Jennifer Ketring

K12 June E-Newsletter

SCHOOL NEWS & UPDATES

A Note from our Executive Director

The school year is nearly at its end and I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to everyone who has played a role in supporting our school during this year after distance learning.

Cultivating a strong community with committed members, from families to staff to students, is a foundational element of our school. Like any community, it is met with challenges at times and the ways that we come together to meet those challenges—whether it be facing a global pandemic, meeting academic standards, or addressing discipline issues—shapes the spirit of our school. In the spirit of recognizing our collective contributions, I would like to say THANK YOU!

THANK YOU…to all the families who choose to be a part of this alternative learning community and for contributing so much (time, heart, skills and more!) to support not only your children, but also all the others who are part of the Pacific School.

THANK YOU…to our staff for your flexibility in meeting the challenges of this past year and continually adapting to meet the needs of our students and families in the best ways you can.

THANK YOU…to our students for showing up ready to learn new things, lending a hand of support when someone is in need, and being a contributing member of our school.

THANK YOU…to our Governance Council for stepping up to support our school in a leadership capacity (and reviewing all of the many, many plans!).

In my role as Executive Director, I am committed to continuing to build our school community with a focus on supporting our staff, creating dynamic learning opportunities for our students, and making the best use of our resources.

I hope you enjoy the end of year celebrations and summer break!

-Jen

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Jennifer Ketring

K12 May E-Newsletter

SCHOOL NEWS & UPDATES

Pies, pies, pies! The seniors were busy making homemade apple pies this week for their end of year graduation celebration fundraiser. Thank you to all who ordered a pie. A special thanks to Lacey, Jessica, and Lili for helping make the crust, and Erandy, Graciela, Charlie, Kadence, Kady, Aibecad, Lacey and Briceda for putting the pies together (they are going to be delicious!).

Our 4th-5th graders are getting prepared for their upcoming field study to Fort Ross where they will participate in the Environmental Living Program. Thank you to family volunteer Kathy for helping with the period clothing, and Karnell and Sigrid for lending a hand with the food preparations!

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Jennifer Ketring

Catalina Environmental Leadership Program

A group of 22 middle school and high school students, along with 5
staff and parents, from the Pacific Community Charter School traveled
to Southern California in early April to participate in the Catalina Environmental Leadership Program (CELP). The group stopped for a night in Manhattan Beach before heading
to the San Pedro Port where they took an hour and half ferry ride to Howland’s
Landing on Catalina Island. 

A group of nearly ninety 7th and 8th
graders from a French immersion school, Le Lycée Français de Los
Angeles, were also on the ferry headed over to spend the week at CELP. Middle
school students Steven Mitchell and Lewis Mueller stood before the group of 90
Le Lycée students during one group mealtime to share about their school,
describing it “as really small with 68 K-12 students and a focus on outdoor
learning.” 

The Catalina Environmental Leadership Program is a residential outdoor
environmental education program located on the west end of Santa Catalina
Island. While at CELP, students participate in a series of land and sea
explorations with a focus on marine science. According to the CELP program
description, “Catalina’s unique ecosystems create living classrooms which are
ideal for hands-on, experiential learning.”

Students spent
the week studying the marine and island ecosystems. They learned about the kelp
forest and sandy bottom ecosystems first-hand while snorkeling and kayaking. A
night snorkel encouraged students to find night-dwelling sea creatures,
including bioluminescent dinoflagellate that was visible when all the
underwater flashlights were turned off and the students churned the water to
illuminate the sparkling plankton. Freshman Kady Swartz “really liked the
bioluminescence and night snorkel. It was fun.”  

A shoreline investigation included time in the
marine lab to view organisms under the microscopes. Day hikes discovering the native
and endemic flora were complemented with evening hikes learning about the
constellations. 

The science-focused curriculum
was supplemented with initiatives designed to emphasize cooperation, leadership
and personal responsibility while cultivating connections that build a
successful team. This was an especially important benefit
of the program when considering the social and emotional impacts the pandemic
has had on young people.  

