Team,
I hope you all had a good week with students, staff and community. I can appreciate where all of you are with how each of you face day-to-day operations, successes, and challenges in your buildings. You all are doing wonderful work and making significant changes for our middle level!
In order for me to know and understand MTSS Tier II, and/orTier III at the middle level, I would like to attend each school’s MTSS meetings. Please, send me an invite to that meeting or let me know when it happens, so I can calendar it. I look forward to seeing your teams at work.
As I mentioned before, I have been updating the pages on the Fish Basket. Take a moment to surf the below pages. You might find it useful.
Here are the latest links of information:
- SLGG Guidance (They are coming soon!)
- School Board Goals & District Policies
- Safety
- Standard Response Protocol
- Certified Professional Growth and Performance Manual
- Middle School Running Minutes 2022-2023
- Meeting Agendas
- Instruction
~Juan
To Do
From Michele Clements
Hello administrators – At October 13’s admin meeting, Torie Withers (our new LA coordinator) and I will be updating you on the current status of the Language Arts adoption, as well as this year’s actions and projects underway to support the curriculum alignment work occurring at every grade level. To achieve this year’s goals, we will need site representation from every team to occur in a small variety of ways. Juan is asking you to bring a Language Arts team member to the October 13 meeting who can act as department messenger and point person to collaborate with you as your site selects its participants. We look forward to sharing more with you on October 13. Your language arts attendee will be free to leave with us after our presentation.
From Paul & Human Resources
UKG Project Update
Please take a moment, if you haven’t already done so, to visit HR’s UKG website, and view the Training #1 video with your staff during your next weekly meeting. We’d ask that all staff make a login attempt either via the UKG website or through the app. Anyone who encounters a login problem should submit an IT Help Desk Ticket. So far 23% of BLS staff have successfully logged in with very few problems. You may use this UKG FAQ google doc to add questions that staff ask during your weekly meetings.
Below is our updated training plan leading up to the December 5th Go-Live plan:
- October 5th – 11th: Conceptual understanding of Leave Workflow
- October 12th – 18th: Conceptual understanding of Leave Request
- October 19th – 25th: How to request leave within UKG
- October 26th – November 1st: Conceptual understanding of electronic timesheet submissions
- November 2nd – 8th: How to make a timesheet submission within UKG
I will be joining the Leadership meeting on October 10th, present the Leave Workflow and Request process and answer any questions that you have. Our UKG Implementation Team is willing to visit your site during one of your regularly scheduled meetings to address staff questions. You may sign up for the visit on this spreadsheet.
From Lora Nordquist
Principals,
As many of you know, we’re still facing challenges with getting substitute teachers in our schools. While we want to support professional learning and field trips, we also want to be cautious for now. So, for the time being, we ask you to do the following:
- If you have staff that require subs who are taking students on a field trip, please make sure these are only scheduled Tuesday-Thursday. Any exceptions need the approval of your level leader!
- If you have staff that require subs engaged in school business (grade level or department planning, ICCL retreats, etc.), you need to get the approval of your level leader IF more than three subs are needed. Again, these should be scheduled for Tuesday-Thursday.
From Tracy Howk
Digital Citizenship from Instructional Technology
October brings a refreshed emphasis on digital citizenship. Most of us agree that digital citizenship skills are important but are unsure how to fit teaching them into our already full schedules. Rather than recreating the wheel, Bend La Pine Schools leans on the expertise of Common Sense Education and their vast resources, including ready-made free digital citizenship lessons for all grade levels. To get started, check out Digital Citizenship Made Simple. These skills will carry our students into the future; please take a few minutes to highlight their importance in your school this month.
Reminder about personal leave
Just a reminder that personal days need prior approval and buildings cannot have more than 5% of their staff out on personal leave – that is about 2 teachers for most schools.
This and That
From Lora Nordquist
During October and November, community and district facilitators will be hosting approximately 15 “community conversations” with student, family, and community groups. These are the second iteration of our listening sessions that were part of our original excellence and equity review.
This time, we are focusing, for the most part, on talking to groups that already exist: student GSA clubs, the Latino Family Advisory group, RJE, etc. We are using this strategy because a) we think conversations are more open when individuals are familiar with one another; and b) it’s simpler logistically to arrange these.
We will be using the qualitative data gathered in these conversations, along with Youth Truth survey data from staff, students, and families, as well as other quantitative and qualitative data, to inform the district’s strategic planning. As with the excellence and equity review, we will be creating materials to share with our leaders, staff, and community regarding the major findings.
Kinsey Martin will be reaching out to you if a session is planned for your school. Our district team will handle almost all of the logistics, with club advisors supporting. Thanks for supporting students’ and families’ voices, if a session is hosted at your school.
From Dave VanLoo
Principals,
By Friday 10/21 schools need to determine their primary contact and coordinator for YouthTruth surveys in January. Please enter the coordinator’s information in columns AF-AI in the spreadsheet linked here, or email their name to Dave VanLoo. Last year’s coordinator, if submitted to YouthTruth, is already populated in the file. If the coordinator cells are blank, the principal will be the survey coordinator for YouthTruth.
