Originally delivered on 10/25/2023 3:40 pm

SUBJECT: Shepherd PTO Bulletin - 10/25/2023

Shepherd PTO Bulletin - October 25, 2023

In this week's PTO Bulletin...

- Family History Spirit Week

- 180 Fund Raffle Winner

- Volunteers Needed for Fall Fest!

- Holiday Greenery Fundraiser

- Upcoming Events

October PTO Meeting - Tonight
Fall Family Photoshoot Extended
Fall Fest Tickets On Sale!
Gear Sale at Fall Fest

- Giving Back Opportunities

Online Gear Storefront
Teacher Appreciation Program (TAP)
180 Fund

- Community Offerings

- Other Upcoming Important Dates

November 3rd - No School, SESSA No-School Childcare Available
November 10th - No School

180 Fund Raffle Winner

Thank you to all families for who donated to our 180 Fund appeal! We saw a surge in donations and the PTO is close to reaching our goal for the year.

We especially want to congratulate the Monninger family who have won 30 tickets for Fall Fest!

Volunteers Needed for Fall Fest!

Fall Fest is planned for this Sunday, October 29th. We are still in need of about 24 volunteers, especially line monitors, to be able to pull off the event. Before you buy your tickets, please visit our Plan Hero site to sign up for a volunteer session. Each station requires multiple volunteers every hour. Just an hour of your time will go a long way!

Concessions: 3 unfilled slots
K: 1 unfilled slot
1st: 2 unfilled slots
3rd: 3 unfilled slots
5th: 2 unfilled slots
Line Monitors: 8 unfilled slots
Ticket Sales, Shepherd Gear: 2 unfilled slots
Breakdown of overall event: 2 unfilled slots

Holiday Greenery Fundraiser

Shepherd PTO is proud to partner this year with Meadows Farms to sell holiday greenery in support of our school. We are offering poinsettias, wreaths, and garland for sale directly through our school storefront. All items will be available for pick-up at school on Thursday, November 30th from 3PM to 5:30PM, or for an extra $10 donation to Shepherd can be delivered directly to your home! All orders must be placed by 12PM/Noon ET on Tuesday, November 7th.

Upcoming Events

October PTO Meeting

Our October PTO meeting has moved to Tonight October 25th at 5:30 pm. In order to complete our in-person brainstorming activity that we had to postpone from last month, this meeting will be held exclusively in-person in the Multi-purpose Room. Future meetings will offer virtual options.

Agenda:

Upcoming Events
PTO Business
Facility & Advocacy Committee Updates
Brainstorming for 2023-2024 Committee Goals

Fall Family Photoshoot Extended

Due to the unexpected rain, 1 additional photoshoot session has been added for Saturday, October 28th from 3-6PM at the Rose Garden at Walter Reed. The weather looks beautiful and leaves are peak fall, so please considering signing up if you need family photos for holiday cards or memory books. We have 9 available slots.

$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.

If you have any questions, please email fundraising@shepherd-elementary.org.

Fall Fest Tickets and Volunteers Update!

We are only 1 week away from our Fall FUNdraising event! This year's Fall Fest will be Sunday October 29th from 12 pm - 4 pm.

For those families that haven't been to Fall Fest before, the event takes place outside the school on 14th St. between Jonquil and Kalmia. There will be a bounce house, a DJ, game truck, carnival games, arts & crafts, concessions, and new for this year - A Costume Competition!

Avoid the lines and purchase your Fall Fest tickets here. Online tickets sales will close Saturday October 28th at noon. Activity and concession pricing can be found in the image below. We hope to see you there!

Gear Sale at Fall Fest

In addition to fun food, activities, and music, Fall Fest will be another opportunity to stock up on Shepherd gear. We are excited to announce we will have cold weather gear (hoodies/sweatshirts) available for the first time this year. You can find the gear table near where you will check-in/make ticket purchases.

Note: In order to prepare for Fall Fest sales, the online website will be unavailable from Saturday, October 28th - Tuesday, October 31st.

Giving Back Opportunities

Online Gear Store

Our Shepherd Elementary gear storefront is now available for orders under "Giving Back to Shepherd" on the Shepherd website. After you've completed your purchase, gear will be delivered directly to your child's classroom within 7 business days. The PTO will still host in-person events throughout the year, but the gear store will provide a convenient alternative to those sales.

Please note, if you select gear and it cannot be added to the bag, it is likely sold out.

Teacher Appreciation Program (TAP)

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.

Shepherd 180 Fund Appeal And Bonus Incentive!

Help the Shepherd PTO fund lots of great events, initiatives, and extra circular efforts at Shepherd this year by donating to the 180 Fund.

All families who donate to the 2023-2024 180 Fund by 10/23/23 will be entered into a raffle for 30 free tickets to be redeemable at Fall Fest on October 29th.

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!

Thank you to our 180 Families!!

McIntosh Family

Daly Family

Neal Family

Ma-Holdridge Family

Batler-Landau Family

Archer Family

Riley-Keck Family

Krill Family

Tivol-Kaufmann Family

Howard Family

Coble Family

Kunce Family

Faulman-Coffey Family

Arellano Family

Walejko-Markham Family

Boykin Family

Kane Family

Snyder-Johnson Family

McNeill Family

Marchand Family

Raglani Family

Romine Family

Fagen Family

Kasargod-Staub Family

Zettle-Kreisberg Family

Mainor Family

Marnon Family

Kim Family

Gilberg-Prince Family

DeAngelo Family

Hatcher Family

Jabaily-Messing Family

Hoehn Family

Humphries Family

The Jackson Family

Bassin-Reimer Family

Head Family

Bowie Family

Warkentien-Moncton Family

Ross-White Family

Boyd Family

Roberts Family

The Hechter Family

Miller Family

White Family

Toussaint Family

Ju Family

Jones Family

Monninger Family

Lewis Family

Mayorga Family

Britton Family

Pau Family

Garn Family

Cooper Family

Mokodean Family

Frias Family

Maser Family

Prabhu-McDonald Family

Fessler Family

Goodman Family

Rijmen Family

Scott Family

Thank you to our Sponsors!

Upcoming Events

Fall Family Photo Fundraiser

Fall Fest

No School Day, SESSA Childcare available

No School Day

Coffee & Conversations with PreK-4 Families

November LSAT Meeting

November PTO Meeting

Dates

Saturday, October 28th

Sunday, October 29th

Friday, November 3rd

Friday, November 10th

Tuesday, November 14th

Wednesday, November 15th

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)