Shark Bytes

Dear Students and Families,

It is hard to believe that we are already two weeks into the school year. I hope students have had a good start to the new year. Last night, we had our first Oceana Student Parent Teacher Organization (OSPTO). It was great to see new families come to the meeting to learn about OSPTO. We love welcoming new families and looking forward to seeing more families at OSPTO nights through the school year.

Take care,

Maritza Torres

• Monday September 1st - No School (Labor Day)
• Wednesday September 10th - No School (Staff Development Day)
• Thursday September 18th - Back to School Night (starts at 5:45 pm)

Enjoy helping others? Feeling confident with your math skills? Looking for community service hours? Fill out the linked form to sign up as a math coach/tutor for our new after school math workshops.

Math coaching will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00 to 4:30 pm in the Library.

(For any further questions or concerns contact Avani Rajan: stu.arajan48@jeffersonunion.net)

SamTrans is excited to bring back the school-oriented service which resumed for the new school year on Monday, August 4th. Please go to www.samtrans.com/rider-info/youth-riders for more information.

Youth Unlimited Free Passes

Districts received Youth Unlimited free passes to distribute to students who are eligible mid-July. Schools should receive these passes before school starts.

https://www.samtrans.com/rider-info/youth-unlimited-program

Safety Tips for Students

SamTrans prides itself on its record of passenger safety. We put together some commonsense tips to stay safe on SamTrans.

https://www.samtrans.com/youth-safety

Every student is entitled to one free breakfast and one free lunch every school day regardless of filling out an application for free/reduced lunch. Filling out applications for free/reduced lunch and qualifying will result in additional benefits such as a free Samtrans bus pass that can be picked up at the school office. Visit the district website for additional information about Food Services.

Congressman Liccardo recently announced that his Youth Advisory Committee is now accepting applications. This program is geared towards juniors and seniors who live or attend school in the 16th Congressional District and are interested in learning about federal policymaking. Applications are due on August 25th at 5 p.m. Pacific.

The application is available here: Youth Advisory Committee | Congressman Sam Liccardo. We hope students will apply!

What is Mock Trial? Sponsored by Teach Democracy (formerly known as the Constitutional Rights Foundation), Mock Trial is a competition between high schools in which opposing schools enact a criminal mock trial with one school representing the prosecution and one school representing the defense. All schools need to have both prosecution and defense teams

How to Join: Attend the information meeting on Tuesday, 8/26 and Complete the commitment form and turn in the form by Tuesday, 9/2/2026. You will get the form at the Information Meeting on Tuesday, 8/26.

All the information you need can be found here.

Cell phones are a major distraction from learning and socializing in schools. Our school policy is that devices are stored off and in a place that is not visible for the duration of each class time, including walking to and from the bathroom, library or counseling hall during their class time. Staff members have the option of requisitioning the device and turning it over to the front office. The student can retrieve their device at the end of the school day. If a student repeatedly fails to adhere to this policy, they should expect to turn in their device into the office every morning.

If a student has been mistakenly marked tardy or absent by their teacher, please have them visit the attendance clerk, Jesse, in the attendance office.

Students can request a “Clear Sheet” to take to their teacher. If the teacher confirms the error, they can sign the "Clear Sheet". The student must then return the signed sheet to Jesse, who will update the correct attendance code. Oceana's new policy is that students have two weeks to complete this process from the date of the absence or tardy.

Seniors who are interested in dropping classes for the spring semester will need to stay on top of their attendance and clear any issues that may arise in a timely manner.

Today, ASB had their annual club rush! Various clubs were in the courtyard during lunch tabling to share information to students who may be interested to join a club for this school year.

On Monday and Tuesday, ASB's Academic Support Committee led Freshmen skillbuilding lessons during Flextime. During these sessions, Freshmen learned valuable technology skills and had the opportunity to speak with upperclassmen about their experiences at Oceana.

Last week, Advisories created posters for our annual Door Poster Competition! Advisories had to choose a theme and have each advisory student participate in creating the poster. We announced winners last week but there were so many great posters so here are some more examples!

Last week, our Cheer team preformed at our Welcome Back Rally. We were excited to see their first performance!

Prestige Portraits will be at Oceana for senior portraits on November 6th and November 7th from 1:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Prestige Portraits will send an email to students with students' assigned appointment time.

Prestige Portraits will be back on campus one more time on January 15th. These are the only dates that Prestige Portraits will be at Oceana.

If your student is interested in applying to the UC system, encourage them to sign up with Ms. O on Thursday August 28th through the teachmore website.

Is your senior planning to apply to college but not quite sure where to start? Check out Ms. Owyang's College Application Guide. Learn more about the UC, CSU, Commonapp, Community College and more and how to get started. Clickable links included for a smoother process. Email Ms. Owyang with any questions at aowyang@jeffersonunion.net

Is your senior planning to attend Skyline College next fall? See important dates for your student to receive all the support they need as a future Skyline College student!

Oceana has a new Community Service Coordinator, Liberty Cajayon. Students and families can reach out to Liberty at lcajayon@jeffersonunion.net.

As you may know, Oceana students must complete 100 hours of community service to graduate. Be The Change Youth Coalition (BTC) is a great way to earn those hours while making a difference!

BTC focuses on substance abuse prevention and mental health education through:

• Social media campaigns

• Podcasts

• Our annual Youth Summit event

We meet every Wednesday after school from 1:15–3:15 PM.

Join us to help educate and inspire others — and start making your impact today!

Sign ups will be posted at Oceana, outside room 404 in the dark hall!

To participate in athletics, your child must be registered on SportsNet, and you must submit a physical through SportsNet. Please note, physicals are good for one year.

If your student is interested in playing a sport this year, please complete this process early! Students cannot practice or compete without completing this process.

Girls Tennis has started already! They meet every day after school at the tennis courts. Please join them if you are interested in joining the team.

Cross Country will have the first practice THIS Monday, August 25 at 3:15. If you have any questions, please contact Coach Mor at mhirsh@jeffersonunion.net.

This past week, the counselors and vice principals gave information to students about the resources on campus and information to know as they start the new school year. The presentations are posted on student's Class of Google Classroom and can be found here:

• 9th Grade Presentation
• 10th Grade Presentation
• 11th Grade Presentation
• 12th Grade Presentation

Staff, students and families can fill out this Wellness Counseling Request Form to request a meeting with a counselor.

Alyssa Owyang (she/her), aowyang@jeffersonunion.net, School Counselor, is on campus on Monday, Wednesday & Thursday supporting the 12th grade, 11th grade last names 'L-Z'

Mattias Johansson (he/him), mjohansson@jeffersonunion.net, School Counselor is on campus Monday - Friday supporting 9th grade, 10th grade and 11th grade last names 'A-K'

Jeannette Herbert (she/her), jherbert@jeffersonunion.net, Wellness Counselor is on campus Monday - Friday

Liberty Cajayon (she/they/siya), lcajayon@jeffersonunion.net, Wellness Counselor II/School Social Worker is on campus Monday - Friday

Website: https://www.juhsd.net/ohs
Location: 401 Paloma Avenue, Pacifica, CA, USA
Phone: 650-550-7300