Communication to parents: If you haven’t already, the communication should have been sent to parents regarding the upcoming PreACT testingnext week AND the HS orientation nights on Monday English, Spanish and Chinese.
Parent Conferences: These are the dates schools shared for when you will scheduled four hours of spring parent conferences. Realms HS and BTA@MHS completed their conferences in the fall and the winter, according to their calendar. Please confirm these dates are correct:
April 6 MVHS
April 10 BSHS
April 11 SHS
April 12 LPHS (confirmed)
April 13 CHS
Also, please arrange for interpreters to be present and available to support families at your school during this event. Providing interpreters for school events such as these is required. Reach out to Kinsey if your team is in need of support.
ICCL connection meetings: Eric and I will have met with each high school’s ICCL team prior to spring break. It has been helpful for us to hear what teachers want to share with us without any specific topics identified by us. As we communicated previously, our plan is to pull together the themes we learn from each session and develop some next steps.
I would like to begin scheduling our next set of meetings with your ICCL team. More information to come about the structure, but please reach out to get those scheduled. Our preference is to meet with every ICCL team by mid April.
AP training requests reminder: AP training through the college board is an outstanding professional development opportunity for our AP teachers. We strongly encourage teachers to be trained in AP prior to teaching an AP course. We also support sending AP teachers to be trained when there is an AP course redesign or if an AP teacher is requesting additional training to improve their practice (the former is prioritized over the latter). Linda Adams is working to bring a trainer for AP Pre Calc to Bend this summer because we understand there are several math teachers asking for this training.
Please add all of your AP requests to this document by April 1. We will review the sheet and prioritize needs after that date. Please let KT know if you have questions.
From Stephen and Linda: We have been partnering with COCC to provide training for math teachers interested in articulating MTH 111/112 or 105. We’ve been working to expand options for our teachers who may not qualify with their current credentials. This training would allow them to articulate with COCC if interested. Please share this link: Math Sponsored Dual Credit Survey from COCC with your teachers to inform interest.
From Jess: Families and students are invited to learn more about Oregon colleges during Bend-La Pine Schools’ College Information Night on March 14 from 6 to 7:30 pm at Bend Senior High School. Families and students in grades 9-11 are invited to attend.
To kick off the night there will be a presentation from Bend La Pine Schools (BLS) School Counseling and Oregon college representatives. Attendees will then visit a mini-college fair with representatives from all nine public universities in Oregon, Central Oregon Community College and various community partners. Representatives from BLS High School Counseling and School to Career will also be on hand to talk about key steps for families to prepare for college.
Spanish interpretation will be available. Here are flyers to send to families in English and Spanish😊
A reminder From Dean: The Secondary Instructional Coaches will be visiting schools to solicit qualitative feedback from teachers on the process and product of draft standards work the week of February 23rd.
If there is a conflict with this date, please let Dean know ASAP.
Please have a space for the Instructional Coaches to be available for teachers (i.e. library, future center, other common meeting spot)
Please communicate with staff that they will be coming ahead of time.
Please give an all call that they are available on the date of their visit
8:00-8:30 at each site
Thursday, February 23(Dean will schedule BTA)
Team #1: Monica Coleen Julie Team #2: Torie Linda Michele
MVHS
Summit
Tuesday, February 28
Team #1: Michele Coleen Julie Team #2: Torie Linda Monica
Caldera
Realms HS/MS
Thursday, March 2
Team #1: Michele Coleen Julie Team #2: Torie Linda Monica
LPH/LPM
BSH
Tuesday, March 7
Team #1: Michele Monica Julie Team #2: Torie Linda Coleen
HDM
CMS
Thursday, March 9
Team #1: Michele Coleen Julie Team #2: Torie Monica
SVMS
PCMS
Tuesday, March 14
Team #1: Michele Coleen Julie Team #2: Torie Linda Monica
From Dr. Cook – Oregon Statewide Educator Survey: deadline extended! – The deadline to complete the educator survey has been extended to Friday, March 24th. This extension will allow Oregon educators additional time to share their experience and provide essential feedback that will be used to help inform local and state school improvements. Please pass this information onto your staff and try to provide them with the time to complete it.
From Stephen: I wanted to share our new grading webpage with you all. Feel free to point families here when they want to learn more about our process. This can be accessed through both the Middle School Instruction and High School Instruction pages. Grading Webpage. Please let me know if you have any questions.
New Oregon TAG Rules from Kelle Hildebrandt – In January 2022, the Oregon State Board of Education adopted new TAG identification rules that are intended to uproot a system of prescribed inequitable outcomes. These newly designed and adopted rules have created new learning curves for districts and educators throughout Oregon. I have taken on some leadership to help evaluate our current TAG systems in BLS and assimilate these new rules. We have gathered a TAG advisory team that is currently working on a Core Beliefs document and learning about the new rules. Next year, the team will recommend changes to our assessment, identification, and instructional services. For this year, our systems will look the same as in previous school years. Please reach out to Kelle for any TAG questions or support.
From the Safety Team – click here for updates and information from our Safety Team. Included in this update are slides from the recent meeting, upcoming meeting dates, training opportunities, and links to teaching resources.
Messaging to families about ninth grade orientations: Please use this template to send home a communication to your families about your Ninth Grade Orientation Event March 6. Please customize the information to your school by filling in the times in the first paragraph and the school name in the second. We are including a similar item in the March 1 Family Spotlight. We plan to say that the event begins at 6:00pm unless you tell Scott otherwise.
Information:
CEL Days at Schools – Our Center for Educational Leadership cohort culture walk for HS principals is coming up Tuesday, March 7, 8:00-2:00 at MVHS.
From Alandra – Principals, please share information about serving on the school board in your next communication home with families (note: This is for an information session Thursday, March 2). Learn About Serving on the School Board
From Jennifer Hauth – The state is looking for feedback on the draft SEL standards and framework. There will be three listening sessions: Zoom Link: https://www.zoomgov.com/j/16160293174
From Tami Pike re: Home/Welfare Visits – Due to safety concerns, school nurses are not permitted to do any type of home/site visit unless prior approval has been obtained by their direct supervisor.
Our Time and Leave Team continues to work on backend issues that are causing some leave accruals to be inaccurate. This issue is actively being addressed and won’t cease until the data displayed within UKG matches our paper payroll records.
Employees are instructed to only access UKG by signing into our internal UKG link with their BLS username and password. Staff who attempt to login via the external BLS jobs link will be locked out of UKG. To be unlocked, staff will need to submit a request through the IT Web Help Desk. BLS employees are to follow these instructions when applying for other BLS openings.
We are in the process of updating the time-off choices with Frontline Absence Management/Aesop to match the choices within UKG. Next week, we will provide a cheat sheet to assist staff in selecting the correct drop-down option.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to explore Chat GPT you should. This Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool is both fascinating and scary. Its use as a classroom tool and as a productivity tool for work deserves our attention. If you’re interested, here are some resources from Education Week on this AI tool.
Calendar:
February 27: Assistant Principals and Deans PD 7:30-8:30 @ Ed Center/Board room
February 28: HS Administrators Work Session 8:00-9:30 @ Realms HS
March 2: 8th Grade FlyUp Day!
