Week at a Glance

Happenings Next Week at Lava Ridge:  

• Monday: ICCL Team Meeting @ 2:30 (Rainbow Valley; B4)
• Tuesday: Last day to register for OEBB
• Wednesday: Care Team Meeting @ 8:00 (Rainbow Valley; B4); SIW: MAP Testing & Multilingual Learner Info @1:45 (Media Center)
• Thursday:  Fire Drill likely; Lava Team Meetings @ 2:30-3:15 (locations determined by team)

Raydell will be here during the day this week, while Mike is on leave. We are planning to have a substitute custodian on site in the evening.

At the end of the week we are planning to have a fire drill. Here are slides to review with your students. We will announce this drill on the the intercom prior to sounding the alarm.

We’re planning to begin our weekly Pledge of Allegiance, on Monday morning announcements on September 21st.

If you’re planning to have visitors in your classroom this year (this is most typically guest presenters/speakers) let’s check-in in advance. We can discuss whether they will need to do the Bend-La Pine Schools background check (sometimes this is not necessary) and get them on the radar of the rest of the office staff. Thank you! Side note: Classroom Volunteers do not need prior approval, just make sure their Bend La Pine background check is completed and Kina and Chantel know they are coming.

Staff Room Tidy Team:  Kinder Team

Next Week is an A week

Happenings Next Week at Lava Ridge:  

• Wednesday:  First day of school! Tuesday Specials Schedule; Half of our kindergarteners will be in attendance
• Thursday: Half of Kindergarteners attend
• Friday: All Kindergarteners attend

We’re planning to eat outside this week. 🙂

If you are available at the beginning or end of the student day this week to assist students in locating their classrooms, buses, Kids Inc., etc., please head to the main entrance or Bus area @ 7:29 & 2:14. Thank you!

The first day of library classes will be September 21st

Evening Events for 2026-27: Here’s the scoop on evening events for the year.  The feedback around staff having some choice on events last year was positive so we provided a choice option again.  We’ll have a Google Doc out to you in the next couple of weeks that you can communicate your initial plans for the year.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Event #1: Lava Ridge Showcase:  April 29^th @ 5:30-7:00

Event #2:  Choice Between:  PTO BBQ October 1^st 4:00-6:00 or Bingo Night Feb 18 @ 5:30-7:00

Event # 3:

• K:  Kindergarten Open House, May 13 @ 6:00
• 1st TBD
• 2nd TBD
• 3rd -5th Winter Concerts @ 6:00 (3rd 12/9, 4th 12/15, 5th 12/17)

The Educators’ Night Out at the High Desert Museum is on Thursday, September 24 from 6:00-8:00 pm. Head to the High Desert Museum for an evening dedicated to educators! Enjoy light refreshments and take home resources from dozens of organizations across Central Oregon for the upcoming school year. Register by September 17: highdesertmuseum.org/educatorsnight2026

Welcome Back, Lava Ridge Team!

August always brings fresh energy and excitement for a brand-new school year. Whether we’ve worked together for years or this is your first year at Lava Ridge, I want to share a few core leadership beliefs that guide how I serve as your principal—and what you can expect from me.

Positivity and Culture First

I try to focus on opportunities whenever challenges arise. My priority is to build trust, foster strong relationships, and ensure Lava Ridge remains a great place to work. I believe in face-to-face communication and hope you will stop by my office and talk directly with any concerns, ideas, or feedback you may have.  If you have a question, this is usually the quickest way too, to get an answer.  In 22 years as a principal, I’ve seen how back-channel gossip or indirect complaints erode a team. I’m not a fan of “Well, I’ve been talking to people and lots of them are very…” or “At lunch today, staff were saying…” Encourage those people you have been talking to to talk or meet with me. It’s similar to when a parent shares a concern with me about a teacher, I will direct them to the teacher to discuss the issue. My door is always open, really.

High Professional Expectations & Commitment to Lava Ridge Students and Families

I believe our students and families deserve our best every day.  The reality is we all have days and times when we would rather be somewhere else (got skiing?)  On these days, I fake it. I made the choice to be here and owe it to you, and our students and families to give my best.  I also believe we need to use the most effective instructional strategies and district curriculum and remain open to growing in our roles together.  Extensive research has gone into these curricular and instructional decisions, it’s foundational for equity, and it’s what is expected of us.

Work-Life Balance

When I’m at school, I work hard and try to be efficient as I can be.  Outside of school, my primary roles are being a dad and a husband, and making time for things that bring me joy, like swimming. You won’t typically see my car parked here on weekends or receive 9:00 PM emails from me, and I encourage each of you to protect your personal time just as fiercely.

