High School Rock Stars!

To Do:

From Torie and Michele: CDA collaboration and calibration days are coming in May! We have been working with the high school language arts teachers to coordinate the district wide CDA Days on May 21 and 23. HERE is the information about the “why” for the day, who participates on which days and the agenda (different schools each day follow the same agenda).

Building leaders support this process by:

*Checking in with your LA teachers to ensure they have adjusted their plans to participate

*Reviewing the list to see that all of your LA teacher are included

*Ensuring your teachers have requested a sub for the day (paid for by the district)

*Planning to stop by the training to show your support for this collaborative cross-schools collaboration

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From Jenn: Helping our seniors finish strong! I hope this message finds you well. With the academic year drawing to a close, we wanted to take a moment to share some essential reminders and updates regarding our school counseling program expectations. It’s important that these points are effectively communicated and completed by our students.

1. Alumni Feature in SchooLinks:

Before graduating in June, seniors must complete the alumni feature in SchooLinks. This ensures a smooth transition of their SchooLinks account to Alumni status. Seniors are required to update their personal email and password in SchooLinks to maintain access post-graduation. This step is crucial for continued use of SchooLinks functionalities such as requesting high school transcripts.

2. Senior Year End Activity:

Additionally, we require all seniors to complete the Senior Year End Activity in SchooLinks, which encompasses the following updates:

• Post-Secondary Plan
• College Applications (if applicable)
• Enrollment Decision (this determines where their transcript will be sent!)
• Scholarships (if applicable)
• BLS Student Senior Survey

As we start closely monitoring post-secondary preparation and outcomes, this task is crucial for gathering district wide data to use for future planning support for our current students.

Below are two resources to aid seniors in completing these tasks.  We encourage collaboration within your respective admin/counseling teams to strategize the most effective means of getting this information out to seniors as well as providing support for students to complete the tasks.  Some suggested avenues include advisory sessions, class meetings, classroom lessons, etc. This should be a required part of the senior check out process. 

Instructions via Google Slides

Instruction Sheet

3. SchooLinks Onboarding:

Additionally, just a gentle reminder we should be proactively ensuring all students are onboarded to SchooLinks. Seniors were our initial priority, and now our focus has shifted to students in grades 9-11. It’s particularly crucial to get juniors onboarded as they rely on this platform for their college applications (if applicable) in the fall. . As we prepare for the next school year, facilitating students’ awareness and utilization of this platform now will assist students in the post-secondary planning process. Moving forward, SchooLinks integration is outlined in our HS Comprehensive School Counseling Program (CSCP) Agreements, meaning all students are expected to utilize it as part of our HS CSCP.  Remember that you all of access to review and track any SchooLinks analytics for your school to see where you are all at in the process and follow up with students that have not completed the process. 

4. Senior Non-Grad Planning

We know that you’re actively involved in tracking the progress of all your seniors. As part of this tracking and support process, it is important that if any students fail to meet the deadline, we schedule meetings with them (and their parent/guardian) to craft a personalized completion plan for their diploma. This plan could include school-based interventions and/or BLSO, GED, or COIC pathways. Hopefully, your school team has already started discussions about potential school-based interventions, utilizing 12th-grade teachers and other staff to support students who are only a few classes away from graduation, especially since it is our responsibility to serve students until June 18th. If you have students completing BLSO classes as a non-grad credit recovery option, they must complete that course by June 14^th for it to be added to their transcript.  If they still need additional time, they can re-open the class for summer school, but will need to complete the summer school registration process (more information about BLSO summer school to come out mid-May). 

Prior to these non-grad senior meetings, the next step is for administrators to convene their school team to determine the most suitable interventions tailored to your school’s context. This will necessitate collaboration among various shareholders, including counselors, administrators, graduation coaches, tier 2 interventionists, 12^th grade teachers, learning specialists, and OSSMs. Once options for seniors are determined, they will be used during planning meetings with your non-graduating seniors at the end of May.

Attached are documents developed in collaboration with level leads and the HS counseling ICCL to help streamline this process: 

• 12th Grade Non-Grad Draft Process
• Senior Non-Grad Plan for Completion
• Non-Graduate Senior Plan Tracker

We appreciate your review and planning for the above items.  Your cooperation in supporting our students through these important processes is greatly appreciated.

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From Dana: FAN Advocate Evaluations: If your FAN Advocate is due for a summative evaluation this spring, you received an email from Dana Pedersen earlier this week.  Please provide her with the requested information by May 10.  All feedback will be summarized, and Dana will complete the evaluation conference with the Advocate later in May.  Thank you

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Levy information on your reader boards: Here is some messaging you can add to your reader boards leading up to May 21st.

Levy News: Keep up the messaging about the Levy. Make sure you have the posters up, reader boards informed (see messaging from Scott), let us know if you want us to speak to any groups, pass our fliers, etc. Thanks for sharing the news!

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Architects in School Summer Opportunities. Please share with families staff!  Here are some architecture and design related resources and opportunities for students.

Virtual Architects in Schools Summer Camp (designed for youth ages 8-12)

Please help us in sharing our Architects in Schools Summer Camp information (see attached English and Spanish flyer). Our virtual camp held from June 24-28 is free and designed for youth ages 8-12. During this camp, students will learn about the benefits of adaptive reuse and how the built environment must evolve with cultural, societal, and environmental changes. They will take on the role of an architect and builder to redesign a structure for their community. Learn more here or through the link in the attached flyer. Register by June 14 to participate (Oregon residents can request a free supply box by June 7).

2024 Summer Camp Catalog (for students K-College)

There are several great camps for Oregon students to explore design this summer (including our Architects in Schools Camp, NOMA PDX’s Project Pipeline, ELSO’s Wayfinders and more) and we have compiled those opportunities into our 2024 Summer Camp Catalog (please see PDF attachments, English and Spanish version). Registration deadlines are approaching soon. Here are the weblinks in case those are easier for you to share: English Catalog, Spanish Catalog.

Oregon Student Opportunities Hub (for students K-College)

Our Hub is a resource for students, Kindergarten through Post-Secondary, to explore architecture, engineering, construction, and design opportunities across Oregon. This includes programs, camps, internships, scholarships, events, and more. Check it out and share with a student! 

Please let me know if I can supply you with anything else to help spread the word. Thank you and have a great rest of the school year! Candice Agahan (she/her). Education Program Manager, [email protected]. work: 503-542-3823. cell: 858-243-8720

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Reminders/Action Items:

• Youth Truth Reminder: Please process your YouthTruth data with your staff and share key positives and areas for growth, as well as next steps, with your families and students by the end of the school year. Principals, you are strongly encouraged to additionally process your school’s data with your families and students, particularly, with your principal’s student advisory team, with the intention of setting school improvement and student learning growth goals (SLGGS). However, processing with these groups is not required this year. This is a K-12 expectation for all schools.
• Mark Your Calendars: Next Wednesday, May 8, will be the Deputy Superintendent Forum for all admin. The Forum starts with dinner served from 5:00-6:00, followed by the Forum from 6:00-7:00. It would be great if admin could make it. The Deputy Superintendent directly impacts teaching and learning and the work we do in our schools, so let’s come give some input into our next leader. 
• From Kim in Transportation: Just a reminder that students can NOT bring scooters, bikes, long boards, skateboards (unless attached to a backpack) onto the school bus. Thank you for your help in getting this message out to your families!
• Interested staff members must indicate their interest in having their child attend KIDS Inc by filling out the KIDS Inc Interest Form and submitting an application to the program that can be found on the KIDS Inc website. The application period is May 6- May 17.
• Support for Roger White: Click this link.
• Performance Evaluation Reminders: All goals, formal observations and most mini’s should be finalized in UKG by the end of April.  We are asking Level Leaders to review your progress during their next one-on-one site visit.
  • In addition, please initiate Self-Reflections (SRs) for your staff this week. You may ‘skip’ instead of ‘initiate’ SRs those who are not on a full evaluation cycle this year.  Staff are instructed to complete their SRs by May 1.
• Here is an instruction video to share with your staff on how to complete self-reflections
• Here is an instructional video for admin on how to review, submit and finalize self-reflections
• Tentative BEA Agreement can be found HERE

Information:

Data Support System purchase: We will be moving forward with purchasing the Synergy MTSS and Data Analytics modules that will support the development of our MTSS and data culture beginning next year! I am grateful for the leadership of Kelly and LaKisha who are the high school representatives on our district Data Team! More to come about training and implementation in the fall!

