TO DO:

Don’t forget that there is a slight tweak to how you’ll (principals) be introducing new teachers at New Teacher Day on the morning of Aug. 26. You should have sent all of your new certified hires a letter (this letter) to collect their feedback on a few questions. When it is time for you to introduce each new teacher, you will say where they earned her/his degree, and ONE additional piece of information (taken from questions 2 – 4 in the letter). At this time you will then hand her/him one swag item (t-shirt, lanyard, or water bottle, etc.) from your school. Don’t forget that we’ll be gathering at SVMS this year!

Mark your calendars! Here are the 10 (we need to provide 10, rather than the nine I initially thought) SIW dates for all MS to provide teachers with “member-directed individual work time” during the 2019-20 school year: Sept. 25, Oct. 23, Nov. 20, Dec. 18, Jan. 29, Feb. 26, March 18, April 8, May 27, and June 11. Please make sure you set these dates aside for this purpose – as we need to align these dates by level.

Rather than send you a PDF of your admin work calendar and have you fill it out and return a copy to me this year, I’ve asked Jo in our office to work her magic (she’s really good!) and create an electronic version that I could share with you – and you could update throughout the year if/as needed – and not have to send to me in hard copy. She not only did this, but the version she created also automatically calculates how many non-contract days you have left after you add your days off. And, only because it is Jo creating it, your work calendar will also automatically create your monthly leave sheet – including the leave sheet dates and any days you are out (according to your work calendar). All you’ll need to add to your leave sheet are any sick leave days. You can expect an email from Jo in the coming day or so with a link to your calendar-leave sheet workbook (I told you she was good!) with a number of tabs along the bottom – the first being some specific directions for you to read through. Please let Jo or I know if you have any questions!

And speaking of calendars, here is where you can find our district calendars if you need them.

Here is a list of our MS Horizontal meetings this year – including both date and location. Please not only add these dates to your calendar, but also check to verify that you will be able to host on the month/day that I have drafted. (I will assume you can host on the day proposed unless you tell me otherwise.)

You may want to review the August calendar of trainings in Performance Matters to make sure you know what is being offered for yourself and/or your staff.

At least every month this year in TRIBE I will be highlighting and asking you to reflect on something we read (and possibly discussed) last year in Culture Code. Even though this will be the only post in August, I thought I’d begin now, rather than wait until September. What I’d ask you to think about, or take a step further by creating and sharing with your staff (and wider school community?) is creating and using a catchphrase (heuristic) or two that helps to tell your school story. Something that is simple, action-oriented, and forthright (p. 231). You don’t have to do this (of course), but I will likely check in with each school this fall to see if you have decided to create and communicate a catchphrase or two. Re-read pages 181 -182 if you want to be reminded of how to take the first step in creating a catchphrase for your school. (If you do, I’ll be curious to hear how you came up with it – by yourself, with your ICCL team, as a whole staff? – and how you are planning on making it a “living” phrase within your community.) Allison Staad may inspire you by saying: “For the first few days I worked here, I heard all the language, and it was like, ‘Are we in summer camp?’ It’s totally hokey and corny. And then you start to see how they work, and you start using them in regular life. Then all of a sudden they’re not corny – they’re just a part of the oxygen.” I’ll share mine with you at our first Horizontal.

THIS and THAT:

You likely have this figured out for your school, but wanted to share the new start/end times for all schools with you – so you can have it in one spot. You can also find this (and many other documents) in our shared TRIBE folder in Google Docs should you need it at a later date.

I happen to come across this article from OPB on Oregon’s new “business tax” that is to support K-12 public education to the tune of 1 billion per year when fully implemented. I thought this article did a nice job of providing some details around this new law, as well as took a stab at answering some likely questions.

Following is some information from Lauren Wood, DCHS, regarding the opportunity to attend a Teen Interviene training if you are interested in learning more about this pilot program (that no schools will be added to until at least January, 2020). If you have any questions about this training (Lauren) or pilot (Lauren or I), please ask. Here is the info from Lauren:

I am following up with you regarding the Alternatives-to-Out-of-School Suspension pilot. We have scheduled a curriculum training for the graduate counseling students who are supporting the pilot, and I wanted to open it up in case it would be of interest to you or your staff. Please note that the main focus of the training is the content and delivery of the curriculum itself, and less about the logistics for school staff involved with the pilot (which I am happy to meet and provide an overview of). Based on the content, a school counselor at a site that wants to get involved with this curriculum would probably be the best fit to attend.

