Bronco Notes

Standard Response Protocol- SRP for short…this slide show is optional, but a good reference for teaching students about our SRP as well as providing a review for you. Use or don’t use whatever works. If you did not see in last week’s notes, our lockdown drill is now scheduled for October 6. We had to change due to picture day. The start time will be somewhere after 12:45 to allow enough time for the drill to be completed before kinder/2nd grade pm recess. In addition, Margaret put class lists in your mailbox that we recommend attaching to your red/green safety protocols.

BLP Required Bias Lesson- As you are all aware, we had very limited time to go over the Bias Incident Lesson at our staff meeting.  I met with Alisha and Claire to get the questions you still have.  I hope this answers your questions. 

It is our job to make sure every child in our school feels safe and welcome.  It is important that we teach our students to treat others kindly and to immediately deal with individual students when they don’t. 

The lesson we are asked to teach focuses on teaching about identity, bias, and what to do when students experience bias.  The lessons need to continue that focus. 

Q1- Is it okay to edit the lesson?  Yes, within boundaries.  Take a look with your grade level team and decide what is age appropriate.  If you feel like you can change a few minor things to make it more age appropriate, then do so.  I trust your professional judgement. This needs to be done with your grade level.

Q2- Do I have to sign the letter that goes to parents? No. If you are uncomfortable, then you don’t need to sign it.  The district would like you to sign the letter, but it is not mandatory. 

Q3- Should we put a section in the letter so parents know they can opt out?   The district does not recommend an opt out section.  If, however, you’d like to put in an opt out section, then you may.

Q4- What do we do with students that are opted out?  Not sure, yet.  If we get a minimal number, then they can come to the office.  If we get a large number of opt out students at a grade level, then we’ll need to schedule when the lesson is taught so that we can use the library or gym.

Q5- What if I am uncomfortable with this lesson?  Come talk with me.

Expectations:

• Send Jon a copy of the lesson you will be using at your grade level.
• Send parents a letter by Tuesday with a link to the lesson you are using.  A letter has been provided by the district.  You may edit it. 
• If parents have questions, have them talk with you, then me.  If I can’t answer their questions, then I’ll send them to Skip or Kinsey.
• Please let me know if you have parents that are opting out their child so we can plan an alternative.

Title Update- Acadience is not working correctly yet. 😡 Katie has been working closely with district to problem solve, but it is a system wide issue, not just Buckingham. In addition, her team is still working on giving dibels to students who were absent. Despite all of the roadblocks, she is moving forward with groups on Thursday. The team will be flooding into classes beginning Monday to help during your foundational skills time (let Katie know if you would rather not have the extra help before groups).

Katie also met with our Lexia rep and the district is once again recommending a goal of 60 minutes or 12 units per week for Lexia. Please connect with Katie if you would like support setting this up.

Conferences- Believe it or not, it is time to start thinking about conference scheduling. Be on the lookout for timelines and directions soon.

Bus Evacuation Drills- We will be having a required bus evacuation drill for all students on October 13. We learned of this earlier this week. We will have a schedule for you when we get it completed.

Volunteers applications– From Scott Bojanowski- Teachers – please be sure to send out the volunteer letter provided by the district – not just the link and password to the application.

IT Tips – tell parents if they are having issues with the application to clear out their history and cookies form the computer or mobile device. Also change change web browser to Google or Firefox, Safari seems to be a problem. Best to use a laptop or desktop computer, mobile device is okay, but could have issues. 

Application approval could take up to 4 weeks. Please plan your volunteer needs for that. 

Donations– Becky must let the Business Office know all donations the school receives. This is for tax purposes. This now includes any material items, not just money donations. For example, Donor Choose items that teachers receive must be reported. If you have applied for the donation, please let her know, if there is a list with the dollar amount on it, you can just forward that to her. 

UKG – From Paul Dean and HR- It’s very important that you familiarize yourself with the information we have been sending out about the new software system that will be going live next month. This system is how you will record your leave sheets and time sheets, and if your position requires a sub, you will use it for this as well. 

1. What is UKG and why is the district going to utilize their software system? 
2. Answer: Here is a short video explanation.
3. I can’t find old emails and links regarding the UKG project so where can I find that information?  
4. Answer: Click here for UKG files/documents within the BLS Staff Portal

Coach’s Corner With Marci-

DIBELS Reports: 

1. Remember to access Acadience through your Clever Portal – don’t use your old bookmark to take you to the site… you’ll end up in the outdated one.
2. Here is a video that will walk you through how to print reports of your class data using the new interface.

Core 1 Classroom Routines: As you work on your routines and helping to regulate your kids, here are some great ideas for Brain Breaks.

Looks like summer is going to give us one more weekend! Hope you can get outside and enjoy.

