Important Information
In Person Learning – Please read the letter that Governor Brown sent on Dec. 23, 2020. It explains several changes to her guidance to education and specifically prioritizes in person instruction by February 15 AND designates the metrics as advisory rather than mandatory. Our district Cabinet has met and discussed a timeline for moving to in person instruction, in particular Hybrid for high schools. Nothing is finalized yet, but we could start Hybrid as soon as the beginning of semester 2 (February 8th). The timeline for processing this plan is to meet with the associations, Cabinet, the board, and announce to staff and families by the end of this week.
Here are a couple of documents that may be nice to review as we inch closer to bringing students (in larger numbers) back into our buildings. Both of these relate to physical distancing requirements in schools. This one is a one-page FAQ document from Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance. And this one pulls a few aspects of social distancing requirements from this same document and comes complete with a photo!
YouthTruth Survey – The Bend La Pine School District is excited to announce an upcoming opportunity for you to have your voice heard! We at La Pine High School are eager to hear directly from you about what is and isn’t working at our school, so that we can learn, grow, and offer the best experience for our community as possible. To hear from you, we will be sending you the YouthTruth Survey. This survey will be taken by all students, families, and staff members during the survey window between January 4th – 22nd. We will be in contact with you regarding the exact time we will be taking the survey. The 10-15 minute, online, anonymous survey will ask all staff members – both instructional and non-instructional alike – for feedback on topics like: culture, relationships, engagement, professional development & support, and school safety. Please begin thinking now about what type of feedback you would like to share – both positive feedback and constructive criticism is useful and valued. Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your thoughts so that we can better understand your experience and make improvements. Your voice matters and we are grateful for your feedback. We will inform you as to the date and time of the survey. If you have any questions, please contact Stace Baker.
To Do
If you haven’t already, please be sure you have changed your grades to reflect our district’s new 50% grading policy. Ideally, I would like 100% of our teachers at LPHS to make the change retroactive to the start of the year. I know that it’s not required, but I’m asking ever so politely to do this because as we stand right now, we have a huge equity issue. Some teachers went back to the start of the year and some started on December 1st. This is harmful to our students. Some students are benefiting from the change and some are not; depending on what teachers they have. DUE January 8th
Please see this step-by-step doc for making grading changes. IT has created this great “cheat sheet” on how to make changes in both Synergy and Canvas to update our systems (P/NG and “eliminating the 59-point F”). This document has also been posted in Canvas and has been shared with you already. I know many of you have already made the changes, but if you haven’t, please do. DUE January 8th
Several teachers have requested we bring back our CDL Engagement doc . . . so we did! Using this LINK please enter information for your classes. Please only enter an A, B, C, P or NG. No (+) or (-). If a student is on the edge, you’ll have to just pick one. You can use the [Comments] section to add any details that may be helpful. DUE January 8th
SLGG’s (Due February 26th)– Staff are still required to have two SLGGs, but the state has shifted the requirements for the year to allow room for focusing on student engagement, family engagement, and the social-emotional health of students. Academic goals may be considered. For those of you who want to know all of the expectations you can find them here. It has been recommended by the state and this committee that administrators collaborate with staff to establish school-wide goals. Teachers may also choose individual goals in collaboration with their administrator.
A simplified version of the SLGG form can be found here. Although we do not have to focus on academics we still need to include the 8 required goal components which you will see on the form. We realize these goals are not like our standard goals and may be difficult to objectively assess. Encourage staff to use creative ways to assess growth such as student surveys, anecdotal records, attendance, or other means that may not be typically used to assess growth.
The committee also brainstormed some examples of possible goals. Below you will find links to the examples that can be transferred directly into the SLGG form.
Social Emotional Learning SLGG Menu
Reminders
Calendar Items
YouthTruth Survey Window: January 4th – 22nd
DUE: SLGG’s are due by February 26th
Instructional Practices
Supporting Secondary Instruction
Advisory
Canvas
Athletics / Activities
A message from Aaron Flack (LPHS Athletic Director):
I am glad 2020 is behind us and I am looking forward to getting athletes back to competing, starting in February. Becky is checking on grades of our athletes and will be starting to call home. I am worried that many of them will not be eligible at the semester. They are required to pass 5 classes. Teachers, anything you can do to encourage those students would be much appreciated, since I know how much athletics mean to them. Also, please update your grades weekly and sync them to Synergy. I know some grades are not showing the same on both Canvas and Synergy. Becky and I only have access to Synergy grades, so it’s important that you sync your grades regularly so we have the most accurate information.
Sped / 504 / LEAD /HU (historically underserved)
A message from Kinsey Martin (Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion):
On behalf of Bend-La Pine’s LEAD Cohort, I am excited to share with you a valuable resource. This website is a clearinghouse of strategies, tips, and tools for you as a classroom teacher to incorporate equity-focused and anti-racist dialogue into your instruction. These resources have been thoughtfully compiled, piloted in classrooms in our schools, and approved by our district leadership. I encourage you to take some time to peruse the resources and reflect on how you might get started with one of the strategies after winter break (the Tier I resources for your grade are an excellent place to start in January).
I recommend bookmarking this website and checking back frequently, as it is truly a living document–LEAD Cohort members will continue to add resources, videos, and tools as they learn and try new approaches. Reach out to a team member at any time if you are interested in observing, co-teaching, or discussing any of the strategies compiled on this website.