This and That:

• As promised in my last blog posting, I want to provide you with an update on some duties you will have need for this year that have been reassigned here at the Ed Center:
  • Stephanie Bent: In addition to what you have come to expect from Stephanie, she has also added TAG and First Aid/CPR responsibilities.  If you have a question about either of these two items please feel free to contact her.
  • Heather Cornett: Heather is the new Office Manager for STRIVE (formerly working at Summit and BLPSO) and will be taking on all discipline issues, including scheduling expulsion hearings.  (Sal will oversee K-12 discipline this year but if you have a question you may call me first and I can check with Sal if I don’t have a ready answer.)
  • Jody McBride: (The new Chris Huff) Will be in charge of translation and interpreter needs, risk screens (send her your paperwork), safe school assessments, collect monthly leave records from principals, receive any child abuse report forms, and update confidential pocket directory (admin cell numbers).
  • Charissa Gilmer: In addition to checking ID upon entrance to the building, Charissa will also reserve a room at the Ed Center if you have need for one.
  • Marsha Baro: Marsha will continue to be the District insurance, incident report, and emergency drill liaison, so continue to send questions or paperwork related to these topics her way.  The biggest change in her role this year comes as the District’s risk assessment and management specialist – meaning she will work side-by-side with you to proactively reduce or eliminate risks (and visit schools) to help creating a safe learning environment.
• A very early heads-up that there will be a crunch at conference times this year for interpreters.  In October all elementary and middle schools (except LPMS) will likely be conferencing on the 26th and 27th, with a likely interpreter need during the evenings on these dates.  The April conferences will be even a bit more tricky as Crook County schools will also be conferencing on the same dates as our elementary and middle schools (and we use the same pool of interpreters).  Our middle schools were thoughtful in making some adjustments at last spring’s conferences in terms of the structure and timing of when interpreters were requested – which really made a positive difference in interpreter availability, and hopefully still provided the support your parents needed.  Thank you in advance for thinking creatively on how you might structure this year’s conferences to again best provide interpreters when needed.
• And speaking of interpreters, here is a general rule of thumb when requesting translation services (through Jody): Interpreters should be requested 2 weeks in advance.  Translation services (e.g. newsletters) should be requested 3-5 days in advance and the document should be sent in it’s original format (no PDF please).
• You may have also recently received Phagan’s Hair Cut Passes in an email, but if not, feel free to print and hand out these free coupons to any students that may need one.
• MindUP is a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum that all of our middle schools will be provided materials and training for this year through a generous partnership with Deschutes County Health Services.  Last year a few buildings in our district, including LPMS and PCMS, piloted this curriculum in their schools.  At our September 12 Leadership meeting you will be provided with curriculum for your teachers (if you haven’t already received it) and a 3.5 hour training will take place at the Ed. Center on Sept. 22 for one person on your staff.  Please read through this MindUP document for an overview of the program and to help you decide, if you are interested, whom from your staff should attend this training. A couple of highlights from the linked document include the fact that the County is going to pay for the half-day sub (have our office manager “bill Deschutes County”) if you send someone to the training, and the training will likely last 3.5 hours, not the 3 hours noted in the overview sheet.
• If you haven’t heard, we will be going to a standard district photo ID badge this year.  When your staff members have their picture taken by Life Touch, on student picture day in your building, a district badge will also be created for her/him at that time.  Please have all of your staff wear these badges.  However, a different lanyard or clip can be worn with the badge.

Reminders:

• Last May (TRIBE, 5.27.16 edition) I notified you of Dean Richard’s availability to work with your school to support your efforts around EBISS.  The expectation was for each school to contact Dean (email or call @ ext. 1078) and set up a time to have him come to you and discuss your current state of EBISS affairs.  The bonus opportunity – although not required – is to also have Dean observe a live EBISS meeting at your site (wether this is all staff, grade level or other configuration).   The timeline is for Dean to complete these site visits by Thanksgiving.  With the limited hours we have Dean as a consultant, he will then work with a few schools (who have both a desire and a need for his support) during the rest of this year.  Let me know if you have any questions regarding this.
• As I have emailed you already (late last week), all middle schools will have Synervoice attendance calls go out beginning at 10:30am this year.  What this means is that any unexcused absences in Synergy at 10:00am any day of the week will generate an automatic call to that child’s parent/guardian notifying of their child’s absence that day.  Obviously, it will be important for your attendance secretary to have accurate attendance entered (which your teachers also plan an important role in) by this 10:00am timeframe.  Additionally, it also means any unexcused absence that initially occurs after 10:00am (student was present in the morning, but not in the afternoon) will not be reported via automatic phone call – but will rely on your staff to catch and report to you or manually call about.