March 3: HS Principal Breakfast 7:30 @ Original Pancake House in Bend
March 7: Embedded school session with CEL; Principals only; 8:00-4:00 @MVHS
March 13:Principal Professional Development 3:00-4:30 @ Ed Center/Board Room
March 14:HS Administrators Work Session 8:00-9:30
March 15: Priority Standards SIW designated for LA, SS, Sci, Math, WL; virtual meeting
March 20: Assistant Principals and Deans PD 7:30-8:30 @ Ed Center/Wall Street Lab
March 21 and 22: Priority Standards collaboration/PD with Anne McCarty Perez; teacher reps attend; virtual training
CTE programming at LPHS was highlighted in our local media this week. Check out the link.
From Stephen: Principals, please share this message with your curriculum secretaries and counseling staff.
As an organization, we are working to better track articulated courses and student participation in those courses for data purposes. Currently, this involves calling schools and asking which is pretty inefficient. Therefore, we’d like to transition to a system where these items are tracked in Synergy. As we move to next year, we are asking schools to both designate these courses and track which students are taking the courses for credit in our SIS.
Linked is a spreadsheet with all of the current articulated courses in the district we could find. There are also instructions on how to designate them and students in Synergy (2nd tab). Please let Stephen know if we missed any articulated courses and work with your staff to start collecting this information for the 2023-24 school year. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Area Change Requests Update: As of February 16th, we received 271 ACR’s. After reviewing the numbers and priority considerations, all of the requests have been approved. The students are pointed to their new schools and families are being notified. The team will review ACR’s again at the end of the year and in early August. Families will be notified of their status after each review session.
Educator Network Day: Here is the attendance for the February 15th Educator Network Day. There was a increase in attendance of HS teachers. Good news! Thank you for following up with teachers who were not in attendance. Teacher input on these priority standards developed by our teacher representatives last week is extremely important.
Missing your token for the educator survey? Bree Bender from ODE has advised us to have principals contact their helpdesk at [email protected] if you are missing the email that contains your token. They will be able to assist. If you have any problems after reaching out to them, please let me know and I will help troubleshoot. Thank you Scott Maben for helping us with this issue.
From Ryan: Please save the date for the Central Oregon Educator Job Fair. It will be held on Thursday, March 23rd at Eagle Crest. As like past years, all administrators will be expected to attend to meet with potential candidates. More details to come from Ryan Kelling.
From Scott McDonald: Since February 1st, 1,230 staff members have now completed their KnowB4 cyber-security training. That is nearly a participation record for Bend La Pine Schools! Reminder messages will be sent to any staff member who has yet to complete the training until the first week of March. Thank You for your commitment to internet security!
IT wants to remind all staff that there is a very effective “phishing Reporting Tool” built into our email system. If you suspect an email message addressed to you is a scam or in anyway “phishy”, it is 100% okay to report the message using this tool. Use it as much as you want! Getting to the phishing tool can look a little different depending on the email client that you use. Just know that you can always find it in the “meatball” menu (…) that is clearly visible near the top of your email tool bar.
Finally, please try to resist the temptation of sending potentially fraudulent emails to our technology staff. Forwarding these messages can have a multiplier effect on the reach of the scam.
Please check and approve/reject UKG My Mailbox requests at least once a day
Use help desk tickets to track errors
UKG Go Live Updates For Staff
Please check our UKG Implementation and Training website within the staff portal regularly for important information. We will update it frequently (hourly if needed) during the first few days of the launch. The site includes:
Daily bullet points regarding digital tasks
Known Issues Log
Open and Closed fixes
UKG Support Plan
Instructions on what to do if you are encountering problems
COVID Sick Days: Bend – La Pine Schools (BLS) and our Associations have agreed to a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) regarding the impacts of COVID-19 on the workplace. There is a provision for five (5) paid COVID-19 hardship days and employees have the ability to request retroactive credit for absences that was applied against their sick leave. This provision extends to Confidential/BLAST employees as well.
To determine if you are eligible for the retroactive credit, we’ve created a form for you to review and submit if one or more of the categories apply to 2022/23 leave taken prior to Monday, February 13, 2023.
The form is NOT to be used for COVID-19 related leave beginning on February 13 as staff will be able to designate “COVID” when they submit Frontline Absence Management/Aesop substitute requests or within UKG for non-Frontline/Aesop users.
Calendar:
February 20:Presidents’ Day No School
February 22: New Admin Learning Lab
February 23 and 24: Katie is out of office attending NABE Conference
February 27: Assistant Principals and Deans PD 7:30-8:30 @ Ed Center/Board room
February 28: HS Administrators Work Session 8:00-9:30 @ Realms HS
March 3: HS Principal Breakfast 7:30 @ Original Pancake House in Bend
March 7: Embedded school session with CEL; Principals only; 8:00-4:00 @location TBD
March 13:Principal Professional Development 3:00-4:30 @ Ed Center/Board Room
March 14:HS Administrators Work Session 8:00-9:30
March 15: Priority Standards SIW designated for LA, SS, Sci, Math, WL; virtual meeting
March 20: Assistant Principals and Deans PD 7:30-8:30 @ Ed Center/Wall Street Lab
March 21 and 22: Priority Standards collaboration/PD with Anne McCarty Perez; teacher reps attend; virtual training
March 23: Central Oregon Job Fair 12-6 @ Eagle Crest
From Jenn: This month, Care Solace is joining you in celebrating School Counselor Week by launching nominations for Care Heroes. The Care Hero Award is an opportunity to recognize the people in our schools who go above and beyond to support the mental health needs in their community. We will highlight Care Heroes throughout the year and will choose one nominee as our Care Hero of the Year. Here is the information about how to nominate.
From Dave: This Google doc contains essential information and resources for OSAS state testing in ELA, Math, and Science. Contact Dave VanLoo or Stephanie Bent with any questions.
Important OSAS Testing Information 2022-23Please note that this information is primarily for school test coordinators (STCs) responsible for overseeing Oregon Statewide Assessments (OSAS). Even so, principals who are not STCs need to be familiar with the content of this email as well. Please save this email for future reference. Feel fre…docs.google.com
From Dr. Cook: A revamped statewide survey of licensed educators opens next Wednesday, and I’m asking for your help in promoting a high level of participation among your eligible staff. The feedback from the anonymous Oregon Statewide Educator Survey (formerly the TELL Oregon Survey) will provide us new insights into the teaching and learning environments in our schools. It covers professional development, educator and school leadership, instructional practices, use of time, and behavior management.
I can’t emphasize enough how valuable this input could be for us as at this time. We have heard from some instructional staff this year, directly and indirectly, with concerns about current conditions and big changes we are pursuing across our district. It’s critical that we hear from a greater share of our certified staff, and we want to be able to compare our results to statewide results.
The Educator Survey, suspended for the past three years due to COVID, has been redesigned with improved data collection and reporting to be responsive to local and regional needs. This survey comes from the Educator Advancement Council, in partnership with the Oregon Department of Education and Oregon Education Association.
