September 7, 2025

📚 Back-to-School Night – Thursday, Sept. 4

A big thank you to our families who joined us for Back-to-School Night! It was wonderful to see so many of you connecting with teachers and learning more about the year ahead. If you weren’t able to attend, you can view Mr. E's Back-to-School Night presentation at the link HERE. For details specific to your child’s class, please reach out directly to their teacher.

🚌 Bus Evacuation Drills – Tuesday, Sept. 9

As part of our ongoing commitment to safety, students will take part in bus evacuation drills on Tuesday morning as they arrive. These important drills help our Wildcats practice what to do in case of an emergency while riding the bus.

🤝 PTO Meeting – Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 7 PM

We’re excited to kick off the year with our first PTO meeting! Please join us at 7 PM in the Shepherdstown library to connect, share ideas, and learn how you can support upcoming events and initiatives. If you can’t attend in person, you’re welcome to join us virtually using the Zoom link provided HERE.

✏️ New Literacy Curriculum

This week, students at Shep will begin our new CKLA literacy curriculum, which is grounded in research-based best practices. CKLA is designed to build strong reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills while helping students deepen their knowledge across a variety of engaging topics. You can learn more about what your child will be working on by exploring the links below:

1st and 2nd grade CKLA
3rd grade CKLA

We are looking forward to a great week!

Sincerely,
Mr. Echelmeier

This Week

Monday, September 8 (Day 1)
- Pre-K Soccer Shots
Tuesday, September 9 (Day 2)
- Bus evacuation drill as students arrive
Wednesday, September 10 (Day 3)
- First PTO meeting of the year at 7:00pm in the Shep Library. The meeting will also be available on Zoom and the link is here.
Thursday, September 11 (Day 4)
- Patriot Day
Friday, September 12 (Day 5)
- Life Skills Field Trip

September

Monday, September 15 - International Dot Day - Students are encouraged to wear dots!
Wednesday, September 17 - Constitution Day
Tuesday, September 23 - Scheduled Fire Drill
Friday, September 26 - September Community Meeting at 1:30 PM
September 29 - October 2 - Scholastic Fall Book Fair!

October

Thursday, October 2 - Shep Fall Fest - 6-7 PM
Friday, October 3 - In-Service - No School
Wednesday, October 8 - PTO Meeting via Zoom at 7 PM
Friday, October 17 - Lifetouch Picture Day
Thursday, October 23 - Parent/Teacher Conferences, 11:00 - 7:30 PM
Friday, October 24 - Parent/Teacher Conferences, 8:00 - 3:00 PM
October 27 - No School

Shep staff is busy starting to plan a new event at Shep - Wildcats Around the World! We will feature foods, crafts and games from many countries around the world. Our event date is scheduled for March 23, 2026. If you have interest in participating or learning more about this years event, please take a moment to fill out the interest form at the link below.

Link to Interest Form

Mark your calendars! Below are the Shepherdstown PTO meetings for the 2025-2026 school year. Please join us for the first PTO meeting in person at Shep on Wednesday, September 10 at 7 PM in the library.

Wednesday, September 10 at 7 PM (At Shep/Zoom)
Wednesday, October 8 at 7 PM (Zoom)
Wednesday, January 14 at 7 PM (Zoom)
Wednesday, March 11 at 7 PM (Zoom)
Wednesday, April 8 at 7 PM (Zoom)
Wednesday, May 13 at 7 PM (Zoom)

Follow MASD on Facebook

If you haven't already done so, you're invited to like and follow our official Mechanicsburg Area School District Facebook page for the latest celebrations, news, and updates from across the district: www.facebook.com/MASDwildcats.

Calendar, Schedules, and Handbook