Originally delivered on 8/9/2023 3:02 pm

SUBJECT: Shepherd PTO Bulletin - 08/09/23

Shepherd PTO Bulletin - August 9, 2023


Less than 3 weeks till school starts!


In this week's PTO Bulletin...

- Welcome to New Families

- Gear Sales 

- Back to School Supplies - NEW

- Star Achievers - NEW

  • Registration Open
  • Board Positions Open

- Upcoming Events

  • Beautification Day
  • Shepherd Open House 
  • PTO Welcome/Playdate 

- Volunteer Opportunities

  • Ambassadors for New Shepherd Families
  • 2023-2024 Volunteers Needed - NEW

- Staying Connected

- Community Offerings

- Shepherd 180 Fund

- Upcoming Important Dates

  • Virtual Townhall Meeting with Principal Russell - Friday, August 11th (12 - 1 pm)
  • Coffee & Conversations with Principal Russell - Wednesday, August 16th (9:30 - 10:30 am)
  • 1st Day of School (K - 5th grade):  Monday, August 28th
  • 1st Day of School (PreK-3 & 4):  Thursday, August 31st
  • Labor Day Holiday: Monday, September 4th
  • 1st PTO Meeting: Wednesday, September 20th
  • Back to School Night: Wednesday, September 27th
Welcome New Shepherd Families

We want to extend a warm welcome to all new Shepherd Elementary Families and of course a Welcome Back to those currently in our community!

These Shepherd Bulletins are released weekly during the school year as a way for the PTO community to remain informed on news, correspondence and events.  

Please encourage any new Shepherd Families to register for A to Z connect so they can receive these weekly bulletins and stay connected to the PTO.

Upcoming Gear Sales

"Gear up" to get your Shepherd t-shirts at our upcoming spirit sales. The PTO is targeting sales on the following dates:

  • Saturday, August 26th Playdate (new date)
  • Monday, August 28th 1st Day of School
  • Thursday, August 31st 1st Day of School ECE


More information will be released shortly!

Back to School Supply Lists

It's Back to School season! Principal Russell recently released the list of necessary school supplies by grade for the 2023-2024 school year. You can access the list here or on the home page of the Shepherd Elementary website.

If you cannot access the list or website, please email info@shepherd-elementary.org and we can forward a personal copy.  

Shepherd Elementary School Star Achievers
Star Achievers Registration is Open

Shepherd Elementary School Star Achievers (SESSA) is Shepherd's privately-run, non-profit (501c3) before- and after-care program. When school is in session, Star Achievers provides daily programming on the school property.

Registration is open for before and after-care sessions. For more information on the programming, please visit the SESSA website

Star Achievers Board Positions Open

SESSA is currently looking for parents and community members to volunteer to join the SESSA Board of Directors for the 2023-2024 school year.


SESSA is a parent and community member led board of directors. While SESSA has professional staff to lead and run the day-to-day programming, a small board of Shepherd Elementary parents and community members oversees the organization, its staff and operations. The board is critical to the success of the program! 


The board provides essential functions such as:

  1. Financial oversight, growth, health and sustainability 
  2. Staff hiring and retention for program management and operations 
  3. Professional staff training and development 
  4. Collaboration with Shepherd ES administration and DCPS officials to advocate on behalf of SESSA
  5. Oversight and investment of SESSA curriculum and enrichment programs such as chess, soccer, dance and robotics
  6. Ensuring Shepherd Elementary students have a safe, educational, inclusive and fun before-school and after-school experience 


The time commitment is minimal, approximately 2 hours a month at most. 


Help us keep the program running! We greatly need more board members to join in the coming year. Without parent or community member involvement there is no Star Achievers. We would especially like to encourage parents of younger students to join so you can have a day in the growth and development of SESSA as your child ages through the school.


Will you consider joining today?  Please reach out to the SESSA Board of Directors for more information and an application at sessaboard@gmail.com.


Fun fact: you don’t have to be a Shepherd parent to join. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, neighbors or Shepherd ES alums are all welcome to join.  


Thank you for your continued support and consideration! 

