Communications

Congratulations, Laguna Beach High School Class of 2020! View the full photo album. 

Congratulations to the Thurston Middle School 8th-grade class of 2020! View the full photo album. 

Congratulations to the El Morro Elementary 5th-grade class of 2020! View the full photo album. 

Congratulations to the Top of the World Elementary 5th-grade class of 2020! View the full photo album.

The Second Step is an evidence-based social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum that helps students develop skills for emotion management, situational awareness, and academic achievement. When LBUSD transitioned to distance learning, Mrs. Hamilton used her growth mindset to step out of her comfort zone and in front of the camera. It was hard and uncomfortable at times, but she made some friends along the way that helped her through. Meet Snail and friends in these SEL video lessons: 

Handling Name Calling

Fair Ways to Play

Solving Problems Part 2

Intro to Solving Problems

The Color Monster (Book about Feelings)

Managing Worries

Positive Self Talk (for calming down)

Calming Down

A viral new Instagram account run by a Dutch woman is featuring do-it-at-home photographic recreations of some of the greatest works of art in history. The account (named @tussenkunstenquarantaine, which means “between art and quarantine” in Dutch) started when the woman and her roommates, stuck at home due to social-distancing measures, decided to recreate Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring using a towel, a placemat, and a clove of garlic.

Hoping to give her students a break from screen time while introducing them to 3D art, Ms. Selway recently challenged students in her classes to take part in the museum-at-home challenge. Interested in a virtual field trip of sorts? Check out the results above, they're uncanny! 

One of the most popular items checked out from the library at the Top of the World is cookbooks. Every time a student checks one out Mrs. Romano asks them to write it down, take pictures, or even better, share a sample of what they make and they'll receive Reading Counts points for it. "I love cookbooks for their complete lessons of reading, math & science," said Mrs. Romano. "It is Common Core at it's finest."

When LBUSD transitioned to distance learning, she noticed on social media that a lot of families were cooking together. She even challenged her own teenage boys to learn to cook. She reached out to all students and asked them to send her pictures of them cooking at home; the response has been overwhelming. She receives pictures or write-ups almost every day! These are just some of the examples. 

“Romeo and Juliet” might be one of Shakespeare’s most renowned tragedies, but this short film featuring some of our Laguna Beach High School (LBHS) staff is anything but. 

Every year, Mrs. Benson asks her ninth-grade Honors English students to recite a few lines from “Romeo and Juliet” for a quick performance in class. This year, they went digital so she extended her casting call out to all staff at LBHS. Hit the play button and watch our new favorite group of thespians!

Change can be a little overwhelming and sometimes we just need to take a minute or two to sit with our feelings to make sense of them. 

Third-graders at Top of the World took some time for mindful creativity in a virtual coloring party and sing-a-long with Mrs. Sand. Organized by Mrs. Day, students had the option to print a page from a custom Top of the World coloring book or bring a page from one of their own coloring books. They “sat with each other” on Zoom while listening to Mrs. Sand play some of their favorite Top of the World songs. 

Every cloud has a silver lining and Thurston Waveriders have definitely found it. 

In a recent call for photos, Thurston Middle School’s Ms. Leighton asked students to share photos depicting what they’re “stay at home” activities have looked like in the weeks since Governor Newsom issued a statewide stay-at-home order. Waveriders have been staying busy as evidenced in this feel-good roundup of creative and random activities they are doing while social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. In just a few weeks students have learned new instruments, shared the distance learning experience with their favorite pets, taken up baking, made sure to exercise, and so much more! 

Some of us might find ourselves struggling to channel our inner creativity during these times. 

That’s definitely not the case for third-graders in Mrs. Wong’s class. They’ve been pretty busy hard at work on their engineering projects, even from home! They have designed a playground, a treehouse, a rocket ship, and a dog toy with more projects in the works. 

Check out Destin’s treehouse! He designed and built it using items he found in his own backyard. 

Amidst so much change, one thing remains constant for the students in Mrs. Mays’ transitional kindergarten (TK) class: storytime. 

For students in transitional kindergarten, distance learning is a little different from other grade levels. Most of them are pre-readers that need a lot of support and guidance at home to make it work. At this age, developmentally appropriate work is framed as exploration and play to be most effective. 

Every morning, parents receive a daily email with a link to a read-aloud story featuring Mrs. Mays and an activity to accompany the story. It’s not all fun and games though, students also have a variety of letter and math pages for the week that they can choose from. The wrap up each week with a “Fun Friday” Google Meet that includes “show and tell” and a live Fairy Tale reading. You can follow their adventures at https://mayskinder.wordpress.com/. 
 

Fourth-grade students recognized the 50th anniversary of Earth Day through art. Every Friday, students in Mrs. Bammer’s class gather on Zoom for a “Fun Friday” Zoom call that has a different theme every week. To date, the class has celebrated crazy hair day, share your favorite pet (real or stuffed), and sunglasses day (as a reminder of how bright their futures are). The class meetings always include a minute of mindful breathing and an opportunity for the class to connect with each other. Most recently, they reflected on something they have gratitude towards and shared it with the class. It’s the little things!