Our EME Focus

• Tier 1 Instruction
• Belonging
• Define what it means to be an Integrated Arts School

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Thoughts of the Week

A little humor to start the week off!

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The Coming Week

• Monday
  • Sarajane Pixton’s Birthday!
  • Principal Meeting 8:00-12:00
  • Union meeting with Peter Hoover 2:30
  • Committee Meetings 2:30-3:15
  • TAG/ICCL Meeting 3:45-5:45

• Tuesday
  • Care Teams Meeting 7:00-8:00
  • Forest Kinder 9:30-1:30

• Wednesday
  • Office Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
  • SIW Ed Network 1:00-2:30
  • Safety Cadre 1:30-3:00

• Thursday
  • Smart Reading (Kindergarten) 9:45-10:45
  • Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
  • Lindsley Gehrig – New Report Card Overview 2:30-3:15
  • Admin Meeting 3:30-4:45

• Friday
  • EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00

UPCOMING DATES:

• January 20 – Martin Luther King Day
• January 20 – Lea Wolnick’s Brithday
• January 21 –  Earthquake Drill 1:30
• January 21 – ICCL Meeting 2:30-3:15
• January 22 – Office Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• January 22 – SIW Follow up to Ed Network 1:00-2:30
• January 23 – Smart Reading (Kindergarten) 9:45-10:45
• January 23 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• January 24 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• January 27 – Dibels Day!
• January 27 – Committee Meeting 2:30-3:15
• January 28 – Care Teams Meeting 7:00-8:00
• January 29 – Office Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• January 29 – EA Meeting 1:00-1:30
• January 29 – SIW Teacher Prep 1:00-2:30
• January 29 – All Admin Meeting 3:00-4:30
• January 30 – Smart Reading (Kindergarten) 9:45-10:45
• January 30 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• January 31 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• February 2 – Groundhog Day
• February 3 – Core Effectiveness Meetings
• February 3 – Staff Meeting 2:30-3:15
• February 4 – Safety Meeting 7:00-7:30
• February 4 – Core Effectiveness Meetings
• February 4 – Elementary Admin Meeting  3:00-5:00
• February 5 – Office Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• February 5 – SIW – Extra Time for EL Planning 1:00-2:30
• February 6 – Smart Reading (Kindergarten) 9:45-10:45
• February 6 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• February 7 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00

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Updates from Downtown

From Tammy and Karen

Welcome 2025! Here’s hoping the first blog of the year finds you rested and ready to stay the course with all the great work that is going on out in our schools and district! We appreciate and celebrate you!

What schools do Tammy and Karen support? We know many departments are unaware of how we have divided up schools this year. This link is to provide you with a list of which schools Tammy is the lead support person and which schools Karen is the lead support person. As always, we support them all, but this helps you know who to call first.

Progress Report Deadlines: January 31 is the official day that staff should be working on report cards and the official cutoff for elementary reports is Sunday, Feb 2 at 5:00 pm. Please make sure you communicate that early and often, so that we are not caught in a situation where a school has not submitted their cards and rollover to the next semester becomes tricky.

January 31 Progress Report Work Day: Per Article 15.8 of the CBA, Certified Employees are not required to report to their work site on end-of-term workdays but must remain available by phone. If a supervisor has articulable concerns about a Certified Employee’s timely completion of professional responsibilities, they may require the Certified Employee to report to the work site. Please reach out to Tammy or Karen if you have any questions about this.

ACR Update Process: We have updated the timeline for ACR approvals for the 2025-2026 school year. Here is the new timeline. This does not include a process for approving case by case ACRs that come to us throughout the year.

END Update: For next SIW 1/15, a reminder that your counselors, SSCs, and School Psychs will be meeting at Caldera from 2:30-4:00.

Important Links

• January 8^th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–Bear Creek is looking for Youth Truth engagement ideas!
• FAQs for Special Education Inclusion Topics—Keep checking in here! BEA and BLS supported

Notes from our Team:

Did you know? Last year 6 students in the US were killed by their own bus, 3 of which were in school bus loading zones. We still have schools releasing before 2:15 and students in loading zones without adult supervision. Our buses, at some sites when approaching, have to swing over the curb to make a turn. This is critical there are no students anywhere near that move. Please be out to the bus loading zones to check that your staff and students are not too early and following this very important safety guideline. Thank you!

Kindergarten Ask: It’s that time of year again when Head Start is looking for a couple of kindergarten teachers from Bend La Pine to come and speak to their parents about kindergarten registration. The ask is typically about 30 minutes and covers the following:

• Answer any questions parents might have about a kindergarten day, what they learn
• Speak about kindergarten registration, how and when and what support may be available
• Choice Option Schools, including Dual Immersion

Please let Tammy know if you have a kindergarten teacher who may be interested. We will take two of them and pay them for one hour. Thank you!

From Janet Bojanowski: During the January 22^nd Office Manager meeting, we will have a discussion on de-escalation led by Eric Powell, Scott Bojanowski, and Kayla Martin. This will include sample scenarios to work through and time for you to bring forth any scenarios you would like to share/discuss. We would like to remind you that your full office staff is invited and encouraged to attend these trainings.

Schedule is as follows; however, you are welcome to join either session if the time works better for you. Elementary Team: 1:15-2:15pm followed by the Secondary Team from 2:30-3:30

One Class at a Time Awards: Mid Oregon Credit Union is seeking your assistance in nominations for our KTVZ One Class at a Time awards. Selected nominations will be chosen monthly during the school year for innovative classroom education, projects and learning that represent positive student experiences and highlighted with a KTVZ news story and a $1000 award to support the program.

Please have your principals, teachers, advisors, staff send the requests to Kyle Frick, at [email protected] for consideration for the selection process.

From Jennifer Hauth and your building counselors: (Note from Tammy and Karen: Please make sure that at least one building admin attend this celebration, so mark your calendars!)

From Dave Vanloo–School Improvement: This is a quick reminder that YouthTruth is now open through January 31. Here is a link to a document to help you get started. More information and resources are available once you log in to YouthTruth.  Let me know if you have any questions. 

From Deputy Superintendent- Lisa Birk

A reminder: another survey I would like you to share with your team is from one of our partners, COREN. This will give an opportunity for all staff to describe professional development interests. COREN supports many learning opportunities within BLP, and this information benefits both their organization and ours in the sense that it gives us access to supports for our current needs. Right now, participation has been limited so any encouragement you can do to give feedback is helpful. This survey ends on January 10th.

Policy, Advocacy, and Equity – Kinsey Martin

Classroom placement policy: Here is a draft of a new policy going out for public feedback, with a tentative adoption date of mid-February.  This establishes that principals are the final decision-makers with regard to classroom placements.  This should help navigate student, staff, or parent requests or refusals to have a particular teacher or student in a class, or where there is disagreement on a student’s schedule.  The “principal or designee” language allows you to delegate this authority to counselors or coordinators, at least for initial placements or non-controversial requests for changes. 

Upcoming events: Please share this communication in your next weekly staff memo, and participate in any/all of these as you are available.  In particular, encourage your building to be well-represented in our 3^rd annual Door-Decorating Contest (adult teams can participate too, if you have enthusiastic or artistic front-office, counseling, or other non-classroom staff).  Thank you!

CAFE Program training: Do you have a newly-hired staff member who speaks another language?  Would they like a $1,000 annual stipend for using their multilingual skills to support family communication?  Due to multiple requests, we are adding one more round of CAFE Program testing and training for this school year.  This extra round will take place in late January—further opportunities will not be available until next fall, so please help ensure relevant bilingual employees are aware and signed up in UKG’s Learning platform.  (Once a staff member has been tested and trained, they do not need to repeat those steps.)

Do Not Schedule dates: As your team begins to schedule important dates for spring, summer, and fall events, please be sure they are aware of our Do Not Schedule dates.  Thank you for re-sharing this with your office managers, activities directors, athletics staff, counselors, and PTA/Booster Club leaders.  

Action Items

• Inform teachers about the 5:00 deadline for progress report submissions on Sun. Feb 2.
• Make sure bus lanes are clear of students and supervised by adults
• We need 2 K teachers willing to attend a 30 min Head start meeting to talk about Kindergarten
• Mark your calendar for end of year counseling celebration
• Got a one class at a time nominee? Send it to Kyle Frick
• Youth Truth—how are you going to get your participation rates up?
• Coren survey for all staff by 1/10
• Pay close attention to the information in Kinsey’s section.

Important Dates

• January 13: TAG Meeting at the Ed Center from 3:45-5:30. Please make sure your admin rep and TAG teacher rep are there.
• January 15: Safety Cadre Meeting—one admin should attend. PBMS from 1:30-3:30
• January 15 and 22: SIWs that are Educator Network day followed by an SIW that is EL planning time
• January 29: All Admin PD at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30–read chapter 1 in the Thriving Leaders book prior to coming.
• January 31: Progress Report work day, optional/mandatory training for you to come
• February 2: Progress Reports due by 5:00
• February 4: Horizontal meeting at Ensworth, 3:00-5:00 Hosted by ENS, BUC and LRE

And finally…

Our EME Focus

• Tier 1 Instruction
• Belonging
• Define what it means to be an Integrated Arts School

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Thoughts of the Week

January~ derived from the Latin word Januarius, which is named after the Roman god Janus. I find it interesting the Janus is often depicted with two faces, one looking to the past and one to the future.

