During the morning announcements this week we will be announcing the name of a student from each class that has been excelling with the trait of responsibility. A reminder that we are planning to call Kindergarten/1st on Tuesday; 2/3rd Wednesday; 4th and 5th on Thursday. We will do this again the week of November 18 for an additional student in each class.
We are coordinating a picture of staff from Lava Ridge that are Veteran’s. Please let Kina know if you have served in the United States military, naval, air, or space service and would like to participate.
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.
When Grace begins her leave on November 18 we will be shifting the experience students have in specials from music to Wayfinder.Emma Hoiness, will be serving as the long term substitute for Grace through March 17th and will be teaching lessons from the “collections” section in the curriculum. We are excited for students to have this additional Wayfinder dose and will be communicating this change to students in the upcoming weeks.
Tuesday: Dress Up Day: Halloween Costume or Book Character; Lion Pride Drawings @ Lunches; Harvest Parties; Conferences 3:15-7:15 (Dinner provided by PTO @ 2:30 in the Staff Room)
Wednesday: Work in Classrooms 7:15-3:15; Conferences 3:15-7:15 (Dinner: Pizza @ 2:00 in the Staff Room)
Thursday: Conferences 7:15-3:15
Friday: Enjoy!
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Laci and I will be stopping by classrooms after 7:15 pm with a friendly reminder that conferences are finished for the day. The goal of this visit is to get you home! To assist with this, please turn off your lights when you leave after your last conference. Thank you!
The week of November 4th during the morning announcements we will be announcing the name of a student from each class that has been excelling with the trait of responsibility. We are are planning to call Kindergarten/1st on Tuesday; 2/3rd Wednesday; 4th and 5th on Thursday. Here is the doc to enter a name for your class. We will do this again the week of November 18 for an additional student in each class.
Fun Friend Friday will begin in December! We are planning to connect this to belonging and that grade levels will be able to earn this through the consistent use of “dinner table voices” throughout the week. More details to come.
Save the date! Wednesday, March 5th from 5:00-6:30 will be the first Lava Ridge Showcase. Here’s the scoop…Post-COVID we have hosted Art Night each spring to build community with families, especially those that are not able to attend events that occur during the school day. This week the ICCL Team discussed rebranding this event and expanding the options for what teachers could have families see during their visit to Lava Ridge and our classrooms. This might include student writing, a scavenger hunt through math workbooks, a project student’s have been working on, art… We are planning that certified staff will attend and that this will be one of the evening events that are part of the new collective bargaining agreement. In selecting March 5th, the team felt that scheduling on a teacher-prep Wednesday would be most optimal and that we were best to avoid the busy months of April and May. We’ll discuss more details after we return from Winter Break.
From Kerry Morton: Math Field Test Materials – October 29-October 31, each elementary school will have all three programs available in their buildings for families and teachers to view. Reach out to a Math Curriculum Review Team member if you have any questions about the programs: Amplify Math with Desmos, StemScopes Math, and Experience Math. At Lava we will likely have this display in the lobby.
From Scott in Technology: YouTube Access for K-8 Students – Trial of “Allow List” Solution. As you know, we are currently blocking all YouTube content for students in grades K-8. Starting next week, we will be implementing a trial of an “allow list” solution, which will enable students to access a curated set of videos. At present, nearly 1,000 YouTube videos necessary for the SchoolLinks curriculum have been added to this allow list. Why is this important? If this trial proves successful, we can explore expanding the allow list to include additional teacher-requested YouTube content.
Here is a list of items the we couldn’t live without:
Monday: Read A Thon Begins! Read-In @ 1:30 (1st grade @ 12:30); ICCL Meeting @ 2:30 in C5
Tuesday: ADA Assessment visit by ODE
Wednesday: Dental Screening in A3; SIW: Work in Classrooms
Thursday: Dental Screening in A3; 2nd MTSS in C5 (Eagle’s Nest) ; Lava Teams @ 2:30
Welcome to Melody Burishkin who has joined the Nutrition Services Team.
