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Quote of the week: "Start by keeping kindness at the forefront of your mind in everything that you do. You never know the impact that your words could make, maybe even for years to come." --Martin Luther King, Jr. Dear Ocean Shore Families, We are all still under a great deal of stress, and Omicron has made life more complicated for everyone. However, there seems to be light at the end of that tunnel, and I'm happy to report that we only had one positive pool in our PCR testing this week. When we tested that class this morning, none of the students were positive. It's evident from the information we gather from families that have a positive result that our safety procedures are working and that the virus is not spreading at school. In other news, we celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday on Tuesday by listening to a short recorded excerpt from his "Where do We go from Here?" speech, and being led in song by Jason and Jonathan on guitar playing "This Little Light of Mine." Of course, all of this was on Zoom, and we had a few technical difficulties at first. However, soon the sound of kids singing could be heard in the hallways, including the new verse Jonathan wrote last year that includes a remembrance of Patty and Sean. I thought about them on Monday, and how they were so positive. Both of them were very careful with their words and valued the inspirational words of others. I think of them often as I'm choosing my quote of the week and as I'm writing this letter. They, like Dr. King, continue to motivate and inspire me to be a better educator and a better person, to choose my words wisely and with care. " We'll carry Sean's hope./I'm gonna let it shine./We'll spread Patty's love./I'm gonna let it shine./The future is in our hands./I'm gonna let it shine./ Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!" Have a wonderful weekend! Jeanne I will be out the week of January 24th-30th with unreliable internet access, and there will be no newsletter on Friday, 1/28/22. Please email any COVID related questions or information about positive tests to Ayesha Siddiq. Please do not text or call her on her personal cell phone. Because she is a parent as well as an employee, many parents have access to Ayesha's personal contact information. It is NOT appropriate to contact her on her cell phone. Please call the office to speak with her directly between 8:00-3:00; please email her at [email protected] if you have questions or information to share outside of office hours. Thank you! Covid Reminders: Please keep your children home if they are sick. If they exhibit even one symptom at school, they will need to go home. If your child is out sick for any reason, this Google form must be filled out before they return to school and they must come to the office to receive a return to class slip before they can go to their classroom. OSS Return to School Form ** Please do NOT upload positive test results. If your child or another immediate family member has COVID-19, contact Ayesha Siddiq @ [email protected] immediately. If you are sharing a picture of a positive test result with the office, PLEASE WRITE YOUR CHILD'S FIRST AND LAST NAME ON THE TEST. We are getting pictures of unidentified tests. As of Friday, January 14, PSD is now following the updated CDC guidelines and will allow students back after 5 days of quarantine, instead of 10, if they have a negative COVID test. Please note that if a child is out sick for any reason, they can't come back to school without: 1. a negative COVID test or 2. Recent documentation from a healthcare provider that states your child's symptoms are typical of your child's underlying chronic condition (such as allergies) or 3. recent documentation from a healthcare provider confirming an alternative named diagnosis (such as strep or a cold). We have the capacity to do some rapid testing at school, so please contact Ayesha if you can't obtain a test for your child. PSD is now following the updated CDC guidelines and will allow students back after 5 days if they have a negative COVID test. Here is the link for free COVID tests. https://www.covidtests.gov/ School Business: Reminders: Please do not park in the staff parking lot. Some staff come and go during the day so those parking spaces need to be available. We thought we had a theft on our campus when a bass guitar went missing. It was found. However, please remind your children not to leave musical instruments or other valuable items in the hallway or open breakout rooms overnight. Thank you! 7th grade fundraising: Support our 7th grade class by purchasing these cute t-shirts. Link is here: https://oss-7th-grade-fundraising.cheddarup.com/ and a flier is attached. EAT/Garden: EAT is looking for organic potting soil donations for the garden. Families can drop bags off behind the bike racks next to the garden fence. Additional item: Over the break, we found a brand new sweater with tags on it in a bag on the playground. It's a women's medium, taupe, cropped cardigan with metallic buttons. Please call the office for more information. PEF: Please see the Pacifica Education Foundation Winter Newsletter below. Please contribute to PEF in 2022! Additional Fliers: PSD Calendar for 2022-23, February Lunch Menu, Food Drive Flier, SMC Library event, Pacifica United Soccer, DC Stars Football, SMC Home Sharing program. 
