 Dear Ocean Shore Families, Hello! What a beautiful day. I hope your family is about to enjoy a lovely weekend. This weekend will be busy for our 8th graders and their families, as the students depart for their weeklong field trip to Yosemite on Sunday. How exciting! I personally look forward to having an opportunity to visit them next week. Expect to hear some highlights from me in my next blog! I wish to remind you that students do not have school on Monday, October 8th. Teachers and staff will be working at IBL all day in workshops for professional development. Reflections From My Office: October is bully-prevention month. This topic brings to light many emotions, questions and experiences that we can all relate to on some level. When I did my initial research about Ocean Shore School prior to joining this team, I was impressed with the extensive commitment to cultivate a positive school climate and culture. Various programs, committees and practices have been instilled from teachers, parents, staff, district and the Pacifica community to align and prioritize resources to serve the social and emotional needs of students. You do not find this everywhere, despite how important it is for students to thrive. This is increasingly important as students navigate the demands and pressures of what it means to be a child growing up in 2018. Collectively, Ocean Shore has taken a stand to be a refuge for students by working to provide a school that is a safe and happy place to learn and grow. This includes nurturing all of their needs from academic support, socialization and wellness integration. There are several elements about our school that reflect this commitment that I wish highlight, especially in light of how schools across the country are using this month to bring awareness to this very important topic. I was eager to learn that several of our teachers were trained on how to facilitate restorative practice circles. This is a format that engages the whole class in problem-solving discussions in attempt to resolve conflict peacefully. At any given time, you may walk by one of our classrooms and observe the teacher engaged in a classroom meeting. Students are gathered in a circle, and they take time to thoroughly discuss relevant topics to them. What I admire about this practice is that it does not see the students as the source of the “problem”. Instead, it engages students as the solution to the problem. For instance, our 7th and 8th graders have had several restorative circles where they discuss topics such as maintaining healthy relationships and the power of respectful language. Today, they are having a seminar about the power of bystander impact and the umbrella of harassment. Students are learning how significant their voice can be when they stand up to others and speak for those who have been mistreated. While we may not be able to control outrageous acts from individuals, we can work hard to empower the majority of our students who have the empathy and confidence to use their voice loudly and proudly for others when needed. Here is a link to a great article I read this week about this topic. I was beaming with pride for Ocean Shore knowing that this practice was put in place years ago, and will continue to thrive and be relied upon to enrich the compassion that exists on our campus: https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/44628/how-to-develop-a-school-culture-that-helps-curb-bullying  Another example of our school’s commitment to the social and emotional well being of our school culture is the existence of our Diversity Leadership Group. This is pretty awesome to see how committed our parents and teachers are to support initiatives aimed to educate and celebrate our differences. I was inspired to hear from a parent this morning about the origins of this group that has been around for many years. It started with a need to support one Ocean Shore family. Others stood up as bystander to advocate on their behalf. As a result, we have a committee that has been a vibrant part of our school community that helps promote awareness, tolerance and compassion. Teachers have also helped lead this charge with advocacy within the classroom through natural alignments to class discussions and topics. Next week, we will have an assembly in observance of Indigenous Peoples Day. Look for other ways our group of committed stakeholders of the DLG will be working with our students in our Abilities Awareness Week and other cherished Ocean Shore traditions. In light of the negative rhetoric and divisive tone that permeates the events happening in our world today, the importance of civility, respect and tolerance has been lost on many. They have forgotten that our children are watching what they say and do. I am encouraged to see that our students are engaged in conflict resolution strategies that seek to bring about solutions peacefully and respectfully. My wish is that it brings you the same hope that it brings me. While our work at Ocean Shore is never done on this topic, we are working to better our world one class discussion at a time. I welcome your feedback, suggestions and ways we can continue to better our school culture and climate! Staff Makin’ Waves: It takes a lot to put together a field trip with so much planning and prep work hours before the event takes place! Imagine taking a family vacation with 32 children and other adults! As I mentioned, our 8th graders are about to embark on a weeklong trip to Yosemite. I wish to acknowledge the efforts of our teacher Jason who is leading this event for our kids. He has leant his personal expertise to guide our kids to be prepared and excited about the trip, which including coordinating slightly less than a million details. While the experience will undoubtedly be rewarding for the teachers, it also means they have to make their own arrangements to be gone away from their families for the week. He has been a true