Training Details:

August 16^th from 8:45am – 4:30pm

Deschutes County Services Building

DeArmond Room, first floor

1300 NW Wall Street

Bend 97702

• Lunch will be provided

Please register at this link by August 12th. Registration is required, and also helps me plan for ordering our lunch food, based on any dietary preferences. You will receive a training booklet at the start of the training. Other than having read through the pilot outline (attached), staff do not need to do anything to prepare for the training. I’m happy to discuss further if you have any questions or want to talk through this training opportunity!

Suicide Prevention Week this year is Sept. 7 – 14 and there are a number of activities happening locally (including at some of our schools) that you might want to be aware of and/or share with your staff or larger community.

REMINDERS:

I believe this was shared with you last spring (which is why it falls under “reminders”) – but if not, thought it was important to share with you now. Here are the office classified work hours by level. Feel free to adjust these times by up to 15 minutes either way to best suit your school/community needs.

8/12 – Safety / Investigations Training at Riverhouse (7:30 – 4:00)

8/14 – Leadership Dinner @ Dana’s house (5:00) 62880 Dickey Road

8/20 – Leadership Academy (with your ICCL) @ Summit/PCMS (8:00 – 4:00)

8/26 – New Teacher Day @ SVMS (7:30 – 9:30)

8/27 – District Welcome Back @ Bend Senior HS (1:00 – 4:00)

TO DO:

Please let appropriate staff know that Michele Oakes is still looking to fill out the PASS Level Review assessor team and is needing: 1 SS teacher, 2 math teachers, 1 science and 1 MS admin. If you or someone you know is interested, please contact Michele right away.

Please share next year’s classified (office) staff work times with folks who need to know. Also, be aware that you are able to fluctuate the start/end times a little (15 min) as needed at your building – but make sure you have end-of-day student drop off times covered in case a parent needs to call regarding their child not getting off of the bus at home.

Jon wanted to be sure you had the following information/change: The original PASS MOU between BEA and Bend-LaPine Schools was not extended.  We have a new PASS MOU that outlines a three-year transition for employees on the PASS salary schedule back to the traditional salary schedule.  We will be working with individual employees on how they will transition back to the traditional salary.  Some employees will transition back immediately and some will continue for the next two to three years.  All employees with be transitioned back to the traditional salary and the PASS salary will not exist as of January 1^st, 2024.

We will continue to keep the mentorship program, which will be mandatory for all first and second year teachers. We will also continue to provide the PASS classes that help support teachers in the first few years of the profession.  The difference is that the classes will be optional. Note: While optional, successful completion of the classes will be required to complete the district’s Advanced Professional Development Program. This is one avenue for a teacher to qualify for a professional teaching license. We will also open up the classes for other district employees to attend. 

All new teachers hired for this year will be placed on the traditional salary schedule.  Teachers in the first two years will be given a mentor with the expectation of also completing the induction/literacy  class. 

We will be having an informational meetings for the employees on PASS Monday, June 10th at 4pm.  We will also be setting up individual meetings with any interested teachers. If you have questions, then please give me a call.

THIS and THAT:

My daughter recently had the following “thank you” as part of her Instagram story (she got it from Peta Kelly), and I thought this was a good one to think about at the end of the year. I love that we, too, are a diverse group of leaders who each bring a different lens and set of talents that enhance our whole:

