Dear Ocean Shore Families,
Hello! How wonderful to see so many families at Back To School Night last night. When a school hosts such an evening and there is standing-room only in most classrooms, it speaks volumes about the community it serves. It shows the level of commitment to education, from our parents and extended families, to give our kids the best experience possible. It warmed my educator heart to walk from room to room and see our teachers lead such informative and dynamic presentations to parents who attended, eager to learn about their child’s educational experience this year. I beamed with pride for our school. Ocean Shore is a special place as I learn new reasons to believe this about our school everyday. Thank you for your attendance, and your ongoing commitment to play vital role in the experiential education that is offered to students at Ocean Shore. It is sustained by our partnership between home and school, and your contributions of time and effort to be an active role in our programs. Reflections From My Office This morning I was able to walk around with our School Resource Officer from the Pacifica Police Department. I have learned that our local police department is planning to be a constant partner at our school, a vital role when we talk about school safety. It was a pleasure to walk around the campus with the officers, students got to see their presence in a positive light rather than a reaction to something bad or scary. Officer McDonald and I talked with students in the hallway and around campus. The receptivity and support our police officers offer to our school is very much appreciated. You will likely see them walking, smiling and talking with students around our campus this year as they are important stakeholders in our school community. I am grateful for their presence. One sweet moment occurred with our kindergartners that I would like to share with you in this weekly message. As the kindergartners were gathering around Officer McDonald in curiosity, I introduced them to our officer. Jennifer explained how Officer McDonald was one of the many people who help keep our school safe. I noticed one little boy looking very puzzled. He stood near the front with his head hanging back to gaze up at the taller police officer standing in front of him. I looked at him and said, “Isn’t it wonderful to have Officer McDonald visit our school today? Have you met Officer McDonald before?” He looked at me very seriously and said, “Well, I was at McDonald’s yesterday, but I did NOT see him there.” Clearly, in the mind of our sweet little ones, as only they could imagine, Officer McDonald must be the same as McDonald’s where he played and dined on French fries and Happy Meals! The Importance of Recognizing Others! A parent participation model for a school rests largely upon the collaborative efforts of our staff and parents or caretakers. The contributions of others are important to recognize, as I often gain inspiration from the efforts of my teammates. The staff and I have been recognizing others in a weekly message and bulletin board in our staff room called, “Staff Makin’ Waves” (see the posting below!) and thought it would be fun to recognize the efforts of our parent volunteers. I welcome your suggestions, input, and observations of other parents in their roles as they contribute to Ocean Shore. Please share them with me so that I can share with others! Staff Makin’ Waves - Patricia Buddington Being a principal new to school requires obtaining a lot of information quickly. I would not be able to assimilate all the new information without the guidance and expertise of Patricia Buddington, our school secretary. From her years at Ocean Shore as a parent and our secretary, she is a wealth of information. This week, I enjoyed observing her work with some of our older students who are helping in the office. I was impressed with her tenacity and diligence to lead and guide them through the procedures and routines they will be performing. Her patience with them was exemplary and she did this all while running our office. Few people in the world can do what school secretaries do with such efficiency. I watch her work long hours with smile on her face while she manages everything from putting on Band Aides to coordinating 15 different daily schedules. We are lucky to have her at the helm of Ocean Shore steering us onward everyday! Parents Makin’ Waves - Faith Holle and Virginia Clements Ocean Shore has not had a new record keeper for many years as the previous person that held this role had an active student until the end of last year. We would like to thank and welcome our two new moms, Faith Holle and Virginia Clements, who have taken on this role with an energy and passion for ensuring that all of our personal information is safe and secure! They have already spent many hours working on a new updated system for collecting and recording data. The new process will save time in the future and will ensure our information is secure. Thank you, Virginia and Faith, for being great role models and "taking the initiative to make things better!” We are lucky to have such dedicated parents volunteer their time in this way! FROM THE FRONT OFFICE Parking Please be respectful of our parking spaces designated for