The survey is intended for certified, school-based educators, including principals, assistant principals, head teachers, instructional coordinators and supervisors, psychologists, teachers (including those on special assignment), library/media specialists, guidance counselors, nurses, special education teachers, and social workers. Please include any licensed, ESD-employed educators working regularly with your students to the extent that they have a sense of the conditions for teaching and learning in your school. Educators who serve multiple school buildings in the district are encouraged to take the survey for each building they serve.
The survey will open Wednesday, February 15, and remain open through March 3. It can be completed in about 15 minutes.
In addition to this message to you, I am sending the attached letter to all certified staff in our district later today.
Here’s what we are asking of you:
On Monday, February 13, you will be emailed tokens (codes) to access the survey from the Center for Optimal Learning Environments. The email will come from [email protected]. In addition to the access token for educators in your building, you will receive a separate token to participate in the administrator version of the survey.
On Monday or Tuesday, please notify all of your licensed educators about the opening of the survey window on Wednesday. Below is a sample message you may use in your communications.
Disseminate the access tokens: Make a plan to distribute your school’s access token for the survey to certified educators on the morning of Wednesday, February 15. This can be done via email and during a staff meeting. Please remind them to review my email (sent to them today) about the purpose of this survey and the value we place on their participation. You also may refer them to the survey FAQ page at eac.ode.state.or.us/page/osei. I encourage you to review these FAQs to help you answer any questions from staff.
In addition to sharing the access token, please indicate that the link to the survey can be found at eac.ode.state.or.us/page/osei.
To honor the confidential nature of this survey, please refrain from tracking or logging who has started or completed it. Just make sure to communicate clearly with all eligible survey respondents to boost the level of participation.
Encourage them to complete the survey as soon as possible, from ANY location (school, home, their phone). The survey should take 15 minutes and can be completed in multiple sittings; it will save your progress.
If possible, schedule a designated date/time for staff to take the survey between February 15 and March 3.
All educators at a school will receive the same access token to ensure anonymity.Results from the survey will only be shared at the school level if there is a 40% completion rate and a minimum of five respondents.
If you have questions or concerns, know that we will set aside time at our principals’ meeting Monday to address them. If you need information before then, consult your level directors. I’m also happy to address any questions you may have.
From Dean Richards: Educator Network Day: Here is the information about the END for next week with locations for you to be. As always, administrators can work together to determine which one or all of you would attend each meeting.
If the weather is poor, I have asked that the facilitators give a remote option for teachers from La Pine. Scott and I will talk that day and determine if it is needed. I will communicate with you all as soon as we know.
Here is the short URL and QR code that can be used for attendance. It is important that attendance is accurate. Please provide the link or code to all teachers so we know who is there and who has missed it.
From Dean: The Secondary Instructional Coaches will be visiting schools to solicit qualitative feedback from teachers on the process and product of draft standards work the week of February 23rd. This is in addition to the time spent during the Educator Network Day on February 15th.
If there is a conflict with this date, please let Dean know ASAP.
Please have a space for the Instructional Coaches to be available for teachers (i.e. library, future center, other common meeting spot)
Please communicate with staff that they will be coming ahead of time
Please give an all call that they are available on the date of their visit
8:00-8:30 at each site
Thursday, February 23(Dean will schedule BTA)
Team #1: Monica Coleen Julie Team #2: Torie Linda Michele
MVHS
Summit
Tuesday, February 28
Team #1: Michele Coleen Julie Team #2: Torie Linda Monica
Caldera
Realms HS/MS
Thursday, March 2
Team #1: Michele Coleen Julie Team #2: Torie Linda Monica
LPH/LPM
BSH
Tuesday, March 7
Team #1: Michele Monica Julie Team #2: Torie Linda Coleen
HDM
CMS
Thursday, March 9
Team #1: Michele Coleen Julie Team #2: Torie Monica
SVMS
PCMS
Tuesday, March 14
Team #1: Michele Coleen Julie Team #2: Torie Linda Monica
We are continuing the phased installation and implementation of hardware and products in all bathrooms, in accordance with state expectations and timelines. More soon on next steps in that roll-out.
In the meantime, here is the updated Toolkit the state released a couple months ago. Section IV: Education has relevant tools for K-12 classroom conversations and instruction.
Please take a moment to review that section with relevant staff (ICCL, counseling, athletics, nursing, multilingual staff, educators who teach health topics, and/or front-office staff). Your building is welcome to teach lessons on the topic if you’re ready to dive in, but the only ask for the moment is that you review and discuss the toolkit with staff, to raise awareness and familiarity with the topic and resources. Doing this now will help your staff feel more informed and comfortable when we take next steps with implementation over the upcoming months. If you have questions, please reach out to Kinsey or a LEAD/Equity Coach.
Principals, please share this with your certified staff. Kinsey can support any questions:
Certified teachers: Interested in getting your ESOL endorsement for free?
Bend-La Pine Schools has a partnership with OSU to cover all tuition and costs associated with ESOL certification. Our goal is to increase the number of classroom teachers who are highly-trained in supporting culturally- and linguistically-diverse learners and families. We have had several cohorts of teachers selected for this opportunity in prior years, who have earned their ESOL endorsement with no cost, moved over on the pay scale, and are better equipped to serve our students and families!
If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, you must apply by April 3. Additional details here.
Information:
From Dean: On February 23rd from 8:00-9:30 our Graduation Coaches will be meeting virtually with Roseburg High School staff, including principal and Grad Coach. I would like to extend the invitation to any administrators who are interested in learning more about this well-functioning system. The meeting will be in Dean’s WebEx room, https://bls.webex.com/meet/dean.richards
UKG Site Maintenance – In preparation for our anticipated Go Live date of February 13, staff will not be able to access UKG features starting on February 2nd. This will allow our implementation team to perform site maintenance and users (except a select few) won’t have access to any UKG functionality. Attempts to login between February 2nd and the 13th, will receive the following message.
UKG Recruitment Trainings – Thank you to North Star and Mountain View for hosting our first two trainings. We are still editing the powerpoint to reflect administrator feedback. Prior to February 13th, we will share the powerpoint with all admin and office managers. Admin/Supervisor In Person Sign Up Link
Fri 2/17 – In Person Recruiting/HRIS
9:30 – 11 am @ Ensworth
2 pm – 3:30 pm @ Caldera
Job Postings During Frontline To UKG Transition – We are attempting to close as many job postings as possible by February 10th so you can screen, interview and hire candidates through Frontline. Positions that are open past February 10th will need to be screened, interviewed and hired through UKG. During the weekend of February 11th/12th, our UKG implementation team will transition open positions to UKG (you don’t need to do anything) and we’ll copy applicant data over to UKG so that those who applied through Frontline will now have their data within UKG.
Time and Leave FAQs – Here is a document that we will update as new questions arise.
From Scott:2023 KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training – Please remind your staff to complete their security awareness training by February 28th. If you have any questions, please contact your site tech, or call the help desk at extension 1200.
