Remember, Be ready to shift, when movement happens! Also, don’t forget to refer back to previous blogs as you are pondering questions and seeking answers. And you can also call or text me directly. I hope you are building your “sea legs” and starting to find a groove. When I’m out in buildings, It is great to see kids in action-You are doing amazing work!
The weather is going to be spectacular this weekend! Find some time to get out and rejuvenate!
To Do
Staffing plans
Now that hiring has calmed down I need everyone to put the final edits on your staffing plan. Please look at people, positions, and hours and make the necessary updates. Thanks!
This and That
Staff who do not vaccinate or sign religious/medical exemptions
If you have staff who are asking you what will happen after 10/18 if they do not get vaccinated or sign an exemption, you are to tell them “As of 10/18, you will no longer be employable.” You are not to interpret what that means and you can direct them to reach out to HR with additional questions.
Priority – Speaking of vaccinations – We need 100% of your staff to complete the Frontline vaccination form they received via email. If they cannot find the email from Frontline, have them check the “clutter” and “junk” folders, as it has gone to all three places. This survey asks staff to upload their vax card or their waiver form. We will be reviewing staff lists next Friday and notifying you of those staff who have not completed this request. Please provide time or assistance as needed. This is very important. Again 100% participation from every staff member at your school.
Sub process
Unfortunately we are already experiencing sub shortages and there have been several of you that have asked questions about district sub and subs in general. Here is something I put together that might help clarify things.
From TLC
There’s a new format for the TLC newsletter. Check it out!
More from TLC
In TLC we are excited about increasing our support to teachers with our TOSAs. To support Linda and Colleen in this work, we are seeking 4 Math ICCL (2 MS, 2 HS) and 5 Science ICCL (4 content specific in HS and 1 MS.) An email went out to Science and Math teachers on Friday to apply for ICCL positions. Please encourage your teachers to apply by Sunday October 3rd. We hope to have the ICCLs selected by the end of that week. Those names will be included in this blog.
Reminders
From Lora Nordquist
Educator Network SIW’s
Team,
The district has designated four SIW’s over the course of the school year “Educator Network” SIW’s:
October 13
January 12
February 9
April 20
The purpose of these days is to provide time for four-part districtwide trainings, district PLC meetings, etc. A few examples include content-area meetings for high school language arts and science teachers, trainings in incorporating strategies to support multi-lingual students, early literacy best practices, training with Bruce Perry for our student success staff, and an overview of our instructional framework. Three things we want all building leaders to know now:
All certified and building administrative staff (and some classified EA’s) will be required to participate in a strand during the EN SIW’s: this is not individual prep time for any staff. For some staff, a particular strand will be required; for others, choices will be provided.
Most trainings will be conducted on Webex; a few will be live.
The teaching and learning and student services departments will be sharing more complete information and training descriptions very soon! The schedule will be in next week’s blog!
If you have questions, reach out to your level leader, Julie Walker (elementary), or Dean Richards (secondary).
From Marta Broberg
Classroom Grant Applications are due October 15. Here are the docs for you to share with your staff.
We have entered into an agreement for The Child Center to provide onsite counseling services. HERE is all the information you will need to access this support.
September 28 School Visits Sky View, Realms, Cascade, Pacific Crest
September 30, School Visits La Pine, High Desert, Pilot Butte
October 18, @7:30 am Horizontal at High Desert Middle School- Read pgs, 1-5, complete Water the Bamboo Assessment, & read chapter 1 and complete Water the Bamboo Uncover Your Core Values-Be prepared to discuss the values and pare the list down to 5 for our team.
October 29-Civil Rights Training due
October 29-SRP videos must be viewed by staff and students
I hope you had a great week with students and staff. I really appreciated seeing you in action in your buildings. Please know your work is not going unnoticed, and that there are many people who appreciate all of your hard work. I want to personally thank you. Stay strong, stay focused and stay relentless in the mission.
To Do
From Kinsey Martin
Civil Rights Training:
Can you please make a record here when you’ve completed the Civil Rights training with staff at your site? This should be done by end of October.
As you engage in this conversation with staff, if you find format tweaks to make this more meaningful or effective, please share your ideas!
Here are the slides and notes/talking points. Here is the Trivia Sheet.
New: here is a poster/handout to print and make available for easy reference for reporting (and/or, bookmark the form link). Either you (if you’ll collect and report each incident) or your staff (if you have teachers report incidents themselves) should have this readily available.
Reminder: this reporting tool is for staff use only at this time.
Contact Kinsey and/or Steve Herron if you would like support with this presentation.
From Chad Brewer, Assistant IT Director Client Services
These updates both contain security patches for active exploits.
Due to the importance of the 14.8 update for staff, I’ve disabled the 7 day update deferral for staff iPads. Staff should update their iPad to 14.8 as soon as possible.
SRP training for the SY 21-22 has been updated to include the HOLD and SECURE protocols. The Secure protocol replaced the term Lockout from the previous SRP protocols. The protocols to conduct a Secure have not changed from the Lockout protocols, only the terminology as Lockout and Lockdown were often confused as protocols. The current posters that you should use to replace the outdated ones in your school are here.
In lieu of Scott Bojanowski, Julianne Repman, and the SRO coming out to schools and going over the protocols during a one-hour in person training this school year, we ask that you have your staff watch the SRP 2021 What’s New video (6 minutes in length) that discusses the SRP protocols.
