Hang in there!

2/26/2021

Friday, February 26, 2021

Quote of the week: "Everyone needs more than anyone can give right now. " Radio commentator on National Public Radio (KQED)

Dear Ocean Shore Families,

The above quote says it all right now. We are 11 months into distance learning and all of us are exhausted: parents, students, teachers, staff--everyone. I had seven Zoom meetings on Thursday, finally ending at 8:00 pm, and I know I'm lucky because I love my job. I have many friends and family members that have been laid off or have seen their business shrink to almost nothing. We all need more than anyone can give. Thankfully, there really is light at the end of the tunnel. California is finally ramping up its efforts to get teachers vaccinated. If all goes as planned, we will be bringing students back on campus in a hybrid model. I have received many excellent questions from families, most of which I don't have the answers to yet. There is general information about the hybrid model on the Pacifica School District website's home page: https://www.pacificasd.org/. I encourage you to take a look. As plans become more specific, and as we figure out return dates, the district office will share information that applies to all of the school sites, and I will share information that applies specifically to Ocean Shore. As everyone knows, Ocean Shore does things a little differently, and I'm sure we will have aspects of our hybrid model that are unique. In lieu of our usual Open House in May, we will be doing a second "Back to School" Night at the end of March. I'll have that date in my next letter. Hang in there, everyone. You are doing a better job than you think you are, I promise!

Take care,

Jeanne

Shout out of the week: This week's shout out goes to Jessica & Beccy's 6th grade YDL class. I visited Jessica's ELA class and enjoyed listening to students discuss the process of persuasive writing and find evidence to support claims about various characters. I was impressed with their engagement, enthusiasm, questions and comments. The ability to write persuasively is an important skill and one they'll need in high school and college. Of course, I pointed that out to them. I also couldn't resist jumping in and pointing out some evidence that I noticed in the short story they were reading, "Raymond's Run, " by Toni Cade Bambara. I'll never stop being an English teacher. Luckily, Jessica and the sixth graders were gracious and put up with my interruptions!

School News & Community Information

Come join The DLG (Diversity Learning Group) Virtual Book Club! The DLG Book Club aims to promote community discussion focused on the DLG vision “to instill an understanding on the value in acceptance and respect for one another’s differences so that we can grow as a society.” Come join us on our inaugural discussion circle for our new book!
When: Monday, March 8th, 2021 Time: 7pm-8pm Book: "Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America" By Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain Reading Discussion: Part 1 - 3 Zoom: https://fhda-edu.zoom.us/j/6489556005 "Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019" collects the work of 90 writers — historians, poets, journalists, novelists and activists — to tell the stories of Black Americans, from the arrival of the White Lion, which brought enslaved people to the colonies in 1619, to the Black Lives Matter movement. https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/02/18/four-hundred-souls-book Note: Consider supporting locally and purchasing the book from Florey's Book Co.

Free and Reduced Lunches: School lunches are free to all students now through the end of the school year. 2. If your family is having financial hardship at this time, please fill out a free/reduced application before March 10. This will allow for the following benefits: Your children will receive free/reduced meals when the 21-22 school year begins through September at which time you will re-apply for the rest of that school year if you need to. You will also receive money in the form of an EBT card which you can use to purchase groceries. A PDF of the application is attached.

Special Education Informational Town Hall Meeting: Julie Carrillo will be hosting a town hall meeting on Thursday, March 18th @ 7:00 pm to discuss the differences between special education services, 504 plans and SST (Student Success Team) supports. Please see the attached flier.