To Do:

Curriculum Guide: Just a reminder that curriculum guides need to be posted to school websites by Jan 3 and in 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.

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From Alandra:

ACR/Choice Option Deadline Changes: Principals, please share the following information in your next communication to families (English and Spanish below). Let me know if you have any questions or need additional information. Here is the forecasting timeline for 23-24.

NEW: Lottery process and Area Change Request deadline now Jan. 20

Deadlines to apply for Bend-La Pine Schools’ Choice Option schools and to submit an Attendance Area Change Request (ACR) are shifting this year.

• Applications open: Jan. 3, 2023
• Application deadline (ACRs and Choice Option applications for grades 1-12): Jan. 20, 2023 at 3 p.m.
• Application deadline (ACRs and Choice Option applications for incoming kindergartners): March 24, 2023 at 3 p.m.

Learn more about our choice option schools

Learn more about the ACR process

Cambio de plazos para lotería, ACR

Los plazos para aplicar a las escuelas de opción de elección de las Escuelas de Bend-La Pine y para entregar una solicitud de cambio de área de asistencia (ACR, por sus siglas en inglés) cambiarán este año.Apertura de recepción de solicitudes: 3 de enero de 2023Fecha límite para la entrega de solicitudes (solicitudes ACR y de opción de elección para los grados 1-12): 20 de enero de 2023 a las 3 p.m.Fecha límite para la entrega de solicitudes (solicitudes ACR y de opción de elección para niños/niñas que ingresan al kindergarten el año escolar entrante): 24 de marzo de 2023 a las 3 p.m.Obtenga más información sobre nuestras Escuelas de Opción de ElecciónObtenga más información sobre el proceso ACR

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From Dave Van Loo: The window for student, family, and staff YouthTruth surveys is January 3 – January 27. Here is a link to a “cheat sheet” to help school administrators with the logistics of YouthTruth survey administration. There is additional important information in the District Survey Implementation Guide on the survey website.

YT Admin Cheat Sheet January 2023

Thank you for getting your opt out info to families by today!

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A Policy Guidance Moment from Kinsey  –

Title III/Multilingual Education:  Please review our newly-approved AR on Title III/Multilingual Education here.  Pay special attention to the 2^nd and 3^rd sections: Where do you feel your school is strong, and where could you use more partnership or energy?  Feel free to share this with your staff, and please reach out to Kinsey if you would like to discuss your building’s services or staffing as it relates to these requirements.   

Gender Support: Just a reminder about our protocol for supporting gender-nonconforming individuals.  A few resources are linked below—please reach out to Kinsey if you could use support for considering supports and options for a transgender or nonbinary student’s inclusive experience in your school.  

• Administrative Expectation here
• Gender Support Protocol (with links to support and guidance docs) here
• Name Change form here

Religion: Now is a great time of year to review this document and ask your team to walk through your front entrance with an eye for empathy, inclusion, and belonging: With the decorations currently displayed in your building, what message are you sending your Jewish, Jehovah’s Witness, Muslim, or other students/families/staff, with regarding to inclusion, belonging, and representation?  

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From Jennifer: Please share this message with your families: Happy Holidays! The holiday season is a time for togetherness and joy, but it can sometimes bring unwelcome guest, like stress and grief. Some of us may be experiencing the holidays without a loved one. Some of us may be balancing endless to-do lists and hosting family and friends. While we each celebrate this season’s joys, it’s important to stay mindful, acknowledge our feelings, and reach out for help if needed.

Bend-La Pine schools partnered with Care Solace to support the well-being of our community. If you or your family member are looking for help with mental health or substance use, Care Solace can help you quickly find treatment options matched to your needs, regardless of the circumstance. This is a complimentary and confidential care coordination service provided by Bend-La Pine schools.  

If you would like to use Care Solace to help you find a mental health care provider:

• Call 888-515-0595. Support is available 24/7/365 in over 200 languages.
• Visit www.caresolace.com/bls and either search on your own or click “Book Appointment” for assistance by video chat, email, or phone. 

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From Alandra: Share giving efforts

We would like to showcase all the ways our schools and departments give back during this time of year. Please share news about any events or activities related to giving (examples: choir singing at nursing home; food drive; clothing drive etc.). I would love news about anything from Thanksgiving through end of December (bonus if you include a photo!). Email information by December 13 to alandra.johnson@bend.k12.or.us.