Please have staff complete watching the video by October 31, 2021 and type in your school name and the date you watched itherewhen you are done. If after you watch the video and want Scott, Julianne, and the SRO to come visit and answer any questions, they would be happy to come for a visit–just reach out.
Here is a new expectation for meals when the temperature starts to drop. Please follow as stated below.
K-8
Require K-8 to come inside for meals at 45-degrees. If outside temperature + windchill is lower than 40-degrees, move meals inside.
For example:
If the air temperature is 48 degrees and there are sustained winds at 25 mph, then the wind chill temperature is 40 degrees = Meals inside
Encouraging students to dress in layers will be important as well on days where it will be close to the minimum threshold.
For all:
You are welcome to use WeatherUnderground, or similar weather reporting tool, to identify weather stations nearest to your school: https://www.wunderground.com
From Amy Tarnow
Please share this with your teachers! Here is a consolidated list of the resources our team has been asked for the most this week: Bend La Pine Canvas Expectations
We are working to update all dashboards and access in Grade Guardian. As a reminder, this is the tool that lets staff visually see how students are doing and identify those who are at risk of failing. If you have specific access requests or dashboard requests for your site, please send them to Laura Clark. If you or anyone on your staff needs a review of Grade Guardian, here are the enrollment codes for some self-paced tutorials: Grade Guardian 101 for Advisors click here to enroll (https://bls.instructure.com/enroll/LCL76A) Grade Guardian 101 for Teachersclick here to enroll (https://bls.instructure.com/enroll/B4P3CF)
This fall, Canvas is offering FREE virtual 1:1 sessions for teachers to review and refine their Canvas courses with an edtech and instruction design expert. This is such a cool opportunity! “Panda Pro’s” are prepared to give advice ranging from best practices with modules to accessibility, functionality of included tools like speedgrader or the rich text editor, and course design. Teachers can learn more and schedule their own 1:1 session from this link: https://www.instructure.com/canvas/resources/articles/get-free-instructional-design-coaching-support-with-the-panda-pros
From April Jorgenson
April Jorgenson is the keeper of related docs and your contact for questions related to these topics:
DHS/Child Abuse Reports
Student Threat Assessment Forms
Suicide Risk Screens
Expulsions
Administrators and approved staff can access the records by doing the following:
Focus to the school appropriate for the student, then navigate to:
Search for the student in question, and select the Discipline History tab.
Click show detail on the incident you are inquiring about.
This and That
From Tami Pike
Weekend COVID-19 case reporting for Bend-La Pine Schools
To report a COVID-19 case over the weekend, we have a contact tracer “hotline” number that you can call. This will connect you to the contact tracer “on call” for that weekend.
Please call the Contact Tracer Hotline number and leave the following information on the voicemail.
your name, school, student ID# and any other information. This will help alert contact tracers that a positive case has been submitted for your school.
Please see the linked letter which describes our partnership with The Child Center for outpatient behavior health services. There is one small action item. Admin need to complete a 30 second form indicating a Point of Contact (POC) for he Child Center. Let me know if you have any questions.
I will be sending this to elem and MS counselors and school psychs as well.
An important note from Sean and Jennifer about requests for tele-counseling:It appears that some parents are requesting that their students have telehealth counseling appointments during the school day in outbuildings. This does not include our partners The Child Center and Trillium, which would be permissible. We are advising against this for these reasons:
1. Kids have medical and counseling appointments during the school day already. Parents check them out and then check them back into school in these instances. Therefore, during the Dr. appointment, they are under the supervision of their parents. We don’t want a student getting a counseling appointment at school while under our supervision. The exception would be if it is an entity that we have an MOU with, like The Child Center or Trillium.
2. School would have to provide a quiet environment for this. That would now be an administrative challenge.
3. What if the student is triggered and has an emotional break? Who puts that back together?
We propose that parents can come and check their students in and out of school for these types of appointments. If you want to discuss a specific scenario, please contact Jennifer or Sean.
From High Desert ESD-Lauren Wood
The HDESD is rolling out Connect Workshops, a free 2-hour workshop designed for parents or guardians of 5th-12th graders, to equip them with the information, skills and coaching to have effective prevention conversations with their children around substance use. They have 12 virtual workshops which will take place in September – November (10 in English, 2 in Spanish). (https://www.facebook.com/SharedFutureCoalition/) PLEASE promote these classes widely within your networks!
Bend-La Pine Schools will once again provide Spanish training and conversational practice taught by OSU-Cascades and COCC instructor David Engel.
Register for classes in Performance Matters.
Classes will begin the week of September 27 and run until Winter Break (11 weeks), resuming again in January.
Classes will meet on Zoom during the Fall.
See below for class times and descriptions of each level offered and information about joining us on Zoom.
Plan to join us on Zoom a few minutes prior to the beginning of your class
Mondays, 4:30-5:15 pm (beginning Sept.27) – Level One (True Beginner) learn to introduce yourself, basic conversation skills and introduction to present tense verbs.
Tuesdays, 4:30-5:15 pm – (beginning Sept.28) – Level One (True Beginner) learn to introduce yourself, basic conversation skills and introduction to present tense verbs.
Tuesdays, 5:30-6:15 pm – (beginning Sept.28) – Level two (Advancing Beginner) practice conversation skills and use of present tense verbs, introduction to the past tense
Thursdays, 4:30-5:15 pm (beginning Sept.30) – Level Three (Beginning / Intermediate) practice with conversation skills and use of preterite verb tense to narrate past events, introduction to imperfect verb tense.
