Friday: Leave & Time Sheets Deadline; Fire Department Re-Inspection @ 10:00
Happy Halloween from the greatest staff in the world!
Congratulations to Jenn Hamilton, Matthew Crawmer, and Anissa Wiseman who were awarded grants from the Education Foundation!
It’s time for the annual Mail Call for Honor Flight of Central Oregon. Each year it’s the goal that each of the Veterans in this group receives a package full of cards and letters to open on their flight back home from Washington DC. As you consider this activity keep in mind that letters do not need to be sent to Megan Silvey before Veteran’s Day, anytime this month is great! Here are more details.
From Julie Richards: Interested in learning more about writing and/or supports to meet all learners in your EL (language arts) block? Check out these options for full-day trainings and sign up here by October 31st.
Monday: The Book Fair begins! Staff Book Fair Preview @ 2:15-3:00; ICCL Meeting @ 2:30 in C5
Tuesday: Halloween Dress Up Day! Harvest Parties
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 your extra efforts this week supporting the Read-A-thon! You’ll see on the Read-a-Thon Weeks at a Glance we have two more days of announcements for $5 Book Fair gift cards and tracking of schoolwide reading minutes via the Reading Minutes Tracker . Families can donate to the Read-A-Thon via FundHub (or a check made out to the PTO) through October 31st.
Thank you PBIS/Tier I Team for this new student recognition event! Each Character Trait Award recipient received an invite to attend the Belonging Breakfast on December 4th.
What are the most useful items purchased this year by the staff at Lava Ridge?
New device to listen to music while swimming
A mop vacuum, 2 jobs in one, whoo!
Rowing Machine
My Cannondale Cargo e-bike!
Digital wall clock for the classroom
New tv
Baskets for organizing supplies
Electric car
Tupperware lid holder/sorter
OBOB books
Hydration vest for running/hiking
My Blackstone grill so I can cook outside
Arts & Crafts Supplies-it is my “ME” unwinding time
Pencil Sharpener
My new dyson submarine cordless vacuum. Its amazing and picks up so much dust and dog hair!
Here are digital copies of the Read-a-Thon Overview and Read-a-Thon Weeks at a Glance. From 10/21-10/28, we will be tracking the number of minutes we read each day as a school. On those days, please enter the number of minutes the students in your class spent reading on the Reading Minutes Tracker . Thank you! We’ll announce school totals on the announcements. Thank you!
We will be announcing Character Trait Awards for Belonging on the announcements beginning Tuesday. Here is the doc for student name entry.
On Thursday a truck from the Bend Fire Department will be on site for our first graders to explore @ 9:30.
With Harvest Parties and Halloween Dress-up Day (10/28) right around the corner, here is a Respect and Halloween resource from the Equity Department to consider sharing with your students. In the October 6th newsletter we let families know that, “If your Lion chooses to wear a costume, please remember that for school celebrations, costumes with weapons, blood, overly scary masks or that present negative stereotypes of any person, gender, or ethnicity are not allowed.”
Thank you for completing any remaining Safe Schools trainings by October 31st.
From Kinsey Martin: As election season approaches, this is a good time to revisit our expectations around political topics in our school and workplace. While this November may not bring the same intensity as a presidential election year, maintaining neutrality in our professional capacity remains essential.
Here is our policy around staff engaging in political activities. This is a great tool outlining boundaries and appropriate use of district equipment, time, and resources in relation to election topics. District leadership asks that each employee read the information in those links carefully. Let me know if you have any questions or need clarification.
In addition, we know students may initiate conversations about politics, candidates, or ballot measures. To help navigate these moments: Here are 10 steps for teachers to prepare, navigate, and respond to sensitive discourse. Our district Advocacy Coaches are also available to support you in facilitating respectful and balanced discussions.
Friday: Thank you for supporting Fire Busters! Please return any worksheets you may have to the office by this date.
