The Fish Basket

Team,

It was great to see kids back in our hallways, and I impressed with how well you all prepared for students and staff to return. 6th grade only day was a success and I know we have some details to iron out, like supervision but I think this group can find solutions. I totally appreciate your questions, comments, and concerns when it comes to safety and security for our schools. And all general questions are welcomed! Don’t hesitate in asking!

Have and awesome weekend! ~Juan

Middle School Group Agreements

To do

Important Professional Development Dates

Administrators, please ensure you have communicated our administrator/ICCL training dates to your ICCL members.  These trainings will occur from 4-6 on the following dates.

10/4, 12/6, 2/7, and 4/4

We are working on locations and will communicate those out at a later date.

Principals’ Professional Learning Session this Mon the 12th:

Here is the agenda for our time together.  Please note the location and plan accordingly so we can start right at 3:00pm.  All you need to bring is something to write with!

Team Norms:

Last spring I had said I would share these resources with you in the fall, for developing Team Norms with your staff or within PLCs.  Feel free to use whatever’s helpful, and please let me know if you’re looking for something more specific!  Tip: consider having explicit norms for communicating together productively (where to take specific questions or concerns, use/mis-use of email, etc).  

This and That

From Scott Bojanowski  

Here are important emergency numbers and the new SRO assignments. See you at the first District Safety Meeting September 26.

Student Success Program Class Sections

After much discussion, we will no longer have Student Success as a section that students take as a class. This was only happening at a few schools but this support is designed as an intervention and is meant to be a culture of transition vs. a culture of containment. After reviewing the data from last year, it appeared that some students were being served for extended periods of time and sometimes the whole day. While we want students to have access to as much support as is needed, this program does not have a curriculum and students should have access to their general education classrooms for content. Our team will partner with teachers to support students. This is similar to how students work with our school counselors, students have access to individual and group support but they are not scheduled with a school counselor each day.

From Scott McDonald

New Staff Portal and MFA

The most common feedback from the launch of the new portal has centered around how often staff are asked to complete Multifactor Authentication (MFA).  Please consider sharing our new MFA Tips link with your staff.  Making the suggested changes will considerably reduce the number of times a user is asked to complete MFA.

MS Bookings – Appointment Calendar 

We have had several requests from users to provide a tool for appointment scheduling.  In response, we have enabled “Bookings”.  This solution is a great starting point because it automatically links to your Outlook calendar.  A few of us in IT have been using it this summer and are happy with the results.  You can learn more about Microsoft Bookings by going to this site.  Otherwise, it is pretty simple to set up:

1. In a web browser search for Microsoft 365. Sign in with your district log in credentials.  
2. Find the “waffle” icon in the top right corner and choose “Bookings”.
3. Name and create your appointment calendar.
4. Click “Bookings Page” to get a link to share with your audience.

You can communicate your Bookings calendar by adding the link to your outlook email signature or however you see fit.  

From Tami Pike

Fanny Pack First Aid Kits

We have received numerous requests for fanny pack first aid kits. Schools were provided with a supply when they first came out. We are currently out of filled fanny pack first aid kits. We have new fanny packs on order. We will send out communication to office managers when they are back in stock. 

Fanny Pack prices:

Filled first aid packs – $32.50 each

Empty first aid fanny packs – $5 each

COVID-19 Positive Reporting

Please remember to complete the Bend-La Pine Schools COVID-19 Reporting Form when staff report that they have COVID-19. It is preferred that staff report to their office manager, so the school is aware of the absence. Our COVID-19 support team do not report absences to schools. **No need to text Tami, Michelle, or the school nurse. We will be notified when a new form has been submitted. 

**Please note that there is not a COVID-19 support team member on call for COVID-19 cases reported after 5pm on weekdays or on the weekends/holidays. A COVID-19 support team member will follow up with positive cases on the next school day. 

From Steven Duval

Here are some supporting documents for staff and families explaining how the 0-4 scale will look in Canvas.  

First, here is a parent and student document explaining what parents will see when they log into their Canvas account.  I will send this off to translation today.

Secondly, here is a PowerPoint that can be used with staff around using 0-4 in their Canvas Gradebook

Finally, here is a technical explanation of how Canvas calculates a grade.  This is for staff.  I also recommend you read it as a leader to better understand what is happening within Canvas.

Update from HR on UKG system transition

Welcome Back to the 2022-23 School Year — we’re excited about some new things we’ve been working on in Human Resources and the Business Office, and want to provide you with an update on the infrastructure systems project you may have heard us talking about throughout the past few months!

Last school year, the district contracted with a company called UKG to purchase its human capital management system, which is comprised of several modules: Time & Leave Management (which will replace Kronos, for those who were already on automated timekeeping), Human Resources Information Systems (Employee Profile and Position Control), Training, and Evaluation. This product will replace several current manual processes and non-integrated automated systems. The first of these modules to “Go Live” this year will be Time & Leave Management, followed by the HRIS features mid-year, and finally by the Training and Evaluation functionality which will become effective next school year.

Implementation of the first of these phases, Time & Leave Management, is coming up very quickly, and we have a lot of immediate work in front of us to train folks up for its use. Automated Time & Leave Management functionality will be utilized for the entire organization; BLS will move completely away from paper time and leave management, and pivot entirely to a single electronic submission and approval process. The current goal is to move into this functionality beginning with the October 17^th – November 6^th time keeping period, with “Go Live” on October 17^th.

Time reporting will be slightly different for hourly employees than for salaried employees: hourly employees will both enter time worked and also submit leave requests for paid and unpaid leave times, whereas salaried employees already have presumptive calendars assigned to them and will generally submit only leave requests for paid and unpaid leave times from work (an exception to this general rule is that salaried employees will use the system to submit authorized timesheeted hours worked outside of the scheduled calendar). Leave requests and timesheets will automatically forward to employees’ Supervisors, who will review and either approve or return the submission back to the employee for revision or additional information. 

Human Resources and the Business Office are presently working together to develop training materials and videos that we can share with you, and in turn with your staff, together with planning in-person and WebEx training sessions, so that everyone can easily and efficiently learn how to use the Time & Leave Management reporting system. One aspect of the Time & Leave Management tool that we are particularly excited about is that there will be some functionality that is accessible from a smart phone app — this will assist in making the Time & Leave Management tool more equitably accessible to those who do not work in assignments with convenient computer access.

