Shepard Elementary
2025-2026
1000 Wilson Drive
Plano, TX 75094
469-752-3100
School Hours: 7:40-3:00 (Students to class at 7:30, Tardy at 7:40)
Office Hours: 7:15-3:30
School Telephone: 469-752-3000
Absence Reporting: Online via Skyward
School Mascot: Patriots
School Colors: Red, White, and Blue
Website: https://shepard.pisd.edu/
7:00–7:30 a.m. | Early Arrival & Breakfast
Students who need to arrive early or purchase breakfast may enter through the gym doors and will be seated and supervised by staff.
7:30–7:40 a.m. | Regular Arrival
School doors open at 7:30 a.m., classrooms open, and regular Shepard arrival begins. Students arriving by car should use the back carpool line. Walkers may enter through the front entrance. Families who are using regular arrival are welcome to begin lining up in the carpool line or gathering on the porch a few minutes before the doors open.
7:40 a.m. | School Begins
The school day officially begins at 7:40 a.m. Students begin the day together with announcements in their classrooms. At this time, the exterior doors will close. Any student arriving after 7:40 a.m. is considered tardy and must be accompanied by a guardian to the front office to sign in.
- As a reminder, for the safety of our walking students, cars should never pull through the front drive unless they are parking and coming into the office.
- Parents must have a purple school issued parent pick-up sign available to use for identification in our designated carpool and walkup areas. If no pickup sign is present, parents are directed to the front office to show identification.
- Parents who need their child called from class to the front office to be dismissed early, need to plan to do so before 2:45. After 2:45, the office becomes congested, and students may have already traveled to their dismissal location causing confusion and safety hazards for the other children.
- If you are checking your child out early, please send your child's teacher an email and copy our receptionist on the email. If a child is not picked up within five minutes of a designated time of arrival, the student will be sent back to class in order to avoid additional loss of learning.
- Students are dismissed at 3:00 and will be taken into the building when the carpool line is clear each day. If the carpool lane has closed and there are no students or staff present, please drive around to the front, park, come into the building to show identification and sign your student out. The front office closes at 3:30 daily, and office staff is not responsible for monitoring students. Please help our teachers maximize their planning time afterschool by picking up your child on time each day.
- Dogs are not allowed on campus.
- Bikes should be walked on campus for everyone's safety.
- Please use designated crossing walks.
The Patriot Post is a weekly newsletter sent through email. The email address and phone numbers parents provide during registration are used for school and district communication. Be sure to log in to your family access account and check/update your contact information. The school newsletter comes from the address: pleasenoreply@pisd.edu
- Facebook and Instagram- Shepard has a very active social media presence. Give us a follow to see information, reminders, and highlights from Shepard!
- Grade Level Newsletter- Grade level teachers collaborate on a weekly newsletter to parents for information about upcoming learning, events, etc. If there are multiple email addresses you would like to use, please let your child's teacher know.
- Emergency Communication- In the event of an important reminder or emergency situation, Shepard has an automated phone message system that calls, emails, and/or texts the primary contact's phone number.
- Reaching your child's teacher- Teachers are available through email or via their classroom phone during their planning time or after dismissal is finished for the day. Please allow up to 24 hours for a response as teachers are in meetings during planning times almost daily and may not be able to answer right away. For urgent messages, call the front office.
- PISD Family Access/Skyward -The Family Access portal will allow parents/guardians to monitor and participate in your child’s education, including the ability to:
- Review grades
- Check schedules
- View assignments
- Keep track of attendance
- Manage fees and payments
- Access other important information
Students will also have accounts, where they will check grades, complete online assignments and more. Visit https://www.pisd.edu/familyaccess for more information on account set-up and FAQs.
District Text Message Updates
Plano ISD offers a text messaging option to provide our community with more ways to receive school and district information. Opt in today by texting “Y” to 67587.
HB 1481
During the 89th Legislation session, the Texas House and Senate passed HB 1481 regarding telecommunication devices in school. Texas law now prohibits students from using any type of personal communication device during the school day, while on school property. Exceptions are provided for students with documented medical needs, special education accommodations, or other health and safety requirements as outlined by law. All other personal communication devices will not be allowed to be on, or in use, during the school day.
Purpose
In order to support a safe and focused learning environment, Plano ISD campuses maintain clear expectations for the use of personal telecommunication devices during the school day. This includes cell phones, smartwatches, wireless headphones, tablets, non-district issued laptops, smart glasses, messaging devices, earbuds/headphones or any other wearable telecommunications device.These guidelines are designed to minimize distractions and foster positive academic and social interactions.
Student Expectations
Students are expected to have all personal telecommunication devices powered off and stored out of sight in their backpack or personal bag, from the time they enter the building until they leave campus at the end of the school day. This expectation applies during class time, passing periods, lunch, while in restrooms and anywhere on campus during the instructional day.
