a day at the beach

انقر فوق الزر "ترجمة" أعلاه لقراءة هذا باللغة العربية

ይህንን በአማርኛ ለማንበብ ከላይ ያለውን ተርጉም ይጫኑ

Haga clic en el botón TRADUCIR de arriba para leer esto en español

Cliquez sur le bouton TRADUIRE ci-dessus pour lire ceci en français

It's August! As the beginning of the year gets closer, I get more and more excited to meet each of our students and you, their parents and caregivers! While it may seem like a long time before we're back to school, school staff are already busy preparing for the year ahead.

Our custodians have been hard at work all summer cleaning classrooms and stripping and waxing the floors to be ready for young feet to once again trod happily upon them. Office staff are already back, supporting new enrollments and getting ready for staff to return. Many staff members have engaged in professional learning throughout the summer on a variety of topics including social emotional learning, dual language instruction and iReady (our math curriculum) among other things.

Our teaching staff will be starting work a day early this year in order to begin receiving training on the Science of Reading. Education is a field that never stops learning, and we've learned a lot about how the brain engages when learning to read. During the eight early release days this year, our teaching staff and I will continue to engage in professional learning related to the Science of Reading in order to provide even more cohesive and intentional reading instruction for all of our learners. We're all very excited about this opportunity to become even better for your children.

While school is very much on my mind, I'm still taking time to get outside with my husband and daughter to enjoy our incredibly beautiful part of the world. Steve (my husband) and I floated down the Sandy last week and I felt joy every minute I was on the water. Joy. It's one of our schoolwide values and it's something I hope you each feel throughout this month as the last days of summer vacation come and go. Whether you're sad to see summer end or happy to know that school starts soon, it may bring you joy to know you're in good company. 😊

I'd love to see you for popsicles with the playground this Monday, August 12 from 3:30-4:30. The weather's going to be perfect for a cool afternoon treat. See you there!

The first days of school can be full of mixed emotions for students...and parents! It can be really helpful for everyone involved to have a sense of what to expect when they arrive at school. Kinder Connect is an opportunity for kindergarteners to come to the school playground to play with other incoming kindergarteners; becoming familiar both with the play space and the children they'll be spending their days with in the classroom, in specials, and/or in the cafeteria and playground. The more time Kinders have to familiarize themselves with the space and people they will be seeing, the better! We look forward to seeing you at the Kinder Connect event on Thursday, August 15th from 9:00-10:30.

Come and be part of our Community Care event, where we'll engage in a collective effort to clean up litter around the school and spruce things up for the students’ return! This will be a fun opportunity for community members, students, parents, and faculty to join together to make the campus and surrounding areas look great before the start of the next school year. Community Care is a family friendly event open to volunteers of all ages. Please bring your gardening gloves, tools, water bottles and good vibes. We look forward to seeing you there!

We have been, and continue to be, focused on increasing students' sense of belonging in school. There is clear evidence that a strong sense of belonging is protective of mental health, improves academic outcomes and increases continuing enrollment - all wonderful things! This year we invite you to send in a 4x6 or 5x7 family/loved ones photo for us to frame and put in our hallways. Please bring this photo to popsicles with the principal, Kinder Connect or bring it to school and give it to your child's teacher (please write your child's name and grade on the back). If you would rather not print the picture, feel free to email me the jpeg at njohnson@pps.net (please write your child's name and grade in the email). This does NOT need to be a fancy picture! A fun, casual pic will do the trick.

Site Council is a school-level volunteer group that supports the principal with the overall academic direction of the school, focusing on school improvement initiatives. For example, the team has input on schoolwide decisions such as the focus of our annual improvement plan, how to use staffing allocations and how to increase students’ sense of belonging at Beach. Every two years, a new group of parents, community members and staff representatives are selected to serve on the Site Council to support Beach. Our current parent/community members completed their two year cycle as participants last year and we are looking for members for the start of the 24/25 school year.

We will meet for an hour four times this year, the first meeting is tentatively scheduled for September 17th. Once the team has been identified we'll decide if we'd like to meet in person or virtually and we'll find a time that works best for the team. Translation support will be provided.

If you are interested in being a part of our Site Council, please email me at njohnson@pps.net by Friday, September 6th.

Here's a bit of information about Site Councils: What is a Site Council by GreatSchools.net

Would you be interested in representing Beach families on the PPS Family Advisory Council on Education? The purpose of this group is 1) to provide input about PPS’ Instructional Priorities and initiatives, and 2) serve as a liaison to bring information back to our Site Council and school community and also bring topics of interest from the school community to this district-wide council. Importantly, the Family Advisory Council on Education provides representatives the opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue with others from across PPS about the teaching and learning priorities that impact their students and the entire school community. This team met five times last year - both in person and virtual options are available. If you are interested, please let me know by emailing me at njohnson@pps.net.

• Under federal law and school policy, the school district may release the following information without prior parental consent: student name, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, degrees, honors, and awards received, major field of study, dates of attendance and the most recent school attended.
• Student photographs are commonly used in yearbooks, newsletters and websites and other school related publications.
• Our Beach Community Union publishes school directories that include parent/guardian contact information.

If you would like to opt-out of any of the above practices, please share your preferences in this opt out form.

Thank you to the 13 caregivers that have shared their feedback about Beach. As I shared in my first letter to you in June, having worked in three different countries, I understand the importance of learning about a community's values and norms so we can be sure that the decisions we make are in alignment with our values. To help me get a sense of what matters to you and how you’d like to work together to support your children, I invite you to take this brief survey. Your insights and feedback are crucial in helping us create an environment where every student can thrive.

Tuesday, August 27th is the first day of school for students in grades 1-5. Kindergarteners will join a week later on September 3rd (though they will have participated in Kindergarten Ramp Up before then - information will be sent home about this later in the month). This year, students' day will begin earlier than it did last year.

All PPS elementary schools are shifting to have the same beginning and end times. Our doors will open at 7:53 at which time all students are invited to collect breakfast and head to their classrooms. School officially begins at 8:00am. The school day ends at 2:30.

It is impossible to overstate the benefits of arriving to school on time. Being on time helps students develop positive habits, such as responsibility and time management, that can benefit them throughout their lives. It can also help students feel good about themselves and ensure they don't miss out on important learning activities that happen early in the day. Please do what you can to get your child(ren) to school on time. If that's difficult for you or your child(ren), let us know how we can help.

• Monday, August 12 from 3:30-4:40 - Popsicles on the Playground
• Thursday, August 15 from 9:00-10:30 - Kinder Connect (play on the playground)
• Saturday, August 17 from 10:00-12:00 - Community Care Day
• Tuesday, August 27 at 8:00am - First Day of School for Grades 1-5
• Monday, September 2 - Labor Day, No School
• Tuesday, September 3 at 8:00am - First Day of Kindergarten