Welcome back!
I hope this letter finds you recharged and excited for another new year! It’s amazing what a little time away can do for our mind and body. The Kissell family took another international trip to Costa Rica for a couple of weeks and it was a blast, but we were equally excited to return home and enjoy some Bend Summer.
Post-snorkeling shot at two beautiful little coves, north of Nosara.
Cheesy, touristy family shot at the Manual Antonio National Park. Be sure to ask Amy about her encounter with some marine life here!
I may be smiling, but look closely and you can see absolute fear in my face! This “fast-drop” experience was a “bonus” to our zip-lining package, but really it was just a fast way to get us down from the canopy level.
Before I go any further, I want to give a shout out to Brad and Tim for all their work on the building. The classrooms and hallways are shaping up nicely thanks to their hard work. Thanks so much!
I’m excited to get the year rolling again. The change of our hours is definitely forcing some changes to schedules, staffing and probably other areas we have not identified, but those changes are a nice way to refresh things and keep us on our toes.
Some Significant Changes to note;
School Hours/Bells
- Office Opens 7:30am
- Playground Opens 7:40am
- First Bell 7:55am
- Classes Begin 8:00am
- School Ends 2:30pm (1:00 on Wednesday)
- Office Closes 3:00pm
Cafeteria Lunch Schedule:
- 11:05-11:30 All 2/3 Classes (coming from recess)
- 11:15-11:40 All Kindergarten (coming from class)
- 11:40-12:00 All 4/5 Grade (coming from recess)
- 11:50-12:15 All 1st (coming from recess)
Music/PE and “M&M” Wednesdays;
- All classes will be on a Mon/Thurs, Tues/Fri alternation between Music and PE. Wednesdays will be combined groups in the gym for Music and Movement (M&M) co-taught by Rob and Scott. (For example, as a student in Alicia’s class I might have PE on Mondays and Thursdays. Music on Tuesdays and Fridays. On Wednesday, I would have M&M combined with Amber’s class.)
- Kindergarten and 1st-grade classes will need to be organized into two groups each for specialist times.
I know you are anxious to see the schedule so linked above is a the google-doc sheet with the large time blocks indicated. This document will be updated frequently over the next couple of weeks to include all the other sheets with pertinent information.
Welcome to our Team
As you already know, Heidi Thomas will be joining our team this year while Ukiah is out on leave; but since this is her first Highland Weekly Update, I want you to join me in officially welcoming her to the team. Heidi – we are excited to work with you this year!
EA Position
We have a posting up for an additional 3.75 hour EA position right now and we will be looking to do interviews on Friday afternoon, August 23rd. If you are interested in volunteering your time to be on that interview committee, I’d appreciate your time and input. Please email me if you are interested.
Kinder Camp
Just an FYI – the Kinder team will be changing things up this year with their Kindergarten assessments. On Thursday, August 22nd, the students are coming to campus in two groups; one group from 9:00-11:00 and the other from 1:00-3:00. The time will be designed to allow us to gain observations on the students in groups and gather SEL data along with some basic academic data. The intention is to provide more information upfront for placement. As with most new processes, we can expect some hiccups, but I want to commend the team for going with something new. Shawna and I will also do our initial introduction and welcome with these parents for each session. We are hoping this will make an easier transition for both students and parents when we start the school year.
Tentative Schedule for Inservice Week (This might be modified in the next week or two if there are some district needs thrown into the mix.)
Monday 8/26
- New Teacher Welcome and Orientation Day
- Potential flex day for all other teachers
Tuesday 8/27
- 7:30-8:00 Breakfast with PTO Board
- 8:15-12:15 Art Workshop with Alma Cox
- 1:00-4:00 District Welcome Back @ Bend High School
Wednesday 8/28
- 8:00-12:00 Art Workshop
- 4:00 Class placements are posted to Parent VUE*
Thursday 8/29
- 9:00-10:00ish Staff Meeting (Speed Dating, Library sign up, Supervision sign up, Kitchen duty sign up – if necessary)
- 3:00-5:00 Ice Cream Social
Friday 8/30
- FLEX day – (Please see work calendar – linked below).