Upcoming Events

September 26- PTA Fundraiser- Rush’s Squares Pizza

September 28- SIW- 12:45 dismissal

September 29- School Pictures

October 3-5- Fifth Graders to Outdoor School

October 6- Lockdown Drill- 12:55

October 13- Bus Evacuation Drills

October 19 & 20- Conferences

Safety Notes- Great job on fire drill. Dramatic difference in volume level and talking. Thank you. We will be conducting safety meetings one time per month at 1:30 on the Wednesday following our monthly drill. We are looking for one or two certified staff members to join the safety team. If the Wednesday of a meeting falls on a Wednesday prep day, we will move it to next available Wednesday. Meetings shouldn’t last longer than 1/2 hour so anyone joining will have time for a break before SIW’s start. Please let Jon know if you would like to be on the safety team. Please see the safety notes and pay special attention to the section on finding a staff partner so that each of you can account for the other in an evacuation. Please make sure your partner is someone who is in close proximity to you and will be able to verify that you have made it out of the building. If you cannot account for your partner during a drill, please communicate that through walkie-talkie. We do a great job of accounting for students. We also need to make sure all of our adults are accounted for and safe.

Arrival Time- We work hard to provide teachers with time and look for every opportunity to give that to you. Last year, we kept kids outside in line until 7:34 (6 minutes before school started) while some other schools had students go straight to classrooms upon arrival. We realized that was a long time for kids to be outside in the morning, but felt the extra time was important for you. This year, despite our objections, buses are arriving 5 minutes earlier, making it even longer for students to be outside until the 7:35 bell. Students are not in line when the 7:35 bell rings, so by the time they get in line and teachers take them in, it is closer to 7:37, about 8 minutes before the official start of school. Teachers still have 20 minutes from their own arrival to the bell, no difference (actually one more minute) from last year. Ultimately, it means students are in classrooms in the morning about 2-3 minutes longer than last year, and on the playground about 5 minutes longer. We don’t think 2-3 minutes extra is too long, especially given that teachers have the same amount of time before students come in and our bus students actually have to be outside longer. There are a lot of great ways to utilize the extra two minutes and we believe it is better for our students.

In addition, we currently have three people on duty on the primary playground and 2 people on the 2-5 playground (as well as 2 people in cafe’). Keeping students out until 7:40 would necessitate more people (2 more on primary and 3 more on intermediate) on duty to account for all of the students arriving after 7:35 who would now be playing instead of going straight to class. For all of these reasons, we will not be changing the bell time from 7:35 until 7:40. As always, we leave the door open for discussion under the following qualifier.

• Teachers create a before school duty rotation from 7:30-7:40 every morning. There will need to be three teachers on the 2-5 playground and 2 teachers on the K-1 playground every day. If we have that, we are willing to revisit the discussion.

We are happy to share ideas, suggestions and activities to use with your students during the extra 2-3 minutes if you are having a difficult time coming up with something.

Coach’s Corner- From Marci- Here are some helpful tips & FAQs, focused on the Foundational Skills Curriculum. I’ve included a link to the on-line version of the letter tiles & info to get you started with Reading Playgrounds. 

Lunch– Shout out to our cafeteria team, Sarah, Liz and Katrina. It’s been 2 1/2 years since we’ve eaten in the cafe’. No one in our school below third grade has ever eaten in the cafe’. Our team is all new…yet, after a week and a half, things are going pretty smoothly. We appreciate their hard work, flexibility, willingness to adjust things they’re allowed to, and their positive attitude!

Dibels– Thanks to Katie for all of her work setting up our Dibels schedule. As she mentioned in her email, Dibels will take place in C-1, 2 and 3 so that we do not have to impact specials schedules.

Bronco Book Awards- Bridget is hoping to start the Bronco Award books starting the week of the 26th, or whenever she is done setting up iPads. Once again, she will be drawing one name per class to give a personalized book and delivering it on Fridays.

PTA- PTA is sponsoring a fundraiser on Monday, September 26. Becky put fliers in your box to send home with students. A Buckingham parent owns the restaurant and is donating proceeds from that night’s event.

Upcoming Events

September 20- Fall Dibels

September 20- Staff Meeting- 2:30- library

September 21- SIW- 12:45 dismissal

September 26- PTA Fundraiser- Rush’s Squares Pizza

September 28- SIW- 12:45 dismissal

September 29- School Pictures

October 3-5- Fifth Graders to Outdoor School

October 6- Lockdown Drill- 12:55

Apologies ahead of time…It is a long blog entry this week. You might need to tackle this one in more than one sitting. 😬

Fire Drill- We will have our first fire drill next Wednesday at 9:40. Fire drills at Buckingham go very smoothly. Students/staff are out and accounted for very quickly. The last couple of drills last year were a bit noisy. Please teach our students that they are to be silent during a drill. That means from the time the alarm goes off until they have been excused to return to class (or recess), students are to be quiet. Thank you for your help.

Recess- We may have only ONE door of your choice within your fenced perimeter, unlocked during recess for students to come inside to access the restroom, office, etc.  That door should be monitored by an adult nearby (don’t need to stand at the door like at gates in the mornings, but should not be across the playground either).  The door should be locked back up immediately after recess.  Thanks for your cooperation with this. We are doing a great job of locking doors after recess. Please be sure that the doors click shut. Sometimes, even if locked, they do not click so they can still be opened. Check and double check that they are locked and SHUT.

