Week at a Glance

Dear Lava Ridge Staff,

I hope you are doing well and enjoying the summer. Like everything during the pandemic, this summer has been a bit different at the DeFrang house, but with lemons you might as well make lemonade, right? We maximized our time together with local trips to lakes and the river, completed house projects (finally got the fence re-stained!) and appreciated the opportunity to slow down and be together as a family.

As we head into this school year and all of the unknowns we will experience I feel so fortunate to be able to work alongside each of you to serve our students and families. In the weeks since returning to school I have been inspired by the positive vibe in the building and everyone’s spirit. For those who have returned to school you have likely noticed that Mike and Gordon have Lava Ridge looking like new and that Miriam and Amber have the office up and running ahead of schedule. Speaking of the office, don’t be surprised if you receive an email from Mrs. Hawkins-this is our recently married Lybe. Congratulations Mrs. Hawkins!

With a month to go until the first day of school and lots of new information to process I will be starting to send weekly correspondence to you via Week at a Glance. This year you can count on me to send you weekly notes via this blog and ask that you give the information contained a deep read with the goal of us all being well informed of what is happening at Lava Ridge and in Bend-La Pine. Please also count on some spelling and grammatical errors and an occasional try at some humor. 🙂

Staff First Week Back: Some of our inservice time (ie. meeting/training time) will be in person (socially distanced and masked) and some via Webex. Wednesday, Lybe and I will be attending the administrative welcome back and will be learning more about the schedule for September 1-September 11. I will have more details to share with you next week.

This year, our district is working on developing a common elementary school schedule and teaching standards of practice in order to support a more uniform roll-out of Comprehensive Distance Learning. Although we don’t have final materials to share at this point, they will be coming within the next two weeks. This work is being informed by community and staff feedback, as well as input from BEA, the school board, and teacher leadership teams. This schedule outlines teaching times as well as teaching expectations and teaching tools that allow our district to align with state guidelines/requirements.  Opportunities to learn more about these standards of practice and ask questions about them will be provided shortly after they are released.

Technology Updates…

The work flow and communication platforms we are using at different grade levels are below:

• K-2: SeeSaw (we have the premium version 🙂 )  John Craft is working on a website with support videos and documentation for teachers and parents.
• 3-5: Google Classroom.  

Bend-La Pine Schools is planning to provide an iPad for k-2 students and families that do not have a device in September. The district submitted an order recently for devices and are working on a distribution plan. We are hopeful they will arrive prior to September 14 and I will keep you posted on details as I receive them.

The name of our Webex website has changed. The new URL is: https://bls.webex.com/

On July 1, your G Suite (Google) address changed from [email protected] to your regular email address ([email protected]). If you are signed into Google services with your Bend-La Pine Schools account, you may have to sign-in again.

Got questions? Feel free to stop by my office or give me a call at 541-355-2402.

Take care,

Gary

This will be the final edition of Week at a Glance for the year. Please view this end of the school year message .

From Human Resources: Work Calendar- Please see the updated ’20-’21 work calendar. Note that there will NOT be an all district welcome back this year.

Open House: At this point how, when and if we host an Open House for families is up in the air. Staying consistent with the last several years we have penciled in Thursday, September 3rd from 3:00-5:00 for this event.

Reopening Guidelines- The state has published the first edition of their school reopening guidelines. Expect that these will be updated every couple of weeks throughout summer. A Bend-La Pine Schools planning team had their first meeting yesterday to discuss these guidelines.

Next week in the newsletter we will have information about the Bend-LaPine Schools, Summer Learning Choice Boards. Feel free to share this resource virtually with your class or mention during year-end conversations.

Without the annual Volunteer Luncheon some are recognizing volunteers through thank you notes and other ways. If you are sending a card, feel free to send through the U.S. mail pouch in the office to avoid the cost of postage.

The ICCL team has a staff social planned for Thursday, June 11th. Where: grassy area in front of Bend Parks and Rec. building across from the Old Mill                   
Time: 3:00 pm. until the sun goes down!  🙂

What to bring: a chair or blanket, your own picnic, drink and food

The final blog post for the year from Lindsley can be found here.

