Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! The Truesdell team is thrilled to welcome our students and staff back to school. We hope that you were able to relax and create special memories with your friends and families. Now it's time to look forward to an awesome new school year as we continue to achieve excellence through equity.

Our staff has been working to hone their professional skill set and prepare learning environments for the new school year. We are grateful to our awesome facilities team who worked to ensure that both campuses were ready to receive students and promote learning. Our administrative services team has worked to ensure students are registered and ready to go.

We think Truesdell is a special place to learn and grow. We are proud of our school and our high expectations for students are unwavering. Our students are special children. They are beautiful, smart, kind, compassionate and eager to learn. We strive to make connections with them and their families so that everyone feels valued, accepted and safe. Our Truesdell motto, "Excellence through Equity" will continue to guide our mission of providing a diverse, inclusive, rigorous and joyful learning experience for all of our students.

We are also elated that we will be returning to normal school operations this school year. All COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted. We understand that we will need to continue to monitor students and staff for symptoms and to accelerate learning for students to close learning gaps cause by the impact of the pandemic. Partnering with families continues to be crucial. We encourage all families to remain connected and informed by reading the monthly Truesdell Family Bulletins, remaining connected to the Remind App, the DCPS website and school and district-wide emails.

Again, we are excited to begin a new school year and are excited at the what the new year brings for our students.

Best,

Tracy Foster

Principal

All Students in 1st - 5th Grade:

• The first day of school is Monday, August 28, 2023.
• Students will report to the Ingraham campus at 8:45am (800 Ingraham Street, NW).
• Students may pick up breakfast in the cafeteria to take to their classroom with them beginning at 8:45am
• All parents/guardians will be allowed to walk their child(dren) directly to the classroom beginning at 8:45am.
• Students arriving to school after 8:45am should report to the security station for a late pass.
• Early dismissal ends at 2:45pm.

All Students in Kindergarten:

• The first day of school is Monday, August 28, 2023.
• Students will report to the private school bus pick up location at the corner of 8th and Hamilton Streets, NW between 8:35am - 8:45am to board the bus to the Sharpe campus.
• The school bus departs at 8:45am and there is no late bus. It is scheduled to arrive at the Sharpe campus by 9:00am.
• All students in before care will be escorted to the school bus and checked in by the before care staff.
• Doors open to students at the Sharpe campus at 8:45am.
• Parents may drop non-bus riders off at the Sharpe campus at 8:45am and walk them directly to the classroom.
• Students arriving to school after 8:45am should report to the Sharpe campus office for a late pass.
• In the afternoon, the school bus departs from the Sharpe campus at 3:05pm and will arrive back at the Ingraham campus at 3:15pm for dismissal. Students should be picked up at the corner of 8th and Hamilton Streets, NW.
• Parents may also pick non-bus riders up from the classroom at the Sharpe campus for dismissal at 3:05pm.
• NO STUDENTS MAY BE LEFT BEHIND AT THE SHARPE CAMPUS IN THE AFTERNOON. All students who are not picked up from the Sharpe campus by 3:05pm will be transported by school bus back to the Ingraham campus.

All Students in Pre-Kindergarten 3 and Pre-Kindergarten 4:

• First day of school is Thursday, August 31st.
• Will report to the private school bus pick up location at the corner of 8th and Hamilton Streets, NW between 8:35am - 8:45am to board the bus to the Sharpe campus.
• The school bus departs at 8:45am and there is no late bus. It is scheduled to arrive at the Sharpe campus by 9:00am.
• All students in before care will be escorted to the school bus and checked in by the before care staff.
• Doors open to students at the Sharpe campus at 8:45am.
• Parents may drop students off directly at the Sharpe campus at 8:45am and walk students directly to the classroom.
• Students arriving to school after 8:45am should report to the Sharpe campus office for a late pass.
• In the afternoon, the school bus departs from the Sharpe campus at 3:05pm and will arrive back at the Ingraham campus at 3:15pm for dismissal. Students should be picked up at the corner of 8th and Hamilton Streets, NW.
• Parents may also pick students up from the classroom at the Sharpe campus for dismissal at 3:05pm.
• NO STUDENTS MAY BE LEFT BEHIND AT THE SHARPE CAMPUS IN THE AFTERNOON. All students who are not picked up from the Sharpe campus by 3:05pm will be transported by school bus back to the Ingraham campus.

Dismissal:

• Students in grades Pre-Kindergarten 3 - Kindergarten will be dismissed from school busses on the corner of 9th and Hamilton Streets, NW.
• Students in grades 1 & 2 will be dismissed at the front of the school on Ingraham Street, NW.
• Students in grade 3 will be dismissed from the garden on 9th Street, NW.
• Students in grade 4 & 5 will be dismissed from the playground on 9th Street, NW.

Good News! The private school bus contractor that will be transporting students to the Sharpe campus has agreed to conduct a practice bus run for students in Pre-Kindergarten 3 and Pre-Kindergarten 4 on Tuesday, August 29th at 10am. All busses will pick up students at the corner of Hamilton and 8th Streets, NW. We want to make sure that our youngest learners practice riding the bus before they begin school on Thursday, August 31st. Please note:

1. Staff can ride the bus, but not parents.
2. The bus will depart from Truesdell at 10:00am and make the loop to Sharpe and back.
3. Please arrive no later than 9:50am for the practice run.
4. Staff members will create rosters of students riding the bus and will simulate checking them off as they embark and disembark from the bus.

• 08/28: First Day of School for K-5 Students
• 08/31: First Day of School for PK3 - PK4 Students
• 09/04: School Closed
• 09/14 Back-to-School Night for Students in Grades 1-5 @ 6PM: Ingraham Campus
• 09/21 Back-to-School Night for Students in Grades PK3-K @ 6PM: Sharpe Campus
• 10/09: School Closed
• 10/20: Professional Development Day
• 10/23: PK3 APTT Meeting - 5:30pm @Sharpe Campus
• 10/24: PK4 APTT Meeting - 5:30pm @Sharpe Campus
• 10/25: Kindergarten APTT Meeting - 5:30pm @Sharpe Campus
• 10/26: 1st Grade APTT Meeting - 5:30pm @Ingraham Campus
• 10/30: 2nd Grade APTT Meeting - 5:30pm @Ingraham Campus
• 11/01: 3rd Grade APTT Meeting - 5:30pm @Ingraham Campus
• 11/02: 4th Grade APTT Meeting - 5:30pm @Ingraham Campus
• 11/06: 5th Grade APTT Meeting - 5:30pm @Ingraham Campus
• 10/25: Kindergarten APTT Meeting - 5:30pm @Sharpe 11/1: End of Quarter 1 - Records/Professional Development Day. School Closed for Students
• 10/31: Book-O-Ween/Harvest Festival
• 11/10: School Closed
• 11/22-23: School Closed
• 12/22-29: Winter Break - School Closed
• DCPS SY23-24 School Calendar