October 4

Learning Lab math activity with two digit addition. Lots of opportunities for sense making and discourse!

The Children’s Forest of Central Oregon has the goal of providing all children and youth in Central Oregon first hand connections with nature by providing meaningful, inspirational, and interdisciplinary education programs. More information about lessons, resources, and field trip grants can be found here.

Number songs and smiles in Kindergarten

A PE lesson summary? Not so fast! Mystery Bucket voting. Staff receiving votes included Ms. Roth, Mrs. Dunn, Ms. Crumpton… 🙂

Installation of the PTO purchased water bottle fill stations. Thank you PTO!

Week at a Glance for October 7th – October 11th

Fire Busters Week!

Monday:

Tuesday:

  • Flu Clinic in the Media Center @ 10:30-12:00 (don’t forget your insurance card!)
  • PLC Writing Focus: Focus Questions

Wednesday:

  • School Improvement Wednesday: 2:00 Excellence in Equity Listening Session

Thursday:

  • Picture Day (Lunch in classrooms day)
  • 4th Grade EBISS @ 2:45 in the Media Center

Friday:

  • Lion Dash @ 1:15-2:15

Duty Schedule for October 7-18

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September 27

It is SLGG time! 🙂 The good news is that nothing has changed…still two goals that are based on 100% of students demonstrating growth. The standard form (DIBELS, easy CBM, Lucy) and other form for creating your own goals have not changed. We will put some copies of the standard form by the mailboxes. Thank you for returning to my mailbox by November 1.

Can’t access a Google Doc that has been shared with you? Make sure you are signed in with your gapps account. Often the reason a person can not open a file that has been shared with them is because they are signed in with their personal gmail account. Thank you!

Mystery Bucket Assembly Memories 🙂

9.24.19 ICCL meeting notes

Jacking Wilson the Sustainability Coordinator shared this cleaning supplies message

Lion Dash Kick Off Assembly

Your assistance having band-aids available for minor scrapes and limiting the number of students sent to the health room for ice-packs is so helpful and is really helping Amber and Miriam to be better able to meet the needs of students in the health room and managing visitors/volunteers and our phone system. Thank you! These moves, in addition to having students use classroom phones to make phone calls home, are making a huge difference.

Week at a Glance for September 30th – October 4th

Monday:

Tuesday:

  • Staff Meeting @ 2:45 – EBISS, State Assessment Results…and yes, another round of 2:45 trivia!

Wednesday:

  • International Walk and Roll to School Day. Commute Options will have prizes for walkers/riders/rollers and bus riders (they had to walk to the bus stop, right?) at both entrances in the morning.
  • School Improvement Wednesday: Time for grade levels to work on Lava Read. We are planning that all walk-to-read groups are up and running by October 7th

Thursday:

Friday:

  • PTO Meeting at 2:45

Duty Schedule for September 30-October 11:

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September 20

Thank you for your input into our Conference schedule for the year. Here are the results.

We know how helpful pictures and realia are for our students working to acquire English as they are making sense of text, right? Check out the characters and setting on this chart. The pictures were selected purposefully and sent to Print Shop in advance to help students in understanding this story. This person shared with me that one of their goals this year is to plan reading lessons ahead so they have pictures or other visuals for lessons so their students can better understand text.

In August I shared information with you about a couple of grant opportunities. A repost of this information is below:

The Education Foundation has a new grant program this year! Deadline is October 18th. Here‘s the scoop.

Here is another grant opportunity from Selco Credit Union. Grants are awarded for up to $1000 for classroom projects through September 30th

Amanda Schook is the Behavior Coach assigned to Lava Ridge this year. Amanda works closely with Hailey (the Skills Trainer you may have already seen on site) to assist our students learning behavioral skills

The 2019 Inventerprise contest is open. Inventerprise is an annual science contest sponsored by Lonza (formerly Bend Research, Inc) with help from Bend-La Pine School District and Central Oregon Community College.  The contest is open to all K-12 students in Central Oregon.   Please subscribe to this email list if you are interested in participating or learning more.