Information:

From Ryan in HR re:  Subs –   BLS contracts with the ESD for subs and are expecting them to meet their end of the contract by filling our vacant jobs. HR’s current role is to monitor the sub situation so that we can have an understanding on fill rate and plan to continue this “watch and monitor” approach unless and until a decision is made to allocate non-teaching district-level staff towards sub shortages. At such a time, your level leader will share information on the details of that plan. 

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UKG New Trainings & Go Live Postponement Reminder

All Staff Trainings

• How to Add Time on Timesheets (2 min 42 seconds)
• How to Submit Monthly Timesheets (1 min 30 seconds)
• How to Request a Timesheet Change  (1 min 8 seconds)

Upcoming Training For Office Managers and Administrators/Supervisors

·        How to review/approve monthly timesheets

·        How to process UKG leave requests

·        How to view reports

Go Live Postponement Announcement Sent on 12/2

BLS All Staff –

This is a brief update on implementation of the UKG Product Suite we’ve been communicating with you about over the past couple of months.

You may have noticed fewer communications recently — that is because we have been focusing on the beta testing phase prior to rollout and have not moved forward with additional training. As such, and in order to ensure the smoothest implementation possible, we’ve decided to push Go Live of UKG Time & Leave Management out from Monday, December 5^th to Monday, February 13^th. 

As we move through December and into the new year, we will pivot back to completing training on the use of Time & Leave Management, as well as other modules for those staff that use them (e.g., Recruit & Hire for Administrators and Supervisors). We again thank you in advance for your patience with the inevitable growing pains this process entails (such as pushing out Go Live dates!) but continue looking forward to working together in implementing this exciting work process improvement tool.

Warmly – Steve & Leah

Steven E. Herron (he/him)                                Leah Bibeau (she/her)

Chief Human Resources Officer                            Finance Director

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Calendar:

December 9: Opt Out Forms sent to families by this date!

December 13: HS Administrators work session, (change of location). Summit HS Library 8:00-9:30. Be prepared for our Equitable Grading book study by reading chapters 5-9.

December 14: Office Manager meeting, 2:30-4:00 @ Ensworth Elementary

December 15 and 16: Katie out of the office

December 19-January 3: Winter Break—Wahoo!

To Do:

Important Reminder: State Assessment Notifications and Opt Outs sent by December 9. Refer to the November 18 BLOG for specifics including the letters.

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Is your team on track with evaluation processes? To be “up to date” on evaluations, observations and SLGGS by winter break, your building leadership team should have completed:

*two mini observations for every teacher

*one formal observation cycle** for each temporary and probationary teacher (the second formal observation should be completed by the middle of February, unless you have a serious concern about that staff member. If that is the case, you should finish the second formal by the end of January and contact Steve Herron)

*met with to review and digitally signed off every teacher on their initial SLGGSs.

If you have a concern about a staff member, contact Steve Herron.

**a formal observation cycle is defined as a pre observation meeting to determine instructional “look fors” and the date for the full period observation, a full period observation and a post observation debrief with the teacher aligned with the evaluation rubric.

Information:

From Dean: ICCL-Administrator Professional Development Session: Our next session is NEXT week. HERE is the plan for that work.

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Diploma requirements and participation in the graduation ceremony: It is the expectation that only students who complete their district and state diploma requirements are allowed to walk in our graduation ceremonies. Please contact me if you have questions.

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Honors Diploma adjustment: The proposed changes to our Honors Diploma have not been approved for this year as further processing is needed. In short, students of the graduating class of 2023 must meet the current requirements to earn this diploma. Specifics to follow in the coming weeks.

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GED: Below are a few district expectations and processes associated with the GED:

1. Buildings have the capacity to serve students requesting GED support. This is our district expectation, as opposed to moving them to COIC or COCC.  

2. Our OSSM team members (of which there is one in every high school) are/will be trained in how to implement the GED practice modules/tests AND give the GED test at their schools.  

3. Our goal is that after a student successfully passes the test, we support them to earn the 2-3 extra credits needed to earn their diploma. 

4. Referring students to COIC to complete their GED can be considered on a case-by-case basis.

5. Also, GED is NEVER a “speed boat” option – but can serve as a “lifeboat” for students who are a year behind in credits (7) who are also 16 (state law).

Dean is the Administrator lead for GED in our district.  Please reach out to him with questions or concerns.

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From Dean: This week’s secondary blog is 5 great strategies for supporting the learning of multilingual students written by Liza Digiglio Huet.  Multilingual students bring a wealth of world knowledge and experience to our classrooms, yet may not always be able to express it in ways that other students can.

