Our EME Focus
- Tier 1 Instruction
- Belonging
- Define what it means to be an Integrated Arts School
Thoughts of the Week
This is a throwback to a thought of the day last year… I still believe 100% in this and always will.
The Do-Overs vs the Gones (Yes that is gone with an “S”, patent pending)
Life gives you lots of do-overs. I really can’t think of many things in life that you can’t do over. Your drivers test, your taxes, night out with friends, lessons taught, meals that did not turn out to be as edible as you hoped, etc. I went out to dinner last night with my wife and 4 daughters and I sat there looking at everyone laugh and eating, and it really struck me that the things you can’t do over, or the “gones” (Patent Pending), are moments like that. I reflected on some of those moments in my life, moments that I have chosen things that were do-overs, instead of the moments that were gones. I realized that I can’t remember what the do-over I prioritized was, but can still remember the gone I gave up. Life is short, choose the gone moments, the ones you can never get back over the do-over.
The Coming Week
THIS WEEK:
- Monday
- None
- Tuesday
- Elk Meadow Staff Appreciation Breakfast! 7:00-8:00
- Office Staff Meeting 10:00
- ICCL Meeting 2:30-3:15
- Wednesday
- SIW 1:00-2:30
- EA Meeting 1:00 in the Library
- Thursday
- First day of Math Groups
- Friday
- EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
UPCOMING DATES:
- Sept 23 – Committee Meeting 2:30-3:15
- Sept 24 – Care Teams 7:00-8:00
- Sept 24 – Office Staff Meeting 10:00
- Sept 24 – CPI Escalation Training (Amanda Out)
- Sept 24 – Elementary Admin Meeting 3:00-5:00
- Sept 25 – SIW 1:00-2:30
- Sept 26 – Lockdown Drill 1:00
- Sept 26 – Title Info Night 5:00-7:00
- Sept 27 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
- Sept 30 – Peter Hoover’s Birthday!
- Sept 30 – Dibels
- October 1 – Lisa Sheldon’s Birthday!
- October 1 – Office Staff Meeting 10:00
- October 1 – ICCL Meeting 2:15-3:30
- October 2 – Kellie Perry’s Birthday!
- October 2 – Lauren VanCoutren’s Birthday!
- October 2 – SIW 1:00-2:30
- October 4 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
- October 7 Reading groups begin
Updates from Downtown
Another 2 resource to share with staff: Here is a cool connection from the City of Bend, about Stormwater Educational Resources for teachers and classes. Check it out here!
Also, the High Desert Museum has moved their Oregon Encounters field day from spring to this fall! If your school has participated in this in the past, you don’t want to miss this! Check it out here!
Important Links
Notes from our Team:
From the Governor: I signed a proclamation declaring the month of September 2024 as Attendance Awareness Month. I was joined by Oregon Department of Education (ODE) Director Charlene Williams, Senator Suzanne Weber, education advocates, and school district representatives.
“I am mission-focused on finding ways to improve educational outcomes for Oregon students, which means finding the cracks in our system that students may fall through,” Governor Kotek said. “We can’t provide quality education unless we make sure we get the kids to school. When a child is chronically absent, not only do they miss out on the daily learning they need to succeed, but schools aren’t able to provide services, support, or intervention.”
“We know that consistent attendance is key to student success. When students attend school regularly, they are more likely to learn, grow, and connect,” said Dr. Charlene Williams, Director of the Oregon Department of Education. “This initiative is a call to action for all of us—educators, parents, and community members—to prioritize attendance and to ensure that each and every student has the opportunity to thrive.”
The full text of the proclamation can be found here.
ODE has released a Social Media Toolkit, a resource designed to help education leaders, advocates, and community members increase school attendance awareness.
Additionally, this document, is important to bookmark, as it is the updated link to the Culture of Safety contact list, of who to contact for a variety of things throughout our district (drill tacking, to pest control, to immigration, and so much more).
From Julie Richards: Would you support your instructional educational assistants attending additional professional learning? See dates below. Let me know here.