On Monday, I’ll be out of the building with our team attending the Tier I pd and planning session.
Thursday is International Shake Out Day and we’re planning to join the millions of other people throughout the world practicing earthquake preparedness. Here are the SRP Earthquake Slides to review with your class. Thank you!
This year each elementary admin team is part of a PLC. Laci and I are teamed with North Star, Ponderosa, Silver Rail and High Lakes. We rotate hosting the meeting and we’ll be in C5 Tuesday after school.
From TLC: Amplify Desmos Math plans to warranty the materials for us so if you have encountered defective items that need to be replaced, please complete this form.
The IT Department and an outside contractor, have begun the process of installing badge readers on some of our outside doors and new security cameras inside/out. This will involve laying additional wires in the ceilings, installing badge-reading stations and cameras. The project is planned for completion around Thanksgiving.
A shout-out of thanks to the staff that met last Friday with PTO to plan the Read A Thon! The theme this year is Alice in Wonderland. We’re having a kick-off assembly on October 20th (time TBD), tracking reading minutes by class this year, and will get more details to you late next week. The Read A Thon goes from 10/20-10/31. Thank you in advance for your support of this event and fundraiser-it takes us all to make it a success!
Thank you for your efforts and time with the ROAR assessment! If your students haven’t participated yet and you need any assistance, please let Laci or I know. We’re hopeful all students will take the assessment by 10/21.
Wednesday: Walk and Roll to School Day! SIW: Educator Network Day
Thursday: Fire Inspection @ 10:30; 4th grade MTSS (C5), K-3 & 5th thank you for having a rep @ PTO Meeting in the Media Center @ 2:30
It’s Firebusters week! In your mailbox is a flyer for your students and coupons for free ice cream for those who complete the five days of activities and return their sheet. Thank you for your time collecting the returned sheets and for your support of this program! Please route collected sheets to the office by October 17. We’ll send an email reminder too that week.
Thank you for continuing to select Wayfinder lessons as “completed” after you’ve taught them to your class. If you haven’t yet, you can go back retroactively and do this. The Office of Student Well-being has asked that we continue this practice.
From TLC: If you haven’t yet, please register for the Educator Network Day on October 8th.Here are the topics and locations. Thank you for registering even if you plan to attend the session at your school.
Congratulations and thank you for 30 years in Bend-La Pine, Sarah!
We are planning that students will learn the Bend La Pine Schools anti-bias lessons between October 16-28. The ICCL Team has set aside time for teachers to review the lessons during SIW on 10/15. We’ll have information for families (including the lessons) in the our newsletter.
From Julie Richards, Curriculum and Instruction: This year the decision has been made to adjust progress monitoring requirements. Here are the 25-26 Progress Monitoring Guidelines Schools will receive an email with a spreadsheet that lists who/what to progress monitor. Students who score 0-10th percentile are monitored 2x per month and 11-20th are monitored 1x per month using acadience progress monitoring materials. If the spreadsheet indicates “NONE” that means you do not have any students in that grade level below the 20th percentile. You can choose to progress monitor additional students. ROAR is given as a benchmark: September, January and June. It can be given as a progress monitor in November and March. More information on when that window will open as we get closer to the date.
From Educational Technology: Starting October 8, teachers will have access to grade-level data for all students in your grade, not just your homeroom. This change was developed with input from instructional coaches and in response to teacher requests, making it easier to review scores and plan during grade-level meetings.
In addition to your homeroom, a new class will appear in Clever and other core applications that includes all students at your grade level across the school. For example, if you teach 4th grade at Juniper, you’ll see a class titled Juniper – All 4th Grade Students.
Both your homeroom and grade-level classes will appear in each application, including Acadience, RGR, DreamBox, Amplify, Lexia, and ILC — with Forefront to follow. When creating assignments or assigning other digital content, be sure to select your homeroom class so materials go only to your students. Each application makes it easy to switch between classes when needed.