These instructional strategies are not one more thing, but rather a way to revive our patterns of interactions between students and our content. Strategies That Work

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STAS Update from Eric Powell:  For all sites: If you have any Administrators, Counselors, or School Psychologists who are needing to be trained in the STAS Level 1 (threat assessment) protocol, would you please Email me with the names of those needing/requesting training? I can use this information to request a formal training from Misty Groom and the High Desert ESD.

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504 Information from Josh:  504 Coordinators, we have arranged for a training by the Oregon Department of Education. This training will take place on January 18^th from 8-12, at the Education Center Room 314 (Board Room). Please know that this training is for any administrator, or counselor that is currently involved in 504. If you are new to 504 I would consider this training to be required. If you are a veteran I would strongly encourage you to attend. This is an opportunity for you to learn and ask questions about 504 from our partners at ODE. Please go into performance matters and sign up, so we have an accurate count of attendees. Link to Sign Up

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A reminder from the Business Office – We have a very short turnaround for payroll this month, please get these to us on time by Monday!

Just  a reminder that Timesheets (Red Folder) and Leave Sheets (Blue Folder) are due to Payroll  on Monday, December 5th for the period covering Monday, November 7th through Sunday, December 4th.

Any Timesheets or Leave Sheets that are for Workers Comp or FMLA (Purple Folder) are due to HR by Monday, December 5th as well.

Please make sure they are in our office on Monday. If you miss the mail pick up for your building please scan them to us so they are here on Monday. Please do not email them and mail them, just send one copy.

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Volunteers – new rules! – last year when we began letting volunteers back in our schools we limited our volunteers to one per class per day.  We did this  because of lingering covid concerns and because of the number of volunteers we could process per week under the new system.  These two limitations are no longer a concern so as of today you can have more than one volunteer per classroom per day.  There are no limitations other than having people complete the new volunteer background check process.

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From Stephanie Bent – I have updated all documents and processes in TalentEd for the 22-23 school year including self-reflections and summative evaluations.  You should now have the ability to assign to your staff.  Please assign the appropriate processes to all probationary and temporary staff and tenured staff that is on an evaluation cycle. 

If you need help adding the processes, please give me a call and I will walk you through the process.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

Calendar:

December 6: Administrators/ICCL training

December 7-9: COSA Law Conference– Katie, Eric, Kinsey and several Assistant Principals/Deans attending

December 9: State Assessment Notifications and Opt Out Forms sent to families by this date!

December 13: HS Administrators work session, BSHS Robert Maxwell Center (formerly named Perseverance Hall) 8:00-9:30.

December 14: Office Manager meeting, Location TBD

December 15 and 16: Katie out of the office

December 19-January 3: Winter Break—Wahoo!

To Do:

From Alandra:

NEW: 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. You can read details in the policy and I will be on hand at upcoming principal meetings to go over some additional details and answer questions. I’ve also attached the Site Authorization form. Thanks! Alandra.

Please share this message from the Bend Police Department with your families, staff and students:  We’ve seen a huge increase in the number of e-bikes on the roads! We recognize e-bikes can be useful and fun. However, we want to make sure the community knows the rules that apply to them.  Here is the message in Spanish and English.

Awesome Volunteers: We would like to feature outstanding volunteers around our district. Does your school have a community or parent volunteer who is going above and beyond? Please send Alandra a quick note to let her know.

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From Dave re:  State Assessment Notifications and Opt Outs sent by December 9:

Oregon Statewide Assessment System (OSAS) Opt-Out Communication to Families

The deadline for high schools to share (1) Annual Notices and (2) Opt-Out forms is December 9. The deadline for elementary and middle schools to share these forms is February 3. Here is a weblink containing ODE’s Annual Notice and Opt-Out Forms to share with families. https://www.bend.k12.or.us/district/academics/academics-overview/oregon-department-education-resources . This webpage will also be linked to school information webpages. Please be prepared to make forms available to parents or adult student in the school office as well.