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BLS Student Management: We are moving to a K-12 student management system. At our MTSS meeting yesterday, Eric led the team through reviewing the Learning Environment (Article 18) guidance with time for our MS and HS MTSS representatives to provide their feedback.

On Monday, our Climate and Culture Task Force will also be reviewing the Learning Management (Article 18) guidance as well as a DRAFT of the BLS student management handbook. The purpose is to provide feedback on both.

At the end of May, a team is convening to review all of the input for the final drafts and develop an implementation plan. Several administrators from our high school team will be participating in that work.

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From Scott in IT: It’s Secondary Scheduling Season!

Did you know that each school has a unique schedule setup? To equip your scheduling staff with the necessary assistance and training for this critical task, it’s essential they attend all required group sessions as well as individualized one-on-one sessions.

The required group sessions are scheduled for May 1st, May 8th, and May 15th. You can find the agenda for these sessions here. All sessions will take place on the IT floor of the Education Center at 2 PM.

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From Tami Pike Re: National Nurses Day, May 8

NATIONAL SCHOOL NURSE DAY IS WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2024!!! 

Nurses practicing in the school setting play such a crucial role in keeping students healthy and safe. Please take a moment to honor the nurse in your school for their dedication and hard work with supporting students, staff, and families.

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Please review the lastest Culture of Care newsletter.

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Change in schedule at LPHS: Here is the announcement being sent to our school community today about LPHS.

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From Brad: Many of you are aware that our property, liability, auto, cyber and other insurance is provided by an insurance pool, Pace.  Pace was formed in 2006 by the Oregon School Boards Assoc and Special Districts Assoc of Oregon.  With the exception of four large school districts, all school districts and community colleges in Oregon are members of the pool.  This unique insurance structure not only provides for great coverage when there are claims but also allows Pace and these two organizations to provide many risk prevention strategies, trainings and tools across risks like cybersecurity, playground safety, athletics, and CTE classrooms.  One area that cannot receive enough attention and resources is the prevention of abuse, including sexual abuse. 

Sexual abuse prevention education is crucial for all students and staff, despite its discomfort. Empowering district employees with the knowledge and skills to protect students’ physical and mental well-being is paramount. Understanding signs of potential abuse, recognizing grooming behaviors, and responding effectively are critical roles employees play in fostering a safe learning environment. When employees are well-informed about prevention strategies, it promotes transparency, communication, and collaboration, strengthening relationships within the school community and enhancing overall safeguarding measures.

If you would like more information, please visit the Pace website for lots of information and tools regarding sexual abuse prevention and reporting requirements.  While on the website, check out the other items available on the “resources” tab at the top of the page.  You can find District policy GBNAB/JHFE-BP on Suspected Abuse of a Child Reporting Requirements here and District Administrative Regulation GBNAB/JHFE-AR on Reporting of Suspected Child Abuse here.

Thanks for all you do to help create an environment where students and staff can thrive! 

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Calendar:

LINK to the SIW Calendar and HS administrator work sessions and agendas for 23-24.

May 4: Queer Prom 7 pm at BTA (Star Wars theme)

May 4: Official Star Wars Day—May the 4th be with you!

May 6-May 10: Teacher Appreciation Week!

May 7: HS Administrator CBA work session: 7:30-8:00 @ BTA

May 7: HS administrator work session 8:00-9:30 @ BTA

May 8: Deputy Superintendent Forum in the Board Room 5-6 dinner, 6-7 Forum

May 10: Leave requests by school DUE to HR by this date!

May 15: Monthly Admin professional development @MVHS Cafeteria, 3:00-4:30

May 15: Excellence in Education Celebration! @ MVHS Auditorium, 5:00-7:00

May 21: HS Administrator CBA work session: 7:30-8:00 @ MVHS

May 21: HS administrator work session 8:00-9:30 @ MVHS

May 21: National Board Info Session 4:30-5:30 in board room

May 24: Notify students, staff and families of Val and Sal for the class of 2024!

May 30: School Counselor Celebration in board room 1:00-2:30 Come and support your counselors!

June 1: Pride @ Drake Park (BLS Family Advisory hosting a booth)

June 6: GSA in the Park: 10-1 at Troy Field/Ed Center

June 6-12: Graduation week!!

June 15-16: Juneteenth Community Celebration in Drake Park

June 18: Last Horizontal meeting of the year @ Hollinshead Barn, 3:00-5:00.

June 21: HS End of the Year Planning 8:00-10:00 @ La Pine High School

Happy Birthday, Scott!

To Do:

Levy Talk: Consider the ways in which you might educate your families related to the upcoming levy. Perhaps a presentation to your Site Council, Booster Club or family night. Ballots will go out in just a week! HERE is some information that Scott has put together if you’re looking for a bit more information than the flyers.

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Family Engagement Tool: I am currently attending a Family Engagement conference in Chicago. We are learning a lot about what it means to create AUTHENTIC family engagement and I am eager to share more with you about we can improve authentic engagement with our families.

NAFSCE (National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement) provides an outstanding tool that your school could use when creating your family engagement plan. Check out page 26 for a way to monitor your programming over time.

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First Aid/CPR: If your school is under the ration needed for CPR/First Aid shared by Stephanie Bent this week, please make a plan to meet this before we leave for the year. It will help you be prepared for next year without a question. If you need help or ideas, please reach out.

Reminders/Action Items:

Youth Truth Reminder: Please process your YouthTruth data with your staff and share key positives and areas for growth, as well as next steps, with your families and students by the end of the school year.

Principals, you are strongly encouraged to additionally process your school’s data with your families and students, particularly, with your principal’s student advisory team, with the intention of setting school improvement and student learning growth goals (SLGGS). However, processing with these groups is not required this year.

This is a K-12 expectation for all schools.

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Four hour and less sub payments: Every sub coded between July 1, 2023 and the date of March 4,2024, covered by the district. Anyone who was coded 4 hours after 3/4/24 will be paid by you. As of April 5, if you put in for a 4 hour sub they will be paid for only 4 hours.

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• Interested staff members must indicate their interest in having their child attend KIDS Inc by filling out the KIDS Inc Interest Form and submitting an application to the program that can be found on the KIDS Inc website. The application period is May 6- May 17.
• Support for Roger White: Click this link.
• Performance Evaluation Reminders: All goals, formal observations and most mini’s should be finalized in UKG by the end of April.  We are asking Level Leaders to review your progress during their next one-on-one site visit.
  • In addition, please initiate Self-Reflections (SRs) for your staff this week. You may ‘skip’ instead of ‘initiate’ SRs those who are not on a full evaluation cycle this year.  Staff are instructed to complete their SRs by May 1.
• Here is an instruction video to share with your staff on how to complete self-reflections
• Here is an instructional video for admin on how to review, submit and finalize self-reflections
• Tentative BEA Agreement can be found HERE

Information:

From Colleen, Science TOSA: Thank you for your input regarding the high school course pathways.  Regardless of the pathway, master schedule and staffing are top concerns. The following is input from the attending group.

Three people prefer Pathway #2 (Physics-Chemistry-Biology)  

Benefits: Ensures students take three years of core sciences plus earth and space science integration.

Concerns: staffing, students may need to double up science for IB/AP

Seven people prefer Pathway #3 (Physics A/Chemistry A – Biology – Physics B/Chemistry B) 

Benefits: students are exposed to the three core sciences in 2 years, creates flexibility and assures all students take a year of biology.

Concerns: staffing and scheduling challenges with semester courses, students may need to double up science for IB/AP. Students have too many choices. AP chemistry, AP Biology prerequisites.

Four people did not have a preference but listed staffing challenges and concerns for whether BLPO school options matching biology at a junior level and physics at a freshman level.

Here is a link to the SWOTs for each pathway and a few articles related to each pathway. Centering Equity in High School Science Pathways and NGSS: Changing Systems is Hard Work.

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From Aimee Snyder: Please look for an e-mail coming from Aimee Snyder, our District/County Partnership Health Supervisor. She is sending an invite for parents/caregivers of students in grades 4th-10^th to participate in a 20-minute online survey.  

This survey is part of a county-wide assessment of prevention needs for families around topics like substance use and mental health. And, the first 85 English respondents and 85 Spanish respondents will receive a $15 Visa gift card for their participation!

Calendar:

LINK to the SIW Calendar and HS administrator work sessions and agendas for 23-24.

