![]() Dear Ocean Shore Families, Hello! It was so great to meet with you last night at our first general PTO meeting. As I mentioned, the packed house of attendees speaks volumes about our community’s commitment to our school. Many schools dream about how to get parents involved. This is not a dream at Ocean Shore, it is our reality. Last night there was standing-room only for our meeting, which indicates how Ocean Shore families play such an integral role in our school and how we place a value on maintaining the experiential educational opportunities for our kids. At times, this requires attending late night meetings after a long, full day of work and family demands. I applaud your efforts to stay involved in your child’s education. Ultimately, as a result of our collaborative efforts, our kids receive the benefits of partnership! On behalf of the students, staff and parent organizations, thank you for playing a vital role in our education system! Last night, we intended to show several short videos. I have posted two of the videos below that speak to the power of parent involvement at our schools and how it “takes a village” to raise our children. Enjoy the videos! On Parent Involvement: https://youtu.be/nOhZ6U5yaXA From the Ocean Shore School Class of 2019: (Thank you to 2nd grade OSS teacher Juli Chang for helping students create this video!) https://www.wevideo.com/view/1195825077 Below are the slides from the presentation last night. Please feel free to refer to them as needed or if you were unable to attend the meeting. Thank you! PTO Meeting Presentation Reflections From My Office: After the meeting last night, a parent shared a special story with me. Tanya Guido is an Ocean Shore parent who has led an after school yearbook class for the students of Ocean Shore for the past 11 years. She came up to me at the end of our meeting with such excitement to tell me about a former yearbook student. She had just heard from another parent about the whereabouts of this young man, who left Ocean Shore years ago. This student had participated in the yearbook class. The yearbook class is another great example of the opportunities afforded to our students. In yearbook class, students are led by a parent volunteer (Tanya) who provides them with a safe space to explore and create. As a result, they produce a yearbook for all students. They manage and create their own page. This young man gained so much from his experience at Ocean Shore, he was hopeful to continue this trend when he went to high school at Summit Shasta. However, when he arrived, he realized they did not offer a yearbook class for students. So he did something very “Ocean Shore” – he created one. On his own, he reached out to the organization (TreeRing) that he used at Ocean Shore. He started the same sort of class that he participated in as a student here. He continued through the program all of his years in high school and has now graduated onto class. Tanya was ecstatic to tell me the next part. She shared that a parent of another girl recently told her about her daughter’s experience. Like the previous young man, this girl had enjoyed being in the yearbook class at Ocean Shore. She is now attending the same high school, and was eager to continue creating yearbooks. The yearbook class that was created by an Ocean Shore student at the high school became so successful and popular that they now only admit a certain number of students each year. This incoming freshman girl was one of only six who were admitted into the class. This year, she will continue the trend of Ocean Shore alumni contributing their creative influences to better their communities beyond their time here on our campus. I have heard other stories such as this one that was shared with me last night. I think it is incredible to think about the influence our young minds will have on our world today. We need their voices to be heard and to continue to give them opportunities to expand on what they gained here as students of Ocean Shore. Share your alumni stories with me so that I can share with others! These deserve to be celebrated! Reflections from the Playground: On Fridays at recess, you will hear music play over the loudspeaker. Today I had the pleasure of being in our kindergarten yard. I wish I could have bundled up the energy that was flowing from our little ones when they heard the music. They were ecstatic. Without care, they gleefully bounced and moved around. Several boys were thrilled to teach me how to do the “floss” dance. One little girl ran up to me with a beaming smile and exclaimed, “What is all this racket!?” She squealed and ran to dance. How fun to share this moment with them, and to remind you all to find time this week to stop and enjoy the music – wherever you may hear it. Another little one ran up to me with a smile to proudly display a note she found in her lunchbox. She told me her dad writes a note to her everyday. She was beaming, as the note indicated. What a sweet idea. I pass it onto you so that you can be inspired to share such kindness with others! Here was a picture of her note: (Hint to parents! This is a great way to make your child's day! Staff Makin’ Waves: I had the opportunity to visit Beccy’s 6th grade class this week. They were in the science lab, rotating through 4 different labs. There were parent volunteers assisting to lead the separate labs. I was impressed with the coordination and careful planning that Beccy put into creating this experience for her students. One station launched a “rocket” outside. While most students get pretty jazzed about watching a plastic bottle “launch” like a rocket, it was the moment after this that really captured my attention. Excited by what they created and observed with the rocket launch, they raced to their science journals to write down their observations. They were ecstatic to describe what they learned. That moment was pretty magical to observe. Hanging on their last word they wrote, they moved to the next station full of enthusiasm for learning about energy and science. Beccy had created the perfect pace and experience for her students to get excited about learning. That is what our schools days are all about! Here was a look at what learning looks like at Ocean Shore: Parents Makin’ Waves (Shared From a Parent to All Parents!): Note to Parents: Please recommend a peer that you notice going above and beyond! I would love to celebrate their contributions to our community! Thank you to our PTO presidents, Amber Metkiff and Michele Tuman for their leadership! Our PTO meeting