These are Six Questions to Reflect on the Past, Enjoy the Present and Anticipate the Future…

1. What is it that I am looking forward to? This question helps you focus on the positive. This is a stressful time of year, and your brain will want to dwell on everything that is not going as planned. When you pause and think about all that you are looking forward to, it primes your brain to seek more of what is good and going well in your life. As my mentor Tal Ben-Shahar says, “Appreciate the good and the good will appreciate.”
2. What is something I am grateful for? This is a powerful way to bring you back into an attitude of gratitude. There can be a lot of “bah humbug” around the holiday season. When you pause and reflect on what you are grateful for, it reminds you of all that you have in your life, without the need for anything more.
3. What is something I am proud of doing this past year? The New Year is right around the corner, and what often accompanies January 1 is a long list of what you are going to do differently in 2018. Instead of using December as an endpoint for the year, think of it as a place to pause and reflect. Look back and think of all the things you did well and remember all the progress you have made. This then sets you up for a wonderful 2018, without discounting all the great things you have already done.
4. What is one thing I would like to do differently next year? This allows you to look forward without being overwhelmed. Different does not always mean harder or longer. It may mean allowing more time to relax, to be less hard on yourself or to change how you use your free time. This question does not mean that the past was bad and the future will be better; it simply opens the door for you to consider making small changes that could benefit your future.
5. If 2025 was your last year, ask yourself: What would I be doing? Who would I be with? How would I want to feel? OK, so I know these are three questions, but it is a powerful way to make sure that your goals for next year are in alignment with your values.
6. Where am I? This time of year pulls us in a million directions, yet the greatest gift you can give your friends and family is the gift of your presence and undivided attention. Between the parties, the texts and the selfies, you can miss the moments twice. Each time you walk into a room or you find yourself drifting, simply ask yourself, “Where am I?” If you don’t like the answer, listen to your breathing and to yourself say, “Be, here, now.” This will bring you back into the moment, so you can fully enjoy and embrace this special time of year.

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The Coming Week

• Monday
  • Staff Meeting 2:30-3:15

• Tuesday
  • Safety Meeting 7:00-7:30
  • Elementary Admin Meeting  3:00-5:00

• Wednesday
  • Office Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
  • SIW Culture of Care with Amy Yilik 1:00-3:15

• Thursday
  • Fire Drill 8:30
  • Smart Reading (Kindergarten) 9:45-10:45
  • Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15

• Friday
  • EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00

UPCOMING DATES:

• January 13 – Sarajane Pixton’s Birthday!
• January 13 – Principal Meeting 8:00-12:00
• January 13 – Union meeting with Peter Hoover 2:30
• January 13 – TAG/ICCL Meeting 3:45-5:45
• January 14 – Care Teams Meeting 7:00-8:00
• January 14 – Forest Kinder 9:30-1:30
• January 15 – Office Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• January 15 – SIW Ed Network 1:00-2:30
• January 15 – Safety Cadre 1:30-3:00
• January 16 – Smart Reading (Kindergarten) 9:45-10:45
• January 16 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• January 16 – Admin Meeting 3:30-4:45
• January 17 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• January 20 – Martin Luther King Day
• January 20 – Lea Wolnick’s Brithday
• January 21 –  Earthquake Drill 1:30
• January 21 – ICCL Meeting 2:30-3:15
• January 22 – Office Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• January 22 – SIW Follow up to Ed Network 1:00-2:30
• January 23 – Smart Reading (Kindergarten) 9:45-10:45
• January 23 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• January 24 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• January 27 – Dibels Day!
• January 27 – Committee Meeting 2:30-3:15
• January 28 – Care Teams Meeting 7:00-8:00
• January 29 – Office Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• January 29 – EA Meeting 1:00-1:30
• January 29 – SIW Teacher Prep 1:00-2:30
• January 29 – All Admin Meeting 3:00-4:30
• January 30 – Smart Reading (Kindergarten) 9:45-10:45
• January 30 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• January 31 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• February 2 – Groundhog Day
• February 3 – Core Effectiveness Meetings
• February 3 – Staff Meeting 2:30-3:15
• February 4 – Safety Meeting 7:00-7:30
• February 4 – Core Effectiveness Meetings
• February 4 – Elementary Admin Meeting  3:00-5:00
• February 5 – Office Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• February 5 – SIW – Extra Time for EL Planning 1:00-2:30
• February 6 – Smart Reading (Kindergarten) 9:45-10:45
• February 6 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• February 7 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00

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Updates from Downtown

From Tammy and Karen

Schedule Notes

Horizontal Meeting at Elk Meadow Elementary on January 7th from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. Opening by Elk Meadow and closing by Westside Village.

Important Links

• December 11^th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–Keep connecting and supporting each other!

Notes from our Team:

From Sarah Barclay, BEA and Sean Reinhart, Student Support 

We are re-sharing to make sure you have access to this information and can easily share it with your entire staff, including classified employees. Certified employees previously received this, but classified emplyees avenot.

Many of you have reached out with questions about special education programming and expectations within Bend-La Pine Schools. First and foremost, we want to acknowledge the wide-spread concerns and confusion within our District regarding this topic. Over the last five years the Bend-La Pine Schools Student Services Department, previously known as Special Education, has made changes within their department that were well intentioned, but not communicated to the larger system of employees and this has led to uncertainty and misunderstanding. The purpose of today’s communication is to provide all staff with a shared base of information that we can use to build our future decisions upon as we move toward a shared goal of better supporting all students, including those who require specially designed instruction and services.

During the 2018-2019 school year a project known as Excellence in Education gathered feedback from staff, students, and families about their experiences in our schools. After receiving and processing that feedback, the Student Services Department set out on a journey to improve the inclusion of students experiencing disability into the general education setting. The BLS vision for special education is, “Bend-La Pine Schools strive to create an inclusive culture and environment for all learners, particularly for those that experience disability. We believe, to the greatest extent possible, that all students should maximize time spent in the general education classroom regardless of their special education services or related services. To this end, it is imperative that the educational planning process begins with services in the general education setting and ends with the need for specialized services in more segregated settings.” For more detailed information about this process click here.

We are reaching out today to share answers to frequently asked questions about our model for delivering special education services in Bend-La Pine Schools and to provide clarity on how we provide Special Education services in our schools. The Special Education Inclusion Questions and Answers (click link) will be updated as more questions arise.

Are we there yet? Inclusive practices and the improvement of those practices are a process. This work will not be achieved overnight, it will take time and training, it will take collaboration and conversation. All of which are precious in the public education system. As we continue this journey the Student Services Department is committed to listening to all employees, answering questions as they arise, and working with BEA to increase learning opportunities and continued clarity on this topic. The work we do with students is complex and working together to ensure all students have access to the support they need will lead to thriving community members in the future. 

In partnership, 

Sarah Barclay, President, Bend Education Association and Sean Reinhart, Executive Director of Student Services, Bend-La Pine Schools

From Student Well-Being – Jennifer Hauth

Elementary Counselors will be teaching new curriculum beginning in January. As part of our Source of Strength implementation at secondary, we are adding their Connecting to Help curriculum for grades 3-5 at elementary, this is just a few lessons at each grade level. This is an opportunity to build skills and language around mental health literacy and provide resources ahead of significant transitions. These lessons uplift protective factors available to students to help mitigate risk and allow them to practice strategies for lifelong health.  Protective factors addressed in these lessons include:

• A sense of belonging and connection, both at school and in the broader community
• Positive relationships with peers and adults at school
• The ability to identify emotions, utilize coping skills, and solve social problems
• Being able to talk to Trusted Adults about social and emotional challenges
• Positive sense of identity

We met as a PLC a few weeks ago and reviewed the Connecting to Help curriculum for grades  3, 4 and 5. We have a family letter that they will share with family and here are the slides from our time together: Elementary School Counselors – Connecting to Help Curriculum and review of Wayfinder MTSS Dashboard as well as the Informed Consent Process.

From Curriculum and Instruction – Julie Richards

STEMHub Training: Please share this flyer with teachers after the break. This event is in January and subs are covered.

Life and Career Readiness – Jenny White

Principals, here is an activity from Wayfinder called Finding Commonalities that you can use during a staff meeting or SIW.  Link to the Activity in Wayfinder.

From Deputy Superintendent- Lisa Birk

Another survey I would like you to share with your team is from one of our partners, COREN. This will give an opportunity for all staff to describe professional development interests. COREN supports many learning opportunities within BLP, and this information benefits both their organization and ours in the sense that it gives us access to supports for our current needs. Right now, participation has been limited so any encouragement you can do to give feedback is helpful. This survey ends on January 10th.

Policy, Advocacy, and Equity – Kinsey Martin

Upcoming events/dates:

Spanish-language FAFSA Night: Mon, Jan 13th.  Here is the flyer.  Thanks for distributing to your families and promoting through your channels!  The primary audience is high school, but staff or families from any grade level are welcome if they just want to get a sense of the process.   

