|
Dear Ocean Shore Families, Hello! I wish you a wonderful week as we head into our Thanksgiving break! I look forward to seeing you around campus this week for parent-teacher conferences! A reminder that we have MINIMUM DAYS every day this week! Reflections From My Office: Something really sweet is happening around our school. You may notice words of encouragement or kindness quotes being spread all around campus! Our kindergarten teacher Jennifer challenged her class to perform random acts of kindness for others. They have become, KINDESS NINJAS! Kids are performing these random acts such as:
I think this is a great example for all of us to follow and I love that some of our youngest kids are teaching us all about the importance of spreading kindness! Jennifer asked her class, “What does a Kindess Ninja do?” Here was what they said: They work hard and be a good person. They spread kindness. They be kind and they be nice to people. They spread kindness in the world and they're really nice to people. They be nice to each other. and my favorite... They do kind things when people don't ask them to. That's it! Here are some pictures of our Kindness Ninjas and what they have been doing around campus! Student Podcast! Here all about it in this week’s podcast! Season 2 - Episode 10 Dolphinetly Talks Site Staff Makin' Waves! Look below to meet our Staff of the Week and learn about our team of educators!  Weekly Flyers:   Dear Ocean Shore Families, Hello! I hope you are about to enjoy a long weekend! Reminder – we do not have school on Monday 11/11/19 in recognition of Veteran’s Day. On behalf of our school, thank you to all the Veterans in our Ocean Shore community who have served our country. We are so fortunate for your selfless service! As the fiancé of a Veteran, sister of an Air Force officer, and granddaughter of several World War II Veterans, my family – like yours and so many others - knows firsthand how much of a sacrifice our Veterans make for us all. Thank you! Reflections From My Office: It seems hard to believe, but the first trimester of the 2019-20 school year is coming to a close! This means you can expect to see your child’s report card come home, and have an opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher. Fall conferences are when all parents check in with their teacher to review their progress and determine each child’s direction for the coming year. This is an important time for home and school communication. The teachers work diligently to prepare the report cards and to share each student’s unique progress through looking at multiple projects, work samples and assessments. As I have walked around campus talking with the students, I reminded them that their effort means everything. I have shared with families in the past some things to remember when reviewing your child’s progress and “grades” As a parent, it is important to remember a few key items: · Celebrate Effort: Upon receiving their report cards, I always reminded my students as a teacher that their effort mattered as much as their achievement – and sometimes even more. What an important life lesson we can teach our children. What you put into something is just as meaningful as what you take from it. · Ask Questions: At your parent-teacher conference, take time to inquire about what academic standards are expected of your child at this point in the year. Have your child self-reflect on their progress this 1st trimester. · Report Cards in Modern Times: You might notice that the report card your child brought home is different than the report card you received as a child. It is normal to feel a little confused! To help you better understand your child’s report card, please refer to the district website, “Elementary Report Guide for Parents.” Please see the link here: https://www.pacificasd.org/files/user/1/file/Report%20Card%20Guide%20for%20Parents.pdf Student Podcast! Here all about it in this week’s podcast! Season 2 - Episode 9 Dolphinetly Talks Site Staff Makin' Waves! Look below to meet our Staff of the Week and learn about our team of educators!  Take a Look at the Superhero Staff at Ocean Shore! Here was a picture from our costume parade last week!  Weekly Flyers  Dear Ocean Shore Families, Happy Friday! I hope you had a wonderful week. It was great to so many families at our costume parade yesterday! The costumes were extraordinary –so many creative ideas. Our week ended on positive note – despite the unusual start to our day with school closed! Thank you for your patience and responsiveness as we all navigated the power outages and weather conditions. The Hootenany is on Saturday! Should be a very fun event! See below for details! Reflections From My Office: Today our staff gathered for professional development. It was a valuable day for our teachers as we talked about building our capacity for student engagement. I left the day feeling inspired and uplifted by our staff – there were some powerful and rich conversations. One part of our day compared and how education has changed over the years. From the days of a one-room schoolhouse to modern times – we all agreed that teachers wear many hats to serve students. We also talked about the value of a classroom community – and that many of the activities at Ocean Shore foster a student’s sense of belonging to our school community. POD days are one such example. Yesterday was our first “POD” day. This is one of my favorite things that happen at our school. At Ocean Shore, there is a tradition of having several POD days throughout the year. Students are assigned to a POD or “family” of students represented from each grade level. Each classroom becomes a one-room schoolhouse. Students from kindergarten to 8th grade spend time together with different teachers. Teachers carefully design activities for the students that will be fun and productive across all of the ages. If you were around on campus yesterday, you would have noticed kids working in pairs and small groups, older students helping younger ones. The littlest ones eagerly accepted their guidance as they were in awe of the bigger kids. Each activity had a greater value attached to it because of the quality of collaboration across ages, and the reciprocity of skills being exchanged. Older students gain leadership while younger ones learned from their example of servitude – something that isn’t easily packaged in a book or curriculum – but given with opportunities such as POD days. It is not uncommon to see seasonal celebrations in classrooms. Most schools host such fun activities like building skeletons or creating an art project with fall leaves. What is uncommon is to see the collaborative spirit between these age groups in such a deliberate manner. The laughter exchanged, the memories that were made between the big and little buddies made the activity that much more memorable. The intentionality to give our students such experiences is what sets Ocean Shore apart from other schools. It was fun for me to see our teachers lead a whole group of students across all the grade levels. Our middle school team having fun with the primary grades and vice versa. This also reflects how our teachers are committed to these experiences. Student Podcast! Here all about it in this week’s podcast! Season 2 - Episode 9 Dolphinetly Talks Site Staff Makin' Waves! Look below to meet our Staff of the Week and learn about our team of educators!  Come to the Hootenanny on Saturday!  Weekly Flyers: |
Jeanne BellingerPrincipal of Ocean Shore. Check back here for weekly updates and messages from the principal. Archives
June 2022
Categories |
RSS Feed