Hearst Weekly Update

As we look to the start of our third week of school tomorrow, many schools around the country are headed back to school this week for their first days of the year. Tomorrow marks the first day of school for Sidwell Friends (prepare yourself for extra traffic on 37th Street!), and Thursday marks the first day for staff at schools in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (CFISD), in the northwest Houston area. In the spirit of our core value of being service-oriented, I’ve signed up our school to support a school in CFISD that was impacted by Hurricane Harvey. As more information becomes available about the school and school community’s specific needs, I’ll be sharing that with you all and asking for your support. On this Labor Day, thanks for all that you do to make Hearst such a lovely place to work!

Email: attendance@hearstes.org
Website: www.hearstes.org
Location: 3950 37th Street Northwest, Washington, DC, United States
Phone: (202) 282-0106
Facebook: facebook.com/hearstes
Twitter: @hearstes

Celebrate the tenth season of free live opera simulcasts by joining Washington National Opera at Nationals Park for Aida on Saturday, September 23 at 7 p.m. Gates open at 5 p.m. for pre-opera activities. As a DC Partnership school, the Kennedy Center is providing us with bus transportation to and from Hearst. For more information, visit: https://www.kennedy-center.org/wno/simulcastRSVP by Thursday, September 14 at 4:00pm. RSVPs are required and can be completed via Bloomz.

I’m starting a new section of the weekly update called Featured Folks. This is a place where we'll highlight different members of our community with a brief bio and photos and this week is my turn.

Jen Thomas

I have served the students of DCPS in a variety of capacities since 2001, when I became a member of the inaugural cohort of DC Teaching Fellows. I spent seven years as a teacher, three years as an Instructional Coach, and two years as a Manager of the Instructional Coaching Program, before becoming a DCPS Mary Jane Patterson Fellow. I've been the proud Principal of Hearst Elementary School since July 2014.

Additionally, I'm a Middle Childhood Generalist National Board Certified Teacher, Editorial Advisor for NAESP’s Principal Magazine, and a 2017 ASCD Emerging Leader. Prior to coming to DC, I spent three years as an English Language instructor at Tatsuno Senior High School in Japan.

I'm a native of Massachusetts and received my undergraduate degree in International Relations from Boston University. I have two master’s degrees, one in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and one in Elementary Education, both from American University.

My husband is a DCPS teacher and my son, a DCPS graduate, is a freshman at North Carolina A & T. In my free time I love to travel, eat, cook, read, and spend time with friends and family.

Do you ever wonder what delicious food your cafeteria will be serving each week? Find your school menu here! A reminder all students who need dietary accommodations in the cafeteria must submit the completed dietary accommodation forms as soon as possible to the school nurse. After submitting, the school nurse must send in the completed forms to Food and Nutrition Services (FNS). Please keep in mind that it can take 3-4 weeks from the time forms are received by FNS from the school nurse for dietary accommodations to be made in the cafeteria.

Upcoming Events:

• PTA Mtg/Back to School Night: The PTA will hold its first meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 13, beginning at 5:30pm and then will be followed by Back to School Night. Pizza and childcare will be available for all potty-trained students and siblings. Please check the listserv and school website for sign-up information.
• Community Dining Night: Our first community dining night will be Tuesday, September 26, at Nando’s Peri Peri at 4231 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Teachers can participate at lunch, if they like, but will have to pre-order the food to go. Parents can dine in or carry out between 4pm and 8pm, but please make sure to mention you’re with Hearst and our school will receive a portion of the proceeds!
• Calling all Volunteers! Are you looking for ways to be involved at Hearst? Whether you can help out from home or in the evenings or during the school day, there are plenty of opportunities to help keep Hearst great. To sign up to volunteer contact PTA Co-Presidents Judy Goodstein (judygoody24@gmail.com) or Amanda Provost (amanda@wydlerbrothers.com) and we will try to find a task for you that meets your availability and interests!

Since the first "modern" DC public school was built in 1864, and promptly named for the mayor who built it, the public school and charter school systems have named 255 schools for individual people. Among them are 32 known slave owners, 10 former slaves, 10 abolitionists, 2 people who joined the Confederacy, 17 civil rights leaders, 26 presidents and 32 mayors or other city officials. https://ggwash.org/view/64476/who-are-dcs-schools-named-for