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Quote of the week: "Halloween is everyday, isn't it? For some of us..." --Tim Burton I love holidays in general, especially Halloween. There is a freedom in dressing up and taking on the persona of someone else. That persona can be scary, cute, racy, clever, or adventurous, sometimes all of the above. On Halloween, we are all actors, and all the world's a stage. There is so much creativity on display: decorated houses, homemade costumes, and creepy carved pumpkins. Today, of all days, I miss having children in the building. There is nothing as colorful (or as crazy) as an elementary school on Halloween. Luckily for me, I can virtually drop in on the students in their Zoom classes. I'm looking forward to seeing costumes, listening to scary stories, and watching students participate in games. Be sure to ask your students what they did today in school, what they enjoyed about the day, what would have made the day even better. I wish you all a safe and happy Halloween with lots of tricks and treats! Take scare! Jeanne P.S. Special thanks to Lily Escobedo, Jenny Abellana and Gina Smith for coordinating our Read-a-thon. Everything went smoothly, and we raised over $25,000. Thank you to everyone who contributed! School Business: Return to School Task Force: Our district-wide task force met for the first time on 10/20/20. We are starting to put in place safety measures for returning to school and discussing everything from cleaning schedules to desk placement. I promise to keep our community updated about the plans for Ocean Shore. It would be mid-January at the very earliest that any students would return. Students would return in phases, most likely starting with students with special needs and progressing from there. Of course, any plan depends on the COVID-19 numbers continuing to hold steady or drop. I know how frustrating all of this is, and I wish I had more concrete answers! PEF fundraiser on Halloween morning: PEF is proud to announce its partnership with Coastside Dance School, LLC. To launch the partnership, Roxanne Selinger of Coastside Dance School will be hosting two virtual dance classes for Pre-K to 8th graders, the morning of Halloween, with all proceeds supporting PEF! Please see the attached flier for more information. PEF needs our support more than ever, so please donate if you can! https://www.pacificaef.org/ Picture Days will be November 4th and 5th. Please see the flier below for more information. Here's a link to Lifetouch's safety information. Lifetouch Safety and here is link to Lifetouch for online ordering: https://my.lifetouch.com/mylifetouch/#/ Our picture day id number is : EVTVBR6T4. We will be taking temperatures and asking screening questions. Anyone with a temperature of 100.4 will not be allowed into the building. Dia de los Muertos Ofrenda for Sean Nunan: The altar will be displayed outside of the library during the week of November 2nd, and will be up during the scheduled picture days on 11/4 & 11/5. Feel free to drop a card or paper flowers in the basket. Sean's family came to see the altar this week and Sean's wife, May, expressed her deep appreciation for the Ocean Shore community. Ocean Shore Book Fair: The book fair will run from 11/13 through 11/26. It's entirely online. Here is the link to our Scholastic page: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/homepage.do?method=homepage&url=oceanshoreschool1 Garden Art Project: Feel like sanding, priming, and painting the alphabet? We are looking for a few families willing to help restore 16 inch tall wooden letters so that they can be hung on the fence of the school garden. 4 to 6 wooden letters of the alphabet and supplies to restore them would be provided. If you are interested in or have questions regarding helping us add some future color to the outdoor space, email jonelle.chase@comast.net 
Friday, October 23, 2020 Hang on to your hats parents, we are headed into the holiday season! Patricia asked me what we were doing as a school for Halloween and my initial response was "nothing." However, that's not true. Teachers are planning spooky activities, reading and having students write scary stories, and the 2/3 team is organizing a theme day. Staff and students alike are encouraged to dress up for their Zoom classes. It's more important now than ever before to celebrate. True, some things will look different, and a few traditional activities, like running all over the neighborhood to collect candy, aren't possible this year. Family gatherings might be a little smaller, not as many of us will travel, and we won't be attending as many holiday parties as we might normally do. Maybe I'll actually lose weight this holiday season instead of gaining my usual five pounds. Then again, I WILL be able to bake cookies and drink eggnog, so I should probably count on making my traditional New Year's resolution to work out more and eat less. This year, it's important to focus on what traditions we can still participate in, and it's crucial that we put effort into making the holiday season special. Our holiday rituals are reassuring; they give us something to hold on to in times of change and when things are difficult. This reassurance is important for adults, but it's