April 30: All goals, formal observations, and most mini observations finalized in UKG

May 1: BRYT Focus Groups for SSCs/SSIs during SIW

May 4: Queer Prom 7 pm at BTA (Star Wars theme)

May 6-May 10: Teacher Appreciation Week!

May 7: HS Administrator CBA work session: 7:30-8:00 @ BTA

May 7: HS administrator work session 8:00-9:30 @ BTA

May 21: HS Administrator CBA work session: 7:30-8:00 @ MVHS

May 21: HS administrator work session 8:00-9:30 @ MVHS

May 21: National Board Info Session 4:30-5:30 in board room

May 24: Notify students, staff and families of Val and Sal for the class of 2024!

May 30: School Counselor Celebration in board room 1:00-2:30 Come and support your counselors!

June 1: Pride @ Drake Park (BLS Family Advisory hosting a booth)

June 6: GSA in the Park: 10-1 at Troy Field/Ed Center

June 6-12: Graduation week!!

June 15-16: Juneteenth Community Celebration in Drake Park

June 18: Last Horizontal meeting of the year @ Hollinshead Barn, 3:00-5:00.

June 21: HS End of the Year Planning 8:00-10:00 @ La Pine High School

To Do:

Due Friday/tomorrow: Staffing plans based on your current staffing allocation should be completed tomorrow. Additionally, please be sure to update the secondary staffing 24-25 doc.

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From Dean: Here are the assignments for next week’s Educator Network. Remember that not all of you have an assignment. School teams are assigned to an END.

Please be sure to print a copy of the link to the attendance sheet. We have had issues with teachers saying that no administrator ever took attendance. It is your role to connect with each teacher in the room and present them the attendance sheet.

Reminders/Action Items:

• Tentative BEA Agreement can be found HERE
• Notify your certified staff in writing if you expect them to attend graduation

Information:

Here are the SLIDES from the Secondary Professional Development planning today.

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From Stephen: SchooLinks end of the year reminders: During the High School Administrator Meeting in March, we emphasized that two essential items need to be incorporated into the Senior Check-Out process this year. Please open this link to review the plan for seniors as well as an onboarding update by school.

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From Jenn: BRYT Focus Groups on May 1^st for SIW:

We wanted to share an exciting opportunity for our Student Success staff coming up on Wednesday, May 1st. Our Bryt partners from Boston are coming out to visit Bend La Pine that week, and we have a chance to meet with them Wednesday afternoon in elementary and secondary focus groups. We understand this is a building-discretion SIW. If you are able to release your SSC/SSI and SSEA to join us, we’d be so appreciative. The coaches sent a separate to communication directly to your student success staff as well.

Calendar:

LINK to the SIW Calendar and HS administrator work sessions and agendas for 23-24.

April 19: Equitable grading speaker 10:00-12:00 Wall Street Lab. The principal and assistant principal leading this work in your school should attend.

April 19: Staffing plans due

April 23: HS Administrator CBA work session: 7:30-8:00 @ BSHS/Future Center

April 23: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30@ BSHS/Future Center

April 24-26.  KT in Chicago at a conference. Text or call Lora Nordquist if you need help immediately.

April 30: All goals, formal observations, and most mini observations finalized in UKG

May 21: National Board Info Session 4:30-5:30 in board room

May 24: Notify students, staff and families of Val and Sal for the class of 2024!

May 30: School Counselor Celebration in board room 1:00-2:30 Come and support your counselors!

Reminders/Action items:

From Dean: Thanks to those schools who have completed the option sets. Everyone should have this completed by May 3rd. Reach out to Dean for more questions.

As we turn to Spring, staffing plans and graduations start to rule the day.  It also begins the process of curriculum requests. While we have not hit the mark yet, it continues to be the goal to have teachers have all requested materials by the first day of work. We are working to increase communication on the process with all involved this year. 

We will need a specific Option Set for curriculum built  by May 5^th. We have been in communication with schedulers about this new request and why it is needed.  This means that for administrators who allocate FTE to have the Admin Section Allocation completed by April 26^th. This allows us to begin Phase 2 of the curriculum requests (these are the course specific requests) on May 6^th. Delays will mean that teachers will not be able to receive approval/denial information before they leave for summer break. 

We are asking for all teachers to have their requests completed by May 31^st. 

Here is a details timeline of our curriculum request timeline.

Additionally, an email was sent to those who typically create the Option Sets about a Curriculum Option Set. This communication went to some Administrators and Curriculum Secretaries. 

• E-bikes and E-scooters: Please send this letter to families at your earliest convenience..
• Student Services Survey: One administrator per school needs to take this- Survey Link
• Culture of Care: Check out the Wellness Activities for Families!
• Tentative BEA Agreement can be found HERE
• Be sure to schedule your interpreters for parent conferences!
• Secure your vendors for graduation
• If you plan to require your certified staff to attend graduation, you must notify them in writing ASAP
• Projecting Val and Sal for the class of 2024! Our protocol for all high schools is to project/calculate the semester 2 grades, and, therefore, the cumulative GPA for the top 20 seniors a week or so prior to the Friday before Memorial Day (this year, that is May 24th).
• All high schools announce (specifically, notify each student (Val and Sal) and their families, staff and students) by the end of the day on Friday, May 24th.  
• Additionally, plan to send a photo of the Val and Sal, as well as a brief bio, to our communications team (Scott Maben and Becca Burda) which they send to the media and include in our family newsletter.

Information:

From Kinsey: Title IX Coordinator:

Coordination of TItle IX responsibilities are transitioning from Steve Herron to Kinsey, to align better with current practices and with other Civil Rights-related coordination duties.  

As a reminder, Title IX protections cover: 

• discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity; 
• sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking;
• athletics, academics, and activities;
• admissions, hiring, access;
• pregnant and parenting students

If you have a potential incident or complaint that involves one of the above topics, please promptly:

• Report it via the bias incident reporting form, or
• Contact Kinsey  🙂

Upcoming Office of DEI district-wide events:

Mark your calendars!  Please share a ‘save the date’ with your staff as applicable (flyers and details to follow):

• Queer Prom = Saturday, May 4^th 7:00pm at BTA (Star Wars theme, of course)
• KínderFiesta = Saturday, May 18^th 10:00am-1:00pm at the Ed Center (for newly-enrolling Spanish-speaking kindergarten families)
• GSA in the Park = Thursday, June 6^th 10:00am-1:00pm at Troy Field/Ed Center
• Community celebrations (BLS family advisory groups will host booths):
  • Pride = June 1, Drake Park
  • Juneteenth community celebration = June 15-16, Drake Park

More details to follow.  If any staff wants to volunteer or participate, please reach out!

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From Jackie: SUSTAINABILITY

FOOD WASTE REDUCTION VIDEOS

Food waste reduction week, which took place April 1-7^th provided an opportunity to challenge students to make changes in their choices. This initiative not only aims to reduce waste but also plays a crucial role in our greenhouse gas reduction and climate change mitigation.

If you have not had the chance to view them yet, you can watch the food waste reduction video created for elementary schools here and for middle/high schools here. These videos will help you and staff and students learn about the meal program requirements and how to reduce waste through choices.

IDLE-FREE CAMPAIGN

School green teams are preparing for Earth Week, and many will be working on Idle-Free campaigns at schools. Here is a PDF you can share with parents and driving students about idling. Here is some information that was created by the green team at BSH. And lastly, here is newsletter and parent letter ideas.

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Calendar:

LINK to the SIW Calendar and HS administrator work sessions and agendas for 23-24.

April 16: District ICCL & Admin @Mountain View HS auditorium at 4:15-6:15

April 17: Office Staff training 2:30-4:00 in the board room

April 18:  Secondary Instructional Planning Meeting 8:00-10:30 @Ed Center Board Room

April 19: Katie out of the office

April 19: Equitable grading speaker 10:00-12:00 Wall Street Lab. The principal and assistant principal leading this work in your school should attend.

April 19: Staffing plans due

April 23: HS Administrator CBA work session: 7:30-8:00 @ BSHS/Future Center

April 23: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30@ BSHS/Future Center

April 24-26.  In Chicago at a conference. Text or call Lora Nordquist if you need some help right away and I am not available.

April 30: All goals, formal observations, and most mini observations finalized in UKG

May 7: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30

May 21: National Board Info Session 4:30-5:30 in board room

May 24: Notify students, staff and families of Val and Sal for the class of 2024!

May 30: School Counselor Celebration in board room 1:00-2:30 Come and support your counselors!