Sustainability – click here for news and updates from Jackie Mueller
Calendar:
February 13:Principal Professional Development 3:00-4:30 @ Ed Center/Board Room
February 14: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30 @ MVHS (forecasting and math placements, bias lessons/tracking next steps, TOSA support for priority standards work)
February 14: HS Principal Discussion 9:30-10:30 @ MVHS
February 15: Educator Network Day; administrators take attendance
February 20:Presidents’ Day No School
February 22: New Admin Learning Lab
February 23 and 24: Katie is out of office attending NABE Conference
February 27: Assistant Principals and Deans PD 7:30-8:30 @ Ed Center/Board room
February 28: HS Administrators Work Session 8:00-9:30 @ Realms HS
March 3: HS Principal Breakfast 7:30 @ Original Pancake House in Bend
March 7: Embedded school session with CEL; Principals only; 8:00-4:00 @location TBD
March 13:Principal Professional Development 3:00-4:30 @ Ed Center/Board Room
March 14:HS Administrators Work Session 8:00-9:30
March 15: Priority Standards SIW designated for LA, SS, Sci, Math, WL; virtual meeting
March 20: Assistant Principals and Deans PD 7:30-8:30 @ Ed Center/Wall Street Lab
March 21 and 22: Priority Standards collaboration/PD with Anne McCarty Perez; teacher reps attend; virtual training
March 23: Central Oregon Job Fair 12-6 @ Eagle Crest
From Jen: National School Counseling Week 2023 (#NSCW23) is Feb. 6-10, 2023, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. National School Counseling Week, sponsored by ASCA, highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. National School Counseling Week is always celebrated the first full week in February.
I have sent to you via interoffice mail a “Certificate of Appreciation” for each of your counselors as well as a sign for them to hang on their door. Scan QR code below for some resources to help your school celebrate this week with your counselor/s😊
UKG Site Maintenance – In preparation for our anticipated Go Live date of February 13, staff will not be able to access UKG features starting on February 2nd. This will allow our implementation team to perform site maintenance and users (except a select few) won’t have access to any UKG functionality. Attempts to login between February 2nd and the 13th, will receive the following message.
UKG Recruitment Trainings – Thank you to North Star and Mountain View for hosting our first two trainings. We are still editing the powerpoint to reflect administrator feedback. Prior to February 13th, we will share the powerpoint with all admin and office managers. Admin/Supervisor In Person Sign Up Link
Tue 2/7 – In Person Recruiting/HRIS
9:30 – 11 am @ Silver Rail
2 pm – 3:30 pm @HDMS
Fri 2/10 – In Person Recruiting/HRIS
9:30 – 11 am @ LPHS
2 pm – 3:30 pm Virtual (Paul’s Webex Room)
Fri 2/17 – In Person Recruiting/HRIS
9:30 – 11 am @ Ensworth
2 pm – 3:30 pm @ Caldera
Job Postings During Frontline To UKG Transition – We are attempting to close as many job postings as possible by February 10th so you can screen, interview and hire candidates through Frontline. Positions that are open past February 10th will need to be screened, interviewed and hired through UKG. During the weekend of February 11th/12th, our UKG implementation team will transition open positions to UKG (you don’t need to do anything) and we’ll copy applicant data over to UKG so that those who applied through Frontline will now have their data within UKG.
Classified Job Postings and Hiring Update for Temporary Positions – We are closely approaching the date when some temporary classified new hires will not be eligible for benefits and be excluded from the bargaining unit because their employment in 2022-23 will be less than 80 days. HR will be editing temporary job postings to reflect this as the less than 80 day employment window ensues (see this link for the impacted jobs and dates).
It is very important for administrators/supervisors involved in offering jobs to new temporary hires after these dates that these prospective employees are aware of the non-benefited status of their position before they accept the position.
Classified Evaluation – In a few weeks you’ll be receiving information from HR identifying the classified employees who need to be evaluated this year. As a reminder, we rotate staff so that they are only required to be evaluated every other year (after their first year probationary period). Temporary employees are not required to be evaluated.
From Dave: The YouthTruth survey has been extended through February 3. You can check your schools’ progress for all three surveys and find an FAQ at this link. Our goal is 95% participation for staff and students and 50% for families! Please help us reach these goals at YOUR school!
From Alandra: We are trying to share more positive events, activities and stories from our schools. If you have anything happening in your school during the month of February, please send it to Alandra. Thanks!
From Dave and ODE: Good afternoon. I hope that this note finds you well. I met with our colleagues at ACT today to discuss our ongoing contract implementation. I have some important dates to share with you all, including an announcement that we have been able to extend the spring 2022 test window by one week. The most important dates that we have clearly defined are provided below. There will be additional communication regarding reporting timelines that will be shared in the future. DTCs are the primary point of contact for all PreACT communications and are responsible for coordinating all PreACT activities, including submission of a signed terms and conditions agreement, training, and test administration expectations. ODE is responsible for contract administration and will also pay for all eligible 10th grade students to participate in the established program.
Wednesday, February 8, 2023 – DTCs receive PreACT Welcome Email containing instructions for reviewing and accepting the PreACT Terms and Conditions.
After the PreACT Terms and Conditions have been accepted, DTCs will receive additional communication from ACT with training details and steps for placing your materials order.
Wednesday, February 15, 2023 – 3:30-4:30 PM (Pacific Time) – DTC and Designated Alternate PreACT Training (the training will be recorded and a link will be posted on Oregon’s PreACT website directly after the training. ACT will communicate training registration information to all DTCs. Registrants will be provided a link to the recording.
Wednesday, February 8 to Friday, March 17, 2023– Ordering Window for PreACT materials
Please do not order materials prior to this date, as ODE will not be able to cover district expenses unless the Oregon Program is selected as part of the ordering process (not the National Program).
NOTE: the March 17, 2023 deadline is not possible to move or extend. It will not be feasible to order materials for the Oregon program outside of this ordering window.
Wednesday, March 1 to Friday, April 7, 2023– Spring 2023 PreACT Test Window
Work Session this week: Thank you to Leah and Nick from the Business Office for helping to facilitated a training for our principals, athletic directors, activities directors and accounting techs Tuesday. Here is the link to the slides from that training. Please continue to reach out to them with questions.
From Kinsey: Principal partnership and communication for DEI events and activities: Your role in supporting communication for our DEI events is so helpful and critical to the success of the events and to staff awareness and engagement with them. We never want staff to feel unaware or uninformed about opportunities to participate in events that support our schools. Thank you for double-checking that each of these messages is familiar and accessible to your building/dept staff.
Translator/interpreter levels of support: We have a growing number of translation and interpretation resources to support a variety of needs. Using these correctly avoids budget expenses for your building/dept, increases family engagement and school culture goals, and upholds civil rights. Please ensure your staff (particularly front-office, counseling, athletics, and other family-facing teams) are clearly aware of this information and how to access these levels of support. If you have questions, contact your Language Specialist or Kinsey if you’d like to brainstorm processes to meet your building needs!
In order to create space for ICCL team time and collaboration, we will not be hosting a district ICCL team training on February 7th. We are asking you to reserve two hours with your ICCL team between now and our next meeting on April 4th. We will be asking ICCL teams to collaboratively share a promising practice or an effort that they are proud of and would like to showcase (aka “Braggy Show and Tell Moment”) around Tier One MTSS Culture and Climate or a Tier One Instructional practice (specifically foundational skills for elementary). Please communicate with your ICCLs regarding the change in calendar.