Asian Family Night: Friday, January 31st.  Food, cultural performances and crafts, and a drawing contest.  More details to come—for now, save the date!  (Yes, I know this is grading day 🙂 )

Black History Month Door-Decorating Contest: Submissions due Wed, Feb 19, and winners will be announced Fri, Feb 21.  Prizes and recognition for the winners will be a little special this year.  Complete information will be shared with your staff via your DEI-ICCL rep in early January—for now, add these key dates to your calendar!  

Presidential inauguration: This year’s presidential inauguration falls on the same day as Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.  It is a No-School day, but some priority-population advisory groups have indicated worry for the student experience and respectful interactions on Tuesday, Jan 21st.  

Our community has been relatively respectful post-election (which is great!), and we certainly don’t want to assume negative intent.  That said, continued preventive efforts can’t hurt.  In early Jan, make sure your teachers review norms and expectations regarding the dignity and belonging of everyone in your learning community, and the expected reporting procedures if these norms are violated (i.e. bias incident form submissions).  As you welcome students back from break, a family communication/reminder regarding these school-wide expectations is helpful too.

Please ask your counselors to make themselves as available as possible for drop-ins if students need extra support on/around Tues, Jan 21.  If your team knows a particular student or colleague struggled after the election in November, make a note on your calendar to have a trusted adult or friend intentionally check in with them that day.  

Complaints: Your teams are doing really great with the complaint system—thank you for your visible and thoughtful efforts to respond, investigate, support, document, and communicate for each one you receive in your Dashboard.  Those take substantial time and energy, but they are investments in the trust and safety of your school culture, and your students, families, and staff notice and appreciate that.      

Action Items

• Protect January 22 SIW for a FULL 90 minutes of EL planning for your staff

Important Dates

• January 6: First Day back from break!
• January 7: Horizontal Meeting at Elk Meadow from 3:00-5:00, hosted by Elk Meadow and Westside Village
• January 15 and 22: SIWs that are Educator Network day followed by an SIW that is EL planning time
• January 29: All Admin PD at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30

Our EME Focus

• Tier 1 Instruction
• Belonging
• Define what it means to be an Integrated Arts School

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Thoughts of the Week

Sometimes the hard things we do are what bring us together! Remember, You’re Smarter Than You Think, You’re Braver Than You Seem, You’re Stronger Than You Feel, and… You Can Do Hard Things! This is another story from my Grandmother (nookomis) from the Anishinaabe people.  I love this story because it really shows the importance of community.

A long time ago when the world was new and the Anishinaabe were still learning how to walk the earth, the world was beautiful, the sky was always sunny, the game was plentiful and life was easy for the Anishinabe.  But it was not always this way… Long before this, the Anishinaabe were a struggling people and were nearly starving to death. During the harsh winter, the maple trees took pity on the Anishinaabe and agreed to offer their syrup to any Anishinaabe that was in need.  All maple trees knew this and had an agreement with the Anishinaabe that should they ever need food, they could break off the end of a branch and pouring out of the tree would be a delicious golden sweet maple syrup. 

Then one day the trickster, Nanaboozho, came to visit the Anishinaabe peoples. When they arrived at Anisha Bay Village, they looked all around, inside wigwams at the Smoke Shack, down at the stream, in the fields, but Nanaboozho couldn’t find anyone. Nanaboozho was confused, so Nanaboozho decided to set off into the woods in search of the Anishinaabe people. After walking for some time Nanaboozho came across a Maple Grove next to their Village and found the Anishinabe laying on their backs at the base of the trees. What are you doing, yelled Nanaboozhoo! When Nanaboozho found the Anishinabe laying on their backs they had their mouths wide open and pouring into their mouths was rich, brown delicious maple syrup. Nanaboozhoo thought to himself how did the Anishinabe come to be like this? This will simply not do. If they keep on like this, they’re going to become fat and lazy! 

Nanaboozhoo decided to go down to the river and fill his bucket full of water. Carrying his big bucket of water back to the Anishinabe people who were all pigging out on maple syrup, Nanaboozhoo began pouring the water into the maple trees. The Anishinabe jumped up and said Nanaboozhoo, Nanaboozhoo, what are you doing? Nanaboozhoo explained to the Anishinabe that they had lost their way and were disrespecting their relationship with the maple tree by over-consuming their syrup.  No longer will pure maple syrup flow out of the trees. Now if the Anishinabe want to make maple syrup they will have to work for it. They will need to boil it down slowly until it becomes maple syrup, and even farther to become maple sugar. Then the Anishinabe will value the maple syrup that Gitchi Monado has gifted them and they will not become fat and lazy.  

From that day forward the harvesting of maple syrup was only made available one time a year and the communities would have to come together and work as a community. It is maple syrup that would later become a delicacy and a staple part of our diets as Anishinaabe. When the winters get tough we have Gichi-manidoo (the Great Spirit or the Creator of all things and the Giver of Life), Nanaboozhoo, and the spirit of the maple tree to thank for the syrup and sugar that has been stored from last year’s Harvest!

This story of community is a great reminder of the importance of working hard and together to accomplish things. It is also a reminder nothing is truly free, so remember to be grateful!

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The Coming Week

• Monday
  • Principal Meeting 8:00-12:00
  • Committee Meeting 2:30-3:15

• Tuesday
  • Kinder Forest Field Trip
  • ICCL Meeting 2:30-3:15

• Wednesday
  • Office Staff Meeting 7:00-7:30
  • Holiday Party! 1:00-3:00

• Thursday
  • SMART Reading 9:45-10:45
  • Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15

• Friday
  • Natalie Page’s Birthday!
  • EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• December 21 – January 5 – Winter Break!
• Birthdays Over Break
  • December 24 – Sue Schaber’s Birthday!
  • January 4 – Julia Torres’ Birthday!

UPCOMING DATES:

• January 6 – Staff Meeting 2:30-3:15
• January 7 – Safety Meeting 7:00-7:30
• January 7 – Elementary Admin Meeting  3:00-5:00
• January 8 – Office Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• January 8 – SIW Culture of Care with Amy Yilik 1:00-3:15
• January 9 – Fire Drill 8:30
• January 9 – Smart Reading (Kindergarten) 9:45-10:45
• January 9 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• January 10 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• January 13 – Sarajane Pixton’s Birthday!
• January 13 – Principal Meeting 8:00-12:00
• January 13 – Union meeting with Peter Hoover 2:30
• January 13 – TAG/ICCL Meeting 3:45-5:45
• January 14 – Care Teams Meeting 7:00-8:00
• January 14 – Forest Kinder 9:30-1:30
• January 15 – Office Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• January 15 – SIW Ed Network 1:00-2:30
• January 15 – Safety Cadre 1:30-3:00
• January 16 – Smart Reading (Kindergarten) 9:45-10:45
• January 16 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• January 16 – Admin Meeting 3:30-4:45
• January 17 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• January 20 – Martin Luther King Day
• January 20 – Lea Wolnick’s Brithday
• January 21 –  Earthquake Drill 1:30
• January 21 – ICCL Meeting 2:30-3:15
• January 22 – Office Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• January 22 – SIW Follow up to Ed Network 1:00-2:30
• January 23 – Smart Reading (Kindergarten) 9:45-10:45
• January 23 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• January 24 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• January 27 – Dibels Day!
• January 27 – Committee Meeting 2:30-3:15
• January 28 – Care Teams Meeting 7:00-8:00
• January 29 – Office Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• January 29 – EA Meeting 1:00-1:30
• January 29 – SIW Teacher Prep 1:00-2:30
• January 29 – All Admin Meeting 3:00-4:30
• January 30 – Smart Reading (Kindergarten) 9:45-10:45
• January 30 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• January 31 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• February 2 – Groundhog Day
• February 3 – Core Effectiveness Meetings
• February 3 – Staff Meeting 2:30-3:15
• February 4 – Safety Meeting 7:00-7:30
• February 4 – Core Effectiveness Meetings
• February 4 – Elementary Admin Meeting  3:00-5:00
• February 5 – Office Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• February 5 – SIW – Extra Time for EL Planning 1:00-2:30
• February 6 – Smart Reading (Kindergarten) 9:45-10:45
• February 6 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• February 7 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00

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Updates from Downtown

Do Good December

Happy Snowy Day!

From Tammy and Karen

Lavender Lady: A woman named Janet Mager and a group of her friends have offered to provide lovely lavender filled neck pillows for all of staff at our elementary schools. They currently have 700 available. Over the course of the next few weeks, Janet will be reaching out to determine time to bring these to your team. It is up to you how you want her to do that. She he could just drop them off or she would also love to be able to hand them out in the staff room. You decide!

January SIWs on the 15th (END) and 22 (protected). Reminder–Educator Network Day is January 15th, followed by an EL planning day on January 22. On January 22, this whole 90 minutes is protected for teachers to have time digging into and planning the second EL module that they will be in the middle of doing. The Educator Network Day (END) on the 15th will get them going with loads of information, but will not provide the needed time to do some deep and intentional planning. Please use this time for what it is intended to be used for and do not schedule any other topics to be covered during this 90 minutes. Thanks!

Important Links

• December 11^th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–Keep connecting and supporting each other!

Notes from our Team:

From Human Resources: Winter Break Coverage

The HR office will have sporadic coverage over winter break,  from December 21 through January 5. To ensure a smooth workflow, please complete and submit any hiring requests by Friday, December 20. New hiring requests should be held until the office resumes regular operations on Monday, January 6. If you are in the process of making an offer that will take place between December 21 and January 5, please contact Ryan Kelling as soon as possible to develop a plan for completing the process during this period.Thank you for helping us maintain a seamless hiring process.

