Weekly Message

10/25/2019

Dear Ocean Shore Families,

Hello! Can you believe Halloween is next week? We have a fun week ahead and a reminder that Friday, November 1st is a professional development day for our staff – so no school for students! I hope to see you next week on 10/31 for our costume parade! See details in the Dolphin News!

This coming week wraps up READATHON! We have fun competition going 0 there is a! Remember – this is money raised for important activities like our fieldtrips and special projects at Ocean Shore! Here all about it in this week’s podcast! Podcast crew interviewed last year's winner, Renee, and all-time winner, Patty!! :)

Season 2 - Episode 8
Dolphinetly Talks Site

Reflections:
I just returned from one my favorite places to visit each week – the recess playground. Every Friday, something really magical happens here. One of our electives for our middle school students is the “Sound Crew” – who “DJ” music for the kids at recess. Led by longtime volunteer, David Bradley, our middle school sound crew leads the other students in fun songs. The excitement is magnetic! I love watching the older students sing and dance with our younger kids. When I asked a few kids today about how they enjoyed the music, they enthusiastically replied with the following:

“We love it!”
“It makes Fridays feel a little different and fun!”
“They just played my favorite song.”
“Could they add pictures to the songs? And make it like a movie?”

Watching the kids enjoy the music today reminded me of some data I have I have been looking over in recent weeks. Multiple forms of data are used each year to form school plans and goals. Some of the data I have reviewed are survey results from last school year. You may recall filling out a survey that came from Panaroma to gather input from each family member. You will get a chance to do this again this year. Students and staff also filled a similar data.

As I stood outside today, I was thinking about some of the feedback students shared. As students were happily dancing around, I thought about how when kids return to their classrooms everyday after recess, they feel supported by their teacher who receives them. This is such a critical part to the learning process. If they have a safe and fun place to play during break times, they are ready to receive instruction and apply themselves as students. By far, the majority of our students feel that someone is supporting them at school to try their best. In fact, 88% our 3rd-5th grade students reported that they feel school is a supportive climate for academic learning. When asked if adults at school encourage them to work hard so that they can be successful, 89% reported that they feel they do. I love what data likes this helps us understand from a bigger lens. Our kids are happy and our teachers are supportive. What a dream! You see it on the playground, in the classrooms, and in surveys such as this data. These feelings of contentment and support are inextricably linked to learning. As a school, we will continue to foster the social and emotional wellness of each child so that they can try their best academically!

Here are a few scenes from recess today!

Student Newscast! Each week, in addition to the Podcast, students produce a weekly newscast which is shared with all of the students in their class. Watch it today to hear more about what is going on at school from our kids directly!

Ocean Shore Weekly Newscast Click Here!

Staff Makin' Waves! Look below to meet our Staff of the Week and learn about our team of educators!