last night was an example of their skill and grace to coordinate many different programs and activities to ensure our school year begins with great success. The hours they give outside of school to coordinate our PTO are immeasurable. Their effort, tenacity and grace are invaluable to our school and we are grateful for their service! From the Front Office: Introducing our School Mental Health Therapists, Hart and Erin! We are fortunate to have two counselors on our campus, in addition to our district mental health counselor, Kristina. We have a strong team of support providers who will be working with our students on their social and emotional learning. In addition to consulting with our teachers and collaborating in classrooms, they will be working with students in groups and individually. When parents sign a consent form, our counselors will be able to begin working with students in these small groups or one-on-one. Hart will be working primarily with our elementary students while Erin will work with the middle school students. Allow me to introduce them to you! From Hart: Hi! My name is Hart Haragutchi and I am going to be at Ocean Shore this year as the Youth Service Bureau trainee counselor. I am currently a graduate student at Palo Alto University’s master’s in counseling program. Before pursuing a degree in counseling I did several different jobs, including working in emergency medicine and critical care, and teaching English in Russia for several years. I now live in San Francisco where I enjoy cooking, reading, and walking by the water in my free time. I am excited to be at Ocean Shore this year, and I look forward to meeting you and to working with your children! From Erin: Hello! My name is Erin McTigue and I will be working as the mental health clinician this year at Ocean Shore School. I graduated with a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of San Francisco in 2015. For the past four years, I have been working as a clinician for the Youth Service Bureau in various schools throughout the San Mateo/Foster City School District as both a clinician and school safety advocate. Prior to obtaining my counseling degree, I worked for 10-plus years in Bay Area public school systems, both as a special education teacher and administrator. In these roles I gained extensive insight into the inner-workings of various school systems and what is needed to successfully navigate them to provide students with much needed services. I look forward to working with the wonderful students, dedicated staff and outstanding administration of Ocean Shore School this year. Feel free to stop by the office on a Tuesday or Thursday to introduce yourself! 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! OSS Wish List on Amazon Questions Regarding Requirements such as Live Scan for Parent Volunteers: We are in the process of working together with our staff, district, parent and larger community including law enforcement to gain the most current information regarding our policies and practices required for parent volunteers at our school. Student safety is our top priority, and collaborating with all stakeholders to ensure our special programs and field trips can continue through our reliance on parent volunteers while keeping students safe is essential. I welcome any questions or suggestions you may have regarding this topic. You will be updated as information related becomes available. From the PTO Corner: Fog Fest Help: We are looking for volunteers for the corn booth at this year's Fog Fest on Sept 29 & 30. Each year we are counting on parents to volunteer to help out in this booth because we do receive a proceed from the Fog Fest Committee. Your job as a volunteer is sales and to collect tips which that is part of what is donated to OSS PTO. We have been a part of this booth for many years and we do benefit monetarily and you benefit with making friends with OSS families. It is two hours that go by so quickly and can be a fun way to earn towards your family hours. We need 2 hour shifts with 3 volunteers each, Saturday & Sunday between 9:30-6pm. Here's a few ways you can sign up; NOW on the link below or sign up sheet at the Fundraising Board in the parent hall. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080a45aaa823a5fd0-fogfest For Corn Booth questions please email Sam Leon at [email protected] Support Ocean Shore with a Coffee Subscription: Take a look at this video for more information on Simple Pleasures Coffee. Click here is the Video Linkwww.facebook.com/liling.pang.7/videos/10155591437437341/ Click here is the Order Form: From the Diversity Leadership Group Corner: Do you speak another language? Would you like to share a picture book story read in that language to a classroom of students, and then share a little something about your culture or the culture of your language or why you speak this language…? The Diversity Leadership Group is recruiting volunteers to do short 15 – 20 minute presentations in a classroom or a few classrooms to celebrate International Literacy Day. We are going to celebrate it all week long the first week of October with the first week of the annual read-a-thon. Please email [email protected] if you want to know more or want to volunteer to present. 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! Garden Day THIS SUNDAY 9/23 from 11 – 1 pm! Join the efforts to beautify our school to help work in the garden this Sunday! All are welcome to join! Tuesday, September 25th Ocean Shore School Safety Committee Meeting 7 pm in the Library: Join me, our new Superintendent, Dr. Heather Olson, teachers and parents interested in discussing ways we can support student safety and well-being at our school. All are invited to attend! UPCOMING EVENTS! EASY WAYS TO SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY AND GAIN VOLUNTEER HOURS: NEED HOURS OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL? Do you have a truck? Our PE coordinator for the primary grades, John Lyons, is looking for your help to transport field hockey goals! Could you help him transport some goals from IBL to Ocean Shore? This would be a great way to support the school and gain hours! Contact John at [email protected]. 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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Location |
Ocean Shore School
411 Oceana Blvd Pacifica, CA 94044 Main office: 650-738-6650 |
For enrollment questions, please contact our front office. Our PTO does not have control over cumulative records.
School secretary - Patricia Buddington |