Thursdays, 5:30-6:15 pm (beginning Sept.30) – Level Four (Advancing Intermediate) practice with conversation in present and past, practice commands and future tense, introduction to present perfect and other grammatical constructions.
You will need to have Zoom downloaded on your device to join. Meeting ID: 494 975 6496
You will need a microphone and camera on your device.
Once you join the Zoom “meeting” you will be placed in a Waiting Room. Once in the Waiting Room, you will be admitted into the meeting as soon as possible. Please have your name showing when you join.
The class will be interactive in nature, using features on Zoom.
Handouts and activities will be shared over email prior to class and during class sessions.
Feel free to contact instructor, David Engel at [email protected] with additional questions.
From HR
Employee badges are backlogged because of staffing issues and priority being given to some other projects (ie – making sure people get paid!). Please be patient with your employees who do not yet have a badge.
From HR again
Please remind your staff (all staff) to complete the vaccination survey recently sent out by Steve Herron in HR. Can’t find it? Check your “Clutter”.
Reminders
From transportation
All field trips driving or walking are on hold
Wearing Masks Outside
I don’t want anyone to be confused about wearing masks outside. When should we wear masks and when is it ok not to wear them. Here is the OLD guidance:
Masks are not required for outdoor recess, meals, outdoor classes and those actively engaged in sports.
Here is the NEW guidance:
All individuals 5 years of age and older are to wear a face covering outdoors when individuals cannot or do not consistently maintain at least 6 feet of physical distance from people not in their household.
So, whether inside or outside, correctly wearing our masks around our students and families sends a positive message that we care about their health and safety and models the behavior we want everyone to practice.
From Walt and Rob
The Custodial team would like to share some insight into cleaning and the Pandemic:
According to the CDC, “The fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is low compared to direct contact, droplet transmission, or airborne transmission.” As we understand this variant is airborne and surface contamination is a low priority. The updated School Cleaning Protocol is found at Bend-La Pine Schools COVID-19 Cleaning Protocols. The protocol also states that, “Each classroom in our schools will be provided with approved cleaning products by the custodial staff. “ We will keep providing equipment whether its spray solution and micro fiber in each classroom or cleaning stations with flat mops, solution to dip in, spray bottles and rags, or having both. This will provide your staff with the products to disinfect if needed in their classroom.
The custodial team will try their best with the resources available to go above their regular cleaning schedule and sanitize the high touch spots. We are putting more effort into your high traffic areas, bathrooms, hallways, commons etc.
If there is district approved product or cleaning equipment your staff needs let your Head Custodian know so we can provide that for you to make your team successful.
I learned this week that you can learn to surf in Waco, Texas. As a matter of fact, there are professional surfers who go to Waco, TX seeking the perfect wave! You might ask yourself, how is that possible, there is a world class wave machine there. You look for the possibilities in the most unlikely places!
I got a chance to visit your buildings this week and you all are doing thoughtful, and inspiring work for kids, families and teachers.
Please ensure to reference last weeks Blog for critical information as you need it.
To Do
From Lora Nordquist
Take a look at the below resource. It may assist you in supporting your teachers. Let me know if you have any questions.
From Jim Boen, Regional Director of Mental and Behavioral Health
The Connect Workshop is a FREE, two-hour opportunity for parents and guardians in Deschutes County to learn factual, unbiased information and skills to start conversations with their kids about marijuana and other drugs. Each participant will receive a $20 Visa eGift Card after completing the workshop. Workshops are being offered online using Zoom. Here is a link where you can register for one of the upcoming Connect Workshop. (This website has also been translated into Spanish and there will be two presentations provided in Spanish as well.)
School Board Members
Take a look at the attached document, If you are wondering which school board member supports your school. I also posted the doc under the School Board & Policy Page for future reference.
Want to learn restorative practices or brush up your skills? Here is an ongoing PD opportunity brought to you by the culture of care coaches. Take a look at the link below.
We are working to update all dashboards and access in Grade Guardian. As a reminder, this is the tool that lets staff visually see how students are doing and identify those who are at risk of failing. If you have specific access requests or dashboard requests for your site, please send them to Laura Clark. If you or anyone on your staff needs a review of Grade Guardian, here are the enrollment codes for some self-paced tutorials: Grade Guardian 101 for Advisors click here to enroll (https://bls.instructure.com/enroll/LCL76A) Grade Guardian 101 for Teachersclick here to enroll (https://bls.instructure.com/enroll/B4P3CF)
This fall, Canvas is offering FREE virtual 1:1 sessions for teachers to review and refine their Canvas courses with an edtech and instruction design expert. This is such a cool opportunity! “Panda Pro’s” are prepared to give advice ranging from best practices with modules, to accessibility, functionality of included tools like speedgrader or the rich text editor, and course design. Teachers can learn more and schedule their own 1:1 session from this link: https://www.instructure.com/canvas/resources/articles/get-free-instructional-design-coaching-support-with-the-panda-pros
Calendar
September 14–School Site Visits in the AM
September 15–First SIW
September 16–School Site Visits in the PM
September 20–Middle School Horizontal Meeting, Cascade Middle School @7:30 am
September 22–District Leadership Training, Location TBD
And for you obsessive compulsive people – we are currently targeting June 20 and 21, 2022 for our Leadership Training Academy
Fish On..
AKA Be the Principal that notices the kids that don’t get Noticed.
We tried to keep this blog short but there is too much to share. We are in this together and we can celebrate the opportunities that are presented. My advise while on this wave of change, don’t forget to constantly adjust your feet and weight!