504’s- Gary will give you a copy of 504 plans if you have a student with a 504. If you don’t get a 504, it means you don’t have a student with a 504. Specialists will also get a copy of all 504’s.

Title Reading- Dibels is Tuesdsay, September 20. Katie will provide a schedule when it is completed. We will begin Title groups on Monday, September 26. This will give the Title team time to look at Dibels scores and create groupings.

Grades 3-5 will be getting the MAZE from Katie. Please complete this BEFORE our September 20 Dibels date and return to Katie. She will score these for you.

Field trip policy (from Skip)– Now that field trips are back we thought it would be a good idea for everyone to review our AR on field trips.  Please take a few minutes to read Administrative Regulation  IICA-AR and re-familiarize yourself on the intentions of field trips, approval, and funding.

Key take aways:  Field trips and other special activities involving travel may be authorized by the principal, superintendent or designee when such trips or activities contribute to the achievement of desirable educational outcomes in alignment with district educational, social, and cultural goals. A Field Trip / Activity Request Form must be completed and approved prior to the trip date. 

Evaluations- Jon and Gary will once again be splitting certified evaluations. We do not yet have any details regarding the number of observations, etc. that we will be required to complete. We will let you know when we know. In the meantime, we have divided you up in the following manner:

Jon: Brown, Gill, Biederman, Larraneta, Clawson, Hayes, Knapp, Buckman, Rossi, Light, Otis, Weiler, Sproba, Hughes

Gary: Aplin, Hable, Phillips, Becker, Dickey, Tucker, Sullivan, Andrews, Herzog, Douglass, Morales, Chamberland, Munson

Your administrator will complete observations and evaluation. We anticipate SLGG’s to once again be required, but we have no information on what/when/etc. of SLGG’s. We’ll let you know when we know. Questions…ask!

IPADS- Here is a helpful link to a welcome back ipad check up slideshow that our instructional coach Marci asked to share with you.

STEM Opportunity!– The Oregon Science Teacher Association is holding an IN PERSON conference for educators on Oct. 8^th in Redmond, Oregon. We have the funds to pay for 5 teachers to attend this informative conference. If you are interested let Deborah know by Sept. 23^rd so we can get you registered. Here is a link to check out the presenters and session options:  https://oregonscience.org/OSTA2022

PE Opportunity-Anyone wanting more tools in their toolbox to help address PE instruction in the classroom can check out directions for accessing this free Be Active 2day class currently being offered.

From Marci- All resources for RGR have been distributed to schools, but with enrollment increasing, we will need to place an order for additional materials. I added the requests that I have received from staff so far, but anyone else missing materials?? Here is a spreadsheet for grade level teams to let me know how many additional kits and how many workbooks they need. (Title and Learning Specialist teachers hold off on making requests. This will be handled separately with Julie Walker and Sara Young).

Access Cards- Please see below from Brian McMahan re: access cards.

Access cards will stay with an employee for the duration of their employment with the District. If they are leaving your center to work in another department they will take the card with them to their new location. The only time you would collect an employee card would be when they are leaving the district permanently or to swap it out with a newer version or replacement card due to name change, etc. Employees who change locations within the District will not need a new card printed, we can change the access level on their pre-existing card.

The current version of our district access card is Rev. 4.0, you will find this information on the back of the card under the barcode. This is the only version of the card that is currently being programmed for access control, all other card versions will eventually be phased out. If an employee is having trouble with their card please verify that it is the latest revision.

If an employee needs a new ID picture our open photo times are Tuesdays through Thursdays from 2PM-5PM. Staff does not need to email or call in advance to make an appointment. Our address is 151 SE 9th Street, Bend OR 97702. Directions / instructions and a map can be viewed on our contact us page here- Printing Services: Contact Information (bend.k12.or.us). I have also included an overhead map pic that may be helpful showing how to get to the print shop entrance from the street by turning directly across from AM-1 Roofing.

Looks like summer is going to hang on for at least one more weekend. Take some time to get out and enjoy the sunny warm weather. Have a great weekend.

Upcoming Events

September 14- SIW- 12:45 dismissal

September 14- Fire Drill- 9:40 AM

September 20- Fall Dibels

September 20- Staff Meeting- 2:30- library

September 21- SIW- 12:45 dismissal

September 28- SIW- 12:45 dismissal

September 29- School Pictures

October 3-5- Fifth Graders to Outdoor School

October 6- Lockdown Drill- 12:55

Thanks for a great first week. It was really nice seeing families back in the school at Open House. Thank you for welcoming all of our new and returning students. We hope you are able to take some time to relax and enjoy a three day weekend before we hit it next week.

Schedules- Master, Specials, Duties, Meetings. Staff meetings are 1st and 3rd Tuesday at 2:30 in the library. Every other Tuesday is reserved for a staff meeting in case we are given information from district that we need to share.