June 1: Pride @ Drake Park (BLS Family Advisory hosting a booth)

June 6: GSA in the Park: 10-1 at Troy Field/Ed Center

June 15-16: Juneteenth Community Celebration in Drake Park

Roger White support:  At our HS administrator work session this week, we spoke of how best to support Roger and his family. Patrick Flanagan, is a long time friend and neighbor of the Worthington-White family. He shared information with our admin team about how best we can support Roger and his family. Roger is currently in the hardest fight of his life to recover and he and his family needs our care. While it is a Meal Train link, it is also a place to send gift cards and donate money as well. What to help? Click this link.

Also, I am grateful for the support you have already shown Zach and the Realms staff. Zach is stepping into new challenges as Interim Principal. I appreciate the kindness and care you are showing him. A special shout out to Chris B. and Michael M who are assisting Zach with the accreditation report – it is a monumental task!

To Do:

From Dean: The first round of curriculum requests (tools that are not specific to the content of a course) will begin on Wednesday, April 10^th. Teachers will receive an email from “BLS Instructional Technology.” This first phase is for tools that are used for instructional engagement, productivity, and collaboration, e.g.. Kahoot, Padlet. Schedules do not need to be known for this phase of the curriculum request process as these tools are not specifically tied to a course. Our second phase of the process (course specific curriculum tool requests) is scheduled to open in early May. Access to this FAQ will be included in the email.

Please let your staff to be on the lookout for this email.

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From Dave Van Loo:

Just a heads up that some new information and resources have been added to this Important OSAS Testing Information document. New content includes updates to the TIDE user guide, tracking resources related to accessibility, and the SEED survey. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mOiq0TreI7wihCJL3c8XWl1DicngbXM4LuTQ46H4fyk/edit?usp=sharing

Please reach out with any questions or support you need.

Information:

Graduation Meeting follow up: We reviewed the set up logistics with our facilities team as well as relevant administrative regs (AR and AP) and interpretation expectations with Kinsey. Here are the expectations and cost responsibilities associated with the ceremony.

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From Lora: You should all have received information about our April 10^th leadership team meetings, where school teams will dive into Youth Truth data. A couple of important reminders:

• Both meetings are in the board room, NOT Perseverance Hall.
• Elementary will meet from 1:00-3:00 PM, and Secondary will meet from 3:15-5:15 PM

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From Paul in HR: HR has been working to better understand what staff may or may not do during their lunch periods and here is what we’ve learned:

• For certified staff:  We cannot enter into any agreement that infringes on their 30-minute duty free lunch. Here is the relevant ORS 342.608

• For classified staff: The district consulted with BOLI as to whether classified employees can voluntarily waive their meal period. The answer we received was to refer to our CBA to see if it includes language allowing classified staff to forgo the meal period and work through it. The BLS/OSEA CBA states the following:

16.5.2: With the supervisor’s approval, employees may work through break
and/or meal period, work a regular schedule, and receive pay for the extra time.

In unusual circumstances, supervisors may require employees to work during break and/or meal periods, provided employees will be granted compensatory time off, for the time worked, or paid time and one-half for the break and/or meal time actually worked.

In summary, certified licensed staff cannot work during their 30-minute duty free lunch period.  Classified staff may agree to work through breaks or meal periods, with prior supervisor approval, and receive pay for this extra time.

Performance Evaluation Reminders

All goals, formal observations and most mini’s should be finalized in UKG by the end of April.  We are asking Level Leaders to review your progress during their next one-on-one site visit.

In addition, please initiate Self-Reflections (SRs) for your staff this week. You may ‘skip’ instead of ‘initiate’ SRs those who are not on a full evaluation cycle this year.  Staff are instructed to complete their SRs by May 1.

• Here is an instruction video to share with your staff on how to complete self-reflections
• Here is an instructional video for admin on how to review, submit and finalize self-reflections

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From Kinsey:

Day of Silence:

2024’s Day of Silence will be Friday, April 12^th.  You will likely have students observing this day in school sometime around that date.  Students have the right to express themselves (including through silence, in this case) as long as it is done in an orderly and nondisruptive manner—see related policy. 

Ensure your teachers accommodate participating students by:

– Planning nonverbal or written options for class participation that day

– Learning about the day and its significance to your students

Reminders/Action Items:

• E-bikes and E-scooters: Please send this letter to families at your earliest convenience..
• Student Services Survey: One administrator per school needs to take this- Survey Link
• Culture of Care: Check out the Wellness Activities for Families!
• Tentative BEA Agreement can be found HERE
• Be sure to schedule your interpreters for parent conferences!
• Secure your vendors for graduation
• If you plan to require your certified staff to attend graduation, you must notify them in writing ASAP
• Projecting Val and Sal for the class of 2024! Our protocol for all high schools is to project/calculate the semester 2 grades, and, therefore, the cumulative GPA for the top 20 seniors a week or so prior to the Friday before Memorial Day (this year, that is May 24th).
• All high schools announce (specifically, notify each student (Val and Sal) and their families, staff and students) by the end of the day on Friday, May 24th.  
• Additionally, plan to send a photo of the Val and Sal, as well as a brief bio, to our communications team (Scott Maben and Becca Burda) which they send to the media and include in our family newsletter.

From Becca in Communications:

With the partial solar eclipse approaching this Monday, April 8th in Central Oregon, it’s crucial to prioritize the safety of our students’ eyes. While we will only experience a 26% coverage and may not noticeably observe the eclipse, direct viewing of the sun without proper protection can still cause eye damage. The whole event will be less than 2 hours with a peak around 11:30. Here are some essential safety measures to implement during the event.

A HUGE thanks to Colleen Behrens, secondary science instructional coach, for providing the following information and resources. Thank you, Colleen!

1. Eclipse Glasses: Use only ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses. Remind students to wear these glasses at all times when looking directly at the sun, even during a partial eclipse. https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety
2. Pinhole Cameras: Encourage the use of pinhole cameras as an alternative safe viewing method. These simple devices allow students to observe the eclipse indirectly by projecting the image of the sun onto a surface. https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/projection
3. Shadow Play: Another safe option is to observe the eclipse’s effects through shadows. Using items like a colander, students can witness the eclipse by looking at the patterns of light and shadows cast on the ground. https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/projection
4. Supervision: Assign designated staff members to supervise students during the eclipse. Ensure that students are using eye protection and following safety guidelines at all times.
5. Education: Take this opportunity to educate students about the importance of eye safety during solar events. Explain why it’s unsafe to look directly at the sun without proper protection and demonstrate the correct use of eclipse glasses and other viewing methods. https://airandspace.si.edu/whats-on/soar-together-air-and-space/eclipse#puppets

By implementing these safety measures, we can ensure that our students have a memorable and safe experience observing the partial solar eclipse on April 8th. 

Let’s make this eclipse viewing a safe and enriching experience for everyone involved!

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Calendar:

LINK to the SIW Calendar and HS administrator work sessions and agendas for 23-24.

April 8: E-Bikes are prohibited to be on campus for students 16 and under

April 9: HS Principal Staffing and FTE WS 8:30-10:00 @ MVHS

April 10: Youth Truth Training 3:15-5:15 pm in the Board Room (all secondary admin)

April 12: No school and certified staff member comp day for parent conferences in fall and spring

April 17: Office Staff training 2:30-4:00 in the board room

April 18:  Secondary Instructional Planning Meeting 8:00-10:30 @Ed Center Board Room

April 19: Equitable grading speaker 10:00-12:00 Wall Street Lab. The principal and assistant principal leading this work in your school should attend.

April 19: Staffing plans due

April 23: HS Administrator CBA work session: 7:30-8:00 @ BSHS/Future Center

April 23: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30@ BSHS/Future Center

April 24-26.  In Chicago at a conference. Text or call Lora Nordquist if you need some help right away and I am not available.

April 30: All goals, formal observations, and most mini observations finalized in UKG

May 21: National Board Info Session 4:30-5:30 in board room

May 24: Notify students, staff and families of Val and Sal for the class of 2024!

May 30: School Counselor Celebration in board room 1:00-2:30 Come and support your counselors!

To Do:

Wish Chris Boyd Happy Birthday!!

From Tami: The current supply of COVID-19 iHealth tests for BLS expires at the end of March. There has not been an expiry extension notice provided from the FDA. OHA will no longer be distributing free iHealth tests to schools. Unexpired COVID-19 tests can be obtained at a local pharmacy or through a health care provider. 

For more information on when to stay home due to illness, please visit the “Health Info and When to Keep Your Student Home” in the Bend-La Pine Schools website.