From Human Resources: Green Team

As we continue to advance sustainability initiatives across our schools, we are asking each building administration team to designate one member to act as the first level of support for your site’s Green Team. Please share the name of your designated administrator with Karen or Tammy by Friday, December 20. This role is not about leading the Green Team but simply being available as a point of contact and support for the individuals spearheading sustainability efforts in your building.

Each site has a 1.0 FTE Green Team Advisor, which is on the Extra Duty schedule. This is a new role this year and must be filled via the recruitment process. What was formerly our Custodial department is now Custodial and Sustainability, led by Walt Norris, Director of Custodial and Sustainability. Walt is actively recruiting a Sustainability Coordinator, who will soon serve as the direct liaison for all Green Team Advisors. Once this position is filled and up to speed, they will provide additional guidance and support for sustainability efforts across the district.

From Curriculum and Instruction – Julie Richards

The Math Curriculum Review Team has been actively engaged in the curriculum review process since the fall of 2022. We want to take a moment to thank them for their dedication to this important work.

This year, the Math Curriculum Review Team and field testers have been involved in evaluating various math materials as part of the ongoing review process. After field testing one set of materials, STEMScopes, the team determined that it did not meet the criteria established in our rubric. Consequently, information about this program will not be shared at your school. However, if you are interested in exploring STEMScopes on your own, you can access it here. Additionally, you can review the detailed results from both the Math Curriculum Review Team and the field testers.

Looking ahead, we are excited to begin our next field test. Starting in early January, the team will be teaching Experience Math and gathering valuable insights. If you have any questions or need further clarification, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Julie Richards, Kerry Morton, or any member of the Math Curriculum Review Team. Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding.

From Curriculum and Instruction – Julie Richards

Progress Report (Report Card) presentation: Building ICCLs and administrators received training on the new progress reports this week. They will be rolling out the information to their buildings soon. Here is the presentation with video links on each slide to explain the new progress reports, especially in regard to literacy priority standards in case you want a sneak peek. 

Life and Career Readiness – Jenny White

Principals, here is an activity from Wayfinder called Convergence that you can use during a staff meeting or SIW. 

Policy, Advocacy, and Equity – Kinsey Martin

Save the date: Our district-wide Spanish-language FAFSA Night will tentatively be Mon, Jan 13th 5:30-7:30pm.  More details and flyers to follow, but for now please reserve this date (avoid scheduling school-based events that evening, if possible) and share with applicable staff like counselors, ELL, etc.

Action Items

• Designate one member from each building administration team to support the Green Team. Please submit by December 20.
• Save the date for the Spanish language FAFSA night on January 13th from 5:30-7:30 PM.
• Protect January 22 SIW for a FULL 90 minutes of EL planning for your staff

Important Dates

• December 19-20: Tammy is out–connect with Karen if you need anything
• December 23-January 3. Winter Break!
• January 6: First Day back from break!
• January 7: Horizontal Meeting at Elk Meadow from 3:00-5:00, hosted by Elk Meadow and Westside Village
• January 15 and 22: SIWs that are Educator Network day followed by an SIW that is EL planning time
• January 29: All Admin PD at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30

Finally From Mr. Snowflake in IT

Watching everyone attempt to create a “six-pointed snowflake” was a special moment taking me back to my first year of teaching at Three Rivers Elementary 26.5 years ago.  

Before the winter holiday, a Sunriver resident named Jerry Sawyer would volunteer in my class to teach art lessons, one of which was how to create a true six-pointed snowflake.  He would talk about how every snowflake was unique, forged around a central piece of dust, and always started its journey from the sky as a crystal with six points.  Shout out to Pat McClain who is now teaching at Bend High and was a student in that class.  Most year’s since then I have done my best to channel “Mr. Snowflake” in the other schools where I have worked.  The “assessment data” on the floor yesterday demonstrated that many of you have yet to master the six-pointed snowflake.  This video will share the steps to create your own six-pointed snowflake.  Share with your staff if you wish. At the very least, you will have the answer key in the case you are tested again next year.  Thank you for reading.  And remember-dimple, snow cone, coyote head, torch!

Our EME Focus

• Tier 1 Instruction
• Belonging
• Define what it means to be an Integrated Arts School

Thoughts of the Week

I recently read a book titled, Thriving Leaders by Claire Gray, and as I read it I came across this list below of what the expectations of a leader are and this quote. “Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.”

(Harvard Business School definition of leadership) I have adapted the list to fit the leadership of teachers, because I think it fits what you do as teachers everyday! I want you to know I see you, and know what it takes for you to do what you do!

What are the expectations of a leader? Most literature focuses on the difference between leadership and management but the reality is, if you’re leading, you’ll be doing both and more. 

These are 8 different expectations of you as a leader;

• You must be a Visionary who inspires the people around you by setting the vision, understanding the big picture, and communicating this to your students. You are motivating your team for the future. 
• You need to be a Manager and direct your students, assign work, delegate, and clarify your expectations. You have to give context about what needs to be delivered and followed up on to hold your students accountable. 
• You must Mentor your students by imparting your knowledge and wisdom and sharing stories of how you’ve approached situations in the past so that your students may take what is relevant to them and apply it. 
• Being a Coach is critical! To do this you must ask powerful questions to help the  person you’re coaching come up with their own solutions. A solution that is meaningful and useful for them 
• The role of Teacher is where you train your students and transfer knowledge and skills. This can mean showing them a new process or including them in the classroom so they can learn and become a contributing member of society,
• As an Advisor you share your specialist knowledge by giving advice, helping to problem solve and reach solutions together. 

The final two components are often not in a job description, but take up considerable time.

• Ever had to be a Counselor? Being a sounding board, because people are human and both colleagues and students go through difficult times in and outside of our school day. Mental health issues are more prevalent than ever. This is the role of the listener. 
• Finally, you often need to be a Mediator, which has you assisting when two students are having a disagreement and cannot solve it on their own. 

As you can see there’s a huge expectation of you as a leader! Some days you may play all these roles, and others just a few. The critical skills of a leader require reading the situation and determining what role it is time to step in and assume. 

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The Coming Week

• Monday
  • Field Trip to Bend Science Station (Holmberg, Eisenbeis) 9:00-11:30,11:30-2:00
  • Admin/Union Rep Meeting 2:30-3:00 

• Tuesday
  • Field Trip to Bend Science Station (McLarty) 9:00-11:30
  • Care Teams 7:00-8:00
  • ICCL Admin Training 3:00-5:00

• Wednesday
  • Office Staff Meeting 7:00-7:30
  • EA Meeting 1:00-1:30
  • SIW Teacher Prep 1:00-2:30
  • All Admin Meeting 3:00-5:00

• Thursday
  • Ben admin Meeting 7:30-8:30
  • Forest Kindergarten 9:30-1:30
  • Fire Drill 10:30
  • Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15

• Friday
  • EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
  • Assembly 1:30-2:00
  • EET Movie Night – The Grinch 6:00-8:00

UPCOMING DATES:

• December 16 – Principal Meeting
• December 16 – Committee Meeting 2:30-3:15
• December 17 – ICCL Meeting 2:30-3:15
• December 18 – Office Staff Meeting 7:00-7:30
• December 18 – Holiday Party! 1:00-3:00
• December 19 – SMART Reading 9:45-10:45
• December 19 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• December 20 – Natalie Page’s Birthday!
• December 20 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• December 21 – January 5 – Winter Break!
• December 24 – Sue Schaber’s Birthday!
• January 4 – Julia Torres’ Birthday!

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Updates from Downtown

Do Good December

From Tammy and Karen

January SIWs on the 15th (END) and 22 (protected). Reminder–Educator Network Day is January 15th, followed by an EL planning day on January 22. On January 22, this whole 90 minutes is protected for teachers to have time digging into and planning the second EL module that they will be in the middle of doing. The Educator Network Day (END) on the 15th will get them going with loads of information, but will not provide the needed time to do some deep and intentional planning. Please use this time for what it is intended to be used for and do not schedule any other topics to be covered during this 90 minutes. Thanks!

Please Share with Families (it’s timely). Please share this flier with your families about a special Spanish Family event next Wednesday, put on by the Deschutes Public Library. They would love to grow the engagement in this event and we can help!

Important Links

• November 20th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–Keep connecting and supporting each other!

Notes from our Team:

Curriculum, Instruction and Systems–Julie Richards. EL additional training opportunity (space limited)

Sign up for full-day sub-release planning days and/or after-school planning times.