Rules Rodeo– Thanks to Kelly S. for organizing the Recess Rules Rodeo. Let her know if you have any questions.

Recesses- A few recess updates:

• 2nd graders will be sharing the bathroom with third grade on the north side of the building. This will allow K and 1 to have the bathroom closest to the corral.
• 2/3 will share the playground on the south and east side of the school. They will be allowed to mix and use all equipment/fields/facilities and won’t have to divide.
• 4/5 will be the same spot as 2/3 (but will never be on the playground with 2/3 except before school)
• K/1 will be on the same playground as last year will never be there at the same time except before school.
• Students will have bathroom passes – blue clothes pins. Students shouldn’t be inside from recess without it.
• Playground equipment will not be divided by colors and grades this year. Ryan has ordered more equipment and we have them in bins that will be on the playground for students to use. At this point there is no plan for teachers to put those out or bring them in.

Admin Classroom Visits- Jon and Gary will be coming around to all classrooms (as soon as possible) to go over hallways, bathrooms and cafe’ expectations. We hope to get to all classes the first day of school….we realize that means we might not get to some before lunch. If we don’t get to your class before lunch, we’ll talk to them when they get there.

Lunches- Three grades at a time will be going to the line- just like last year. K, 2 and 3 will be together and 1, 4 and 5 will be together. Please stagger like you did last year so that the line is not backed up to the library. Please stagger k and 1 as the first in their respective lunches to start as they take longer to eat. Grade levels will have sections of the cafe’ and to start, we will have labeled tables for each classroom (at some point, depending on how things are going, students in a grade level may sit with other classes in their grade level). We ask that during the first week or two, you get your kids through the line and help with seating. By the end of the second week, we should have it down and we only ask that you stay with your class until the last student is through the cafe’ doors.

Some of you have shared that you would like a bin/container for student to put their lunch boxes in while they are at recess. Others have said you don’t want that. Please let Becky know if you would like one and we will get it for you. It might not be here the first day, but we are counting on dry weather so students can put their lunch by their recess line cones until you bin arrives.

Preps- We were able to provide an hour prep for teachers one day/week. With one exception, that hour is provided by putting two preps back to back. We are asking that classroom teachers help with the transition from one prep to the other (PE/ music to library or vice/versa) as PE/music/library will usually have another class arriving and won’t be able to take your class to the next special. Thank you for your help.

First Week Arrival- All hands on deck for arrival the first week. We will have students who did not attend open house, students who are new to the school, and lots of littles (kinders…) who may have a hard time finding where they’re going or just plain nervous about the first days of school. Please be out and about to help direct traffic if you are at all able. While we can use you anywhere and everywhere, the back for K and 1 will be the highest need. Thank you ahead of time for your help!

Dibels- Our fall dibels date has been scheduled for Tuesday, September 20. Katie will create a schedule for classes and we will share it in the blog.

This seems so obvious and we have known this for a long time, but it is always a good reminder of the importance of relationships to what we do.

Upcoming Events

September 7- First day of school- 2:15 dismissal. We will run a Tuesday specials schedule.

September 14- SIW- 12:45 dismissal

September 14- Fire Drill- 9:40 AM

September 20- Fall Dibels

September 21- SIW- 12:45 dismissal

September 28- SIW- 12:45 dismissal

September 29- Lockdown Drill- 12:55

October 3-5- Fifth Graders to Outdoor School

Welcome back! Fall will soon be in the air! Along with football, pumpkins, frosty grass, and colored leaves, nearly 400 students will be returning to Buckingham on September 7. This first version of Bronco Notes for the 2022-2023 school year contains important information for next week and the start of the school year. As always, reach out if you have any questions. See you next week!

Inservice week schedule-

Monday, 8/29- New Teacher inservice day. All others optional one day work day.

Tuesday, 8/30- Foundational skills training for those who didn’t take it over the summer. All others optional work day.

Wednesday, 8/31- All Buckingham staff Inservice- 8:00-4:00 in the library. Lunch to be provided.

Thursday, 9/1- 10:00- All Buckingham staff inservice- library. We hope this will be a very short meeting day. The goal will be to get you out by lunch.

Thursday, 9/1- Open House- 4:30-6:00

Friday, 9/2 and Tuesday, 9/6- Work days (choose one or Monday, 8/29).

Class Lists- Class lists are nearly finalized. As always, new students and other unforeseen circumstances can and will necessitate last minute changes. We will do our best to consult before making switches (not additions). Feel free to take a look at class lists and let us know of any concerns. We won’t necessarily be able to address them, but they will be posted on Thursday afternoon for open house, and any changes after that become exponentially more difficult.

Open House- 400-530 next Thursday. As mentioned, class lists will be posted in the front hall. This is a time for families to come in, check out the classroom, meet the teacher and see who’s in their class. You are not required to present anything formal. Just meet and greet. Like last year, schools will be providing supplies and students are not required to bring anything. That being said, back to school shopping including supply shopping is a fun, exciting event for many and students can drop them off that night if they bring them. You are not required to show up until 10:00 am on Thursday.

