Shepherd PTO Bulletin - November 1, 2023
In this week's PTO Bulletin...
- Fall Fest Wrap-up! - Holiday Greenery Fundraiser - Thanksgiving Turkey Trot for Hunger - Health & Wellness Resources - Health & Wellness Survey on Biking to School - Upcoming Events - November LSAT & PTO Meetings
- Facilities Committee Kick-Off Meeting
- IB Corner - 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
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Fall Fest Wrap-Up This past Sunday, we had another fantastic Fall Fest that brought our community together to FUNdraise for Shepherd! We want to thank our amazing co-chairs (Lauren Okonkwo and Nichole Carlyle) who worked tirelessly to plan and organize the event, our army of parent and student volunteers who ensured we could offer a variety of activities, our community who supported the school through their participation, and our generous sponsors whose contributions made the event possible! Thanks to everyone's generosity and participation, we raised over $10,000 in proceeds for the school, more than 60% over our goal! Thank you again and we look forward to seeing you next year! |
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. |
Run & Raise: Thanksgiving Turkey Trot for Hunger Join the Shepherd running team and fellow Mustang families in running a Thanksgiving 5K at Freedom Plaza on November 23 at 9:00 am. - Join the team here
- Donate to the Fundraising effort here
The teams goal is to raise $300 for S.O.M.E.! For those who would prefer to race virtually, you can also run a timed or untimed 5K from your neighborhood. Thanks for your support for our Mustangs! If you have any questions, please email jessie.caola@k12.dc.gov |
Health & Wellness Survey on Biking to School The Health and Wellness Committee is interested in exploring ways that the Shepherd Elementary community can be more active! We had great participation in the Walk/Bike to school day on 10/4/23 and we want to evaluate if the school community is interested in biking to school and or if there are barriers to biking to school. Please fill out this survey to provide feedback. |
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Health & Wellness Resources Mental health wellness is very important to our Shepherd Elementary School Community. At a recent PTO meeting, parents expressed interest in having resources for mental health education, services and utilization. Subsequently, a directory of mental health resources that would be available to our school community was recommended. If you have resources (i.e., psychologist/psychiatrist, counselor, individual/group therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, cognitive therapy, facilities that conduct external evaluations, etc.) please forward this vital information to Candace Mainor at candace.b.mainor@gmail.com. The Health, Wellness & Sustainability Committee will compile the resources for a directory, which will become available when appropriate. |
| November LSAT & PTO Meeting Please mark your calendars. The November LSAT meeting will be held November 15th at 4:30 pm and the November PTO meeting will be held November 15th at 5:30 pm. More information to come! |
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Facilities Kick-Off Meeting The Facilities Committee will hold its 2023-2024 kick-off meeting on Tuesday, November 16th at 5:15 pm. The committee will discuss priorities for the school year and discuss long-term improvement plans. If you would like to participate, please join us outside the school (weather permitting). For questions, please reach out to amy.zettle@gmail.com or sydney.m.ferguson@gmail.com. |
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International Ed. Week The week of November 13th - November 17th Shepherd Mustangs will celebrate International Ed.Week. During this week we will celebrate international food, fashion, schooling as well as a focus on Alaskan and Native American heritage. Please see the flyer below for more information. |
International Day/Family Fashion Show The Shepherd Events Committee is excited to bring to your our Family History Fashion Show Parade! The Family History Fashion Show Parade will be on Thursday, November 9th from 9:00-9:15am. It will be an indoor fashion show parade that will kick our school's International Day on Thursday, November 9th! We are inviting up to 20 families to participate in our fashion show parade! If you are interested in modeling as a family, please dress in your cultural wear and sign up to participate as models using the signup genius below (one signup slot per family). Only families who have signed up via the signup genius will be able to participate in the show. We are asking that families who are participating in the show arrive by 8:20am in order to prepare for the fashion show parade at 9:00am. We are looking forward to an amazing event that celebrates our school's diversity! Please click here to sign up for the parade. |
| November School-Wide Action Project! Our school-wide IB community action project is connected to the United Nations Sustainable Development goal Zero Hunger. Our community action project is our annual sandwich making for Martha's Table! 4th grade and the Family Engagement Committee will be leading us in this effort during the school day on Friday, November 17th. As a school community, we will be reading Thank you, Omu! by Oge Mora. Omu prepares her favorite thick red stew, the amazing smell wafts out of the window and one by one Omu receives visitors who are all enticed by the stew smell. Omu generously shares her food with all the visitors but finds herself in the evening with an empty pot. Her stew has prompted everyone in the community to bring their own dish to share with Omu and everyone sits down to a real feast. You can find this book on YouTube, at your local library, or maybe even in our school library. |
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November Learning Profile and Approach to Learning Learner Profile Attribute of the Month: Knowledgeable We develop and use our understandings by exploring a variety of subjects. We explore local and global issues and ideas.
Approach to Learning Skill of the Month: Thinking Skills This includes critical thinking skills, creative thinking skills, transfer skills, reflection, and metacognitive skills.
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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. |
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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. 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! |
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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
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Thank you to our Sponsors! |
Upcoming Events No School Day, SESSA Childcare available Facilities Committee Kick-off Meeting No School Day Coffee & Conversations with PreK-4 Families November LSAT Meeting November PTO Meeting Turkey Trot for Hunger |
| Dates Friday, November 3rd Tuesday, November 7th Friday, November 10th Tuesday, November 14th
Wednesday, November 15th Wednesday, November 15th Thursday, November 23rd |
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| 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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