Streamlined & Consistent Communication

In addition to our face-to-face communication, emails, and monthly staff meetings, you can expect:

• Week at a Glance: Sent out every Friday, this is a primary communication tool. Keeping this a “must-read” helps keep us fully informed and allows us to cap full in-person staff meetings to typically once a month.
• Quick Check-Ins: I will continue sending short, periodic check-ins to see how you’re doing. Thank you for taking a couple of minutes to complete these, your well-being is genuinely important to me. 

I am thrilled to partner with you all for another incredible year at Lava Ridge!

Schedule for August 27th – September 3^rd

Thursday, August 27th

• New Certified Staff Orientation Day @ Silver Rail Elementary
• Option for certified Work in Classroom Day*

Friday, August 28th

• Option for certified Work in Classroom Day*

Monday, August 31st

• Certified Inservice @ 7:15-11:15 (Gym)
• Work in Classrooms PM
• Light Breakfast and Lunch Provided

Tuesday, September 1st

• Certified and Classified Inservice day at Lava beginning at 7:15 a.m. (gym)
• First day for Educational Assistants
• Light Breakfast and lunch provided

Wednesday, September 2nd

• District Professional Learning Day for Certified Staff (off-site locations)
  • Classroom teachers, learning specialists, psychs, SLPs, Ots @ Caldera HS
  • Music at Miller
  • PE at Juniper
  • ELD staff will be at the new DP Central Library
  • Counselors and Student Success at High Desert Middle School
• Lunch on your own
• Non-contract day for Educational Assistants

Thursday, September 3rd

• Certified workday; 10:00-6:00 p.m. 
• Teachers send welcome post on Parent Square to families by 10:30
• Work in Classroom Day
• Lunch on your own
• Open House 4:00-6:00 p.m. 

Friday, September 4th  

• Inservice activities followed with about 2 hours of time to work in classrooms.
• Lunch on your own

Tuesday, September 8th

• Option for certified Work in Classroom Day*

Wednesday, September 9th

• First Day of School! Half of our kindergarteners will attend on the 9th and the other half on September 10th.  All kindergarteners attend school on Friday, September 11th

*This is an option for the 2^nd Work in Classroom Day for certified staff (options include 8/27, 8/28 or 9/8)

Happenings Next Week at Lava Ridge:  

• Monday:  The Lava Ridge Olympics!  ICCL Meeting @ 2:30 (C5)
• Tuesday:  Safety Drill Day (fire and earthquake-both will be announced); Den Celebration @ 11:30 (Den); Retirement Celebration @ 2:30 (Media Center)
• Wednesday: Thursday Specials Schedule; 5^th Promotion @ 1:00 (South Playground); 5^th Promotion Walk @ 1:45 (South Playground) *
• Thursday:  Dress Up Day: Vacation/Beach; Wednesday Specials Schedule; Dismissal @ 12:45; Staff End of the Year Celebration @ 3:16 (Cascade Lakes) 

Here’s the schedule for the Olympics on Monday

*We will announce via intercom when we are ready for classes to come to the Promotion Walk.

There are lots of hidden treasures in the Lost and Found! Next week we’re hoping that each class can plan a visit to the tables and racks outside of Discovery Falls to see if we can reunite owners with items. Lorena’s email sent 6/4, offers insights into how these items have been organized. Thank you!

Congratulations, Cassidy! Ms. Schutz will be a Learning Specialist at Silver Rail and the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Summit High next year. We are so excited for you Cassidy!

The team that planned the Lion Dash would love hear your feedback on this year’s Lion Dash. Thank you! 2026 Lion Dash Feedback

From Julie Richards: With the legislative requirement (SB 141) for school districts to implement an interim assessment 3x per year we will no longer be administering Acadience/DIBELS 3x per year.  We will transition to MAP Growth for Language Arts and Mathematics and MAP Reading Fluency to measure foundational skills.  More details to come!

Here are the Bend-La Pine SIW Schedules for next school year.

Mark your calendars! We are planning for Open House to be on Thursday, September 3rd from 4:00-6:00. The certified work day on 9/3 will be 10:00-6:00.

