K-12 News & Updates

Jennifer Ketring

High School October E-Newsletter

SCHOOL NEWS & UPDATES

Indigenous Peoples’ Day was a success. We had great student participation with some of our K-8 students as well as PAHS and Arena classes joining us for the day. We would like to thank all of our guests and participants in this engaging, interactive day that reminds us that Indigenous culture is still here and relevant today. We would like to do this event annually and build on this by offering more workshops with hands-on projects and more interactive events, including a cultural potluck with food.

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Jennifer Ketring

K-8 October E-Newsletter

SCHOOL NEWS & UPDATES

A Note from our K8 Director

Hello Everyone,

It has been great to get a chance to talk with so many of you during our Parent/Teacher Conference week. If you were unable to make your scheduled time, please be sure to reach out to your child’s teacher to schedule a new meeting time. Parent/Teacher Conferences are a great time to hear about your child’s progress and to set goals for the rest of the year. We will have Student-Led Conferences in the spring where students will share samples of their work and tell you about their class.

On Friday, October 29th our school will have our annual Harvest Party at 1:00 p.m. We will have fun activities and snacks for everyone to enjoy. Students are welcome to wear costumes to school, and we will have a photo booth set up to capture some of the fun. Please leave any toy weapons at home. Please let us know if you are able to provide healthy treats/snacks for our harvest party, or if you would like to lead an activity!

Happy fall everyone. Stay safe and healthy. I will be looking forward to the rain.

-Mr. Todd

Some of our recent outdoor learning days included a middle school kayaking trip at the Arena Cove and the 2nd-3rd graders returned to Windy Hollow Farm. A new van will help us continue to offer and grow these outdoor programs!

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Jennifer Ketring

K-12 October E-Newsletter

SCHOOL NEWS & UPDATES

  • Indigenous Peoples’ Day
  • College & Careers Forum
  • K8 Picture Day
  • COVID Testing & Pre-Registration
  • School Van Fundraiser
  • Mark Your Calendar

Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Last year our Governance Council adopted a resolution to formally recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day each year on the 2nd Monday in October. On Monday, October 11 our High School is hosting activities to honor and recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The schedule is still being finalized but will include Pomo hand games, drumming, basket weaving and more. We will share the final schedule with all families and students via email – keep an eye out!

Our K-8 students will have the day off school but ALL families are invited to participate in the High School activities on October 11. We will be hosting a special all-school meeting at the K-8 site on Wednesday, October 6 to highlight Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

Ms. Bernardo, our High School English teacher, put together the following list of Young Adult Books & Poetry Collections by Indigenous Authors (she purchased individual copies for checking out at the High School):

  • Apple in the Middle, Dawn Quigley
  • The Marrow Thieves, Cherie Dimaline
  • Hearts Unbroken, Cynthia Leitich Smith
  • Rain is Not My Indian Name, Cynthia Leitich Smith
  • When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: Anthology of Native Nations Poetry, Edited by Joy Harjo
  • #NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women, Edited by Lisa Charleyboy & Mary Beth Leatherdale
  • Give me Some Truth, Eric Gansworth

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Jennifer Ketring

High School September E-Newsletter

SCHOOL NEWS & UPDATES

  • Catalina Environmental Leadership Program
  • Coastal Cleanup
  • College & Careers Forum
  • Mark Your Calendar

A Note from our High School Director


Just a note to say…Thank you to all of our students, families and teachers! We appreciate all that you do and are very grateful for everyone’s active participation in returning to in-person classes after 18 months of distance learning. Congratulations on making it the distance and staying the course over the past month to successfully re-open the school and provide a safe learning environment for everyone.

We also would like to say a big thank you to Arena Elementary for donating a new kiln to the Pacific Community Charter High School! We look forward to collaborating on future ceramic projects.

Each month I will be doing a “Teacher Feature” in our school newsletter. This month I am excited to welcome Ms. Susan Bernardo as our new English teacher. She is settling in nicely with our team of teachers and student body and our students are off to a good start in her English classes. They are writing everyday in journals, and have been working on a unit in Celtic mythology learning about the role of the bard and storytelling. Next up they will be learning about illuminated manuscripts, and then they will move on to Beowulf. She’s gradually ramping up the level of difficulty in the AP class with more in-depth writing projects, and will be launching into the official AP curriculum this month. Small class sizes in creative writing class allow her to personalize the curriculum — they’re doing some group writing prompts and lessons on inspiration in general and working on individual creative writing projects of their own choosing with her guidance and feedback. Last week, Mark Gross, the facilitator for the KGUA Writers’ Group, came in and led a session on their community writing prompts project, and encouraged students to submit their work to the radio. Some of our students will be featured on the radio throughout the series!