To the person who uses metal straws to save a fish but consumes animals, I’d like to say thank you. To the vegan who isn’t aware of our homelessness problem, thank you. To the climate change activists who aren’t attentive to fast fashion, thank you. To the girl who gives her old clothes to the disadvantaged but isn’t educated on sex trafficking, thank you. To the guy who picks up rubbish on his way home from a surf but isn’t well-informed about male suicide rates, thank you. To the people who stand up for horse racing concerns but are uninformed of the cruelty of the dairy industry, thank you. To the positive Instagram influencer who hasn’t cultivated a plastic-free lifestyle, thank you. To the grandparents who knit for sick children but aren’t up to date with current race and homophobic issues, thank you. To the students that stand up for bullying but are unaware of the constant domestic violence epidemic, thank you. To the peace activists, feminists, stray dog adopters, teachers, volunteers, foster carers, recyclers, givers, doers, and believers, I say thank you. We are all on a different path and we all see through different eyes. Current world issues that you are passionate about, aren’t always what other people are trying to change… and that’s okay. It’s not everyone’s responsibility to thank every person who is doing THEIR part to save the world. Don’t critique, just appreciate. Don’t judge, just educate. We’re all trying our best. Thank you.

REMINDERS:

Don’t forget that you and your ICCLs need to sign up for the Aug. 20 Innovation Conference day in Performance Matters.

Here is a link to a document that is an overview of summer dates, events, and trainings.  Hopefully, it will help you keep your heads together and on top of what’s happening this summer. Pay special attention to the events on Aug 30th that are mandatory Day 189 trainings and please communicate those trainings to the appropriate staff.  Currently, the only mandatory trainings are for middle school math, science, and social studies. Call or email Skip if you have any questions or see something incorrect or missing.

Don’t forget to email your new certified hires this letter – add your letterhead and indicate whom to send it back to. Also, don’t forget to have an item of SWAG from your school to give to them at the “teaching signing day” on Aug. 26.

TO DO:

Make sure you have the annual admin BBQ on your calendar for Monday, June 17th at noon here at the Ed Center. The dress is casual.

Hot off the presses… All MS health teachers will be having a half-day (morning) training with the RESPONSE curriculum on day 189 – Friday, Aug. 30. Please notify each of your health teachers of this as this is the first time it is being announced.

THIS and THAT:

Here is a Culture of Care update from Sean – please take some time to read it, even if you were not part of the pilot this year.

Here is another “hot off the presses” item that will take a bit more explaining than what you’ll be getting today, but wanted to provide you with enough information so you don’t have an “I have no idea what you are talking about” moment if someone asks you a question. Please reach out to me for additional information or any questions you might have at this point. We plan to have a .167 MS Literacy Coach position posted internally by next Friday. This position will be a current classroom MS teacher (of any endorsement area) who has an interest in doing some coaching around disciplinary literacy with her/his first and second-year teacher peers. Dean Richards will be working directly with this individual and a HS disciplinary literacy coach. This is all part of a heightened district focus on literacy PD provided to our new hires. There will likely be a preference of where this .167 coach is teaching, based on the number of new hires (last two years) at that building. Here is a one-page document that helps provide a bit more context.

SPO needs your help again this year to ensure all SPED case managers (SPED teachers and SLPs) have completed and finalized their IEP processes and documents prior to checking out for the summer.   Last year we asked that sites add a box on your check-out form that says, “All IEP documents finalized.” Once all paperwork has been finalized,  the SPO office will send each case manager and email indicating that they are “all clear” with their paperwork.  It will be the case manager’s responsibility to provide you a copy (or forwarding) the email from our office.  Please don’t let them check-out until this has been documented.  Please note, we will be sending frequent reminders to case managers on the days leading up to June 14th, so there should not be any surprises. 

In this recent Education Week article (May 14, 2019), best-selling author Daniel Pink shares four ideas on “How Schools can Spend Time more Wisely.” We’ve cracked the code on one of these, and I found the other three worth sharing with you and thinking about how/if they might fit into your schools.

REMINDERS:

A reminder of some information from Kerry regarding math by-pass process:

• If parents or teachers are recommending students by-pass a year of mathematics, students need to meet the minimum scores for EasyCBM and the written portion. Attached are the requirements.
• Administer the assessment in August and/or September. To help with student scheduling, it is recommended that you assess students in August before school starts. Parents and teachers probably know who would be interested in and capable of by-passing now. The few students who cannot make it to your August testing sessions, provide a time during the first week of school.
• If your school decides to administer EasyCBM to every student in September, please call it a universal screener and administer the paper-pencil assessment to students who have parent and/or teacher recommendations.  
• Please do not send a message to all families about by-passing a year of mathematics. It causes stress on students and families. Some don’t want this and they don’t want their child taking unnecessary assessments.
• If students wish to take online math to progress quicker, they must pass with at least a B. This is intended to ensure students are successful in future mathematics. This is a link with some information from Amy Tarnow.

