Students were at Hometown Holidays with Mr. Ramser over the weekend selling candles, fresh greenery swags, jewelry and baked goods.
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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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SCHOOL NEWS & UPDATES
A Note from our High School Director
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
have suffered learning loss during the 2020–21 school year.
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.
Greetings Students and Families,
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
The Pacific School ended this challenging year of schooling
with two in-person celebrations to recognize the promotion of three 8th
graders and the graduation of five Seniors. Family, friends, classmates and
school staff gathered together at the Point Arena Park on Thursday, June 10 to
honor 8th grade students Kadynce Swartz, Addison Tait and Elijah
Garcia. All three students shared speeches with their reflections on middle
school and enjoyed cupcakes, sunshine and music to mark their passage from
middle school to high school.
8th Graders and Teachers: Angela Lang (Art
Teacher), Kadynce Swartz, Dana Beer (English Teacher), Isabel Kuniholm (Math
& Science Teacher), Elijah Garcia, Addison Tait.
The next day, Friday, June 11, family and friends came out
to the Point Arena Lighthouse to celebrate the graduating Seniors—Keaton
Beattie, Levi Teal Roach, Aiyana Robinson, Flavio Smith-Ray and Max Mirassou.
This was the 2nd year of gathering at the Lighthouse to recognize
the Pacific School graduates. Last year’s graduation was a drive-through with
decorated cars parading past the line of Seniors. This year’s celebration was
the same venue but was able to be in-person, complete with all the makings of a
graduation ceremony from the speeches to the tassel-turning to the tears.
Graduating Seniors: Flavio Smith-Ray, Levi Teal Roach, Aiyana
Robinson, Keaton Beattie.
The Class of 2021 persevered through the global pandemic and
remains hopeful for the future with their plans and dreams. Aiyana Robinson plans
study animal science at Mendocino College with the aim of becoming a game
warden. Levi Teal Roach is heading to the College of the Siskiyous to study welding
and firefighting. Flavio Smith-Ray is ready to start working and enjoying the
outdoors. Keaton Beattie hopes to pursue hands-on work that allows him to build
and create. Max Mirassou looks forward to traveling and exploring the world
beyond high school.
Dear Families,
ELPAC testing has also been completed onsite and MAP testing is currently taking place remotely and on-site during CLS class time. Our Spring CLS Exhibition will be taking place on May 19th & 20th during CLS class time and in-person opportunities are available to present on Friday May 21st. Please make an appointment with your CLS teacher if you would like to present in-person. We are very inspired by the diverse projects that students and families have worked on remotely this year and will be spotlighting student Passages on our website.
We are pleased to announce the 2021 Graduating Class Commencement Ceremony will be held at the Point Arena Lighthouse on Friday, June 11th. As our county currently remains in the yellow tier, this allows us to plan for an outdoor event. We are collaborating with the senior students, families and teachers in partnership with our Graduation Planning Committee. We will meet with students every Friday at 10:00 to discuss planning details (in-person and online access is available). Senior signatures are due (by email or in-person) now for the Class of 2021 sweatshirts. Senior photos (baby, middle, senior) are due by May 14th (this Friday) for the senior slideshow. More details will be shared with all senior families in the following week.
Our Expanded Learning Opportunities funding is allowing us to address the learning loss that has occurred during COVID-19 with distance learning. Summer school is available this year and we want to reach out and connect with our students who struggled with online learning and discuss summer school options. This is an opportunity for credit recovery with on-site teacher support in July 2021. Please contact us at the office (707-882-2298) for more information about participating in summer school.
Following Teacher Appreciation Week last week, Pacific Community Charter High School would like to say a BIG THANK YOU for all the hard work and flexibility that teachers, staff and families have put in above and beyond this academic year. Thank you to everyone for supporting education in our community and breaking ground together. As we begin to reopen safely, our goal is to continue to meet each and every one of our students where they are at during these challenging times.
Take Care & Stay Well,
Michele
Dear Families,
We have submitted our exhibition pieces for the Gualala Arts in the Schools online show. The theme for this year’s exhibition is, “Staying Connected in the Time of Covid-19”. We will be hanging this group work at the school.
ELPAC testing is currently being done on site and we have updated our secure web browsers for student testing computers which will also serve our students for upcoming CAASPP testing in May. MAP testing will also be taking place during the last two weeks of April.
We are looking forward to our Zoom Family Forum this week on Wednesday (4/7) and getting family feedback about setting school priorities as we finish this school year and prepare for next year.
Struggling students can now come on site Mon/Wed/Fri to participate in their Zoom classes and get extra support and one-to-one academic tutoring. All COVID protocol is in place and a health screening survey is required upon entry of the building. Contact me at mtaylorjones@pacificcharterschool.org or 707-882-2298 to arrange for participation.
Last Friday we started our Cove Art Contest collaboration between our HS and elementary students. Our first tonal base coat for the background has been applied and we will be working with the 3rd-5th grade students to add kelp forest features. We are hoping to use the artwork to raise awareness about the disappearing kelp forests off our coast.
Open enrollment is happening now and our HS Open house, 9th – 12th grade, will be Wednesday, April 28 from 3:30 – 5:30 pm at PCCHS. Our Annual Spring CLS Passage Exhibition will take place on Zoom this year and in-person presentations will be available in our outdoor classroom. For more details please contact the office.
Stay Well,
Michele
Dear families,
As March unfolds we are only 13 school days away from the end of the 3rd Quarter and 5 weeks away from Spring Break! Our students and teachers have definitely been working hard and they are putting in the extra effort each day.
Just a reminder that there is no school 3/19 as there is an annual staff development day and no school 3/26 for our scheduled storm storm day.
The journey continues towards re-opening the school during COVID-19. We have laid the foundations with a great start to building our wind-fence and painting of the two High School buildings. A big thank you to our families and teachers that helped make this happen at our H.S. site on the outdoor work-day. Our next steps are to complete the fence and get the posts for the outdoor classroom structure.
We are continuing to collaborate with Gualala Arts in the School and will have exciting student projects to exhibit on their online platform in April. Another interesting project that is happening with the help of our families and our local bakery, Trinks, is the donation of wooden chairs for a student art project. We hope we can get to work and have a school fundraiser with this event!
We also have a community art collaboration at the Point Arena Cove with the pier Harbor Master. We will be collaborating with the H.S. students and our Pacific School 3rd-5th grade students to paint an outdoor underwater kelp forest on the concrete blocks currently in place.
Academic tutoring continues to support our H.S. students during distance learning and we are also working with our 8th Grade students to help support their online learning. Our academic tutor, Andrea Mazza, is expanding her role at the High School and will be in the office Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays as our Administrative Assistant.
ELPAC testing is taking place in March as well as Open Enrollment (2021-22 enrollment forms will be available later this month). Scholarship opportunities are being emailed to our seniors and families—many of these have spring deadlines so keep an eye out! Please schedule an appointment with the office if you need help with any of these applications.
We look forward to our Family Forum in April and welcome open communication to best serve each individual and unique circumstance during distance learning. Let us know how we can best support you and your family during these challenging times.
Stay Well,
Michele
pacificcharterschool.org 