FRIDAY TOUCHDOWN

Teamwork makes the dream work is a core belief at Coastal Academy High School. As members of the Stingray Dream Team, we value collaboration, leadership, courageous conversations and teamwork. Together we make incredible things happen for students every day! #TeamworkMakesTheDreamWork

October 10, 2025

Dear Stingray Team,

Happy, happy Friday! We had a few cooler days this week that sure made it feel like Fall is in the air. May hoodie weather continue to be upon us! As we look ahead to next week, I have some updates and reminders for various team groups.

Classroom/Office Visits: I have created space in my schedule moving forward to randomly pop into classrooms and/or offices. Teachers, as you plan for next week, is there a 20 minute time period you'd love me to swing by? Other team members, have you been hoping to connect about a topic or to see you in action? Please use this booking page to select a time convenient for you. Nobody has to sign up for anything. However, I am available and want to connect in a way that is helpful to you. Teachers, I'm starting to keep track of what classrooms I visit to hold myself accountable to getting in everyone's room. If you don't sign up for a visit, I'll just swing by one day. No pressure, no preparation.

Certificated Evaluations: As shared at our October all staff meeting, teachers will be evaluated every other year. All new teachers will be evaluated this year plus the Math, English & Science teams. SAIs will be split in half and half the SAIs will be evaluated this year (Jordan, Caitlin, Mike, Vanessa, Rio) and half next year (John, Becca, Anais, Alicia). If you are being evaluated this year, please complete Part 1 of the evaluation by Friday, October 24th.

Steps:

Make a copy of this document.
Title the document 25-26 Last Name, First Name Evaluation
Fill out Beginning of the Year Part 1 (Top portion, Educator Selected Goal Beginning of the Year & Culture Point Focus)
Leave the Evaluator name portion blank unless you are an SAI. We haven't assigned evaluators for math, english and science yet. SAIs can list Jessica Leahy as their evaluation.
Share with the Admin Team (Martinez, Lenahan, Benattia, Leahy)

Exemptions: Students should not be exempted from assignments just because they were absent. The only exception is transfer students who were enrolled at another school and began mid-semester. We are seeing an increasing number of students whose grade book shows a passing grade, yet they are missing a significant or majority of their work. Teachers, please connect with Admin or your department chair if you have a student you want to discuss. Please do not default to exemption.

Bathroom Passes: As a gentle reminder, we do not restrict the number of times a student may use the restroom during the school day. This said, if a teacher or team member, believes a student is misusing bathroom time, they should partner with Admin and/or partner with the student/parent to problem solve.

Have a wonderful, relaxing weekend! YOU are appreciated!

With so much gratitude,

Samantha

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Each month Coastal High honors one senior as our Rising Star! The Oceanside Chamber of Commerce Rising Star Student of the Month Program was created to recognize and celebrate high school seniors who have overcome significant life challenges while remaining committed to their education. We also have selected inspiring Stingray seniors who demonstrate leadership, academic excellence and/or community service excellence. These inspiring students exemplify resilience, determination, and hope for the future.

Stingray team, you know our seniors and their stories. Who should we nominate and why?

Click here to submit a nomination for our October Rising Star!

Every Friday we will highlight one or more Stingray MVP Of the Week. Team members being highlighted will have demonstrated exceptional collaboration, leadership, teamwork, or ability to engage in a courageous conversation. Team Stingray is encouraged to nominate a colleague for a weekly shout-out via this simple form.

Congratulations to this week's Admin Selected MVP of the Week, Jessica Leahy! As our new Program Specialist, Jessica has quickly become an integral part of the Stingray team. She oversees our Special Education program and its many branches with care, organization, and a deep commitment to supporting students and staff alike. Her leadership ensures that every student receives the individualized support they need to thrive.

Just yesterday, Jessica went above and beyond when she stepped in during a medical emergency, calmly and effectively administering an EpiPen to a student who had been stung by a bee and was experiencing an allergic reaction. Her quick thinking and decisive action helped stabilize the situation until paramedics arrived on campus.

Jessica’s professionalism, compassion, and steady presence make her an incredible asset to our school community. We are so grateful for her leadership, expertise, and heart for students.