Week at a Glance for September 23rd-27th

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

  • Lion Dash Assembly @ 10:20
  • Lion Pride Monthly Drawing at Lunches
  • School Improvement Wednesday 2:00-3:30: ELL Information, PE Information, Partnering Ideas

Thursday:

  • DIBELS Day

Friday:

  • Bus Evacuation Drills @ 9:15 (Schedule coming Monday)

**Lockdown drill scheduled for Monday, September 30

The duty schedule for the next two weeks is below. This is for September 23-October 4.

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September 13

I really enjoy reading the classroom newsletters you send home to our families! This is one of the ways I try to stay up to speed with what is happening in our classrooms. If you are emailing one home and could include me in your list that would be great! Thank you!

This year one of the Skills Trainers you may see on campus is Haley Alden

Early this week we sent out information to 3rd-5th grade teachers with some updates/changes in the world of digital learning this year. If you are interested this info can located here. One change that could impact all of our students is that Google Images is no longer accessible to students in grades K-8. An alternative site for image searches is: http://bit.ly/BLSimage_search

Starting to build it up!

Certified Staff: What should our schedule be for Conferences this year? These dates are October 23-25 and April 8-10. Please complete the one question Conference Survey to give your input into this decision. The survey will close on Thursday at 12:00.

The PTO is at it again! In the coming weeks, thanks to PTO, we will be upgrading two of our drinking fountains to water filling stations. One will be outside the music room and the other at the Main Entrance in the North hallway that leads to Discovery Falls.

Notes from the September 11th ICCL Meeting can be found here.

Here is the list of safety items we discussed at the Staff Meeting

Week at a Glance for September 16th-20th

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

  • School Improvement Wednesday 2:00-3:30: Work in Classrooms

Thursday:

  • Potential Fire Drill

Friday:

  • Potential day for Fire Drill
  • Movie Night! Doors at 6:15 with the Secret Life of Pets II around dark.
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September 6

What a wonderful start to the school year for our Lions! The first week is always extra busy and this one went very smoothly. Thank you for all of your efforts that made this happen.

Welcome to Lorri Harnden and Mackenzie Eriksen two new members of our resource educational assistant team.
The Walking School Bus is back! Mornings and afternoons April Frey is walking with our students making sure they get home safely.

Wednesday is our first School Improvement Wednesday. The ICCL Team discussed the scheduling of this time and have landed with 2:00-3:30. Below are some ideas behind the selection of this time.

  • It aligns with District SIW time
  • Provides an hour of time for teachers to work in classrooms right after school 🙂
  • Student dismissal issues/bus delays should not impact

This year, the SIWs below will be available for teachers to work in classrooms or if you choose, to meet with other colleagues. Each elementary school has set aside the same dates to provide the potential for cross-school collaboration. These dates are: September 18, October 23, November 20, December 18, January 8, February 19, March 18, April 8, May 20.

PTO Welcome Breakfast for kindergarten families

Welcome Hillary George! Hillary will be serving as a 3.75 hour educational assistant this year. Hillary will be leading Lava Read groups and also supervising students at recess.
Welcome to Tami Catalano
Sign Language Interpreter

Week at a Glance for September 9th-13th

Monday:

  • 7:30 Arrival choice begins (recess or breakfast) + Visitor/Volunteer stickers in the morning too! (Thank you for escorting anyone without a sticker to the office)
  • easyCBM Window Opens for 1st-5th grade
  • 3:00 PBIS Meeting in the Media Center

Tuesday:

  • Staff Meeting @ 2:45-3:30 in the Media Center

Wednesday:

  • 1:00 Dismissal (If you can remind families that would be wonderful!)
  • School Improvement Wednesday 2:00-3:30

Thursday:

Friday:

  • Assembly at 8:05 (Kick-off for Safety theme) Staff are invited to wear safety gear for the assembly! 🙂
  • Free lunch for families through Nutrition Services

Duty Schedule for September 9-20:

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August 30

Thank you for all of your hard work this week! It was great to have our staff back together and to feel that synergy of us all working together to make it a great start to the school year!

What a fun week! Here is the Staff Field Trip Video (You may have to first download the video and then VLC should open as the option to play the video.)

A reminder that the first day of school we will follow a Tuesday Specials Schedule

First assembly will be on Friday, September 13th time TBD soon!

The Lava Ridge Student and Family Handbook will be sent to families next week.