To Do
Meal Plan Expectations
Reminder that we are asking schools to share their school meal plans on their website before the first day of school. Please call the document “Meal Plans” and post it to your School Information page. Deby Bryon can assist if folks run into challenges.
COVID Updates: (there is information here that only pertains to HS but I wanted to have it and Katie and I want to ensure we have consistency 6-12)
Field Trips: Currently, we are not allowing field trips with buses. Walking field trips are allowed as long as masks are worn at all times and socially distancing is maintained. We will revisit this on October 1.
Volunteers and Visitors: We are not allowing most of these groups in our schools currently. The exception is student teachers and their supervisors. OSU Cascades requires vaccinations. We are checking on George Fox candidates. In regards to other volunteers and visitors, including guest speakers and our ASPIRE/Future Center volunteers, they are not currently approved. Once HR has a process in place to verify vaccinations, we will consider allowing these folks and others into the building. We are legally required to verify vaccinations prior to letting anyone in the building by mid-October.
We will allow booster club members/concession stand workers into the building AFTER school hours. We will provide more guidance as we get closer to October.
Concerts and Drama Performances: Schools are highly encouraged to schedule concerts and performances outside whenever possible. Masks are required. When scheduled inside, masks are required, and socially distancing should be maintained to the greatest extent possible. At this time, there are no capacity requirements.
Locker Rooms: Students can access locker rooms. They must be masked at all times and should not be in the locker rooms for more than 15 minutes.
From Tami Pike re: Contact tracing– Please let your teachers know that if there is a positive case in their class, middle and high schools will be receiving an email from a contact tracer or nurse requesting information about whether masks were worn consistently during the class and they will be requesting a seating chart to identify any close contacts. The expectation is that teachers will respond to emails asap (we understand that they are teaching classes) – ideally before 5pm on the same day. If we do not receive a reply by 10am the next day, we will assume that students consistently wore masks and were at least 3 feet apart. We do not have the capacity to track teachers down to get this information.
*Elementary schools will be a bit different and we will more than likely be doing in-person interviews.
From Lora Nordquist
ORS 339.875 Procurement, display and salute of flags.
(1) Each district school board shall:
(b) Provide students with the opportunity to salute the United States flag at least once each week of the school year by reciting: “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
(2) Students who do not participate in the salute provided for by this section must maintain a respectful silence during the salute. [Formerly 332.100 and then 336.045 and then 336.630; 1999 c.137 §1]
More from Lora Nordquist
Essential Volunteers*
As you know, the district is restricting volunteers in our schools during the school day while Covid-19 transmission rates remain high. However, there are a few organizations whose services have been deemed “essential.” These are listed below:
OSU-Cascades interns and supervisors
George Fox interns and supervisors
Friends of the Children mentors and supervisors
Camp Tamarack/ODS staff
The district will work with these organizations to assure all volunteers meet our vaccination mandate on or before October 18, 2021. We will notify schools if any staff from these groups does NOT comply.
*Staff from Bend Police, Deschutes County, etc. are not considered volunteers: they are contracting partners and should be allowed in schools whenever necessary.
This & That
From Kinsey Martin
Family Liaison Team: We have an amazing team of Family Liaisons to support both our staff and our culturally- and lingustically-diverse community. Although hiring is not quite complete, I want to share the information I do have at this time: – What do Liaisons do: See some examples here. – Which Liaison supports me:Please see this list for the Family Liaison who will support your school community. We will put out a family-facing communication about our team soon–for now, this list is just to support your office team. (Disclaimer: I tried to minimize changes, but it was not possible everywhere…and there could be small tweaks in the upcoming weeks.)– When will they be in my building:Next week they will flood support for Transportation and grades K, 6, and 9. Regular weekly schedules in your buildings will begin Sept 13–more info coming soon.
Civil Rights Training: Here are the slides for the abbreviated version of the training we are required to cover with all staff. Remember, there are talking points in the Notes section under each slide. If you would like additional support, contact Kinsey and/or Steve Herron–we’re happy to co-facilitate with you. Here is the Trivia Sheet referenced in the training, and (new!) here is a poster/handout you can print and make available for easy reference for reporting (and/or, bookmark the form link).
From Julianne Repman
There are just a few more spaces available for the STAS Training with John Van Dreal on September 23 and 24 at the High Desert ESD.
The first full week of school – Sept. 13-17 — we are going to celebrate Care & Connection week, in conjunction with this ODE initiative. We want to celebrate all the wonderful ways our schools and staff are building relationships, connecting with students and families and helping support students’ mental and emotional health. At the district level – we will be showcasing programs and staff that connect with this theme – including sharing a family version of the video we created for the Welcome Back. We know your plates are full; participation is optional. If you’re interested, you can join in by: Highlighting staff members whose roles focus on care and connection (share in newsletter, web or social), sharing district resources about the week, planning an activity related to the Care & Connection (my guess is many of you are already doing things that would connect with this theme). Please let Alandra know if you’ve got something in mind, she’s creating a list of participating schools, activities and ideas. Thanks everyone!