#TeamworkMakesTheDreamWork

Team Selected MVPs:

Lanie Lent: Thank you so much for the thoughtful loan of the countertop ice maker for the Building A Breakroom. It's been brightening many days. I'm looking forward to an iced Chai Latte with those perfect little dome shaped cubes! :-) (nominated by Chandra Keir)

Staff HOCO Halftime Dancers: "WAY TO GO Dancers! Everyone did an outstanding job at the halftime performance on Friday night! Thank you for your time and effort to make the Staff Dance a special and memorable event for our community. Thank you to the Admin Team for making this tradition a priority and finding AMAZING accessories for the staff! GREAT JOB HOCO STAFF DANCE TEAM! If you missed this EPIC PERFORMANCE check it out by clicking this link." (nominated by Amy Cornejo)

John Price: "O Captain! My Captain! John Price is an exceptional, next level teacher and human being. We are so so lucky to have him on our team. John is usually spinning about a dozen plates, however he does so with a calmness that makes it look easy. Aside from his phenomenal work ethic, leadership prowess, and tech savvy (did you know he created an ingenious service tracker for all the SAIs to ease the burden of their delivery responsibilities?), John is also a patient, kind, and caring man. I've seen him help just about EVERYONE. Just having this guy around makes the day better, the year better, the school better." (nominated by Taylor Swain)

Tyler Lopez: Had an issue with the mentor meeting form (my fault). Reached out to Tyler via email ("Tyler, help... HELP!). Tyler swooped in like some sort of OP Marvel or DC superhero (think captain marvel only with better dance moves). Problem solved. (nominated by Shem Gott)

Do you have someone to shout out and recognize? Click here to nominate them today!

Every teacher MUST have a Monday assignment posted on Schoology by 7:30 am. Reminder: Your grade book must include a Monday graded assignment.

Today have our student Monday Morning Kickoff at 9 am. Each Monday students will login to their mentor teacher's Zoom at 9 am. Every Monday you will begin with showing the pre-recorded ASB & Admin announcements. Announcements are recorded every Friday. The link will be updated in the calendar invite each week.

Mentoring Monday continues today! ALL students must complete the Mentor Meeting Check-In Form . Teachers, it is your responsibility to communicate this with students and follow up with students who do not complete it. Teachers should review the data provided on the form, especially for students who do not have a weekly check in that day. Any "red flags" should be followed up on immediately. Teachers should also use the new mentor teacher spreadsheet. Teachers should follow up with mentees who do not make their scheduled time.

Reminder: WIN time offerings must be uploaded to FlexiSched by 4 P.M and Separate Setting Location requests must be submitted by 4 PM as well.

Today we follow our regular Tuesday bell schedule.

Today we follow our regular Wednesday bell schedule.

Today we have WIN Time from 10:37-11:07 am.

Today we follow our regular Thursday bell schedule.

Today we have WIN Time from 10:37-11:07 am.

After School Happenings:

PLCs will meet from 1:20-2:15 pm: PLCs will meet in Building B (see below locations). This week's PLCs will begin with a Zoom with Admin. Please login as a team at 1:20 pm sharp and project on the screen/whiteboard if helpful. Please bring student work (paper preferred, digital okay) to review as part of intellectual prep during the month of October. The student work you bring should give you data to reflect, refine & plan for the next week. The Zoom with Admin will set the framework for PLCs moving forward and the plan for the rest of October.

PLC meeting locations:

Building B Atrium Conference Table: World Languages + Jason Stewart

B201: CAPA

B212: History

B213: Science

B214: English

B217: Math

Co-Labs will resume their regular weekly meeting schedule from 2:20-3:15 pm. Anyone not participating in a co-lab should continue their intellectual preparation & planning for next week.

Today we follow our regular Friday bell schedule.

Mentor Advisory Agenda (College & Career Focus):

For this week's College & Career time, please have your students take the Career Interest Assessment. This should only take them about 5 minutes to complete. After they are done, have them create a Google doc titled "last name, first name, Career Exploration", for example, Ursua, Kennedy Career Exploration. Please share it with their mentor teacher and counselor, and have them write down the careers that come up for them after their Interest Assessment. Students with last names starting with A-L have Kennedy Ursua as their counselor, and students with last names M-Z have Mary Reihner. They can start researching these careers and take notes on this doc. This can be a great start to getting our students' wheels turning about their next step in life after high school!