teammate to his colleagues and great leader to his students! We wish them a great week ahead! Parents Makin’ Waves (Shared From a Parent to All Parents!): Patricia Garcia has served an invaluable role as our PTO treasurer for many years! She works to align our precious resources to serve the needs of the students of Ocean Shore. Her work is tedious but her efforts are invaluable to our school. Teachers and parents alike appreciate her for her continued service at OSS! Student Safety Updates: Please remember to continue to familiarize yourself with the Big 5 Safety Protocol. I have posted the flyer here for your reference: Safety Protocol From the Front Office: It Is National Walk to School Day Next Week! National Walk to School Day is coming! It is Wednesday, October 10th. Students do not need to walk to school, as we are looking for the least amount of personal cars as possible. Carpooling, taking the bus, biking, skateboarding, walking, etc. all count! There will be a table outside in the morning with pencils and stickers for kids to celebrate the day. Parents Remember a Snack for Your Child at Recess! Please remember to supply a snack for your child every day for the morning break. For families with financial hardships or an emergency, we have extra snacks in the office for these occasions. Amazon Wish List for Books for our Library! A new wish list for books for the Ocean Shore library has been added. These are books we would love to add to our collection. Parents can search for "Ocean Shore School Library" from their Amazon account. When they have located us, the list "OSS Library Wish List" will be accessible. Thank you for helping us keep current and interesting books in the hands of our students! From the PTO Corner: Check Out the Different Fundraisers! Click here to see the ways you can support our school with fundraising opportunities! READATHON! Welcome to Ocean Shore School's 10th Annual Readathon! Theme: Wild About Reading! Let your imagination run WILD! When: October 1st thru October 31st Why: To raise money for field trips while building literacy skills How:
From PEF Corner: SUPPORT PEF! The Pacifica Education Foundation (PEF) is taking education to new heights. They completely fund educational programs which exceed California’s core school standards; which our district budget cannot accommodate. Simply, PEF funds, advances, and protects a higher quality education for OUR students. Learn more, here. PEF SPONSORED PROGRAMS: - Elementary School Music Program - Middle School Band Program (Music Matters in Pacifica - MMIP) - Middle School Computer Science Program - Elementary School Slam Poetry Program (SPARC - Stage Performance + Rhythmic Culture - Poetry) - Professional Science Curriculum Development & Training For Teachers (Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)) Learn more, here. GIVE BACK! PEF gives our children an enriched educational experience. Give back to PEF and don’t forget your employer-sponsored donation matching too! Give back or donate here. UPCOMING PEF EVENTS: - PEFATHON: Mark Your Calendars - Oct. 28th - Run & Walk to support our school! Races for all ages, Fitness Fair, Awards, Prizes and much more! See the attachment on this newsletter; or click here. -http://www.pacificaef.org/givingNEW MEMBERSHIP PLANS: Membership provides you tickets and/or discounted access to fun annual family events, supporter decals, and much more. Learn more, here. - LISTEN & LEARN: PEF Ambassadors will be onsite at PTO events. You can volunteer to help us here. HOW CAN I HELP? - Volunteers needed, here. - Like & Follow PEF on Facebook, here. - Reach Out to our PEF Ambassadors, below:
NEXT WEEK HAPPENINGS! NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY October 8th for Students! EAT Meeting this Monday, October 8th from 6 – 8 pm in the Library: Join the E.A.T committee for their monthly meeting on garden and campus beautification! All are invited to participate in brainstorming ideas to make the school greener and more environmentally conscious, and to further eco literacy in our students. Sub committees will include but are not limited to: greening the school, kindergarten yard and school entry space, art installations such as tile etc., developing curriculum based on gardening and agriculture, food waster, food justice, and of course, the compost :) Tuesday, October 9th: PTO Executive Board Meeting at OSS from 7-9 pm Please see attached agenda here: Meeting Agenda Wednesday, October 10th: National Walk to School Day! Friday, October 12th: Indigenous People’s Day Celebration Assembly for all Grades UPCOMING EVENTS! SAVE THE DATE for October 24th from 6-7:30 pm: Family Reading Night at Ocean Shore! In the spirit of Readathon, Ocean Shore families are invited to come for an evening of celebrating literacy! Details to follow! October 28th: PEFathon! See the flyer below to register today! Yearbooks are on Sale! Our middle school staff will be working hard to preserve your memories. Don't let these memories pass you by, order yours today online visit: www.treering.com/validate (private OSS passcode: 1014115995473789. If you have any questions contact tanyaguido@comcast.net EASY WAYS TO SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY AND GAIN VOLUNTEER HOURS: NEED HOURS OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL HOURS? OUR ROBOTICS TEAM NEEDS YOUR HELP! OSS is fortunate to have a volunteer coach our Robotics team, which meets on Friday after school. Due to popular student demand, we are in need of additional help from volunteers to help supervise. Could you help? If so, contact David Bradley at dbradley@pacificasd.org . Any and all help is appreciated! Weekly Flyers: Comments are closed.
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Jeanne BellingerPrincipal of Ocean Shore. Check back here for weekly updates and messages from the principal. Archives
June 2022
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