April 4th prep:
Please prepare a 10 minute presentation on a promising practice or an effort that the ICCL team is proud of including the linkages below.
Linkages:
Tier 1 culture and climate or Tier 1 instructional practices.
Collaborative inquiry cycle – describe how the team went through the cycle or what data sources were used to make the decision
If possible, link to school design plan
Provide archival documents etc. to share with other schools
Elem – link to tier 1 core effectiveness meetings (perhaps link to the data question that drove the inquiry cycle)
From Dean: In collaboration with the Bend Downtown Association our students will have the 2nd annual Youth Art Takeover in Downtown Bend. Our celebration of artists and gallery walk will correspond with First Friday Event, on April 7th. This event is how we will be honoring our students who have won awards for the Scholastic Art competition, senior portfolios, etc., as well as honoring teacher choice artists. We are also hoping to have some student musical and theatrical performances as well!
The ask: Please allow art teachers to head downtown to hang student work on Wednesday April 5th during SIW time. If this is a hardship for the SIW plans that you have in place for April 5th, please connect with your Art teacher ahead of time so that they can make adjustments to their plans.
Please share this with your Activities Directors: Youth Equity Leadership Conference-As 2022 comes to an end, we are working on creating community by hosting the third annual Youth Equity Leadership Summit on Saturday, January 23rd. The event will be on COCC’s Redmond Campus. The Youth Equity and Leadership Summit (YELS) is dedicated to creating a youth-led space that centers the voices and experiences of BILAPOC (Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, People of Color) youth, LGBTQ+ youth, and youth with Disabilities. The Summit aims to provide opportunities for these youth and their allies to engage and inspire each other to emerge as leaders in our communities
Please share this opportunity with your CTE teachers:
The Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is hosting an Engineering Day event on Tuesday, Feb. 21, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. during National Engineers Week. As in years past, we invite high school students to our headquarters in downtown Portland for a day of hands-on workshops and an opportunity to speak to and learn from engineers across various STEM fields.
The Corps is committed to helping the next generation of STEM professionals explore the many possibilities before them. We hope you will share this great opportunity with your students.
HERE is our registration form, which includes travel information. Please return completed and signed registration forms (as a scan or photo) to [email protected] by Feb. 13.
From Eric: When you have a free moment, would you please review this document to provide any adjustments/changes you’d want made as we look toward this being a visible document for parents/students/community for the 23-24 school year.
The goal of this document is to be simple/structured enough for all schools to put in place, but also with some areas for schools to implement according to what works at your specific sites. The language around “Support Plans” would give you the freedom to create a strict ‘support plan’ (ie: Phone required to be turned in daily) while also accounting for a ‘support plan’ that is thoughtful of a unique student situation (IEP).
Finally: For lunch and passing, it seems like there may be some difference between what Middle Schools and High Schools want (and we’d want to be thoughtful of REALMS as well).
For Middle School Principals: Are you currently allowing (or not allowing) cell phones or devices during Passing/Lunch; Do you want to align next year and have NO electronics allowed during passing/lunch?
For High School Principals: Are electronics allowed during passing/lunch? Do you want this to continue for next year?
We will begin our Priority Standards work on February 7th and 8th in the Ed Center Board Room. All of the training dates are: February 7 and 8, March 21 and 22 and May 17 and 18.
We will be sending this Expanded Options letters home to families in February. I will send the translated version to you soon. Remember, the intention is to prioritize our students furthest from justice.
Due to the transition from Frontline’s recruiting system to UKG, we will not have any jobs closing from Monday, February 13 – Thursday, February 16 to give us time to confirm that the open postings due to close after the 16th and all applicant data has sucessfully been moved from one system to the other. Our [email protected] team will work with you to have a closing date before or after this window.
You WILL be able to screen applicants and request to hire for postings that close prior to February 12th through Frontline (all data in Frontline will be retained until June 30th). There will be a transitionary period when you may be using both Frontline and UKG to complete the hiring process.
To learn more about this and how UKG’s recruiting system functions, don’t forget to sign up for one of the trainings below.
We hope that this note finds you well. We need your help determining how well we are meeting the needs of Oregon students! We are hoping to recruit paid educator panelists to consult on a grant-funded research project. If you are interested in this opportunity, please complete this Smartsheet form.
The Oregon Department of Education was awarded a competitive Institute of Educational Sciences (IES) grant in June of 2020 in partnership with researchers at the University of Oregon. The project is titled,A Study in Equity: Oregon’s 9th Grade Transition and leverages our Statewide Longitudinal Data System and the work of our High School Success (HSS) team. Our progress has been impacted by the pandemic, but we are continuing the work and hoping to pursue engagement with educators who have worked with HSS programs in Oregon. A select number of educators will be recruited to participate in regional teacher panels, with whom we will consult to develop a better understanding of study results and implementation of HSS plans.
We are hoping to recruit 18 total teacher panelists, one representing each respective Education Service District in the state. The department will arrange for temporary employee contracts for each panelist at a rate of $150 per meeting for four meetings per year. ODE will also pay panelists $150 to complete required ODE staff training. This will result in a total contract of up to $750 for those who complete the required training and fully participate in all four meetings. The plan is to continue the same panels for next year, but this will depend on feedback and results. Meetings are anticipated to run no more than 60-90 minutes each, and will be conducted virtually and outside of regular school hours.
ODE will recruit to include diversity in terms of race/ethnicity as well as ESD representation, HSS participation, and other aspects of feedback helpful to inform thinking. All applicants are very welcome. We will also privilege membership for one representative from Juvenile Detention or Youth Corrections Education Programs and one from a virtual charter school. Please distribute among your professional networks to spread the word! Those interested should submit an application using this Smartsheet form. Recruitment will be conducted from now through February 3, 2023. Those selected will be offered temporary employee contracts and notified of ODEs virtual training requirements and how to complete them. They will also be contacted by researchers from the UO to begin making arrangements to meet with panelists synchronously in online webinars hosted by the research team.
Please forward this communication to anyone among your contacts who might be interested in participating. Please direct any questions that you may have to Dan Farley, Principal Investigator for A Study In Equity: Oregon’s 9th Grade Transition project, at ODE.
Thank you for your consideration!
Oregon achieves . . . together!
Heidi Gaylord (she/her)Executive Support SpecialistOffice of Research, Assessment, Data, Accountability & Reporting[email protected] | www.oregon.gov/ode
Is your school ready to commit to starting Sources of Strength next year?
School Checklist for your school to use to prepare to start Sources of Strength at your school
Online form to submit to Matchstick Consulting when your school is ready to commit to starting Sources of Strength. This is a PDF version of the form that can be used to collect the info before you’re ready to submit the online form. Submitting this online form is how you get your $1,000 start-up funds and Sources of Strength materials from Matchstick.
You can consider the May 23rd as your Adult Advisor training and we can make plans for when your Fall 2023 Teen Leader training will be done at the May 23rd Adult Advisor training.
Schools that are ready to start Sources of Strength sooner than the beginning of next school year can proceed on their own with submitting the online form to Matchstick (see the link below) and can set up their own Adult Advisor and Teen Leader trainings directly with Matchstick. Your school’s Public Health Specialist can help. Otherwise, schools can wait until May 23rd, attend the Adult Advisor/Teacher training, and make plans for their school’s 23-24 rollout of the program at the May 23rd Adult Advisor/Teacher training.
