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Friday, November 20, 2020 Quote of the week: "The only way forward is with a broken heart." --Alice Walker Dear Ocean Shore Families, Gemma Cobb is leaving Ocean Shore, after being an essential part of our school as an Office Assistant for 15 years. She will be moving on to IBL on November 30th. This position is a promotion, and she will be working with students full time, which has always been her strength. We will miss her, but Gemma will always be a part of our Ocean Shore Pod! Ocean Shore School has no official plans yet to celebrate the life of Patty McNally. We need to give her family time to process this sudden, devastating, loss. The staff will meet, and in conjunction with the PTO, discuss ways Ocean Shore can honor Patty's memory. I am relieved to announce that Marguerite Rodigou and Sandy Mills will be co-teaching Patty's 4/5 class for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year. Marguerite has been a rock star this week, conducting conferences and providing a sustaining presence for the class. Sandy has graciously offered to step up and team teach with Marguerite. They have already started planning and are determined to do what they can to help our children heal. Alice Walker's quote reminds me that to love anyone or anything means that our hearts will eventually be broken. One of the best things we can do for ourselves, our families, our friends, and our children is to model resilience. We ask for help when we need it, turn to each other for support, and get to work. We bend down, lovingly pick up the pieces of our broken hearts, and move forward. As Thanksgiving approaches, I am profoundly grateful that I had the chance to work side by side with Patty, first as a teacher and then as a principal. I am grateful for our extraordinary staff, our amazing PTO, and for all of you. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to channel my inner Patty McNally and jump into this holiday season full of energy, optimism, and love for one and all. Have a safe, healthy, and happy Thanksgiving! Jeanne School Business: Thanksgiving break is 11/23/20-11/27/20. School will resume on Monday, 11/30/20. Holiday Shopping: Book fair has started and will continue through 11/26/20. Time for some early holiday shopping! https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/homepage.do?method=homepage&url=oceanshoreschool1 See's Candies and Simple Pleasures Coffee make wonderful gifts as well. https://www.osspto.org/campaigns.html Our Winter Bazaar Week of Giving: Please take a look at this heartfelt video that Natalie Abinante put together to kick off the Winter Bazaar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JTONpfyfBM&feature=youtu.be Return to School Task Force Update: The task force met this week and discussed our plans going forward in light of the fact that San Mateo county is back in the red tier, and Covid numbers are continuing to rise. Our plans to return in January will need to be pushed back. Our Ocean Shore team made a good deal of progress on logistics and will continue to plan for our eventual return. Pacifica Schools' District Wide Move-a-Thon: The district PTOs put together a community event to promote movement for students and families during the weeks between the Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks. When: November 30 - December 18. Cost: FREE! How to participate: Complete activity BINGO boards each week and submit to be entered for prizes. Registration and Further Details: Pacifica Move-a-Thon. Questions: pacificamoveathon@gmail.com. Makeup Picture Day: Our makeup picture day will be Wednesday, December 16th, from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm. There will not be a schedule. Families can come at any time between those hours. Here is link to Lifetouch for online ordering: https://my.lifetouch.com/mylifetouch/#/ Our picture day id number is: EVTVBR6T4. 
