M u s t a n g  N e w s l e t t e r
  
Our Pre-Kindergarten students began celebrating the upcoming holiday with performances and breakfast!
In This Issue
Dates to Remember
Monday, 11/23
Grade 4 will visit the National History Museum

Wednesday, 11/25:
Star Achievers Pizza and Movie Day

Thursday, 11/26 and Friday, 11/27:
Thanksgiving Holiday - No school for students, teachers, and staff

Wednesday, 12/2:
Shepherd Spring Gala Kick-Off Planning Meeting
6:30 PM

Friday, 12/4:
Professional Development for teachers - No School for students

Friday, 12/11:
International Festival
5:30 - 7:00 PM

Tuesday, 12/15:
Holiday Concert
6:00 PM

Wednesday, 12/16:
Shepherd PTA Meeting
6:30 PM
Don't Forget!




Any items left in the lost and found will be donated to a  local charity on the last Friday of the month.


Shop for Shepherd!

Did you know that many local stores like Giant and Safeway will donate a percentage of your purchases to Shepherd?

Visit the PTA website to find out how:   Shop for Shepherd!



IB Learner Profile

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Dress Code

Shepherd Elementary is a uniform school. The uniform consists of a white top and navy blue bottoms. All students are expected to adhere to the uniform policy.

Spirit Day

Every Friday is Spirit Day! Everyone is encouraged to show their Mustang Pride by wearing the school colors, gold and green along with any other Shepherd apparel.

Star Achievers
Greetings Star Achievers Families!

As many of you know, I 
am retiring from Star Achievers after three years  with the Before and  Aftercare Program. 
 
I have enjoyed building 
the program,  especially working with all of the parents, students and 
staff in the Shepherd Community.  

The process f or selecting a  replacement has begun,  and I will remain with the Program until the new administration is settled in.

If you or anyone you know
is interested in leading 
Star Achievers, please see the position descriptions 
for Operations Manager 
and Program Director at idealist.org.  Or, contact 

Thanks for your help in taking Star Achievers to the next level - 
 
Claire Riley
Program Director

November 23, 2015 
 
A Message from Principal Brawley
Dear Shepherd Community,

May your Thanksgiving be rich with the love of family, the warmth of friendship and the humility of heartfelt gratitude.

Sincerely, 

Jade L. Brawley
Principal

  

Bullying Workshop
We were pleased that so many parents could attend Friday morning's workshop on bullying.

Given the success of the event and the requests for more information, we are planning to schedule another workshop in January. More details will be forthcoming.

Parent Survey on Increasing Instructional Time
DCPS is looking for feedback from parents on increasing instructional time. As we think about the Fiscal Year 2017 budget and strategies to continue to improve academic outcomes among all students, increasing the school day and the school year are two ideas being considered. As DCPS researches and considers these options, it is imperative to know what our families think about these strategies, and if they were implemented, how families would like increased time in school to be used. Please participate in  this survey. It is important that the responses come from a wide range of school communities to ensure the feedback we collect is representative of all DCPS families. This feedback will inform the FY 2017 budget. Questions or additional feedback can be sent to ofpe.info@dc.gov.

International Baccalaureate PYP Update
As an International Baccalaureate School, action and 
service learning are encouraged as part of the curriculum  to help students develop civic responsibility and learn to participate in and around their community. Action and service l earning support schools in making education more  relevant for students, and benefit students, academically, socially, and emotionally.
 
Our Kindergarten students will take Action as they wrap 
up their current IB Unit entitled "Where We Live". Their 
Central Idea is "People working together create 
Productive communities". This week, our students will be writing thank you letters to businesses of their choice in  the community.
 
Action and service learning are a meaningful way for 
students, teachers, and the school community to work 
together with deliberate thought and purposeful action toward a  common goal. The Thanksgiving holiday is the perfect time for  giving thanks, sharing, and spending time with  family and friends. 

In the spirit of giving, please continue to send in 
your loose change to support our Annual Shepherd 
Loose Change Drive. More details are below.
Loose Change Fundraiser


The annual Shepherd Loose Change Fundraiser will run from November 3rd - December 1st. Proceeds benefit a family in need for Christmas and support needed changes at our school. 

Students are encouraged to bring pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters to school to fill up the loose change bag in their classrooms.  Bills accepted too!

Pizza party for the class that collects the most money in the Loose Change Fundraiser

Click here for a flyer about the Loose Change fundraiser.

Shepherd Elementary International Festival

Shepherd families are invited to participate in the annual International Festival on Friday, December 11th from 5:30 - 7:00 PM in the School Auditorium.

Share your family's heritage with the school community.  Country displays, foods to taste, special performances, and models for a fashion show are welcome.  

To volunteer for the International Festival, please complete and return  this flyer to Ms. Brooks no later than Tuesday, November 24th.

Contacts:  
Ms. Beverly Johnson and Ms. Nicole Pethtel

SY15-16 Basketball Season

Come and support our boys and girls basketball teams on Tuesdays and Thursdays, beginning this week.

Look out for the complete schedule from Coach Walcott.

  
Letters About Literature 2015 Contest
Letters About Literature is a reading and writing contest put on each year by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. This contest is for students in grades 4-12. 

Students read a book, poem or speech and write to that author (living or dead) about how the piece affected them personally. Letters are judged on state and national levels. Please consider talking with your child to see if he/she is interested in participating. 

If your child chooses to write a letter to an author, you may mail their entry individually or drop it off to Ms. Tiffany in the library by Friday, January 8, 2016. Guidelines and the entry form can be found  here . Please feel free to contact Ms. Tiffany at  christina.tiffany@dc.gov  or stop by the library after school until 3:30 p.m. if you have any questions about the contest.
A Message from the PTA
A big thank you to all who contributed to the bake sale last Wednesday!  A special shout-out goes to the winner of the Taste of Shepherd competition ... Ms Beverly's Sweet Potato Pies.  

At last week's PTA meeting, several families asked for a refresher on the easy ways that you can support Shepherd.  Here are a few reminders ...

1.  The Amazon Smile Program donates 0.5% of eligible Amazon Smile purchases to Shepherd.  When you are planning to make a purchase from Amazon, go to Amazon via the Amazon Smile link on the bottom left of the Shepherd ES homepage.  Amazon will automatically send the percentage of your purchases to Shepherd.

2.  Lots of other companies will also donate a percentage of your purchases automatically including Giant, Safeway, and Target.  For most companies, you need to redesignate Shepherd ES as your recipient of choice.  Click  here to view supporting organizations and the Shepherd ID code.

Music for Mustangs instruments should be here this week!  Mr. Gonzalez has selected a number of percussion instruments for the Shepherd music program.  A huge thank you to the Rona and Jeffrey Abramson Foundation for their contribution of $5000 of the Music for Mustangs campaign.  Big thanks also go to ANC 4A for their contribution of $500 and to all of you who contributed to the first Shepherd crowdfunding initiative last school year.

Please join us for the Spring Gala planning meeting on Wednesday, December 2nd @ 6:30 PM.  Volunteers are needed for the following committees:
-   Event Planning - food, drinks, decorations, etc.
-   Auction Logistics - auction software, coordination
-   Fundraising - silent auction donations, corporate sponsorship
-   Shepherd History - help put together info about the history of Shepherd ES

Send an email to anne.mcleer@gmail.com to volunteer for a gala committee.  We look forward to seeing you at the kick-off meeting!


 

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