Below are additional important details from ODE’s 2022-23 Test Administration Manual–

• Consistent with the requirements of ORS 329.479, ODE has developed an annual notice (available through ODE’s Test Administration webpage) that describes these assessments, identifies the timeframe when the assessment will most likely be administered, and identifies an adult student’s or parent’s right to excuse the student from testing. Districts and public charter schools must provide parents with the ODE-developed annual notice at the beginning of each school year. In addition, districts and public charter schools must provide parents with separate notice at least 30 days prior to administering the statewide summative assessments in Math and ELA using the ODE-provided 30-day notice and opt-out form (available through ODE’s Test Administration webpage). School districts and public charter schools must use the 30-day notice and opt-out form provided by ODE to communicate with all parents about state testing requirements and their right to opt-out for high school students by December 9, 2022 and for students in Grades 3-8 by February 3, 2023. 
• Per OAR 166-400-0060 Student Education Records and OAR 581-022-2270 Individual Student Assessment, Recordkeeping, and Reporting, districts must retain non-federally required student records, such as parent-submitted opt-out forms, for at least three years after the record was created. 
• Note: Distinguishing opt-outs from parent requests for exemption. The term “opt-out” refers to the legislatively created process that applies specifically to the ELA and Math assessments. Parents may opt out of Math and ELA at their discretion by submitting the state-created opt-out form. For all other assessments, OAR 581-021-0009: Exemptions allows parents to request that their student be exempted from testing based on disability or religion. Unlike the opt-out process for Math and ELA, parent requests for exemption for all other tests must satisfy the following conditions: 

• Be submitted in writing to the district (there is no standardized form) 
• Include reasons for request (disability or religion) 
• Propose an alternative learning activity for the student 
• Is subject to district review and determination whether to approve 

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Information:

From Jackie Mueller – Sustainability Update:

Energy Conservation over the Holidays

Reminder to staff to shut down electronics and lighting. Building HVAC will be set to unoccupied mode over the holiday. Please remind staff to turn off electronics at the power switch in classrooms, unplug personal appliances in classrooms and common areas unless holding biological specimens or needed for safety, close windows, doors, and blinds. Here is the SOP for Holidays and quick image to send in an email. For the month of September, BLS has consumed 200,000 kWh more than last year. There are new buildings on the grid but every conservation action does affect our impact. Thanks for taking time to shut down your school.

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From Sean: I have had some questions regarding the development of SLGGs by your Student Success Coaches and Student Success Instructors.  With the uniqueness of their role, we have determined, for the purposes of writing SLGGs, that they will be considered TOSA’s.  The guidance from ODE states: 

Teachers on special assignment (e.g. TOSA, instructional coach, mentor teacher) who do not provide instruction to students are not required to set SLG goals. However, they must participate in the evaluation process and may include measures of their impact on school and district goals for student achievement.  Therefore, they NOT be required to develop SLGGs. 

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From Scott McDonald and his team– The information below re: App requests, software requests, digital subscriptions and student data privacy was sent out last year but we think it needs to go out again just as a reminder to everyone

In the summer, our IT department receives a high number of requests for new applications, digital services,  and tools to be implemented for the upcoming school year.   We do our very best to say “yes” and meet stated timelines whenever possible.  But the process does take time.

In the old days when software was simple, we could add a new app or service in a matter of hours.  Nowadays, software is smart, which is good for efficiency and productivity. It is also bad, when it comes to securing data, particularly our student data.  Thus, the need for frequent application quality checks and student data privacy contracts and agreements.

The quality check- This step is easy!  We utilize a service from Education Framework that helps us to find any security vulnerabilities or issues with a digital app or service.  For some very simple applications that do not require any user information, the work can stop right here. (example: a graphing calculator app)

The Student Data Privacy Contract– If an application or tool requires any user information or a user sign in, a Student Data Privacy Contract is required.  This is an agreement signed by the vendor that states that their company will protect our student/user data to the same high standards that we protect that data.  Because many school districts require this agreement from the very same vendors, we now partner with the Student Data Privacy Consortium.   Partner districts in this group can piggyback onto each other’s contracts and therefore expedite the process.

Our shared roles and responsibilities- By working together and planning ahead, the process can go smoothly.  Here is a suggested plan for success:

1. If your school / department is looking at a new app or service, involve IT as early as you are comfortable. Your point of contact can be Patrick Elliot and Scott McDonald.  We will be able to state whether the request will require a contract almost immediately.
2. If a contract is necessary, plan to organize a team. You will need to identify the requestor, a champion from district leadership, an IT representative, legal council (if required)
3. IT will facilitate the contract communication between the vendor and your team as much as possible.

Those of you who have requested new services this past year know that we are still refining this process.  We are certainly willing to take suggestions on how it can be improved.  That said, we are no longer able to take shortcuts.  There is too much at stake.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.  You can plan on seeing this email again the next time your school or department requests a new service or the next hot new application. 