Thank you for your time preparing for the October bias lesson! If you haven’t already, please fill-in this Google Doc with the dates for when your students will be learning this content. Here again is a link to the lessons.
Congratulations to our Ed Foundation Grant recipients!
If you are interested in having someone from the PTO come to your Harvest Party on Tuesday, October 29th to lead a directed draw of a book character, please let the PTO-Read A Thon contact at your grade level know.
Celebrate a successful start to the school year at Educators’ Night Out at the High Desert Museum on Thursday, October 24, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm. Fabulous door prizes from local businesses like Bar Rio, Bend Pet Express, Greg’s Grill, Mountain Supply, and so many more! Register by October 22 here!
Wednesday: SIW: EL Planning + Time to Complete Cybersecurity Training @ 1:45, Media Center
Thursday: Earthquake Drill; Tammy Doty Site Visit @ 8:30; 3rd MTSS in C5 (Eagle’s Nest); PLC Meetings @ K-2nd, 4-5th
Friday: Picture Day! Pictures will be in A3
Go Bridges Team! From left to right: Melynda Delgado, Kacy Strickland – back (sub), Rachel Ellis, Alex McAleer, Karen George, Heather Byer (back), Jordan Lords, Cara Hofer. not pictured: Maile Wixsom (Tues & Thurs)
Tuesday: ADA Walkthrough by ODE Staff @ 1:00; Staff Meeting @ 2:30 in the Media Center
Wednesday: Walk and Roll Day! ADA Walkthrough by ODE staff @ 9:00; Responsibility Assembly @ 8:00 (loading @ 7:55); SIW: Educator Network Day (EL Focus) @ 1:45 in the Media Center
Welcome(back!) to Lorena Higbee who will be serving as a 6 hour EA for the remainder of the school year. Great to have you back with us, Lorena!
We are planning that Tuesday, October 29th will be a Halloween costume or bookcharacter dress-up day. You may find this pre-made slide deck and/or poster from TLC useful in discussing appropriate costumes with students. We will also be message costume guidelines to families in the next newsletter. These include not wearing costumes with weapons, blood, overly scary masks or that present negative stereotypes of any person, gender, or ethnicity.
Thank you for your time preparing for the October bias lesson! When time allows, please fill-in this Google Doc with the dates for when your students will be learning this content. Here again is a link to the lessons. In the newsletter last week we messaged families about this upcoming activity.
Below is a list of discussion topics for PLC meetings on Thursday. We are planning that these meetings occur synchronously on Thursdays, so if for some reason your team is not able to meet on a particular date, please let Laci and I know in advance so we don’t try to stop by your meeting.
10/10 PLC Topics:
Planning for morning and closing meeting agendas
Previewing/discussing upcoming EL assessments
Inputting checkpoint/assessments into Forefront
Preparing for MTSS
With the continued nice weather we will likely have our October fire drill next week. Thank you for your time preparing students for these drills and for always participating. Practicing these drills is required of all Bend-La Pine employees and helps us to be ready in the event we experience an emergency situation. Here is a link to the evacuation(fire drill) SRP lesson.
Congratulations to Rachel Schendel who will be serving as our TAG ICCL member!
This week we will have two visits from a person (we think it is just one) from ODE whose purpose is to provide ADA improvement feedback to the district. This visitor will be wearing the standard visitor pass and has permission to walk through the school on their own.
Digital Citizenship week is October 14-18! Katrina has activities planned for library classes throughout October to promote a healthy, balanced, and positive approach to media use. Here are some digital citizenship resources from the Tech Department
From Ryan Kelling in Human Resources: A quick reminder to enter every absence, regardless of whether a substitute is needed into Red Rover and UKG. Thank you!
From Andrea in HR: We are excited to introduce Canopy, Bend-La Pine Schools new Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider! Canopy EAP services include mental health support, counseling, behavioral coaching, digital tools, and resources to help navigate life and work – from financial coaching to gym and pet insurance discounts – Canopy’s mission is to create happier and healthier lives for employees. Canopy services are free, confidential, and available to ALL district employees and their family members. Learn more about Canopy and how to access their services on our district’s Benefits website.