So, stay tuned — we will be reaching out with additional information over the next several weeks and months as we move towards “Go Live” with the Time & Attendance Management module, and then later this year with the HRIS module. We thank you in advance for your patience with the inevitable growing pains this will entail, yet look forward to working together in implementing this exciting work process improvement tool throughout the year. Here is a video that outlines the transition. Warmly – Steve and Leah

Calendar

September 12: Principal PD 3:00-4:30 in Fireside Room of the Trinity Episcopal Church  (469 NW Wall St, right by the Ed Center) BLS Principal Meeting

September 21: Upshift Coordinator Training 1:30-2:30 location TBD

September 21: Upshift Specialist Training 2:30-4:30 location TBD

September 22: Middle School Admin Work Session: 7:30-9:00 Sky View Middle School

September 26: Assistant Principal/Dean Work Session 7:30-8:30 at Ed Center in Board Room

September 26: District Safety Team meeting 8:30-9:30 (Safety leads required to attend)

Fish On

Please know that you will see extra presence from Ed center administrators during the first week of school. Due to all the safety and security questions in the community and of staff members, cabinet decided to show support for schools by being available before school, at lunch and after school. There is no need to attend to them or stop what you are doing to meet with them. They are strictly another person to help supervise. If you are wondering who is coming your way and when, here is the link.

Happy Friday! I hope you all get a chance to get out and enjoy the three day weekend. ~Juan

To Do

From Kinsey

Bias Incident Reporting Posters

Here are the English, Spanish, and Chinese posters that we discussed at administrator retreats.  Please print and post in a few locations in your building.  Recommended: front entry/lobby, counseling office, staff work room, your weekly staff blog.

You are welcome to “try out” the tool, to see how it is laid out and increases access to a few different reporting pathways.  Just note “test only” if you are going to hit submit on a test run, please!  

As a reminder, coming soon is a student iPad short-cut to a webpage with the form linked, as well as student lessons on bias and how to use this tool (more on that Sept 12th).  In the meantime, if you have questions or concerns, reach out to Kinsey.

From HR

A reminder for benefit eligible employees : Please share the below information with your staff.

• OEBB Open Enrollment is happening now!
• Enrollment is mandatory, takes place online, and must be completed by September 15.

Check out the district’s Employee Benefit Website for enrollment information, plans, rates, and much more.

If you need help with enrollment or have questions, our Benefits Team will be hosting in-person help sessions. 

Please feel free to stop by any location – no appointments are necessary.

September 12^th, 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Education Center – Room 314, 520 NW Wall Street Bend, OR 97703

September 13^th, 9:00 a.m. – 12 noon

Bend Transportation – Small side of lunchroom, 501 SE 2^nd Street Bend, OR 97701

If you have questions, please contact the HR Specialist that corresponds with your last name:

• Last name A-K = Monica Ropp = 355-1119
• Last name L-Z = Kristen Marsters = 355-1106

This and That

From Kinsey

Family Liaison Team

Here is our 22-23 team of Family Liaisons!  Many of you have already invited your assigned liaison to your upcoming staff and family events—thank you.  Some members of this team are still waiting on their BLS badges.  If they arrive to visit your school, they’ll bring other ID for now—thank you for making sure your office team knows to welcome them as colleagues.  

Some liaisons are very part-time (5 hours a week), to support district-wide family engagement efforts.  They can support individual school needs—we will just need to coordinate and partner thoughtfully on requests for their time, to be respectful of boundaries.  If you have questions about coordinating services, case loads, or schedules, reach out to Kinsey.  If you have a specific request of the liaison team, reach out to any member of the group!  As shared earlier this week, we are waiting on some phone systems, therefore email is still the recommended contact method for a few more days.  

From Stephen Duval

As we move forward with many of our classrooms using the 0-4 scale, it is important to be aware of a flaw with using the Canvas gradebook.  Canvas has percentages on the 0-100 scale hardwired to the letter grade.  Basically, it is not possible to show students their grade without showing them a percentage.  We have been able to compensate for this by changing the 100-point scale to match our 0-4 scale.  However, you will need to bring your stakeholders up to speed to ensure they understand this quirk.  The important piece is that the letter grades a student sees is correct and can be trusted.  Students and families should just ignore the percentage as it is not helpful.  

We’ve asked Canvas for a workaround, but their only solution was very expensive and only worked for the desktop version.  We know most of our students and families use the mobile version, so we decided to pass on spending such a large sum of money.  We will conti nue to investigate with Canvas to determine if we can remove the percentage from the visual.

Here is a chart that shows how we’ve altered the 100 percentage to match our new 0-4 scale.  This version is for high school, but middle school is the same without the plus and minus delineation. 

Additionally, there is language in the FAQ that was sent out earlier for parents you can use.  

Of note, Synergy can display a decimal instead of a percentage next to a grade but using ParentVUE would mean staff would once again be responsible for keeping up two gradebooks.  Our team determined this was not a favorable option.

Finally, it is important for staff to know that EVERY single assignment in Canvas needs to be entered into the gradebook with a maximum of four.  If teachers want certain assignments to be worth more, they should create weighted categories. Things will get out of place very quickly otherwise.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Stephen. 

From Education Foundation for Bend-La Pine

Greetings — WELCOME BACK-TO-SCHOOL!  With a brand-new school year, excitement is in the air!  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 attached Classroom Grant Guidelines and Classroom Grant Application, both of which can also be found on our website.  We understand that the first few weeks of school are busy, so the deadline for applications is Friday, October 15, 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!  

Sustainable Program

With the start of the school year comes the opportunity to get your school involved in the district sustainability program, SustainBLS. In the 19-20 school year, we had 70% involvement. Even with the challenges in the 21-22 school year, BLS managed to keep 57% of schools involved. One of the goals in the sustainability plan is to have 100% of schools involved by 2025. You can assist us reach that goal by recruiting a staff member to serve as the Sustainability Advisor (SA). The SA works with green team students and the whole school community on saving resources, sustainable actions and creating a culture of stewardship. Please review the linked/attached document to learn more. Staff can take 40 hours at the curriculum rate to support this program. Teachers interested in  learning more can review the teacher document linked/attached or reach out to me directly at [email protected]  Thank you for supporting sustainability in BLS.

Sustainable BLS Admin. Sustainable BLS Teachers

Class Grants

Reaching out as we enter into the 2022-23 school year for your help finding submissions from your staff for our KTVZ “One Class at a Time” $500 awards. As you may know, these are news stories to recognize good things happening in education, innovative class projects or dynamic teaching that would benefit from some community visibility and resources.

If you can have your teams send those my way, we can work on selecting and scheduling with Mid Oregon and KTVZ to follow up.

Thanks for your consideration and participation, we appreciate your support!

Kyle

Vice President, Marketing & Community Relations

Reminder

Advisory

Please remember that the advisory course should be an ungraded P/NP course.  Dean is working with James in IT to be sure that the courses have the same grading scheme. Let me or Dean know if you have any questions. 

From Jennifer Hauth

Introducing our new partnership with Care Solace. Care Solace secures mental health and substance abuse appointments in a fast time frame, care companions speak 200+ languages, match clients to culturally and gender appropriate care, and are available either anonymously via a weblink or through a warm handoff by school staff. 

General Information Flyer – English and Spanish

Family Letter  – English and Spanish

Staff Training on August 30th from 1:30 to 4:00 pm at Caldera: School Counselors, Student Success Coordinators, Nurses, School Psychs and Public Health Specialist.