In the Spring, we discussed options for implementing additional training for our instructional educational assistants. We were able to offer an amazing two-day conference on August 29th and 30th. The feedback was very positive!! Additionally, we discussed offering training during 4 building SIW dates throughout the year. The training would be offered from 2:00-3:15 on 9/25, 11/6, 12/4 and 2/5. You would need to work with your educational assistants if this is outside their work hours to either trade time or you could have them fill out a timesheet (paid by the school) for the additional hours.
From Transportation: Safety is of the utmost importance for our transportation department and we need your help with a safety issue that is popping up at a number of places. Please do not release students before 2:15. We schedule our buses to get to the schools a few minutes before the bell rings so they can line up without students running around. We have had reports from drivers that there are already students out and running around by the time they get there, which makes our drivers a little nervous as you can imagine. Thank you for your help with this.
Also, we need some help in finding a way to make kindergarten students more “visible” to our drivers, especially when there is a substitute driver. Is there a way you can help kindergarten students stand out, (put them in front of the lines for example)? We are in the process of creating tags for K student’s back packs; red tags for kinders that need an adult present to get off, and green tag for kinders that don’t. That will eventually help, but for now, it is tricky and we worry about missing a kiddo. Anything you can do to help with this is appreciated.
Also from HR: It has come to our attention that some of you have experienced issues with completing your required courses on the SafeSchools platform. Specifically, some users have successfully completed modules and received a certificate of completion, but these completions are not being recognized in the Schoox system, which informs UKG of your status.
While the exact cause of this issue is still being investigated, we wanted to share some tips that may help you avoid or mitigate these problems:
- Use a Computer: Please avoid completing courses on your phone. Using a desktop or laptop computer can help ensure the platform functions correctly.
- Browser Choice: We recommend using Chrome when accessing SafeSchools. Other browsers may not be fully compatible with the platform.
- Course Interaction: Avoid pausing or skipping forward in videos. Engage fully with each module and ensure you answer any questions that appear promptly.
- Save Completion Certificates: After finishing a course, please save or screenshot your completion certificate. This will serve as proof of completion if the system does not update automatically.
- If your trainings do not register as completed: complete all of your safe school trainings and email all of the certificates in one email to [email protected] letting us know that they didn’t complete. We will credit your courses on our end.
We understand the inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience as we work to resolve the issue. If you encounter any problems, please contact [email protected] for further assistance. Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your continued commitment to completing your required training on time. (October 31)
For your parent newsletter:
Cellphones – A Guide for Parents and Caregivers
By age 11, about half of children in the U.S. own a smartphone. These devices become a constant companion in the lives of preteens and teens – a source of connection, creativity, and, yes, distraction and potential risk.
See this parent and caregiver guide from Common Sense Media with tips to help preteens and teens use their phones safely and responsibly.
The guide also includes tips for determining when your kid is ready for a cellphone.
Teléfonos celulares – Una guía para padres y cuidadores
A los 11 años, aproximadamente la mitad de los niños en Estados Unidos poseen un teléfono inteligente. Estos dispositivos se convierten en un compañero constante en la vida de los preadolescentes y adolescentes: una fuente de conexión, creatividad y, sí, distracción y riesgo potencial.
Consulte esta guía para padres y cuidadores de Common Sense Media (Medios de sentido común) con consejos para ayudar a los preadolescentes y adolescentes a utilizar sus teléfonos de forma segura y responsable.
La guía también incluye consejos para determinar cuándo su hijo está listo para usar un teléfono celular.
Action Items
- Include cell phone tips in next parent newsletter
Important Dates
- September 24: Horizontal Meeting at High Lakes Elementary, 3:00-5:00 (High Lakes and Amity host)
- October 15: Horizontal Meeting at La Pine Elementary, 3:00-5:00 (La Pine and Juniper host) Please allow extra time for travel, depending on where you are located it could take 45 min to get there.
- October 30: Administrator EL training–all day, exact time and location TBD
- October 31: Safe School Trainings need to be done by today
And finally… (turn up the volume and push play!)
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