M u s t a n g  N e w s l e t t e r
In This Issue
February: 
Dates to Remember
Friday, 2/6:
- Awards Ceremony
(see IB PYP Corner)
- Reports Go Home
Thursday, 2/12:
Ski Trip

Friday, 2/13:
Professional Development Day
No School for Students

Monday, 2/16:
President's Day
No School for Students

Wednesday, 2/18:
PTA Meeting, 6:30 pm

Thursday, 2/19:
- Parent Academy, 8:15 am
- Open House for Perspective Parents, 9:30 am

Friday, 2/20:
- Class Pictures
- Ms. Holt's Wax Museum (Black History Project)

Monday, 2/23:
Parent Teacher Conference

Wednesday, 2/25:
African American Class Presentation (Black History Project)
Thursday, 2/26:
School Assembly - Jackie Robinson
Friday, 2/27:
- Mustang Buck Event
- Jazz Night at Shepherd

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .




Come One . . . 
           Come All . . . 

The Mustang is looking for a few good writers to serve as contributors to the The Student Scoop, a student-written column that will appear in every Mustang.  

Keep your schoolmates up to date on what's happening at Shepherd for a student's-eye view!

If you are interested, please send an email to 
Subject: Student Writer

We want your voice in the Mustang!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mustang:
Content Submissions
The Mustang is the biweekly newsletter for Shepherd Elementary and community.  

 

We welcome community-relevant submissions of announcements (100-200 words) or articles (300-500 words) to add to the newsletter.  

 

The Mustang is published on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month; please submit items two weeks in advance in order to be included in the next Mustang.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The Mustang staff reserves the right to edit announcements and articles for space and content, and to decline submissions of inappropriate subject matter.  Advertisements and solicitations are not permitted.

Submit Content to Mustang



Save the Date!

Jazz Night
          at Shepherd

Friday
February 27, 2015




February 2, 2015 

Welcome to the Mustang e-Newsletter!  

Look for a new publication every 1st and 3rd Monday to stay connected with Shepherd school and community news.    

A Message from Principal Miles

Greetings Everyone,

 

We continue to have a lot going on at Shepherd as we move from January into February!

 

Science Fair 

Our annual 3rd through 5th grade science fair was a success. Winners will be announced soon. Thank you for working with your student.  Our K through 2nd Science fair will be held on April 2, 2015.  Science fair packets will be distributed next week. 

 

Student Support Team

Our students work hard and they continue to make growth.  However, there are times when the growth that our students are making is not at the expected pace.  Therefore, it may be necessary for the classroom teacher to seek the support of a larger team and work collaboratively with that team to develop a plan to support the student.   This larger team is known as our school's Students Support Team (SST).  The SST coordinates services and initiatives related to academics, attendance, positive school culture, and health and wellness to ensure that all students receive appropriate support and necessary intervention from general school-wide programming.  The team uses a data-based, collaborative process to:  assess student academic and/or behavioral needs; identify goals; design strategies for support and intervention; and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.   Members of the team are classroom teachers, counselors, social workers, psychologists, nurses, parents and other support personnel.

 

SST is not Special Education.  Therefore, if your teacher mentions SST to you and/or you are invited to a SST meeting please do not panic.   We are simply alerting you to the fact that we have some concerns and we would like to work with you to develop a plan that will allow your student to continue to make academic gains.

 

Grade Level Unit Assessments will be held on the following days:

 

5th Grade:  Monday and Tuesday, February 9-10 

3rd Grade:  Wednesday and Thursday, February 11-12

2nd Grade:  Tuesday and Wednesday, February 17-18

4th Grade:   Wednesday and Thursday, February 25-26

 

Welcome Back

Mrs. McIntrye and Ms. Mulligan have returned from maternity leave.  We know it was hard for them to leave their little ones; however, we are glad to have them back.     
 

 

Follow Us On Twitter 
@ShepherdDCPS


A Reminder from the PTA 
 Shepherd's Facebook Page

Shepherd PTA is on Facebook!