We are excited to offer additional support/planning times for Expeditionary Learning.  If you are interested in participating in these first-come first-serve opportunities (space is limited due to sub capabilities), please Sign up here. An email will be sent to folks the following week regarding getting subs. Space is limited so please do not get subs until you are notified that there is room for you on the specific dates

Full-day w/sub provided:

• Jan 21st – 4th and 5th only(Education Center boardroom)
• Feb 4th – K and 1st only (Education Center boardroom)
• Feb 12th – 2nd and 3rd only (Education Center boardroom)

Afterschool w/timesheet (curriculum rate)-any grade level welcome

• Feb 3rd     3:30-6:30 (Education Center boardroom)
• Feb 10th  3:30-6:30 (Education Center boardroom)

From Kinsey in Policy, Advocacy, and Office of DEI

FAN and the Holidays: Just a reminder that FAN does not coordinate Christmas/holiday gift needs for families.  This has been the case for over 10 years.  FAN resources are maxed out prioritizing basic needs (utilities/heat, rent, clothing, hygiene supplies, food, etc).  There are many community-based organizations that do support religious or holiday-based requests like Christmas gifts, such as Salvation Army, Giving Plate, etc.  Here, here, and here are a few sample resources.  

What is the ask of you and your staff: 

• If you have a family seeking support with Christmas gifts or holiday resources: Please refer them to those community-based agencies, not your FAN Advocate. 
• If you have individuals wanting to donate holiday gifts and toys to families in need: Please refer them to those organizations, who are collecting and distributing toys and holiday donations.
• If your students/staff want to be directly involved in supporting FAN’s work: Organize a “Winter Weather Drive” to gather desperately-needed winter clothes for our students and families in need, not just for those who celebrate Christmas.  Thank you!

Action Items

• Protect January 22 SIW for a FULL 90 minutes of EL planning for your staff
• Share flier with families
• Encourage staff to sign up for the newly added optional EL planning days
• Review how you can support families in need at your school for the holidays and beyond
• Think about the teams/groups you supervise and their differing needs

Important Dates

• December 10: Admin and ICCL Training—Jewell Elementary, 3:00-5:00
• December 11: All Admin Meeting at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• December 19-20: Tammy is out–connect with Karen if you need anything
• December 23-January 3. Winter Break!
• January 6: First Day back from break!
• January 7: Horizontal Meeting at Elk Meadow from 3:00-5:00, hosted by Elk Meadow and Westside Village
• January 15 and 22: SIWs that are Educator Network day followed by an SIW that is EL planning time
• January 29: All Admin PD at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30

And finally… Click here to see the video!

Our EME Focus

• Tier 1 Instruction
• Belonging
• Define what it means to be an Integrated Arts School

Thoughts of the Week

I have listened to this song so many times, but I came across this short (below) with it slowed down and it hits so different. I sent it to a couple of my daughters who responded write away that they needed to hear this that day. Not sure who else may need to hear this…

It just takes some time
Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything’ll be just fine
Everything, everything’ll be alright, alright

We ARE all in the “middle of the ride,” and it does just take some time… and I do believe everything is going to be alright!

Here are the full lyrics

Hey, don’t write yourself off yet
It’s only in your head, you feel left out
Or looked down on

Just try your best
Try everything you can
And don’t you worry what they tell themselves
When you’re away

It just takes some time
Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything’ll be just fine
Everything, everything’ll be alright, alright

Hey, you know they’re all the same
You know you’re doing better on your own (on your own)
So don’t buy in

Live right now
Yeah, just be yourself
It doesn’t matter if it’s good enough (good enough)
For someone else

It just takes some time
Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything’ll be just fine
Everything, everything’ll be alright, alright

It just takes some time
Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything’ll be just fine
Everything, everything’ll be alright, alright

Hey, don’t write yourself off yet
It’s only in your head, you feel left out (feel left out)
Or looked down on

Just do your best (just do your best)
Do everything you can (do everything you can)
And don’t you worry what their bitter hearts (bitter hearts)
Are gonna say

It just takes some time
Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything’ll be just fine
Everything, everything’ll be alright, alright

It just takes some time
Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything’ll be just fine
Everything, everything’ll be alright

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The Coming Week

• Monday
  • Staff Meeting 2:30-3:15

• Tuesday
  • Vision Screening
  • EME Safety Meeting 7:00-7:30

• Wednesday
  • Amanda Out for Law Conference
  • SIW 1:00-2:30 – Extra Time for EL Planning

• Thursday
  • Amanda Out for Law Conference
  • Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15

• Friday
  • Amanda Out for Law Conference
  • EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00

UPCOMING DATES:

• December 9 – Field Trip to Bend Science Station (Holmberg, Eisenbeis) 9:00-11:30,11:30-2:00
• December 9 – Admin/Union Rep Meeting 2:30-3:00 
• December 10 – Field Trip to Bend Science Station (McLarty) 9:00-11:30
• December 10 – Care Teams 7:00-8:00
• December 10 – ICCL Admin Training 3:00-5:00
• December 11 – Office Staff Meeting 7:00-7:30
• December 11 – EA Meeting 1:00-1:30
• December 11 – SIW Teacher Prep 1:00-2:30
• December 11 – All Admin Meeting 3:00-5:00
• December 12 – Ben admin Meeting 7:30-8:30
• December 12 – Forest Kindergarten 9:30-1:30
• December 12 – Fire Drill 10:30
• December 12 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• December 13 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• December 13 – Assembly 1:30-2:00
• December 16 – Principal Meeting
• December 16 – Committee Meeting 2:30-3:15
• December 17 – ICCL Meeting 2:30-3:15
• December 18 – Office Staff Meeting 7:00-7:30
• December 18 – Holiday Party! 1:00-3:00
• December 19 – SMART Reading 9:45-10:45
• December 19 – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• December 20 – Natalie Page’s Birthday!
• December 20 – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• December 21 – January 5 – Winter Break!
• December 24 – Sue Schaber’s Birthday!
• January 4 – Julia Torres’ Birthday!

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Updates from Downtown

Important Links

• November 20th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–This week there are questions about PLCs and MTSS – share your great ideas and ask your questions!
• TAG Folder of helpful things

Notes from our Team:

Life and Career Readiness from Jenny White

• Kindergarten: Words of Encouragement – Students contribute words of encouragement to a resource in the classroom.
• First: Celebrate Me Dance Party – Students dance to celebrate their uniquely awesome selves.
• Second: Words of Encouragement – Students contribute words of encouragement to a resource in the classroom.
• Third: Celebrations – Students celebrate something they’re proud of.
• Fourth: Future Me – Students imagine their future selves offering advice for today.
• Fifth: Letters of Gratitude – Students write a letter of gratitude to someone in their lives.

Policy, Advocacy, and Office of DEI from Kinsey

Immigration/Undocumented community members: If you receive inquiries about our practices related to immigration enforcement or undocumented individuals, here is the English version of our FAQ document (Spanish and Chinese versions available as well).  This is intended to be an FYI/talking points for you.  You are welcome to share this document with staff for the same purpose, and/or make copies available for students or families who ask.  

I have received questions about what a school should do if someone (ex: an immigration official) approaches the office asking for student, staff, or family information related to immigration status.  First of all, this is extremely unlikely to occur.  If this happens, please contact me immediately before providing or confirming any information.  You can say, “I need to confirm district policy and procedure for this request before I am approved to share any information.”  

Thank you for sharing this with your office team, so they feel informed on the response required in this very unlikely scenario.  

Operations Update from Paul Dean

Inclement Weather Department Information. The following departments want to remind administrators about snow day tasks:

• Transportation:  Snow Routes can be accessed at this link
• Custodial: Snow maps exist at each site with the custodian/principal. Those snow maps contains the three priorities:
  • Front entrance
  • Bus loop
  • Back entrance
  • Ice melt is applied on asphalt ONLY
  • Basalt (good traction and does not damage the concrete) is applied and kept on the sidewalk throughout the winter season to retain traction and is intentionally not cleared off 
  • Custodians report to work regardless of school closure decision
• Safety/IT – Please refer to the Bend-La Pine Schools Inclement Weather Guidelines 2024-2025 for essential information 

Important Dates

• December 10: Admin and ICCL Training—make sure your ICCL team knows! 3-5–location TBD
• December 11: All Admin Meeting at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• December 19-20: Tammy is out–connect with Karen if you need anything
• December 23-January 3. Winter Break!

Our EME Focus

• Tier 1 Instruction
• Belonging
• Define what it means to be an Integrated Arts School

Thoughts of the Week

If you have time, this is amazing video! And he truly is a kind soul!

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The Coming Week

• Monday
  • Committees 2:30-3:15
  • Principal Cohort 3:00-4:00

• Tuesday
  • Picture Retake Day
  • Lilly Paradis’ Birthday!
  • Elementary Admin Horizontal Meeting 3:00-5:00

• Wednesday
  • Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
  • SIW

• Thursday
  • Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15

• Friday
  • EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00

UPCOMING DATES:

• November 24th – Steve Miller’s Birthday!
• November 25th – Amanda Gylling’s Birthday!
• November 25th-29th – Thanksgiving Break
• December 2nd – Staff Meeting 2:30-3:15
• December 3rd – Vision Screening
• December 3rd – EME Safety Meeting 7:00-7:30
• December 4th-6th – Amanda Out for Law Conference
• December 4th – SIW 1:00-2:30
• December 5th – Sped Team Meeting 2:30-3:15
• December 6th – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00

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Updates from Downtown

Important Links

• November 6th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–Have you helped out your colleague yet? Several more need some advice!
• TAG Folder of helpful things

Notes from our Team:

From Triz in HR

Certified Evaluation Information as of 10-31-24. We have edited all the certified profiles so that they don’t refer to specific dates in any of the instructions or notifications. The intent of this is to streamline editing from year to year and make successive launches more timely.

