in different capacities throughout the year. We are inviting students to apply to be an IB Ambassador for next year. All rising students in grades 3-5 (students currently in grades 2-4) are welcomed to apply. The application process includes an essay where students share their strengths, weaknesses and how they have contributed to their school community. The application will also require a teacher recommendation. You can find the application link here. Applications must be submitted by Friday, June 2nd. For more information on the program or the application process please reach out to Ms. Mack at avani.Mack@k12.dc.gov |
| International Day We are excited to celebrate International Day this spring. This will be a great time to come together and celebrate a variety of cultures and traditions! PK-2 will celebrate international day on Wednesday, May 31st from 9:00am-11:00am. 3rd-5th will celebrate International Day on Thursday, June 1st from 9:00-11:30am. |
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IB Exhibition Exhibition, a culminating project in the IB Primary Years Programme, will be held on Tuesday, June 13th from 2:00-3:15pm. This year's exhibition is connected to the transdisciplinary theme Sharing the Planet. Our 5th grade students will share global issues that they are passionate about and how they plan to make a difference in the world. Please join us! |
| Global Field Games Some of this year's field day games will include global games! Mr. Muskett has curated a list of games from around the world. If you are interested in volunteering for field day on Thursday, June 8th, please sign-up here. |
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| Box Tops for Education The Box Tops for Education app is a quick and easy way to give back to Shepherd. Simply follow these steps: Download the "Box Tops for Education" App Create an Account Search for "Shepherd Elementary" under "Find a School." Then select the Shepherd school associated with 7800 14th Street NW. Scan paper receipts into the app within 14 days of purchase. The app will automatically recognize Box Top Products Sit back and watch Shepherd's earnings grow!
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Looking for More Ways to Give Back? The Shepherd Website has a comprehensive list of ways to contribute through donations, volunteering, shopping, and sponsorships. Please visit the website for a complete list of vendors and more information on how you can help enrich the Shepherd experience. |
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Deal Theater Presents: Matilda The Musical Jr., June 1st – June 3rd The Alice Deal Theater program is presenting Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical Jr. from June 1st – June 3rd.
Based on the beloved book “Matilda” by Roald Dahl and adapted from the award-winning full- length musical, Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical Jr. tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, dares to take a stand and change her own destiny. Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical Jr. is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International and features Shepherd alumni!
When: June 1st at 6:30 PM, June 2nd at 6:30 PM, June 3rd at 2 PM
Run time is approximately 1 hour with no intermission.
Where: Alice Deal Middle School, 3815 Fort Drive, Washington, DC 20016
Tickets: Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for students, and available at: https://alice-deal-theater.square.site/
Questions: Please email: adcatheatre@gmail.com. |
| Teacher Appreciation Program (TAP) Congratulations to Ms. Denmark-Lawal and Ms. Murali as our May TAP winners! 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. TAP a teacher today by submitting a nomination here. |
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Time to Support the 2022-2023 Shepherd 180 Fund Help the Shepherd PTO fund lots of great events, initiatives, and extra circular efforts at Shepherd this year by donating to the 180 Fund. It's called the 180 Fund because there are 180 instructional days in the school year and your donation of a dollar a day per student helps the PTO support child care at events, sending students on offsite field trips, funding teacher educational wish lists, putting on school plays and concerts, updating outdoor playground equipment, funding additional academic supports, and hosting school-wide events! This budget really helps us give our students even more unique, meaningful and enriching opportunities each year. Any contribution is always much appreciated. And as a reminder, your contribution is 100% tax deductible. Thanks for your support - we're looking forward to getting back to BETTER THAN NORMAL! |
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Many, Many Thanks to our 180 Fund Donors! |
Archer Family Arellano Family Beridon Family Biswese Family Bowie Family Boykin-Chase Family Bykowski Family Carroll Family Cannon Family Cartmell-Mayorga Family Clair Family Coble Family Cole-Queen Family Daly Family Davies Family D'Angelo Family Fagen Family Faulman-Coffey Family Fessler Family Frias Family Gilberg-Prince Family Goletiani Family Goodman Family Henderson-Parker Family Homer Family Howard Family Jabaily-Messing Family Joswick Family
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| Ju Family Kim Family Krill Family Landau Family Learmonth-Davies Family Lipton-Marnon Family Ma-Holdridge Family Marchand Family Marrkand Family McNeil Family Mokodean Family Molseed Family Pariser Family Prabhu-McDonald Family Raglani Family Rijmen Family Riley Family Roberts Family Romine Family Sanders Family Snyder-Johnson Family St.Clair-Flemming Family Tivol-Kaufmann Family Tyson Family Walejko-Markham Family Williams Family Youssef Family Zettle Family
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Upcoming Events Bingo & Bites Night (Pre-K 3/4) Memorial Day, No School May All School Morning Meeting Morning Coffee at Drop-Off Teacher/Parent & Caregiver Softball Game Field Day June PTO Meeting Juneteenth, No School Last Day of School |
| Dates Thursday, May 25th Monday, May 29th Friday, June 2nd Monday, June 5th Tuesday, June 6th Thursday, June 8th Wednesday, June 14th Monday, June 19th Thursday, June 22nd |
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