The Flexible and Distance Learning Handbook outlines our plans for Flexible Learning while school is in session on-campus, and our plans should we need to move to all-school Distance Learning. The Return to School Plan is updated starting on page 14 with detailed SAGE safety procedures.

The plans and details outlined in PowerSchool are what we intend as of today, July 15. As an administration, we are ever-mindful of the events and circumstances outside of our control. We are watchful and aware and are prepared to make changes as appropriate to maintain the health and safety of our school community.

SCA knows you're busy! We'll get your back-to-school supply shopping done for you (binders, folders, dry erase markers, index cards, etc...) Purchase online early to clear it off your list and get the best prices. Prices will go up on July 1, and SCA Supply sales close August 7.

Balancing our goals of preserving community health and offering in-person, on-campus instruction for the 2020-2021 school year, Shorecrest will require all people, including students in grades K-12, to wear a mask while indoors on-campus. This policy is effective July 1.

The decision to cancel Summer Programs allows us time to strengthen our Return to School Plans and preserve our resources to ensure we may open as safely as possible when school resumes in-person, on-campus on August 19.

Families may request a consultation via phone, Zoom or email with The Learning Center at Shorecrest to help determine the best ways to support every learner this summer. Visit www.shorecrest.org/health for more information. 

For the past 9 weeks, Junior Kindergarteners have been investigating water. They started with freshwater, rivers, ponds and lakes and then ended the unit with the zones of the ocean. Their final projects, based on ocean exploration, were presented via Zoom to their peers this week.

During these difficult times, we want to say thank you to our community for your continued support to the Shorecrest Annual Fund during the 2019-20 school year. Without these funds, we would not have been able to support our teachers, families and students—especially during this period of Distance Learning. 

Summer programs are a tradition at Shorecrest. This year camps for the month of June will be hosted online and we hope to open the campus for more summer programs in July. 

You don't have to be a Shorecrest student - camps are open to the public! Some of our online camps are even run nationally!

The Experiential School School of Tampa Bay hosted a parenting webinar: Supporting your child's social-emotional health while at home, with guest experts Jennifer Phelps, MS, BCBA, and Juli Hindsley, MS, MA, CTP, RMHI. View a video recording of the Zoom session.

Distance Learning is challenging for students and parents. One of the most frequent recent requests to TLC has been for ideas and resources to help manage and organize working from home while schooling from home during the campus closure.

This year has been crazy, to say the least, but our Relay For Life event leadership team, our sponsors, faculty support, and all the teams participating have still managed to do exceptional things to help fight cancer! The Relay season was run by Chair Kirsten Price ‘21, Fundraising Chair Emery Camp ‘20, Relay Events Chair Lindsey Leonhirth ‘20, and Community Engagement Chair Lauren Epstien ‘21.

Although the annual Volunteer Breakfast was canceled, there was still so much to celebrate! Visit https://www.shorecrest.org/sca for a special video, presentation of the Janet Root Volunteer of the Year Awards, and announcement of next year's SCA Board Officers.

Mrs. Hahn’s Junior Kindergarten students have been following the progress of a caterpillar that formed a chrysalis on her porch.

In Junior Kindergarten, the children create self-portraits every month. This week, students in Ms. Rosas' and Mrs. Trayer’s class created self-portraits using natural items.

Before we embarked on our distance learning days, Junior Kindergateners germinated beans in wet paper towels and hung them in the windows of the Experiential School. To continue their project while at home, Mrs. Hahn moved the delicate plants to a window of her home office. Shortly thereafter, the seeds began to sprout! Mrs. Hahn shared pictures with her students so they could observe the roots and small sprouts. She then planted each sprout in a seedling pot and the children have been watching them grow through their weekly chats.

Please see the attached calendar for the 2020-2021 school year. As we continuously evolve to meet the needs of students and families, there are a few changes that I hope you find beneficial.

Share your distance learning and community support stories on social media using #ShorecrestTogether. Email them to ebytes@shorecrest.org to be included in this year's Crestviews yearbook.

The Learning Center (TLC) is here to help you navigate your child's distance learning needs. We offer online resources for parents and students to assist with distance learning such as supporting your children with Executive Function Skills (organization, task initiation, planning, etc.) Please fill out this Google Survey to tell us what you are finding most challenging.

The ES teachers would like to invite Alpha and JK students to connect with them using Zoom. Through the Zoom platform, the Experiential School aspires to achieve the goals of assembling, seeing each other and sharing experiences together. These learning experiences are being designed thoughtfully and intentionally to ensure that the Zoom sessions are developmentally appropriate for young children, positive, and meaningful.

With many families preparing meals at home and trying to keep their children engaged, SAGE is prepared to help! We’ve developed a video series with easy, delicious recipes to prepare at home (pasta Primavera with marinara sauce!), instructions for various cooking techniques, nutritional guidance, and even home food sanitation and hygiene tips.

Last month, JK students in Mrs. Hahn’s class started exploring South America, specifically all the plants and animals that call the Amazon Rainforest their home. The students wanted to create their own rainforest to hang in the classroom, so they designed, drew and painted layers of the rainforest, as well as foliage and animals that live there.