Welcome to Terra Ha our FAN Advocate. Terra’s office is located in Discovery Falls.

Week at a Glance for September 2-6

Monday:

  • Holiday-Enjoy!

Tuesday:

  • Potential Day to Work in Classrooms (ie day #188)
  • Work day for Special Education EA’s

Wednesday:

  • First Day of School!
  • Half of our Kindergarteners attend
  • 8:05 PTO Event for Kindergarten parents in the Media Center
  • Free lunch for Staff from Nutrition Services
  • 2:30 Dismissal

Thursday:

  • Half of our Kindergarteners attend
  • 8:05 PTO Event for Kindergarten parents in the Media Center

Friday:

  • All Kindergarteners attend

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August 23rd

I am looking forward to seeing everyone this week! For Tuesday, we will be up moving a lot so I would suggest comfortable shoes and clothing. Also, while we have been advertising since June that Tuesday and Wednesday would be inservice days it is now looking like we should have about 2 hours of work in classroom time on Wednesday. 🙂

With our new school hours we are moving most meetings to after school. Below is our plan for meetings. Site Council, ICCL, and some others are still TBD.

  • Tuesday 2:45-3:30: Either Staff Meetings (first Tuesday) or PLC Meetings (all others)
  • School Improvement Wednesday meeting time TBD; potentially from 2:00-3:30 (I learned on Friday that is the time frame for the 4 district SIWs this year)
  • Thursdays 2:45-3:30 EBISS Meetings

Nicole Stefano has taken a new job and will not be serving as our FAN Advocate. Tarra Ha was recently hired as our new advocate and will begin in the position this week.

We learned last week that Kim Worchester will be serving this year at North Star and Sky View and will not be at Lava supporting our students this year.

Day #1 of the Innovative Teaching Conference off to a great start! Mary Ehrenworth got us excited about writing to start the day.

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August Welcome Back!

Greetings! I hope your summer has been wonderful. The DeFrang’s had a fun one. We stayed close to home for the most part with visits to Sunriver, some camping, and time at the coast. It was nice to have extra time at home for gardening, walking the dog, Netflixing, trying to catch up on house projects, etc. Lots of family time. Priceless.

This year I will again send out notes to you via this blog once a week. It will contain reminders about the upcoming week and other information for you. Thank you for making this a must read before the start of the next week so you are up to speed on goings on at Lava Ridge and are in the know with all of the information posted. Again this year, you will be able to toggle back in time for attached documents, website addresses, and information from earlier in the year.

Bike ride and shaved ice in Sunriver with the boys

It has been a busy summer on campus. Below are some pictures of some of the work that was happened at Lava Ridge.

New shelving and learning alcove in the Media Center
Yahoo! New carpet in the music room.
Fresh paving on the South Playground and in the parking lot by the main entrance. The Maintenance Department will pave the North Playground during a later summer.

In early August we send welcome letters to families via U.S Mail. Here are copies of the letters: 1st-5th letter and kindergarten

The Education Foundation has a new grant program this year! Deadline is October 18th. Here‘s the scoop.

Here is another grant opportunity from Selco Credit Union. Grants are awarded for up to $1000 for classroom projects through September 30th

Here is a repost of information from Lora Nordquist about the certified work days in late August (no changes from the spring)

Through, August 26th the building alarm will be set at 4:00 everyday. If you need to access the building after 4:00 be ready to disarm the building alarm after you enter through the Main Entrance. Be sure to also write your name on the whiteboard and reset the alarm after you leave. Your attention to detail is appreciated. Thank you! Each false alarm costs our school $50+ dollars and potential sanctions from the Fire Department.

Work Hour Adjustments for 2019-20: A reminder that Certified Staff work hours this year are 7:30-3:30. The Main Office hours will be 7:30-3:30. Miriam and Amber are planning to work from 7:00-3:30. Certified substitute teacher hours are 7:15-3:15.

Here are some classroom set-up ideas from Saif I was asked to share with you.

Details below for August 26th-September 4th

Monday, August 26th

  • New Teacher Day at Sky View
  • PBIS Meeting at 10:00
  • Potential Day to Work in Classrooms (ie day #188)

Tuesday, August 27th

Welcome back in Media Center at 7:30. We are planning for a fun kick-off to the year! Some of our activities this morning will get us up and moving outside before we eat lunch together and head to Bend High School for the Bend-La Pine Schools celebration.

