Bronco Notes

Welcome Back- Thanks for a great first week back with staff. We appreciate all of your enthusiasm, support, attentiveness and hard work this week. Thank you for all of the time you have spent connecting with students and families. It is well worth the investment. This is the first of our weekly blogs. We’ll do our best to deliver most of our information through this blog and keep them as unboring as possible. Apologies ahead of time for the super duper long notes this week.

Schedules- We are sharing the schedules folder for your reference. Inside, you will find the following schedules: specials, master for each grade level, meetings, SIW, safety drills and duties. We will add to them as things are scheduled (SIW’s, etc.). Please refer to this to find out when meetings are scheduled (“Do we have a staff meeting today????”). We will also continue the upcoming events in the weekly blog.

We will go over our safety drill schedule and do a training on procedures during our first staff meeting on September 21.

Lunches- Thank you for your cooperation, understanding and thinking around the new lunch requirements. Here is a rundown:

10:45- Third grade to gym

10:50- Fifth grade to gym

11:15- Second grade to gym

11:20- Fourth grade to gym

10:55- lunch delivered to first grade

12:10- lunch delivered to kindergarten

K/1- eat on k/1 playground and in the west alcove outside the coral.

2- Eat on south sidewalk

3- eat on south playground and east alcove by coral

4- eat on north side of building along sidewalk and in the north alcove

5- eat on east playground

Cassee is once again sharing a goolge doc for a lunch count and asking that you complete it each morning.

IPADS- We met with Davey Dave and Bridget to come up with as quick a plan as possible to collect IPADS that students kept over the summer, get them wiped clean and redistribute. Bridget will be sending out an email detailing what you will need to do when your students return. Thank you to Bridget and Davey Dave. This is a big undertaking, but with any luck we’ll have ipads back in student hands early in the week of September 13. 

Recess Rodeo- Kelly and Jessi are working on a recess rules rodeo. The hope is to pull this off next Thursday or Friday. A schedule is being worked out and we will share as soon as possible. In addition, a slideshow will also be coming that you are free to use instead of attending the rodeo or in addition to attending the rodeo.

504- If you have a student in your class with a 504, Gary will email you and put a copy of the 504 in your box. See Gary if you have any questions.

TAG- If you have a TAG student, Gary will email you and put a copy of the PEP in your box. See Gary if you have any questions.

Dibels- The district will once again be sending a team to conduct Dibels. Buckingham’s date is September 21. We will get a schedule to you soon.

Family Liason- We have a new Family Liason this year. Mayra Stearns will be serving Buckingham. If you are not familiar with Family Liason positions (different from FAN advocates), you can find examples of services they provide here.

FAN- We will have a new FAN advocate this year. Perla has been moved to another school and Kathly Baglien will be taking her place. She will be here 12 hours/ week. If you need her support, please let Jon or Gary know and we will help connect you. Welcome, Kathy!

Announcements- Jon would like to start each day with a quick announcements to welcome students and share important info for the day- ususally less than 60 seconds and completed well before 7:55.  On Mondays, we will end announcements with the whole school Pledge of Allegiance. 

Recess Equipment- We will once again provide color coded recess equipment. We’ll try to get it to one of your classrooms before the first day! Please let me know if someone in your grade still has the bag. We are having a bit of trouble locating them. Once we know where the bags are, we can replenish the equipment.

Dreambox and Lexia – From Skip and Tammy- “During the first couple weeks of  the school year please ask teachers and teams to communicate with you with implementation plans for each of these programs. It’s important that we start off the year using these programs and don’t wait several weeks before getting them started.  Access a coach for assistance.”

We’ll check in with teams within the first couple weeks and ask about this. Thanks!

RSSL

Targeted Remote Learning

Finally- For your enjoyment- we are learning to fly. Thanks for being our co pilots! Tom Petty, one of the great American song writers, proves to be a little bit prophetic with this classic. 

Upcoming Events

September 4- Oregon vs. Fresno State- 11:00 AM- Autzen Stadium, Eugene

September 6- Labor Day

September 8- First day of school (7:40-2:10- Buckingham Elementary 62561 Hamby Road, Bend, Oregon)

September 11- Oregon at Ohio State- 9:00 AM PT, The Big House- Columbus, Ohio

September 15- First SIW- Teacher Prep

September 21- Dibels (schedule to come)

Last Notes- This is the last edition of Gary’s notes for the 20-21 school year (loud cheering and crazy dancing from the audience). Information that needs to be shared in the next week will be via email so that it is more timely. Thanks for reading them and enjoy the break!