TO DO:

Here is something to be a part of if you are interested. (From Dan Curfew, a teacher at PCMS): My PCMS Design and Modeling students are wrapping up a design cycle to create a therapeutic toy that could be used by our Sparrow. Students designed something that will be fun, functional & creative, and meets the needs of our Sparrow.  Nancy Hitchcock, an occupational therapist, came in to speak with classes to help students hone their designs.  The week of June 3rd, student teams will be presenting their prototypes in ‘Shark Tank’ fashion. Sign Up

THIS and THAT:

 Here is a link to a document that is an overview of summer dates, events, and trainings.  Hopefully, it will help you keep your heads together and on top of what’s happening this summer. Pay special attention to the events on Aug 30th that are mandatory Day 189 trainings and please communicate those trainings to the appropriate staff.  Currently, the only mandatory trainings are for middle school math, science, and social studies. Call or email Skip if you have any questions or see something incorrect or missing.

This week Lora sent out publicity to all staff regarding this summer’s Taking It Up training (Aug. 13 & 14, 2019). While most of the work over the two days is focused on individual exploration and reflection, time is given Tuesday afternoon for school teams to talk and plan. I encourage you all to attend, if you haven’t before…AND to encourage both certified and classified staff to attend. Of course, certified staff could count their attendance as their Days 189 and 190. You might consider paying classified staff who are not on contract to show how much you value their attendance. If you have classified staff who don’t have access to a computer, you can send their names to Stephanie Bent and she will register them. Contact Chris Boyd or Lora if you have questions or need more information!

Would you consider passing on the following info to your school parent groups (PTO?) regarding an upcoming event they may be interested in: You are invited to explore community solutions to substance abuse through the viewing of local amateur photos by youth and other community members on the topics of alcohol, prescription drugs, and tobacco. Please join the Shared Future Coalition for a showcase of images, which describe local issues and community-based prevention efforts. This art installation gives a voice to local community members and youth who are acting as catalysts for change. By engaging with this art installation, we hope to encourage community members to reflect on what substance abuse looks like in our community, and be inspired to help prevent substance abuse in the future. Light refreshments will be provided at this open house style event held at the Deschutes Public Library in Downtown Bend on June 18 from 5:30pm to 8:00pm.  If you are planning on attending, please register for this event so we can plan accordingly.

Here is some information from Kerry regarding math by-pass process:

• If parents or teachers are recommending students by-pass a year of mathematics, students need to meet the minimum scores for EasyCBM and the written portion. Attached are the requirements.
• Administer the assessment in August and/or September. To help with student scheduling, it is recommended that you assess students in August before school starts. Parents and teachers probably know who would be interested in and capable of by-passing now. The few students who cannot make it to your August testing sessions, provide a time during the first week of school.
• If your school decides to administer EasyCBM to every student in September, please call it a universal screener and administer the paper-pencil assessment to students who have parent and/or teacher recommendations.  
• Please do not send a message to all families about by-passing a year of mathematics. It causes stress on students and families. Some don’t want this and they don’t want their child taking unnecessary assessments.
• If students wish to take online math to progress quicker, they must pass with at least a B. This is intended to ensure students are successful in future mathematics. This is a link with some information from Amy Tarnow.

A couple key language shifts regarding this process:

• EasyCBM a universal screener – we are using it for this purpose because it is easy to administer.
• This is by-passing, not challenging up. Students are skipping a year of mathematics.
• The requirements are intended to be rigorous so we can be sure students do not struggle unnecessarily in future mathematics.

The eighth-grade by-pass paper-pencil assessment is currently being revised. It was recommended it be more involved and challenging to ensure success of students in Algebra 1.

I recommend reviewing your data of your students who by-passed a grade level:

• Did each student achieve at least a B? If not, why?
  • Review the criteria and data used to by-pass that student, should the requirements be higher?