Within the sub profiles, goals, observations, self-reflections and the like, dates can be chosen to auto launch and populate the review. We have set the profiles to do the following:

Anchor Date: the date that the system will use for assigning evaluation profiles and sub profiles.

First Review: this date will assign a specified profile the first time.

Auto Assign: toggles whether to initiate the profile automatically. Uses the Anchor and First Review dates to determine what launches.

These allow us to set up an ongoing eval start date, but also have this year start on a later date, since it is a new build.

We have set the profiles to do the following:

Main Profile, this is just messaging that the evaluations are available and scheduled to Administrators; Anchor 8-20-2024; First 11-5-24 – Auto Assign.

Goals (Mini#1); Anchor; 9-7-24; First 11-5-24 – Auto Assign.

Formal 1; Anchor 11-1-24; First 11-5-24 – Auto Assign.

Formal 2; Anchor 1-15-25; First Same – Auto Assign

Mini #2; Anchor 7-1-24; First 2-15-25 – NON Auto Assign

Mini #3; Anchor 7-1-24; First 3-15-25 – NON Auto Assign

Mini#4; Anchor 7-1-24; First 4-15-25 – NON Auto Assign

Self Reflection; Anchor 4-1-25; First same – NON Auto Assign

Summative Eval; Anchor 5-1-25; First same – NON Auto Assign

Year End Goal; Anchor 5-1-25; First same – Auto Assign

Contract teachers don’t have formals or mini 4 in their profile, so only the first goal and year end goals will auto assign.

From Dave in TLC

OSAS Testing Annual Notices and Opt-Out Forms. The Bend-La Pine website has been updated with the 2024-25 fillable PDF annual notice and opt-out forms that we are required to share with families. There are separate notices and opt-out forms for ELA/Math testing (grades 3-8 & 11) and the SEED survey (grades 3-11). Please share these resources through your commonly used channels (e.g., School newsletters, parent emails) and have copies available for parents to pick up in the office by the applicable dates listed below.  Opt Out link here

ODE English Language Arts and Math State Testing. Consistent with the requirements of ORS 329.479, ODE has developed an annual notice (available through ODE’s Test Administration webpage) that describes these assessments, identifies the timeframe when the assessment will most likely be administered, and identifies an adult student’s or parent’s right to excuse the student from testing. Districts and public charter schools must provide parents with the ODE-developed annual notice at the beginning of each school year. In addition, districts and public charter schools must provide parents with separate notice at least 30 days prior to administering the statewide summative assessments in Math and ELA using the ODE-provided 30-day notice and opt-out form (also available through ODE’s Test Administration webpage), or a district-created form that exactly reproduces the language of the ODE-provided form. School districts and public charter schools must use the language of the 30-day notice and opt-out form provided by ODE to communicate with all parents about state testing requirements and their right to opt out for high school students by January 5, 2025, and for students in Grades 3-8 by March 2, 2025. 

ODE SEED Survey. Oregon law (House Bill 2656) requires each school district to make the SEED Survey available to students in grades 3-11. Parents or guardians may decline, either verbally or in writing, to have their student participate in the SEED Survey. Schools will provide parents with notice of administration and the process for declining participation at least 5 days prior to administering the SEED Survey. Students may also decline, at any time, either verbally or in writing to participate. Students may also decline to answer individual questions on the SEED survey. Please contact Dave with any questions.

YouthTruth Survey. This year we will be giving the YouthTruth survey to staff, families, and secondary students. The survey window is January 6 – January 31. Please find a few minutes to watch this short kick off webinar (you can watch it on 1.25 or 1.5 speed). Elissa, our YouthTruth representative will be emailing school on Monday, November 18 with instruction for accessing the Survey Implementation Guide. I will follow up with additional information and resources as we get closer to the survey window. Thank you. Watch the kick off webinar here.

From Kinsey – Policy, Advocacy, & Office of DEI:

Bias Incidents and Hate Speech: When does a student’s comment to a peer or text on a t-shirt invoke our policies around sexual harassment, bias, bullying or intimidation, and when is it something permissible or protected?  What if a student is using a hand gesture that is known to be a communication of hate or oppression?  How do you balance intent vs impact, political speech, and a culture of dignity and belonging focused on learning?  If you have a tricky situation, need some policy guidance, or just want a thought partner, please reach out!  If you’d be interested in a collaborative conversation with other building administrators on how to navigate these incidents right now, please email me so I can gauge interest and need.  

As a reminder, please respond promptly to any complaints or bias incidents reported, including circling back with the reporter at the conclusion of your response.  This is a powerful way to show your commitment to the wellbeing and dignity of each member of your school community.

Latino Family Night: Please drop by our 7^th annual district-wide Latino Family Night if you are able (invitation here–feel free to share).  The Woodburn High School mariachi band will perform (pictured here), and there will be dinner, partners, games, and fun!  

From McScott in IT: (Please share with your teaching staff right now please)

Synergy Mail Issue and Resolution. The latest update to our student information system included a change in Synergy Mail, which removed the ability for recipients (families) to reply directly to the sender (teacher). This change was intentional by the vendor but was not communicated to any IT teams or any of their 6,500 school customers nationwide. As a result, we were delayed in communicating the issue and providing a solution.

As of today, November 14th, our BLS IT team has implemented an in-house fix that restores the direct reply functionality for recipients of messages sent via Synergy Mail. We understand that this issue may have disrupted important communication between teachers and families. Please let me know if there is anything my team or I can do to support you in reestablishing communication.

Two things for family newsletters:

Science Night at Lonza: Here is a link you can include in your family newsletter about an awesome family science opportunity at Lonza. Check it out!

Boys and Girls Club has the following spots available for after school care. Please reach out to them if you are interested here at this link!

• 1 full time spot available for a kinder, 2/3rd grader, 3/4 grader, and 5th grader–downtown location
• 7 full time spots for 1/2 graders–downtown location
• 10 spots open at the east side location for 1st-5th grade

Important Dates

• November 19: Horizontal meeting, @ Bear Creek, hosted by BCE and Miller, 3:00-5:00
• November 25-29 Fall Holiday Break, (if you take time off, use non-contract for all days except Thanksgiving itself)
• December 10: Admin and ICCL Training—make sure your ICCL team knows! 3-5–location TBD
• December 11: All Admin Meeting at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• December 19-20: Tammy is out–connect with Karen if you need anything
• December 23-January 3. Winter Break!

And finally…we can’t over look the power of connection, with families, each other, nature, pets, etc.

Our EME Focus

• Tier 1 Instruction
• Belonging
• Define what it means to be an Integrated Arts School

Thoughts of the Week

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Today I want to share a short story with you about gratitude…
A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which read, “I am blind, please help.”

There were only a few coins in the hat – spare change from folks as they hurried past.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. Then he put the sign back in the boy’s hand so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.

That afternoon, the man who had changed the sign returned to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, “Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?”

The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.”

I wrote, “Today is a beautiful day, but I cannot see it.”

Both signs spoke the truth. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind, while the second sign conveyed to everyone walking by how grateful they should be to see…

When your life seems full of troubles, it seems difficult to maintain an attitude of gratitude, doesn’t it? All we see are our problems, like a blackened storm cloud casting a dark shadow over our lives.

And the times when everything just seems to be going smoothly? We often take these precious moments for granted too, don’t we? Caught up in the bliss, comfort, and familiarity of it all, we can simply forget to be thankful.

So what, then, is gratitude?

Simply put, gratitude is a habit. It’s a way of looking at the world and all the good things in it with a feeling of appreciation, regardless of whether or not your current situation is to your liking.

Gratitude is a heart-centered approach to being at peace with yourself and with all you have. When you practice this feeling of gratitude, it attracts even MORE things into your life for which to be grateful.

Go ahead, try it out right now. What or who do you have in your life to be thankful for? 🙂

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The Coming Week

• Monday
  • Veterans Day – No School
  • National Psychology Week 11th-15th

• Tuesday
  • Care Teams Meeting 7:00-8:00

• Wednesday
  • Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
  • EA Meeting 1:00-1:30
  • SIW Teacher Prep 1:00-2:30
  • All Admin Meeting 3:00-4:30 

• Thursday
  • Ruby Bridges Day
  • 4th Grade Field Trip to High Desert 9:00-2:00
  • Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15

• Friday
  • Ben Out
  • Tori Eisenbeis’ Birthday!
  • EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00

UPCOMING DATES:

• November 18th – Committees 2:30-3:15
• November 18th – Principal Cohort 3:00-4:00
• November 19th – Picture Retake Day
• November 19th – Lilly Paradis’ Birthday!
• November 19th – Elementary Admin Horizontal Meeting 3:00-5:00
• November 20th – Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• November 20th – SIW
• November 21st – Sped Team Meeting 2:30-3:15
• November 22nd – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• November 24th – Steve Miller’s Birthday!
• November 25th – Amanda Gylling’s Birthday!
• November 25th-29th – Thanksgiving Break
• December 2nd – Staff Meeting 2:30-3:15
• December 3rd – Vision Screening
• December 3rd – EME Safety Meeting 7:00-7:30
• December 4th-6th – Amanda Out for Law Conference
• December 4th – SIW 1:00-2:30
• December 5th – Sped Team Meeting 2:30-3:15
• December 6th – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00

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Updates from Downtown

Did you know you can join the “Action for Happiness” movement? It’s a fun way to focus on the little things that bring you and others joy. Who doesn’t need a little happiness in their lives now and then? Check it out here!