From Dean Richards
From Dean Richards – Last week’s Innovative Teaching Conference was a huge success. Thanks to all of the teachers and administrators who came to engage in lifelong learning. Here is the Google Folder that participants can access information from the presenters. ITC Participant Folder
Reminders
From Cate Hill, Title III Coordinator
This is a reminder to not send student identification information through our regular email server, which isn’t secure. We are noticing that it is happening again, already this year. Please advise your staffs to either share documents via Google Drive or BLsend.
iPad Insurance and AUP
Here is the English version of the iPad insurance form and the AUP. We submitted both for translation but as of today we haven’t received them back. As soon as those come in we will send them out in a separate email. Please remember, purchasing iPad insurance is not mandatory for a child to receive an iPad. However, if a family doesn’t want to pay the high cost of iPad repair due to damage or loss, purchasing the Bend-La Pine Schools’ iPad insurance will be in their best interest. The AUP should be distributed to 3rd grade, 6th grade, and 9th grade students as well as new students to your school. Cross your fingers that we have a digital solution for the AUP next year. This is a priority for the department.
Here is the document, FAQs Return to School document, that I shared earlier in our principal’s meeting. FAQs Return to School
PPE & Ordering
Please have your office manager order PPE & hand sanitizer through your school nurse. Also, attempt to make one time orders once a week.
From Alandra Johnson
As the start of school approaches, we are seeing an uptick in media attention. Quick reminders about media. Media can film your school from the public sidewalk or street. They should not come onto campus (in your parking lot, etc.) without permission. All media requests usually come through Alandra and Julianne. If we expect media to come to a school, we will let you know. Please reach out if you get a media inquiry or have media members show up unexpectedly, we are happy to help. Alandra’s cell: 541-255-9112
BRYT Admin Lead As part of our BRYT program launch, we would like to have one administrator identified at each site that we can collaborate/support and train in terms of supporting the Student Success/BRYT implementation. If you could please identify that person and add it to this document here, that would be great. If you have added you person, thank you, only verify. Thank you!
Calendar
September 6 – Holiday
September 8 – First day with 6th graders
September 9–First day with all middle schoolers. Yay!!
September 8-10 – Drop in visits from the Ed Center
September 20 – Horizontal Meeting , Cascade Middle School@7:30 am
September 22 – District leadership training, location TBD
And for you obsessive compulsive people – we are currently targeting June 20 and 21, 2022 for our Leadership Training Academy
Fish On…
Have a great weekend! Remember to take some time for yourself!!
“We now have the opportunity not to just reimagine schooling or try to reform injustice but to start over. Starting over is hard but not impossible; we now have a skeleton of a playbook. It starts with creativity, teacher-student relationships, and teacher autonomy.”
Info for parents (priority) – Some of you inquired about a district communication that describes for families our back to school practices and procedures. You should include in your newsletter a link to this website. It should provide the necessary information a parent will need. We will also be sending a district letter to all families on Friday. Between now and the end of next week, you need to send out a family newsletter that includes what lunches and breakfasts will be looking like at your schools. Included in that letter will be that all students will be eating lunch outside in assigned spaces with 6 feet distancing. You also need to include what it will look like in your school on inclement weather days when you will be eating inside. Emphasize that students will be in assigned spots, 6 feet apart, and other mitigating strategies that you will deploy to reduce the spread of covid. I would like to preview your message and plan before you send it to parents.
(continued from above) From Alandra Johnson
Friday, Aug. 27 we are sending a district newsletter home to families in ENG and SPAN with content about returning to school. It will include an FAQ addressing items like masks, vaccines, quarantines and more. If you would like to also share this info with families, please use this approved content rather than creating your own for these topics. (Alandra can email you a copy after Friday if you’d like it.)
Safety teams
Once again a reminder to start up your safety teams and use them to help create safety practices at your schools. As you make those decisions, make sure you are referencing the latest RSSL document and aligning decisions with practices and procedures specific to our district. Here is the 2020/21 Return To School Cheat Sheet For Administrators to help guide some of the areas to review and focus on (remember, this is from last year so things have changed). I took it from elementary. I don’t know if Jim shared something similar. It does contain useful information and you are not required to complete all the information. You may want to. FYI-Julianne Repman is the new Paul Dean in the flow chart. Nevertheless, here is the updated 1 pager based on current RSSL guidelines.
Sign in and sign out
Please ensure approved district visitors, ESD staff (including all subs), and approved essential volunteers are using a paper sign-in/out form located in your office. These are critical for contact tracing purposes.
Proof of Vaccination and Vaccine Opt Out
I know you have many questions about the opt out of vaccines for medical and religious reasons. HR will be getting out a document soon with the steps to follow. For now, just hold tight and tell anyone who is inquiring about opting out that directions from HR are coming soon. Same goes with when and how we will be collecting proof of vaccination status.
Coming to work sick or symptomatic
Pure and simple, DON’T! On day one with staff this needs to be communicated very, very clearly. This was a topic heavily discussed at the cabinet level, as there have been several cases already in which adults have come to work with “allergies” or a “cold” and eventually found out it was really Covid, unknowingly spreading it to others. This has to be a tight practice!
From Dave VanLoo
Please have all schools send Stephanie Bent the email addresses of any staff to include on our district’s assessment and accountability email listserv. These communications will contain information necessary to coordinate and support any essential district or state assessment activities and data collections.
From Human Resources
Here is important information that Human Resources has asked us to share regarding hiring and PAs. When you have received permission to hire and the person has accepted the position, it is extremely important that a PA gets generated right away, both certified and classified. If a PA is not received by the end of the week, the new hires will most likely not have district access for their first day of work next week.
The mentor program likes to double-check that we have all our beginning teachers in their first couple of years in their career enrolled in the program. If you have a beginning teacher in his/her first or second year in their career, please send the name to Michele Oakes. We are especially trying to catch those educators hired in the last few weeks.