Below are links to the 5th grade slide show and the distance-5th grade showcase.

5th Grade Slideshow
Showcase

From the ICCL Team: We miss seeing all of you! The ICCL team has a social planned for next Thursday, June 4th.Where: grassy area in front of Bend Parks and Rec. building across from the Old Mill                     
Time: 3:00 pm-? (or party ’til the sun goes down)
What to bring: a chair or blanket, your own picnic, drink and food
We will aim for respecting social distancing.

The weekly update from Lindsley can be located here.

Here are the initial grade level teaching assignments for next year. You will see these are very similar to this year. A lot is taken into consideration when this roster is set: staffing needs, experience, teaching preferences questionnaires, opportunities to spread collective genious, retirements (none this year), new teaching positions (none this year)… With the potential high for enrollment changes over the summer as families consider schooling next year, we may need to adjust these assignments late August to accompany enrollments drops or gains. We are not planning for any classroom moves/changes.

We are looking forward to grade level meetings this week at regular times. Please let Lybe or I know if your team needs to adjust your meeting time for any reason.

We are finalizing the check-out sheet and will have this to you next week. The sheet and tasks have been significantly modified and we are working towards having it in Google Doc form so signatures from various people are not needed. 🙂

You may have recently heard that our school buildings/facilities will be open for summer programming starting June 15, as long as these groups/organizations follow ODE guidance, including social distancing. Boys and Girls Club and Park and Rec., in addition to our own athletic programs, will be the likely users of our facilities during this time.

Hot off the press, here is the weekly update from Lindsley Gehrig

Teachers: As you are connecting with families over the next couple of weeks your assistance is appreciated in helping us to confirm whether students are returning next school year to Lava Ridge. As you know we had originally planned to do this via a hard copy we would send home as this information really helps us with scheduling for next year. Thank you for completing this doc for your class by June 12th.

Here are English and Spanish versions of the letter families in 3rd-5th grade will receive regarding students keeping iPads over the summer. Families not wishing to keep iPads will be able to return them to Lava Ridge (schedule TBD) We will be sending this letter to 3rd-5th students early next week. Let me know if you have any questions.

The next scheduled grade level WebEx meetings will be the week of June 1st-5th. If your team would like to meet with Lybe and I next week (5.26-5.29) just let us know.

Leaving through an exterior door to the front/back parking lot or into the courtyard? Thank you for double checking that the door fully closes behind you. Some of them have been particularly stubborn closing lately and we are wondering if they are missing the regular use they receive when we are in school. 🙂

We have an open ICCL position for 2020-2022. Here is the job description and application requirements can be found on the staff portal by searching ICCL. If you are interested, please submit an essay to Candy Gelatt in the HR office. Each candidate will also ask a colleague to submit a Confidential Recommendation form directly to Candy in the HR office. The recommendation pdf on the portal is fillable.

Ready for some more fun? Katie Duval and Dyan Sultzer will be hosting Scattergories next Thursday, May 21st at 4:00 PM

Here is this week’s update from Lindsley

As part of our Monday morning email to families we will be messaging the information below about year-end conversations. While originally planned to be communicated from District Office, Gary Timms has asked that Elementary schools send this information and verbage to families.

End-Of-Year Conversations – During the week of June 8 through 12, elementary teachers’ focus will be having conversations with you about your child’s progress, sharing information about report cards, and answering your questions. Please look for more information in the weeks to come from your child’s teacher so that you can schedule a time to connect

Report Cards-You can now view the report card in Synergy. Below are some updates:

• While tight, the standard comment all elementary students will receive should fit.
• Teachers will not be able to insert marks (on their report card entry window in Synergy TeacherVue) on the items displaying an ‘NA’ or ‘N/A’.  These areas are grayed out on their views in Synergy.
• Teachers will not be able to insert or modify the Semester 2 Comment.
• The marks of ‘P’ and ‘I’ are now available in the drop down list that displays the available marks for the report cards.
• Report card directions and report card comments.