Important Links

• November 6th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–New Question–Please help a colleague!
• TAG Folder of helpful things

Notes from our Team:

From Jennifer in Social, Emotional, and Mental Well-being: I hope the 2024-2025 school year has started smoothly and successfully for your team and students. Patrick Cook-Deegan, Founder + CEO of Wayfinder who lives in Bend would be honored to spend some time at your school. His goal is to deepen his understanding of how the Wayfinder product and implementation is impacting your school community. 

He is eager to learn firsthand about what’s working well and where there may be areas for improvement. Patrick would welcome conversations with anyone on your team—whether a principal, counselor, teacher, or even a student—who can provide authentic insights on both the strengths and challenges of the Wayfinder experience.

Attached is a sign-up sheet for Patrick’s visit. Please select a date and time that works best with your school schedule. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.

Two things for family newsletters:

Science Night at Lonza: Here is a link you can include in your family newsletter about an awesome family science opportunity at Lonza. Check it out!

Boys and Girls Club has the following spots available for after school care. Please reach out to them if you are interested here at this link!

• 1 full time spot available for a kinder, 2/3rd grader, 3/4 grader, and 5th grader–downtown location
• 7 full time spots for 1/2 graders–downtown location
• 10 spots open at the east side location for 1st-5th grade

Important Dates

• November 11: Veteran’s Day–No School
• November 13: All Admin Meeting at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• November 19: Horizontal meeting, @ Bear Creek, hosted by BCE and Miller, 3:00-5:00
• November 25-29 Fall Holiday Break, (if you take time off, use non-contract for all days except Thanksgiving itself)
• December 10: Admin and ICCL Training—make sure your ICCL team knows! 3-5–location TBD
• December 11: All Admin Meeting at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• December 19-20: Tammy is out–connect with Karen if you need anything
• December 23-January 3. Winter Break!

And finally…we all need a little Ted Lasso pep-talk in our lives!

Our EME Focus

• Tier 1 Instruction
• Belonging
• Define what it means to be an Integrated Arts School

Thoughts of the Week

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The Coming Week

• Monday
  • November is Native American Heritage Month
  • Staff Meeting 2:30-3:15
  • BAM Meeting 3:30-4:45

• Tuesday
  • Election Day
  • Safety Meeting 7:00-7:30
  • Kindergarten Field Trip
  • ICCL Meeting 2:30-3:15

• Wednesday
  • Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
  • SIW 

• Thursday
  • Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15 

• Friday
  • EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
  • Safety Cadre Meeting 1:30-3:30

UPCOMING DATES:

• November 11th – Veterans Day – No School
• National Psychology Week 11th-15th
• November 12th – Care Teams Meeting 7:00-8:00
• November 13th – Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• November 13th – EA Meeting 1:00-1:30
• November 13th – SIW Teacher Prep 1:00-2:30
• November 13th – All Admin Meeting 3:00-4:30
• November 14th – Ruby Bridges Day
• November 14th – 4th Grade Field Trip to High Desert 9:00-2:00
• November 14th – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• November 15th – Ben Out
• November 15th – Tori Eisenbeis’ Birthday!
• November 15th – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• November 18th – Committees 2:30-3:15
• November 18th – Principal Cohort 3:00-4:00
• November 19th – Picture Retake Day
• November 19th – Lilly Paradis’ Birthday!
• November 19th – Elementary Admin Horizontal Meeting 3:00-5:00
• November 20th – Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• November 20th – SIW
• November 21st – Sped Team Meeting 2:30-3:15
• November 22nd – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• November 24th – Steve Miller’s Birthday!
• November 25th – Amanda Gylling’s Birthday!
• November 25th-29th – Thanksgiving Break
• December 2nd – Staff Meeting 2:30-3:15
• December 3rd – Vision Screening
• December 3rd – EME Safety Meeting 7:00-7:30
• December 4th-6th – Amanda Out for Law Conference
• December 4th – SIW 1:00-2:30
• December 5th – Sped Team Meeting 2:30-3:15
• December 6th – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00

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Updates from Downtown

Having fun this Halloween season!!

From Tammy and Karen

Important Links

• SLGGs—plug and play for the year
• October 23rd Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–New Question–Please help a colleague!

Notes from our Team:

From Kerry Morton, Math TOSA and Coach: Math Adoption Update!

To provide more time for teachers to view the math materials, they will remain at your schools a bit longer.  Work with your instructional coach to find a place and timeframe for teachers to look through the three Field Test materials over the next couple weeks.

From Scott and Becca in Communications: Did you see the latest Family Spotlight? The newsletter is solely devoted to safety and includes a message from Dr. Cook, resources for safe firearm storage, information about SafeOregon, crisis and care resources, details about our latest safety improvements and more. It can be a go-to resource when families have questions about safety in our district. Bookmark the October 30 Family Spotlight and have it at the ready!

From Paul in Operations: Building leaders are to pause any program expansion proposals (academic, athletic and extra duty, that include some form of physical building structure, building additions, or site modification) that will impact your site/facility until further notice.  We are in the process of creating internal procedures that will identify that necessary steps that will need to be taken in order to ensure compliance with regulations (i.e. Title IX, permitting, accounting), district policies, contracts and address departmental impacts.

From Kinsey in Policy, Advocacy, & Equity:

Post-Election Resources: As the presidential elections wrap up, we should anticipate and prepare to support the strong reactions, emotions, and conversations our staff, students, and families will experience.  As leaders, it is our responsibility to ensure our staff are informed, equipped, and supported regarding 1) the expectations for navigating this significant moment in time in a professional manner, 2) the resources available to them as employees, and 3) the strategies for supporting students through their own processing.

Holidays: Here is our policy on religion and holidays in schools.  Here is our “Do not schedule” dates document.  Here is a team reflection and guidance tool on holidays.  Consider reviewing these at an ICCL meeting, and/or sharing with all staff.  

From Scott and Kayla in Safety: We will be out of town next week, November 4^th through November 7^th at a conference. We will continue to monitor our emails, cell phones, and text messages to support as best as we can while out of the office. If you have any emergencies that require immediate attention, please reach out to our Chief Operations Officer, Paul Dean for immediate support.

We are happy to announce that we are now staffed with 8 School Resource Officers in the district. Our newest SRO is Officer James Ragland, who will be working out of Pilot Butte Middle School. Please use the updated SRO point of contact roster to see who your current SRO is for your school, and to reach out to any members of the SRO team for support.

Action Items

• Get going on the mini and formal observations if you are behind
• Keep Math Adoptions for a couple more weeks for staff to view
• Pause making any building modifications as a new policy is developed
• Share Kinsey’s message a.s.a.p, as Tuesday is election day!

Important Dates

• November 5: VOTE!!
• November 8: Safety Cadre Meets at the Ed Center Boardroom, 1:30-3:30
• November 11: Veteran’s Day–No School
• November 13: All Admin Meeting at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• November 19: Horizontal meeting, @ Bear Creek, hosted by BCE and Miller, 3:00-5:00
• November 25-29 Fall Holiday Break, (if you take time off, use non-contract for all days except Thanksgiving itself)

And finally…Welcome Karen! We know you are going to feel right at home here in Bend-La Pine!

Our EME Focus

• Tier 1 Instruction
• Belonging
• Define what it means to be an Integrated Arts School

Thoughts of the Week

What do you want to be when you grow up? This kid has a good answer!

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The Coming Week

• Monday
  • SLGG Overview 2:30-3:15

• Tuesday
  • Office Staff Meeting 10:00
  • Conferences 3:15-7:15

• Wednesday
  • Teacher Prep 7:15-3:15 
  • Ben and Amanda out 8:00-4:00 for Training
  • Conferences 3:15-7:15 

• Thursday
  • Conferences 7:15-3:15 
  • Melissa Landolt’s Birthday!
  • Pam Bradbury’s Birthday!

• Friday
  • No School

UPCOMING DATES:

• November is Native American Heritage Month
• November 4th – Staff Meeting 2:30-3:15
• November 4th – BAM Meeting 3:30-4:45
• November 5th – Election Day
• November 5th – Safety Meeting 7:00-7:30
• November 5th – Kindergarten Field Trip
• November 5th – ICCL Meeting 2:30-3:15
• November 6th – Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• November 6th – SIW
• November 7th – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• November 8th – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• November 8th – Safety Cadre Meeing 1:30-3:30
• November 11th – Veterans Day – No School
• National Psychology Week 11th-15th
• November 12th – Care Teams Meeting 7:00-8:00
• November 13th – Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• November 13th – EA Meeting 1:00-1:30
• November 13th – SIW Teacher Prep 1:00-2:30
• November 13th – All Admin Meeting 3:00-4:30
• November 14th – Ruby Bridges Day
• November 14th – 4th Grade Field Trip to High Desert 9:00-2:00
• November 14th – Sped Team Meeting – 2:30-3:15
• November 15th – Ben Out
• November 15th – Tori Eisenbeis’ Birthday!
• November 15th – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• November 18th – Committees 2:30-3:15
• November 18th – Principal Cohort 3:00-4:00
• November 19th – Picture Retake Day
• November 19th – Lilly Paradis’ Birthday!
• November 19th – Elementary Admin Horizontal Meeting 3:00-5:00
• November 20th – Admin Meeting 7:00-7:30
• November 20th – SIW
• November 21st – Sped Team Meeting 2:30-3:15
• November 22nd – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00
• November 24th – Steve Miller’s Birthday!
• November 25th – Amanda Gylling’s Birthday!
• November 25th-29th – Thanksgiving Break
• December 2nd – Staff Meeting 2:30-3:15
• December 3rd – Vision Screening
• December 3rd – EME Safety Meeting 7:00-7:30
• December 4th-6th – Amanda Out for Law Conference
• December 4th – SIW 1:00-2:30
• December 5th – Sped Team Meeting 2:30-3:15
• December 6th – EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00

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Updates from Downtown

Hang in there!