The new Shepherd Elementary PTA page on Facebook is a great additional resource for keeping up on school news and events, right at your fingertips.  

Like us at Shepherd Elementary PTA (https://www.facebook.com/ShepherdElemPTA?ref=aymt_homepage_panel) to start getting Shepherd PTA updates in your news feed.  Show a little love to your school and your PTA by liking us today!

Shepherd's IB PYP Corner

Greetings!

 

The Learner Profile for the month of February is Knowledgeable. To truly enhance our in-depth knowledge, we must investigate concepts, ideas and issues that have local and global significance and share this information with others.

 

See below for additional updates, announcements, and a bit of trivia. 
 

Programme of Inquiry

This week, Unit 4 begins. The Transdisciplinary Theme focus for each grade level is as follows:

  • Pre School - How we organize ourselves - Things that Go - an inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems
  • Pre-Kindergarten - How the world works - Our Environment - an inquiry into the natural world and its laws.
  • Kindergarten - Where we are in Place and Time - Tales from the Past- an inquiry into orientation in place and time.
  • First Grade - How the world works - Wings of Change - an inquiry into the interaction between the natural world and human societies
  • Second Grade - Who we are - Fairytales and Fables - an inquiry into the nature of the self, beliefs and values.
  • Third Grade - Sharing the Planet - The Living World - an inquiry into the responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things.
  • Fourth Grade - How we express ourselves - The Fact behind the Fiction - an inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, culture, beliefs and values.
  • Fifth Grade - Sharing the Planet - Exhibition - An inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.

Awards Day

Our Awards day Assembly will take place on Friday February 6th, 2015. There will be three Assemblies. The first Assembly will be for students in Pre-School through Pre K at 8:55 AM; the second Assembly for Kindergarten through 2nd Grade at 9:30 AM; and the third Assembly for 3rd through 5th Grade at 10:30 AM. Please join us!

 

African-American Heritage Month

The month of February is dedicated to the celebration of the achievements of people of African Heritage in countries like the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The month of February was chosen because it coincided with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, two men who believed in freedom from slavery.

     

Here in the United States, the month long celebration was inspired from the celebration of Negro History week in 1976. In Canada, this idea reached Toronto from the railroad porters that traveled to the United States doing their job on the railroads. In 1979, the Ontario Black History Society petitioned the City of Toronto to have the month of February proclaimed as African Heritage Month. However, it was not until December 1995 that the Parliament of Canada officially recognized February as African Heritage Month. In the United Kingdom, African Heritage Month was first celebrated in 1987.

 

Trivia

  1. Who was the first African American woman elected to congress?
  2. Who was the first African Canadian woman elected to Parliament and responsible for getting parliament to recognize African Heritage Month in Canada?
  3. Who was the first African Heritage woman to be elected to the House of Commons in the United Kingdom?

Have a Super Duper week!

Sandra Hart

IB Coordinator
News from Star Achievers
Hello Star Achievers Families - 

Notes for February

Friday, February 6: 
Board Game Tournament

It's Cold Outdoors & Time for Board Games!  On February 6 we will have a Board Game Tournament in the cafeteria for children in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.  Please send in your child's favorite board game (with a name on the box; we will hand out ziplock bags to make sure you get the pieces back) and let the fun begin!

Wednesday, February 11: 
Read Along with a Librarian Day

Ms. Elaine from Shepherd Park Library reads to PS3 and Pre K class the first Wednesday of every month.  Ask your little one to tell you about the book of the month.

TBA: The Magic Flute

First and Second Grade students will have a fun day of getting into costume and acting out the play The Magic Flute at the end of February.  Please watch your email for the date - parents are invited for a photo-op.

Coming in March 

Wednesday, March 4: Career Day 

All parents who would like to come talk to their child's grade about their current or a previous job please email sesstarachievers@gmail.com and select a 15 minute time slot between 4:30 and 6pm.  Last year we heard from a planner of streets, a musician, a journalist, a lawyer and a veteran among others.  The kids really enjoy this activity and it gets them thinking about all their future possibilities.  Let us know which grade you would like to inform and we will look forward to an age appropriate presentation!

