Greetings!
I hope you are having a restful and rejuvenating summer, filled with moments of relaxation and joy. As we prepare to embark on this new academic year together, I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude and share my optimism for the journey ahead.
The DeFrang’s are having a great summer. We’ve stayed close to home outside of a trip to the Coast and have been able to spend lots of time together as a family. Matthew (17) has been lifeguarding at Juniper Swim and Fitness, Jon (14) getting ready for soccer with pre-season training at Caldera High School and Kim continues to teach a variety of fitness classes for Bend Parks and Rec. I’ve been able to get in some regular swims, work in the garden, and watched way too much of the Olympics.
Each August brings the energy and anticipation of a new school year and I’m excited for what I believe will be one of the best years ever at Lava Ridge. Regardless of how long we have worked together, it is important that you understand what you can expect from me as principal. What follows is a lengthy a description of who I am as a leader and some of the beliefs that shape my leadership.
I am relentlessly positive and try to see the opportunity in the challenges that are inherent during a school year. I believe in the importance of relationships and that people have the best intentions. I feel honored to serve in the role of principal and to work alongside each of you.
Trust is crucial in relationships. During my 20 years as a principal, I have experienced actions that build trust and other actions that wreck it. As examples, making a mistake, forgetting duty, and disagreeing with me or a decision that was made, are examples of things that will not damage trust or our relationship. On the other hand, gossiping, talking behind other people’s backs, and not respecting colleagues, are not ok with me as they do not support a positive culture.
I operate with the golden rule. I’m going to do my best to treat you how you like to be treated and my hope is that you will reciprocate. If you have questions, concerns, or ideas, please come and talk with me. I will always listen. I am a person who believes in the value of face-to-face communication and invite you to come and discuss issues or concerns with me at any time. I may not change anything, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t listen or that you don’t have my support. It just means I felt there was a more compelling reason to do it differently. 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.
I ask for your support and grace. All of us have very difficult jobs when things are going well. I trust you to do your job and will not micromanage. Please do the same with me and the responsibilities that I have as principal. Working together and trusting each other is imperative.
I have high professional expectations for myself, for you, and Lava Ridge. I believe that it is our job and responsibility to give our students our best each day and that every day is an opportunity to make a difference. We need to have strong relationships with our students and their families, use the best instructional strategies and district adopted curriculum, and be open to learning new ideas that can help us to grow, whatever our role is at Lava Ridge. We are all here to serve our students and families and have each made the choice to do this in the Bend-La Pine Schools at Lava Ridge.
There are days when each of us (me included) would rather be somewhere else. I get it. On these days, I fake it. I made the choice to be here and serve in this position and owe it to our students to be the best principal I can be every day (even when I might rather be skiing). I also believe we must treat every child with dignity and professionalism in every situation we encounter. This can be hard at times, especially when a student is in a dysregulated state and acting out. Again, I rely on my acting skills, pretend to be calm, and support the child.
Having a healthy work/life balance is important to me. Away from school my job is being a dad, a husband, and doing things like swimming and skiing that bring me joy. You will most likely not see my car in the parking lot on the weekends or receive emails from me at 9:00 at night. When I’m here, I work hard, and try to be as efficient as possible with my time. My goal when I leave Lava is to spend as much time with my family as I can, navigate Winco with ease, and have fun. Time is precious and I encourage each of you to also have a healthy work/life balance.
Keeping you well-informed and providing opportunities for you to share feedback is important to me. This year, Week at a Glance, will again be an important part of our communication system at Lava Ridge. I will send out notes to you weekly, typically on Fridays, and appreciate you making this a must read before the start of the next week. I want you to be well-informed of goings-on at Lava, have the information you need to do your job, and for us to limit the need for in-person staff meetings to once a month. Thanks for reading. I will also continue to send out periodic, Quick Check-ins, to see how you are doing. Your well-being is important to me, and this provides another way to share feedback with me in addition to our in-person conversations.
I’m excited to work alongside you this year and will do everything within my control to make it a great year for our students, families, and our staff.
Here are some nuts/bolts for the start of the year:
Elementary start and end times for 2024-25 (same as last year): Regular Schedule: 7:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.; School Improvement Wednesday 7:45-12:45 p.m. (beginning September 11th)
Certified Work Hours for 2024-25: 7:15-3:15 p.m.
Details below for August 26th-September 4th:
Monday, August 26th
- New Teacher Day at Pacific Crest
- Option for work day for certified staff
Tuesday, August 27th
- Inservice day at Lava beginning at 7:30 a.m.
- First day for Educational Assistants
- Breakfast and lunch provided
Wednesday, August 28th
- District Professional Learning Day for Certified Staff (staff who attended the EL Training during the summer are excused)
- Lunch on your own
- Non-contract day for Educational Assistants
Thursday, August 29th
- Certified work day; 10:00-6:00 p.m.
- Work in Classroom
- Educational Assistant Training @ Ed Center 7:45-11:45
- Lunch provided by PTO
- Open House 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Friday, August 30th
- Inservice 7:30-12:00 followed by Work in Classroom
- Educational Assistant Training @ Ed Center 7:45-11:45
- Lunch on your own
- EA Meeting @ Media Center, 1:00
Tuesday, September 3rd
- Option for flexible workday for certified staff
Wednesday, September 4th
- First Day of School! Half of our kindergarteners will attend on the 4th and the other half on September 5th. All kindergarteners attend school on Friday, September 6th.