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Reminders/Action items:

• E-bikes and E-scooters: Please send this letter to families at your earliest convenience.
• Levy Presentations: If you haven’t yet signed up, please sign up for a levy presentation for your staff to better understand this upcoming ballot item.
• Vulnerable Students Commitment:  Please complete the commitment from our training on Wednesday.
• Student Services Survey: One administrator per school needs to take this- Survey Link
• Culture of Care: Check out the Wellness Activities for Families!
• Tentative BEA Agreement can be found HERE
• Be sure to schedule your interpreters for parent conferences!
• Secure your vendors for graduation
• If you plan to require your certified staff to attend graduation, you must notify them in writing ASAP
• Excellence in Education Nominations are due by March 24:
• To nominate a certified staff member, please use this link.
• To nominate a support services staff member, please use this link.
• Relax and refresh this Spring Break! You deserve it❤️❤️❤️

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Information:

From our HR Team: HR Offices

The HR Department is moving from the 3^rd floor of the Ed Center to the 2^nd floor (in the space previously occupied by HDESD).  Because of the move, our physical offices will not be accessible during the week of April 1-5, but HR staff will be available via phone (you may use our current extensions) and email throughout that time.

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From Dean: As we turn to Spring, staffing plans and graduations start to rule the day.  It also begins the process of curriculum requests. While we have not hit the mark yet, it continues to be the goal to have teachers have all requested materials by the first day of work. We are working to increase communication on the process with all involved this year.

We will need a specific Option Set for curriculum built  by May 5^th. We have been in communication with schedulers about this new request and why it is needed.  This means that for administrators who allocate FTE to have the Admin Section Allocation completed by April 26^th. This allows us to begin Phase 2 of the curriculum requests (these are the course specific requests) on May 6^th. Delays will mean that teachers will not be able to receive approval/denial information before they leave for summer break.

We are asking for all teachers to have their requests completed by May 31^st.

Here is a details timeline of our curriculum request timeline.

Additionally, an email was sent to those who typically create the Option Sets about a Curriculum Option Set. This communication went to some Administrators and Curriculum Secretaries.

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From Kinsey related to the administrator training this week: There were many requests for a list of the tangible strategies brainstormed across your tables.  Here is a start—thank you for the great conversations and ideas!

Here is the video we skipped.  I highly encourage you to take 15-20 minutes in a staff meeting to watch together and discuss the assets and strengths your team can identify in the life of the student Moisés.  Here is a list I started—​I challenge you to see if your staff can identify all of those (and likely more).

Before spring break if possible: Please take one minute to complete the follow-up commitment and feedback form.  

​If your leadership team or staff would benefit from school- or dept-specific conversation on supporting the vulnerable student groups we discussed today, please reach out.  

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From Lora and Tami: First Aid/CPR Training District Reimbursement

To ensure that BLS meets the state requirement for staff ratios of current CPR/First Aid certifications, the district supports the following: 

• The school may assign staff to attend training during their regularly scheduled workday, in which case attendance would not be timesheeted;
• IF administration has solicited volunteers because their schools need additional staff with certifications, BEA staff who volunteer to attend training after working hours may timesheet 3.5 hours at the curriculum rate;
• IF administration has solicited volunteers because their schools need additional staff with certifications, OSEA staff who volunteer to attend training after working hours may timesheet 3.5 hours at their hourly rate.
• If more staff volunteer to attend training than the number needed to meet the ratio, the district will timesheet only the number of staff needed, in the order in which they signed up for the training. 
• For the 2024-25 school year, schools will use either their SIW or discretionary funds to make these payments. 
• Staff will code the 3.5 hours into UKG to “Other.”  The timekeeper would approve and code the hours to First Aid/CPR.  Before approving, staff will need to show their First Aid/CPR card from the district. 

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From Steve H: In case you missed Steve’s email this week about CBA implementation, HERE it is.

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From Scott M: Regarding E-bike and E-Scooter signs: The new yard signs, with stakes, are ready here. They will be delivered to your schools soon. Go ahead and put them out as early as April 1. A good place to display them are in grass areas or beds, near bike racks, or attached to sandwich boards along drop-off/pickup lanes. Let me know if you have questions.

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Projecting Val and Sal for the class of 2024! Our protocol for all high schools is to project/calculate the semester 2 grades, and, therefore, the cumulative GPA for the top 20 seniors a week or so prior to the Friday before Memorial Day (this year, that is May 24th).

All high schools announce (specifically, notify each student (Val and Sal) and their families, staff and students) by the end of the day on Friday, May 24th.  

Additionally, plan to send a photo of the Val and Sal, as well as a brief bio, to our communications team (Scott Maben and Becca Burda) which they send to the media and include in our family newsletter.

Calendar:

LINK to the SIW Calendar and HS administrator work sessions and agendas for 23-24.

March 24: Excellence in Education Nominees are due!

March 25-29: Spring Break—enter in UKG which days you will be taking as non-contract

April 2: HS Administrator CBA/staffing timeline work session: 7:30-8:00 @ Realms HS

April 2: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30 @ Realms HS

April 3: Graduation Check in meeting 9:00-10:00 TEAMS meeting. The administrator in charge of graduation needs to attend.

April 4: Central Oregon Job Fair

April 10: Youth Truth Training 3:15-5:15 pm in the Board Room (all secondary admin)

April 17: Office Staff training in the board room from 2:30-4:00.

April 18:  Secondary Instructional Planning Meeting 8:00-10:30 @Ed Center Board Room

April 19: Equitable grading speaker 10:00-12:00 Wall Street Lab. The principal and assistant principal leading this work in your school should attend.

April 19: Staffing plans due

April 23: HS Administrator CBA work session: 7:30-8:00 @ BSHS/Future Center

April 23: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30@ BSHS/Future Center

May 21: National Board Info Session 4:30-5:30 in board room

May 24: Notify students, staff and families of Val and Sal for the class of 2024!

May 30: School Counselor Celebration in board room 1:00-2:30 Come and support your counselors!

Welcome, Donna!

It is my pleasure to welcome Donna Servignat to Bend La Pine Schools and our High School Superstar Team as she becomes the next Principal at Summit High School! Here is the media release shared with the community this week that shares a bit more about Donna. Donna will be coming to Bend for a meet and greet in late April or May. Stay posted!

To Do:

From Scott M.: Levy presentations with your staffs: It’s important that we dedicate time this spring to help District staff understand the levy and how it would help us address unmet needs in all of our schools. Our levy talks for staff meetings would touch on the tax rate, estimated cost for property owners, the amount this would raise annually over 5 years, and our 6 priority areas for investing the levy funds. We also can go over the rules on employee advocacy for the levy.

Would you like us to visit your school to provide a short levy overview? Anytime between April 1 and May 20 is available, although ballots will be mailed to voters May 1, so April is the preferred window of opportunity. Please sign up for a time HERE.

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Communication to Families about E-Bikes and E-Scooters:

After much public comment to our school board and administrators, and in consultation with law enforcement, we have created a new rule governing e-bikes and e-scooters on school campuses (KGB-AR: Public Conduct on District Property).

Under this new rule, those who operate bicycles, electric bicycles or electric scooters must be in compliance with Oregon motor vehicle and bike regulations and laws on school property. The rule also states, “E-bikes and E-scooters are prohibited on district property for persons under age 16.” Accordingly, the District will no longer allow any student under age 16 to bring an e-bike or e-scooter onto school property.

We are giving families time now and April 8 to adjust to this change and are asking each school to send out this family letter to our families.

HERE is the family letter (in Spanish and English) for each school to send to their communities.  Please send at your earliest convenience.  If you want to personalize the message for your school, or add additional details to the second bullet on which office or staff member can issue parking permits, please make sure a CAFE Program member adds that same info to the Spanish version on page 2.  

Scott Maben will be sending each school a few of the signs to post at your bike rack areas.  

Management of E Bike and E Scooters on High School Campuses:

1. We treat e-bikes and e-scooters as we do student motor vehicles
2. Students must register their e-bike and e-scooters and receive a parking pass that must be clearly displayed on the e-bikes and e-scooters at all times while on campus
3. e-bikes and e-scooters parking passes could be a small sticker on the bike and on the student’s ID card
4. e-bikes and e-scooters registration use the same or similar form we use for motor vehicles
5. The registration process will include age verification through a Synergy look-up
6. No fee to register e-bikes and e-scooters
7. e-bikes and e-scooters on school grounds without proof of registration will be locked/chained in the bike rack
8. We have launched a comprehensive district marketing campaign regarding the new policy and practices at each school; information has been sent to K-12 families and staff. High schools are asked to send this letter to families at your earliest convenience.

