LTES Community:
 
Thank you all for a great start to our school-year! We hope everyone had a great long weekend and look forward to welcoming back our students and families Tuesday morning.  Also, as a reminder, Back to School Night will take place this Thursday, September 5th from 6:00 – 7:15 p.m..  Please see the announcements below:
 
Back To School Night: This Thursday, September 5th from 6:00 – 7:15 p.m.. The schedule will look as follows (if a family has two or more students, please visit the classrooms during the administration/specials time):

School Arrival (K-5): Doors will open at 8:05 a.m., with the morning set-up as follows:

• 8:05 – 8:30 a.m. – outdoor playground time (families can join)
• *Students arriving 8:30 or later will report directly to classrooms. Students in K-2 can be walked to class, but we would like to limit the amount of adults throughout the building for safety reasons*
• 8:30 – 8:50 a.m. – breakfast in the classroom

 
Student Arrival (Early Childhood):  Doors will open at 8:05 a.m., with the morning set-up as follows:

• 8:05 – 8:45 a.m. – students and families first sign into classrooms and drop belongings.  Family members  (including older siblings) will then escort students to the ECE playground outside (weather permitting).  Families are welcome to stay during this time.
• *Students arriving at 8:45 or later will report directly to classrooms*
• 8:45 – 9:15 a.m. – breakfast in the classroom

 
Shirt Sales This Week: (cash or check)

• Wednesday morning 8 – 9am
• Thursday at open house
• Friday morning 8 – 9am

If we run out of shirts, there will be another opportunity to order in October.
 
Meet our Specials Teachers!
James Levy, music teacher, begins his sixth year at Ludlow Taylor with one of the best equipped music classrooms in the city. Students’ performances at the end of last year surpassed all my expectations and I’m excited to hear this year’s hits. I had a nice summer and did some traveling around Maryland with my wife who is the Director of Public Art for the State. 
 
¡Hola a todos! Me llamo Miranda Metheny, and I will be your child’s World Language teacher this year. When learning a language, there are magical moments when the vocabulary and the grammar seem to fall away, and you experience instead the communication and connection that led you to learn the language in the first place. My goal is for every student at Ludlow-Taylor to experience such a moment in the coming year. Using comprehensible input storytelling, we will explore the cultural and natural landscapes of Spain and the Americas through the Spanish language. This is my 5th year at Ludlow-Taylor, and it’s going to be el mejor – the best!  
 
Crystal Bryant – I'm thrilled to be the new science teacher at LTES! I'm originally from Dallas but I've taught a combination of Math & Science for the past 8 years in the DC area. I'm a proud Bio grad from Howard University & I believe that Science is the bridge between fun and critical thinking!  I'm super passionate about traveling, acting, and dance. And when I'm not doing any of those things, I'm home spending time with my husband and caring for our 2 daughters, Demi & Bella.
 
Christopher Cannaday – I’m from Prince George’s County, MD. I graduated from Virginia State University with Bachelor of Science in Health and Physical Education. I also earned a Master of Education  in Athletic Administration from Northcentral University. This is my tenth year in Education and my second full year at Ludlow Taylor. 
 
Hi! I'm Rebecca Burton, the librarian here at Ludlow-Taylor. This is my 4th year at the school. I feel so lucky to work at a place with so many kids who love to read, learn, and explore. Last year I had lots of exciting clubs, from bird-watching to acting to a Captain Underpants book club, and I look forward another year of engaging students with books and reading in a way that feels meaningful to them.  
 
Tyresa Smith is a former professional athlete who played in the WNBA for Detroit Shock. She graduated with a BS in Health Studies from University of Delaware and a Masters in Health and Physical Education from Georgia State University. She relocated to DC where she began her journey as a Physical Education teacher and coach. As she enters her 4th year at Ludlow-Taylor, Coach Smith looks forward to both educating and inspiring young minds by implementing physical education in the classroom and in their everyday life.

Professeur Jean-Pierre is a  Haitian Artist from Chicago Illinois. Mr JP has been teaching in DCPS since 2009. This Howard University graduate teaches art in French for grades pre-k 3 to 2nd. He believes art is a vehicle to healing, growth, and self actualization.
 
Looking forward to starting off week two!

LTES Community:
 
Below are announcements pertaining to the start of the school-year (only a month away!), on Monday, August 26th, 2019 for students in K-5 and Thursday, August 29th for PS3 and PK4.

​PTO Shirt Orders: Please see the attached t-shirt order form. Shirts can be paid for with cash or check made out to “Ludlow-Taylor PTO”. Completed forms with payment must be dropped off in the front office with Ms. Scholfield by Friday, August 2nd to have shirts ready for the start of the school year. Summer office hours are 8am-3pm. You will receive an email confirming receipt of your order. Copies are also available in the office.  Please reach out to PTO President, Lauren McDermott with questions at pto@ludlowtaylor.org.

Class and Supply Lists: The link for classroom rosters, with a separate page for school supplies is:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-9ozTLvxKmPzcA4Fip-P3Bnx0MvWqVzHIpNQDbsjGPU/edit?usp=sharing
Supplies are not needed immediately, so please take your time in bringing them to school by mid-September.  As a reminder, when creating class rosters, we first consider a balance of gender, race and special education services, to have the highest level of diversity as possible that we know supports current and future student success, so teacher and/or student cohort requests are not accepted. 