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Calendar:

November 21-25: Thanksgiving Break. No school.

November 21: Principals breakfast 8:00-9:00 @ Original Pancake House and work session @ Ed Center, room 312.

November 28: Assistant Principal/Dean Training @Ed Center, room 314 7:30-8:30

November 28: Safety Team Meeting @Ed Center, room 314 8:30-9:30

November 29: District-wide Spanish-language FAFSA Night (in partnership between Bend-La Pine Schools, COCC, and Juntos). More information to follow.

November 30: SIW is School Discretion

December 6: Administrators/ICCL training

December 7-9: COSA Law Conference– Katie and several building leaders attending

December 9: Opt Out Forms sent to families by this date!

December 13: HS Administrators work session, BSHS Robert Maxwell Center (formerly named Perseverance Hall) 8:00-9:30.

December 14: Office Manager meeting, Location TBD

December 19-January 3: Winter Break—Wahoo!

To Do:

Educator Network Day on November 16: On November 16^th from 3:00-4:00 our secondary teachers will be meeting in the first Educator Network Day.  This content specific professional learning time is led by our District ICCLs and TOSAs.  Be sure your teachers understand where to go for this important collaboration time AND that you know where you are needed on that day.

This document has a rough draft of the administrators assignments for this day.  Attempts were made to have multiple admin at the larger sessions. This “assignment” may be changed if you can work out a trade with another principal or assistant principal.

The role of the administration at the Educator Network Day is to take roll (there is an electronic way to do this) and to support ICCLs and TOSA with questions that are beyond their scope.  This may include bringing questions back to Level Leaders and Dean.

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Speaking of our secondary TOSA’S – A big SHOUT OUT to this dynamic team!  Here is the slideshow from their presentation at our work session this week. We will hear from Monica Freeman, our Social Studies TOSA, at a future work session.

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From Dave Van Loo: YouthTruth Kickoff Webinar: Prior to November 28, please watch this brief prerecorded webinar in preparation for the YouthTruth survey in January  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RzTK82XodqDeIX5AGQEAbKPxztFIhev0/view?usp=sharing

Bend-La Pine – YouthTruth Kick-Off Webinar – 22-23.mp4drive.google.com

Pro-Tip: Because we’re all short on time these days. To receive all the pertinent information in less time, you can watch the recording at 1.5x speed. To change the playback speed, click the settings “gear” icon in the lower right-hand corner of the video screen.

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Breathalyzer notification to students and parents: In the October 28th HS Blog, I explained that all high schools will continue the pre-COVID practice of Breathalyzing every student interested in entering a school dance and admitting those students who tested negative. Part of the implementation plan required each school to notify their students and families of this practice.

Part of the implementation plan is for every school to notify their families and students of this practice. Plan to notify your families and students prior to your next dance. The notification should be sent in English, Spanish and Chinese. Here is the Spanish version and Chinese version.

Here is the notification in English: We continue to re-establish many traditions and events that were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic and ( name of school) is excited to bring back a wide range of extracurricular events for our students and families. In accordance with policy JFG-AR, Bend-La Pine Schools stands committed to school safety and will require all students to use a breathalyzer before entering dances and for seniors prior to the graduation ceremonies during the 2022-23 school year. This was our standard practice pre-pandemic and will be followed by high schools across the district. Students who have a positive reading for their blood alcohol level  will not be allowed to participate and parents/guardians will be contacted. COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed by staff administering the breathalyzer. If you have any questions please feel free to call your student’s school at (541-355____)  with any questions.  We encourage you to use this reminder as an opportunity to talk with your child about school rules and your family values–our partners at Deschutes County have wonderful resources for supporting this conversation.  Thank you for your partnership in keeping our school events safe and fun for everyone.  

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Information:

Policy moment: ownership of curriculum: Recently there was a question about who “owns” curriculum once it is developed by our staff. GCQBA-AR is the administrative regulation that addresses this topic.

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From Kinsey: The Office of DEI’s family engagement team has a few events coming up.  It is always well-received to have school leaders and staff participate in these events.  

Please consider attending one–or all–of these events (and to the extent possible, avoid scheduling school events during these evenings):

• Tues, Nov 29^th – Spanish-language FAFSA Night 
• Tues, Jan 17^th – 5^th annual Bend-La Pine Schools’ Latino Family Night 
• Wed, Jan 25^th – 1^st annual Bend-La Pine Schools’ Asian-American Family Night 

More information to follow—for now just save the dates!  

