5th grade opinion writing celebration. Students had the opportunity to read each others essays and leave positive comments for their peers.
In 2019, Bend-La Pine School District, in partnership with Better Together, received a $1.5 million grant from the Central Oregon Health Council to develop and strengthen trauma-informed cultures across education systems in Central Oregon. As part of this initiative, you may remember that our students took a baseline survey at the end of last school year. This year our survey date is March 13. Here is a copy of the letter we will send to families in early March and details of the survey process.
Battle of the Books Championship. Congratulations to team “Read and Seek”. Regionals are March 14th at Elk Meadow
With Elementary Transfer Interviews scheduled for Tuesday March 3rd @ 3:15 at North Star Elementary our March Staff Meeting will be on March 10th.
Archery is back! A 5th grader right on target with their learning 🙂
Week at a Glance for February 24th-28th
Monday:
MAC Survey Day
PBIS Team Meeting at 2:45 in the Media Center
Tuesday:
2:45 PLC Meetings: Writing Focus
Wednesday:
2nd Grade Music Program Dress Rehearsal at 10:25 (Load at 10:18)
Lunch in Classrooms
School Improvement Wednesday: School Design Team Meetings
2nd Grade Music Program at 6:00
Thursday:
Lion Pride Lunch Drawings
1st Grade EBISS @ 2:45
Friday:
Bingo! Door open at 5:30 with Bingo beginning at 6:00
Constant Difference small group instruction in 4th gradeThe Sky View Band and Orchestra performing for 4th and 5th gradeBuddy activity for 2nd and 5th graders
Week at a Glance for February 17th-21st
Monday:
No School-President’s Day
Tuesday:
2:45 PLC Meetings: Math Focus
Wednesday:
1:30 School Tour
School Improvement Wednesday: Work in Classroom Day
Thursday:
7:30-8:30 Kindergarten Parent/Guardian Coffee and Connect Social hosted by PTO in the Media Center
February is Black History Month. Here are some resources from the Instructional Technology Department you may wish to use with your students.
Symphony Star, Jeff Briggs answering questions from 5th graders
As we discussed at the Staff Meeting on Tuesday, #110 is the code for schoolwide announcements via the intercom from any phone in our school.
Here is a copy of Bend-La Pine Schools’ Strategic Investment Plan. This outlines the plans to invest approximately $18 million in additional funding from the state of Oregon. The plan is focused on three strategic priorities:
supporting students’ health and safety,
reducing class size,
and increasing access to a well-rounded education.
January PAW Recipients
Thank you for your help getting the Sparrow Project for Peyton Bartz off to a great start! Here is an additional link to the video . As we shared on Tuesday, we will be messaging information again to families via the newsletter next week. Still not sure how to launch or discuss the project with your students? After the Staff Meeting, someone shared with me how they discussed the project with their students:
…After the assembly I talked with my class about the Sparrow Project, what community service is, and shared the examples of community service with them. We did a bit of brainstorming too of some service ideas that were not on the list. I then modeled to them how to fill out the voucher and asked who was interested in participating and handed out vouchers (I asked Amber for some extras because I was a couple short). Later that day I sent a short Bloomz message home to families about what we had discussed, the option (not a requirement) students had for participating, and details about how to complete the vouchers and that students should return them to the Main Office.
Week at a Glance for February 10th-14th
Monday:
No Lava Read
Tuesday:
1:30 Sky View Band and Orchestra performs for 5th grade
2:45 PLC Meetings: Reading Focus or AR Support Session in the Media Center
Wednesday:
1:15-2:00 ICCL Meeting
School Improvement Wednesday: PLC Time for Lava Read
Talk about visible learning! White boards are such a handy instructional tool. Students enjoy using them and the check for understanding opportunities are amazing. This 1st grader had been navigating the equation, X – 4 = 29
Heads Up…School Improvement Wednesday on February 12th will be PLC Time for grade levels to work on Lava Read 🙂
We are off to the Olympics! The Olympics will be our AR theme this year and soon our reading Olympians will be able to move their cards through the four stops on the journey. In other AR news, the passing/partial points rate on quizzes has been set at 80% (As we discussed in December the default in the program is 85%) We will discuss more AR details at the Staff Meeting on Tuesday.
A team of teachers from Pacific Crest Middle School visited some of our classrooms on Tuesday to observe small group instruction. This team has been considering small groups within their classrooms as a strategy to increase student learning.