Calendar

September- 5th Holiday

September-7th 6th Grade Only Day

September-8th All Grades Begin

Fish On..

I think this one is worthy of a repeat.

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 30^th 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:

1. 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.
2. 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: 

1. Office Manager
3. Nurse Michelle Spetic
4. 541-355-6925
5. [email protected] 

3. Nurse Tami Pike
4. 541-350-8387 (text first)
5. [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.!”

Team,

I hope your plans for the new school are shaping up. And I am thinking about you and hoping you are not working long hours! Remember, it is summer and you need to find work-life balance. Have a great weekend and don’t hesitant in calling or texting me when questions come up. ~Juan

To Do

Back to School News

Please communicate to your school community in your newsletter and website 6th grade only day-Wednesday, September 7th.

Grades 7th & 8th start Thursday, September 8th. This is a change in practice to give 6th graders a full day of orientation.

This information will be important to share to avoid any confusion for our middle school families.

This and That

From Transportation

SCHOOL                      AM DROP           PM DEPART          WED PM DEPART

Middle School               8:15-8:30 AM                      3:53 PM                   2:23 PM

Middle School Option School**           8:50 AM                      3:25 PM                   1:55 PM

**Middle/High Option includes REALMS, Bend Tech, DI at Bend, Caldera & High Desert, TAG at Cascade, Newcomers @ MVHS

We will have a bus from every elementary and middle school schools going to the Boys & Girls Club each afternoon. 

Note- Some buses drop or pickup at the middle school and then travel to the high school or vice versa. Buses with both middle and high students on board will be later than the times above. 

From Dean Richards

In you communications with teachers, please communicate the options for the afternoon Canvas Professional Learning Options. If you like you can use this:

During the afternoon (1:00-4:00) of August 30^th a variety of Canvas Professional Learning Opportunities from which to choose. We encourage you to attend in person as this will give you the best experience, however, most of the sessions do have a WebEx option. 

In addition to the content in each training, a short period of time will be spent on how to set up your gradebook for the sync between Canvas and Synergy and the Canvas Expectations for the 2022-2023 school year.

These trainings are required and meet the contractual requirements of Day 189.

Canvas Professional Learning Options for the afternoon of August 30th

From Stephen Duval

As you know, we are embarking on a multi-year journey to overhaul our grading practices.  A key to our success will be how well we educate and communicate with our stakeholders.  With that in mind, here is some sample communication you can use with your parents in your next newsletter explaining our transition.  If you have any teachers at your site taking on a new scale, please ensure you are proactive in your communication.  Reach out to Stephen if you have any questions.

From Jennifer Hauth

Introducing our new partnership with Care Solace. Care Solace secures mental health and substance abuse appointments in a fast time frame, care companions speak 200+ languages, match clients to culturally and gender appropriate care, and are available either anonymously via a weblink or through a warm handoff by school staff. 

General Information Flyer – English and Spanish

Family Letter  – English and Spanish

Staff Training on August 30th from 1:30 to 4:00 pm at Caldera: School Counselors, Student Success Coordinators, Nurses, School Psychs and Public Health Specialist.

From Ryan in HR

If you could please include this agenda in any back-to-school communication you send your staff, that would be greatly appreciated (all new Certified hires already have received communication about this mandatory event at Pacific Crest, but it would be nice to have it repeated).

Reminder from Colleen and Josh 

Tuesday, August 30 is our REQUIRED district training for ALL Learning Specialists, School Psychologists and Speech/Language Pathologists.  We are meeting in the Summit High School Commons from 8:00-12:30 PM.  Outcomes include:

• prioritizing student program needs, 
• designing a team schedule, 
• connections with regional partners and 
• shared data collection.  

Your team may need from YOU a copy of the school master schedule and site calendar of any meetings or professional development for the year.   

*School Psychologists will be in training all day.  Following training at Summit, they will join counselors and student success team members at Caldera HS from1:30-3:30 PM.

More from Colleen and Josh 

We have 2 training sessions that are mandatory for NEW 504 coordinators.

1. Synergy SE – 504 Introduction Canvas Course
   1. HERE is the link to enroll in the course. We would recommend that you try to complete as much of this self-paced course as you can prior to our in-person training. 
   2. *If you do not yet have a Canvas account created, please click HERE to get your account set up.   
2. In-person Training 
   1. Scheduled at the Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference

Day: Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Time: 2:15-3:15 (Session 3)

Location: Pacific Crest Middle School 

HERE is the link if you have not yet registered for the Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference.

Reminders

Safety Day notes  

Here are some highlights from the Safety Day presentation from Julianne and Scott. Once Julianne sends out the presentation be sure to share the all the information. When in doubt contact Julianne or Scott or reach out to me.  Please remember, Julianne and Scott are available for any staff safety training.  Having them deliver training to your staff is not required but it is encouraged.

• Point of entry – there must be ONE point of entry after the school day starts.  Points of entry for kids during arrival and dismissal MUST be supervised by an adult and MUST be locked thereafter. Adults should not be entering the school through the student points of entry.  They should always check in at the main entrance.
• There is a Safety Tab in our Portal.  Please take some time to review the content there. 
• Safety teams must meet monthly.  The team should include licensed staff, administration, and classified staff.  
• All staff should be aware of who is on the safety team.
• Meeting minutes must be taken and they should be uploaded in the drop the shared safety folder.  
• Have a mechanism in place in your building for staff to bring concerns to the safety team.  Make “staff concerns” a standing item on your monthly agenda.
• Know your SRP (standard response protocol) and make sure your staff knows it.  The language has changed so be sure staff know these new terms.
• Consider talking to your staff and students about what you would do if you were out at recess or at lunch – don’t surprise them with an unplanned drill that occurs at recess.  Rather, lead a discussion on what everyone would do then possibly practice it as a staff in an announced and pre-planned drill.
• Just say no to magnets, door jams, ropes… these are not to be used to keep doors open.  

Reminder from Dan Dummit re: painting

please read and familiarize yourself with FKAA-AR – Requirements for Volunteer Painting.  If you have any questions about painting, or other building improvements, please reach out to Dan before starting a project.

Calendar

Here is a LINK to a summary of our work in August and the first week of school.

Fish On…

Team,

I appreciate your energy and commitment to our team and work together. I know today was a bit of a water hose of information, but please remember to lean on each other and don’t ever hesitate in reaching out to me.

Here is today’s Agenda

Have a wonderful weekend.~Juan

To Do

Back to School News

Please communicate to your school community in your newsletter and website 6th grade only day-Wednesday, September 7th.

Grades 7th & 8th start Thursday, September 8th. This is a change in practice to give 6th graders a full day of orientation.

This information will be important to share to avoid any confusion for our middle school families.