In addition, we will not have an ‘open house’ or ‘curriculum night’ etc. in addition to 9/1 after school starts. We will have our open house/meet and greet Thursday, 9/1 and conferences are in the middle of October so there will be no additional formal time.

Schedules- The latest versions of our specials, master, duty, meetings and safety drill schedules will be ready by Wednesday…..hopefully sooner. Grade level teams need to complete the master schedule on their tab. Specials and recesses are already included. Please complete the rest using Bend La Pine’s standards of practice as a guide (60-90 min. reading block depending on grade, 45 minute writing block, 60 minute math block and number corner). Grades k-2 will also need to develop a duty rotation for pm recess. We will need one person from the grade on their respective recesses during the afternoon recess.

School Hours- School will start at 7:45 this year. Since we are starting five minutes later, it is logical that buses will arrive 5 minutes EARLIER (yep. You read that right). Students arriving before school will have the option of going to the cafe’ for breakfast (see below for more breakfast detail) or playing on the playground. We will ring our first bell at 7:35. Please be at your line at 7:35 to pick up your students and bring them to your classroom. If it is too wet or cold, students will go directly to class (or breakfast). Teacher hours are 7:15-3:15. Please connect with Jon or Gary if you need to flex this from time to time.

PE Minutes- We will discuss this a bit more during our meetings next week, but the 2007 law regarding 150 minutes/ week of PE for elementary students is finally going to be enforced by ODE. The penalty for noncompliance from a district will be the withholding of funds. You will notice a 15 minute “PE” block from 7:45-8:00, four days per week, in the master schedule. We will explain at our meeting what this means for classroom teachers.

Title Update- Laci’s departure has left us with giant hole to fill in our Title space. Even a full time person would have a tough time filling her shoes and we were only given a .8 to replace her. We have posted that .8 position and are hoping to have it filled before school starts so that we can get groups up and running as soon as possible using spring Dibels scores. After our fall Dibels, the new person will adjust groups as necessary. Grade levels do not have a Title time in the master schedule at this point because we want to wait and let that person schedule with teams. Know that our new person will do her/his best to provide grades with a time that works well, but you may not get your first choice as we will have to work around recesses, lunches, specials and the like.

Safety Trainings- You have probably seen an email for your vector safety training (abuse reporting, bloodborne pathogens, etc.). Please note that these are due by September 30 this year rather than the end of calendar year as in years past.

Meal Info- We will be eating in the cafe’ this year for both breakfast and lunch. NO meals will be in classrooms. Students wanting breakfast will need to go directly to the cafe’ when they arrive. The bell will ring at 7:35 for teachers to pick up their kids on the playground. Students eating breakfast will be dismissed to classrooms between 7:35 and 7:40.

We will NOT be having free meals for all this year, which means families will need to apply for free and reduced lunch. This is important to us as our % F or R will determine our eligibility for, and how much funding we get from Title I. We will have F and R forms available at our open house next week and conferences in October. We have and will continue to put a link to the form in our school newsletters.

From Skip- Elementary iPad home use and insurance –  In response to screen time concerns, home management issues, and Lexia and Dreambox overuse, we are asking that k-5 teachers not send iPads home on a regular basis.  This doesn’t mean they can never go home.  There will be times when projects need to be worked or students need an iPad due to an extended absence. When they are sent home we ask that teachers notify parents well ahead of time, describe the purpose for them coming home, and remind everyone of proper iPad use.  There might be some parents who want the iPad sent home regularly.  These requests should be granted.  Parents should coordinate with their classroom teachers on how this happens.

Because we will not be regularly sending iPads home we will not be offering insurance to our elementary families.  We predict that this new approach will vastly decrease damage rates.  In the event an iPad is damaged, the district will be covering the cost.  We will be monitoring this new approach and evaluating its effectiveness and success at the end of the year.  Feel free to communicate this news to your families in your back to school newsletter.

District Equity Stance-  Here is the link to our district Equity Stance. This will be shared with district parents on Friday, September 2.

Sub Info- There have been some changes to the process of securing a sub. It is a lot of info, so rather than send it now, we will forward the email with directions to you sometime towards the end of next week.

Rules Rodeo

Upcoming Events

See above for inservice week schedule

September 1- Open House- 4:00-5:30

September 7- First day of school- 2:15 dismissal. We will run a Tuesday specials schedule.

September 14- SIW- 12:45 dismissal

September 14- Fire Drill- 9:40 AM

September 21- SIW- 12:45 dismissal

September 28- SIW- 12:45 dismissal

September 29- Lockdown Drill- 12:55

October 3-5- Fifth Graders to Outdoor School

This is the last edition of the blog for this year. You will NOT get staff notes next week.