Staffing- I wanted to give you a quick update on some staffing. Amber has officially resigned (😥), which opened up a spot for one of those out on leave. We offered the open spot to Jean Larraneta, who was happy to come back to Buckingham, and she will be joining our first grade team. 

Things are still up in the air at this time for replacing Kimberly.

STEM PD Opportunities- I will be forwarding two emails from Frank that he received about some STEM PD opportunities this summer. They are too long to write about in the notes, but please be on the lookout for these. The emails provide times, dates, descriptions and how to register.

Evaluations- I think I have enjoyed evaluation meetings this year more than any other. It has been great talking about highlights and goals for next year. I really appreciate the sincere thought that has gone into your discussions. Thank you.

If you haven’t already completed self- eval (not for those off cycle) and/ or signed off on evaluations after we have met, please do so asap. Thank you!

Sustainability-  From sustainability coordinator- As the school year begins to come to a close, please be aware of the BLS holiday standard operating procedure. This document is meant to help you guide the staff in how to close down at the end of the school year. Thank you for a wonderful school year. We look forward to a healthy 2021-2022 school year.

Upcoming Events- Below you will find a rundown of next week’s activities, copied from last week’s notes. One week. One week. One week. 😁

Field Day- Schedule Remember:

• your AM/PM recess is on your own on 4th /5th playground
• lunch recess duty is covered at regular time
• 30 minute prep during field day and 30 minutes outside with your class, work with your team

Last Day Recess-

• 8:15-8:30- second, fourth and first
• 8:30-8:45- Kinder and third

Fifth Grade Promotion- line up outside starting at 8:45. You are welcome to make congratulatory posters if you like

Kona Ice- Schedule You are welcome to find a spot that is not on the map as long as we don’t cross grade level cohorts. Some are out at recess at the time and we will make sure to get them through the line.

Class lists- Please be sure to have your class lists finished before heading out for the summer. We know things could change, but your lists will be a great tool for us as we add new students in August.

Evaluations- Don’t forget to sign up for an evaluation time if you haven’t already done so. We will go over your evaluation and slggs. You don’t have to do a big production for your slggs. Just be able to talk about your progress a bit.

Report Cards- We will have labeled envelopes for you to put report cards in. Don’t seal the envelopes until IEP progress reports are included. You can bring them to the front office when you are finished and we will mail them home. Please have them to the office by the end of the day Monday, June 21. They will be mailed home on Tuesday or Wednesday of that week.

Talent Show- We will watch “together” at around 1:00 on the last Tuesday. You can always flex that if you need to. No one will really know. 😉

Upcoming Events

June 14-17- Spirit week

• Monday- Crazy Hair Day
• Tuesday- Hat day and Kona Ice (schedule to you next week)
• Wednesday- Inside out/backwards/ Mismatch day and Field day
• Thursday- Bronco Blue Day- 12:45 dismissal

June 15- Kona Ice and Talent Show

June 16- Field Day

June 17- Last day of school- 12:45 dismissal. Staff Meeting @ 1:00- Bring an appetite.

June 18- Last official day of work!

Reminders- As you clean your rooms and work on your checkout sheet, Becky wanted me to share this important public service announcement with you all (or at least those of you who have taught for more than a couple years). Sorry, the picture is so ginormous- I was born before 1980 so my tech skills aren’t awesome and I couldn’t make it any smaller. Don’t stop after you watch the video…keep looking under that for a foreshadow of things to come.

I thought I’d end with this. A great listen any time, but given how close we are to summer break….it’s even better! Grab a cup of lemonade, find a shade tree, and enjoy, cause it’s almost summertime.

Check out- Please give Becky your check out when it is complete.

Another Bittersweet Announcement- Congratulations to Kimberly Camren who has been offered and accepted a position in southern Oregon in order to be closer to her grandchild. Another big loss for Buckingham, but 100% understandable given the circumstances. We are happy for Kimberly and wish her the best in her new adventure and know she will be blessed to be so near her grandchild. Congratulations, Kimberly! You will be missed.

