Dear Team,
I want to thank our wonderful TOSA’s for their presentation today. They are doing wonderful work across our district and they are a wonderful resource for our teachers.
I want to thank you again for speaking your truth today at our horizontal meeting about the challenges we are facing at the middle level. Please remember to send me and Eric Powell an invite to your ICCL meeting. I would like to get these meetings done before January. In our listening sessions bring your behavior data. It can be from Synergy, or a spreadsheet, or data from your reflection room. Eric and I will take anecdotal data from our conversation with teachers. Ensure to copy Denise Sevigney in the email as she calendars my appointments.
I am in this work with you! Remember to recharge and I hope you do something fun for yourself! Have a wonderful three day weekend! ~Juan
To Do
Educator Network Day
On November 16th from 3:00-4:00 our secondary teachers will be meeting in the first Educator Network Day. This content specific professional learning time is led by our District ICCLs and TOSAs.
This document has a rough draft of the administrators assignments for this day. Attempts were made to have multiple admin at the larger sessions. This “assignment” may be changed if you can work out a trade with another principal or assistant principal.
The role of the administration at the Educator Network Day is to take roll (there is an electronic way to do this) and to support ICCLs and TOSA with questions that are beyond their scope. This may include bringing questions back to Level Leaders and Dean.
This and That
From Dean & Juan
Thank you for time leaning fully into the embedded session with Renee last week and La Pine Middle School. Being away from your buildings is difficult. It was great to see how Renee worked with La Pine Middle School students and gave us a vision for how we can facilitate these groups. If you need support from Juan or Dean in selecting, setting up, or co-facilitating your groups, please let us know.
From Dave VanLoo
YouthTruth Kickoff Webinar
Prior to November 28, please watch this brief prerecorded webinar in preparation for the YouthTruth survey in January https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RzTK82XodqDeIX5AGQEAbKPxztFIhev0/view?usp=sharing
Pro-Tip: Because we’re all short on time these days. To receive all the pertinent information in less time, you can watch the recording at 1.5x speed. To change the playback speed, click the settings “gear” icon in the lower right-hand corner of the video screen.
Our representative, Elissa, will be in touch with an email to school teams on Monday, November 28th with instructions for accessing the Survey Implementation Guide.
Thank you.
From Kinsey
The Office of DEI’s family engagement team has a few events coming up. It is always well-received to have school leaders and staff participate in these events.
Please consider attending one–or all–of these events (and to the extent possible, avoid scheduling school events during these evenings):
- Tues, Nov 29th – Spanish-language FAFSA Night
- Tues, Jan 17th – 5th annual Bend-La Pine Schools’ Latino Family Night
- Wed, Jan 25th – 1st annual Bend-La Pine Schools’ Asian-American Family Night
More information to follow—for now just save the dates!
Information
Policy moment: ownership of curriculum: Recently there was a question about who “owns” curriculum once it is developed by our staff. GCQBA-AR is the administrative regulation that addresses this topic.
From Jackie Wilson (Mueller), BLS Sustainability and Energy Specialist
National Recycling Day November 15th: Did you know that BLS produces about 388 cubic yards of waste weekly? To celebrate National Recycling Day, your staff can compete in a fun learning challenge about waste and recycling. The school with the highest percentage of staff participation will win a special prize. The challenge is done through an online app with quick learning challenges worth points. To participate, staff need to download the Goosechase iOS or Android app, either sign up for an account or participate as a guest and join the challenge with your schools specific code. Use the specific code for your school to access and play.
If you have any specific questions about expanding recycling at your school or education needs, please reach out to [email protected]
The Down “the Drain”and Dirty: Not all that goes down the drain should. Many of our schools have had sewer back-ups, most of them due to misuse of the systems. It is important to educate staff and students about our sewer systems and the importance of the “Three P’s” in municipal water systems, pee, poo, and (loo) paper. Here is an informative and funny video to share with students and staff about keeping our septic running clean found on the City of Bend’s Educational Resources.
There have also been multiples issues with “flushable wipes.” There are not any wipes truly degrade in water systems and tend to block up pipes. Check out this video by a local student about keeping flushable wipes out of the toilets. The new menstrual products being flushed are also causing problems. You can teach students about these dispensers and HB 3294, The Mensural Dignity Act, with this short presentation.
Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day -November 14th: On November 14th, students can recognize and celebrate the legacy of Ruby Bridges by walking to school on November 14th. Bear Creek and Juniper Elementary Families can meet at Juniper Park and walk to school with Commute Options to show support for social justice, equity, inclusion, and sustainability in BLS schools. Any student walking to school that day can download a bingo card English/Spanish and snap a photo of it completed to Commute Options. http://commuteoptions.org/RBWTSD
“My message is really that racism has no place in the hearts and minds of our children” Ruby Bridges
Calendar
November 14: Principal PD session 3:00-4:30; Brooks Hall, Trinity Church by the Ed Center
November 16: 1st Educator Network SIW
November 18: College and Career Day
Week of November 21-25: No School-Holiday Break
November 28: Assistant Principal Professional Development 7:30-8:30 @Ed Center Boardroom
December 8: Middle School Work Session Time:3:00-4:30pm (New start time) @Pilot Butte Middle School
Fish On…