September 22, 2021-Equitable Grading Team
On September 22, I will be asking you to release your Equitable Practice team member at 2:15, so that they can make their SIW meeting. The meeting will be hosted by HDMS. More information to follow.
Music Masks
Let me know if you need “music masks” for your band students, how many. I can have JulieAnne order more. These masks have a little opening for kids to play their instruments while still wearing a mask. These will help you in mitigating social distancing and maximizing your music rooms.
Cheers, to the start of the school year. I am the District Sustainability coordinator.With a new sustainability plan, there will be updates, shared metrics, and other positive strides the district is taking to be nation-wide sustainability leaders. I do understand with the growing Covid numbers and schools starting, there is tons of information coming in. I will try to keep things as brief as possible.
The District is in the process of adopting the new 5-year sustainability plan. As teams are planning the return to school, Jackie Wilson, District Sustainability Coordinator can present a brief synopsis to staff and will have additional information about the goals for all teams as we begin the school year.
Here is the Sustainability Advisor description. In 2019 we had sustainability Advisors in 22 of our schools and are hoping to have one in place at all schools for the coming year. This staff member is the liaison for all things sustainable and works as a leader of the student green team. The staff member will be compensated for this position for 40 hours at their curriculum rate. Please make sure that all administrative staff see the position and reach out to staff to find someone interested in this great position.
Idling information for the first newsletter-As office managers and Administrative teams are preparing for the first of many newsletters, it is important to get out some information to parents about idling. This fall there will be campaigns at several schools about idling. Part of the program is to educate parents and staff and driving students about idling. Here is thatinformation. Schools can choose what to add to newsletters, but the hope is all schools share some information with parents before school starts.
More from Jackie Willson
I am running a school team challenge to learn more about sustainability? A small team of staff can join or the whole school as a team to complete challenges. It should not take more than an hour to complete. If the school is interested, the game runs from 8 am August 30 – 12 pm September on 3. It is through a mobile app called GooseChase. The winning team will receive a great prize.
Participants can join the game by following these simple steps:
2. Choose to play as a guest, or register for a personal account with a username & password of your choice.3. Search for and select the Middle school sustainability challenge game, or search by game code VW89V9. Please let me know the name of the staff member interested in serving as the sustainability advisor. Our first virtual Sustainability coordinator meeting will be Wednesday, September 22
From Sean Reinhart
Suicide Prevention and Intervention Trainings
QPR:
Due to COVID, we are a little behind in out 3 year rotation for the Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) 3 year training rotation. Please check the link below to see if you school is due for a training this year. If, yes, you can then click the link to find a Wednesday that will work for you building. I have taken the liberty to combine a few schools that share the same SIW times which are in RED. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks
Question, Persuade, Refer1.5 hour training where participants learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help. Offered on Wednesdays
All building/district staff
Every 3 YearsLook HEREto see if you need to sign up this year.
Please save the date for Oct. 21-22 for this fall’s ASIST training. Each build needs at least two ASIST trained staff. Further, all new school psychologists and school counselor will need to attend this training, as they are the folks in your building that respond when a student present with suicide ideation and need a screening and safety plan. We are working on updating our list of trained building staff and will share with you shortly.
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training Suicide prevention protocol first responder training. Each building has a minimum of twoASIST trained staff to respond. Look HERE to see who is trained in your building.
The ESD reported that they added some additional subs but the sub situation still is not what it was a couple years ago. We will be hiring 5 additional district subs which will help but it won’t nearly solve the shortage issue. Be prepared with contingency plans within your building
Reminders
From the Superintendent’s Office
The expectation at K-8 schools is that students will eat lunch outdoors, with a social distance of 6-feet, unless inclement weather prevents doing so.
Students in grades 9-12 are highly encouraged to eat lunch outdoors and to maintain appropriate social distancing.
Six-feet of social distancing will be maintained when meals are eaten in indoor designated areas at K-8 schools.
Six-feet of social distancing will be maintained, to the extent possible, when meals are eaten in indoor, designated areas at 9-12 schools.
Lunch Supervision Stipends (on top of what you were allocated)
Please let me know what your need will be for lunch supervision. You might need additional hours to help supervise your lunches.
Kathy Alexander, STEM Pathways Coordinator from HDESD
Central Oregon STEM Hub is committed to ensuring the safe use of all materials being checked out of our Lending-Items online Library. We have STEM Kits and Resource Books available.
Once you are familiar with our Library resources, you may suggest a new Kit or Book be added via our Wish List. We will review your request, and determine if we are able to place the order.
From April Jorgenson, Account Technician
Every school administrator should have received a leave record calendar via Google Docs from April Jorgenson. This calendar is for keeping track of your non-contract time, as well as any other leave that you may take (i.e., sick, bereavement, etc.). Per district protocol, leave sheets are to be done each and every month, regardless of you taking leave or not. April will send out a reminder once per month to let you know the dates that your leave should fall into. If you have leave to report, please follow in the directions on the “Directions” tab of the calendar. Once you are done, please email April and let her know you are done. She will print off your leave sheet and get the appropriate supervisor to sign it. If you don’t have any leave to report, just email April and she will note that you don’t have leave, print out your leave sheet and get the appropriate supervisor to sign it. If you have any questions, please reach out to April at 541-355-1056 and she is more than happy to walk you through it.