Field Day- Schedule Remember:

• your AM/PM recess is on your own on 4th /5th playground
• lunch recess duty is covered at regular time
• 30 minute prep during field day and 30 minutes outside with your class, work with your team

Last Day Recess-

• 8:15-8:30- second, fourth and first
• 8:30-8:45- Kinder and third

Fifth Grade Promotion- line up outside starting at 8:45. You are welcome to make congratulatory posters if you like

Kona Ice– Schedule You are welcome to find a spot that is not on the map as long as we don’t cross grade level cohorts. Some are out at recess at the time and we will make sure to get them through the line.

Class lists- Please be sure to have your class lists finished before heading out for the summer. We know things could change, but your lists will be a great tool for us as we add new students in August.

Evaluations- Don’t forget to sign up for an evaluation time if you haven’t already done so. We will go over your evaluation and slggs. You don’t have to do a big production for your slggs. Just be able to talk about your progress a bit.

Report Cards- We will have labeled envelopes for you to put report cards in. Don’t seal the envelopes until IEP progress reports are included. You can bring them to the front office when you are finished and we will mail them home.

Talent Show- We will watch “together” at around 1:00 on the last Tuesday. You can always flex that if you need to. No one will really know. 😉

Upcoming Events

June 14-17- Spirit week

• Monday- Crazy Hair Day
• Tuesday- Hat day and Kona Ice (schedule to you next week)
• Wednesday- Inside out/backwards/ Mismatch day and Field day
• Thursday- Bronco Blue Day- 12:45 dismissal

June 15- Kona Ice and Talent Show

June 16- Field Day

June 17- Last day of school- 12:45 dismissal. Staff Meeting @ 1:00- Bring an appetite.

June 18- Last official day of work!

Surprisingly, I feel less tired, behind and exhausted today than last Friday… I hope it’s a trend. Thanks for all you do to help things go smoothly around here and to ensure a great experience for our students! I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Wow, this was a crazy, non stop week of state testing, TAG testing, meeting scheduling, meeting attending, and kids making an effort to visit me in the office. Thanks to everyone for all you are doing to hold down the fort and finish strong. This year seems like three years in one. We’ve had about three different starts and last August seems like forever ago. But, we are on the homestretch! Let’s do everything we can to make it a great finish. Thanks for all you do!

The timing couldn’t be better for a beautiful, Central Oregon, three day sunshiny weekend. Enjoy.

Bittersweet Announcement- I just learned within the last five minutes that Amber Stenkamp has been offered and accepted a position in the Redmond School District. I know that this will make life much easier for Amber and we are excited for her as she embarks on this new journey. Conversely, it’s a big loss for Buckingham, and we will miss all that Amber has contributed to Buckingham students, parents and staff the past eight years. Congratulations, Amber! We are happy and excited for you!

Evaluation Meetings- Please sign up for a time to meet with me to discuss your evaluation. Don’t see a time that works for you? Plug another into the document AND email me to let me know you’ve put a different time in. These shouldn’t last more than 30 minutes. Don’t forget to complete your self- evaluation. Remember that we are only required to complete the following domains: 1 (all), 3.13, 4.16, 5 (all), 6.24.

PD opportunity- I’ve been asked to share this free summer learning flyer with any/all on your staff. The topic is Trauma-Informed Engagement Practices through the process of continuous improvement.

Summer IPADS- Families will have the option of keeping ipads over the summer this year. This will be going out in today’s newsletter, “Students will be allowed to keep their loaner iPads with them throughout the summer months. This will provide students with a device to continue learning opportunities over the summer. Please tell your child’s teacher if you do NOT want your child to keep her/his iPad over the summer. Ipads should be used for educational purposes at home. Dreambox and Lexia will be available.
If you will not be attending a Bend-La Pine Schools program or school next year, please return your iPad, charging brick and cord to your current school. If you will be attending a different Bend-La Pine Schools program or school next year, keep the iPad you have and take it with you to your new site in September.”

We will have more directions for end of year ipad protocol at our staff meeting Thursday.

STEM- Laci recently sent out an invite for the next two Wednesdays, June 2 and June 9, for STEM planning. The focus will be on the ‘what’ of STEM at Buckingham, specifically, what are the knowledge, skills and attitudes about STEM that we want students to leave Buckingham with in fifth grade. This ‘what’ work will help us to have a goal and aim for future ‘how’ planning that we do around STEM. There is $$$$ for those of you who want to join us one or both Wednesdays. I’m excited about where we are headed with STEM.