Key Back to School News

Prioritizing Restorative Practices training and implementation for Building Leaders: 

As we continue our work towards student management practices that foster belonging, we require that all Assistant Principals & Deans attend training on Restorative Practices. The fall training is scheduled for October 5 & 26th (both Wednesdays) 12:00-4:00 on both days in the Ed. Center Boardroom (rm 314). Please sign up for this training if you have not yet been trained.

Here is a link listing BLS staff and if they have been trained in Restorative Practices in the past: BLS IIRP Admin.

Here is the link to register for the training: October 5 & 26 IIRP Training Registration

The training will be facilitated by Amber McGill, one of our Culture of Care coaches who works with the HDESD. She can also be reached if you have specific questions.

MS teaming structures and admin leads:

Please complete this 22-23 Secondary Teaming Structure Survey asking for the building administrator who will lead each of your school teams AND the meeting dates.

Each school needs to reconvene Site Council this year. HERE is the law related to the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century, which requires every school to have a Site Council.

Additionally, the focus for SIW time is collaboration time/PLC work and professional development. Please schedule staff meetings (sit and get; announcements) 8:00-8:30 one day a week. Indicate the day you will meet on the survey – you may cancel, but it is proactive to have the time/date reserved on staff calendars.

Let’s talk about this as a middle group. This is a point of departure document to get you systematize our teaming structures.

This and That

MS teaming structures and admin leads:

Please complete this 22-23 Secondary Teaming Structure Survey asking for the building administrator who will lead each of your school teams AND the meeting dates.

Each school needs to reconvene Site Council this year. HERE is the law related to the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century, which requires every school to have a Site Council.

Additionally, the focus for SIW time is collaboration time/PLC work and professional development. Please schedule staff meetings (sit and get; announcements) 8:00-8:30 one day a week. Indicate the day you will meet on the survey – you may cancel, but it is proactive to have the time/date reserved on staff calendars.

Let’s talk about this as a middle group. This is a point of departure document to get you systematize our teaming structures.

Show some school spirit! 

Schools are being asked to watch the welcome back August 31st WebEx presentation together.  There will be a competition on who can show the most school spirit on this day.  Send your pics to Marta Broberg.

From Julianne and Scott: 

We are looking forward to seeing you for this year’s Safe and Secure Schools Workshop on Wednesday, August 17 at the Bend High School Auditorium. Here is the agenda.

The designated Safety Administrator from each building attends the 8:00-1:00 session.

The designated HS Safety Administrator and their Campus Monitor(s)* attend the 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. session. All others are excused after completing COVID-19 plan template. *(CM’s will be time sheeted.)

ZYDECO kitchen and cocktails will be providing ‘boxed lunches’ for these trainings.  Please click on this link now  to complete a very short survey to select your meal of choice. In order to prepare appropriately for these meals, we need you to respond to this survey by noon on Friday, Aug. 12  If you are not able to respond prior to this deadline you may not receive the meal of your choice, but you will have a meal available. There will be coffee available in the morning and drinks provided at lunch. Feel free to also bring your own personal reusable water bottle as a fill station will be available.

From the Teaching and Learning Team: 

The Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference is coming up on August 24th and 25th at Pacific Crest Middle School.  Check out the Innovative Flyer to find out about the keynote speakers and the amazing educators who will be sharing their practice with us.  Here is the schedule of sessions: shorturl.at/cz235.

All administrators are required to attend both keynote sessions AND the leadership session with Bettina Love on August 25.

• STEM Camp available at Miller Elementary for school-aged children
  • Google sign up formflyerOne OSU Fall Credit will be availableSign up to attend via Performance MattersLunch will be provided

August 30 has been designated as our Day 189

Building leaders will lead the equitable grading training for their classroom teachers in the morning. Teachers will attend Canvas training a various locations in the afternoon. Here is the link to trainings for other team members on this day.

From Dean and Julie Montoya to your World Language Teachers: 

Happy still summer all. If you are interested in working with leveled teams (ex: Spanish 1) to design and plan modules for our new materials, please sign up for DAY 2 of the Innovation conference in Performance Matters). This will count as your day 190.  Folks who attend will listen to the keynote speaker, which will finish at 10:00.  Our module planning teams will have the rest of the time to divide and conquer and plan.  The conference wraps up at 3:15.  

Steps:

1. Sign up for day 2 of the Innovation conference for August 25th.  Again, this will be your day 190 teacher directed day, so you will have one of those flex days later covered:)  
2. Email me your name and the level group you’d like to join, that way I can make sure there are others signing up for you to work with.
3. Forward this email to any new World Language staff in your building.  If you have a free second after that, email me the names of any new staff as I love to make sure they have the support they need.

Happy still summer… now turn off your laptop and go back out to enjoy it.

From Rachel Mavis: 

Below are the trainings for new Registrars and the back-to-school session for ALL registrars.

If you do not have a registrar in place, I recommend sending someone from your school to be trained. Having a registrar backup is recommended.

These trainings are in Performance Matters. If your new staff person does not have an active account, they may set up a Performance Matters Non Staff account.  

Registrar Training:

Navigation (required): Self-Paced course: https://sites.google.com/bend.k12.or.us/test-site/synergy/synergy-navigation-101?authuser=1

Registrar I – ALL Registrars regardless of grade level

August 16 – 8:00 – 11:00 Wall St Lab

• Enrollments (online, paper)
• Parents
• Cumm file – basics

Registrar II – Elementary Registrars (Secretary II) 

August 17 – 1:00-3:00  Wall St Lab

• Health, 
• Attendance, 
• Homerooms 

Mandatory Back to School Workshop for ALL registrars:

August 18 – 8:00 – 1:00 at Pacific Crest.

• New Policies/Procedures
• Changes in Synergy

For more information and all communication, please review our Office Staff Web Page. Look for the August Communication tab.

ACR Update: 

The ACR team met this week to approve the remaining appeals and those on the waiting list for the 22-23 school year.  We are notifying families regarding the status of their ACR.  Stephanie will notify your registrars of approved ACR’s.

Prior to the start of school, we will review and approve one for one’s (same grade and schools) by August 26th and again for semester 2.

Just a reminder that we are no longer revoking ACR’s. Mid year school change requests will be reviewed three times a year, prior to the beginning of trimester 2 and 3 and semester 2 by the Tier 3 secondary team that met every Friday last year. Eric will share this process in more detail at our upcoming work session. Our goal is to move away from mid year requests as this is not best practice. Please reach out with questions.

Here is the DEI Newsletter from Kinsey:

Please find the August newsletter here, with topics like:

• What can our district LEAD instructional coaches and team offer me?
• What equity-focused events are coming up?
• What are district expectations on pronoun use and supporting transgender/nonbinary students or staff?
• What guidance is available for supporting immigrant students?
• …and more!

From Dan Dummit, Director of Facilities: 

Our district has a policy for volunteer painting projects. If there is interest in this on the part of you or a staff member, here is the policy: FKAA-AR – Requirements for Volunteer Painting. The project must be approved prior to beginning. Give Dan a call if you have questions.