REMINDERS:

I think this is a reminder… but it has been a while for sure since this has been communicated. With the later school start time next year the question has come up about offering “early bird” classes that would end prior to our normal 8:45 start. There is some good rationale for this – but would defeat the the purpose of starting school later to allow adolescents more sleep in the morning. Therefore, early bird classes will not be an option for our secondary schools (at least 99.9% of the time) next year.

TO DO:

Please complete your Self-Reflection soon if you haven’t already.

We are asking that you and your ICCL folks register for the Aug. 20 Leadership day (that will start with a Mary Ehrenworth keynote). Please click on the “Sections” tab and make sure you are registering for the Aug. 20 day (section # 10456), and not Aug. 21 (unless you will be attending both days).

And speaking of next fall, here are a couple of documents that will be very helpful in your planning. First is one for you and has to do with Admin August inservice offerings (both required and optional). The second is the certified August work calendar that we’ve provided the last couple of years. Please make sure you share this with your staff – and specifically point out the required subject-area inservice on Aug. 30 for math and social studies.

THIS and THAT:

Obviously, great news coming out of the Senate this week with the passage of HB 3427 and much-needed funding for K-12 education. This linked article does a nice job of providing some of the behind-the-scenes drama, as well as outline the areas where these additional dollars will be earmarked. As a reminder, these funds do not infuse any additional revenue into our district’s 2019-20 budget. (Also of note is that an increase in PERS rates – 4.75% – will equate to an additional 4.4 million per year payment increase for BLS beginning next fall.)

I’m sure you are all familiar with “National Signing Day” for high school seniors. What started out as a revelation of where a student-athlete would be attending college has increasingly become a celebration of continuing a young person’s educational (academic) journey. This fall, our traditional day for welcoming new certified staff to our district might become known as “Teacher Signing Day” – in recognition of welcoming and honoring new certified employees to BLS. I’ll be sharing more details about this at our Horizontal meeting on Monday – and am very excited (this is me being very excited!) about the possibilities this will have in “creating a moment” for this new group of employees.

You have heard that TSPC had some changes in store for Oregon administration licensure. These will be in effect August 1, 2022. If you do not currently hold your “continuing” license – and consider working in a position outside of a building someday, then you should begin by reviewing this TSPC informational page because these changes will likely affect you. Additionally, if you know of anyone working on or thinking about working on her/his Oregon admin license, you may want to pass this informational flyer on to them.

Starting this week, the Extra and Co-Curricular measure in DART will include students in grades 6-12 who are enrolled in coursework like the performing arts, stagecraft, ROTC, mock trial, etc.  We expect this change will identify about 10-15% more students as participating in Extra and Co-Curricular Activities.  This change will affect the measure back to the 2013-2014 school year. If you haven’t taken a look at DART lately, this change might be the reason to review some of your school data.

REMINDERS:

We’ll be discussing chapters 13 – 17 of The Culture Code at our last Horizontal meeting of the year on May 20 (at PCMS). Here are my notes.

Here is the agenda for our Horizontal meeting on Monday (3:15 @ PCMS). Please bring your laptop.

Don’t forget to be prepared to talk at our Horizontal about a decision you made through a set of Equity Lens questions. You’ll be discussing this in small groups.

TO DO:

Please round up any DHS or Level 1 reports you have and send those to Jody McBride in Office of School Support. Jody needs to have these entered into Synergy before she leaves for the summer – which is shortly after the student’s last day – so receiving these now will allow her the time she needs to enter them all.

If you haven’t yet, please use the Equity Lens questions when making at least one major building decision. You may use these (or similar) questions regularly, which is great – but please do so at least once in the next week if you haven’t. I’ve set aside some time at our May 20 Horizontal meeting to discuss with each other how this exercise/experience was for you/your school and how you might make it a part of regular practice in the future.

THIS and THAT:

Here are the MS/HS district SIW dates for the 2019-20 school year: Oct. 9, Nov. 13, Feb. 12, and March 11.

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to put Aug. 20 on your calendar as the date for our Summer Leadership kick-off event… and invite your ICCLs if you haven’t yet!

And speaking of calendars, if you were not aware, the 2019-20 school calendars are now posted on our district website. Just in case any of you are doing any planning for next year already :).