staff. Parents are reminded to refrain from parking in the front lot on school days from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm. We do not have enough parking spaces for all of our staff so taking additional spots means our staff have fewer places to park! Our teachers will be thankful for your efforts. UPDATES “Parent University” Series Coming Soon Are you interested in sharing ideas and resources with other parents around the idea of student wellness? Some student support specialists and I were exploring ways we would like to reach out to our parent community to discuss ideas related to supporting the social and emotional needs of our children. If you are interested in this idea, please let me know. We hope to roll out a few different topics and host evening or morning events. We welcome your input! Vacant PTO Position The Grade 6-8 Parent Representative Position of the PTO Executive Board has recently opened up. If you are interested in being considered for this position, please see www.osspto.org or the PTO board in the parent hallway for the job description and sign up on that board by September 12th. If more than one person is interested, there will be an election held from September 13-20, 2018, to determine who will fill the vacancy. If there is only one person who signs up as a candidate, the PTO Board will vote to approve the candidate at the PTO Executive Board Meeting on October 9th. Please email [email protected] with any questions you may have regarding the responsibilities of this position. Parent Volunteer Forms: THANK YOU to all of our parents for your patience and flexibility as we adjust our procedures for collecting volunteer forms. In effort to protect privacy, the collection process has been adjusted this year. While this new process is put in place, your support has been much appreciated. To ensure that parents can continue to volunteer and be involved without disruption is everyone’s desire. Thank you for your understanding! 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. UPCOMING OCEAN SHORE SCHOOL EVENTS - MARK YOUR CALENDARS! September 3 NO SCHOOL on Monday in observance of the Labor Day Holiday! September 6 The Diversity Leadership Group (DLG) invites parents and caregivers to attend a planning meeting on Thursday, September 6, from 6:00-8:00 pm in the library. The DLG supports Ocean Shore’s culture of kindness, inclusiveness, and respect for diversity in the community. Your voice is welcome in our discussion of school-wide events, including Ability Awareness Day, MLK Day, and Celebrate Diversity Day. To get involved, contact Lissin ([email protected]) or join the upcoming meeting. September 12 School Safety Event. The Coalition for Safe Schools and Communities is holding a community event on the Big Five protocols and school safety on Wednesday, September 12, 2018. in the Jefferson High School Theater from 6:15-8:00 pm. See Flyer here: big_five_training_families_2018.09.12__1_.pdf September 20 The first PTO General Meeting! I look forward to speaking with you and sharing insights for our year ahead on Thursday, September 20th from 7:00 - 9:00 pm in the MPR. This will be my first meeting, so join me if you are also new or returning for another great year at OSS! September 25 Ocean Shore School Safety Committee Meeting will be on Tuesday, September 25 at 7:00 pm (Room TBD). Join me, our new Superintendent, Dr. Heather Olson, teachers and all parents interested in discussing ways we can support student safety and well-being at our school. All are invited to attend! EASY WAYS TO SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY AND GAIN VOLUNTEER HOURS Need Hours Outside of School? The Oceans 411 committee needs you! We're looking for parents to cut and paint plywood for a project. If you can help email Sheila at [email protected]. Help Run an Elective for 7th and 8th Graders! We are still looking for parents who would partner with our teachers to facilitate an electives course. These are offered each trimester and we hope to host a class such as a language, coding or computer-programming course. If you have an interest in offering this opportunity to our kids, please let me or one of our 7th - 8th grade teachers know about your expertise or availability! UPDATES FROM THE PEF CORNER Please join together and 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, programs which our district budget cannot accommodate. Simply said, PEF funds, advances, and protects a higher quality education for OUR students. To learn more, click here. PEF Sponsored Programs:
To learn more, click here. Remember to 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 AND OPPORTUNITIES October 28 - PEFathon 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. New 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: Elizabeth (Liz) Cayot ([email protected]) Jen Newman-Locks ([email protected]) Johnny Davis ([email protected]) IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR PARENTS: PRINT OUT OR DOWNLOAD WEEKLY FLYERS! PSD SEPTEMBER LUNCH MENU PEFathon Event Variety Cart Menu ots_back_to_school_safety_month.docx After School Opportunity VFAC Ocean Shore 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
Categories |
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 |