To Do:

• Principals, I have updated the MS Calendar (linked here, or also accessible directly from the TRIBE blog at the top left) to reflect the times I will not be available (that I know of) for the 2018-19 school year. As I have asked you to do in the past, would you please add one site visit a month (I come to you) on this calendar… September – May.  I will again plan on taking about an hour of your time at each visit. Thanks!
• Check out this blog post.  OK, I admit that I read my wife’s library blog … because it is good! In this one she shares first week of school picture books that could be read aloud to classes. After reviewing some of the titles and scanning the comments folks have left, it made me want to buy one or two of these and read to classes in my school (if I were a principal still). Being able to deliver a message around culture to your students, directly from you, in a fun way that the kids would enjoy… Wouldn’t you have fun doing that?

This and that:

• Don’t you love this photo?!  Roger just found out that he had won Administrator of the Year in our district, and to say that it took him a bit by surprise would be an understatement. Congrats Roger!
• Jon and/or Debbie will be talking to us at our Horizontal meeting on Sept. 17 regarding a few HR topics, one of which has to do with the implications the JANUS court decision has on us as a district.  There is much still to work through as it relates to this, but one thing is certain… you must remain neutral in terms of your advocacy for/against (paying of dues towards) union membership. You must not communicate anything that either encourages or discourages a stance. Please refer any questions that come your way to either BEA leadership or HR.
• Sean will come to our first horizontal meeting to discuss school psychs, but he wanted to share this document in advance that outlines a School Psych’s roles and responsibilities.  Feel free to take a sneak peak at what Sean has to say in a few weeks!
• If you were wondering who our district behavior coaches are, what schools they support, or what their role is, wonder no more!
• The following information is from Kerry Morton – and is a great reminder of the new math by-pass process we are using this year.  Please note that she is wanting to know numbers by grade of how many meet these by-pass requirements. Let Kerry or I know if you have any questions.As the year begins, many of you are prepping for students to take the by-pass assessment. Below is some information that will help you:
  • Link for the By-Pass documents and assessment – you must use your gapps account
  • Student must take both the written and EasyCBM to by-pass a grade level according to these requirements
  • The assessment will take approximately 1.5 hours – 1/2 hour for EasyCBM and 1 hour for the written assessment
  • Please DO NOT send home the EasyCBM or written assessments with students
  • If students are not entered in EasyCBM, please contact Stephanie Bent and Dave Vanloo at least two days prior to the administering the assessment

  Since this is the first year using these assessments, the team would like to find out the number of students by-passing at each school at each grade level. Please submit that information to me once you know the numbers.

• As part of National Suicide Prevention Week, Deschutes Co Health Services is sponsoring a QPR Suicide Prevention Training on Wednesday, September 12th from 5:30pm-7:30pm. Cheryl Emmerson will be facilitating, with assistance from Leanna Leyes. You may recall that QPR training is provided to each of our school’s staff every three years.  If you have recently hosted this training but have others interested in attending, please have them register here.
• As most of you are aware, I get the opportunity to work with our counselors throughout the district. Last spring I was approached about the possibility of having a more formal process/understanding of when it is appropriate/needed to get a substitute for a counselor absence. I created this form and sent it out to all counselors to get their input.  In early August, after a few tweaks to the draft, Cabinet approved the process noted at the bottom of the page.  I’ll be sharing this with counselors at our October meeting.
• As most of you know, Marshall campus is going through a variety of changes – but not just to the buildings.  Here is some additional information regarding other changes occurring in the coming months: This fall, Marshall High School will begin offering new CTE pathways for students. New principal Sal Cassaro is excited to lead Marshall with a focus on allowing students to pursue their passions in career and tech fields within a small school environment. The five new CTE pathways include STEM engineering, construction technologies, business and marketing, health occupations and JROTC. These programmatic changes will continue to evolve and take shape throughout the school year and will continue to include key input from students and staff. Sal will host a meeting with current Marshall students prior to the start of school and is planning an open house for the fall.
• Here is an article that was in a recent Marshall Memo, entitled: “Approaching a New School Year with a ‘Design’ Perspective.” There are a number of things that we have “traditionally” done at the start of the school year. This article made me pause and consider why we do them, what might we replace them with, and what (if any) would be the reasoning for making a change.  I hope this article makes you think a bit about whether your start of the year is the best it can be (like it made me reflect on what I might have done differently).

Reminders:

• Our first MS Horizontal of the year will be Monday, 9/17/18, at HDMS – starting at 3:15.  Let me know if you’d like to add anything to the agenda.  (I’ll be sending you the agenda with these notes on the Friday prior to our meeting.)
• And speaking of MS Horizontal meetings, if you don’t already have these in your calendar, here are our Horizontal meetings for 2018-19.