2019 – 2020 School Arrival/Morning Exercise/Breakfast in the Classroom: Next year, our doors will open at 8:05 a.m., with the morning looking slightly different for students to incorporate movement and moving breakfast to the classroom. 
- 8:05 – 8:35 a.m. – outdoor playground time
     *Students arriving 8:30 or later will report directly to classrooms*
- 8:35 – 8:55 a.m. – breakfast in the classroom
With this change, our hope is to have a more peaceful arrival and breakfast time, while also providing increased opportunities for face to face parent-teacher interactions.  Further details to come!
 
2019-2020 Calendar of Events:
2019

• Aug. 24th – Beautification Day, 18-19 School Kick-Off
• Sept 5th (ECE – 5) – Back to School Night
• September 27th –Movie on the Lawn
• October 3rd – 1st PTO Meeting
• October 31st – Halloween Parade
• November 21st – LT Thanksgiving
• December 12th – Winter Concerts ( morning, at school) 9:00 – 10:00, 10:00 – 11:15

2020

• January 30th  – International Night
• March 5th – Pancakes and Literacy
• April 4th – LT Taste of the Arts Auction
• May 1st – Spring Fling
• May 28th – Spring Concerts (evening at SH, tentative)
• June 9 – PK3 Promotion Day
• June 10 – PK4 Promotion day
• June 11 -  Kindergarten Promotion
• June 12 – 5th Grade Promotion
• June 17 – Field Day

 
LTES Health and Wellness Design:  At Ludlow-Taylor ES, we will continue prioritize our mission to maximize student outcomes academically, socially, and physically. To do so, we are refining a few components, while also adding in a few new ones.  Families can expect to continue to see:

• FoodPrints
• Physical education 2x a week
• Morning movement block
• Classroom body breaks

Excitedly, we will also be adding:

• A beautiful new multipurpose room with a dedicated physical education space
• Multiple recess times (40 minutes divided into two blocks)
• Full-time, dedicated science teacher
• An introduction to a comprehensive social-emotional learning program through the Whole Child Collaborative

As a school-team, we are so looking forward to getting started again in August 2019!
 
Sincerely,
 
AP Addison and Principal Smith

Good afternoon,

We have about two and a half weeks of school left and are looking forward to finishing out this year on high note with a few exciting events to close us out.  Please see the updates below:

Spring Concert: The Spring Concert is Thursday, June 6th for one night. The event will look as follows:

• 6:15 – 6:45 – PS-K will perform
• 6:45 – 6:55 – 10 minute intermission to allow for PS-K dismissal
• 6:55 – 7:40 – 1st-5th grades will perform

Walking field trip permission slips will be sent home for those that would like to have afterschool students walked to Stuart Hobson.  Also, if interested in volunteering for the Spring Concert, please sign up here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K_H1wNnGKMTwLfy0s-G9ZFo16zpcQODOcNU8rOiBbaA/edit?invite=CL7e6PgD&ts=5ce44a04#gid=0

End of Year Survey: As we continue to refine our practices at Ludlow-Taylor, please take a moment to complete our end of year family survey: https://forms.gle/FNsvorR2pTEBgRfE9

3rd Annual PJ Party: On Friday, May 31st from 6:00 – 10:00 a group of teachers will be hosting a pajama party and movie night for students in all grade levels (and an opportunity for parents to have a quiet night elsewhere) with all proceeds benefitting the PTO.  The event will include: face painting, pizza, popsicles, games, movies and more.  If interested in joining, please reach out to Ms. Golub at Elisabeth.Golub@dc.gov, to register.  We are asking for a $30-$40 donation for one spot and $50 for two or more.

Pride Celebrations:  Please join Mrs. Thomas, myself and the greater DCPS community on Saturday, June 8th from 4:00 – 7:00 to march in the Capital Pride Parade (beginning around 21st and P Street NW).  Please see Mrs. Thomas for further details or reach out to her at Brenda.Thomas@dc.gov.  Students will also be reading Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag this month to learn the remarkable true story of Harvey Milk and his fight for equality for the LGBTQ+ community.

2019 – 2020 School Budget: A huge thank you to our Local School Advisory Team that supported Principal Smith and AP Addison over the last month in developing our budget for next school year, including: Ms. Gordon, Ms. Henderson, Ms. Penn, Ms. Ford, Coach Smith, Mr. Phillips, Kyle Evans, Tracy Perrin, Karen Fligger, Katie Clark and Lauren McDermott.  We are excited to announce the following additions for next school-year:

• Full-time science teacher
• City Year partnership – group of AmeriCorps partners to help with instruction, direct student support, recess coverage, community events and more
• Part-time technology coordinator
• Part-time English language learner teacher
• Full-time school psychologist

Building Updates: Over the past few months, we have finalized our building modifications for next school-year, with construction beginning once school lets out.  Through these projects, we will be adding:

• Renovated multipurpose room with expansion into the dance room.  This will include a drop-down wall to separate a cafeteria and physical education side, new a/v system, new flooring, ceiling tiles, lighting and more
• Right-sizing of three classrooms to allow larger spaces for growing student body
• Solar panels on the school and canopy over the school’s blacktop to create an outdoor physical education space

End of Year Graduations/Promotions:  It is that time of year to start marking your calendars for end of year celebrations!  Please check with teachers on individual times, as we have tried to spread out promotion dates across a few days to allow families with students in multiple grades to attend.