Dear Ocean Shore Families, There is no principal's letter this week. Next week (11/16/20-11/20/20) is parent/teacher conferences. Please reach out to your child's teacher if you have questions or want to schedule a conference. Report cards for students in kindergarten through fifth grade do not need to be completed until December 5th. Some teachers may complete them sooner, and all teachers have information to share with you about your child's progress so far this year. Grades for students in sixth through eighth grade will be finalized in Jupiter Grades by the end of the day on 11/16/20. Hard copies of the report cards will not be going home until December, but you can see their first semester grades on Jupiter. Please contact your child's teacher if you have problems getting into Jupiter Grades. Book fair has started and will continue through 11/26/20. Time for some early holiday shopping! https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/homepage.do?method=homepage&url=oceanshoreschool1 Sees Candies and Simple Pleasures Coffee make wonderful gifts as well. https://www.osspto.org/campaigns.html Speaking of giving, the flier for Our Winter Bazaar Week of Giving is below. Don't forget that we are off the entire week of Thanksgiving (11/23/20-11/27/20). Take care and enjoy your weekend! Jeanne
Friday, November 6, 2020 Quote of the week: "Come on inner peace, I don't have all day!" --posted by the Fight Like a Girl Club @ fightlikeagirlclub.com I'm tired of being patient. It's 4:00 pm on Friday and I want to know who the president is, when in-person school will start, and when we'll have a vaccine. I want to know when I will get to see my parents in Cleveland, and when I can finally eat inside a restaurant. I have been working on my mindfulness practice, which seems counterintuitive. Why should we have to work on our breathing? Why should we have to remind ourselves to live in the moment? Why is sitting still for five minutes so difficult? As educators and parents, we are action-oriented problem solvers. We feel responsible for our students and our children, and we want to help them gain the skills they need to be successful in an ever-changing world. That is our job. However, it is also our job to model patience and to show our children that it's okay not to know what's going to happen and when. It's important to show them how to live with uncertainty, how to be flexible, how to be patient, how to wait. Those skills are vital as well, and working on them is a lifelong process. Take a deep breath, and have a beautiful weekend! Take care, Jeanne School Business: No school this Wednesday, 11/11/20: We will celebrate Veteran's Day with a school holiday on Wednesday, 11/11/20. My thoughts and my gratitude go out to all of our veterans and those currently serving in our military. Wellness Town Hall Meeting on 11/12/19: Please see the attached flier for information. This Zoom meeting will focus on how to communicate more effectively with your children and how to find resources to help them if they are struggling. Ocean Shore Fundraising for November: Tonight, Friday, 11/6, is Round Table Pizza night. Just mention that you are from Ocean Shore and they will donate 15% of your sale to our PTO. Sees Candy sales have started as have Simple Pleasures Coffee Subscriptions. Here is the link to the OSS PTO's fundraising campaign page which has all the details. https://www.osspto.org/campaigns.html Pacifica Education Foundation and the Pacifica Historical Society Fundraising event this Sunday: These two non-profits have partnered for a fun way to learn about Pacifica and raise money as you drive around town. Please see the attached flyer for more information. Return to School Task Force: Our district-wide task force met again on 11/4/20. San Mateo County COVID numbers continue to maintain or slightly decline from last meeting. Currently we are in the moderate or orange level with a positivity rate of 1.6%. The school board has approved hiring 7 temporary custodians and has contracted with Curative, a company that will coordinate the regular (biweekly or weekly) COVID testing of PSD staff. We broke into three groups to discuss health and safety issues, Hybrid plan issues/questions, and communication with families. We'll meet next on 11/17/20, most likely in our site-level groups to start discussing specifics about what Ocean Shore needs in order to safely begin the process of returning to school. 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 Makeup Picture Day: Our makeup picture day will be Wednesday, December 16th. The time will most likely be from 8:30-12:00. There will not be a schedule. Families can come at any time that morning. Here is link to Lifetouch for online ordering: https://my.lifetouch.com/mylifetouch/#/ Our picture day id number is: EVTVBR6T4.
