Team,
I appreciate all of you and your effort. I know you are putting in a tremendous amount of time and thought into your schools. I love your questions, the way you are problem solving and getting ready for staff and students. We are off to a great start as a team!
Happy Friday, and get out and enjoy the weekend~Juan
To Do
From Dr. Cook re: Welcome Back Celebration News
As you know, this year’s Welcome Back presentation will take place virtually (8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31 at https://bls.fyi/welcomeback), but the celebration will ALSO take place in-person – at your school/department. We want to see your team-building and engaging/joyous celebration efforts. And we want to recognize those who go above and beyond to kick off the year. The school/department displaying the most creativity (50% of score) and highest percentage of staff participation (50% of score) during their Welcome Back effort will receive new branded gear on us. We can’t wait to see how you celebrate! Send pictures, video (optional) and a short blurb about your efforts to Alandra Johnson. Thank you for using this time to make meaning and connect with one another, as we kick off the year with joy and optimism. – Steve Cook
From Sean Reinhart regarding Inclusion EAs:
Last year, OSEA put in a “demand to bargain” over working conditions for Inclusion EAs (think all your SPED EAs). Several items were agreed upon (HERE is a quick synopsis) including a minimal training standard for all new inclusion EAs before they can begin working with students. In consultation with OSEA, EAs, and Learning Specialists, we have designed a training for our new EAs that they will need to complete prior to the arrival of students on Sept. 7.
The training is a Canvas course that EAs will complete individually and with the support of their supervising Learning Specialist and school admin. The course will involve watching some videos, working directly with the supervising teacher on safety and student specifics, and some basic school orientation. The scope and sequence can be found by clicking the following: Training for Inclusion Educational Assistants
Student services admin will inform and train all Learning Specialists at our August 30th training so they will be prepared and know their roles. We are hoping that you can connect with your Learning Specialists to help make the plan, specifically around the content involving supervision, leave records, subs, and other admin tasks. Mostly, your role is to be welcoming and informative as usual.
Further, as you will see in the MOU language, all inclusion EAs will be issued a technology device (iPads). We are working with IT so that your building site tech will have an iPad for all NEW inclusion EAs on their first day (Aug. 31). On their first workday, please have them get their device from your site tech so they can complete the training during in-service week. Please be aware, we are still hiring and placing new inclusion EA’s as we speak, so stay tuned as you may have some new folks coming.
This is all new and we appreciate your support with onboarding and training our new inclusion EAs. Please let me know if you have any questions or run into any issues.
Safety Day Slides from Julianne:
Here are the slides from Safety day.
From Kinsey Martin
District Equity Stance
Here is the link to our district Equity Stance, which we discussed and previewed together at horizontal retreats. Coming soon: PDF/printable version, Spanish and Chinese translations, more unpacking together.
This will be shared with all families on Friday the 2nd, so please share with your staff by Thursdaythe 1st. Several of you have asked about giving time for staff to review it during inservice week–that is a great idea! At a minimum, share the link with staff and invite them to review and reflect, ahead of more unpacking of the content at a later date.
If you’d like partnership designing an activity for sharing during inservice, please reach out to Kinsey.
(Some ideas: have staff jigsaw the different sections in groups/teams, or use a 3-2-1 protocol: 3 phrases that are impactful, 2 questions, 1 personal next step.)
Jackie Wilson (Mueller) re: Sustainability First, just an update that Jackie is officially a Bend-La Pine Employee focusing on our district sustainability efforts. Jackie and Terry Cashman are putting the final touches on the school sustainability program, which you will see coming in the next few weeks. In the meantime, here is some current information:
- As part of the district goals to reduce emissions, please share some of information contained in the Idle Free Campaign. Here you will find information to share with parents via letters, newsletters and even a 2-photo link for emails. There will be additional Idle-Free work with green teams this year, but early education and information sharing is important to the success.
- Don’t forget to share your schools SUGGESTED WALKING AND ROLLING ROUTES from Commute Options in messaging to parents as well. You can get your schools map in the “check out what we are doing at your school” portion of the webpage and then the walking routes, open the tab listed under Bend-La Pine School District. Once opened, you can copy the link for families to see routes related to your school. For example, here is a walking route for Sky View Middle School.