• June 4th – PreK 3
• June 5th – PreK 4
• June 6th – Kindergarten Promotion
• June 6th – Spring Concert (at Stuart Hobson)
• June 7th – 5th Grade Promotion
• June 12th – Field Day
• June 13th – Field Day (rain date)

Articles we are currently reading:

• https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/53681/how-movement-and-exercise-help-kids-learn
• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201001/the-decline-play-and-rise-in-childrens-mental-disorders 

Thanks to everyone for the continued support as we close out SY18-19!

Principal Smith

Good afternoon,
 
We cannot believe it is May already! We are sending out the updates this week a little early to help us prepare for a few events upon us including Bike to School Day (Wednesday), PARCC testing (Tuesday) and Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week.  Please see further information below:
 
Spring Concerts: Our Spring Concert has been moved to Thursday, June 6th for one night. The event will look as follows:

• 6:15 – 6:45 – PS-K will perform
• 6:45 – 6:55 – 10 minute intermission to allow for PS-K dismissal
• 6:55 – 7:40 – 1st-5th grades will perform

Walking field trip permission slips will be sent home for those that would like to have afterschool students walked to Stuart Hobson.
 
PARCC Testing and Logistics:  PARCC testing for students in general education will begin Tuesday, May 7th.  Thank you for your helping us to create a calm, supportive environment for our students as we try to reduce the stress of testing that many students can experience – we are confident each student will do his or her best!  Additionally, to accommodate testing, we are switching the morning breakfast and recess times between Grades 3-5 and K-2, so the schedule will look as below for the next two weeks:
Grades K-2
8:05 – 8:30 – cafeteria
8:30 – 8:50 – students run around outside
8:50 – 9:05 – students back to cafeteria for those that didn’t have breakfast yet.
Grades 3-5
8:05-8:30 – outside
8:30-8:50 am. – cafeteria /breakfast

Afterschool Enrollment begins Wednesday May 1st at 9:00 a.m. Registration is only available online at https://dcps.dc.gov/node/1063782.  As a reminder, students will need to be registered for the 19-20 schoolyear in order to register for afterschool (please call the main office if your student ID number is needed).  We are encouraging all families to enroll for school and afterschool asap!
 
End of Year Graduations/Promotions:  It is that time of year to start marking your calendars for end of year celebrations!  Please check with teachers on individual times, as we have tried to spread out promotion dates across a few days to allow families with students in multiple grades to attend.

• June 4th – PreK 3
• June 5th – PreK 4
• June 6th – Kindergarten Promotion
• June 7th – 5th Grade Promotion

 
Bike to School Day: Please join us for Bike to School Day Wednesday, May 8th! Details below:

• When: Wednesday, May 8th 7:30-8:15am
• Where: Lincoln Park- near Emancipation Statue
• What: This is Capitol Hill’s local celebration, but also the national event for the National Center for Routes to School with activities, snacks, local and national speakers, local businesses and organizations, and of course all your neighborhood friends!
• Also: Our school team, led by Coach Smith and Principal Smith will leave the par around 8:15 to head to LTES.

 
From the PTO:   Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week! Please help us in supporting our entire staff with events throughout the week, including:

• Monday, 5/6—OPENING DAY: Omelettes cooked in JP's room from 7:45 a.m.-8:30 a.m.
• Tuesday, 5/7—GRAND SLAM SMOOTHIES: Made-to-order smoothies in the lobby resource room at 8:00 a.m.
• Wednesday, 5/8—PRINCIPAL SURPRISE: Look forward to a home run treat from Mr. Smith.
• Thursday, 5/9—7th INNING MASSAGE: Located in the dance room. Sign-up for your time slot in the front office.
• Friday, 5/10—TAILGATE PARTY: Happy Hour at Red Rocks Pizza on H Street from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Pizza and one drink ticket will be provided.

On another note: starting May 4th and running until May 12th, Hill's Kitchen and Summit to Soul will both be hosting their Annual Giving Week.  Both shops will donate 15% of each sale to the DC school of the purchaser's choice and Ludlow-Taylor is participating.  Shopping at these stores between this weekend and next is not only a great way to support two local small businesses, but also support our school. Just don't forget to designate Ludlow-Taylor as your school of choice at checkout. And when you're in the stores, don't forget to give their owners Leah (Hill's Kitchen) and Kim (Summit to Soul) a shout out for their amazing support of our local schools!
Lastly, thank you to everyone who attended, assisted, or participated in last week's school auction.  It was a great success and simply another indication of the strong community support we are fortunate to have at Ludlow-Taylor.
 
Thanks for your continued support!
 
Principal Smith