Wednesday: Lava Care Team Meeting @ 8:00 (C5); Belonging Assembly* @ 12:05 in the gym (loading @ 12:00) SIW: Work in Classrooms
Thursday: National Custodian Day! Photographer on site for new web page pictures; PTO Meeting in the Media Center @ 2:30
Friday: PTO Movie Night @ South Playground (gates 6:00, movie @ dusk)
Here are the Assembly expectations to review with your class for Wednesday. Thank you! At this assembly we will also be announcing Buddy Classes for the year. 🙂
From TLC: Registration is open for the first Educator Network Day on October 8th.Here are the topics and locations. Thank you for registering even if you plan to attend the session at your school.
Thank you for always having a walkie-talkie with you on recess duty. This is important for communication in the event of student injury and to be able to reach staff or students on the playground.
Here is the Standard Response Protocol (SRP)lockdown lesson to review with students in preparation for the drill on Tuesday. We are planning to announce the beginning of this drill over the intercom and will be joined by several members of the Bend-La Pine SRO team, Scott Bojanowski (Safety Department) and Kayla Martin (Safety Department).
The PTO is planning to have three after-school (2:30-3:15) meetings this school year in the Media Center. Similar to years past, one of the agenda items will be 1-2 minute teacher updates. Thank you for having a member of your team attend to share goings-on at your grade level. Attendance is not necessary if you have MTSS.
In response to the incident on Monday the Maintenance Department mowing team will be making the changes below:
Using mulching machines for areas around school windows (when available)
Operating mowers with the discharge sides positioned away from windows.
Ensuring proper use of the mower discharge guards so that items caught in the mower are not projected upwards toward windows.
Throttling the engine lower around windows so that any debris is not disbursed a great distance
From the Guru of Tech, Brad: I had a teacher at another school lose years of work when their laptop died. It doesn’t appear they had their data backed up anywhere. Apple makes this pretty easy to back up your Desktop & Documents folders to iCloud which is great because Apple also gives Education customers 200 GB of storage instead of the normal 5 GB. Take a few moments to make sure this feature is onand save yourself some grief. Reach out if you have any questions. Note: if you are using some other backup service like the Google Drive app, please don’t proceed.
From Kinsey in the Office of Policy and Advocacy:Here is the Bend La Pine policy and guidelines for religion and holidays.
If we could visit any fictional time or place we would go to…
I would love to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Jurassic Park
The 1960s
The Shire for second breakfast
Narnia!
Hogwarts
The Hundred Acre Woods
Joseon Dynasty – historical kingdom of Korea
Any of the dig sites from Raiders of the Lost Ark
Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory
Stars Hollow, Connecticut
Hmm, the shire from Lord of the Rings? It looks cozy, peaceful and relaxing
a place where everyone gets along…
The Emerald City
The Grid (from Tron)
The land of OZ
1800’s
Smallworld (from Disneyland)
Hogwarts
Visiting a fantasy world with dragons and magic would be pretty amazing!
Monday: Pledge of Allegiance on the announcements; ICCL Meeting @ 2:30 in C5
Tuesday: Karen Rush Site Visit @ 8:00; Dental Screening (no schedule for this event-a runner will come to classes for students being checked)
Wednesday: SIW:1:45 Curriculum Night Preview and Work Time
Thursday: Curriculum Night 5:00-6:30
Friday: Bus Evacuation Drill (Here is the link: BUS EVAC)
As we discussed at the Staff Meeting, we are ready to launch sub badges! If you will be using this system, please let Kina know in advance so she can have an iPad ready for your substitute when they arrive. Thank you!
Coming to your in-box…Slides for Curriculum Night! Thank you Sara Blanchard, Megan Williams, and Laci for creating these! Please make a copy prior to editing
Thank you for your time reminding families of Bend-La Pine safety policy issues you may encounter. Time escorting adults without an employee or volunteer badge to the office or reminding families with dogs/pets on campus that they are not allowed, helps to keep us all safe. I understand that these conversations can be uncomfortable especially if we know the family well and your help with this communication is appreciated.