No New Teachers??
For those of you with no new teachers you do not have to attend the new teacher day at Pac Crest. However, be absolutely sure you don’t have anyone attending. Sometimes teachers who joined us late last year are invited to this year’s event. Also you may have a new school psych, speech teacher, and Student Success Coach. Reach out to Ryan Kelling if you are unsure if you should show up or not.
This and That
From Jennifer Hauth: School Counseling Updates
Professional Learning:
August 30 is our District Led training day @ Caldera High (8:00 AM- 4:00 PM)
The district is excited to have hired Jess Calbreath as a Counselor on Special Assignment. Here is an overview of her work for this year:
- Support school site counselors
- Bring counselor voice to district level conversations / committee meetings
- Build a BLS District Counseling Toolkit
- Oversee ICCL Team that leads monthly PLC work with all K-12 counselors. See dates and time below.
- Support the development of meaningful professional learning
- District Level Tier 1 Program Development : all three domains
From Amber McGill and Culture of Care:
Recently you may have received a screenshot of the upcoming Restorative Practices classes, in which the hotlinks did not work. Here is the document with links that work! 22-23 RP PD Menu Looking forward to seeing some of you this fall!
From Tami Pike
Bend-La Pine Schools COVID-19 Guidance Algorithm for Students and Staff. (For internal use only.) – see attached
These tools will help staff navigate when a student/staff person develops symptoms and/or tests positive for COVID-19. To report a positive student/staff, please complete the Bend-La Pine Schools COVID-19 Reporting Form. A contact tracer or nurse will follow up with the positive individual to determine their return-to school/work date.
Staff Health Related Questions
For any staff related symptom/health questions please refer them to their health care provider. Bend-La Pine Nurses cannot provide health related recommendations. If it is a COVID-19 question regarding signs/symptoms, COVID-19 positive reporting, and/or the return-to-work procedure, staff should reach out to:
- Office Manager
- Nurse Michelle Spetic
- 541-355-6925
- [email protected]
- Nurse Tami Pike
- 541-350-8387 (text first)
- [email protected]
Student Health Related Questions
Please contact your school nurse.
Masks and AQI
Human Resources wants to make sure that each school has N95 masks readily available to staff who request them when the AQI is above 101. I would advise that the box of N95 masks stays with a staff person who will be onsite at all times. (Some nurses have multiple school sites.) In reality, most staff either won’t use a N95 mask or will grab a medical grade face mask (KN95, 3ply masks). Due to the limited number of available N95 masks, employees who choose to wear a N95 mask will be expected to follow the Mask Storage Guidelines. (See attached)
The monitoring of smoke and heat is a shared responsibility. Each school-based safety team should discuss how admin/nurses/safety team members will collaborate to look at the smoke readings/heat index and informing staff of restrictions to outdoor activities.
I have received reports that schools are sending unused masks (N-95, KN95, 3 ply) back to Distribution. Please keep the masks at your school sites. COVID-19 is still here, and schools should have them available to individuals who choose or are required to wear a face mask. You are welcome to return face shields to Distribution, Attn: Gerry.
STAS Level 1 Training Opportunities (for New BLS Administrators)
For any new Bend-La Pine Administrators who are in need of STAS Level 1 training, here are a pair of opportunities to receive this training with the High Desert ESD:
Friday, September 30th
12:00-4:00pm
Location: High Desert ESD Office (Redmond)
Wednesday, October 19th
12:00-4:00pm
Location: High Desert ESD Office (Redmond)
If interested in either of these positions, please Email Misty Groom at [email protected] or you can Email Eric Powell to discuss/sign up.
Calendar
Here is a LINK to a summary of our work in August and the first week of school.
Fish On…
As you start getting ready for your faculty and teachers, ask yourself, are there any Mr. Jensens on my staff? or I’m I a Mr. Jensen? Bettina Love said, there were two teachers who changed her life because of a “single moment in time.!”