Calendar

Here is a LINK to a summary of our work in August and the first week of school.

Fish On

Welcome back to a new school year!! There is a lot of information in this blog. Pace yourself and reach out if you have any questions. Continue as best you can to continue to enjoy the summer. ~Juan

To Do

Homework for August 10: Before our conference with the Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) next Wednesday, August 10, be sure to watch the video below and read the short article to prepare.  You might begin to think about the following questions: 

• What is the role of student story in schools? 
• In what ways are stories, and opportunities to tell and listen to stories, important sources of data.  For whom? 

·         9 Storytellers on Why Black Stories Matter — a video by Great Big Stories (8 min)

·         Street Level Data by Shane Safir

This and That

Volunteers and visitors are now allowed in our schools! 

They are required to follow all of policies and procedures including checking into the raptor system before entering the building.

Restorative Practices Training opportunities: 

If you are new to our district and/or have not yet been trained in Restorative Practice, your Culture of Care Team is here to help! We are happy to announce our Restorative Practices professional development offerings for the new school year! Registration is open and links are included HERE. Space is limited so sign up soon! Please contact Amber McGill if you have any questions ([email protected]).

From Eric Powell, Student Services:

We have scheduled a monthly work session for Assistant Principals and Deans focused on student management. You will want to keep this Restorative Practices and Student Management Resource Guide easily accessible as we continue to think about how we support ALL students in our schools.

From the Teaching and Learning Team:

Encourage your teachers to join us for the Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference on August 24th and 25th at Pacific Crest Middle School.  Check out the Innovative Flyer to find out about the keynote speakers and the amazing educators who will be sharing their practice with us.  All administrators are required to attend both keynote sessions AND the leadership session with Bettina Love on August 25.

• STEM Camp available at Miller Elementary for school-aged children
  • Google sign up form
  • flyer
• One OSU Fall Credit will be available
• Sign up to attend via Performance Matters
• Lunch will be provided

From Dean RE: Day 189 and 190: 

This year we have a few ways that teachers can meet their required district directed professional development (aka Day 189.) Teachers may attend the Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference.  August 24^th has several sections that focus on equitable grading.  On August 30^th, the first day of the contract, teachers may attend a morning training on equitable grading at their home site (details to come at the level retreat) and a Canvas training session in the afternoon.

Teachers may choose to attend both the conference and the training on the 30^th.  This would satisfy the district directed PD and the teacher directed PD (aka Day 190.) This is the best option from a consistent messaging perspective. 

We understand that this is messy this year to have options for teachers having these options. We began the process of securing keynotes and sessions for the ITLC prior to the decision to hold the training on the 30^th. 

One other thing that may make the Canvas training difficult for teachers is if schools do not have master schedules set and synergy is not set up. New teachers may not have access to their Canvas shells if the hiring process has not been fully completed.  Please communicate this potential wrinkle if it is likely. 

From Rachel Mavis: 

If you are not familiar with our Office Staff webpage, please review and bookmark. This is a great Go To for information we send out to your office staff. We have a page a position with the latest and greatest communication. There is a link on the Staff Portal – BLS Office Staff. We are in the process of updating each page with training information that has been posted in Performance Matters.

All of our NEW staff trainings and our Back-To -School Meetings are scheduled in Performance Matters for August. They are structured so that the Monday staff start their contract year, we have a Synergy Navigation class scheduled at 8:00 am.  The days following that same week are the Synergy classes required for their job duties.

Training is required before they are granted access to the job specific areas in Synergy. Accuracy of state reporting, and essential student information is depended on the data input your staff is tasked with.

From Rachel Mavis regarding New Registrars: This year, we have a lot of new staff such as 7 NEW Registrars. Trainings require many hrs. For example, new registrars need at least 5 hrs of basics to start. It is imperative that your new staff attend the sessions we have scheduled. Our district has grown quite a bit, and with the demands of August, we will not be able to come out to sites to train one on one.

Back to School Workshops/Meetings are also scheduled. These are VERY important for your office staff to come together and learn about new features and new processes. These meetings are integral to each group as they share ideas, learn from each other and make connections with others in the district.  Your office staff have unique positions in your buildings. By meeting others in the district who share common job duties, helps your staff throughout the year. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to Deby Bryson, [email protected]  or Rachel Mavis rachel.mavis@juan-cuadros

From Lora Nordquist: 

We are excited to share updated start and end times for the 2022-23 school year. Thanks to our team’s great recruitment efforts and our transportation department’s work, we were able to hire more than 20 new bus drivers. This enables us to transition back to two start times, one for middle and high schools and one for elementary schools.  Start and end times for 2022-23:

• Elementary:  7:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.  
• Middle school: 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. 
• Three Rivers School: 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 
• High school: 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. (Drop at 8:15-8:30)
• High School Choice Schools  9:00-3:20  (Drop at 8:50)
• HS Staff work day is 8:00-4:00           

Schools will continue to release 90 minutes early on Wednesdays for professional development.  SIW professional development time will run 2:30-4:00.

The expectation is that on-staff coaches participate in the full 90 minutes of SIW time and begin practices after 4:00. If they have walk on assistants who are able to begin practices prior to 4:00, that is approved.

This news will be shared as part of back to school messaging.

Schedules for teachers shared between schools: 

because the middle and high school start and end times now align, building leaders across levels will need to collaborate to reconfigure the schedules for teachers who work at both levels. This most commonly impacts our music teachers. Remember to follow these guidelines to ensure schedules meet the contract language: 20 min for travel each day, duty free lunch each day, prep time equivalent to a teaching period each day. Contact Ryan, Juan, Katie or Sarah Barclay with questions.

From Lora: 

As you plan for back-to-school activities, please remember that in 2022 Yom Kippur begins the evening of October 4^th and lasts until the evening of October 5^th. Please do NOT schedule any family events/activities on these dates.

From HR: 

Plan to set aside one hour during inservice week for AED, glucagon, epi-pen, high heat and seizure trainings.  Building admin are to coordinate with their nurses when the one hour training will occur. This is a slide deck with a voice over, ready for you to share with staff.

From Scott B: 

This past school year, the school board of directors adopted updated language to BLS Policy GBJ-BP Weapons in Schools, making it unlawful to have firearms on school property, even for concealed carry licensed individuals.

Oregon law requires the district to post signs notifying the public of the district’s policy enforcing the law.

The superintendent’s office has directed that signs be put up on our property and next to our visitor management systems notifying individuals of the policy and law.

Representatives from the district custodial office will be coming by your schools over the next couple of weeks to post these signs in your schools.

Please direct any questions you have regarding the posting of these signs to the safety department.

Calendar

Here is a LINK to a summary of our work in August and the first week of school.

Fish On

Team,

Here is the last blog until August. I hope you all find time this summer to take a deep breath and decompress. ~Juan

To Do

School Offices

Please remember to post your office hours and office availability.  Front offices should be open no later than August 8th.  Here are the signs to use for your front door.  Make sure these get posted when you leave for summer.

