To Do:
Important Reminder: State Assessment Notifications and Opt Outs sent by December 9. Refer to the November 18 BLOG for specifics including the letters.
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Is your team on track with evaluation processes? To be “up to date” on evaluations, observations and SLGGS by winter break, your building leadership team should have completed:
*two mini observations for every teacher
*one formal observation cycle** for each temporary and probationary teacher (the second formal observation should be completed by the middle of February, unless you have a serious concern about that staff member. If that is the case, you should finish the second formal by the end of January and contact Steve Herron)
*met with to review and digitally signed off every teacher on their initial SLGGSs.
If you have a concern about a staff member, contact Steve Herron.
**a formal observation cycle is defined as a pre observation meeting to determine instructional “look fors” and the date for the full period observation, a full period observation and a post observation debrief with the teacher aligned with the evaluation rubric.
Information:
From Dean: ICCL-Administrator Professional Development Session: Our next session is NEXT week. HERE is the plan for that work.
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Diploma requirements and participation in the graduation ceremony: It is the expectation that only students who complete their district and state diploma requirements are allowed to walk in our graduation ceremonies. Please contact me if you have questions.
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Honors Diploma adjustment: The proposed changes to our Honors Diploma have not been approved for this year as further processing is needed. In short, students of the graduating class of 2023 must meet the current requirements to earn this diploma. Specifics to follow in the coming weeks.
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GED: Below are a few district expectations and processes associated with the GED:
- Buildings have the capacity to serve students requesting GED support. This is our district expectation, as opposed to moving them to COIC or COCC.
- Our OSSM team members (of which there is one in every high school) are/will be trained in how to implement the GED practice modules/tests AND give the GED test at their schools.
- Our goal is that after a student successfully passes the test, we support them to earn the 2-3 extra credits needed to earn their diploma.
- Referring students to COIC to complete their GED can be considered on a case-by-case basis.
- Also, GED is NEVER a “speed boat” option – but can serve as a “lifeboat” for students who are a year behind in credits (7) who are also 16 (state law).
Dean is the Administrator lead for GED in our district. Please reach out to him with questions or concerns.
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From Dean: This week’s secondary blog is 5 great strategies for supporting the learning of multilingual students written by Liza Digiglio Huet. Multilingual students bring a wealth of world knowledge and experience to our classrooms, yet may not always be able to express it in ways that other students can.
These instructional strategies are not one more thing, but rather a way to revive our patterns of interactions between students and our content. Strategies That Work
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STAS Update from Eric Powell: For all sites: If you have any Administrators, Counselors, or School Psychologists who are needing to be trained in the STAS Level 1 (threat assessment) protocol, would you please Email me with the names of those needing/requesting training? I can use this information to request a formal training from Misty Groom and the High Desert ESD.
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504 Information from Josh: 504 Coordinators, we have arranged for a training by the Oregon Department of Education. This training will take place on January 18th from 8-12, at the Education Center Room 314 (Board Room). Please know that this training is for any administrator, or counselor that is currently involved in 504. If you are new to 504 I would consider this training to be required. If you are a veteran I would strongly encourage you to attend. This is an opportunity for you to learn and ask questions about 504 from our partners at ODE. Please go into performance matters and sign up, so we have an accurate count of attendees. Link to Sign Up
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A reminder from the Business Office – We have a very short turnaround for payroll this month, please get these to us on time by Monday!
Just a reminder that Timesheets (Red Folder) and Leave Sheets (Blue Folder) are due to Payroll on Monday, December 5th for the period covering Monday, November 7th through Sunday, December 4th.
Any Timesheets or Leave Sheets that are for Workers Comp or FMLA (Purple Folder) are due to HR by Monday, December 5th as well.
Please make sure they are in our office on Monday. If you miss the mail pick up for your building please scan them to us so they are here on Monday. Please do not email them and mail them, just send one copy.
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Volunteers – new rules! – last year when we began letting volunteers back in our schools we limited our volunteers to one per class per day. We did this because of lingering covid concerns and because of the number of volunteers we could process per week under the new system. These two limitations are no longer a concern so as of today you can have more than one volunteer per classroom per day. There are no limitations other than having people complete the new volunteer background check process.
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From Stephanie Bent – I have updated all documents and processes in TalentEd for the 22-23 school year including self-reflections and summative evaluations. You should now have the ability to assign to your staff. Please assign the appropriate processes to all probationary and temporary staff and tenured staff that is on an evaluation cycle.
If you need help adding the processes, please give me a call and I will walk you through the process. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Calendar:
December 6: Administrators/ICCL training
December 7-9: COSA Law Conference– Katie, Eric, Kinsey and several Assistant Principals/Deans attending
December 9: State Assessment Notifications and Opt Out Forms sent to families by this date!
December 13: HS Administrators work session, BSHS Robert Maxwell Center (formerly named Perseverance Hall) 8:00-9:30.
December 14: Office Manager meeting, Location TBD
December 15 and 16: Katie out of the office
December 19-January 3: Winter Break—Wahoo!