As Chargers face new growth and learning experiences through distance learning, expressions of appreciation combined with stories of how families are meeting the challenges of social distancing and self isolation are inspiring. Read more in this week's letter from the Headmaster, and find some great distance learning moments below.

Our daily lives have changed in ways that might have been unimaginable even a week ago. We are all feeling a wide range of emotions as a result of the changes in our lives due to COVID-19: anxiety, sadness, anger, loss, loneliness, frustration, maybe even irritation. These emotions are, of course, very normal human reactions to such an extraordinary circumstance. Furthermore, we know that children can be very influenced by the emotional states of the adults who are caring for them. With that in mind, we can help both ourselves and our children by identifying ways to manage our stress and build resiliency during these trying times.

Shorecrest alumni and their Shorecrest students gathered in Charger Commons on Friday, February 28 for the Alumni Association's annual Legacy Breakfast. For nearly 70 current Shorecrest families, donning the green and gold is a family tradition!

Shorecrest's International Connection volunteers engaged students and piqued their curiosity with picture books in foreign languages. Students made predictions, asked questions, and practiced saying a few new words in the language introduced by the Global Reader.

Third graders have been creating and learning in tandem with other students of different grades and even a different country! Direct interaction between peers promotes active learning, critical thinking, and student engagement. 

Since every gift to the Annual Fund is an expression of gratitude to the teachers and administrators invested in your children, let's show them a little love this Valentine’s Day by making a gift of support!

On Thursday, Jr. Kindergarten students in The Experiential School of Tampa Bay shared a field experience at the Morean Art Center in downtown St. Petersburg. There they met Shorecrest alumna and artist, Beth Reynolds ‘84. She shared one of her own passions, portrait photography, along with the collage-style art of Chinese-American artist Kirk Ke Wang.

The Box Tops for Education program has now gone digital! All you need to do is download the Box Tops for Education app, search for Shorecrest (easiest way to is search by zip code – 33703), and scan in your receipt that contains qualifying Box Tops products within 14 days of purchase. Remember to credit your child’s class by typing in your child’s teacher’s name under “credit.”

AP Psychology students are learning about theories of child psychology, including cognitive, moral, and psychosocial stages of development. They were able to put their learning into action while visiting with Junior Kindergarteners.

Today’s Contributing Charger is Tom Richmond, a Lower School parent of Enzo ’28. He is a very active parent volunteer, this year’s Fall Festival Co-Chair, and a supporter of Two Funds. One Mission. Tom and his wife, Elizabeth, contribute to the Shorecrest community because they believe that investing their time and talent will help their child as well as current and future students of Shorecrest.

Grandparents & Special Friends Day is a beloved Shorecrest tradition, 36-years strong and counting. This year's event was held on Friday, January 24 and welcomed more than 600 visitors to campus!

St. Pete STEAMfest is an annual event geared toward children in preschool through middle school at Shorecrest Preparatory School. It is a family-friendly, community-wide celebration of all things creative, inventive, imaginative and fun! 

All financial aid applications for the 2020-2021 school year are due no later than January 31, 2020. To apply click here or contact the Admissions Office to learn more.

Parents/Guardians of those heading to Junior Kindergarten next year heard from Dr. Sherri Danyali, Head of The Experiential School of Tampa Bay, and JK teachers Mrs. Abbie Hahn and Ms. Brenda Rosas, about the curriculum, philosophy and expectations.

Northeast Little League invites you to PLAY BALL! Registration is now open.

From February 24-28, ES families are invited to drop off books at ES morning arrival carline for a Global Library.

On Friday, January 17, the entire K-4th Grade Lower School participated in an empowering Children's March for Social Justice. Led by the Shorecrest third graders, the Lower School students paraded throughout campus to honor and recognize the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whom we celebrate on January 20.

Lila and Brenton Ross, parents of Experiential and Lower School students, are grateful for Shorecrest and that their children love learning much as they do! The Ross family contributes to Two Funds. One Mission. because they experienced firsthand that Shorecrest is more than a school, it is a family, and they want to give back and support the people and children who make up the Shorecrest community.

Dr. Lisa Bianco, Head of Lower School, shared a little bit about the kindergarten program, such as curriculum and distinguishing features. 

Roderick Fludd, Director of Diversity & Inclusion, presented an ES Parent Seminar, "Talking with Young Children About Race Part 2" on January 14.

Before leaving for Winter Break, Shorecrest announced an End-of-Year Challenge. An anonymous donor family challenged the community to match and exceed their $70,000 philanthropic investment to the Transform Campaign. We rang in the new year by exceeding this challenge and raised $635,317! 

Are you or your friend interested in ES for a little one? Join us on either January 11 or February 8 to participate in a playful learning event planned for potential new students and parents. Families interested in enrolling a child in Alpha or JK for the 2020-2021 school year should contact Beth Mantooth bmantooth@shorecrest.org and/or Dr. Jean Spencer Carnes jcarnes@shorecrest.org for more information and to sign up for a time.