A couple of other notes/updates below:

• On Wednesday at 10:00 we will have a Classified Staff Webex to share updates and answer questions about the remainder of the school year.
• Dreambox and Lexia will be available to students throughout the summer
• We learned yesterday that students in 3rd-5th grade will keep their iPads over the summer. We should receive a letter soon from the Tech Department that we can use for communication with families about this.

We should have more information soon about year end items such as 3rd – 5th iPad check-ins, year-end checkout for staff, etc. We are also anticipating the final approval of our staffing plan for next year in the coming weeks and will share information about teaching assignments as soon as we are able to. I will update grade level teams with information as we receive it (or have guidance on it) or will communicate through Week at a Glance.

Here is a link to Lindsley’s weekly update.

Our next newsletter (going out Monday) will have a link to Classroom Input forms for next school year. On this doc families are invited to share information with us about their child to assist in class placement for next year and are reminded these are not teacher request forms.

As you read last week, May 27^th is the day that families will be able to come to Lava Ridge to pick-up bagged-up items from desks/lockers.  This will also be the last packet distribution day for K-2^nd. If your team would like to hand these out (packed up items & learning packets) or other year end-items in late May or early June on a different date, below are some steps to follow so we can best coordinate these times, make the event safe and comfortable for all, follow the Bend-La Pine Schools Social Distancing Guidelines and space-out the arrival of patrons to campus. If you have questions just reach out to Lybe or I.

1. Schedule a date and time with Gary & Lybe so that we can make sure that grade levels aren’t overlapping.

• If your grade level would like to distribute items as a team (ie all teachers at that grade-level) we will schedule you in a 3-4 hour window (ie 9:00-12:00 or 9:00-1:00) As you decide between the length of window you may wish to consider how long you would like to talk with each student/family.

• If you would prefer to schedule individual teacher times, we will schedule you in 1-2 hour windows.  As you decide between the length of window you may wish to consider how long you would like to talk with each student/family.

2. On the date of please:

• Provide a 6ft buffer from cars and families.  Sometimes people aren’t comfortable asking for space.
• Keep distant from your team mates during handout to respect their space.
• Encourage families to stay in their cars so that you can bring them their items OR spread bags out so that 1 person from each car can grab their items. 

Happy Staff Appreciation Week!

I feel so honored to get to work alongside each of you and hope you have a wonderful week. Your hard work and care make everyday a wonderful one for our students and each of you shapes the positive experience they have as Lava Ridge Lions. Thank you! On Thursday, morning in honor and celebration of you, Lybe and I will be hosting drive-through donuts at the Main Entrance of school. We hope you will consider driving by Lava Ridge and getting a donut between 9:00-11:00. We will of course wear gloves and put cleanliness as a top priority.

The May Marathon Challenge is on! Families received information about the marathon via a School Messenger email and many picked up information this week during pick-up days with their packets/recorders/classroom materials. Families will be able to pick up Activity Recording Sheets in the atrium and can also find details on the Lava Ridge PTO website

Looking for some fun? Join Lybe on Wednesday at 7:00 PM for the app phone game, Psych! Be sure to download the app in advance and be ready to outwit your friends and colleagues.

Lindsley Gehrig’s weekly update can be located here.

Beginning Monday morning, we will be sending a weekly email to Lava Ridge families with links to the following information:

• Weekly Announcements
• Recent copy of the newsletter (we are back to sending these out twice a month)
• Media Center News
• Other announcements (ie Updates on May Marathon, etc)

On May 27th families will be able to pick up the remainder of their child’s desk and locker belongings. On that day we will have a team ready to distribute both learning packets (K-2nd) and packed up student items. Our fabulous EA team is working through all of our classrooms packing up desks/lockers and should have items packed up in the next couple of weeks. If you or your grade-level would like to do your own distribution day/time where you are here and assist families with getting their packed up school items at the Main Entrance please let Lybe know and we can schedule a time for you and your grade level to do this.

The PTO is participating in a fundraiser with a local company selling yard signs to Kindergarten and 5th grade families. Here are ordering details.

Ready for some fun? We are going to play Bingo as a staff on Thursday at 3:00. This is optional and more details and Webex link will be sent out early next week.