Kona Ice- Kona Ice will be here on TUESDAY of the last week, not Wednesday. This should actually make things a bit easier schedule wise with Field Day on Wednesday. We will have a schedule to you by the end of next week.

Cabinets- Thanks to Becky and our carpentry department we have some new fancy storage around the building. By the staff bathroom on the north side of the library we have cabinets for our ‘break’ supplies and in the hallway across from the staff room we have cabinets for the lost and found. Makes things look much nicer. Thanks, Becky!

Upcoming Events

May 28- Last day for Title I reading groups

May 31- Memorial Day- No School

June 1- Dibels starts- Schedule

June 15- Virtual Talent Show- video time TBA

June 14-17- Spirit week

• Monday- Crazy Hair Day
• Tuesday- Hat day and Kona Ice (schedule to you next week)
• Wednesday- Inside out/backwards/ Mismatch day and Field day
• Thursday- Bronco Blue Day- 12:45 dismissal

June 17- Last day of school- 12:45 dismissal. Staff Meeting @ 1:00- Bring an appetite.

June 18- Last official day of work!

Staffing- Below I have shared our current staffing plan for next year. As always, much could change between now and September. Here are a few notes:

• We were allotted 19 classroom teachers (4- K and 3 each in grades 1-5). That is two down from this year’s 21. 
• All schools were given extra from SIA funds (that we hoped would come last year, but didn’t because of covid). Buckingham’s SIA funds amounted to 1.0 FTE “historically underserved” and 1.0 FTE “Student Success”.
• We used the 1.0 from historically underserved to add a first grade classroom and lower class sizes for our current kindergartners. Going to three classes would start the year around 24 in first grade with a class that saw more than it’s fair share of disruption during kindergarten. We need the small first grade classes next year more than ever.
• Kelly Sproba will be moving from kindergarten to fulfill the role of “Student Success”. This position was created at the district level to address the high number of students exhibiting tier 3 and above behaviors. Almost all schools in Bend received this position. The goals will include intervening with students with high level behaviors, creating plans for these students, building capacity of staff in trauma informed practices, providing support for teachers in serving students, and more. It is much like what Heather Patterson (Frank) has done for us this year, but we will now have a certified AND classified partnership working to create a program for our students with the highest behavioral needs. These positions in the elementary schools will take the place of the district behavior programs that are now housed at Silver Rail and North Star. We are excited that Kelly will be filling this role for us next year.
• Teachers that left mid-year for District CDL were guaranteed a spot and will be returning to us.
• Shelly Schaefer will also be returning from her special assignment working with the district and math learning center.
• Thank you for submitting your “staff interest forms”. These were very instrumental in helping me with the changes that we had to make. I know not everyone is in their first choice. Jon and I will keep that in mind and are still open to changes if/when there is an opportunity that works for all.
• As always, let me know if you have questions.

Kindergarten- Kristine Hable, Alyssa Kornbrath, Kim Aplin, Amy Hughes

First Grade- Cadi Brown, Amber Stenkamp, Claire Dickey, Shelly Schaefer

Second Grade- Challey Becker, Margy Tucker, Frank Heimerdinger

Third Grade- Alisha Clawson, Jessi Hayes, Shane Knapp

Fourth Grade- Jesse Andrews, Deborah Buckman, Kim Johnson

Fifth Grade- Kimberly Camren, Todd Jacobson, Sadie Rossi

Specialists- Ryan Douglass- PE, Jason Herzog- Music

Title- Laci Fisher

Sped- Tami Otis, Kelly Weiler

New Guidelines- Most people have heard/read more than I have about new CDC guidelines around masking and social distancing. At this time, we have been given NO NEW DIRECTION for what we do in schools, which means business as… well, not normal, but business as we have been doing the last several months. I will let you know if/when we are given new guidelines for schools.

Class Lists- Now that you know who is teaching what, your teams can begin creating the class lists for next year. The google doc is ready and available. Last week’s notes have special directions for completing the doc. If your grade wants the cards for your work together, let me know. Let me know if you have any questions.

Please check with Margaret as we do have some students returning from home schoo/blso/cdl etc. and Margaret is working on a list. We know that it will keep changing, but you should place the students on that list, even if you don’t have a lot of info on them.