100-Year Celebration- Saturday, September 21st
Wow – this is coming up quickly!!! After some consideration and input from the district, we are going to limit the celebration to Saturday only (no campus tours on Friday). We are looking at the event taking place from 10:00 to 2:00pm. (10:00-11:00 for VIPs and 11:00-2:00 open to public) on Saturday. We will use a similar format from the 90th celebration with the tables and boards organized by decades in the gym. Will Hoover is putting together a documentary that we’ll have looping in the music room (I am really excited to see it). We also plan to put together a time capsule. It was also suggested we have a table and board dedicated to memories of the old gym, which sounds great! I am going to put out some requests to you for some help with some specific ideas, but so far things are coming together smoothly.
ICCLs
Cami, Marina and Lorin will be serving as our ICCLs for the next two years and leading our three design teams. Please join me in thanking them for taking on the added responsibility for leading our school design process.
Construction Update
As you probably noticed, the contractors were working on the basement rooms again to hopefully put a stop to any further water leakage from those exterior walls. We are reaching the end of our 1-year warranty period from the gym construction, so there will likely be a few small projects here and there as that deadline approaches, but so far nothing too large so we should be able to expect a fairly construction-free year. There is still a chance our office may get a new look but no word on a timeline if that is going to happen.
Riverbend Church
Riverbend Church will be remodeling their site just down the road from us and they will be renting out space on campus on Sundays for the better part of the school year. They will be in the gym, music room and rooms 13, 14, & 15. They will only be here on Sundays (with maybe a few exceptions) and the goal is to ensure there is no disruption to our weekday day-to-day operations.
Digital Conversion
We are adding apple TVs to room 17 and the Library. We may be adding one to the gym as well.
Hannah has also been working hard to get HDMI ports and ethernet ports repaired and in good shape for each of your rooms. Please be sure to let her know it’s appreciated if you get the opportunity.
The following is a message from Skip just FYI:
There were slight changes to the AUP permission form to include language about not modifying or altering the iPad case. Doing so could void an insurance claim. As a reminder, AUP forms are signed by 3rd, 6th, 9th grade students as well as new students to our district and in-district transfers.
For insurance, the cost is still $30 but we have changed the deductible. The first break is free but any additional breaks cost $50 each time. Language about not altering the case was also included on the insurance form along with a signature for parents to decline insurance. You do not have to have parents sign this form. However, some schools wanted to have this option so we included it.
As always, insurance is optional. If a student declines insurance that does not mean he or she cannot take the iPad home. Insurance can be purchased online or at school.
Forms can be found here à https://drive.google.com/open?id=117rw5atRRDkfyTaX8-pY3m1gIW4BCvvw
TAG
This is a working document that serves as our “tracking sheet” for students either already identified with 2 pieces of evidence or students who should be identified soon (already have one piece and need a 2nd). I am providing this earlier than usual and this will be updated later in September or October as soon as more information is released from the district.
Forms
- Teacher Referral Document
- Below are three different versions of a PEP provided by our district.
- PEP
- PEP 2
- PEP 3
Safe Schools Training
Just a friendly reminder to complete your online Safe Schools Training.
Visitor/Volunteer System
FYI – all parents attending a field trip must be able to obtain a Volunteer badge (background check must be completed). This is a change to previous practice, so please be sure to communicate this frequently when talking about field trips to families.
Please continue to help us remind parents to bring their photo ID whenever they expect to go past the office – this just makes our sign-in process go much more effectively.
Please make a habit of checking the google calendar each week to be informed of upcoming events. If you notice something that needs to be updated please send a message to us in the office; Shawna, Elizabeth and/or me.
OSU Honors Teachers – click here for a flier on free tickets to a Beavers Game!