crucial for children. So bring out those decorations, dig up grandma's recipes, and start planning for the holidays. Cheers! Jeanne P.S. A special thanks to Sophie Korn and all the staff members and former staff members who participated in our first annual Read-a-Thon live. We raised an additional $720 dollars for Ocean Shore and had a blast in the process. Thank you to everyone who attended and to those who were able to donate! School Business: PEF fundraiser: PEF is proud to announce its partnership with Coastside Dance School, LLC. To launch the partnership, Roxanne Selinger of Coastside Dance School will be hosting two virtual dance classes for Pre-K to 8th graders, the morning of Halloween, with all proceeds supporting PEF! Please see the attached flier for more information. PEF needs our support more than ever, so please donate if you can! https://www.pacificaef.org/ Picture Days will be November 4th and 5th. Please see the flier below for more information. Here's a link to Lifetouch's safety information. Lifetouch Safety and here is link to Lifetouch for online ordering: https://my.lifetouch.com/mylifetouch/#/ Our picture day id number is : EVTVBR6T4. We will be taking temperatures and asking screening questions. Anyone with a temperature of 100.4 will not be allowed into the building. School Lunch School lunches are currently free for all Pacifica School District students until the end of June, 2021. Many family’s financial situations have changed in 2020. Please consider completing this application for Free and Reduced Price Lunch by October 28, 2020. It is important for us to have an accurate count of the number of students who would qualify for free or reduced price meals as some school funding is based on this count. The applications are one per family and can be turned into your school or to the district office or emailed to Marta Grech at mgrech@pacificasd.org. The application for Free and Reduced-Price Meals is here: English or Spanish Read-a-Thon: Keep reading! Any questions about reading logs or donations? Please contact your teacher. YDL families, please reach out to Virginia Clements @ fullyeardistancelearning@pacificasd.org. Need more books? Check out this information about curbside pick up from the San Mateo County Library System. https://smcl.org/curbsideservices/ Diversity Leadership Group - October 28th @ 7-8:30pm The Diversity Leadership (DLG) group is back and virtual! DLG serves as a resource for parents, teachers, staff and students in the OSS community to identify and discuss ideas, concerns and areas in need of further growth or awareness. The Diversity Leadership Group’s mission is to provide leadership, guidance and support to the Ocean Shore community to cultivate an environment of inclusion where each individual is valued and respected. Please join our monthly meetings on the last Wednesday of the month, from 7-8:30pm. For more information or to get involved email: dlg@osspto.org Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/92213022393?pwd=SUNuaWxoUHlxTDhpb0Q1R3dJanVMQT09 Meeting ID: 922 1302 2393 Passcode: OSSDLG
Friday, October 16, 2020 Quote of the week: "Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." -- The Dalai Lama It's 80 degrees in my office, I'm grouchy, and I'm sick of this pandemic. I'm not much of a runner, and the last thing I would ever do is run a marathon. Professionally and personally, I feel like I'm running a marathon that I did not sign up for. We all are. When I'm stressed out and annoyed by life, I tend to complain and get snappy with people. We all do. That's why I chose this quote by the Dalai Lama. I need the reminder that I can always choose to be kind. Everyone is under stress, so we all need to be extra kind whether it's at Safeway, the school office or in the living room. Enjoy this beautiful weather, and take an extra minute to breathe deep and share a smile with someone who needs it. Take care, Jeanne School Business: Read-a-Thon Event this Monday, 10/19 @ 6:30 pm. Come listen to your favorite teachers read aloud and play music! This is a "live" Zoom event and a perfect opportunity to make a donation to our library. See the attached flier for details. Any questions about reading logs or donations? Please contact your teacher. YDL families, please reach out to Virginia Clements @ fullyeardistancelearning@pacificasd.org Picture Days will be November 4th and 5th. Please see the flier below for more information. Here's a link to Lifetouch's safety information. Lifetouch Safety and here is link to Lifetouch for online ordering: https://my.lifetouch.com/mylifetouch/#/ Our picture day id number is : EVTVBR6T4. We will be taking temperatures and asking screening questions. Anyone with a temperature of 100.4 will not be allowed into the building. School Lunch School lunches are currently free for all Pacifica School District students until the end of June, 2021. Many family’s financial situations have changed in 2020. Please consider completing this application for Free and Reduced Price Lunch by October 28, 2020. It is important for us to have an accurate count of the number of students who would qualify for free or reduced price meals as some school funding is based on this count. The applications are one per family and