Please reach out to Katie or Kinsey if you have questions.

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From Jackie: Student Voice Council Applications: are now open for the 2024-2025 school year! Applications will be accepted until April 3^rd.

The Superintendent’s Student Voice Council is seeking new students to represent their school’s student body. Council members collaborate to evaluate current district practices, engage school communities in deeper understanding, and cultivate leadership, communication, and advocacy skills. Members attend monthly Board of Directors meetings, deliver an SVC report, and provide genuine student voice and perspective in Bend-La Pine Schools.

We are looking for 5-10 applicants from each school, from which 2-4 members will be selected. Please share this opportunity with students whom you and your staff believe would be excellent candidates for this leadership role.

Please share this document with staff and student candidates. There is a video link with additional information from current council members and link to the application.  Thank you.

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From Sean: This is a memo on how to handle confidentiality of students accessing the school based health centers.  Please be sure every administrator and front office staff reads this information. Please reach out to me with questions.

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From Student Services: We have been working all year to implement and support Positive Behavior Support Plans. We want to hear from you about your experiences and needs moving forward. Please take a few minutes to fill out the attached survey. We only need one administrator per school to complete it. Thank You!

Survey Link

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From The Communications Department: Please make sure you share this message with families prior to spring break. We want to make sure our families have the resources for care during break when we are not available to support.The countdown to spring break is on and for many, it’s a time for rest and a little adventure. It also comes with stress and challenges. It’s important to stay mindful and take care of ourselves. 

Reminders/Action Items:

• Culture of Care: Check out the Wellness Activities for Families!
• Tentative BEA Agreement can be found HERE
• Be sure to schedule your interpreters for parent conferences!
• Secure your vendors for graduation
• If you plan to require your certified staff to attend graduation, you must notify them in writing ASAP
• Excellence in Education Nominations are due by March 24:
• To nominate a certified staff member, please use this link.
• To nominate a support services staff member, please use this link.

Information:

From Lora: Here is the link to the Inservice Week Certified work calendar for 24-25

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From Dean and Stephen: We are in the process of a multi-year project of creating a more systematic course catalogue across all of our high schools. We will be looking to synchronize the course titles and descriptions for the district course catalogue. The courses that were selected were courses with the same course number and title that are taught across multiple schools. Courses only taught at one school will not need to change the course description.

In the next few weeks and months, teachers in the visual and performing arts and CTE will be receiving the email below. In this email we will be asking for their input on a new draft course catalogue description for their course. The teachers receiving the email are the teachers who are teaching the course this year.

We are sharing this with you so you can field any questions that may arise from teachers:

As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure consistency and accuracy in our course descriptions across the district, we have been diligently reviewing the course descriptions to align them with both Synergy and the district course catalog.

In this regard, we have drafted a new course description that we believe encapsulates the key concepts taught in your course. Our aim with this revision is not to alter the content or structure of what you are currently teaching, but rather to provide a more generalized description that accurately reflects the core concepts covered in the course at every school within the district.

We greatly value your expertise and input in this process, and we would like to invite you to review the draft description provided and share any comments or suggestions you may have. Your feedback is crucial in ensuring that the description effectively captures the essence of the course while maintaining consistency across the district.

Please take a moment to review the draft description and make any comments you deem necessary. If you would like to share with other colleagues, please feel free. Once we have gathered feedback from all stakeholders, we will carefully review all comments and work towards finalizing the description. We will share the final version that goes into the curriculum guide.

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From Jenn: It has been brought to my attention that a few of our 8^th grade teachers may have an end-of-the-year writing lesson for students that involves students writing letters to their “future selves.” At the end of the activity, students address the letter to themselves and the teachers either volunteer to mail the letters to the student/family in four years or they will pass the letters onto HS counselors to be handed out at the end of the student’s senior year. 

A family recently received a letter from their son, who passed away a year and a half ago. As you can imagine, this was a traumatic experience for this family, and they were very upset and questioned how we allowed this to happen. 

While this activity has some value for students, there are many uncontrolled variables that could impact the success of this activity and we believe the impact can be just as effective with a student choosing to open the letter after graduation on their own. If a teacher chooses to do this letter writing activity in 8^th grade (or at any time), we would like students take the letter home or give it to the families upon completion of the school year. There are also digital platforms that allow an email to be sent to the student’s email.  

Again, our preference is that a student/family have the option to choose to open the letter upon graduation without facilitation from the HS counselors or mailed by the school/district at a later time. We have had several students pass away in the past few years which raises concerns about whether those students have written letters that are now sitting and waiting to be mailed home to their families. If you have had a student pass away who attended your school in the last four years, please confirm with your staff that they do not send a letter to these student’s homes.

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From Dean: District approval is required for all guest speakers providing instruction or guidance to students on Health-related topics in classes and assemblies. This is in order to vet outside speakers messages and maintain a consistent message that aligns with our larger health-related content area.  We want to provide as much protection to teachers and schools when outside speakers are speaking on sensitive topics.

In the past, this has been mostly relevant to Health classes and your Health teachers are aware of this, but this may now apply to assemblies and Advisory or Life/Career Readiness classes if the guest speakers are providing instruction or guidance on Health-related topics, or topics that relate to personal values.

Before bringing in a guest speaker to talk about health-related topics in classes or assemblies, check the district’s Approved Health Curriculum and Resources list.  If the guest speaker is not on the list, direct them to submit a Guest Speaker Application. 

The Guest Speaker application is also available on the Staff Portal under TeacherHub and then Resources. The links will need to be opened, copied and sent to a guest speaker.

Questions, concerns, or issues related to this process go to Dean Richards.  You can also direct potential guest speakers to Dean Richards. 

All guest speakers who contact schools or teachers directly with requests to be a guest speaker should be directed to: 

1. If not on the approved list: To the guest speaker application to apply or to Dean Richards for questions/issues
2. If already approved: To wait until the school or teachers reach out to them with a request.  The contact info for all approved guest speakers is listed in the guest speaker section of theApproved Health Curriculum and Resources list.  

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From Scott in IT: Your giant Stanley Cup may be costing your school money!

We have been issuing teacher computers to all certified staff since 2006.  Eighteen years ago.  In each of those eighteen years, our breakage has been relatively flat.  That is, until January of this year.  For the first half of the school year, we had 4 teacher laptops turned in for non-warrantied damage.  Since January 2024 we have already received 18!  Eight of which the user reported that a (water) spill was the source of the damage.  

Your school or facility will now be responsible for the cost of any computer repair or replacement caused by damage or negligence.  Any money going toward repair is less money going toward necessary technology updates or innovation.

Now, we can’t officially link the cause of this uptick to the popularity of Stanley sippy cups that seems to have occurred at exactly the same time. However, it is quite a coincidence!   Please help us and your school by keeping any beverage on a separate surface away from your computer.

AI tools: AI tools are considered apps or services!  As such, both IT and Teaching and Learning need to be informed to perform the required Privacy/Security/Quality audit before they are put to use.  The details of this process can be found here.  

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From Dean: Your art teachers may be approaching you about attending an art workshop during a future SIW. It is the principal’s discretion whether you approve their participation. HERE is the link to the opportunities.

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CPR/First Aid Training: 

The district offers free CPR/First Aid training to all employees. The majority of the training is online with a 20 minute in-person skills check-off by one of our district instructors. Instructions on how to sign up for the class are below.

  How to Register for CPR/First Aid Training/Renewal Course for BLS Staff  in UKG

• Go to UKG 
• My Info (drop down menu, 3 stacked lines upper left side, above your initials) 
• My Career 
• My Learning 
• Access Learning (upper right side) 
• Training (top menu bar) 
• Courses 
• First Aid (on right side) 
• Click on First Aid Link  
• Click on green Enroll Now button 

Please contact Michelle Spetic if you have any issues signing up.

Calendar:

LINK to the SIW Calendar and HS administrator work sessions and agendas for 23-24.

March 20: Admin PD at Perseverance Hall at Bend High 3:00-4:30: Focus is on ELL and Newcomers

March 20: Sign up for Job Fair due

March 24: Excellence in Education Nominees are due!

