Hearst Weekly Update

Happy Sunday Owls! We officially have three weeks of school in the books and I continue to be impressed with how focused, positive, and engaged all of our Owls have been. This week brings our first major family engagement event of the year, Back to School Night. Our goals for the evening include to:

• Introduce families to school programs and staff.
• Continue to build trusting relationships with all families so that all students and families feel valued and welcomed at our school.
• Provide families with relevant and concrete information about what their children are learning, academically and social-emotionally.
  
• Ensure families understand school and classroom policies and expectations.

The schedule for the evening is as follows:

• 5:30-6:00 PTA Meeting & Principal's Presentation, Gym
• 6:05-6:35 Round 1 of Classroom Visits
  
• 6:35-6:45 Time to Visit Information Tables in Atrium
  
• 6:45-7:15 Round 2 of Classroom Visits

Staff will be sharing information about the scope and sequence for all content areas, what to expect socio-emotionally from your child this year, homework expectations, best ways to communicate with them, how you can support your child's learning this year, school and classroom policies, and also leave time in the classroom presentations for Q & A. We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday evening!

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

Students should not bring money to school unless parents receive notification from a Hearst staff member to do so. Because the school will provide sports equipment for recess and PE, students are not permitted to bring sports equipment (footballs, soccer balls, etc.) from home. Additionally, students should not bring toys, trading cards, electronic games, or cell phones to school. In the event that a child brings any of the above items to school, Hearst is not responsible if said items are lost or stolen and staff will confiscate items that are visible or in use during school hours. All items that are confiscated will be held in the main office and must be picked up by a parent. If you need to get a message to your child during the day, please call the main office (202-282-0106) and office staff will ensure the message is passed to your child.

DCPS Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) has created the School Food Advisory Board (SFAB) to share updates and gain feedback from the DCPS community in our effort to continually improve our meal programs. We want to make sure that every school community's voice is heard!

Please join the next SFAB meeting on October 3 from 5:30pm-7:30pm at Brookland Middle School. Parents, teachers, administrators, students, and all community stakeholders of DCPS school meals are welcome to attend. Those interested can visit the SFAB website to RSVP or learn more.

Mayor Bowser and Interim Chancellor Amanda Alexander invite you to kick off the 2018-2019 School Year by attending DC Public School’s Back to School Block Party on Saturday, September 22from12:00pm to 3:00pm at Anacostia High School (1601 16th Street, SE).

All are welcome to celebrate the start of the school year with free food, fun activities for all ages, and amazing performances from our DCPS students! Local partner organizations and District government agencies will offer helpful information and resources, including college and career guidance, health and wellness, and food access resources.

For more information on the event, partnering, or volunteering, please contact Jerry Ilar, Public Events and Engagement Coordinator at jerry.ilar@dc.gov or (202) 744-0423.

RSVP today at bit.ly/DCPSBlockParty

See you at the event!

As the Department of General Services (DGS) conducts its annual lead in water testing in our buildings, it’s important that we communicate to parents and families. A general letter briefing this year’s process, testing schedule, and resources available for your school community to learn more about water filtration and updates to the District’s testing protocol was sent electronically to parents and families via Blackboard Connect last week.

Hello Owls! We hope you had a wonderful weekend. Please read below for some important information.

After-School Enrichment: Confirmation emails will be sent out on Monday, September 10th to parents/guardians of students who have gotten a Lottery spot. At that point, parents/guardians will be able to access the Sign-Up Genius website for all Enrichment classes to complete enrollment in applicable PTA Sponsored Classes. Notifications will also be sent if your child did not receive a lottery spot and is on the wait list.

PTA Meeting/Back to School Night: The PTA will hold its first regular meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 5:30pm, followed immediately by Back to School Night. The PTA will be providing child care and dinner to all students and their potty-trained siblings. Please sign up here:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Dbm0kkXBjLWlAVZDZF6zfmcMF9B_aZbWkUX_vGsdoew/edit. Please stay tuned for more logistics and location information.

Room Parents Needed: Support your child, his or her classmates, and their teachers. Become a room parent. It's easy. During the year you'll perform a few simple tasks, mostly by email. To sign up as a room parent, contact Charles Greene at charles@charlesgreene.com

Auction Committee: Yes, the auction isn’t for months, but it takes a lot of planning to pull off such an awesome event. The Auction Planning Committee will hold its first meeting on Tuesday, October 2, at 7pm at the Whole Foods in Tenleytown. We will meet in the upstairs cafe area. Please join us! If you have any questions, please reach out to Kim Cooper at kzaikov@gmail.comand Christina Burnett at Christina.Burnett10@Outlook.com.

Hearst Owls at DC United: Join us for our first Hearst Day at Audi Field on Saturday, October 13th at 5pm as D.C. United and Wayne Rooney take on FC Dallas! Tickets for the match start at $30 per ticket. Follow this link to sign up: https://fevo.me/2M2VVqK.

Interested in learning more about the PTA? Please reach out to Co-Presidents Amanda Provost atamanda@wydlerbrothers.com and Christine Galano at Christine.Galano@gmail.com

On Tuesday, September 11, at 6:30 p.m., the Bowser Administration and the Our Schools Leadership Committee will host the final public engagement forum at Brookland Middle School in Ward 5.

These meetings are an opportunity for community members to directly participate with the chancellor search process and share their priorities for the future of DCPS. RSVP for the forum HERE.

For the latest information on the Our Schools Leadership Committee and the DCPS chancellor search, visitourschools.dc.gov.