In terms of parent input, we will have forms available at the office. I won’t be advertising to anyone. If they should ask, you can let them know they can get it at the office.

STEM- STEM team is currently working on documenting the why, what and how we do STEM.  Earlier in the spring, we invited anyone who was interested to work with the STEM team on drafting our “why”.  If you have any additional feedback, you can always reach out to a member of the STEM team. We hope that this work will grow and evolve with us as we align our efforts and communicate to our community the important and innovative work we do.

Our next step is to gather information from staff (next staff meeting) about the “what”, as in what STEM knowledge, skills and attitudes we envision for our students. On June 2nd and 9th, we will look at this, as well as other information and use it to make some preliminary decisions about what our hopes and goals are for our students. STEM team would like to invite you to these meetings. Please consider joining us on June 2nd and 9th from 1:30-3:30 in the library. Thank you for all of your thoughts and input during this process.

End of Year Activities and Events- 23 days left. Wow. PBIS team met Tuesday and came up with some fun activities/ events as we wind down the year. Below is a rundown.

• Virtual Talent Show- We will be sending home permission slips for students. They can then video their talent and submit to Jason. We are hoping to watch as a whole school via video on Tuesday of the last week. Time still TBD.
• Field Day- Chris, Jason and Laci are working on a field day that will be held on Wednesday of the last week. Schedule will be ready soon.
• Kona Ice- PTA is sponsoring Kona Ice to visit and give everyone a free snowcone on Wednesday of last week. We will try to coordinate the schedule with field day, keeping in mind that Kona Ice doesn’t want to stay here all day.
• We are working on ‘promotion’ events for kinders and 5th graders within RSSL. More info to come.
• Spirit week- we will have a spirit week the last week of the year. Below are our daily themes:
  • Monday- Crazy hair
  • Tuesday- Hat day
  • Wednesday- Inside out/backwards/ mismatch day
  • Bronco Blue Day
• I will draw Bronco Buck ice cream winners EVERY day the last week of school. On another BB ice cream note, the bin is FULL. You might have a 3-5 minute probability lesson with students as they have a much greater chance of winning the BB prize in your room over the ice cream. 😁

Dibels- As you read in Laci’s email, we will do our spring Dibels starting June 1. The last day for Title reading groups will be Friday, May 28.

State Testing- Third, fourth and fifth graders will be doing state testing the week of 5/24-5/28. Each grade is only required to do one test. Fifth graders will do science on Tuesday, 5/25, fourth graders will do math on Wednesday, 5/26, and third graders will do ELA on Thursday, 5/27. 

Those administering state testing are required to be security trained and complete a test assurance form. The training is via SBAC powerpoint. Please read the powerpoint and view required videos thoroughly so that we don’t have any improprieties during testing. For those of you who would rather, I can set up a time to read the powerpoint to you… think open mike poetry night at the local coffee shop.

Upcoming Events

May 18- ICCL Meeting- 2:30- Library

May 19- EBISS- 1:00- First Grade

May 19- SIW- Writing

May 20- Staff Meeting- 2:30

May 25-27- State testing for 3rd, 4th and 5th grades

May 28- Last day for Title I reading groups

May 31- Memorial Day- No School

June 1- Dibels starts- Schedule

June 14-17- Spirit week

That is all for this week (thankfully!). The weekend is going to be beautiful! Get outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Chairs- Your chairs should be arriving any day now. We hope this is a small token to share how much you are appreciated! Happy staff appreciation week!

Evaluations- Now  to something that does NOT have to do with teacher appreciation week…I have assigned the self evaluation for you to complete in Talent Ed. You may begin working on it as soon as May 21. Please complete it by the end of May (even though I left the window open until June 11). My two cents…. or maybe my 4 cents.

• Teachers are only evaluated on the following areas:
  • Domain 1 (all), 3.13, 4.16, 5 (all), 6.24
• Study the rubric- look at the language and try to be honest with yourself.
• We are all in this to get better. None of us are perfect.
• 2’s are an area for growth- not a bad mark. 2’s are an area you would like to improve upon.
• 3’s are GOOD. There is no issue with a 3. That means you are doing everything you should in that domain.
• 4’s are OUTSTANDING. If you mark a 4, please be ready to provide evidence as to why you believe it’s a 4.