Contact your school’s Public Health Specialist or Aimee Snyder ([email protected]) if you have questions.
Who’s my Public Health Specialist this year?
Bend Senior High, Pilot Butte Middle, Bend Tech Academy: Lindsay ([email protected])
From Dean Richards: This week’s post focuses on ChatbotGPT and the myriad questions and controversies surrounding its foundational technology that renders complete, sourced essays in seconds. For free.
You’ll read a few immediately-possible suggestions for navigating this new challenge, and you’ll see a curated variety of topical link options to explore. And, finally, you’ll receive a TGIF Chatbot poem (because it is, after all, our Friday too).
From Alandra: Budget Committee Opening: Principals please share the following bilingual message with families about an opening on our Budget Committee. Applications are due Jan. 20. Budget Committee
From Jennifer: Consider how you will implement the Sources of Strength next year: as a club, through advisory or as a course (there is .083 FTE available for the next two years). We have funding for this a Tier 1 strategy designed to support student mental health through promoting student advocacy and leadership. This aligns with the student experience goal of our school design plans. Here is the One pager.
Introduction to Restorative Practices (Tier I/II) *Please Register by 1/12/23
Description: Overview of fundamental theory and practices, including the Continuum, Social Discipline Window and Circle Planning & Facilitation. Open to Bend La Pine Schools Leadership & Student Support, RJE & Partners who have not attended yet.
Texts Provided: Restorative Practices Handbook & Restorative Circles in Schools
Schedule: A 2 part series, participants to attend both sessions.
Tuesday, January 17th, 8:30am-12:30pm (Part 1) at the Environmental Center
Thursday, January 19th, 8:30am-12:30pm (part 2) at the Brooks (Trinity)
Restorative Conferencing (Tier III) *Please Register by 2/13/23
Description: A responsive process to engage with those who cause and experience harm, along with related community to bring about healing, facilitate reentry and repair relationships. Open to Bend La Pine Schools Leadership & Student Support, RJE & partners that have completed the introductory session.
Texts Provided: Restorative Justice Conferencing
Schedule: Thursday, February 16th, 9am-1pm at the Bend Ed Center, Board Room (#314)
Leadership Solution Circle (Tier I/II/III)
Description: A monthly drop-in opportunity for district and building leaders to bring a
challenge and get ideas/support from peers in a restorative setting.
Schedule: 1:00pm-2:00pm on 2/9/23, 3/9/23, 4/13/23, 5/11/23, 6/8/23 (will start as virtual for first meeting)
From Jennifer Hauth & Monica Desmond, Deschutes County
Digital Safety & Response: Empowering Parents & Our Community to Keep Youth Safe Online.
Dear Community Partners,
We are pleased to present two events for the Central Oregon community during Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month. Both of the trainings listed below are free and open to the whole community. Please share with your professional and personal networks. See below and attached flyers for further information and registration links. Thank you for your work and support in educating our community to keep youth safe!
Parents and community members are invited to learn more about how to protect and support youth in the digital age. Local professionals will share insight on online safety, how to engage youth in conversations, local perspectives and real-world examples of online risk and exploitation. Leave with the knowledge and tools to help youth stay safe online.
Understanding & Addressing Sex Trafficking in Our Community
January 26th | 6:00-7:00pm
East Bend Deschutes Public Library – Community Meeting Room
Join local experts for a free 1-hour training to expand your knowledge of sex trafficking, indicators, myths vs. reality, and how you can help respond.
For questions, please contact us at: 541-647-0658 or [email protected]
From Andrea in HR – Here is an updated link to our employee benefits webpage. We want to draw your attention to the wellness resources that everyone has access to as well. Our goal is to update this quarterly and that you are able to share it in your staff newsletter. Thank you!
From Scott McDonald – IT will be making some changes to our student web filtering services on Tuesday, January 17th. We do not anticipate a noticeable impact on access or performance. That said, please reach out to the IT help desk if our changes restrict access to websites that are necessary for instruction. The changes are limited to student iPad devices only.
Calendar:
January 16: Martin Luther King Jr Day – no school
January 18: Equitable Grading Think Tank Meeting 2:45-4:00 @ Caldera HS
January 18:Office Manager Meeting @ 2:30 Ensworth Library
January 20: HS Principal and secondary TOSA check in 7:30-8:30 @ Education Center room 312
January 23: Secondary VP/Dean Professional Development 7:30-8:30 @ Education Center, Board room
January 24: HS Administrator work session 8:00-9:30 @Summit HS Library
January 26 & 27: Katie and Dean out of office attending COSA Winter Conference
February 2: No students; 1/2 day Site Based Training and 1/2 day work day
February 3: Teacher work day 8-4. All staff expected to work at their schools.
February 3:Professional Development with CEL for all administrators 8:00am-2:00pm @ BSHS in Perseverance Hall.
Jan. 9 is Law Enforcement Appreciation Day! Please join us in saying thank you to our dedicated School Resource Officers and School Resource Deputies from Bend Police Department and Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office. These dedicated individuals not only help keep our schools safe, but join our school communities to form meaningful relationships with students and staff. Our schools are truly safer and better places because of our SROs and SRDs!
School Resource Officer Keely Cashman-Caceres sharing a high five with the Mountain View High School mascot:
To Do:
Due to Alandra TODAY by 4:00: Student nominations from YOUR school for our District Student Voice Advisory Council. Submit names using this form.
From Dean and our secondary TOSA: Here are the assignments for administration during the Educator Network Day on January 11th. As before, you may trade or negotiate with others to attend different meetings based on your needs/interested. We need at least 1 administrator at each session.
Your role is not to facilitate, but rather be a presence at these meetings and support the facilitators.
Please have the teachers sign in using either the short url or QR code below. I will be providing you the list of teachers who sign in for this training.
Link for sign in for the 1-11-23 Educator Network Day: shorturl.at/cfMOQ
February 2nd Work Day/Inservice Day UpdateThursday, February 2, was originally scheduled as an additional workday for all staff to prepare for a districtwide systems performance review. However, that process has been delayed. The district decided to keep this as a non-student contact day; however, it remains a paid day for ALL STAFF, certified and classified.
Feb 2 Plan for Classified:
Principals, please share this message with anyone in your building in one of the classified roles highlighted YELLOW here. If some of these folks don’t have easy access to email, be sure to share with them in an accessible manner to ensure they receive this information. Thank you!
For other classified staff, it will be a building-directed work time.
Feb 2 Plan for Certified:
The day will be divided into half site-directed inservice and half work time.
During your inservice time, plan to reserve 30 minutes for a cyber security training (see Scott Mc Donald’s info in the blog today). HS Principals agreed that the focus of the rest of your site-directed inservice will be on some component of equitable grading.