Hiring- As Jon shared Tuesday afternoon, Heather Light will be back at Buckingham teaching fifth grade and Katie Chamberland will be back at Buckingham teaching first grade next year. Congratulations to Heather and Katie. We’re excited to have them back again. We will be interviewing the week after next for the 0.5 first grade teacher who will partner with Cadi Brown. In addition, we hope to have some of our EA hiring completed the week after school as well. As always, things can (and usually do) change the last half of August. We will attempt to keep everyone up to date as possible as the changes happen.

Summer School- As Jon has shared in staff meetings, summer school will be very busy here this summer. Buckingham (which will also serve Bear Creek and Ensworth students) will have 15 classes during summer school. Teachers from around the district (including Buckingham) will be teaching classes. This is a huge undertaking and will add some extra burden to our office and custodial staff. Know that they are all working hard to get everything done, but some extra grace would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Reading Workshop (Title)- Today was the last day for Title reading groups. No Title groups next week…so don’t send your students to Title groups next week because there won’t be any and they will get sent right back to you. Title staff is available to help with extras if needed.

Safety- With next week being our last week and being full of activities with visitors, a few safety reminders are in order. Please be vigilant with the following actions:

• Wear your name badge.
• Keep doors locked. Outside doors to the parking lot should be closed and locked at all times.
• One door can be opened for recess so that students can access bathrooms, but should be locked immediately after recess.
• Any visitor should have a visitor sticker. If you see someone without a visitor sticker, direct them immediately to the office or even escort them to the office.

We have a field day, picnic, talent show, and fifth grade promotion that will all have visitors next week. Let’s all do what we can to ensure our students’ safety during the last week like we do every week. Thanks for all you already do in this area.

Summer Tech Info- Here are some summer tech notes from Davey Dave-

• Please do not pack away the AV equipment (projector, document camera and Apple TV).
  • This equipment is assigned to the room and does not travel with the staff member.
  • All of the remotes are to be with the AV equipment.
• Teachers who moving to a new school within the district may hang onto their laptop and iPad. If they are taking a leave or leaving the district they must turn in all technology equipment.
• Classified folks should backup their data and turn-in their laptops and iPads. These devices will be reset and made ready for the upcoming year.
  • A Classified staff member that has a work related need to hang on to the laptop they have been assigned will need to get the OK of the administrator and have it checked out to them through the library system by Bridget.

Back to School in August- A schedule for your back to school week in August has been created, but we’ve been asked to not share until the Ed. Center shares it with you. Jon will be writing an email to you all in early August detailing what our inservice week will look like. In the meantime, why worry?! You have a good, solid 10 weeks of freedom from the weekly blog!

Congratulations- Congrats (condolences?) to Laci for completing her admin program at George Fox. Lots of hard work and lots of contributions from Laci in the past year. Now, we just need to figure out a way to keep her here!

Talent Show- Wednesday’s talent show will be the first assembly in over two years. 1/3 of our students have NEVER attended a school assembly. Please teach the following expectations to your students before the assembly. We will go over them at the start, but it will be helpful for everyone to make sure everyone has covered them before arriving in the gym. We will share a seating chart (by grade) with you Tuesday.

• Quiet. Audience should not be talking while the assembly is taking place.
• Students should be sitting on bottoms and facing forward at all times.
• Clapping is appropriate when an act has been completed. Students should not be yelling/cheering at end of act.
• We will hold a hand up in the air for quiet to begin the assembly.

Last Week of School– Please check out the schedule for the last week of school. Included, you will find a link to the field day schedule. In addition, you can click the all school picnic link below to view the email Jon sent about this yesterday.

Prep schedules will be changing for Wednesday and Thursday to account for talent show and fifth grade promotion. Mr. Douglass is working on this and will get it to you soon.

Check Out- Becky will have a brightly colored check out sheet in your box before the end of the day.

Evaluations- If you haven’t signed your evaluation, please do so asap.

PARTY!

Upcoming Events

June 13- Field Day

June 14- All school picnic: Grades 1, 3, 5- 10:45- 11:35. Grades K, 2, 4- 11:45-12:35

June 15- Talent show: Grades K-2- 12:15-1:00. Grades 3-5- 1:15-2:00

June 16- 5th grade promotion- 9:15 in gym

June 16- Staff meeting- 1:00 pm

June 17- Work day/check out

And Finally, let’s allow Ella and Louis to usher in what we’ve all been waiting for…..

Eval conference sign up– Please sign up for a time to visit with Jon or Gary for your final eval conference. If you are not ‘on-cycle’ and receiving a summative eval, the conference will just cover slgg’s. Please pick a time and put your name in the column of your evaluating administrator. If none of the times listed/left work for you, please contact your evaluating administrator and we will arrange a different time. Please bring any slgg data you have to share. Refer to May 20 blog if you are unsure if Jon or Gary is completing your evaluation.