Leah Bibeau in the business office 

Please be sure to read the email from me earlier this week regarding digital leave and time sheets for next year.  Just know that the paper ones we currently use will be coming to an end. 

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This and That

Year Long Calendar 

Here is something new BLS has not seen before. A master planning calendar of all the work sessions and PD for the 2022-23 school year. All of the typical meetings are here like middle school horizontals, but there are specific work sessions to principals and for assistant principals. Please note the Admin/ICCL workshops, those will focus on the principal and ICCL teams to learn about MTSS and how to lead effective work in those systems. Another new item will working with the Center for Educational Leadership (CEL). Please take a look at this document when it most convenient.

22-23 School Year PD/meeting Calendar

From Jennifer Hauth

 Check out the most recent blog here.

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Calendar

June 17th Last contract day for teachers

June 21st, All Admin breakfast from 8:00-9:30 AM @ Ed Center

August 8th Middle School Offices Open

August 12th Middle School 2022-23 Kick Off 11:00-3:30 @Pacific Crest Middle

Fish On…

What finishing the school year usually feels like:

What finishing this year feels like:

It’s not pretty, but when all is said and done, we did it!! Looking forward to seeing you all at breakfast on Tuesday, here at the Ed Center from 8:00-9:30.

Team,

This is a repeat from last week!  

• Point of entry supervision at morning drop off  (adult posted at gates at bus entry, walker entry, etc.).  If students are entering through a door or gate there should be a staff member there.
• Lock gates immediately when you walk away from morning entry and keep the perimeter secured all day.  Do not wait for the building engineer to make his or her rounds to lock the gates.
• Doors locked and not propped open (you may have 1 door unlocked at recess for restroom access–door should be visible to supervision and immediately locked after recess)
• If your school has classroom doors that open to the parking lot, or some other area outside the perimeter fencing, these doors need to be locked at all times and at no time should they be propped open.
• After the bell rings in the morning, entrance to the building should be through the secure front entrance.
• Use Raptor for all guests and visitors and staff without ID.  That means no adults in the perimeter without a Raptor ID and visitor/volunteer purpose to be there.
• Wear IDs, recess vests, and carry your keys (having your phone is a good idea as well)
• If you have any questions or need any assistance please reach out to Scott, Julianne, or me.

Have a great weekend~Juan

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To Do

Please send Denise the name of your 504 Coordinator.

Who are your Canvas First Responders for 22-23? 

Canvas First Responders play a critical role in Canvas support; they are the “local” Canvas leaders available to field questions,  promote best practices, train staff, and troubleshoot concerns. We couldn’t do it without this savvy and dedicated group! In preparation for the 22-23 school year, we ask that you identify the teachers who will serve your school in this role. Enter teacher names in the “22-23 Support Staff” column in this document.  The description and duties of this role are available here.

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This and That

From Misty Groom, Student Threat Assessment Program Coordinator 

As a partner of Central Oregon Student Threat Assessment System & Team, I am looking for feedback regarding our regional STAS program.  The feedback will be kept anonymous and aggregated as a collective set of feedback that is used as one tool in the evaluation of the STAS program. Any input is very important to us. We are committed to collaboration, continuous improvement and keeping relationships at the center of all we do.

The survey link form is: STAS Feedback form 

Once this data is collected, it will be shared with the STAS Advisory Committee.  Thank you for your partnership and if you have any questions, please let me know. 

From Kinsey

End-of-Year Translation/Interpretation:

This Mon the 13th is the last day before the ESD shifts into their summer mode, and requests will be significantly more expensive and harder to fill after that point.  Please submit any requests for translation/interpretation to Linguist Link ASAP.  Thanks for reminding your teachers and staff as well.

End-of-year items that require translation/interpretation:.  

-Report card/Grading comments

-School newsletters and announcements

-End-of-year invitations, events, and awards ceremonies

-Summer resources

-Summer phone message

-Front office hours signage (here is one you can use)

Remember: Liaisons, specialists, and bilingual staff are not currently qualified for translation/interpretation, so plan ahead and use Linguist Link.  If you have a bilingual staff member you would like to have available for this work in the future, make sure they have signed up to start the process.  

From Steven Duval

Here is the equitable grading presentation from Wednesday, June 8th. You will read their finds and recommendations.

Equitable Grading Presentation

More on Equitable Grading

Professional Learning focused on Equitable Grading: During the Q and A yesterday, a question was asked about PD for teachers related to equitable grading best practices. Part of the August 30th required certified training is focused on this topic for secondary teachers. Additionally, remind your staff that an entire day of the Innovation Conference is dedicated to equitable grading practices. Encourage them to sign up and learn for themselves the WHY behind a change in practice will better serve our students.

Here is the information from Stephen DuVal, Director of College and Career Readiness related to learning more about equitable grading: As requested, the equitable grading Q and A was recorded for those who could not make it.  That recording is linked here.

Additionally, I am providing a link to a folder full of resources the team used to examine practices in conjunction with Grading for Equity by Joe Feldman.  Feel free to dive into the readings yourself.

Once again, here are a few other links you may find useful.

• Sign up for the Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference in Performance Matters.  Grading Expert Rick Wormeli will be speaking on the 24th.  We HIGHLY encourage you to attend.
• If you would like a copy of Grading for Equity, we will send one your way.  Please fill out this form.
• If you have interest in using an alternative grading scale (0-4, 1-4, etc.) and are not at a school that uses one building-wide (Cascade, Pilot Butte, BTA, Realms MS/HS), please fill out this form.  Support and PD will be arranged for the fall.
• Recommendations – Executive summary and full document.

From Tami Pike 

Below is some information regarding end of the year activities with COVID-19 positive students/families. *High school nurses have already received information regarding the process for graduating seniors that test positive. For all other students/families please follow the instructions below:

• If the COVID-19 positive individual is on day 0-5, they are not permitted to attend or participate in any school related activities. (inside or outside)
• If the COVID-19 positive individual is on day 6-10, they can attend activities (indoor or outdoor) as long as they are wearing at least a KN95 mask, symptoms have improved and fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication. 

From Amy Tarnow 

Registration for the BLSO summer program is open!  Online classes will open on June 27 and close on August 26th.  Bend-La Pine Online staff will be available virtually to support students all summer long.  Families can register through the “Summer Registration” link on our website, or by scanning the QR code found on our flyers.  Here is the direct link as well:  https://bls.fyi/blsosummersignup

We market our summer program only for our incoming 9th-11th graders and this year’s seniors who might need a few more credits to graduate. Middle schoolers can take summer courses but it is usually to finish something from the school year or accelerate in math…we don’t advertise that but if you know of families who would like to access that option please send them our way.