Calendar
August 30 – New Teacher day at Summit (If you have a new teacher, one admin from each building needs to be present) 7:15-7:30 at the latest.
August 31 – All Staff Welcome Back (Virtual)
September 3- Horizontal Meeting @8:30 am (Principals only-Juan’s Webex-https://bls.webex.com/meet/juan.cuadros)
September 7- 6th grade orientation
September 8 – first day for all kids
Formal Notice
I want to bring to your attention the following message that Skip Offenhauser, Executive Director of Elementary Schools, shared with his team.
“I need to take a minute to talk about the enforcement of all our practices and procedures during this pandemic. If you happened to watch the board meeting on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, you heard a member ask how we will ensure schools will follow through with all the safety measures we are putting in place? The answer is simple – it’s our job. As school leaders, you know it starts with us and ends with us. We need to set an example with our behaviors, clearly communicate expectations to our staff, and have honest conversations when those expectations are not being met. Your attitude and mindset about things rub off on everyone, so what you project is important. If we have to close down a school because of an outbreak, and if the reason for that outbreak was because of a failure on our part, then that is on us. This means some tough conversations might have to happen. If someone is not following protocol (wearing a mask for example) we need to talk with them ASAP and follow up that conversation with an email. Please don’t think I’m saying you’re not taking our situation seriously (you are) or that you’re not having those tough conversations (you do). But because of the intensity of our situation and the concerns of our community I wanted to make sure I communicated our responsibility as leaders.”
I can’t agree more. It starts and ends with us. I like to believe that we lead by example, and if this is true, then we know what our values are and we apply them to our behaviors. I believe in our group and what you do is what is right in the world. I am here for you and let me know how I can support.
There is a ton of information here to review. I’m still working on formatting and flow. I hope you have a great weekend.
To Do
Innovation Conference
As a middle school team, we are Required to attend the following session at the innovation conference.
Who: Doug Reeves & McCarty-Perez
What: Leading Power Standards work in your Middle School building (Middle school admin only: principals and assistant principals)
When: Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Where: Pacific Crest Middle, Room D116
Time: 10:15-12:00
NoQR Codes
We just want to clarify some conflicting information you heard on Safety Day regarding the contact tracing QR codes we did last year for all adults coming into the building. Per the district RSSL team, we DO NOT need to do QR codes this year. Daily staff attendance is taken through absences. If contact tracing is needed, a conversation will happen with a staff member, just like before. QR codes don’t do that.
From April Jorgenson, Account Technician (works closely with level leaders)
Every school administrator should have received a leave record calendar via Google Docs from April Jorgenson. This calendar is for keeping track of your non-contract time, as well as any other leave that you may take (i.e., sick, bereavement, etc.). Per district protocol, leave sheets are to be done each and every month, regardless of you taking leave or not. April will send out a reminder once per month to let you know the dates that your leave should fall into. If you have leave to report, please follow in the directions on the “Directions” tab of the calendar. Once you are done, please email April and let her know you are done. She will print off your leave sheet and get the appropriate supervisor to sign it. If you don’t have any leave to report, just email April and she will note that you don’t have leave, print out your leave sheet and get the appropriate supervisor to sign it. If you have any questions, please reach out to April at 541-355-1056 and she is more than happy to walk you through it.
The following information is COVID related. There really isn’t anything for you “To Do” but I wanted to ensure you had this at the top. Meal Plan & Grouping
The instructional tech coaches are putting the finishing touches on a one-stop document for staff that introduces them to our systems and resources. This should be especially helpful for new staff. I will have them send it out to schools as soon as it’s ready. Also, the online method for buying iPad insurance is already up on the InTouch system. The flyer for insurance is getting translated right now. That will be sent out as soon as that is done.
From Kinsey Martin, Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Dress Code PolicyLast spring we discussed our district student dress code policy. Recommendations for updating this were designed to align with current best practices, to minimze disparate impact on particular groups of students, and to uphold our equity lens. After conversation with secondary administrators, Cabinet, and student leadership, the recommendations are now in the final stages of the approval process. While this will not be official before mid-September, the recommended policy (draft) is here for your own reference. In the meantime for your handbook, you can always just refer to your school dress code being in accordance with district regulation “JFCA-AR: Student Code of Dress, available here,” (this is the currently adopted version), so that the upcoming change does not make your handbook outdated. If you have questions about the content of the recommendations, please reach out to Kinsey.
From Dave Williams, Athletic Director
Masking required indoors
spectators
coaches
athletes who are benched
team meetings
Masking strongly recommended, but not required, indoors
Games/practices during active activity participation
referees
No masks required outdoors. Source:OHA Masking Requirements for Indoor Spaces This morning the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) released its newly adopted statewide rule regarding masking requirements in indoor spaces (OAR 333-019-1025). The rule is effective beginning today, August 13, 2021. We encourage you to review the rule in its entirety but here are some specific sections of note. (4) Individuals, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear a mask, face covering or face shield when in an indoor space unless the individual: (d) Is engaged in an activity that makes wearing a mask, face covering or face shield not feasible, such as when actively swimming. (g) Is practicing or playing a competitive sport at any level. (h) Is performing, including but not limited to playing music, delivering a speech to an audience, and theater.
From Dana Pederson, FAN Supervisor
FAN Staffing for the 21-22 school year:
Several factors have led to a reevaluation of FAN staffing for the upcoming school year.