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/
Friday, September 25, 2020 Quote of the week: "Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you." --Ruth Bader Ginsburg I keep waiting for the week where I don't feel like the wind has been knocked out of me by some tragedy. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a force of nature, and has been a source of inspiration to me for a long time. I didn't always agree with her, but I always respected her strength, her sense of purpose, and her ability to work with people whose views were in direct opposition to her own. Her words are so impactful. We all need to be reminded that we can charge ahead full of righteous anger, but if we alienate everyone in the process, our efforts are meaningless. I've been thinking about all our families in year-long distance learning, and I know that many of them feel adrift. Are they part of Ocean Shore? Part of Sunset Ridge or Vallemar or IBL? The answer is yes to both. Right now, more than ever, we are all a part of the Pacifica School District. Twelve years ago, I became the president of the new Pacifica Education Foundation. Some of the PTOs, teachers, and parents were not supportive. Many struggled to understand why it was important to donate (if you were able) to both your school's PTO and to PEF. At first I was angry that people couldn't see what an education foundation could offer Pacifica's children. I was passionate about bringing the schools together and striving towards a vision of equitable education; one foundation working for one district. I soon learned that I would get nowhere with that vision if I didn't figure out how to convince others to join the small group of parents that made up our board. It took a few years, lots of speeches, fundraising parties, informational coffee hours, PTO meetings, school board meetings, city council meetings, and yes, more parties, to get PEF off of the ground. Now, almost everyone in Pacifica recognizes the value that PEF adds to our community. We are all part of the Pacifica School District, no matter what our school assignment is for this year. If you are one of our distance learning families, take advantage of learning more about the new school community that you are a part of. I promise there will still be Ocean Shore activities to participate in, and that you will be kept informed when we have them. Take care and enjoy your weekend! Jeanne School Business: Please also look at the "Flyers for this Week" section on the homepage of the PTO's website for information about other events and services. https://www.osspto.org/ Our virtual back to school nights went well! There was no school wide assembly, so distance learning families didn't miss anything. Families and teachers met either in homerooms or grade level meetings. Read-a-thon is coming up October 1st! Teachers, the PTO, and I will send out more information, and yes, our year-long distance learning families will be part of the fun! Picture Days will be November 4th and 5th. More information and logistics to follow. DLG - Diversity Leadership Group - September 30th @ 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. Our next meeting is Wednesday, September 30. For more information or to get involved email: dlg@osspto.org Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/97307944575?pwd=eUI2VmhjS1FWVDBnSEhRc25yeklZQT09 Meeting ID: 973 0794 4575 Passcode: DLG
Tuesday, September 8, 2020 Quote of the week: "As we individuals grow in our resilience-as we become better at staying conscious and not losing heart-we will be able to remain strong in challenging conditions for the long haul. This is within the capacity of all of us." --Pema Chodron from Welcoming the Unwelcome: Wholehearted Living in a Brokenhearted World. Dear Parents and Guardians, What can I say? I'm just ready for 2020 to be over. The loss of Sean Nunan hits us hard. He was a gifted teacher and an amazing human being. Many of you have already seen the Go Fund Me link for his family. Here it is again in case you wish to donate.GoFundMe link for the Nunan family We will be planning some additional celebrations to honor Sean's life. Look for updates from myself or your teachers. We are also able to offer some counseling services to students who need help processing this loss or just processing the trauma of 2020 in general. Please reach out to your teachers or me if you'd like your child to be referred for counseling. I try to keep an open heart and mind in times of crisis, but it's not easy. As a former English teacher, I often turn to books to escape and relax but also for inspiration. I'm currently reading Pema Chodron's newest book. The above quote jumped out at me because sometimes I feel like I DON'T have the capacity to deal with all of this. I'm sure that I'm not alone. Pema points out that we all have the capacity to grow and be hopeful in difficult times: even when good people die young, even when we are stuck inside because of smoke and COVID, even when the sky itself turns a dark, alien orange and gets darker, not lighter as the day goes on. We can only do this together. Reach out when you need help; you are not alone. Take care, Jeanne School Business IMPORTANT: PLEASE FILL THIS OUT IN ORDER TO RECEIVE IMPORTANT NEWS AND EVENTS FROM YOUR CLASS OMBUD AND THE PTO. It takes 30 seconds. Thank you! PTO Communication Survey Back-to-School Nights Back-to-School is next week. We are going to have two nights. Look for an email with the Zoom or Google Meet link from your teacher. September 15th for 2/3 (5:30-6:30) and 6-8 (6:30-7:30) YDL 6th grade (6:30-7:30) September 17th for K/1 (5:00-6:00) and 4/5 (6:00-7:00) Diversity Leadership Group The Diversity Leadership (DLG) group is back and virtual! Please join our monthly meetings on the last Wednesday of the month, from 7-8:30pm. Our next meeting is Wednesday, September 30. Zoom link is here. Diversity Leadership Group (DLG) was founded at Ocean Shore School over 10 years ago by parents dedicated to increasing awareness and inclusion in the school community. Today, 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. Upcoming virtual events in October: Indigenous People's Day celebration and International Literacy Week. For more information, questions, comments, or concerns you would like to discuss, please email DLG at dlg@osspto.org. Technology Update: This message went out to all staff from the district office on 9/8:
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Jeanne BellingerPrincipal of Ocean Shore. Check back here for weekly updates and messages from the principal. Archives
November 2020
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