From Alandra
Bond Info: Thanks to those of you who tuned in to Dr. Cook’s presentation to staff about the bond. We recorded it and will share with staff via email next week. Your school will be receiving a stack of bilingual flyers about the bond. Please find a spot for these in your lobby or entrance area (We sent a bunch in anticipation of conferences coming up.) You will also receive a sign with the same information to place on an easel in your lobby area. If you need an easel, let us know and we can send one over. I’m happy to help with any additional questions regarding the bond – Alandra
From Jennifer Hauth
The MS counselors have their next PLC meeting on October 14th. In order to for our COSA and ICCL to know how to better support our MS counselors while they move towards a comprehensive school counseling program, we will be asking counselors to complete a “Use of Time Analysis” for two weeks following our PLC meeting. We recognize the heavy lift of our school counseling roles, while understanding that each counselor and site are doing things differently. We are hoping that with this data, we can better understand the unique needs of each of our counseling programs. Following the “Use of Time Analysis”, we will come together to review our data and take next steps to offer support through collaborative teams and 1:1 mentoring, if needed. This may look differently for all sites but could include developing PLC work around:
- Developing Core Curriculum (Tier 1)
- Developing Tier 2 and 3 Counseling Interventions
- Use of Data to Determine School Counseling Programming
- Time Management
- Advocacy
- Collaboration Time
- And more, it will really depend on what we gather from our data collection😊
As administrators, we want you involved to learn and understand more about the school counseling programming at your site. We will ask that they share their data and updated plans with you following the completion of their analysis. Here is a quick link that outlines our ASCA framework for your reference and an additional resource on comprehensive middle school counseling programs.
More from Jennifer Hauth
Bend-La Pine Schools is partnering with Deschutes County Health Services to provide Parent Connect Workshops. See if your school has a workshop and register here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uR4voCPn28VVPi-D9tjN7wyKkONeT5b34aWruHnXYGg/edit?usp=sharing
The Connect Workshop is a FREE, 2-hour opportunity for parents and guardians in Deschutes County to learn factual, unbiased information and skills to start conversations with their kids about substance use. Each participant will receive a $15 Gift Card after completing the workshop.
From Jackie Muellar
Walk and Roll to School Day October 12th
Please help spread the word that October 12th is Walk and Bike to School day. Let parents and teachers know it is Walk + Roll to School Day on October 12th and parents/students can enter their trip here to win prizes: commuteoptions.org/walkroll
BLS is collecting baseline data on # of students using alternative transportation and we need your help. Pass on the tally sheets to teachers to fill out for two days. You do not need to have it on the 12th just sometime in the month of October. There are two forms per sheet and they can be done in a simple hand raise or stand-up collection style. Completed forms can be turned into the main office and then sent to Jackie Wilson, at Admin Building, through inner district mail. Teachers can use this google document if it is easier.
National Recycling Day – November 15th
Coming soon will be information about National Recycling Day and how to celebrate it with your school. To prepare, please ensure that your staff understand what can and cannot be recycling in Deschutes County. Please share this document so that folks can be on the same page. If staff want to learn more, they can watch this video from 2021 National Recycling Day, The Do’s and Don’t of recycling! If you need any additional bins or recycling signs, please reach out to [email protected].
From The Education Foundation
SHOUT OUT because we know our K-12 educators are working hard planning, developing, and executing stellar programs and curriculum for our Bend-La Pine students. To help with that, we are offering our 2022 Back-to-School Classroom Grant opportunity for funding. Please see the Classroom Grant Guidelines and Classroom Grant Application, both of which can also be found on our website. The deadline for applications is Friday, October 14, 2022, and all application requests must be emailed to our office at this email address: [email protected]
Funding decisions and fund distribution will occur November 1, 2022.
The Education Foundation for Bend-La Pine Schools is an independent non-profit 501(c)3 that has aided local schools since 1988. Our mission is to prepare our students for success and the future through educational and extracurricular opportunities. Since 2003, the Education Foundation has invested over $2.1 million into local schools through endowments, special projects, and our main programs. For more information about the Education Foundation, please visit our website at www.engagedminds.org.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or our Program Coordinator Jessie Norman at [email protected]. We look forward to receiving your applications and continuing to help make opportunities possible for our students and teachers! Education Foundation for Bend-La Pine Schools. (541) 355-5660 www.engagedminds.org
Calendar
October 10: K-12 Principal Only Work Session 3:00-4:30 @Ed Center Board Room
October 13: Middle School Work Session 7:30-9:00 @High Desert Middle School
October 14: Middle School Assistant Principals Breakfast at 7:00-8:30 @Jackson’s Corner (West Side)
October 18: Middle School Principal Breakfast (optional) 7:30-9:00 @Original Pancake House 1025 SW Donovan, Ave (West Side)
October 24: Assistant Principal Professional Development 7:30-8:30 @Ed Center Boardroom
October 28: Middle School Work Session 7:30-9:00 @La Pine Middle School
October 31: Halloween
November 10: Middle School Work Session 7:30-9:00 @Pacific Crest Middle School
Fish On…
Take a moment to reflect on this short video clip. How does this approach apply to our work?