Below is information about the annual Coren Culture of Care Summer Institute. Interested? Register Here

Staff Room Tidy Team: All Staff

Next Week is a B Week

Happenings Next Week at Lava Ridge:  

• Monday: 5^th Grade to Camp Tamarack; Todd Well w/ American Fidelity @ 8:00 (Staff Room); Staff Meeting @ 1:30 (Media Center)
• Tuesday:  Kindergarten Graduation @ 1:30 (North Playground)
• Wednesday:  4^th Grade Concert/K-3^rd attending @ 8:30 (gym);  5^th Grade Returns from Tamarack @ 11:00; SIW: Class List Creation Time @ 1:45 (Media Center)
• Thursday:  Grad Walk @ South Playground (1:45)
• Friday:  Yearbooks in Mailboxes (AM)

Here’s the schedule for the Olympics on Monday, June 8th. Keep a close eye on this one, lots of exciting adjustments! 🙂

Teachers: We need your input into the building schedule for next school year and hope you’ll submit feedback via this survey by June 8th. Thank you!

From the TLC Blog– Lots of great Math Professional Learning Opportunities ahead! Register soon, if interested.

• Inclusive Math Practices – During the  2026-2027 school year we will dive into inclusive mathematics Find out more here. This is for classroom teachers and interventionists. It includes a small stipend and graduate credits! Sign up here
• Rooted in Numbers aims to transform Kindergarten and Grade 1 math by placing students’ diverse cultural identities, family assets, and innate strengths at the center of the learning experience. Includes graduate credits! Find out more here. Sign up here
• Equitable and Mathematically Productive Engagement Seminar – Learn with colleagues during this summer seminar! 2 graduate credits are offered. Find out more here. Sign up here.
• MathGEN – Learn alongside colleagues to deepen your understanding of equitable practices and Amplify Desmos Math during the 2026-2027 school year. Join whether you participated this year or not!  Find out more here. Sign up here.

Todd Wells from American Fidelity will be @ Lava Ridge ES Monday @ 8:00 – 4:00 pm. Employees who would like to review their current elections, consider making changes, or learn more about the benefits available through Section 125 can may schedule an appointment here: Schedule Your Appointment

Staff Room Tidy Team: EA Crew

Next Week is an A week

Happenings Next Week at Lava Ridge:  

• Monday: Enjoy!
• Tuesday:  Staffing Update w/ Superintendent Cook @ 3:05 (virtual)
• Wednesday:  Lava Care Team Meeting @ 8:00 (C5); SIW: Teacher Discretion Time
• Thursday:  SLGG Reflection Activity @ 2:30 (Media Center)
• Friday:  3^rd Grade Concert (4^th – 5^th invited to attend) @ 9:00 (gym); Bucket Dumping Assembly @ 1:35 (loading @ 1:28)

Here some notes for early June–

• We are planning for regular instruction through June 5^th
• The last day for library classes will be June 5^th
• The week of June 1^st the EA Team will be assisting with Kindergarten Assessments and will not be available to support during Extension of Core
• The last week of school we will run a Thursday schedule on 6/10 and a Wednesday schedule on 6/11, oh my!

We are posting two educational assistant positions for next year. One of these is the result of Lorena’s retirement (Congratulations, Lorena!) and the other from additional hours we received in our staffing plan. These positions will likely become live on the district website Tuesday.

We have an opening on the ICCL Team for next year. Interested? Please apply through UKG via the “My Career” tab (once there search for: Lava Ridge ICCL). The posting will likely not be live until Tuesday.

Thank you for continuing to let Kim and Kina know in advance of any volunteers you may have coming to your class and checking-in with me regarding visitors prior to their arrival. This really helps in making sure we are ready to greet guests! Thank you!

Staff Room Tidy Team: Specials Team

Next Week is a B week

Happenings Next Week at Lava Ridge:  

• Monday: Happy National Speech Pathologist Day, Lacie!; ICCL Meeting @ 2:30 (C5)
• Tuesday: Social Team Meeting @ 2:30 (Media Center)
• Wednesday:  SIW: Curriculum Ordering & Assessment Planning @ 1:45 (Media Center)
• Thursday:  DIBELS Day; MTSS K (C5) & PLC 1^st – 5^th PLC @ 2:30

Thank you for continuing to not bring students out to the playground during times when other grades are scheduled. Limiting the number of students on the playground and avoiding when possible, having multiple grades in these spaces, has really helped to minimize student issues at recess. If you have an interest in rescheduling your recess or if your class has earned an additional one, the current times available are from 12:00-12:45. If you would like to use the playground during some of this time, please check with Kina and she’ll sign you up! Thank you!