March 25-29: Spring Break—enter in UKG which days you will be taking as non-contract

April 2: HS Administrator CBA work session: 7:30-8:00 @ Realms HS

April 2: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30 @ Realms HS

April 4: Central Oregon Job Fair

April 23: HS Administrator CBA work session: 7:30-8:00 @ BSHS/Future Center

April 23: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30@ BSHS/Future Center

May 21: National Board Info Session 4:30-5:30 in board room

Today is International Women’s Day. The focus is on inspiring inclusion!

Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women’s equality. Collectively we can all #InspireInclusion.

To Do:

Collective Bargaining Agreement (Tentative Agreements):

Although we do not have a finalized copy of the Collective Bargaining Agreement for BEA, HERE are the tentative agreements, by article, that was shared with all members in order for them to ratify. As questions arise, please reach out for clarification. We will continue to train on the changes and our HR team is working with BEA leadership to build systems to support the agreement and clarify implementation.

Read through the tentative agreements at your earliest convenience. I am scheduling 30 minute trainings prior to every HS administrator meeting beginning April 2. Bring questions and wonderings to that session.

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Parent Conferences: If you haven’t already, be sure to schedule your interpreters for parent conferences!

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Graduation Vendors: By now, you should have secured your vendors for graduation. Let me know if you have questions or need help.

Reminders/Action Items:

From Ryan: Excellence in Education: 

We’re thrilled to announce that nominations are now open for our Excellence in Education awards!

This event aims to recognize district employees who have showcased exceptional leadership, innovation, professional practice, and positive contributions throughout the 2023-2024 school year, both within the workplace and the community.

We’re seeking to honor one certified and one classified staff member from each school, as well as a staff member from as many departments as possible.

Similar to last year, we’re requesting one nomination from each school or department. Feel free to engage staff members, ICCL leaders, PTO/PTA members, students, volunteers, etc., in the nomination process.

• To nominate a certified staff member, please use this link.
• To nominate a support services staff member, please use this link.

Nominations are due by March 24th.

As you nominate employees, please bear in mind that those recognized as Excellence in Education award winners will be considered for our Employee of the Year, to be announced at a surprise event in Fall 2023. Following that, we will assist each Employee of the Year awardee with applications for state-level recognition in their respective category.

Further details about the celebration event will be provided at a later date.

Please reach out if you have any questions or need the nomination history for your school or department.

Thank you in advance for your nominations. We’re excited to celebrate and honor our outstanding employees at this special event.

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From Ryan: We are very excited for the 2024 Educator Job Fair, which will be held at Deschutes County Fairgrounds on Thursday, April 4 from 1:00 – 6:00 pm.

Please sign up by Wednesday – March 20th: Here is the sign-up sheet.

We are offering a remote component again this year in an attempt to attract a wider range of candidates. There is a spot on the sign-up sheet to indicate if you are interested in meeting with candidates via MS Teams. Kathryn Moseley will follow up as the event gets closer to those who indicated that they are interested in helping our efforts to reach a wider range of candidates by participating in the remote interviews.

• Some nuts and bolts for the day:
• We have two shifts this year, 12:00 – 3:30 and 2:30 – 6:00
• Lunch will be provided, more info to come.
• Interviews will be 15 minutes long
• Interview questions and rating forms and rubrics will be provided
• The first interviews will be scheduled at 1:00, the final interviews will be scheduled at 5:45
• Please bring a fully-charged laptop
• NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR DRINK PERMITTED

Please, let me know what questions you have and thank you in advance for participating.

Information:

From Paul in HR: This week office managers received information from HDESD about subs and a change to 4 hour sub positions. They will now need to be entered in as 3.99 in Red Rover and they were instructed to watch for this through the end of this year. Check in with your office manager about these new practices for your awareness and reach out if you have questions, reach out to Human Resources with questions.

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Leave June 17 and 18: Please address questions about leave on June 17 and 18 to HR.

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Check out this National STEM opportunity for high schools students!

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From Jennifer Hauth- StudentSafe Raptor Training: We have recently expanded our partnership with Raptor Visitor Management System to include one of their new products called StudentSafe. StudentSafe is platform to enter, collaborate, and track data round NSSI (non suicidal self injury), suicidal ideation (suicide risk screens). Eventually, we will use this platform for behavioral safety (threat) assessments for school teams as well. Stay tuned for more information this summer from Eric Powell.

On February 28^th, all School Counselors, Nurses, School Psychs and Student Success Clinician/Coordinators were trained in the new platform and will be using this tool for all Suicide Risk Screens and NSSI going forward. School risk screening teams will enter these screens into this system moving forward and we will all be able to better collaborate and track student safety concerns in buildings going forward.  You may have already received an alert in your inbox from a risk screen that has been completed in the last 10 days by one of your staff. The emails alerts will come from StudentSafe.

All building administrators have access to their school site(s) dashboards and data. Here is the BLS Raptor/StudentSafe Navigation Walkthrough document. Please make sure that you can log in to Raptor StudentSafe (using your district email address, no password required). Any administrator or building team who would like more training, or for any technology issues or related problems, please contact our district Suicide Prevention Coordinator, Jamie Gunter ([email protected]).

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From Tami Pike: Clarification/Update to Overdose Emergency Kits

Information was included in your blogs last week on the Overdose Emergency Kits. Questions have come up regarding kit placement locations in school buildings. Currently, there are 2 doses of Narcan in every AED cabinet in our schools. The emergency kit cabinets received from OHA should be stored as follows:

High Schools (each received 2 emergency kit cabinets and extra doses of Narcan)

• 1 overdose emergency kit cabinet mounted to the wall in the school nurse’s office. 
• 1 overdose emergency kit cabinet mounted to the wall in the school principal’s office.
• 1 box (2 doses) of Narcan in each office of the assistant principals. 
• 1 box (2 doses) of Narcan to be placed in the orange front office first aid kit.
• All remaining extra Narcan doses received should be stored in the overdose emergency kit cabinets located in the nurse’s and principal’s offices. 

Please inform your staff about the locations of the additional doses of Narcan. Many staff received Narcan training at the beginning of the school year by their school nurse. For additional Narcan training, please connect directly with your school nurse to arrange a training time.

Calendar:

LINK to the SIW Calendar and HS administrator work sessions and agendas for 23-24.

March 8 and 11: Katie out of the office

March 13: College information night 5:30-7:00 @ Caldera

March 20: Admin PD at Perseverance Hall at Bend High 3:00-4:30: Focus is on ELL and Newcomers

March 20: Sign up for Job Fair due

March 24: Excellence in Education Nominees are due!

March 25-29: Spring Break—enter in UKG which days you will be taking as non-contract

May 21: National Board Info Session 4:30-5:30 in board room

April 2: HS Administrator CBA work session: 7:30-8:00 @ Realms HS

April 2: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30 @ Realms HS

April 4: Central Oregon Job Fair

April 10: Admin PD at Perseverance Hall at Bend High 3:00-4:30: focus is on YouthTruth

May 30: School Counselor Celebration in board room! Principals have received invites and Assistant Principals are welcome also! Come and support your counselors!

To Do:

Parent Conferences in April: Please send Kinsey and me the date of your parent conferences – please do not schedule on April 10, 11 and 18, as Interpreters are not available on those dates. April 12 is a comp day/no school for 8 hours of parent conferences (4 hours in the fall/4 hours in the spring).

Here are the schools and dates currently scheduled:

CHS: April 4

BSHS: April 8

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From Stephen: We’re hoping you can do one last push for our first Life and Career Readiness Night next week at Caldera.  This is a district-wide event so we’re really trying to get participation from all our 6-12 families.  The aim of this event is to provide comprehensive support for college and career exploration, with the participation of more than 40 community partners. We kindly request your assistance in disseminating this information one more time through various channels such as school social media, school messenger, and any other platforms you use to communicate with families. Linked here is suggested verbiage in Spanish and English for your school to utilize in broadcasting this announcement. 

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From Lora:

1. Revised SIW Schedule. Because the week of June 10^th is now a full week, Wednesday, 6/12, will be an SIW. This changes the designation of our June SIW’s. Wednesday, 6/5, will now be a building discretion day; Wednesday, 6/12, will be a teacher-directed work day.
2. End of Year Activities. With the last two days of school being pushed to the week of June 17^th, the district’s expectation is that end-of-the-year celebrations (5^th grade or 8^th grade promotions, field days, etc.) be scheduled during these last two days. Additionally, the high school exam schedules should carry over to the 17^th, at least, or the 18^th

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From Stephen: Thank you for supporting fly up day this week.  We hope your students had a positive experience.  Could you please pass along this survey to the staff who traveled with students to a high school?  We would like to collect feedback for future planning.