- Parents who wish to volunteer in any capacity—such as class parties, Field Day, library support, lunchroom help, or serving as a field trip chaperone—must complete a VOLY background check each school year. We recommend going ahead and completing the process early, even if you're unsure of your plans, so you're cleared and ready to go if a volunteer opportunity comes up last minute. https://plano.voly.org/
- Parents who volunteer or visit any daytime events at school (class parties, etc.) are encouraged the RSVP on the Google Form found in the Patriot Post in advance. This helps our office staff with planning and prevents long waits in the office.
- All visitors and volunteers must sign-in at the front office and receive a Visitor's badge. This includes parents attending school field trips both as visitors with the group and as chaperones.
Plano ISD believes that student success starts with consistent attendance—and it takes all of us working together to make that happen. At Shepard, we closely track student attendance and aim for at least 96% attendance each six weeks.You can help by reinforcing the importance of being at school every day and avoiding unnecessary absences. Please note: Students with more than three absences will automatically receive attendance letters in Skyward as part of our regular district communication.
Attendance Policy Information: https://pol.tasb.org/PolicyOnline/PolicyDetails?key=312&code=FEA#legalTabContent
At Shepard, the safety of our students and staff is a top priority. We have several systems and procedures in place to ensure a secure learning environment:
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Safety Training: All students are required to view a safety video at the beginning of each school year or upon enrollment to ensure they understand important safety procedures. Parents receive the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) emergency flyer at the start of each school year.
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Monthly Drills: Students participate in monthly emergency drills. Our administration monitors these closely and reports any concerns to the district for follow-up.
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On-Campus Security: Shepard has a trained School Marshal on campus.
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Police Partnership: We partner with the Plano Police Department. An officer visits our campus multiple times each week, and officers have immediate access to the building when needed. We are also assigned a School Resource Officer who is housed at Wilson MIddle School.
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Emergency Equipment: We are equipped with an AED and other emergency supplies available to our first responder team and trained staff members.
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Parent Notification: In the event of an emergency, Shepard’s automated messaging system can be used to contact parents quickly and efficiently.
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Evacuation and Reunification Plans: Shepard has a designated evacuation site and detailed plans for safely reunifying students with their families both on campus and at our emergency location, if needed.
Dogs and skateboards are not allowed on school property at any time.
3rd Party Deliveries: PISD campuses are not to accept student deliveries from 3rd party providers (Uber Eats, etc.)
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We truly value open communication and strong partnerships with our families. If you have a concern, we encourage you to start by reaching out to your child’s teacher so you can work together toward a solution.
If you still have questions or feel that more support is needed, please don’t hesitate to contact our campus administration team. We’re always here to listen and help. Reaching out to us directly ensures we can work together right away without delay.
Shepard offers daily breakfast and lunch for students. The student cost of breakfast is $2.00 and lunch is $3.15. School menus will be available on the SchoolCafe website at https://www.schoolcafe.com/pisd
- Lunch schedules vary by grade and can be found on the daily schedule image. There are times where lunch schedules change, students eat in their classrooms, and menu changes happen from time to time. Please add allergy information in Skyward and add preferences in the School Cafe app, where you can also view your child's purchases.
- Students may purchase lunch or breakfast by bringing cash or preferably, using their student ID number to charge to the schoolcafe lunch account to which parents can add money.
- Please contact our wonderful Food and Nutritional Services Manager, Julie Lazano, with any questions about school breakfasts or lunch.
We love celebrating our students' birthdays and want to keep things fun, simple, and manageable for everyone. At school, this looks like a quick birthday song and a quick treat at the very end of the day. Please follow these guidelines when planning a birthday treat:
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No balloons, please.
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Drop off treats in the front office or place them on the shelves in the vestibule.
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No cakes that need to be cut – we want to save our teachers from the mess and the time!
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No drinks, please.
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Parents do not attend classroom birthday celebrations.
Thank you for helping us keep birthday celebrations joyful and easy to manage!
Before leaving home each morning, please encourage your child to double-check for important notes to their teacher, homework, lunch, money for lunch, library book, etc.
- Forgotten, necessary items (glasses, money) will be delivered.
- Forgotten or dropped off lunches should be left on the shelves in the front hallway before the doors leading into the office.
- If you need to deliver any of these items after the school day has started, please write your child’s name and teacher’s name on the item and drop it off in the front vestibule inside the doors. Instructional time will not be interrupted to notify students of non-necessary forgotten items. The shelves will be checked periodically and items will be picked up by the student at the teacher discretion during the least disruptive time to instruction. Please help us limit distractions and interruptions in the child's classroom by fostering independence with your child.
Both prescription and over-the-counter medicines must be in an original, labeled bottle and must be accompanied by a PISD medication request form obtained in the clinic. Dosage and time should be included with nonprescription drug containers. Parents must bring medications to the nurse for safe keeping. Medications may not be kept in lockers, desks or lunch bags.