Stay safe & stay tuned next month for more teacher features and classroom updates.

Thanks,
Michele Taylor-Jones, Director

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Jennifer Ketring

K-8 September E-Newlsetter

Happy Autumn everyone!

The school year has gotten off to a strong start, and everyone is beginning to settle into our new routines as we all relearn how to be in-person in school everyday. Thank you to everyone for your patience and support as we have gotten this new year off the ground. It is going to be an amazing year.

Please remember that if your child is sick it is very important that they stay home, and if they are exhibiting Covid symptoms they should get tested right away. Our full Covid-19 policy is on our website. Please don’t hesitate to call the school if you have any questions.

We are excited to announce that we have launched our Afterschool Reading Club from 2:15-3:15 for our 1st-4rd grade students and our STEAM Club from 3:30-5:00 for our 3rd-8th grade students. Please let your child’s teacher know if you would like them to participate in either of these programs.

Each class has begun to roll out our outdoor learning days. Your child’s teacher will let you know when and where their class will be going each week. Please let us know if you are available to help with transportation.

I look forward to seeing all of you at our Back-to-School Family Forum next Wednesday, September 22nd from 6pm-7pm. This will be a great time to ask questions, see what your child has been accomplishing, and to sign up for volunteer opportunities. In order to keep everyone safer, we are going to skip our traditional potluck meal and have the beginning of the meeting outdoors. Afterwards, families will have a chance to visit their child’s classroom and have conversations with their teacher.

Lastly, I wanted to remind everyone that there is no school on October 11th in order to acknowledge Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Please use this day to recognize the Indigenous People who have stewarded this land continuously for thousands of years.

Thank you for everything you do. Please let me know if you have questions and concerns. Take care everyone. PEACE!

-Todd Orenick, K8 Director

The Kindergarten-1st grade class has started their outdoor days at Windy Hollow Farm where they are establishing a routine of story time, nature journaling, hiking, and climbing.

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Jennifer Ketring

High School Grade Change Application: School Year 20-21

Assembly Bill (AB) 104 was signed into law on July 1, 2021, by
the Governor, to expand learning and credit recovery options for students who may

have suffered learning loss during the 2020–21 school year.

In summary, the law provides:

Section 1 (Grade Retention): Families of students who were enrolled in grades K–11 for the 2020–21 school year can submit a written request for their child to be retained in the same grade, if half of the student’s grades were deficient.

Section 2 (Grade Change to Pass/No Pass): Families of high school students can submit a Grade Change Form (provided by the LEA) to change letter grades attained during the 2020–21 school year to a Pass or No Pass grade on the student’s transcript without negatively affecting their GPA. Families must request a grade change by August 22, 2021 (complete and return this application to the school to request a change). 

Section 3 (Local Graduation Requirement Exemption): Students who were enrolled in their third or fourth year of high school during the 2020–21 school year, and who are not on track to graduate in the 2020–21 or 2021–22 school year, will be allowed to complete the California State Minimum High School Graduation Requirements pursuant to Education Code Section 51225.3. This opportunity may include, but is not limited to, completion of the courses through a fifth year of instruction, credit recovery, or other opportunity to ensure students graduate with their high school diploma. This exempts
students from completing the additional LEA-adopted high school graduation requirements.

Download the AB 104 Fact Sheet for Full Details

Jennifer Ketring

K-12 August E-Newsletter

Summer greetings!

August is here and we are gearing up for the start of the school year on the 18th. This year’s preparations are looking quite different than last year, and while we are still monitoring and remaining diligent in our efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic, we are looking forward to being in-person fulltime with all of our students this year. We are closely following local and state guidelines and have adapted those guidelines to inform our COVID protocols.

This year we are also excited to welcome new teaching staff: Lili Hillscan, TK-K-1st; Charlene Rowland, 3rd-8th After School STEAM; Andrea Mazza, 4th-12th Health & Wellness; Susan Schaefer Bernardo, High School English. Visit our website to read the bios of our new teachers (some who are new to our school community and others who are sharing their experiences in new roles). We will also be welcoming back our returning teachers this week at both the K-8 and High School sites. At K-8 Todd Orenick will be teaching our 2nd-3rd grade class while Isabel Kuniholm will be teaching Math & Science with our 4th-5th and Middle School classes. We will be temporarily filling our 4th-5th and Middle School English with a substitute while we find a long-term teacher to join our school. Our returning High School teachers include Nathan Ramser, Algebra, Biology and CLS; Beverly Battaglia, Civics & Economics, CLS and Odysseyware classes; Michele Taylor-Jones, Ceramics, 2D Studio Art & Design and Spanish 1.