Dibels- Once again, our spring Dibels data looked much improved. 66% of our students made 3, 4 or 5 stars growth in spring vs. only 52% in winter. Three grades were over 70% and another was at 68%!. First grade moved 13 students who were red or yellow in fall to benchmark by spring. Four of six grades had more students at benchmark at the end of the year than at the beginning. We can attribute this growth to great work by our Title team as well as what is happening in individual classrooms. Thank you for all of your hard work.

Staff Meeting- Our staff meeting scheduled for June 7 has been cancelled. NO staff meeting June 7.

Windows- Please be sure to shut and lock your windows before you leave each evening. With the warmer weather many of us are opening them for some fresh air. Tony does his best to check at night, but it can be a challenge so your help is greatly appreciated.

Fire Drill- Thursday’s fire drill was the last of the year. For the most part, we do a great job with fire drills. They are relatively quick and we account for all students. Yesterday’s drill was quite a bit noisier than usual. Please be sure to enforce the expectation of silent when exiting and in line. While we are able to account for all when it is a drill, if it were the real thing any talking might distract from our ability to quickly ensure that all students were safely outside of the building. If your class struggled with this, you still have a couple weeks to spend a little time practicing- at least with the students who weren’t able stay silent. Thank you.

Western Day- Next Friday is our last ‘Fun Friday’. It will be Western Day to go along with Broncos.

Report Cards- Report cards will be mailed home. Please have them in envelopes to Becky/Margaret by Monday, June 20. Envelopes will be in your boxes soon.

Hiring- A team interviewed Thursday after school for our open fifth and first grade positions. We will be able to make announcements regarding selections following approval from HR. Look for something coming out early next week. Thanks to the team for staying late on Thursday to help with interviews.

Last day for Maddi- Today is the last day that Maddi in the kitchen will be with us. We want to thank her for the consistent, dedicated and quality work she has done for our students in the kitchen.

Summer School Staff still needed- From Skip-  With the bulk of the positions filled, we are still seeking EA support across all levels (Jump Start, Spark, Base Camp and SPED/ESY).  In addition, we would like to add a few more teachers to the middle school Spark program, specifically at HDMS.  To apply, find “Careers in BLP Schools” and under “Internal Applicants” you can find open positions for summer employment.  The support for students is rewarding and stipends are substantial!  For more information, please contact Kevin Milner.

From Kinsey Martin- This newsletter includes upcoming equity-related learning events and community engagement FUN for you and your staff.  🙂

Also, IF YOU ARE A BILINGUAL STAFF PLEASE complete this quick Yes or No form? 

Upcoming Events– Keep alert to email for any updates that cannot wait until next week’s notes.

Last Week Schedule

June 10- Western Day

June 13- Field Day

June 14- All school picnic: Grades 1, 3, 5- 10:45- 11:35. Grades K, 2, 4- 11:45-12:35

June 15- Talent show: Grades K-2- 12:15-1:00. Grades 3-5- 1:15-2:00

June 16- 5th grade promotion- 9:15 in gym

June 16- Staff meeting- 1:00 pm

June 17- Work day/check out

Field Day- Thanks to Ryan for making the field day schedule. There may be a few minor tweaks, but your times shouldn’t change. The schedule will also be linked in the last week document sent out in the May 20 blog.

State Testing- Big thanks to all of the third, fourth and fifth grade teachers for all of the time/energy they put into testing. Classrooms are finished with mass testing and we are now just tying up loose ends and ensuring that all students complete the tests. Next week will be lots of make up tests, but we hope to have everyone completed by next Friday.

Dibels- Thanks to Laci and her team for all of the work they put into organizing and ensuring that our Dibels went so quickly, smoothly and efficiently. I heard positives about how the students conducted themselves. Hopefully, we will see positive results when we have a chance to review.

Students Moving- Please let Margaret know if you know of a student who will not be here next year. Parents don’t always let Margaret know and this helps with numbers/class lists.

Yearbooks- Yearbooks are in your boxes. Please distribute on the Wednesday and/or Thursday of the last week of school unless a student is leaving before that.

From TLC – For the last several years (minus the lost year to CoVid) Bend-La Pine has put on an amazing conference. The incredible teachers of Bend-La Pine share with their peers the beautiful work that they have been doing. Along with national level speakers, BLP teachers share the innovative work that happens in our schools every day. We are excited to bring the Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference back again this year with over 30 educators sharing what they are doing in their classrooms every day. You can register at this link. Click on the Sections tab part way down the screen to see the registration.

Last Week of School- The last week is quickly approaching and is full of events and activity. Please bookmark the last week schedule and refer to it for information/guidance.

Upcoming Events

May 30- Memorial Day- No school

June 1- SIW- Goal Team Review

June 2- Fire Drill- 1:35

June 13- Field Day

June 14- All school picnic: Grades 1, 3, 5- 10:45- 11:35. Grades K, 2, 4- 11:45-12:35

June 15- Talent show: Grades K-2- 12:15-1:00. Grades 3-5- 1:15-2:00

June 16- 5th grade promotion- 9:15 in gym

June 16- Staff meeting- 1:00 pm

June 17- Work day/check out

Finally, kindness is a Buckingham theme. It is a thread we try to weave through the fabric of everything we do and we can never be too mindful and open to reminders of the importance of being kind to those around us. Thanks to Becky for sharing this inspirational video to help keep kindness at the forefront of our daily activities.