Heads up! A new technology training was recently added in Vector. Thank you for your time and efforts with these!
Welcome to Chantel Fairbanks, our new part-time educational assistant!
NatureConnect Central Oregon and their network of partners offer over 30 different outdoor and nature-based education programs that connect students to nature, engage students in science practices, and deliver content knowledge about local natural resources issues. You can find more information at: https://natureconnectco.org/programs/
On September 30 @ 10:00 we will have our first lockdown drill of the year. Here is the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) lockdown lesson to review with students prior to the 30th.
Monday: Library Classes Begin; Staff Meeting @ 2:30 in the Media Center
Wednesday: 8:00 Care Team (formerly SST) Meeting @ 8:00 (C5); SIW: Work in Classrooms
Thursday: Karen Rush Site Visit @ 8:00; Lava Team Meetings @ 2:30-3:15
We are planning to have a fire drill (really this time! 🙂 ) Here again are slides to review with your students. We will announce this drill on the the intercom prior to sounding the alarm.
Kenya will be on leave from September 18-December 19. During this time Andrea Thompson will be substituting in her classroom.
We are planning to begin saying the Pledge of Allegiance each Monday during the morning announcements beginning September 22nd.
Considering a field trip this year and need a First Aid class to meet 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. The next in-person check-off is on October 1st.
For those with field trips before Winter Break, if you are registered for a First Aid class (or in the process of completing one) you will meet the new field trip requirement. Beginning January, staff will need to be certified prior to the field trip.
On Monday, the ICCL Team started to create slides that classroom teachers can use for Curriculum Night on September 25th. These are in draft form and we will get them to you soon. The focus of SIW on September 24th will be for teachers to have time to prepare for this event. Here is an informational letter families will receive next week.
From Tech Services:Swank is our district’s new streaming service for feature films, offering a library of 215 titles, with the option to request additional films when needed. It provides a simple, legal way for teachers and administrators to use movies in the classroom and for school events, while replacing personal streaming services and hardwiring devices. Learn more in our Introducing Swankblog post.
Karen Rush will be on site each month for principal mini-observations. I will list these in Week at a Glance.
Wednesday: SIW: Extension of Core/Intervention Planning, ROAR Training, & DIBELS Preview @ 1:45 in the Media Center
Thursday: Fire Drill likely; PLC Meetings @ 2:30-3:15 (locations determined by team)
Friday: PTO Coffee Cart in the Staff Room! DIBELS AM; Leave and Time Sheets Due
Thank you for helping lunches to go smoothly this week! The person on each grade level team that assists the last 10 minutes of lunch with student questions, dismissal of groups outside and tables inside, and if possible, standing by the silverware bucket with positive feedback to students as they return forks, is a huge help! Thank you also for your time coaching students on where they line up at the end of lunches and for the hallway reminders for those classes that are walking back to class on their own!
At the end of the week we are planning to have a fire drill. Here are slides to review with your students. We will announce this drill on the the intercom prior to sounding the alarm.
Welcome to Ann Marie Cedros who will be assisting Lacie in Speech on Fridays
Wednesday: First day of school! Tuesday Specials Schedule; Half of our kindergarteners will be in attendance;Let’s wear staff shirts!
Thursday: Half of Kindergarteners attend
Friday: All Kindergarteners attend
We are planning that students will eat lunch outside the first week of school.
We need you! Staff who are not teaching or supporting students @ 7:30 on Wednesday-Friday, September 3rd-5th are needed to help walk students to class on the first days of school. Thank you!
We are continuing to use Seesaw and Synergy email this year for home communication. Mid-year (January) the district is planning to launch a new communication tool, Parent Square, that can also be used to share classroom and whole school information.
We are planning for the regular library schedule to begin on Monday, September 15th