From the Superintendent’s Office: In an effort to bring Bend-La Pine Schools staff and leaders together in dialogue on District initiatives, Superintendent Steven Cook is forming advisory committees for Classified, Certified, Administrative, and South County employee groups. Each District Advisory Committees will meet four times during the school year, giving employees an opportunity to be a voice for their community. The purpose of each meeting will be to:
Hear from leadership on the state of the District, Legislative updates, District initiatives and issues before the School Board
Have a dialogue on these issues
Provide feedback on areas of focus
Share current and emerging issues from the field
We are planning for up to 15 members per committee with representation from schools, levels, and operational groups. Depending on the number of applicants, a lottery or other selection process may be used to select committee members. Applications are due Wednesday, October 16. Applicants will be notified on Monday, October 21. To see the meeting schedule and submit your application, please use THIS FORM.
Tuesday: Lockdown Drill @ 9:00; First day of Running Club (PTO has volunteers for every Tuesday throughout October)
Wednesday: SIW: Skill Development Preparation Activity @ 1:45 in the Media Center
Thursday: Staff Appreciation Breakfast @ 7:00 in the Media Center; 5th MTSS in C5 (Eagle’s Nest) ; PTO Meeting @ 2:30 in the Media Center
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 begining of this drill over the intercom and will be joined by Keely Cashman (SRO), Scott Bojanowski (Safety Department) and Kayla Martin (Safety Department) who will be on site to provide feedback.
Thursday is our first PTO meeting of the year. This year the PTO is planning for each grade level (unless that grade has MTSS) to share a 1-2 minute report of the highlights taking place at that grade during the meeting. PTO is planning to have 3 meetings this year and we will not have PLCs on these dates.
Wondering what happened at other Lava Team meetings yesterday? You can find all of the notes in this folder.
Let’s work together on Thursday morning so everyone is able to get breakfast (I suggest the omelettes!) in the Media Center before school. Please let Laci or I know if we can provide coverage so a member of your team can enjoy the event.
Wednesday: Rescheduled EA Meeting @ 12:15; SIW: EL Support and Planning Time @ 1:45 in the Media Center; EA Training 2:00-3:15 @ Board Room (Ed Center)
The MTSS and PLC Meeting schedule can be located on the master schedule Google Doc by scrolling through the tabs on the bottom of the document. Here is a link.
Looking for a new TV show or movie to stream? Here are recommendations from your colleagues:
Movie Night on Friday: PTO is hosting Family Movie Night on Friday, September 20th. This is a free event, with gates opening at 6:30 pm and the movie at dusk. We should know late Thursday what the flick will be. This is a parent-led activity for current Lava Ridge students and their families, and families are asked to supervise their children during the event. The swings and play structures will be closed at Movie Night.
Here are the Bend-La Pine iPad Expectations This is the information we discussed during inservice that had been in draft form.
We have posted a 6 hour EA position for the vacancy that has resulted from the resignation of Jeanie Kalotay. If you know of a great candidate, please encourage them to apply.
From Human Resources: Some employees that have successfully completed modules in Safe Schools, received a certificate of completion, but these completions are not being recognized in the Schoox system, which informs UKG of your status. Here are some tips to avoid or mitigate this issue.
Thank you for entering your instructional schedulehere.
If you have any students that need a familiar DIBELS tester or you would like a screener done please add them to this document.
Tammy Doty will be visiting us periodically throughout the school year and meets monthly on-site with all principals. These meetings are kinda like principal mini-observations. When these are scheduled to occur I will list them in Week at a Glance.
Here is the newsletter families will receive on Monday.
Wednesday: School Improvement Wednesday @ 1:45 in the Media Center
Thursday: Fire Drill
Friday: Thank you for submitting timesheets by the end of the day
In your early week communication to families on Seesaw or Synergy Email, will you please add a reminder that beginning Wednesday, students will be dismissed at 12:45 every Wednesday until June 4th. Thank you!