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From Ryan: We are very excited for the 2024 Educator Job Fair, which will be held at Deschutes County Fairgrounds on Thursday, April 4 from 1:00 – 6:00 pm.

Here is the sign-up sheet.

Please sign up by Wednesday – March 20th

We are offering a remote component again this year in an attempt to attract a wider range of candidates. There is a spot on the sign-up sheet to indicate if you are interested in meeting with candidates via MS Teams. Kathryn Moseley will follow up as the event gets closer to those who indicated that they are interested in helping our efforts to reach a wider range of candidates by participating in the remote interviews.

• Some nuts and bolts for the day:
• We have two shifts this year, 12:00 – 3:30 and 2:30 – 6:00
• Lunch will be provided, more info to come.
• Interviews will be 15 minutes long
• Interview questions and rating forms and rubrics will be provided
• The first interviews will be scheduled at 1:00, the final interviews will be scheduled at 5:45
• Please bring a fully-charged laptop
• NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR DRINK PERMITTED

Please, let me know what questions you have and thank you in advance for participating.

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I sent invites to every high school principal and everyone has accepted! Kudos to you for supporting your counseling teams!!

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Reminders/Action Items:

AP Training Requests: As was the case last year, we have a limited amount of money to pay for AP Teacher Training. Please add your requests for teacher training HERE by March 4.

This is how we prioritize paying for AP teacher training:

1. Teachers who have never taught the AP class and are scheduled to teach next year
2. Teachers who are teaching an AP class that has been redesigned
3. Teachers who have taught AP and are requesting to attend the training again
4. Teachers who are being asked to participate as AP readers

Principals are encouraged to cover any costs using building level funds in conjunction with our TLC allocation.

Information:  

From Kinsey:

Here are the final approved docs (AR and AP) for your grad handbooks/guidance. Let me know if your team would like further discussion or support on this topic.

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From Tami Pike:

Overdose Emergency Kits

BLS received several Overdose Emergency Kits through OHA’s Save Lives Oregon Initiative. Each kit contains:  Administration instructions, 4 boxes of naloxone, 2 CPR face shields, and 1 emergency box for storage. Each middle and high school received two kits and elementary schools received one kit. 

Overdose Emergency Kit Location

Ideally, the Overdose Emergency Kit box should be mounted on a wall next to an AED cabinet so that it is easily accessible. However, this may not be feasible for your school site. Please consult with your school nurse about where the best location would be for these Overdose Emergency Kits. AED cabinets still contain 2 doses of naloxone. 

Overdose Emergency Kit Location and Expiration Date Information

Once the location of the Overdose Emergency Kits have been identified, the school nurse will add the locations and the naloxone expiration dates to our district AED Master Spreadsheet.

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From Jess and our ICCL Counseling Team: We are reaching out to kindly request your support in promoting an event that we believe holds immense value for our entire BLS community.

On Wednesday March 13^th,  we will be hosting our annual BLS College Information Night, an event designed to provide families with vital information about higher education opportunities in Oregon. This year, we are thrilled to announce the participation of all Oregon Public Universities, alongside several esteemed local community partners.

Last year’s event garnered significant positive feedback, but we are eager to ensure that all families within our community are aware of this invaluable opportunity. Our dedicated ICCL counselor team has been diligently working on district-wide initiatives to ensure equitable access to information for all families. However, to truly reach every corner of our community, we need your assistance in amplifying our message.

Here you will find flyers and promotional language in both English and Spanish. We kindly request your assistance in disseminating this information through your newsletters, Synervoice, school messenger, and social media channels. Your support in spreading the word will greatly contribute to the success of this event and, more importantly, to the empowerment of our families through access to crucial educational resources.

Thank you for considering our request, and please do not hesitate to reach out if you require any further information or assistance. Together, we can make a significant difference in the lives of our students and their families.

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From Kinsey: Seal of Biliteracy:

ODE is requiring a change with the Seal of Biliteracy this year (and effective for this graduating class): in addition to meeting all graduation requirements and completing the partner-language exam requirement, candidates must also now demonstrate English proficiency through an objective evaluation.  This is the only change to the process, everything else is the same as what we’ve always done.  This will add a step for students and will involve more staff (LA Dept teachers in particular), but we have been working to minimize the impact and we have a good plan in place.

The Language Specialist serving your school continues to lead this process in your building.  They are beginning the regular coordination with counselors, world language teachers, grad coaches, and/or site testing coordinators to identify students for communication and registration for the spring round of testing, and will loop in relevant teachers who will be impacted by the new English proficiency scoring requirements.  Feel free to reach out to your Language Specialist to learn more!  As a reminder, the Office of DEI purchases cords for qualifying recipients, and we will send those over to your site (with the state’s seals and certificates, as soon as ODE confirms our data submission and ships those to us in May).  

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Calendar:

March 4: 9th grade orientation 6:00pm BSHS, CHS, LPHS, MVHS, SHS

March 5: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30 @ SHS MOVED FROM BSHS

March 5: Life and Career Readiness Fair 6-7:30 @ Caldera

March 13: College information night 5:30-7:00 @ Caldera

March 20: Admin PD at Perseverance Hall at Bend High 3:00-4:30

March 25-29: Spring Break—enter in UKG which days you will be taking as non-contract

April 2: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30 @ Realms HS

To Do:

From Scott and Becca: District Snow Day Messaging: Here again, for anyone who may have missed our communications this week, are details of the end-of-year schedule changes:

• June 12 will be an SIW day. This is a change.
• June 14 will be a full schedule day, not an early release day. This is a change.
• June 17 and 18 are makeup school days. June 17 is a full day; June 18 is an early-release day (SIW schedule).
• June 19, the District observes the Juneteenth holiday.
• June 20 is a certified staff workday (rescheduled from June 17)

In this year’s Student/Family calendar, these dates were designated as potential makeup days for inclement weather/emergency closures.

This calendar change will not affect our graduation schedule between June 6 and 11.

Please let us know what questions you or staff members have about this.

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Welcome Back Survey: We are working on plans for the Welcome Back event for the 2024-25 school year, to be held on Tuesday, August 27, and would like to hear from employees on the preferred format. Please use THIS SURVEY to vote until Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 5 pm. The planning team is considering three options:

• A virtual meeting with school and department staffs gathering in their buildings to participate. This would last a little over an hour and may include a new interactive experience for participating teams.
• In person with all District staff together in one place, with District buses shuttling staff to and from the central gathering place. This may entail a commitment of up to three hours and include breakfast and employment-related vendors.
• A hybrid in-person/virtual event at multiple locations: For example: High school, middle school, elementary school, and support staffs each meet at separate schools, with a portion of the program being a virtual event to connect all staff, followed by an in-person program with a focus on interests specific to the level or group. This also could be a 3-hour event with breakfast and district buses shuttling staff to and from these four locations.

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AP Training Requests: As was the case last year, we have a limited amount of money to pay for AP Teacher Training. Please add your requests for teacher training HERE by March 4.

This is how we prioritize paying for AP teacher training:

1. Teachers who have never taught the AP class and are scheduled to teach next year
2. Teachers who are teaching an AP class that has been redesigned
3. Teachers who have taught AP and are requesting to attend the training again
4. Teachers who are being asked to participate as AP readers

Principals are encouraged to cover any costs using building level funds in conjunction with our TLC allocation.  

Information:

From Dean regarding Educator Network Day February 28: Here is the link to where Admin Team 1 will be supporting teachers during the END.

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From Dave: You also should now have access to your Youth Truth information. We will have some dedicated time in the future to look through these data. If you don’t see an easy way to access the information in your account, please reach out to Dave.

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From Paul in HR:

UKG Performance Module Tips & Tricks

The slide below has been added to the Performance Training – January 31 2024 slide deck.

Calendar:

LINK to the SIW Calendar and HS administrator work sessions and agendas for 23-24.

February 26: Fly Up Day – ALL middle schools FLY to their high schools to learn about CTE and elective options!

February 26: HS Principal Teams Meeting @4:00 to discuss impact of adding 2 days in June

February 28: Educator Network Day during SIW

March 1: Education Foundation Grants are due: www.blpedfoundation.org

March 4: 9th grade orientation 6:00pm BSHS, CHS, LPHS, MVHS, SHS

March 5: HS Administrator Work Session @ BSHS, Future Center room 102 8:00-9:30

March 5: Life and Career Readiness Fair 6-7:30 @ Caldera

March 13: College information night 5:30-7:00 @ Caldera