can be turned into your school or to the district office or emailed to Marta Grech at mgrech@pacificasd.org. The application for Free and Reduced-Price Meals is here: English or Spanish Parent Survey: Please fill this out. PSD needs to hear your voices. Within the next week, parents will receive a survey from Panorama Education to learn how things are going in distance learning. The results of the survey will help district and school administrators better understand the perceptions of families and identify areas of strength and areas for growth. It is estimated that it will take you approximately 17 minutes to complete the survey. Your responses will be confidential. We will also survey staff and students in 3-8th grade. Dia de los Muertos Ofrenda for Sean Nunan: Several of our families are coordinating a Day of the Dead Altar for Sean. It will be displayed at school during the week of November 2nd, and will be up during the scheduled picture days on 11/4 & 11/5. More information to follow. Pacifica School District Board of Trustees Candidate Forum Pacifica School District has an opening on our Board of Trustees and three candidates are running for the vacant seat. The League of Women Voters will be facilitating a Candidate Forum on Tuesday, October 21st at 7 P.M. on Zoom for you to learn more about the candidates. Here is the link for the Zoom Webinar: Zoom link for Candidate Forum Passcode: 860311 If you would like to submit questions for the candidates to answer, please send the questions directly to the League of Women Voters at lwvncsmc.questions@gmail.com with the subject line Pacifica School District.
Friday, October 9, 2020 Quote of the week: "Practice what you preach." I did something unprecedented last week; I took my own advice! As my former students and actual children (Jack, 19, and Clara, 17) would be quick to point out, I'm really good at giving advice, but not always so good at practicing what I preach. I actually read for 2 hours last Saturday, and it felt great. I've been nibbling away at The Mirror and The Light, by Hilary Mantel, for months and I finally finished it. I spent two hours reading for pleasure, and my world did not fall apart. Some of the laundry did not get done, some groceries weren't purchased, and some emails went unanswered. As educators or parents (or both!), the work is endless. There is always something to do, and because of technology, our work is always with us. It used to be when I got home, I just had to deal with doing laundry, making dinner, or changing a diaper. Now that I have a pocket-sized computer in my hand at all times, there is that nagging feeling that I'm obligated to answer every question immediately, whether it's 9:00 pm on a Friday night or 9:00 am on a Monday morning. I'm sure I'm not alone. We need to work on breaking that cycle, for our sake and for the sake of our children. What we do is always more impactful than what we say. In honor of Indigenous Peoples Day, take a breath, appreciate the beauty of the natural world, and try to find balance in your life. Take care, Jeanne School Business: No school on Monday, October 12 & Tuesday, October 13. Monday is Indigenous Peoples Day and Tuesday is professional development for all staff, including classified staff. This means that we will not have anyone answering phone calls on either day. No lunch service at Ocean Shore on Tuesday, October 13. We will not be distributing lunch at Ocean Shore on 10/13/20. However, any Ocean Shore family can pick up meals at the following schools: IBL, Vallemar, Sunset Ridge, and Ortega. Our high schools are also distributing lunch to PSD students. Time is 11:00 am-1:00 pm. There is no cost. Picture Days will be November 4th and 5th. More information and logistics to follow. All YDL students will be included. Dia de los Muertos Ofrenda for Sean Nunan: Several of our families are coordinating a Day of the Dead Altar for Sean. It will be displayed at school during the week of November 2nd, and will be up during the scheduled picture days on 11/4 & 11/5. More information to follow. Read-a-Thon: Keep reading! Any questions about reading logs or donations? Please contact your teacher. YDL families, please reach out to Virginia Clements @ fullyeardistancelearning@pacificasd.org Food Support for Families: Because of the Fires, the California Department of Education (CDE) is assisting the California Department of Social Services, (CDSS) to share information about Disaster CalFresh food benefit services. Currently, families in Lake, Monterey, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Yolo counties are eligible for Disaster CalFresh benefits. The application process for Disaster CalFresh benefits is a two-phase process. First, families in eligible counties must pre-register for Disaster CalFresh benefits by calling or texting 1-916-237-1909 between Wednesday, October 7 and Tuesday, October 13. Those families that have pre-registered will be contacted by their local counties to complete the application and interview process between Wednesday, October 14 and Thursday, October 22. IInformation is available at https://cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/cdss-programs/calfresh/disaster-response/outreach-materials and will be updated routinely.