Week at a Glance for February 3rd-7th
Monday:
easyCBM window closing Tuesday Tuesday
Tuesday:
2:45 Staff Meeting
Wednesday:
A star from the Central Oregon Symphony visits M & M classes
This week we sent the note below to families about the adjustments we have made to the student drop-off/pick-up area: “The next time you drop-off or pick-up your student you will see a safety improvement we have made to the driveway by the Main Entrance to Lava Ridge. With the goal of making this area safer and improving visibility for students using the cross-walks we have lined the driveway in this area with cones. We ask that no cars be parked, or stop for student drop-off or pick-up in this area. Students can be dropped off on the curb before the cones or after passing them. “
Modeling of Flash Debates in 2nd grade
Got that perfect new password in mind? Not yet? Keep thinking and make sure to update yours by February 19th. Thank you!
Week at a Glance for January 27th-31st
Monday:
Tuesday:
2:45 No PLC Meetings
Yummraiser at Panda Express
Wednesday:
4th Grade Music Program Dress Rehearsal @ 9:40 (load @ 9:30); K-2 recess will be from 9:15-9:30 and 3rd-5th immediately after the assembly.
Lunch in Classrooms
School Improvement Wednesday: PLC Time for teams to plan for the implementation of the math differentiation tools and template
We have two dress rehearsals and a drumming assembly on the horizon. Details below-
1/29: 4th grade dress rehearsal @ 9:40 (load at 9:30) Recesses after assembly. Lunch will be in classrooms on this date.
2/26: 2nd grade dress rehearsal @ 10:25 load at 10:18. Lunch will be in classrooms on this date.
3/18 Drum Assembly @ 8:05
The elementary ELL team met at Lava Ridge on Tuesday for a 1st grade lesson study.
Help! We are still short several charging cords (see picture below) They are $80 to replace. Thank you for returning any extras you may have to the Media Center soon.
Report Card Info- Here is first semester report card information and stretch band information . From Julie Walker, “You can figure out where students are performing in this range by looking at the lexile level on the back of their Wonders leveled readers or looking at the Wonder’s Teacher’s Edition in order to figure out the lexile level of every book students are accessing each week.” Nothing has changed on these documents.
Two reminder notes for Lava Read:
There will be no Lava Read Groups the week of January 27th (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, no school Friday); We will be DIBELing kindergarten and 1st grade.
There will also not be Lava Read on February 7th (DIBELS day)
During School Improvement Wednesday we will be meeting in School Design Teams. With our faculty collaborating to determine the strategies we use to meet our goals, we are counting on all certified staff to be part of this work. The plan is for every grade level to be represented on each team so you may wish discuss in advance within your grade level who has an interest in being on which team. Here are the goals set by the ICCL Team in the three different areas:
Academic Excellence: Raise student achievement for historically underserved students (Economically Disadvantaged, ELL) in the areas of reading and math.
Future Ready: Increase opportunities for students to practice and experience the 4’Cs (collaborate, create, think critically, and be creative)
Thriving Citizen: Every Lava Ridge student will attend school regularly (94% or more of the school days)
Our December PAW recipients
Need to look at a student’s CUM file? With the confidential nature of the contents we are required to keep them locked in a secure location. If you need a file, just let Amber know and she will help you out.
Welcome to Cassidy McBride! Cassidy will be student teaching with Sarah Kamasz for the remainder of the school year.
Sarah Shapiro who completed her intermediate experience with Sarah K. in December has transitioned to her primary level placement with Andrea ThompsonLots of evidence of learning as our 5th graders work on their research based arguments
Spirit Week (January 21-24) is right around the corner. Here is a repost of the details.
One of the things I enjoy in December are “Best of …” lists for the year . Came across one from the School Library Journal you may find of interest (on the right hand side of the page are more categories of book “Best of” lists)
Gingerbread house designers hard at work
A note from Skip about student use of iPads: Over recent weeks a few incidents have occurred at different schools and classrooms with students and technology. Thank you for making sure your students are following the digital device guidelines below:
Google searches – The internet is a great place but
just allowing students to surf unsupervised or without an academic
purpose can sometimes lead to unexpected results and consequences.
Instead, have them utilize tools such as Discovery Education or World
Book.
Image searches – Searching for images should be
monitored and managed closely. Just telling students to google an image
should not occur. The same applies to using other search engines such
as Bing. Instead, direct students to the image search page that was
created by our department.
Free Time and Rainy Day Recess – At no time should
students be given “iPad Free Time” Whether it be during rainy day
recess, snack time, waiting for the bus, before school, or when they
finish their work, students should not have free time on the iPad.