Notes from the Safety and Sustainability Meeting:

• Thank you for continuing to recycle and purge materials from your classrooms early!
• Jenn and the Green Team are launching a pen and marker recycling program through Staples. Be on the lookout for a large collection box in each neighborhood where teachers and students can recycle old pens and markers 🙂 

When our staff was asked, What’s a hobby or activity you genuinely lose track of time doing? Here’s what came to mind…

• Skiing
• Golfing
• Crocheting
• Hiking, Making Photo Books
• Ugh, scrolling on my phone
• Cooking & baking.
• Water activities
• Puzzles
• Reading
• Knitting Blankets/Coloring.
• Reading
• Puzzles
• Scrapbooking
• Cooking
• Swimming
• Creating Pottery

Staff Room Tidy Team: 4th Grade Team

Next Week is an A week

Happenings Next Week at Lava Ridge:  

• Monday: Staff Meeting @ 2:30 (Media Center); Admin PLC @ 3:30 (Media Center)
• Tuesday: American Fidelity @ 1:00-4:00 (Staff Room)
• Wednesday:  Lava Care Team Meeting @ 8:00 (C5); Lion Pride Drawings @ Lunches; EA Meeting @ 1:00 (C5); SIW: Teacher Discretion Time
• Thursday:  1^st MTSS (C5) & Staff @ Lava Teams

We’re planning to announce the Lion Dash classroom fundraising totals on Monday, really! PTO is computing the average amount raised by student per class, to eliminate the impact class sizes can have on the amount of money classes are able to raise, and asked if we could wait until Monday to announce.

Heads up…Spring DIBELS is Thursday, May 21st. We’ll have a schedule to you by Tuesday of that week.

Got hidden treasures from your classroom or work area that you are ready to gift to others? Consider taking a picture of the treasures, emailing it to those you think might be interested, and inviting them to your classroom or area. Also, if you’re planning a year-end purge of paper items, consider beginning this early, as recycling container space tends to be more limited the last weeks of school.

Todd Wells from American Fidelity will be @ Lava Ridge ES Tuesday, May 12^th from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm and again on Monday, June 1^st from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. Employees who would like to review their current elections, consider making changes, or learn more about the benefits available through Section 125 can may schedule an appointment here: American Fidelity Appointments

Staff Room Tidy Team: 3rd Grade Team

Next Week is a B week

Happy Staff Appreciation Week!

Happenings Next Week at Lava Ridge:  

• Wednesday:  SIW: QPR Suicide Prevention Training* @ 1:45 (Media Center)
• Thursday: Walk and Roll to School Day;  2^nd MTSS (C5) & K-1^st, 3^rd-5^th PLC @ 2:30; Incoming Kindergarten Open House @ 6:00
• Friday: Dress Up Day: Twin Day/Twin with your Teacher; Time and Leave Sheets Due; Final Discretionary Spending Day

*Every three years, staff in Bend-La Pine are trained on the Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) suicide prevention protocols. In the event you are not able to attend or are not comfortable attending, please let me know.

Many of our 3rd-5th graders will begin state testing Monday. Thank you for keeping this on your radar as students work or complete activities in the neighborhood common areas.

The Waypoints Summative Assessment is available. Thank you for having your class complete this measure by May 22nd. Here is a recap of the logistics for 3rd – 5th .

When we have potentially unhealthy air quality we keep a close eye on the EPA Fire and Smoke Map, nose and eye on the current real-time conditions at Lava Ridge (there can be big differences between the readings we might see on an app, even in “real time”!) and make the safest decision we can with the given information. Below are the numerical guidelines used in Bend La Pine to make decisions when the conditions are questionable. In the event you have a student whose preference or need is to stay inside, we always have space available for them in the office.

• AQI levels 101 – 150 – administrators discretion to move activities inside – “OK” to be outside but consider alternative indoor activities for students with sensitivity to air pollution.
• AQI levels 151 – 200 – strongly consider moving students indoors – still administrators’ discretion 
• AQI levels 201 & above – move all activities indoors

Staff Room Tidy Team: 3rd Grade Team

Next Week is an A week

Happenings Next Week at Lava Ridge:  

• Tuesday:   Lion Dash Meeting @ 2:30 (C5)
• Wednesday:  Spring Pictures; Lava Care Team Meeting @ 8:00 (A3); SIW- Teacher Discretion Time
• Thursday:  Lion Dash @ 1:30 (loading @ 1:15); No PM Meetings
• Friday:  Lion Pride Drawings @ Lunches

Staff Room Tidy Team: 2nd Grade Team

Next Week is a B week