Here are links that can be shared digitally:  

Flyer – English:  https://www.canva.com/design/DAFBiXCJUA0/IdCFo5vEugOixVYJlfhk8A/view?utm_content=DAFBiXCJUA0&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

Flyer- Spanish:  https://www.canva.com/design/DAFB1EU38Z0/QxxNqkXPAg422zDl6sTC-w/view?utm_content=DAFB1EU38Z0&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

From Chad Brewer and our IT Team 

Bend-La Pine Schools is moving to a new product for student iPad web filtering. This web filtering service is focused on K-12 education and will give us some functionality we don’t currently have as well as some roadmap items we may take advantage of in the future.

The biggest change right now is that websites are categorized in a way that aligns with the needs of a K-12 school district. The new filtering for high school was enabled yesterday.

The details:

*Each student iPad will automatically receive an app called “Relay Smart Agent” (this part has already happened).

*This app is required for the new filter and cannot be deleted by students.

*When a website is blocked, the block page will look different and provide a link to the app for detailed information.

Let me know if you have any questions. You can also reach out to your building IT Client Services tech.

From Dean Richards and Julie Montoya:

Principals – if you haven’t yet shared information with families about reviewing our World Languages Curriculum, you still have time. New date for review is June 13. Here’s a bilingual message you can share:

Community Invited to Review World Language Curriculum Community members, staff and students are invited to share input on the World Language curriculum, grades 6-12, up for approval for adoption during the Bend-La Pine Schools’ Board of Directors meeting June 21. A team of Bend-La Pine Schools’ teachers and staff spent months reviewing options and gathering input from families, staff and students, before narrowing the curriculum options to one recommendation per language and level. Community members are invited to review the recommended option by viewing the materials online or signing up to view the materials in person in Bend or La Pine through June 13.

Review the materials online: https://bls.fyi/worldlanguage

Sign up to review the materials in-person: https://bls.fyi/materialsreview

Les invitamos repasar los materiales de lenguas mundiales

Inscríbanse para revisar materiales en Bend-LaPine o en línea

Les invitamos a la comunidad, empleados y estudiantes repasar y compartir sus comentarios sobre la materia de los lenguas mundiales, listos para ser aceptados por el comité escolar el 21 de junio. Un equipo de maestros de Bend-La Pine Schools pasaron meses repasando las opciones disponibles y juntando contribuciones de familias, empleados y estudiantes antes de provenir una recomendación por lenguaje y nivel. Les invitamos a la comunidad hacer la crítica de las recomendaciones en línea o en persona usando los enlaces a continuación.

Revisar en línea: https://bls.fyi/worldlanguage

Inscribirse para ver materiales en persona o Webex: https://bls.fyi/materialsreview

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Calendar

From Lora –   Here is the information about next year’s pre-service week. Also, we have designed a Professional Development calendar for next year to help you track the required trainings.

June 13th Horizontal Meeting at Sky View Middle School @7:30am-9:00 am

June 15th Second to the last day of school for students-Regular schedule

June 16th Principals Breakfast Original Pancake House West Side @7:30-9:00

June 16th Last day of school-students are released at 2:40 pm

June 17th Last contract day for teachers

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Fish On…

(For consistency between all levels: the below message was shared)

Team,

I want to lead off this week’s blog with a reminder about school security.  

At cabinet this week the following building security measures were discussed and were determined to be a priority to enforce by all schools from now to the end of the school year.   Please see that you are following the guidelines below.  Truly nothing is new–but this is a good reminder if you have loosened up through covid. 

• Point of entry supervision at morning drop off  (adult posted at gates at bus entry, walker entry, etc.).  If students are entering through a door or gate there should be a staff member there.
• Lock gates immediately when you walk away from morning entry and keep the perimeter secured all day.  Do not wait for the building engineer to make his or her rounds to lock the gates.
• Doors locked and not propped open (you may have 1 door unlocked at recess for restroom access–door should be visible to supervision and immediately locked after recess)
• If your school has classroom doors that open to the parking lot, or some other area outside the perimeter fencing, these doors need to be locked at all times and at no time should they be propped open.
• After the bell rings in the morning, entrance to the building should be through the secure front entrance.
• Use Raptor for all guests and visitors and staff without ID.  That means no adults in the perimeter without a Raptor ID and visitor/volunteer purpose to be there.
• Wear IDs, recess vests, and carry your keys (having your phone is a good idea as well)
• If you have any questions or need any assistance please reach out to your level leader

Have a great weekend~Juan

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To Do

From Jennifer Hauth

Please remind your counselors that we have our end of the year planning retreat on Wednesday, June 8th from 2 pm to 4:30 pm at HDMS. 

The goals for this last meeting include celebrating the hard work we have all put in over the last year, collaborating around tiered interventions, and providing time for teams to begin (or continue/improve) program calendaring for the 2022-23 school year.

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This and That

From Kinsey

This newsletter includes upcoming equity-related learning events and community engagement FUN for you and your staff.  

 Thank you for sharing this info in different ways (linking in your blog, posting near the copier, mentioning in a staff meeting) so staff of different roles, schedules, and tech tools have access.  Also, can you ask please ask all your bilingual staff to complete this quick Yes or No form?  Thanks!

From Michele Oakes

Adminstrators,

As many of you know, we launched BLS’ Beginning Administrator Mentor (BAM) program this year.   Our goal was to support our new (1^st and 2^nd year) administrators as they launched into a new career pathway.  Our focus of support included daily administrative and leadership needs, as well as, building a better understanding around the role that equity plays at a building and systems level.

We received great feedback and will be modifying the program for 2022-23.  Based on initial data, we will have at least 15 beginning administrators next year.  We need you!  Here is a link to a BAM Interest form which will help us determine who is interested in supporting our beginning administrators.  This information will also help us make more intentional and strategic matches.  Mentees will not be matched with their building principals or evaluators in order to provide confidential spaces for them to grow and learn.

We are working on creating a structure for meetings that align to your existing meetings.  There will also be required meetings, PD and a stipend.  More details to follow.

Let me know if you have any questions,

From Amy Duettra, OSU Cascades

Amy is looking for placements for a few OSU-Candidates.

At this point, she is looking for 3 Social Studies classrooms throughout the district. In addition, one intern who is in need of an ELA classroom placement. If you can help please have the teacher contact her directly. [email protected]

Needing an ELA classroom 

Brigitte Lewis cover (could be placed in a( MS Humanites classroom if HS ELA is unavailable)

Brigitte Lewis cover

Needing a SS classroom:

James Prizzia cover   

James Prizzia profile

Drew Moore Cover    

Drew Moore Profile

Kendall George cover (could be placed in a MS Humanites classroom if HS SS is unavailable)

Kendall George profile

Summer School Staff still needed: 

 Please pass this along to staff at your sites.  With the bulk of the positions filled, we are still seeking EA support across all levels (Jump Start, Spark, Base Camp and SPED/ESY).  In addition, we would like to add a few more teachers to the middle school Spark program, specifically at HDMS.  To apply, find “Careers in BLP Schools” and under “Internal Applicants” you can find open positions for summer employment.  The support for students is rewarding and stipends are substantial!  For more information, please contact Kevin Milner or Dean Richards.