Quote of the week: "Fall seven times. Stand up eight." --Japanese proverb Dear Ocean Shore Families, I've thought a lot about resilience this week. Let's be honest, this week was rough, at least it was for me. We had multiple positive COVID cases reported by parents and revealed by tests at school (about 15 since Monday), and conducted hundreds of PCR Pool tests and rapid tests. Fifteen sounds like a lot, but it is only about 4% of Ocean Shore's student population. Most of our students are at school and healthy. Ayesha has been working day and night to test students, log results and communicate with the district office and families. As we look into the contact tracing data, we are finding that the vast majority of cases were transmitted at home from a positive parent or sibling. It can be frustrating to have to keep children at home that don't seem sick and to have to communicate with the front office or the teachers to get work to do at home. It's especially frustrating when the phones at school don't work for three days! (They work now) I know I'm digging deep and continue to be inspired by our students and our staff members. They pivot on a dime and make changes so that our kids are still learning and still having fun. It was wonderful to see so many parents at our General PTO meeting last night. Our PTO board did a great job of putting together an organized and informative meeting. The PTO is very interested in getting parent feedback. Here is the link to a PTO parent survey. This is your chance to express your opinions, give suggestions and offer to help. Take a quick PTO Survey! https://forms.gle/X8hnR8aZGEGfdWm97 Listening to Gitima speak was a highlight of the meeting for me. She is caring, intelligent and empathetic and has a wealth of knowledge and experience that she is eager to share with all of us. Here are the slides that she shared last night during the meeting. The links should be active: School Counselor, Ocean Shore Due to COVID testing, our Martin Luther King, Jr. Observation has been postponed until Tuesday morning at 8:30. Jonathan will lead us in song via Zoom. Take care and enjoy the long weekend! Jeanne We do NOT have school on Monday, January 17th in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Covid Reminders: Please keep your children home if they are sick. If they exhibit even one symptom at school, they will need to go home. If your child is out sick for any reason, this Google form must be filled out before they return to school and they must come to the office to receive a return to class slip before they can go to their classroom. OSS Return to school form. ** Please do NOT upload positive test results. If your child or another immediate family member has COVID-19, contact Ayesha Siddiq @ [email protected] immediately. Please note that if a child is out sick for any reason, they can't come back to school without: 1. a negative COVID test or 2. Recent documentation from a healthcare provider that states your child's symptoms are typical of your child's underlying chronic condition (such as allergies) or 3. recent documentation from a healthcare provider confirming an alternative named diagnosis (such as strep or a cold).. Other School Business: Yearbook: The yearbook is being compiled and we need your child's input. Attached are flyers that show step by step instructions on how to upload photos, complete your free personal pages, and purchase your yearbook if you choose to. We need your students' photo submission with their name, grade and classroom Teacher information in the comments. We would love photo submissions of your students for everything else as well: first day of school, outdoor ed, Halloween, read-a-thon, etc. Contact Tanya Guido with any questions. [email protected]. 7th grade fundraising: Support our 7th grade class by purchasing these cute t-shirts. Link is here: https://oss-7th-grade-fundraising.cheddarup.com/ and a flier is attached. Food Drive:The Pacifica Resource Center extends its thanks to our community for our generosity during the end-of-year food drive. Ocean Shore families donated over two hundred (yes, 200!) pounds of food for our neighbors in need. Please keep the spirit going and be as generous as you are able in donating to the food drive currently being coordinated by our eighth grader, Ava Litz. She is learning about the problems and solutions surrounding hunger in this country as part of her 20% Project. She has been visiting classrooms sharing what she has learned and what we all can do to help. Thank you, Ava, for your activism. 6th grade tour: There is a ZOOM meeting for families that are interested in transferring to Ocean Shore for sixth grade on Jan 19, 2022 10:00 AM . Please pass this information along to any families that might be interested. Join Zoom Meeting. https://pacificasd.zoom.us/j/84663128413?pwd=Um42WDYyL0E1RDFvSCtzN21hUXl0UT09 Meeting ID: 846 6312 8413 Passcode: 825134 PEF: Please see the Pacifica Education Foundation Winter Newsletter below. Please contribute to PEF in 2022! Additional Fliers attached: Pacifica Unified Soccer information, Spanish & Portuguese translations of letter.