Indoor PE

We will soon have access to the gym for more indoor PE - we will take up basketball and floor hockey, among other sports.

Other Reminders:  
  • Dress your child for cold weather play;
  • Buy a ticket to the school dance in advance and sign the permission slip;
  • Pick up your child promptly by 6:30pm or pay $1 a minute if late.

Take care!   

Claire Riley 

Program Director

The Student Scoop
Written by 3rd Graders:
Kennedy Mack, Sarah Rice, and Yasmina Konate
Hello Mustang, this is your Student Scoop!  Shepherd has been very busy.  Today's first scoop is the third graders had a class spelling bee.   In Ms. George's class, the winners were Yasmina Konate, Tobias Lindo, and Malchiah Marbles.  In Ms. Whren's class, the winners were Sarah Rice, Chyna Hollaway, and Gus Wells.   They all made it to the final spelling bee.

The next scoop is the science fair which was on Tuesday, January 27.  Third, Fourth and Fifth Graders had to do a project and go to NOAA to present the project.  My friends and I think that everybody did a good job on their projects.    Some of the science fair projects were about bottle tornados, making windmills spin, mixing colors, turning apples brown, and mixing vinegar and baking soda to blow up a balloon.  Whoever wins the science fair, my friends and I will feel happy for them.
News and Announcements
Shepherd Modernization Update (January 2015) 

Shepherd will continue to be modernized through the spring and fall of 2015 and the final work will be performed the summer of 2016. The Department of General Services and Turner Construction will begin work to enclose the courtyard transforming it into an atrium, adding an elevator, connecting the three buildings via a second floor walkway, enlarge the upper grades classrooms, new outdoor spaces, and build out the arts center across from the cafeteria. We know that trying to imagine this work may be difficult, so when we receive the schematics for this work from DGS we will post it to the Shepherd website.

DGS expects to deliver the atrium and elevator by the Christmas break and all other work by the start of the 2016-17 school year. During the time of the construction, the blacktop playground will be inaccessible. Students will be utilizing the Shepherd playground and field during this period.   DGS is also investigating the possibility of putting in a temporary or permanent PS-K playground elsewhere on the grounds to limit the time those students would have to walk to the field. We will keep you informed as this plan is developed and finalized.

The original budget for the modernization was $28M. All of the work that is being performed this period will cost about $8 million and it will bring Shepherd's modernization budget to $28 million. However, the original design budget also provided Shepherd with an enlarged cafeteria with a full kitchen, a modernized multi-purpose room (gym/auditorium), and a parking garage. As it stands now, Shepherd will not be receiving this much needed work. The SIT will petition DCPS and our political leaders requesting $10M to complete the modernization. We will ask for your help as we lobby our leaders.
The January Update: Shepherd's Local School Advisory Team (LSAT)

As we begin a new year we have come to that time of the year where DCPS begins to set its budget. Part of the duty of the Local School Advisory Team (LSAT) is to advise the administration of Shepherd ES on the needs and priorities of the school community as it relates to funding. In truth, the majority of the budget is set based upon laws and curriculum requirements that the school must meet. However, there are some funds that can be assigned to particular priorities of the school. Over the next couple of months I encourage each parent to provide the LSAT as well as DCPS with your opinion and views of what Shepherd needs. You can become more educated about the process by going to www.dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/budgetmatters.com  as well as send in your comments. If you want to see our budget and compare it with other school budgets, go to www.dcpsdatacenter.com .

The Shepherd TV/Video Turn off is active. However, the website had issues where you could not download the pledge. It should now be corrected. Please join the pledge and fill the extra time with reading, family games, or some enrichment activity. Mad Science will also be back this spring in the form of two assemblies. Stay tuned for the dates. 

Finally, the LSAT would like to congratulate and thank all the people involved with the International Night program. It was a very educational and fun filled event. In the words of my fifth grader, "it was awesome."

shepherd elementary | (202) 576-6140 | mustangshepherd2@gmail.com | http://www.shepherd-elementary.org/
7800 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20012