Class Lists- Thanks to the ICCL team for coming up with a plan to create class lists. I know they are one thing Jon likes to have as close to in place as possible before the end of June. We know that we will be adding new students in August. Your work and completion of the spreadsheet we shared at staff meeting will help us in the office to add students in the most balanced way possible. Please remember the following when your team works on the lists:

• Please complete before checking out on June 18
• Put an * next to the name of any student that you strongly feel should NOT be moved. * are NOT for every student. This does not mean we will not move a student, but we will visit you before making that change
• If your team wants cards, let us know and we’ll make them for you
• Do NOT switch any students that are coming to you. Discuss with teacher who placed if you have a reason a student should not be coming your way
• Work with sped to check on any special classroom requests before placing sped students
• Jon and I will use these lists and the information on them as we add students who register in August.

OUT- Reminder that I am out Friday, May 7 and Jon Lindsay will be covering.

ICCL- Please let me know if you would like an application and job description for our open ICCL positions.

Thank you- Finally today, on behalf of students, our community, and me, I would like to say thank you for all you do every day to help the students at Buckingham. The job seems to get harder and harder every year, but please know that what you do matters. It matters to our families and especially our students. You DO make a difference. I hope you can head into the weekend knowing that your efforts are important, valuable and worthwhile. Thank you for everything you do.

Upcoming Events

May 7- Gary out, Jon Subbing

May 11- PBIS Meeting- 2:30- Library

May 12- SIW- 12:45 dismissal

May 12- EBISS- 1:00- Second grade

May 13- PTA/ Title I parent night- 5:30

May 18- ICCL Meeting- 2:30- Library

May 19- EBISS- 1:00- First Grade

May 19- SIW- Writing

May 20- Staff Meeting- 2:30

May 31- Memorial Day- No School

Whew- Well that was an interesting week. 32 years in and it’s the first time we’ve told that many kids to not come to school. Thanks to nurse Sarah, Becky and Margaret for all of the parent contacts and conversations they’ve navigated this week. Thanks to all the teachers who have had kids have to be out for working so quickly to get packets available for them. Thanks to everyone for picking supporting your colleagues. Hoping that we won’t have to do it again this year, but I know if we do, we’ll improve the process.

Parent/Student/School Compact- As a Title I school receiving federal funds, we have many strings attached. One of those is a parent, student, school compact. The intention behind it is to give us more work to do create a stronger partnership between home and school. I will bring copies of Buckingham’s compact to each of you on Monday. We ask that you send home with students Monday afternoon and collect them upon return. Laci and/or I will get them from all of you to put in a folder for eternity. We also ask that you sign each of the compacts- you can do this before sending home or after collecting them. Let me know if you have any questions.

Class Lists- At our last ICCL meeting we discussed the class list creation process and a timeline for getting those completed (knowing that they never really are completely done). We will be sharing this at our staff meeting Thursday. Our hope is to have lists before we leave for summer.

Testing- State testing is on for third, fourth and fifth graders. I would like to meet with 3rd, 4th and 5th grade teachers at the end of our staff meeting next Thursday. We will start our staff meeting at 2:30 and the stuff for whole staff should be pretty quick. We’ll then discuss opt out info, communication, dates and administration process. I believe our window goes until June 11 and we only have to administer one test per grade.

PTA Lunch- Don’t forget to NOT pack a lunch next Wednesday. Our fabulous PTA is providing a Tate and Tate catered lunch beginning right after dismissal. Because of lunch, we’ve decided to move our EBISS calendar back one week (I’ll revise the meeting calendar to reflect new dates for second, first and kinder).

Bronco Bucks- Kudos to you all for making bronco bucks a big thing. You do a great job of using them as PBIS intended. The ice cream drawing bin is overflowing- hence the extra names today. Don’t forget to keep turning in your weekly classroom book winner. Thanks to Bridget for keeping this alive this year. Let her know if you are unable to access the spreadsheet.

PLC- Time is flying and we all have a million things to do. That being said, please do work to continue meeting with your PLC’s twice monthly to focus on the four PLC questions:

• What do we want students to learn? (standards)
• How will we know whether or not they learned it? (Assessment)
• What will we do for those students who didn’t learn it? (Intervention)
• What will we do for those who already know it? (Enrichment)

Now might be a great time to revisit your team’s norms and help each other stay accountable to these meetings. Thanks for all your work on this to date.