Wednesday, August 28th

Inservice and Meeting Day with lunch provided 🙂

Thursday, August 29th

  • Work in Classroom Day
  • Work day for non-special education EAs
  • Open House 3:00-5:00

Friday, August 30th

Potential Day to Work in Classrooms (ie day #188)

Tuesday, September 3rd

  • Potential Day to Work in Classrooms (ie day #188)
  • Work day for Special Education EA’s

Wednesday, September 4th

First Day of School!

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June 14

Thank you for a wonderful school year! I feel fortunate to have been able to work alongside you this year. I hope you have a fun and restful summer!

Thank you for taking the time to provide input into the decision of when we have recesses and lunches next year. The consensus feedback on the draft from staff was positive. Lunch and recess times for 2019-20 can be located here.

Go Golden Ticket Recipients!

Fifth grade promotion was a very special event. Picture below. This was the first year in sometime that the 5th grade teachers did not present the Step Up Award. Lisa, Paul and Michele decided this spring to not include the award due to the difficulty in narrowing selection in such a wonderful class to the list of nominees and then the very difficult task of selecting winners. The team also felt that as a school we are doing a really great job of recognizing students with PAW, Golden Tickets, and the other recognition systems that are part of Lava Ridge.

Thank you for your input into the decision to have Open House on Thursday, August 29 from 3:00-5:00



We finished up ICCL interviews on Friday. Below is our team for next year.

Katie Duval, Carole Nase, Amanda Gylling, Dyan Sultzer


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June 7


Got items you no longer want? Interested in looking through other’s treasures? Feel free to leave items or claim goodies from this table in Friendship Mountain

Below are some year end technology notes from Brad:

  • If you choose to leave your laptop and/or iPad here turn it into the Media Center with power cord, charging cables and power bricks LABELED with your name so they can be updated. If you are signed into iCloud on an iPad you need to sign out! (Settings > iCloud > Sign out) For laptops, don’t just shut the lid – shut them completely down.
  • Staff with laptops need to walk out the door for summer with Mojave installed on your Mac. Find it in Self Service.
  • All classroom laptops (student use) and classroom iPads (student use) need to be brought to the Media Center to be updated over summer. If you want the same stuff back please label everything with your name.
  • If you are leaving or moving classrooms: please leave projector remotes, classroom cords and cables and the document cameras in your room. These items may be unique to each room so it’s important they stay where they are. If you have questions about this please let Brad know.

Here is information from Lora Nordquist about the certified work days in late August.

Teachers: We will have information to you on Monday about SLGG year end meetings.

When do you feel we should have Open House? The last two years we have had Open House in late August prior to Labor Day and before that we used to host the event mid-September in the evening. We would appreciate your feedback via a short survey. Thank you for completing by Thursday, June 13.

Week at a Glance for June 10th-June 14th

Monday:

  • 5th Grade Departs for Outdoor School
  • 3rd – 4th Recitals 9:00-11:00
  • PAW Celebration at 3:00

Tuesday:

  • 3rd – 4th Recitals 9:00-10:00
  • Check Out Document Available

Wednesday:

  • Fire Drill likely
  • Friday Specials Schedule
  • 3:30 Dismissal (If you can remind families that would be wonderful!)

Extended Recesses :

  • K-2nd  10:15-10:45 (PM recess times remain the same)
  • 4th      2:00-2:30
  • 3rd, 5th  2:30-3:00  
  • 5th Returns from Outdoor School

Thursday:

  • 9:05 Promotion
  • Golden Ticket Celebration at Lunches

Extended Recesses:

  • K-2nd  10:15-10:45 (PM recess times remain the same)
  • 4th      2:00-2:30
  • 3rd, 5th  2:30-3:00  

Friday:

  • Assembly at 9:05

Extended Recesses:

  • K-2nd  10:15-10:45 (PM recess times remain the same)
  • 2:00 Dismissal

Our .3 Interventionist position closes next week. At this point we are planning this position will be a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, morning position teaching Lava Read groups.

Duty Schedule June 10-June 14

Below is the original supervision schedule; I understand in some cases people are covering duty for those listed.

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