From Lora: Feb 3 Work Day: Some of you have reached out asking if staff can work from home on the end-of-term workday February 3rd. For a number of reasons, it’s the district’s expectation that all staff report to their sites on all workdays (with the exception of the last workday in June this year): 1) This time is designed for teachers to not only complete grading, but plan for the weeks and months ahead, if they have time-they may want to confer with colleagues as a part of that work; 2) If there are glitches with anything related to report cards and/or grading, it’s easy to find staff; and 3) This day provides great opportunities for staff connections (NOT REQUIRED FOR STAFF) such as bagels for breakfast, a PTO-provided lunch, a staff potluck, etc.
The team from the Center for Educational Leadership will be visiting us on February 3rd from 8-2. The meeting will be at Bend Senior High in the Robert Maxwell Hall. This will be a training for all building leaders, just like the meeting in August that was held at the Universalist Unitarian Church.
From Alandra: As you know, timelines for applying for ACRs and Choice Option schools have changed significantly this year and we need your help making sure families receive this communication. We are asking every school to share the following info with families:
Applications Now Open for Choice Options, Attendance Area Change Requests for the 2023-24 School Year
Applications are now open for families to submit an Attendance Area Change Request or to apply for a choice option school for the 2023-24 school year. Interested families have until 3 p.m. Jan. 20 to submit a request or application for students in grades 1-12 (deadlines for incoming kindergarten students vary and are listed below.)
Submit an ACR request – deadline is 3 p.m. Jan. 20 for grades 1-12; deadline is 3 p.m. May 1 for incoming kindergarteners.
Apply for a Choice Option school – deadline is 3 p.m. Jan 20 for grades 1-12; deadline is 3 p.m. March 24 for incoming kindergarteners.
Solicitudes ahora abiertas para opciones de elección, solicitudes de cambio de área de asistencia para el año escolar 2023-24
Las solicitudes ya están abiertas para que las familias envíen una Solicitud de cambio de área de asistencia o soliciten una escuela de opción de elección para el año escolar 2023-24. Las familias interesadas tienen hasta las 3 p.m. el 20 de enero para enviar una solicitud o solicitud para estudiantes en los grados 1-12 (los plazos para los estudiantes que ingresan al Kinder el siguiente año escolar varían y se enumeran a continuación).
Presente una solicitud de ACR – la fecha límite es a las 3 p.m. el 20 de enero para los grados 1-12; la fecha límite es a las 3 p.m. el 1 de mayo para quienes ingresan al kínder el siguiente año escolar.
Solicite una escuela de opción de elección – la fecha límite es a las 3 p.m. el 20 de enero para los grados 1-12; la fecha límite es a las 3 p.m. el 24 de marzo quienes ingresan al kínder el siguiente año escolar.
If it makes sense for your school – please also share additional details found in the larger messaging (for instance, middle schools should share information about the High school choice options in their communication as well.). Reach out if you have questions and thanks!!
From Kinsey and Katie: Below is some information that will be sent to your staff from our LEAD coaches this week. Please ensure that your social studies teachers review this information. I recommend asking your teachers to address this in class as a current event of historical significance – not to mention the fact that addressing this topic in a healthy manner aligns with the Ethnic Studies standards AND, most importantly, honors our lesbian students who consistently report feeling disenfranchised in our high schools!
Next week Oregon’s 39th governor, Tina Kotek, will be sworn into office. Kotek along with Maura Healey, the incoming governor in Massachussettes, are two of our country’s first openly lesbian women in governor positions. Oregon’s gubernatorial inauguration will occur on Jan 9th. Nothing related to politics is ever easy to cover in the classroom, but for many this is a current event that is relevant to our instruction. This might occur via our Social Studies standards (including the upcoming Ethnic Studies standards, directly relevant to this historic moment—see blue text in the link), via your classroom efforts related to the district’s Equity Stance, or via unplanned ‘pop up’ conversations when students inevitably bring opinions on the local news into your classroom.
In either scenario, it’s good to be prepared! I would like to share with you—on behalf of our district’s LEAD team—some tips and resources that might help you reflect and prepare for either teaching this civics topic directly if applicable, or responding to questions students might bring to you.
First, always use this tool to prepare yourself for productive conversation on sensitive topics. Next, check out these tips and ideas (organized by level) for addressing political topics.
Last, remember: Before controversial topics pop up, it helps if you have already practiced dialogue strategies and addressing sensitive topics with your students. Check out these resources, and let me know if you’d like to plan, teach, or debrief any of these strategies together, with me and/or with one of our district LEAD Coaches. There is strength, safety, and JOY in doing this work together!
From Dave Van Loo and ODE: the PreACT test is required for 10th graders in March:
ORS 329.488 directs ODE to provide a statewide opportunity for Oregon’s 10th graders to access a nationally-normed college entrance practice exam. Consistent with state procurement requirements, ODE developed and published a Request for Proposals (RFP) in March 2022.
Pursuant to this competitive RFP process, ODE has contracted with ACT to deliver the PreACT in the spring of 2023 for Oregon 10th graders served in public schools in the form of a five-year contract. The test window for the 2022-23 school year is anticipated to be March 1-31, 2022 if all goes as expected. Future test windows will be offered in both October and March annually.
From Scott McDonald–Cybersecurity Training to add to your Feb 2 PD – Since the beginning of this school year, 31 school districts across the country have experienced large scale ransomware attacks. In each case, the attackers are seeking to steal the personal information of every student and staff member. This type of attack can easily be prevented by informed and vigilant end users.
On Thursday, February 2nd, we will be pushing out a 30 minute Cyber Security training called, KnowBe4 Cybersecurity Awareness Training. All staff can expect a link in their email. They will need to be given 30 minutes during your building PD time that day to complete this training.
We last offered a similar training over two years ago. The training is informative, engaging and will only take 30 minutes of your time. Additional information will be made available prior to February 2nd. Thank you in advance for your participation and support.
Parent Connect Workshops: Please share this information with your parents!
Deschutes County is hosting upcoming workshops aimed at helping parents prevent substance abuse. Parent Connect workshops provide families with knowledge and skills to start conversations with their adolescents around difficult topics like vaping and other drug use. The workshops are intended for parents and guardians with adolescents in 5th-9th grade – ideally before substance use begins. Here is a flier.
See the links below for the sign-ups for the final workshops:
Upcoming school-based info sessions:For all Choice Options info sessions and 9th grade family nights,you must provide language access for our multilingual community. Please work with your office manager and language specialist to identify any languages (in addition to Spanish, if applicable) that you anticipate needing to support, plan ahead for how you will incorporate interpretation into your presentation and event structure (let Kinsey know if your team could use support with options for this), and then submit your interpreter requestASAP via Linguist Link. Also submit any invitations or promotional flyers for translation.
Prior to the event: share any slides, materials, or event details with the interpreter. Welcome them when they arrive and explain the plan for their services. At the beginning of the event, be sure to make it very clear to families how to access interpreter services (if the entire event will not be bilingual).
This topic can take as much time and effort as planning the actual event—thank you for your dedication to equity, inclusion, and access for our families. Reach out if you could use support.
Upcoming Community Events:
Our Office of D.E.I. has several district-wide family engagement and/or community partnership events coming up! Please check out specifics on each one, below, and mark your calendars and/or share as applicable. Principal presence at these events is critical to our families—thank you for your participation!