Out- I will be out next Friday to attend my daughter’s college graduation in Idaho! Yeah! one down, two to go. Jon L. will be working from Buckingham next Friday in my place.

Upcoming Events

May 3- Fire Drill- 12:55

May 3- Safety team meeting- 2:30- Gary’s webex

May 4- ICCL- 2:30- Library

May 5- Teacher Appreciation Lunch sponsored by PTA (NO EBISS)

May 6- Staff Meeting- 2:30- Maybe in library???? Give me your feedback to help decide

May 7- Gary Out- Jon Lindsay subbing

A task for 5th grade teachers –  Jim Boen has asked all our middle schools to create a general video about their school. This will be completed no later than May 19. He will collect the links to each of these videos and share them  – so we can share them with our students. The hope/idea is that the elementary school 5^th grade teachers will show their MS feeder school video sometime in class before June 1.  I’ve been asked to ask 5th grade teachers to submit a few questions that a current 5^th grader wants to know about their middle school by April 28th? Each of the MS will have their students and/or staff answer these questions on video – which will also be shared with our fifth grade students.

MAC Survey Day- April 27 (next Tuesday) is our next MAC survey date. The money we receive for this is critical to funding our FAN advocates, a position that is unique and incredibly valuable to our district. Please be sure to complete the survey on the 27th. Thank you!!

Chairs and Whiteboards- Becky is sending out information on chairs and whiteboards. Be sure to let her know what you need.

Staffing- Don’t forget that I am happy to talk if you have questions, ideas or thoughts. I’ll do my best to keep you in the loop… but know I will miss a person or two before it’s over. Thanks for your help, patience and understanding.

State Testing- We’re back on! (or is it we’re now off???). Nope, as of today’s email from Dave VanLoo, we are on for state testing. I’ll be in touch with 3-5 to discuss details (maybe if I wait long enough it’ll change back to not taking them).

Parking- Margaret has asked me to remind you to please try to park in the lower parking lot and leave the upper for guests. No, we don’t have a ton of guests right now, but, hey we can hope.

Short one today since we had a staff meeting yesterday.

Upcoming Events

April 27- PBIS Meeting- 2:30- Library

April 27- Kindergarten virtual open house- 5:30

April 28- 3rd grade EBISS- 3rd grade classroom

HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND!

Hats and Hoods- I’m learning new Buckingham info every day. Recently learned that a couple years ago it was decided that hats and hoods were not to be worn in the building. I processed this with our PBIS team and we want to continue this expectation. Please help to remind students that hats and hoods should not be worn in the building. Your help is much appreciated!

Naglieri- For those of you second and third grade teachers who have scheduled me to come in and administer the Naglieri, please have students be sure to download the test Nav app on their ipads before our test day. If you are not sure what/where this is, let me know and I’ll help. Students will have to use that to get to the Naglieri test sight.

Staffing- I wanted to provide you with a little update regarding staffing as this time of year often causes some anxiety for some people. For reasons I am sure we can all identify, staffing for next year is later and moving slower than normal. I will be submitting an initial staffing plan to Skip by the end of next week. Thank you for the staff input forms you have provided me as they will be helpful. IF you are someone who will be impacted by a change, I will talk with you before sharing with others. I will do what I can to involve people in the changes that have to be made. I will share an overview with the whole staff once I have talked with individuals who are impacted and have submitted the plan. Please don’t hesitate to come and chat with me if you would like more information. I will share what I can.

Spring- With sunny weather, all kids back, and the changes that spring always bring, students are letting down their guard, getting in each other’s space, and generally having less success meeting expectations. Let’s all do our part to help them remember boundaries and handle themselves in safe, respectful, responsible and kind ways. Please be vigilant reviewing and upholding our expectations. When we relax and don’t keep the same standards, the kids do too. Thank you for all you are doing to help our students come back to school successfully. It is a unique, challenging time for all and your efforts make a huge difference.

Gonna wrap the notes for the day. Hope you are not reading this on Friday and that when you are finally reading this a fantastic weekend was in your rearview mirror.

