If you haven't got your health...

4/8/2022

Quote of the week: "The body never lies." --Martha Graham, dancer & choreographer

Dear Ocean Shore Families,

Well, double April Fools Day on me because what I thought was a cold was, in fact, COVID. As an educator and a mother, I have gotten into the habit over the years of pushing through an illness. I've gone to work sick more times than I can count. As a teacher, writing plans for a substitute teacher, finding a substitute, notifying the office, and coordinating with your partner teachers is more effort than dragging your sick self to school. However, this mindset is WRONG. If COVID has taught us anything, it's that we need to listen to our bodies and stay home when we are sick. The first COVID test that I took was negative, and I assumed I had a cold. However, I just wasn't feeling right, and so I arranged to stay home even though I "knew" that I didn't have COVID. Two days later, I tested positive. We all know the moral of this story: listen to your body. However, most of us need to be reminded of it over and over again. As parents and educators, our job is to look out for others. We make sacrifices and work our lives around the lives of our children and our students. Yet, if we don't take care of ourselves, we won't have the energy to be our best selves at school and at home. In addition, when we go to work sick, we are sending the message to our kids that they should push through illness and not rest when they need to.

I'm wishing everyone good health as we head into our last week before spring break!

Jeanne

Next week, I'll have more information about what to expect after the break regarding the upcoming construction.

School Business:

Spring Break: Spring Break is the week of April 18-22. Friday, April 15th, is a district minimum day.

Playground update: It was recently confirmed that on April 18, construction will start on the playground. Right now, the staff is working on a plan for drop-off, recess, lunch and PE. When we have a plan in place, which will be before spring break, the staff and I will share it with the Ocean Shore Community via class ombuds, teacher emails, and this newsletter. This plan will need to be flexible. Anyone who has ever dealt with a construction project knows that things don't always go as planned!

Staffing update: Last month we welcomed Tristan McNall as our library tech coordinator and Eugenie Hoffman as a Playworks paraprofessional. Both are Ocean Shore parents with vast experience volunteering at our school. We are extremely fortunate to have them join our staff!

COVID reporting:   Please remember to complete the return to school form if your child is out sick. ***OSS Return to School Form *** We are starting to collect student COVID-19 vaccination records. Please take the time to fill out this Google form if you have not already given a copy of your child's vaccination card to the office. OSS Student Vaccination Records. We had 1 unusable testing pool on Wednesday. Students in that class were tested today and were all negative.

It’s that time of year! Can you sing, dance or do a skit? Tell a joke, juggle or do the splits? Spit some sick rhymes, play an instrument, or mime, join in on the fun for its sure to be a great time! The OSS talent show is an annual treasured tradition for our school community and we are pleased to announce we will be hosting an OSS 2022 Talent Show Extravaganza! Sign-ups will be open through MIDNIGHT on APRIL 15th. You can join in the fun by clicking on the following link: https://forms.gle/KQLxyLnGwywnDG4L8 A follow up email will be sent once you sign up with further instructions of how to participate in this year's show. We look forward to another fun year with everyone! As always, if you have any questions, please reach out to our awesome talent show crew via email: osstalentshow@gmail.com --Your Talent Show Crew, Ana, Cristin, and Sara

DLG - Diversity Learning Group – Wednesday, April 13th @ 7-8:30pm. 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. Join via Zoom Meeting ID: 630 060 3544 password: DLG

Requests: The office needs Kix, Chex, pretzels, gold fish, and small snack zip lock bags to keep in the office for students that are hungry during morning recess. Renee (D67) is in need of tall empty containers such as sanitizing or disinfecting wipes containers.

Message from Will Lucey, Director of Student Educational Services: Dear Families, It is time again to get your thoughts on your family school relationship. Helping students do their best in school requires a team effort. Parents, students, and schools all play important roles in this process. To help all of us learn how to make your child's schooling experience as positive and beneficial as possible, please give us your honest, thoughtful responses to the questions within the survey. Please click the link below to take the survey. Thank you in advance for taking this very important survey.

Family-School Relationship Spring 2022 Survey:
Ocean Shore School
https://surveys.panoramaed.com/pacifica/9746154651/surveys

PEF: Please see the Pacifica Education Foundation Winter Newsletter below, and contribute to PEF in 2022!

Fliers: April Lunch Menu, Legarza Summer program, Pacifica United, Sanchez summer program, NCCWD poster contest, Safe Routes to School poster contest, SF Boys Choir auditions, PEF newsletter, SMC library events, Portuguese and Spanish translations of my letter.