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Honors Diploma adjustment: Thank you all for your feedback on our Honors Diploma requirements.  We are moving forward with a change to these requirements which can be found here.  Highlights include:

1. Added 100-level or high college courses to the AP/IB requirement (3 for big schools, 2 for small)
2. Added the option of school-identified capstone courses in CTE and the arts for big schools
3. Left language around small school identification process for capstone courses

This will head to the board next, then take effect for this year’s graduating class.  Please gather a team to identify your non–AP/IB/100 level capstone courses.  For BSH, CHS, MVHS, and SHS, these would be for CTE and the arts.  For BTA, LPHS, and Realms, these would be in all areas listed in the AR.

Please let Stephen or Katie know if you have any questions.

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From Jackie Wilson (Mueller), BLS Sustainability and Energy Specialist

National Recycling Day November 15^th: Did you know that BLS produces about 388 cubic yards of waste weekly? To celebrate National Recycling Day, your staff can compete in a fun learning challenge about waste and recycling. The school with the highest percentage of staff participation will win a special prize. The challenge is done through an online app with quick learning challenges worth points. To participate, staff need to download the Goosechase iOS or Android app, either sign up for an account or participate as a guest and join the challenge with your schools specific code. Use the specific code for your school to access and play.

If you have any specific questions about expanding recycling at your school or education needs, please reach out to [email protected]

The Down “the Drain”and Dirty: Not all that goes down the drain should. Many of our schools have had sewer back-ups, most of them due to misuse of the systems. It is important to educate staff and students about our sewer systems and the importance of the “Three P’s” in municipal water systems, pee, poo, and (loo) paper. Here is an informative and funny video to share with students and staff about keeping our septic running clean found on the City of Bend’s Educational Resources. 

There have also been multiples issues with “flushable wipes.” There are not any wipes truly degrade in water systems and tend to block up pipes. Check out this video by a local student about keeping flushable wipes out of the toilets. The new menstrual products being flushed are also causing problems. You can teach students about these dispensers and HB 3294, The Mensural Dignity Act, with this short presentation.

Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day -November 14^th: On November 14^th, students can recognize and celebrate the legacy of Ruby Bridges by walking to school on November 14^th.  Bear Creek and Juniper Elementary Families can meet at Juniper Park and walk to school with Commute Options to show support for social justice, equity, inclusion, and sustainability in BLS schools. Any student walking to school that day can download a bingo card English/Spanish and snap a photo of it completed to Commute Options. http://commuteoptions.org/RBWTSD

“My message is really that racism has no place in the hearts and minds of our children” Ruby Bridges

Calendar:

November 14: Principal PD session 3:00-4:30; Brooks Hall, Trinity Church by the Ed Center

November 16: Educator Network Day: Building leaders have been assigned a content area to oversee 3:00-4:00 on this day. Check out your assignment here and don’t forget to take attendance.

November 18: Principal Breakfast 7:30 @ Original Pancake House

November 18: College and Career Day! Plan school wide events to promote post secondary education AND wear your college colors!

November 21: HS Principal work session and lunch 9-12 @ Ed Center room 312

November 21-25: Thanksgiving Break. No school.

November 29: Please save this date for a district-wide Spanish-language FAFSA Night (in partnership between Bend-La Pine Schools, COCC, and Juntos). More information to follow.

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Finally…

Ready to smile? Becky shared this “bit of goodness” with several of us this week. Take a moment to call the number.

The “Peptoc” project was featured on NPR recently. It was created as an art project from students at West Side Elementary in California, with the help of their teachers Jessica Martin and Asherah Weiss. 

To Do:

From Alandra: Reader Board: Principals, if you haven’t yet updated your reader board, please do so. We are asking all schools to share the message: Don’t forget to vote Nov. 8.

Veterans Day: If your school has something planned in celebration of Veterans Day (assembly, art project, letter writing, lunch visits, etc.) be sure to let Alandra know. She’s putting together a press release about these activities Monday morning, so be sure to share information by Monday at 9 a.m. (Bonus points for photos!).

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From Eric: In an effort to catch some discipline data entry errors early, we are going to recommend running quarterly discipline audits in Synergy (and don’t worry, we’ll remind you each time!). I know this may be the last thing we want to do right now, but it will save us time in June (I promise). I volunteered to fix the majority of these errors last year (to save you all the effort), but eventually this may be something we’ll need to fix at the building levels (so let’s fix them in advance!). 