Upcoming Events

April 20- ICCL meeting

April 21- 4th grade EBISS- 1:00- 4th grade classroom

April 21- 5th grade EBISS- 2:00- 5th grade classroom

April 22- Lockout/ Shelter in Place drill- 1:35

April 22- Staff Meeting- Gary’s webex- 2:30

April 27- PBIS Meeting- 2:30- Library

April 27- Kindergarten virtual open house- 5:30

April 28- 3rd grade EBISS- 3rd grade classroom

Another Farewell– I know many of you have heard, but for those who have not, Cheryl Altman has accepted another position outside of our school district and will not be back with us next year. Thankfully, she will finish out the year and her last day will be June 17. I know it goes without saying that she will be very missed, but the impact she left on the students and staff she worked with will last a long, long time. Thanks and best wishes to Cheryl!

State Testing- We are learning that another common sense, practical, rational decision has come down from the feds and state testing for grades 3, 4 and 5 will be required this year. Here’s the information I was provided last Friday afternoon.

• OSAS is happening, but the tests are shorter and not all grade levels are required to take all subjects…but all subjects normally given at a grade level are available for families who want their child to take those tests.
• Opt-out procedures are the same as other years—it applies only to ELA and Math. Science remains a separate exemption process.
• Test window is April 13 – June 11.
• Training requirements are similar to previous years.
• Data will be reported publicly but not used for accountability.

Here’s the information that I received Wednesday and our plan moving forward.

• We need to send opt out forms and to parents. We are going to do this on Monday. We will provide hard copies for all of you. We will also send them electronically and I have linked it in this week’s newsletter.
• We won’t do any testing until May.
• I’ll figure out a training plan and let you know.
• Individual student scores will not be available. These are only to look at school, district and state trends.
• Information is coming fast and furious from the state and is forwarded to us. I’m sure that we will get more info soon and I’ll get that to you when I get it.

Here is what I put in our newsletter:

Schools in Oregon will be required to administer state testing to third, fourth and fifth graders this school year. Parents of third, fourth and fifth graders will receive a letter from Buckingham on Monday explaining the tests. In addition, the letter will provide you with an opportunity to opt your student out of testing this year. Individual scores on the tests WILL NOT be available this year. The tests will only be used to measure school, district and state trends. If you do NOT want your child to participate, please complete this form and return it to the school as soon as possible. We will begin our testing in mid-May. You may call Gary Timms at 541-355-2600 if you have any questions about state testing this year.

Here’s a shot of my face when learning this information.

I actually really do like standardized testing and think that it plays an important role in what we do. I don’t feel like this spring is a great time to do it.

Hats and Hoods- I’m learning new Buckingham info every day. Recently learned that a couple years ago it was decided that hats and hoods were not to be worn in the building. I processed this with our PBIS team and we want to continue this expectation. Please help to remind students that hats and hoods should not be worn in the building. Your help is much appreciated!

Kindergarten- to keep you in the loop… Kindergarten registration has begun for next year. This year, all elementary schools are required to have a virtual open house. Buckingham’s will be Tuesday, April 27 at 5:30. The kindergarten team and I will be planning and hosting the virtual open house.

Bend Science Station Materials- Once again, just wanting to help get the word out to ALL K-5 teachers (including ELL specialists) that POP Science is live! All materials are here. We will distribute soon. The below information was included – for anyone who might want a quick overview of this whole program – the following:

1. The  welcome letter introducing teachers to POP Science
2. YouTube link to the video summarizing the program for teachers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkul9BI3iQc (also included in every slide deck)
3. Google link to a sample unit (first grade): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_zk0ACsMRvmqVwLie24MAdMmEP0p74B1?usp=sharing
4. YouTube link to one of our favorite teaching videos (chromatography explained): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3LaNJ6Xqrw

I have no requirements around this other than to work with your grade and try your best to be consistent with if/how you deliver. I don’t know any more than what is in the above information.

Upcoming Events- There seemed to be some confusion re: staff meeting this week. I’m linking the Meeting Schedule once again for your reference.

April 13- PBIS Meeting- 2:30- library

April 16- No School

April 20- ICCL meeting

April 21- 4th grade EBISS- 1:00- 4th grade classroom

April 22- Staff Meeting- Gary’s webex- 2:30

April 27- PBIS Meeting- 2:30- Library

April 27- Kindergarten virtual open house- 5:30

April 28- 3rd grade EBISS- 3rd grade classroom

That’s it for this week. Have a fantastic weekend!