From Julie Richards (formerly Walker) in Curriculum, Instruction, and Systems: The Dreambox Launchpad (placement screener) is open, and students will need to take this assessment the first time they are on Dreambox. We are asking that 1st-5th grade classrooms complete the Launchpad assessment by September 30th and K classrooms complete the assessment by December 2nd.
Nature Connect Central Oregon (formerly the Children’s Forest) will provide financial support for classroom field trips that align with their mission. Here’s a link with information.
The Bend-La Pine Schools, Black Family & Student Union, is bringing the director of the documentary film Black Girls in Suburbia to Bend on Sunday, September 15th for a panel discussion following the screening of the film. The film is short, so with the panel discussion the event will run approx 1:00-3:00pm, at the Tower Theater. Here is a link from the Tower about the screening.
Below is the Fall Conference Schedule:
Tuesday, Oct 29. Kids attend school. Conferences 3:15-7:15
Wednesday, Oct 30, Teacher work day 7:15-3:15, Conferences 3:15-7:15
Thursday, Oct 31, Conferences 7:15-3:15–everyone home in time for trick-or-treating!
Friday, Nov 1st, Enjoy!
From TLC: If you encounter any Clever and Wayfinder issues such as, incorrect access or school, please use the instructional tool process to request what is needed.
Did you complete a Safe Schools Training and continue to have it listed in your “My to-do Items” (under the bell) in UKG? Just send a screen shot of your completion certificate to Stuart Eaton ([email protected]) in HR and he can assist.
With the air quality challenges we navigate this time of year, the AQI FAQ document from the Safety Department, is a resource you can use to understand how outside conditions can impact our daily operations. Please let me know if you have any questions.
We are planning to begin saying the Pledge of Allegiance on the Monday morning announcements beginning September 16th. This week if you could please teach and practice the Pledge that would be great!
Wednesday: First day of school! Tuesday Specials Schedule; Half of our kindergarteners will be in attendance
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 4-6th are needed to help walk students to class on the first days of school.
We are planning for the regular library schedule to begin on Monday, September 9th
Each elementary school is adding two new ICCL Positions– Green Team Advisor & TAG Coordinator. These are internal postings, and the application can be accessed via UKG. Below is information about each of these jobs.
The Green Team Advisor will serve at each school to educate and engage the school community with the knowledge and influence to be leaders in a sustainable society, use resources wisely and support the district’s efforts to make the school’s operations and activities more environmentally sustainable. Additionally, this position will support compost efforts at schools where programs are in place.
The ICCL TAG Coordinator This position will have a targeted emphasis on TAG professional development and systems. Key responsibilities include:
Attending monthly meetings with district TAG leadership to strengthen existing systems and stay informed on best practices.
Gaining deeper insights into identifying and servicing TAG students.
Developing strategies for differentiation in the classroom to better cater to the needs of gifted learners.
Additionally, the person in this role will serve as a crucial conduit for TAG processes and services, ensuring that all staff within our building are well-informed and equipped to support TAG students effectively.
Each grade level this year has their own color of Lion Pride. The hope is that this will aid in the sorting of Lion Prides during drawings. Specialists and support staff can use brown, universal Lion Prides, to recognize students k-5.
K-red (pink)
1st-orange
2nd-yellow
3rd-green
4th – blue
5th-purple
Specialist/other staff/ EA -tan
Magic School AI – Exciting news! This fall, BLS is providing full featured MagicSchool AI accounts to all staff. MagicSchool is an AI platform designed for educators, with a large suite of tools that help with building lesson plans, writing IEPs, differentiation, ideating more engaging lessons, communicating with families, and more! BLS is currently piloting MagicSchool but funds have been earmarked to purchase for any staff who would like to continue with their full featured ‘Enterprise’ account after October, which offers much more than the free version. Getting setup is simple using MagicSchool login instructions. Please contact Robbie Faith and Tracy Howk for questions and support.
Below are links to some of the slides/documents from Tuesday:
