Wednesday: Work in Classrooms 7:15-3:15; Conferences 3:15-7:15 (Dinner provided by PTO @ 2:00 in the Staff Room)
Thursday: Conferences 7:15-7:15 (Dinner: Pizza @ 2:00 in the Staff Room)
Friday: Enjoy!
Thank you for participating in the recent, Oreo Taste Off! Here are the final results:
1st place: Toffee Crunch
2nd place: Mint
3rd place: Original
This week we received our initial staffing numbers for next school year. We will be working through a draft plan in the coming weeks and will be asking for input into grade level teaching preferences soon.
Wednesday: EA Meeting @ 1:00 (A6); SIW- Teacher Work Time
Thursday: Lion Pride Drawing @ Lunches; Lava Teams @ 2:30
Congratulations to Alisha Clawson, Sarah Kamasz, Sara Blanchard and Megan Williams, all winners in the Inspiring Displays Contest in honor of Black History Month! These classrooms will be celebrating in the coming weeks with prizes from the Advocacy Team.
We need your help in selecting a Certified and Support Staff member from Lava Ridge for the Bend-La Pine Schools, Excellence in Education award. This honor is designed to recognize BLS employees who have distinguished themselves during the 2025-26 school year with their leadership, innovation, outstanding professional practice, and positive contributions at work and in the community. Thank you for submitting your nominations by March 17th.
Principals received this Conference Information for Teachers document. Please let me know if you have any questions and if Laci or I can assist in anyway.
A Summit High School student, Nia Sirstins, has reached out to see if any staff members are interested in participating in an AP research project on mandatory reporting. She’s looking for people who would complete a 15 minute interview (phone or in-person) on these questions. She can be reached at [email protected]
We’ve budgeted $100 per grade level for any expenses teams might incur as you begin to think through the Lava Ridge Showcase (April 24; 5:30-7:00) The format and focus for the Showcase is the same as last year. This is a drop-in event for families to spend about 10-15 minutes in our classrooms experiencing/learning more about what their child’s day is like. During this time students might share work samples with families, experience a math center, navigate a scavenger hunt in the classroom, it’s up to you!
Madison Mooney is beginning a leave for the remainder of the year on Monday. Congratulations in advance, Madison!
On Tuesday, Matthew is launching a 5th grade after school group, the Mallet Masters. This group will be meeting every Tuesday and Thursday for 30 minutes to further build their marimba skills. The Mallet Masters will be performing at Promotion in June.
Wednesday: Care Team Meeting @ 8:00 (Den); SRO Fun Activities @ Lunches; Regular ED EA Meeting @ 1:00 (A6); SIW-Teacher Discretionary Time
Thursday: MTSS: 1st (C5) PLC: K, 2nd-5th @ 2:30
Thank you for letting me know if you would be interested in being part of the Lion Dash planning team.
Notes for you about March Conferences
-On Tuesday, we’re planning to send home conference scheduling sheets to families. You’ll find these in your mailbox in the morning.
–Sibling Conference scheduling is March 3rd @ 2:30 (Media Center). Thank you for waiting to schedule conferences until after this event.
-Wednesday we included this conference information in the newsletter. Please let Laci or I know if we can provide any support with questions/issues that may arise.
-Below is a is a mutually developed message from Bend-La Pine and BEA that principals have been asked to share about conferences:
If a family requests a virtual or phone format for their conference, please honor this request. Here are some details for you and the why behind it:
Our expectation is that teachers reasonably accommodate individual requests for need-based circumstances. However, if the request is due to vacation, leisure travel, or related discretionary activities that the family chose to take during conferences, you are not required to honor a modified format request. If you feel a family is making an unreasonable request or the request unfairly burdens your time, contact your admin team for support.
A family might request a modified format due to illness, lack of transportation, lack of safety being in public spaces right now, or other personal reasons. Families are not required to disclose personal details of their circumstances in order to access a phone or virtual option.