Latino Family Night
Flyer with details here. This has been emailed to families, posted on our Spanish FB page, and a limited number of paper copies are being distributed. Feel free to share in your newsletter or otherwise help promote.
Please also consider attending—great opportunity to deepen relationships and trust with our families!
Asian Family Night
Flyer with details here. Same requests for support and participation as for Latino Family Night, above.
Flip the Script
This is a learning and celebration opportunity, to develop community amongst and with our Black students and families, and to launch Black History Month.
If you (administrators) are interested in participating in the event, please register (using the QR code on the flyer, or direct link here) at your earliest convenience—first come first served!
Please do not yet share this flyer with certified or classified staff. At the request of our Black Student and Family Union, we want to prioritize administrator and family registration first, and then will expand to other roles.
Alliance
This (draft still!) is a youth and adult collective for LGBT student success. This is mostly an FYI for you—you are welcome if interested, but please do not share this info broadly. If you have a particular student, staff member, or family who has been seeking support related to this topic, feel free to share with them specifically. We will work with GSAs, LEAD/equity coaches, and other key roles to reach the priority populations.
From Paul: UKG Update: Plans for the Business Department’s Time & Leave module and HR’s Recruitment/HRIS module remain on track for a February 13th go-live launch. Here is the communication and training plan for January and February.
UKG Testing Volunteers Sought: We are looking for a handful of administrators/supervisors to spend a couple of hours with the HR team to do some testing of UKG’s Recruiting and HRIS modules during early to mid January. Shoot an email to [email protected] if this appeals to you. We are happy to schedule it during or after work hours (with meals provided).
From Sean: clarification around share process to allow tele-health appointments:
We do not have an MOU that allows the Cascade Youth and Family practitioners to see their clients in our schools at this time.
That said, we do have a process where students can access tele-health appointments during the school day while at school. You can find that process HERE.
If the tele-health opportunity would apply, the problem solved. If the practitioner wants to come provide services on campus, we cannot accommodate that without a specific agreement between BLP and CYF.
Calendar:
January 9: National Law Enforcement Day!
January 9: Principal Professional Development 3:00-4:30 @ Ed Center Board Room
January 10: HS Administrator work session 8:00-9:30 @ BSHS, Robert Maxwell Hall
January 11: Educator Network SIW – all administrators are assigned a location Here.
January 16: Martin Luther King Jr Day – no school
January 18: Equitable Grading Think Tank Meeting 2:45-4:00 @ Caldera HS
January 18:Office Manager Meeting @ 2:30 location TBD
January 20: HS Principal and secondary TOSA check in 7:30-8:30 @ Education Center room 312
January 23: Secondary VP/Dean Professional Development 7:30-8:30 @ Education Center, Board room
January 24: HS Administrator work session 8:00-9:30 @Summit HS Library
February 2: No students; 1/2 day Site Based Training and 1/2 day work day
February 3: Teacher work day 8-4. All staff expected to work at their school.
February 3:Professional Development with CEL for all administrators 8:00am-2:00pm @ BSHS in the Robert Maxwell Hall.
Curriculum Guide: Please be sure your curriculum guide is posted to school websites by Jan 3 – in both English and Spanish. Please reach out to Kindra or Rachel if you have questions about formatting and content and to Jo, Dean or Stephen for questions about courses.
From Sean Reinhart: Please submit your input, in conjunction with your special education team, on the survey link below:
We are seeking to help create more accessible outdoor and indoor spaces for students that experience disabilities by purchasing equipment and/or supplies with some grant money. We are limited, in that, we can’t fund any facilities improvements or construction. Think about equipment and supplies that would increase access to recess or other indoor spaces in your school that is not permanent and portable. Please complete this collaboratively as a School Admin/SPED team. We will review all submissions and be in contact with any questions or project ideas. Thanks
From Alandra: Here is the follow up information from the two topics presented at the HS work session this week:
Social Media Policy
This summer, the Board of Directors approved a new social media policy. This is the FIRST social media policy we have had in place for our district and it makes some key changes that we want principals and staff to be aware of going forward. One of the key changes I want to highlight is that all official school accounts, including many student-run accounts, will need to go through an approval and oversight process. Here is the Site Authorization form and additionally can be available to come visit schools to help answer questions and get folks trained.
Student Voice Advisory Team
Here is the one-sheeter explainer about the new district-wide student group that I shared this week. We are asking for nominations by Jan. 6. (Here’s the form to submit the names.) One note I didn’t clarify during the meeting that I think is important: We are asking you to nominate more students than will be selected, so please don’t share the information with students yet. We will do that after the Jan. 6 deadline for those who are selected for the team. Additionally, we are hiring for the advisor to help this work, so please share this opportunity with staff members that you think would be a good fit. Happy to answer questions and thank you!
From Dean and our secondary TOSA’s: Timeline and plan for Priority Standards development: At our meeting this week, our secondary TOSA team shared the timeline and plan for this important work beginning February 7. We agreed to set aside the March 15th SIW for TOSA’s to work with the LA, Math, Science, Social Science and World Language teachers in the high school buildings. These meetings will be virtual. Reach out to Dean with questions.
We are excited to restart our long-standing partnership with the American Red Cross with school-hosted blood drives. This is a critical need in our community and state. As I write this, we are formalizing the partnership with an MOU. For school leaders and activities directors, here are the most important components of the MOU:
It is the responsibility of the American Red Cross (ARC) to conduct background checks on their staff and volunteers;
All members of the ARC team at a school site, as well as any community member donating blood, must check in and out through the school’s visitor management system if they are on site during staff working hours.
It is the responsibility of the school to directly supervise students at all times while the students are volunteering/participating/etc.
February 2nd Work Day/Inservice Day
Thursday, February 2, was originally scheduled as an additional workday for all staff to prepare for a districtwide systems performance review. However, that process has been delayed. The district decided to keep this as a non-student contact day; however, it remains a paid day for ALL STAFF, certified and classified. For certified staff, the day will be divided into half site-directed inservice and half worktime. Some classified staff will be required to attend inservice on that day (more details to follow shortly after the break). For other classified staff, it will be a building-directed worktime.
June 20th Teacher Work Day
The last day for students has been moved from Thursday, 6/15, to Friday, 6/16. The district needed to push back the teacher workday to Tuesday, June 20th, because of Juneteenth. Certified staff who have completed check out do not need to report on the 20th. This is consistent with past practice when we have had to extend the school year due to unexpected circumstances (i.e. snowmaggedon).
Office Manager Notes: Below are the notes from the December Office Manager Meeting. I am sharing them with you so you are aware of training and discussion items. The purpose of these monthly meetings is to improve communication,provide consistent training and understanding of district systems and support collaboration across schools and with district level departments. Your support in ensuring your OM attends is appreciated! Reach out to Janet or Marta with questions:
IT Update:
Office Staff webpage is an excellent resource and can be found in the Staff Portal
Bookings is a new tool to schedule specific training needs
From Eric Powell: Hello All! Moving forward we will be linking all helpful documents & resources for discipline, restorative practices, and student conduct at this Google Site Link: BLS Restorative Practices Resource Guide
You can delete your prior bookmark for the one-page Restorative Practices ‘sheet’ that most of us have been using up until now. Thank you!