As you know, FAN is staffed based on school demographics. These factors include school size, free/reduced lunch percentage, language diversity, and homeless population. I have worked with Austin James to obtain district wide data. Additionally, the changing secondary school boundaries, Dual Immersion program changes, and the opening of Caldera HS require us to make changes in staffing to best meet the needs of students and families.
Changing demographics at schools and DI placement make it necessary to consider where our Spanish speaking FAN Advocates are assigned to best meet the needs of FAN clients.
BLS is staying with $30 for insurance for the upcoming school year on iPads.
As for our sadly out-of-date AUP (user agreement). We may need to continue with what is on the website. It is out of date, but we have not been able to prioritize an update. That said, one of my best Roy Fuller will be doing what he can to update it before the year begins. So, do not print anything or advertise until you hear a global announcement from me late next week.
From Jackie Wilson Sustainability, Coordinator
The District is in the process of adopting the new 5-year sustainability plan. As teams are planning the return to school, Jackie Wilson, District Sustainability Coordinator can present a brief synopsis to staff and will have additional information about the goals for all teams as we begin the school year.
Attached is the Sustainability Advisor description. in 2019 we had sustainability Advisors in 22 of our schools and are hoping to have one in place at all schools for the coming year. This staff member is the lesion for all things sustainable and works as a lead of the student green team. The staff member will be compensated for this position for 40 hours at their curriculum rate. Please make sure that all administrative staff see the position and reach out to staff to find someone interested in this great position.
Idling information for the first newsletter-As office managers and Administrative teams are preparing for the first of many newsletters, it is important to get out some information to parents about idling. This fall there will be campaigns at several schools where we will be collecting and sharing information about numbers of vehicles idling the time idling in school pick up zones. Part of the program is to educate parents and staff and driving students about idling. Attached is a word document with information. Schools can choose what to add to newsletters, but the hope is all schools share some information to parents before school starts.
COSA is sponsoring a mindfulness program, tailored for school leaders. Amy Joynt from the HDESD is actively involved in promoting the program, so she is happy to give your groups more information.
In TLC we are super excited about the Innovative Teaching Conference next Wednesday and Thursday (8/25-26) at PCMS @ 8:30. Sign up is now closed. We are at 200 people for each day. If you did not sign up to attend, please come only to the keynote and invitation only sessions for your level.
If you have staff who have been asked to attend sessions (Special Education and BRYT focused work) and have not signed up, please have them attend those sessions.
If you or your staff is attending an invitation only session without a signup, we did not order you a lunch.
6th Grade Orientation Tuesday, September 7th
For the sake of consistency All middle school 6th graders will be picked up at 1:15 pm on Tuesday, September 7th. This needs to happen so that Option schools get picked-up on schedule.
Supply lists and donation requests School Supplies: Do not require families to purchase or donate any school materials or school supplies.
By August 23th please review your websites and Facebook pages for any information that references supply lists, solicits donations for supplies, or asks for donations to the school or PTA. This information needs to be removed.
Calendar
August 24 – 9:00 Horizontal @ Juan’s WebEX https://bls.webex.com/meet/juan.cuadros (only principals or one team member)
August 25, 26 – Innovation Conference – see your commitment above
Happy Monday. I hope you have a great week. I will be sending more updates soon.
To Do:
Hello all, I am following Jim’s format from last year. As things come up, and are shared with me, I will post them here and get it out to you.
This and That
Grading Policy
The guidelines we ended the school year 2019-2020, with remain the same EXCEPT a P turns to D and NG turns to F. We will continue with 50% being the lowest grade for an F for any teacher using the 0-100% grading scale. This applies to all 6-12 teachers and they were notified of this in the spring.
The all admin meeting is Thursday, August 12, 2021, at the River House 3075 N Hwy 97, Bend, OR 97703 from 8:00 to 4:00.
The middle school admin retreat is Friday, August 13, 2021, at Hollingshead Park Barn, 1235 NE Jones Rd, Bend, OR 97701, from 8:00-4:00. Here is the Revised agenda
I hope you all had a wonderful and well deserved break! The month of June is a time to exhale, let your hair down, and recharge for the next adventure! In this case we will be starting a new journey together. Before I get to business items, I did get out a couple of times this summer with family and friends. One of those times, we camped for a week along the Klamath River towards the area of Happy Camp, CA. We got lucky as the weather was cooperative; sunny, hot and clear skies. On a small trip, I traveled to Reno, NV through highway 31, the Oregon outback, to see family. I was really impressed by the landscape. Like Jim Boen, keeps reminding me, “you got to go to the Cowboy Dinner Tree!” Don’t hesitate to share your summer stories and adventures when I see you.
We have some new members to our team and there are familiar faces in new roles. Chad Lowe is the new principal at Pilot Butte MS. He comes to us from Redmond School District. Chad brings a wealth of middle school experience and he knows the IB middle years program well. Ann-Marie Schmidt will be joining us from the high school ranks. She lead La Pine HS for many years and she is ready to exercise her leadership skills with Ryan Kelling at Pacific Crest MS. Ryan will be taking on the role of principal at PCMS this year. Sky View MS will be welcoming two new administrators in new roles. Julie Stroinski, as principal and Heather Peterson as assistant principal. They are going to be a dynamic duo for SVMS. I am really excited for our middle school admin group. You all are amazing leaders and I am in a privileged position to learn from you.
Next, on August 12, there is an all admin meeting. That agenda will be forthcoming. Our middle school principal retreat will be on Friday, August 13, from 8:00-4:30 at Hollingshead Park Barn (1235 NE Jones Rd, Bend OR. 97701)