Tuesday: Dress Up Day: Sports or Book Character; Candid Photo Day
Wednesday: Dress Up Day: Crazy Hair or Silly Hat Day; Care Team Meeting @ 8:00 (Den); Safety Assembly @ 12:00 (Loading @ 11:57); SIW-Core Effectiveness/SLGG Meetings or Time to Meet with EAs/Plan Reading @ 1:45 (Media Center)
Thursday: Dress Up Day: Lava Ridge Spirit or Class Color; Responsibility Refreshment @ 8:30 (B1); Lion Pride Drawings @ Lunches; Bingo @ 5:30 (doors @ 5:00)
Friday: Dress Up Day: PJ or Cozy Wear; Leave and Time Sheets Due
It’s National School Counselor Week! Thank you, Sally for everything you do for Lava Ridge!
Below is the schedule for School Improvement Wednesday for February 4th and 11th. You’ll see that each grade level will have time to meet with the educational assistant that provides support during Extension of Core followed by time to meet as a grade level to discuss reading data and plan for Extension of Core & EL. Each grade also has a SIW for reading Core Effectiveness/Mid Year SLGG check-ins. Please connect with an ICCL Leader, Laci or me if you have any questions.
On Tuesday we’ll have a photographer on-site taking candid pictures for the yearbook.
Field trip approaching? Need a First Aid class for the new 1 certified staff:60 student ratio? You can sign up here (First Aid/CPR Course) and once completed attend an in-person check-off with Oliver Tatom to receive your card.
Friday: Progress Report Preparation Day; Office Hours 7:15-3:15; Operation Rec in gym until 5:30
If you weren’t able to pick-up your prize yesterday for taking the YouthTruth survey, please see Laci. 🙂
We will be announcing Character Trait Awards for Responsibility on the announcements beginning Tuesday.
We are planning to have a lockdown drill next week. Here are the Standard Response Protocol (SRP)lockdown lesson slides to review with your class on Monday or during Tuesday morning meetings. We are planning to have our SRO, Drew Fanaika and potentially other SROs join us for the drill.
If you would like Jessica and Paige to send in your Progress Report comments for translation, please email them by Wednesday, January 21st. Thank you! The turnaround time for translations are about a week. Thank you! 😊
Congratulations toMatthew Crawmer who was promoted by the Oregon Army National Guard to the status of Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) last weekend! Way to go Matthew!
Welcome to Lindsay Rozier! Lindsay is joining our team as a part-time EA.
Heads Up! Spirit Week is February 2-6. We’re anticipating a flyer soon.
A note from Nutrition Services: Around the World Wednesdays: On Wednesdays beginning February 6, students will have the opportunity to explore a new country through a special lunch each week. Nutrition services has created a passport for each student and they will receive these in early February. Students will hold onto their passport through the six weeks of culinary travel and each Wednesday if a student gets the new highlighted special for lunch, they will receive a sticker to place in their passports. The sticker represents their passport getting stamped for “traveling with their taste buds” to the highlighted country that day.
Wednesday: EA Meeting @ 1:00 (A3); SIW- Teacher Directed Time
Thursday: DIBELS Day (A3); Lion Pride Drawings @ Lunches; PTO Meeting-1 team member per grade K-3rd to attend. Thank you! @ 2:30 (Media Center); 4th MTSS @ 2:30 (C5)
Friday: Fun Friend Friday begins @ Lunches
With spring weather returning we will likely have a fire drill this week.
We will be announcing Character Trait Awards for Responsibility on the announcements beginning Tuesday.
A reminder that our fabulous EAs will be DIBELing students this week Wednesday-Friday so will not be in classrooms during Extension of Core.
The information below in italics is being shared with families early next week via the newsletter. As always, please let Laci or I know if we can support you in anyway with these guidelines.
At all Bend-La Pine Schools personal electronic devices (cell phones, smart watches, and earbuds) are to be silent and away during school hours. We appreciate your help in supporting our students in being engaged in their learning without the distractions of personal electronic devices.
We appreciate families not trying to communicate with their child via watches or phones during the school day and instead calling us at 541-355-2400 if you need to leave a message for your child. We also ask students to not call or text home if they are not feeling well, and instead let their teacher know so we can have our school nurse help them.
From the Central Oregon STEM HUB: The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) is seeking your input via a survey geared to provide a deeper understanding of elementary students’ computer science learning in Oregon. This survey is designed to take about 15 minutes to complete, and participants will receive a free coding workshop and be entered to win a $30 Amazon gift card. The survey can be accessed at :http://bit.ly/3GVvci7