To run a discipline audit, follow these steps:

1. Go into Synergy

2. Find the BEN dropdown menu

3. Click on these dropdowns in order: School Reports > Discipline Incident Reports > Discipline Audits

4. Run the following report: Discipline Missing Elements (U-DIA01)

5. Fix errors listed

NOTE: It would be helpful to run all the reports listed, but for now let’s focus on this first one to see how that goes. 

Please Email me if you have any questions or if you need help.

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Information:

During the week of November 7-11 schools throughout the country will celebrate National School Psychology Week (NSPW) to highlight the important work school psychologists do to help students thrive.  This year’s theme is “Together We Shine”. The theme highlights the importance of the collective nature of recovering after adversity.  Together we shine brightly, and each of our lights is only more brightly illuminated when put together with the light of those around us. 

Your school psychologist has posters in Spanish and English to post in your building.  Additionally, they may have some plans about incorporating activities or messaging for the week. Ask them! 

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Educator Network Day November 16: On November 16^th from 3:00-4:00 our secondary teachers will be meeting in the first Educator Network Day.  This content specific professional learning time is led by our District ICCLs and TOSAs. 

This document has a rough draft of the administrators assignments for this day.  Attempts were made to have multiple admin at the larger sessions. This “assignment” may be changed if you can work out a trade with another principal or assistant principal.

The role of the administration at the Educator Network Day is to take roll (there is an electronic way to do this) and to support ICCLs and TOSA with questions that are beyond their scope.  This may include bringing questions back to Level Leaders and Dean.

Communication on the location for Educator Network Day will go out on Friday, November 4^th to school staff.

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HS Credits taken by MS students: We are updating our AR that outlines the HS credits taken by MS students. The current proposal is located here MS Credits. 

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Notes from Kinsey: Employee Resource Groups: Just a reminder to please be sure you have shared with your entire staff the information sent by Kinsey (on Oct 20) regarding Employee Resource Groups.  Thanks to those who have already done that, and to those who have signed up to participate!

Religion and the Holidays: You might remember that religious tolerance and inclusive practices were an area that the majority of our staff rated as very low (i.e. poor experiences with this, as employees in our organization) on our DEI staff survey last year.  

To improve our practices in this area, please review this information (reflection questions on page 1, guidance and resources on page 2) regarding how we can ensure inclusion and belonging for students, families, and staff of all religious and non-religious backgrounds.  

Please review this with your ICCL, share with your whole staff, introduce with your PTO, and/or otherwise ensure your school/team is familiar with this guidance.  If you would like to discuss this further or conduct a shared review of your practices, please reach out to Kinsey or to the LEAD Coaches team.  

Linguist Link: All staff (including administrators) have access to Linguist Link, and should make their own requests for any translation/interpretation needs.  Please make sure your entire staff know how to set up and use their accounts.

A few exceptions:

• If you have an emergency (gas leak, lock-down, etc), the district Communications and Multilingual teams will support the communication and translation.
• If you need an immediate interpreter (urgent, couldn’t have been predicted in advance):

• If it’s not needed for a few hours, put it into LL and mark it urgent.
• If that doesn’t work, check whether a CAFE Program member is available,  
• Ask a Family Liaison (there are times they will say No),
• Use the On-Demand form (this form is also available on the Linguist Link home page).  Follow all directions on the form very carefully.

Please do NOT:

• Use a bilingual staff member who has not been trained/qualified/compensated.  
• Use Google Translate or other auto-translate tools (S’mores newsletter translation, etc) at any time.  
• These practices have significant legal, ethical, quality, and liability issues.  

Reach out to Kinsey if you’d like thought partnership on any of these considerations or to trouble-shoot better systems for translation in your building.  Using these systems is not easy when you’re crunched for time, but it is so valuable and important.  We are working hard on improving and increasing options for language services, and your commitment to quality multilingual family communication is appreciated.  

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Reminder: New Course Proposals due November 9: The process for submitting a New Course Proposal request. Schools interested in requesting that a new course be added to the district standard course list for 22-23 need to submit request on the course request form by November 9, 2022. HERE are the courses proposed so far. Scroll to the HS tab.

Here is the New Course Proposal Process:

1. Teachers are required to get approval from their building administrator prior to requesting district approval to add a course to the standard course list. Teachers do not enter courses into the request form. 2. A building administrator or curriculum secretary enters the course into the course request form. 3. Our district secondary team reviews each course request the week of November 14. Building leaders and curriculum secretaries are notified of approval/denial prior to thanksgiving break.