I think you are all well aware by now of the “man crush” I have on the Heath Brothers, Dan and Chip (authors of Power of Moments, Switch and Made to Stick). One thing that I hope we (BLS and specifically middle schools) are remembered for is the “moments” we create for our students and staff. What will people associated with BLS remember years from now? Do you remember more about what you were taught in school, or the experiences you had in making personal connections and/or with others in your learning? What will staff remember about working in your building; what she/he taught 3rd period for 25 years in room 12B, or the connections they made with the students and adults they worked with? [These are not intended to be difficult questions.] I asked each of you last year to think about what you can do for your new staff starting in the fall that would be a “moment” they will not soon forget – and you generated a number of great ideas. This year we are considering making a small tweak to our New Teacher Day – with a goal of creating a powerful moment for those new to Bend-La Pine. (More details coming soon!) Consider this paragraph as a planting of a seed for you to spend a few minutes reflecting on this past fall and planning for next.

REMINDERS:

Please have your self-reflection completed by next Friday, May 17.

We’ll be discussing chapters 13 – 17 of The Culture Code at our last Horizontal meeting of the year on May 20 (at PCMS).

TO DO:

This is both a reminder and TO DO item… As I mentioned last week, principals, please plan on having your self-reflection completed by May 17 as I will be completing your summative evaluation with you when I come to your building (for my monthly visit) after this May 17 date.

Let me know if you have any questions regarding the collaborative activities planned for next Wednesday afternoon, May 8.

THIS and THAT:

Although you are all aware of this, I wanted to include this in this week’s TRIBE anyway… Congrats Lisa!

Here is a letter from DHS regarding their new child abuse hotline and other information. Please spend a few minutes reviewing it and sharing it with your staff as is appropriate.

For fun, and because it is also illegal to drive a vehicle while holding/talking on a cell phone in Oregon, I wanted to pass along this article out of the Washington Post. My favorite quote from this article is from the defense attorney when he said: “It’s a big deal to my client, but small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.” (Read the article and see if you don’t find some humor in this too!)

I will be attending an AdvancED state board meeting this coming Monday, but will have my cell phone and may consider paying for interruptions, so feel free to text or call me if you need anything.

Wanted to let you know that next Friday (5/10) a small group of us will be meeting to reflect and discuss possibilities for next year’s expulsion programming for MS students. If you have any input/suggestions, please let myself, Hayley, Brian U. or Eric know – as we’ll be spending a little time discussing this topic.

REMINDERS:

May 20 is our last MS Horizontal meeting of the year – at PCMS. We’ll be discussing chapters 13 – 17 from The Culture Code.

Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week – and I wish I could figure out a way to swing by HDMS for some home baked goods on Monday!

TO DO:

We’ll be discussing the last four chapters (13 – 17) of The Culture Code at our May Horizontal meeting. This is a bit longer section than what we’ve been discussing so I wanted you to know well in advance.

Can’t believe it will be May next week! Which makes me think of summative evaluations. Which means I need to provide you (principals) with a deadline for completing your self-reflection – Friday, May 17 – and also schedule a time to meet with you to complete this year’s summative. What I suggest is that during either my late May or early June visit to your building we plan on meeting to go over your evaluation. Please let me know if you have a question or concern with either of these two next steps.

THIS and THAT:

I’m not sure if you caught this article in Education Week last month or not, but I think it is worth passing along in case you missed it. This article highlights (and provides a link for) the top 10 most read articles in 2018 by school principals. These articles cover a variety of topics – and I’m hoping that one might strike a cord for you.

REMINDERS:

I will be at an accreditation visit on Monday and Tuesday. Please call or text my cell if you need to reach me and I will reply as soon as I can.

TO DO:

Don’t forget to bring a (draft/final) copy of your 2019-20 bell schedule with you to the Horizontal meeting on Monday.

THIS and THAT:

It seems as though one thing middle schools are known for is bullying student behaviors. We don’t encourage this or condone this, we investigate reported incidents, and we administer consequences when it is found bullying has occurred. Nonetheless, young adolescents don’t always treat others with respect. With this in mind, I wanted to pass along the following article that appeared in the Marshall Memo (775, Feb. 25, 2019): Increasing “Upstander” Behavior to Combat School Bullying. It appeared to have some good resources/talking points that may be helpful to you.