Upcoming Events
Beautification Day

Please join the community and Principal Russell for Shepherd Beautification Day on Saturday, Aug 19th from 10 am - 4 pm. Beautification Day is an opportunity for families in the school community to come together to celebrate and improve the Shepherd campus. This year, the community will be focused on exterior gardening and interior painting for the front office.  If you specialize in any of these areas, we would welcome your involvement, but no experience is necessary! Please bring any tools you think might help spruce up the school (gardening gloves, rakes, spades, paint brushes, etc). If you plan to purchase any specialized supplies, the PTO can reimburse you. Please reach out to info@shepherd-elementary.org for more information. 

So that we can have an accurate head-count, please complete this Sign-up Genius if you would like to participate.  We appreciate your support!

Shepherd Open House

Shepherd Elementary will be hosting an Open House on Friday, August 25th. All families are welcome! Open House hours will be designated by grade: 

  • PreK3 - Kindergarten:  3:30 pm - 4:00 pm
  • 1st - 5th Grades:  4:00 pm - 4:30 pm


PTO Welcome/Playdate

This month the Shepherd PTO will be hosting a Back-to School Playdate for new and returning students to meet and/or get reacquainted on Saturday August 26th from 2 pm - 4 pm.  We'll meet at the Shepherd Park playground on Jonquil St and provide refreshing snacks. Hope to see you there!

Volunteer Opportunities
Ambassadors for New Shepherd Families Wanted

The PTO is looking for parents to serve as Ambassadors for new Shepherd Elementary families.  As an Ambassador, you will be assigned a new incoming Shepherd family or families.  We'll ask that you reach out to them at the beginning of the school year to welcome them and answer any questions.  The time commitment should be less than 1-2 hours.  

If you are interested in serving as an Ambassador, please submit your name and contact information through this Sign-up Genius

2023-2024 Volunteers Needed

The school year is quickly approaching and the Shepherd PTO is looking for volunteers to support its annual engagement, advocacy, and fundraising activities!  

Like many public schools, Shepherd relies on its parent community to help bring out the best in our classrooms and community. We recognize that your time is precious and there are a variety of ways to help from your office, on weekends, or during the school day.  For the 2023-2024 school year, we especially need:

  • PTO Committee Chairs/Volunteers

  • Event Coordinators

  • Recurring Activities Leads

If you have time and/or special skills that you would be willing to donate, please complete this volunteer form.   

Any questions can be directed to info@shepherd-elementary.org

Staying Connected

A to Z Connect Directory

Did you know you can use A to Z Connect to contact other families? When you log into A to Z Connect, look for "Directory" on the left hand side. Then you can search by Parent Name or Child Name and A to Z Connect will pull back all relevant records. While it will only pull information for families registered in A to Z, it's a great starting point to connect with other families in your child's grade, set up play dates, send birthday party invites, etc. 

Shepherd Elementary Groups.io

Also 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.

Social Media

You can follow Shepherd Elementary on Facebook and Instagram!


Community Offerings
Interested in Little League Baseball or Softball?

Capitol City Little League (Cap City) offers recreation baseball and softball for kids 4 to 14 years old. Cap City is open to kids who reside in and/or attend school within specific boundaries of NW DC, including Shepherd Elementary, Deal Middle School, and DCI! 

Register now through the end of August for our Fall 2023 season. The Fall season runs from mid-September through early November. For more information and to register, go to https://www.capcityll.org/

Questions? Contact us at registration@capcityll.org

Time to Support the 2023-2024 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 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!

Upcoming Events

Virtual Townhall with Principal Russell

Coffee with Principal Russell

Beautification Day

Shepherd Elementary Open House 

PTO Welcome/Play-Date

First Day of School (K - 5th Grade)

First Day of School (Prek-3 & 4)

Labor Day Holiday

September PTO Meeting

Back-to-School Night

Dates

Friday, August 11th

Wednesday, August 16th 

Saturday, August 19th

Friday, August 25th

Saturday, August 26th

Monday, August 30th

Thursday, August 31st

Monday, September 4th

Wednesday, September 20th

Wednesday, September 27th

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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