Hi all, Enjoy your weekend! No letter today, but I do have... Updates and Announcements: COVID Update: Please keep your children home if they are sick. If they exhibit even one symptom at school, they will need to go home. If your child is out sick for any reason, this Google form must be filled out before they return to school and they must come to the office to receive a return to class slip before they can go to their classroom. OSS Return to school form. Please note that if a child is out sick for any reason, they can't come back to school without: 1. a negative COVID test or 2. Recent documentation from a healthcare provider that states your child's symptoms are typical of your child's underlying chronic condition (such as allergies) or 3. recent documentation from a healthcare provider confirming an alternative named diagnosis (such as strep or a cold). Please report all COVID positive cases to Ayesha Siddiq @ [email protected]. She is Ocean Shore's COVID-19 Coordinator and is taking over many of the notification duties previously done by Yolanda at the DO. If your child tests positive for COVID, Ayesha will be in touch with you to provide guidance regarding quarantine and when your child can return to school. Other School Business: PTO General Meeting: January 13th 7-8:30 pm. Families get 4 hours for attending! https://us06web.zoom.us/j/97777468177?pwd=OFNoemdYV0hPSURWWElhTDRUbTBVZz09 Meeting ID: 977 7746 8177 Passcode: 631135 After School Program: ASEP is back! Winter classes will start the week of 1/10/22 and run through 4/11/22. Registration started January 6th at 8:00pm. Sign up here: https://my.cheddarup.com/c/asep. If you are paying online, credit card payments are subject to a 3.5% + 0.45 cent service fee. E-Checks are subject to an 0.85 cent service fee. There is no service fee for cash or check payments. Cash or check payments can be delivered to the dark grey safe/box (at the beginning of the kindergarten wing) within 24 hours of enrollment. If hand-delivering, please deliver payments in an envelope marked with your name, student's name, and the class(es) the payments are for. An additional 1 dollar fee is added for ASEP services. DLG - Diversity Learning Group – Wednesday, January 12th @ 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 Final Kindergarten Tour: Time: Jan 12, 2022 06:30 PM. Join Zoom Meeting: https://pacificasd.zoom.us/j/82584736528?pwd=L2crWjM1TFgyczdQZ3loazBMN2F5UT09. Meeting ID: 825 8473 6528. Passcode: 320163. One tap mobile: +16699009128,,82584736528#,,,,*320163# US (San Jose) Yearbook: The yearbook is being compiled, and we need your child's input. Attached are flyers that show step by step instructions on how to upload photos, complete your free personal pages, and purchase your yearbook if you choose to. We need your students' photo submission with their name, grade and classroom Teacher information in the comments. We would love photo submissions of your students for everything else as well: first day of school, outdoor ed, Halloween, read-a-thon, etc. Contact Tanya Guido with any questions. [email protected]. Food Drive: Ava Litz is coordinating a food drive as part of her 8th grade 20% project. Food drive starts on 1/10. Please see the attached flier for details. PEF: Please see the Pacifica Education Foundation Winter Newsletter below. Please contribute to PEF in 2022!
Quote of the week: “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” -- Oprah Winfrey Dear Ocean Shore Families, Welcome back! I know COVID-19 complicated the holiday season yet again. The omicron variant is sweeping through the country, and we are adapting to keep everyone safe at Ocean Shore. I've listed some of the changes in this letter, and more information will follow. I hope that 2022 takes a tip from Oprah and does better than 2021 did. I hope that I get more things right as I continue my journey as principal. Finally, I hope that everyone found some time to relax and celebrate with friends and family during this crazy time, or if that wasn't possible, that you made a plan to see loved ones in the new year. I can't wait to see the kids tomorrow! Take care, Jeanne COVID-19 updates: Lunch: Weather permitting, all students will be eating outside. If students must eat inside, they will eat in their classrooms. Cross grade activities will only be allowed outside. Illness: Please keep your children home if they are sick. If students have runny noses or sniffles, they need to stay home. If your child has allergies, we will need to have a letter from your pediatrician to keep on file. When your child is ready to come back to school, parents will need to fill out this Google form: OSS Return to School Form . Your child should come to the office first before going to the classroom so that they can be cleared to return to class. Travel: Students will not be excluded from school because of travel. Families should consider the risk involved rather than the miles travelled. You can go to Lake Tahoe and never be in another room with someone you are not related to which is a low risk activity. Higher risk travel could be using public transportation, being in a crowded airport or attending a large family gathering. A COVID-19 test should take place 3-5 days after returning from travel or being exposed. That means that students that returned from travel on Tuesday should not be tested until Friday. Anyone with symptoms should not be at school. Vaccinations: We are starting to track student vaccination records. Please fill out this Google form. If you don't have the ability to take a photo and upload it, we can make a copy for you in the office. OSS Student COVID vaccination Other School Business: After School Program: ASEP is back! Winter classes will start the week of 1/10/22 and run through 4/11/22. Registration starts January 6th at 8:00pm. You can preview classes at this URL: https://asep.cheddarup.com. Final Kindergarten Tour: Time: Jan 12, 2022 06:30 PM. Join Zoom Meeting: https://pacificasd.zoom.us/j/82584736528?pwd=L2crWjM1TFgyczdQZ3loazBMN2F5UT09. Meeting ID: 825 8473 6528. Passcode: 320163. One tap mobile: +16699009128,,82584736528#,,,,*320163# US (San Jose)
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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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