Self Evaluations- Self Evaluations are now open for those of you who are on evaluation cycle this year. Please complete and submit by Friday, May 27. The following people are on evaluation cycle this year and should complete (with evaluator in parenthesis):

Kim Aplin (JL), Challey Becker (JL), Cadi Brown (GT), Katie Chamberland (GT), Ryan Douglass (GT), Jean Larraneta (GT), Shane Knapp (GT), Frank Heimerdinger (GT), Jason Herzog (GT), Heather Light (GT), Kelly Sproba (JL), Kelly Weiler (JL).

If you are on the above list and are unable to access self eval, please let Jon know. If you are not on cycle, you are not required to complete a self evaluation. Jon and Gary will complete the summative evaluations soon. In next week’s notes we will have a sign up sheet for the final evaluation conference. That conference will be for all certified staff. If you are off cycle we will only be reviewing slgg’s at that final conference. Questions…ask.

Staffing- Staffing is rounding into place and principals have been given the green light to begin any hiring they may have. Hopefully, this summary captures the changes taking place and next steps here at Buckingham.

IPADS- Bridget will be collecting IPADS 6/10-6/15 during library time. She will be providing a set of directions to you soon so you know what needs to be done by students before being turned in.

EBISS/ MTSS- We will be having no more EBISS/MTSS meetings this year. We’ve had three rounds and don’t see the need to try and squeeze in one more for each grade with so much going on.

Opportunity- Jennifer Hauth is in need of 2 elementary teachers to be part of the new health scope and sequence training in June. Let Jon know if you are interested. 

Last Week- The last week of school will be busy and have some funky scheduling. We will update this last week document as things evolve.

Decades Day- Next Friday is our last Fun Friday and we are culminating with decades day. Pick your favorite decade and dress the part. The choices are limitless, but we’ve shared some ideas below.

Upcoming Events

5/25- SIW- Writing PLC

5/26- DIBELS

5/30- Memorial Day- No School

6/1- SIW- Goal Team Review

6/2- Fire Drill- 1:35

6/13- Field Day

6/14- All School picnic lunch- 10:45-11:35 for grades 1, 3 and 5. 11:45-12:35 for grades k, 2 and 4.

6/15- Talent Show- 12:15-1:00 for grades k-2. 1:15-2:00 for grades 3-5.

6/16- Fifth grade promotion- 9:15- gym.

6/16- Staff meeting- 1:00

Short notes for you today. Five weeks left and things are going to get fast and furious. Enjoy your weekend!

STEM Opportunities

STEM Week Oregon (May 14-22)-All Oregonians are invited to join in the 8th annual STEM Week Oregon – May 14th through 22nd – by participating in one of the daily challenge activities or engaging in other STEM activities. Register and learn more about events and how to get involved at stemoregon.org. Attached are activity booklets in English and Spanish that can be used in your classrooms or shared with families. ENJOY!

STEM Summer Professional Development-See attached schedule with links to register and find more information. All summer professional development offered by the STEM Hub is free and project pay for Central Oregon educators is provided. Register soon to reserve your spot!  2022 STEM Hub Summer Professional Development – updated 0506.pdf

IPADS- Once again, we will be collecting IPADS from our K-4 students. Fifth graders will be keeping their IPADS and bringing them to middle school in the fall. This is not a decision that we have influence over and it is not optional. We are working on a plan for collecting and will provide that for you as soon as it is finished.

Summer School– the district is looking for 2 more teachers to teach summer school. If you are interested please contact [email protected].

ID Badges- The district has provided us with new ID badges that will allow you to scan yourself in the front door. We do not have one for every employee at this time as they did not provide for employees who are not planning to be here next year. Becky will connect with each of you to provide your new badge.

Upcoming Events– Once again, this is long. Details/schedules will be forthcoming as they are ironed out.

5/16-20- Testing Continues

5/18- SIW- Teacher Prep

5/25- SIW- Writing PLC

5/26- DIBELS

5/30- Memorial Day

6/1- SIW- Goal Team Review

6/2- Fire Drill- 1:35

6/13- Field Day (Schedule to come)

6/14- All School Picnic lunch- 10:45-11:35 (grades 1, 3 and 5), 11:45-12:35 (grades k, 2 and 4)

6/15- Talent Show- 12:15-1:00 (K-2), 1:15-2:00 (3-5)

6/15- Wednesday prep schedule- 2:10 dismissal

6/16-Last day of school- 12:40 dismissal

6/16- 5th grade promotion- 9:15

6/16- Staff Meeting- 1:00 PM

6/17- Work day/ Check out

6/18- Sleep in, take as long as you want to drink your coffee, don’t go to work, do whatever you want, repeat for next 2 1/2 months.