This week we received a revised staffing plan for the 2020-21 school year. This revised plan reflects an anticipated drop in state revenue and Student Success Act (SSA) dollars. In very simple terms we will be staffed similarly in 2020-21 as this year. In a meeting this week, it was explained to principals that having no historical comparison for the impact the pandemic will have on state revenue, economic recovery, or student enrollments, made setting school staffing allocations challenging and that they may change. Here’s where we are at this point:

• We are planning for 22 classroom teachers + PE/Music + part-time Intervention
• ELL + 2 Special Education Teaching Positions + Speech
• In this revised plan we did not receive any SSA FTE. What this means is we will not hire a behavior/SEL position or additional position to help with class sizes. This was the most significant change from our original allocation. The district is planning to continue the behavior support program that is in place this year at Silver Rail/North Star
• We will submit a staffing plan to Gary Timms by May 1st
• In mid/later May staffing plans will be approved by the Superintendents Cabinet
• Once our plan is approved I will have details for you about teaching assignments for next year.
• The May 20th state revenue forecast and potential use of State Legislature approved-reserve fund dollars might impact the Bend La Pine Budget for 2020-21

Here is a letter from the PTO Board. Outlined is information on the freezing of all PTO funds for the remainder of the year due to the cancellation of the Read A Thon and hopes to have funds to start the 2020-21 school year.

Welcome to Charles Beavis who will be joining our Special Education Teaching team next school year. Charles currently teaches in the San Francisco Unified School District at Alvarado Elementary School and will be relocating to Bend this summer. Sara Towne, Lybe and I Webexed with him today and he is excited to join our staff.

Miriam will be sending out updated account balances to teachers this week. We have been asked about carryover to next year and similar to last year, you will be able to carryover Student Body dollars that are not spent this year and will receive a new allocation of discretionary dollars in September (ie discretionary dollars can not be carried over from year to year).

The weekly update from Lindsley is located here.

We are not planning to have a full staff meeting in May. With Webex, the larger the meeting group the higher the probability of bandwidth/connectivity issues so are purposefully not using this avenue for communication of important information. We will continue to share important information during weekly team meetings and through Week at a Glance.

What we are experiencing right now with Distance Learning and the pandemic is hard and can surface a variety of emotions in us all. In the event you have a concern or question or just need to talk, know you can also always contact Lybe or I directly or enter your questions in this doc Lava Ridge Questions. I am at school most days and can be reached in my office at 541.355.2402 (home: 541.317.8356) and Lybe at 541.312.3239. Email is also an option too.

The Running Club group has put together a fun at home fitness challenge for students (and staff!) called Marathon in May. For every 15 minutes of physical activity, kids earn 1 mile. For 13 miles, they earn a Running club hat and at 26 miles, earn a marathon T-shirt. Grade levels that have packet or learning materials to pick up this week can get information when they come to Lava Ridge and all families will receive via email the launch video and download tracker. Attached are the instructions and tracker for reference. Questions? Email the Running Club group [email protected]

On Wednesday from 9:00-3:00 we will be distributing packets for K-2nd and on Thursday from 9:00-12:00 families will be able to come to school and pick-up recorders (4th, 5th) and learning materials (3rd) .

Thank you for all of your hard work this week connecting with our students and families. You are making a difference in their lives!

Packet distribution on Wednesday went very smoothly. In some classes every family stopped by and got their next round of learning on Wednesday and by weeks end only a handful of packets remained in the lobby. That is amazing and reflects the time you are investing into staying connected with families and encouraging students to stay engaged with learning. Thank you!

MAC Survey day is Tuesday! If you have not completed your training please do this by 12:00 on Monday.

PTO is working on a Running Club May Marathon Challenge. More details coming soon including how we are planning to connect student running logs to Google Classroom 3rd-5th (recording sheet for k-2nd will be sent home with packets on April 29)

If you have not yet viewed the newsletter we sent out earlier in the week you can read it here.

Monday morning all families should receive a link to access a weekly announcement for next week. I am trying a platform called Loom and plan to announce birthdays, etc. Fingers crossed.

Here is a link to our weekly update from Lindsley