Before catching the shore boat to the ferry in Two Harbors,
CELP educators encouraged students to return to the island. The fact that camp
counselors only needed to be 18 to teach at their summer camps piqued the
interest of at least one student. On the way home, the group stopped for the
night in San Luis Obispo and took a morning tour of Cal Poly, planting more
seeds of future opportunities for these students.

This is the 4th CELP field study that the Pacific School has organized over the past decade. The previous three CELP trips were aimed at 7th and 8th grade students, but this year it was offered to high school students too since they missed out on other field study opportunities over the course of the pandemic.

Students helped fund the CELP field study by developing
fundraising plans and participating in local events such as Hometown Holidays
and the Native Craft Fair; families also provided individual contributions.
Supplemental funding provided by the Redwood Coast Education Foundation,
Community Foundation of Mendocino County, ACORN Partners in Educataion and Soroptimist of Mendocino-Sonoma Coast allowed access for all students.

Jennifer Ketring

K-12 March E-Newsletter

SCHOOL NEWS & UPDATES

CLS Business Plan Project: Nautical Nut Balls

Students in our High School’s Community, Leadership, and Service (CLS) class have been busy developing a business plan and product to raise funds for the upcoming CELP field study. They shared the following update about their project.

“Recently, we reached out to local business owner, Nate Boucher, to see if he could give us some ideas to raise funds. He came to our class and gave an introductory presentation in Business 101. During a brainstorming session we came up with the idea of creating a nutritional snack that we could sell at local stores. In our market research, we decided that we would move forward by selling chocolate almond balls. We sourced ingredients with the idea that many folks in our area prefer goods that are local, organic, and affordable. We did a couple of test batches and think we’ve dialed in a recipe that folks will enjoy. We’re being trained in proper food handling and are currently in the midst of marketing and advertising. We’ve named the product Nautical Nut Balls and plan to launch them this Saturday morning (March 5) at a bake sale in front of Surf Supermarket. Hope to see you there.”

High School students are using the certified kitchen at the K8 site to produce their Nautical Nut Balls. Be sure to stop by Surf Supermarket this weekend and try them for yourself!

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Jennifer Ketring

K-12 February E-Newsletter

SCHOOL NEWS & UPDATES

Land Donation at K8

Our K8 site is growing! We are excited to announce that our school recently finalized a boundary line adjustment behind our K8 site. This was made possible from a generous land donation made by a neighbor in honor of his parents, Lee & Alice Devens. One of our parents and GC members, Jessica Price, helped us facilitate this donation. A huge THANK YOU to the Devens family and Jessica!

This land will allow us to expand our environmental education programs with on-site nature-based learning. Plans for this new space include fencing the flat area, cleaning up the brush and trees, developing trails and creating seating areas.

We are scheduling 2 Family Work Days to help us get started cleaning up this space. Please join us Saturday, February 12 and Saturday, March 12 from 10:00 – 1:00! Bring tools for cleaning up tree limbs, weedeating and clearing brush. Contact Todd at torenick@pacificcharterschool.org or Jen at jketring@pacificcharterschool.org with questions.

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Jennifer Ketring

K-12 Health & Wellness in the New Year

We want to enter the New Year and 2nd semester with a healthy school community. As such, we will be conducting COVID testing for students and staff throughout the week when we return to school. With the new Omicron variant, coupled with folks traveling and visiting family and friends during the Winter Break, we feel this is an important step to ensure a safe and healthy environment for everyone.

The COVID test is a quick and painless self-administered nasal swab (we can help younger students). All students MUST be registered in ordered to receive a test on-site. Please help us be prepared by registering your student as soon as possible. Thank you!

If we have a positive case in one of our classes, we will respond in the following ways:

  • Conduct contact tracing and identify who was in close contact (within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes) with the person who tested positive.
  • Contact families whose student was in close contact.
  • Conduct follow-up testing with students and staff who were in close contact.
  • Respond accordingly with quarantine or isolation protocols, depending on the case and vaccination status of close contacts.

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