Enrollment packets with detailed information for the coming school year were sent last week. Please check your mailbox and take the time to complete ALL of the information requested in the packets. I recognize it is a bit of paperwork, but all of the information is necessary to help us effectively operate our school.

I hope you have enjoyed your summer break and enjoy the last bit of time until we see everyone on the 18th. In the meantime, I encourage all of our families to participate in a virtual All School K-12 Family Forum on Monday, August 16 at 5:30. We will have site specific in-person Family Forums in September, but August 16th will be a chance for us to share more information about what to expect for this coming school year.

Take care.

-Jen Ketring, Executive Director

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Jennifer Ketring

High School August E-Newlsetter

Greetings Students and Families,

Welcome back to the start of the 2021-2022 school year. I hope everyone had a restful and safe summer break. We are pleased to welcome returning and new families this school year. Our plans are to offer in-person learning at the HS site this year with facial coverings and Covid-19 safety protocols in place.

Some of our students may be apprehensive or concerned about returning to school. Our goal will be everyone’s well-being. We all need to feel safe and happy in a new learning environment and it may take time to get used to in-person classes after distance learning at home. Please remember that the first few weeks will be about learning to readjust to the “New Normal” as it is a fresh start for everyone.

Teachers returned to school last Wednesday for staff development and class preparations. We have some new friendly faces to welcome to our HS team. Ms. Andrea Mazza will be our new Health & Wellness teacher and continues to support the school in her Administrative Assistant role. We are also welcoming Ms. Susan Bernardo as our new English teacher. Ms. Charlene Rowland, Agriculture teacher at PAHS, will also be helping support in Math & Science this year.

We are working in collaboration with Mendocino Office of Education (MCOE) and our local health officer to continue to monitor the health situation and adhere to Covid protocol and state guidelines. Looking forward to welcoming you all back to school in a safe, kind and respectful way.

The first week will be MAP Testing in CLS class and review of the bell school schedule, safety guidelines and rules. The first day of school is August 18th and will be a Wednesday early release schedule (see below). Thursday August 19th & Friday August 20th will be normal bell schedule. Individual schedules have been mailed (check your post box!) and emailed to school student email addresses. Please check-in with the office for any password updates with Jupiter or Gmail email school accounts.

If you have any queries or concerns please do not hesitate to contact the school. We also encourage you to attend our Virtual Family Forum tonight, Monday, August 16, at 5:30. Thank you again for your continued support in adjusting to the new way of life at school. The safety, health and well-being of our students are our main goals. The safe re-opening of the school for in-person learning is key for the success of our students’ growth as learners and global citizens.

Stay Well,
Michele Taylor-Jones, High School Director

Read the Full E-Newsletter Here

Jennifer Ketring

K-8 August E-Newsletter

Hello Everyone,

It has been such a busy summer at the K-8 site. We have been working hard to prepare our school to have students return for in-person classes. School starts on Wednesday, August 18th at 8:25a.m. I think that the first day of school is a special day and it can be fun to dress “up” for the day. It is one of the few days all year that I ever voluntarily wear a tie. Another first day tradition we have at the Pacific School is Stone Soup. Please read the story with your child and talk about what it means to you. Everyone is encouraged to bring something from home to contribute to our collective lunch. We will have a very special volunteer chef for this fun meal.

Our meal program needs parent volunteers to help prepare breakfast, and our Wednesday hot lunch. Please reach out if you can commit to a day to help keep our meal program going. Many hands make for light work. We will provide the menu, the recipes, and ingredients. All we need are the smiling volunteer faces. Thank you so much for your help!

This summer we have made many changes to our building and our playground. We have done lots of painting and reconfiguring our classroom spaces. One dramatic change on our playground is we removed the climbing wall! We were awarded a grant to purchase a brand-new ADA accessible play structure. We anticipate the construction to be completed in the middle of September, so until then, kids will have lots of extra space to run around and play.

Please take the time to review the Covid-19 protocols. Everyone will wear masks while indoors and wash their hands frequently. Masks will be optional whenever we are outdoors.

Also here is our initial schedule for the fall semester. We will begin our Outdoor Learning, Afterschool Reading and STEAM programs in early September. Additional information about these programs will be sent home soon.

I know that many of you have questions, concerns, and suggestions for the year ahead. Please plan to attend the Virtual Family Forum on Monday August 16th at 5:30 p.m. We will share information and answer any questions about the upcoming year. We encourage all families to participate!

Thank you for choosing the Pacific School. I am looking forward to an outstanding year!

-Mr. Todd, K-8 Director

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