From Tammy

Important Links

• SLGGs—plug and play for the year
• Title 1 Compacts to be done at conferences for all Title 1 Schools (now in a fillable pdf too)
• October 23rd Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–get advice from your colleagues
• TAG Folder of helpful things

Notes from our Team:

From Kerry Morton, Math TOSA and Coach: Math Adoption Update!

Math Field Test Materials – October 29-October 31, each elementary school will have all three programs available in their buildings for families and teachers to view.  Reach out to a Math Curriculum Review Team member if you have any questions about the programs: Amplify Math with Desmos, StemScopes Math, and Experience Math.

From Jennifer Hauth regarding Wayfinder and EL Integration:

To see completion rates of lessons for teachers in Wayfinder, you need to set the core lessons as the featured content. Here is a tutorial on how administrators can set up featured content for their sites (make sure to scroll down to “For Principals + School Admin”). Check out this document that links EL Module 1 with Wayfinder’s 20 Minute lessons that teach the skills students need that was shared with teachers this week.

From Scott and Becca in Communications: Help us celebrate the veterans throughout Bend-La Pine Schools on Monday, November 11! We would love to say “thank you for your service” on social media and include faces throughout the district. If you have a veteran (or more than one) in your building or department, please ask them if they would like to be included in a social media “thank you.” If the answer is yes, take their photo and email it to [email protected], along with the staff member’s name.

From McScott in Technology: YouTube Access for K-8 Students – Trial of “Allow List” Solution. As you know, we are currently blocking all YouTube content for students in grades K-8. Starting next week, we will be implementing a trial of an “allow list” solution, which will enable students to access a curated set of videos. At present, nearly 1,000 YouTube videos necessary for the SchoolLinks curriculum have been added to this allow list.

Why is this important? If this trial proves successful, we can explore expanding the allow list to include additional teacher-requested YouTube content.

We understand that limiting access to non-essential YouTube content remains a high priority for our staff, and this allow list solution is designed to support that goal without diverting from it.

From Dave VanLoo in School Improvement: Accessing OSAS test scores and ODE Individual Student Reports (ISRs) in Synerg during conferences.

Please share the following information with any staff who may need it, particularly teachers who may want to discuss OSAS during conferences.

We have been working for some time to enhance access to OSAS state test results across multiple Synergy applications. Here is a folder with brief instructions for staff, parents, and students to access OSAS state test scores in a variety of ways. All these groups can view and download the one-page ISRs that ODE creates each year. Teachers also can view lists of OSAS scores for their classes in TeacherVue. ISRs from spring 2024 testing have been loaded in English and Spanish ISRs should be there next week. Whether Spanish ISRs are loaded for a student is based on the ‘resolved’ language in Synergy.

ODE requires schools to report OSAS results to parents annually. In the past this process has been time and resource intensive and involved downloading, printing, and sorting thousands of pieces of paper. With ISRs available in both ParentVue and StudentVue, users can now access OSAS results on-demand in Synergy. This will significantly reduce the number of printed copies that end up in trash or recycling. Schools still should plan to print an ISR for any parents who request it and may continue to print ISRs as makes sense.

During conferences, teachers who want to use ISRs now have the option to quickly pull them up in real time and display them on any screens that are available to them.

Please reach out to Dave VanLoo with any questions about accessing OSAS results in Synergy.

From our Amazing Bus Drivers and Transportation Department! Please share this flyer with your families, (in your newsletters and/or posted at conferences) as our transportation department is holding their very own trunk or treat for our students at the bus garage! This event is something that the drivers are doing to show the kids how much they love them. Pass it on!

Important Dates

• Conferences: Oct 29–3:15-7:15, Oct 30–3:15-7:15, Oct 31–7:15-3:15
• October 30: Certified work day, 7:15-3:15
• October 30: Administrator EL training–Ensworth Elementary, 8:00-2:30—lunch provided!
• October 31: Safe School Trainings need to be done by today
• November 4: Karen Rush’s first official day!!! (Maybe sooner if we are lucky!)
• November 8: Safety Cadre Meets at the Ed Center Boardroom, 1:30-3:30
• November 11: Veteran’s Day–No School
• November 13: All Admin Meeting at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• November 19: Horizontal meeting, @ Bear Creek, hosted by BCE and Miller, 3:00-5:00

Our EME Focus

• Tier 1 Instruction
• Belonging
• Define what it means to be an Integrated Arts School

Thoughts of the Week

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The Coming Week

• Monday
  • Committee Meetings 2:30-3:15

• Tuesday
  • Care Teams 7:00-8:00
  • Office Staff Meeting 10:00
  • ICCL Meeting 2:30-3:15

• Wednesday
  • EA Meeting 1:00-1:30
  • SIW Teacher Prep for Conferences 1:00-2:30

• Thursday
  • Earthquake Drill 1:30

• Friday
  • EET Weekly Meeting 8:00-9:00\
  • Fall Dance 6:00-7:30\\
• Saturday
  • Camille White’s Birthday!
  • Joelle Pearson’s Birthday!

UPCOMING DATES:

• October 29 – Office Staff Meeting 10:00
• October 29 – Conferences 3:15-7:15
• October 30 – Teacher Prep 7:15-3:15 
• October 30 – Ben and Amanda out 8:00-4:00 for Training
• October 30 –  Conferences 3:15-7:15 
• October 31 –  Conferences 7:15-3:15 
• October 31 – Melissa Landolt’s Birthday!
• October 31 – Pam Bradbuty’s Birthday!

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Updates from Downtown

From Tammy

Wayfinder: For those of you interested in using Waypoints as a measure for your belonging or SEL School Design work, the window to take the assessment is extended to November 15. There are some great ideas on how to use this assessment and I’ve been talking with people at site visits if you are interested.

Also, just a freindly reminder that Wayfinder is our core curriculum for SEL and this year there is the expectation that teachers are teaching the skill lessons (only 20 lessons total, so 1 a week for 20 weeks). Log into your Wayfinder Dashboard to see who is using the system and how you can best support the use of this program. Reach out to your coaches or Jennifer Hauth for ideas for PD!

Notes from our Team:

From Kinsey – Policy, Advocacy, Equity:

Upcoming events and key dates: Please mark your calendars for these events:

• District-wide 7th annual Latino Family Night:
  • Thursday, November 21st  5:30-7:30pm at MVHS
  • The Woodburn High School student mariachi band will be performing!  Come grab some dinner, check out their performance, and connect with families, students, and staff for some games and fun!
  • Invitation here.  Family Liaisons and Latino Family Advisory members will provide you with some copies, but feel free to share in staff and family newsletters.
• MAC Survey Day: This will happen sometime the week of Nov 11.  Please make sure your FAN Advocate can get in front of staff ahead of that week, to introduce themselves and remind about procedures.  Also, thank you for prioritizing your own time to claim an activity that day if at all possible.  Without you doing that, we can’t afford to have FAN Advocates in our schools (eek).

From Becca Burda in Communications:

Celebrate a successful start to the school year at Educators’ Night Out at the High Desert Museum! It is Thursday, October 24, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

• New this year – join the HDM for a special presentation for school administrators! We’ll share about upcoming grant opportunities and projects. Administrators will also have their own opportunity to win a raffle (we’ll even give you more tickets for each educator from your school you bring with you!)
• Delicious snacks from the one of the best chefs in Central Oregon – Luckey’s Woodsman
• Fabulous door prizes from local businesses like Bar Rio, Bend Pet Express, Greg’s Grill, Mountain Supply, and so many more!
• Register by October 22 here!

Important Dates

• October 23: All Admin PD at Perseverance Hall (Bend High) 3:00-4:30
• October 24: Educators Night Out at the High Desert Museum, 6:00-8:00
• Conferences: Oct 29–3:15-7:15, Oct 30–3:15-7:15, Oct 31–7:15-3:15
• October 30: Certified work day, 7:15-3:15
• October 30: Administrator EL training–Ensworth Elementary, 8:00-2:30—lunch provided!
• October 31: Safe School Trainings need to be done by today
• November 4: Karen Rush’s first official day!!! (Maybe sooner if we are lucky!)
• November 8: Safety Cadre Meets at the Ed Center Boardroom, 1:30-3:30
• November 11: Veteran’s Day–No School
• November 13: All Admin Meeting at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• November 19: Horizontal meeting, @ Bear Creek, hosted by BCE and Miller, 3:00-5:00