From Alandra: Thanks to everyone who submitted a student suggestion for our annual family handbook and calendar, which is sent home to every family in the district. We have some stellar nominees! That said, we could still use your help: We have an over-representation of female students and could use some additional male student nominees. Please help us and nominate a student today using this form: https://forms.gle/1pnin61efE78dYWNA We want to highlight students from all backgrounds and abilities. Feel free to share this request with staff and thank you for helping us highlight our incredible students!

Thank you for working on/finalizing/adjusting your staffing plans. I’ll be taking another look at these over the weekend. Katie and I are still working on placing a few current employees before the gates are opened to begin posting positions.

The Improvement Science Summit that I attended was definitely worth the trip and time… but as you know it is difficult to be away. I am still processing the information that I learned but look forward to sprinkling some of these learned seeds with you in the months ahead.

As a heads-up, I will be away from the office on Monday and Tuesday (April 29 and 30) as part of a HS Accreditation visit. I will have my cell phone with me and reach back out to you if I am not available when you call/text.

REMINDERS:

We will be meeting at LPMS on Monday afternoon for this month’s Horizontal meeting. Here is the agenda.

As part of our meeting, we will be talking about chapters 10 – 12 in the Culture Code. Here are my notes in case you are interested… but I’ll be most interested in hearing your thoughts!

TO DO:

At our Leadership meeting a few weeks ago Shay talked about May 8 and potential certified staff walk out. He also mentioned that he would like each level to talk about and have a plan for how that day may look if this occurs. When we meet for Horizontal on April 22 (at LPMS) this will be one of the agenda items we discuss. Please do some thinking about this prior to then as we’ll begin with a sharing of ideas.

If you have a draft (or final version) of your 2019-20 bell schedule, would you please bring it with you (or have access to it) to our Horizontal meeting on April 22. We need to select new unexcused absence capture times (morning and afternoon) and having this information will be helpful.

THIS and THAT:

Wanted to pass along an opportunity for you this spring – or any time really – to have Austin James come to your site to talk with you or answer questions around school/district data. Please reach out to Austin directly if you’d like to discuss topics such as:

• DART specific questions
• Where/how to get data that might help in forecasting for next fall
• Ideas for new upstream measures in the school design plan
• Strategies for effective data use throughout the school year
• Any other data needs they have

About a month ago Education Week ran an article titled: These Students are Doing PD with their Teachers. Their Feedback is Candid. Here is my favorite quote from the article “We’ve got 20 million books out there on how to be the best teacher, but none of them were written by a 14-year-old,” he said. “And that’s what we miss out on in staff development.” Sometimes it is the most obvious idea that we are slow to think of ourselves. What are your thoughts regarding incorporating student voice into your staff PD? How might you do this (if you wanted to)?

The Nancy Chandler Visiting Scholar Program at COCC Foundation is hosting Professor Robert Putnam for a keynote, “Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis,” on May 13.  Putnam’s nationwide research on this topic included a case study of the opportunity gap in Bend. Here is a link for more information on Putnam and the keynote and to reserve tickets:  www.cocc/edu/foundation/vsp. The morning after Putnam’s keynote, local educators, non-profits and thought leaders are invited to gather and learn from Professor Putnam about the broader national implications of the growing opportunity gap and to hear about communities and programs that demonstrate systemic change. This work session will occur May 14, 8:30 – 10:30 a.m. The work session is free, but space is limited. If you would like to attend, please contact Lora Nordquist directly to make sure spots are still available.

REMINDERS:

Wanted to remind you that I’ll be out of town much of next week – leaving Monday afternoon and returning Thursday night.

Don’t forget that we’d like for you to work with their leadership team and “walk” one major site decision through an equity lens as a part of the process? (Lora talked about this at a previous Leadership meeting.) Lora has previously shared some questions for you to consider when you do this “walk” – and here are some examples of additional questions you might consider. I will ask that you be prepared to share your equity walk at our May 20 Horizontal meeting.