There should always be a reason for using devices so that screen time is
purposeful.
Apple Classroom – This tool allows teachers to
monitor and manage student use. All teachers should know how to use
this tool. If they don’t, schedule a coach to come over and conduct a
staff or small group training or refresher.
AUP and Digital Citizenship Lessons – After
returning from break it would be a great time to review the AUP and the
digital citizenship lessons. A mid-year refresher never hurts.
Parent Tools – there are settings and tools that
parents can use at home to manage devices. Here are two blog posts from
our coaches that outline steps parents can take.
It’s off! Representatives from the Bend Elks Lodge heading out with donated food and gifts. The Elks work with the Salvation Army each year to coordinate gifts and meals for families in need at the holidays.
We learned this week that over the next several months Stoner Electric will be on campus after school updating our intercom system. 🙂
Some people have asked where the sign-out sheet is located. You can always find it on the front counter by the student sign-in/out. As Scott Bojanowski shared with us last school year during our safety training, we are required to have a sign-out sheet so that in emergency situations all employees can be accounted for.The Grinch readers theater in 2nd grade
Week at a Glance for January 6th-10th
Monday:
Tuesday:
2:45 Staff Meeting in the Media Center
Wednesday:
easyCBM Winter Window Opens
School Improvement Wednesday: Work in Classroom Time
A note from the PBIS Team…The PBIS team is working on the staff request to organize PBIS character trait lessons, videos, and other documents in a Google Drive folder. There is now a PBIS folder in your shared drive located on the right side of your screen in google docs. Need directions? They can be found here. The team is continuing to work on updating the character trait lessons, getting rid of some “fluff” and adding items that can be used for SEL lessons. If you have other ideas or needs please send Lybe an email.
The last couple of years PTO has offered families the opportunity to purchase a Golden Ticket for a special drawing during Bingo night. PTO has advertised that dollars raised from the Golden Ticket go directly towards funding a specific item at Lava Ridge that benefits or can be used by all of our students. Last year proceeds went to purchase the TV in the Media Center and the year prior the wall ball walls on the playground. Ideas for the Golden Ticket this year have included gaga ball pits for the playgrounds and a large inscribed rock at the entrance to campus. Please let me know next week if you have any other ideas for what the proceeds from Golden Ticket sales might go towards.
Smiles in 5th grade after a successful sphero navigation
Spirit Week (January 21-24) is right around the corner. Again this year, PTO is taking the lead with organizing dress up days and activities students can do before school each day. They sent us a draft of ideas and activities. Please let me know next week if you have any feedback.
The Excellence and Equity Review was released this week. The goal of this report was to gain a deep understanding of students’ and families’ experiences in Bend La Pine Schools and to have feedback from a variety of stakeholders for use in allocating Student Success Act dollars. This report includes the feedback from the SIW activity we completed on October 9th along with input from community listening sessions, BEA surveys, and family surveys.
Bend-La Pine Schools and Deschutes County are teaming up to provide four free parent workshops (the same workshop, offered four times) starting in January. The Connect Workshop is a 2-hour training aimed at providing parents with skills to navigate conversations with their child(ren) around the topics of marijuana, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Here is the flyer . We will be sending this home to all families. Childcare is provided for two of these workshops and one will be facilitated in Spanish.
I came across an interesting article from Education Week with 10 ideas for supporting students impacted by trauma. It can be located here.
Weekly Lion Pride drawing in 1st grade.
Interested in donating to the United Way? Additional pamphlets of information can be found at the mailboxes or on the counter outside Miriam’s office.
Closeup of choices students have if their Lion Prides are drawn.
AR Update: Miriam negotiated us a pro-rated rate for AR (even got myON reading for free!) and PTO will be cutting us a check for payment soon. We should be up and running in early January. 🙂
Intervention math group in 1st gradeRound 3 of SIOP on Steroids. Team is working on SIOPing an upcoming lesson.
Over the next couple of PLC meeting cycles I will be stopping by to meet with your team to sign-off on SLGGs. This should only take 5-10 minutes. I’m planning to use these meetings as a Professional Mini-Observation.
Kindergarten Thanksgiving celebration
We have penciled in the December fire drill next week.
5th grade Lava Read group
Week at a Glance for December 9th-13th
**Giving Tree all week through Friday**
Monday:
PBIS Meeting @ 2:45
Tuesday:
2:45 PLC Meeting-Math Focus
Wednesday:
School Improvement Wednesday: Classroom Behavioral Supports with Amanda Schook