Nutrition News from Garra was recently shared with families

Regulations for summer lunch and next school year have changed significantly. All waivers extended during the pandemic emergency will end on the last day of the 2021-2022 school year.

For summer lunch meals will continue to be free to all children 18 years and under but now the meal will have to be eaten on site and grab and go or parent pick up is no longer an option.

For next school year, school meals will be paid, free, or reduced price which will require an application to be completed after Aug 1^st, except for students attending community eligibility provision (CEP) schools. The CEP schools for 2022-2023 are: Bear Creek Elementary, Ensworth Elementary, Pilot Butte Middle, Bend Tech Academy at Marshall High, Three Rivers, La Pine Elementary, La Pine Middle, La Pine High, and Rosland Elementary.

More people may qualify for the meals program due to the Student Success Act. The State of Oregon supports students who do not qualify for free and reduced meal benefits using federal income guidelines. It provides meal benefits to households with incomes above 185% but not exceeding 300% of the federal poverty guidelines. This means that a family of 4 with an annual income of $79,500 could qualify for meals at no cost. Families are encouraged to apply if they think they may qualify.

FAN services over the summer 

The school FAN offices are closed in the summer, but advocate Perla Ruiz will be providing coverage for our families. All the FAN Advocates will have Perla’s contact information on their voicemail and auto email replies. Advocates refer any families of concern to Perla in June so she can connect and provide support over the summer. Perla does not have access to funds, but she will work with families on resources and referrals for food, clothing, dental, vision, medical/OHP, utilities, and housing support needs. 

Perla’s contact information: [email protected], phone 541-355-5683 and text 408-758-0472

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Calendar

June 8th Equitable Grading Think Tank @3:30-4:30 pm at Bend SHS Perseverance Hall

June 13th Horizontal Meeting at Sky View Middle School @7:30am-9:00 am

June 16th Last day of school

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Fish On…

Team,

Have a great weekend! I hope you spend time with family and friends and get a chance to take a deep exhale. ~Juan

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To Do

From TLC

For the last several years (minus the lost year to CoVid) Bend-La Pine has put on an amazing conference. The incredible teachers of Bend-La Pine share with their peers the beautiful work that they have been doing. Along with national level speakers, BLP teachers share the innovative work that happens in our schools every day. We are excited to bring the Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference back again this year with over 30 educators sharing what they are doing in their classrooms every day. You can register at this link. Click on the Sections tab part way down the screen to see the registration.

From Stephen Duval

Secondary administrators, please join members of the Equitable Grading Think Tank on June 8^th to hear the final recommendations the team drafted.  We will be meeting in Perseverance Hall at Bend Senior High at 3:30 to talk about the process, outcomes, and next steps.  Please ensure your admin team and 2-3 ICCL team members can join.  This is a teacher workday SIW so their time can come from the ICCL extra 60 hours requirement.  We look forward to seeing you there.

From the CANVAS Team

Canvas First Responders play a critical role in Canvas support; they are the “local” Canvas leaders available to field questions,  promote best practices, train staff, and troubleshoot concerns. We couldn’t do it without this savvy and dedicated group! In preparation for the 22-23 school year, we ask that you identify the teachers who will serve your school in this role. Enter teacher names in the “22-23 Support Staff” column in this document.  The description and duties of this role are available here.

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This and That

Calendar Update from Lora

Andrea Wilson should be posting the corrected/amended calendar for 22-23 school year very soon t o our website. Just so all of you know, we are providing one additional work day/training day on next year’s calendar: Thursday, February 2^nd, the day before the end-of-semester teacher work day:

• For certified staff, this will be a WORK DAY. The district will be participating in a systems performance review, and one part of that process will involve teachers’ submissions of sample assignments, student work, etc. Teachers will have the 2^nd to complete these tasks.
• All classified staff WILL report on the 2^nd, as well. Supervisors may use this as a training day. This would be a great time for EA training, as well. 
• Here are links to the calendars that will be on our website: Bend & South County, BTA@ Marshall

From Scott in IT

Hotspot questions are starting to be the “hot” item.  Here are a few frequently asked questions:

Do students have to return their hotspots on the last day of school No, instead please allow your families who are using district provided hotspots to continue using them for summer learning opportunities.

Do Athletic program hotspots need to be returned by the last day of school? Yes- These devices are not managed the same.  If you do not return it, we will not be able to get activated again for you in the fall. 

Will we continue to support hotspots for families next year? I hope not!  Many of our students and families who need hotspots also reside in areas without reliable connectivity.  We are working to find a community partner who will provide  a more robust connectivity solution to support families beyond the academic needs of their children.   Since this is still a work in progress, hotspots will be available as our parachute in the fall.

From Dave VanLoo

Some of our teachers are concluding a “cause and effect” relationship between the establishment of the 50% floor and high absenteeism. Below are data that should provide useful and informative context. Please forward this information to your teachers.

Chronic absenteeism this year has skyrocketed at our elementary schools, where there is no such thing as a “50%/no zeros grading rule”. The same trend shows at our middle schools. A quick Google search reveals that increased absenteeism has been a huge national issue since the start of the pandemic. In light of all these data, it is incredibly hard to fathom that this one change in grading would be a cogent, defensible, or probable causal factor explaining attendance trends.

To me, maybe the most interesting and important piece of this discussion is if we could assume that this one change in practice is the primary causal factor in HS attendance. What would that tell us if this were the main determinant of whether students come to school? Might it tell us that–

• We’ve created systems that teach students to prioritize and value grades over learning? The most important thing for students isn’t what content they remember and use 1, 5, or 10 years in the future, but what grade they received?
• Grading is more a transactional tool for compensating students than a tool for communicating and providing feedback about their mastery of supposedly important content?
• Our best tool for motivating students is not ensuring that every day, in every class, all students experience a culture that builds human connection, competence, purpose, belonging, and lifelong learning – but the threat of low grades as punishment?

There is no doubt a serious problem in that situation, but the problem is not within the student.

There is a massive body of evidence that students’ engagement in school predictably declines with each major transition from elementary to middle, and middle to high. Is it just a coincidence that this maps so neatly with typical changes in grading practices and increasing weight given to grades?

More from Dave

We have not yet grasped the level of learning loss our students have experienced during our pandemic and what it will take to help them recover: https://teachlikeachampion.com/blog/q-just-how-much-is-22-weeks-of-lost-instruction/.

Calendar

June 2nd Principal Breakfast at Original Pancake House (west side) @7:30-9:00

June 8th Equitable Grading Think Tank @3:30-4:30 pm at Bend SHS Perseverance Hall

June 13th Horizontal Meeting at Sky View Middle School @7:30am-9:00 am

June 16th Last day of school

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Fish On…