Hello Wave Riders,
It seems like the weeks are coming and going at a good clip. Remember, slow down and enjoy the ride. There is a lot going on around us and we need to look up once an a while to notice all the wonderful things students and teachers are doing. Have a great weekend.
To Do
Important It was brought to our attention at a level leaders meeting, and personally, we have experienced it and seen it for ourselves, that there is inconsistency from school to school, in what information is being shared or in most cases, not shared, with staff. It is extremely important that the information we ask you to share is getting shared with all staffs or things we ask you to do are getting done. We realized that part of the problem is how we are communicating to you, what needs to be shared. To help improve that, we will be indicating in red, the section that has information that you must share or do. The expectation is that you would at the very least, put that info in your next weekly staff newsletter. Sometimes it will be things that you can directly copy and paste, and other times it may be something you need to modify a bit to fit your school.
From Lora Nordquist
Evaluation and SLGG Requirement Updates Below is the final revision of the requirements for mini observations as well as a few highlights.
- Here is the link to the Certified Evaluation Update
- Both the number of observations and the evaluation domains and standards have been adjusted. Note that for certified staff “of concern,” administrators can use additional domains and standards, with proper notification to employees.
- ODE JUST provided additional guidance on SLGG’s, stating that one should be related to academic progress and one related to SEL. At the bottom of this one-pager is a link to a resource document from Dave. Take a look at the document – it has information, steps to take and suggested SLGG’s to possibly use. You may now move forward with doing SLGGs with your staff. Let’s target January 1st as our due date for SLGG’s.
- Administrators need to review the adjusted evaluation criteria and required number of observations with their staff.
- Talent Ed is in the process of being set up by Stephanie Bent to reflect these new changes.
- SLGGs can still be done using the paper method that has been used in previous years. E-Version
Concern for 11/12 – We have looked ahead to November 12th and see that district wide 87 teachers have already arranged to be gone that day. Most of these absences were entered as a personal day – which required your approval ahead of time. Per our collective bargaining agreement, no more than 5% of your building staff can be out on a personal day, which for most of you is no more than 2 people. We have noticed several schools that have exceeded that. Please have your office manager go into the system to see if that is your school. Check to see that you have pre-approved the personal day absences already listed. If you have not, please connect with those teachers and approve or deny the personal day as it fits your allowable amount of staff that can be absent on a personal day. At this time, you cannot exceed that 5%. This is especially important during this time of limited subs. Be prepared with a classroom coverage plan as we may re-assign subs to different locations for that day if there are situations more dire than your site.
From TLC
Our middle school Math curriculum, DESMOS has some new quality-of-life improvements for our teachers and students! One of those upgrades is a consumable notebook for each student, which we are able to download from their site. The notebooks are organized by unit and give students an opportunity to both take notes, see and track vocabulary, as well as record practice problems. District Math ICCL and teacher at Cascade MS Tara Butler-Kruger from Cascade has edited each unit workbook to add pages for students to record their reflections as well as other resources to help our students stay organized. This resource has been shared with all Middle School Math teachers via their Google Drive. These notebooks support ALL of our students and allow the teacher to see where individuals need added support. The cost to print each book from the BLP print shop is roughly $1.20 per student per unit and our DESMOS curriculum has 8 units at each grade level.
You may have your Math teachers asking for this resource. At Cascade MS, where this project originated, these books were paid for out of the Principal Supply Budget and SIF.
A friendly but serious reminder – at our COVID safety meeting we were reminded that if you, or any of your staff members, has suspected symptoms or has tested positive for COVID you must notify your school nurse. Additionally, all staff must be wearing approved masks correctly at all times. As an administrator it is your responsibility to ensure these practices are being followed. Please look for an email from Steve Herron that further discusses these topics.
Did you miss the due date like I did? We used to have December 31 as our date to finish Safe Schools aka Vector training. The new date is October 31. In between passing out candy keep your slide moving! Please remind your staff.
This & That
From Kinsey Martin
“Religion and Holidays” Equity Audit
The “holiday season” we are entering is a great opportunity to reflect on how we, as a public school system, uphold both the protection of religious liberty as well as the separation of church and state.
Like most issues that are important to who we are as individuals and as a community, our understanding of respect and inclusion is constantly shifting and expanding. This comes with awkwardness, discomfort, and an urgent need to calibrate and talk openly together.
LEAD Cohort members will be reaching out to coordinate an opportunity to check our current practices against our collective values, rights, and responsibilities. Here is the reflection tool that will be used. This is just an FYI for now–if you have questions or concerns, or want to talk this through before your LEAD Cohort member approaches you, please reach out to Kinsey.
Need Masks? – We just received 5,000 of the newer better fitting KN95 masks. To request some of them send an email to [email protected].
From Jennifer Hauth
Reminders
From Julianne Repman
In case of an emergency response at your school or site; LockDOWN, Secure, Evacuation, Shelter, Hold, schools must call 541-355-8888 as soon as it is safe to do so (after lockingDOWN the school and calling 9-1-1, for example). You do not need to call the line for medical transportation from your site that is not critical.
Voicemail left here is sent to a variety of Cabinet-level leaders who begin to stop deliveries, stage buses, make changes to food service, and other activities to support your situation. This system is in place to expedite support to you and limit the need for you to ‘dial for dollars’ in an emergency, when looking for help. It also improves communication as all recipients of the message hear the same updates – reducing conflicting information.
541-355-8888 must be called at the end of the event, as well.
This protocol was revisited at Safety Day this fall and with Office Managers at their annual training. This phone line has been in place for many years. Thanks to all of those who continue to use it and a reminder to those new members of the team who might appreciate a quick reminder.
Feel free to call Julianne if you want to test out the phone line or have questions.
Calendar
M.S. Horizontal Meeting Schedule
- October 29-Civil Rights Training due
- October 29-SRP videos must be viewed by staff and students
- October 27-28 Work day and Conferences
- November 1, 7:30 am Horizontal Ed Center (Draft of school design due) Be ready to share. Coffee and treats provided (Here is the Protocol that Lora will be using)
- November 11-Veterans Day
- November 12-Potential Teacher Sub Shortage
- November 15-Horizontal Meeting 7:30-9:00 @Pilot Butte Middle School Here is the Draft Agenda
- November 22-26 No School
- December 2 Middle School Principals (only) Breakfast 7:30-9:00 @The Original Pancake House 1025 SW Donovan Ave, Bend.
Fish On…