Quote of the week: "Find your beach." -Corona Beer advertisement tagline October is always an exhausting month for educators. The start of the school year excitement has passed, and the work starts to come in. We have meetings, assessments, professional development, grading, planning, and more meetings. This year is especially stressful. The face-to-face interactions with co-workers, students and parents are absent right now. Of course, these social interactions are what give us the most joy. Most educators enjoy being with people. None of us went into this profession to sit in front of a computer screen all day long. I was bemoaning the current level of exhaustion among my staff members at a meeting, and wondering aloud how I could help them deal with their stress and my own. The wonderful Julie Carrillo told me that we all need to figure out how to find our beach, and that we need to find our beach daily. It is not enough to find our beach one a month or even once a week. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Some days, I'm lucky I find time to brush my teeth before falling into bed. However, I know Julie was right, as she often is. If we, as educators, parents, and caregivers, don't take time to nourish ourselves, we won't be able to take care of others. All of us are entitled to do something we enjoy, something just for us, every day. My "beach" used to be reading fiction, long novels that dropped me into another world where I could stay for days or weeks at a time. Now, it's more often Netflix or Hulu which is fine, too. However, in honor of Read-a-thon, I'm committing to reading every day, even if it's just for 10 minutes. I challenge all of you to find one thing that you can do every day, something that you love, even if it's just for a few minutes. Many of us live in Pacifica, so it might literally be finding the beach. It could also be yoga or hiking or eating chocolate or savoring a glass of wine or even drinking an ice-cold bottle of Corona. We should all take Julie's advice and find our beach. Take care, Jeanne School Business: Environmental Action Team (EAT): Please join our Environmental Action Team (E.A.T.) Committee for our First Sunday of the Month garden maintenance days from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, and our first Monday of the Month Zoom Meetings from 6:30-7:30 pm. The first maintenance day is this Sunday, October 4th, and the first Zoom meeting is Monday, October 5th. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84816396584?pwd=UnhZN3JiQmZqKzlSU2RQODYxVHpXUT09 Meeting ID: 848 1639 6584 Passcode: 1MwrRe We look forward to working with you in and for our school garden! Read-a-thon: it's happening all this month! I've attached a PDF with the information, but you can also check with your child's teacher. This is such a great way to reinforce the importance of reading every day, and raise money for Ocean Shore at the same time. Flocking Fundraiser: A Fundraiser for 7th/8th graders at Ocean Shore School. Want to order a Flock of Pink Flamingos to gather upon a friend’s property to roost? Pay us to place these pink darlings in someone’s yard! Anyone in Pacifica can be Flocked and anyone can order a Flocking. Please email OSSFlockers@gmail.com for more information, or check out our flier on the PTO homepage. https://www.osspto.org/
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Jeanne BellingerPrincipal of Ocean Shore. Check back here for weekly updates and messages from the principal. Archives
February 2021
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