Reach out to Jess Calbreath, Rachel Mavis or Jo Kienzle if you have questions.

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From Tami Pike – Please include this information with their family messaging.  As a reminder please don’t just copy and paste this link.  You will need to download the document and save it to a location parents can access.  The Spanish version is in process.

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Calendar:

November is Native American Heritage Month

Weeks of October 31^st and November 7:  Two-week window for ALL Juniors to take the survey on their iPads.

November 6: Daylight Savings ends 

November 7-11: National School Psychology Week 

November 8: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30 @ Caldera HS

November 8: Election Day, Remember to vote!

November 9: New Course proposals due for 23-24 HS curriculum guide. Submit your proposals on the course request form.

November 11: Veteran’s Day – No school

November 14: Principal PD session 3:00-4:30; Brooks Hall, Trinity Church by the Ed Center

November 16: Educator Network Day: Building leaders have been assigned a content area to oversee 3:00-4:00 on this day. Check out your assignment here and don’t forget to take attendance.

November 18: Principal Breakfast 7:30 @ Original Pancake House

November 18: College and Career Day! Plan school wide events to promote post secondary education AND wear your college colors!

November 21-25: Thanksgiving Break. No school.

November 29: Please save this date for a district-wide Spanish-language FAFSA Night (in partnership between Bend-La Pine Schools, COCC, and Juntos). More information to follow.

Celebrations!

Check out the Dia de los Muertos celebrations at Caldera and Mountain View this week: Día de los Muertos celebration posts on Facebook.

Summit High School got some positive media recently when their skateboarding class was recognized by Mid Oregon Credit Union as the winner of the One Class at a Time award. Way to go, Jaime Brock!

Think abouts…

The college boards recently decided to discontinue the state and national AP scholar awards because they were deemed unhealthy. Interesting. Information is on the college board website and highlighted in this article.

https://www.thoughtco.com/ap-scholar-award-what-you-should-know-5101249

AP Scholar Awards: What You Should Know – ThoughtCo That said, these awards should be put in perspective, especially for highly selective colleges and universities. For example, if you’re applying to one of the prestigious Ivy League schools, nearly all competitive applicants will have taken numerous AP classes (or IB, Honors, or dual enrollment classes), and the score cut-offs for the awards are actually lower than what successful applicants …www.thoughtco.com

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To Do:

Ninth Grade On Track meetings: Prior to Thanksgiving Break, you should complete your first Ninth Grade On Track meeting. Any teacher teaching 3 or more 9th grade classes should attend. Contact Dean if you have questions about how to structure this meeting.

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Family and student notification of a Breathalyzer test: JFG-AR provides that students who wish to attend extra curricular activities can be breathalyzed prior to being admitted to an event. With the return of dances to our high schools, we are re-instituting the pre COVID practice of breathalyzing each student prior to being admitted to some extra curricular events. Beginning this year, every student will be breathalyzed prior to admission to a dance or participation in graduation ceremonies and those who test positive will not be admitted to the event. If a student tests positive, parents/guardians will be contacted and will be responsible for ensuring their student gets safely home. Families and students must be notified of this practice as outlined in section 8 of the JFG-AR and staff will follow this COVID-19 Safety Protocol, designed by our safety team, when breathalyzing students.

Attendance at Activities
• In the case where students are attending student activities that are considered a privilege
such as school dances; the school may test students for alcohol prior to allowing their
admission.
• Students will be notified that every student wishing to attend the activity will be given a
Breathalyzer test. The school will make a reasonable attempt to test all students attending.
Those who test positive will be evaluated further, may not be granted admission and may
suffer additional consequences.

Every school is required to send this notice to families and students prior to your next dance: Here is the notification sent to families and students in English and Spanish: We continue to re-establish many traditions and events that were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic and ( name of school) is excited to bring back a wide range of extracurricular events for our students and families. In accordance with policy JFG-AR, Bend-La Pine Schools stands committed to school safety and will require all students to use a breathalyzer before entering dances and for seniors prior to the graduation ceremonies during the 2022-23 school year. This was our standard practice pre-pandemic and will be followed by high schools across the district. Students who have a positive reading for their blood alcohol level  will not be allowed to participate and parents/guardians will be contacted. COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed by staff administering the breathalyzer. If you have any questions please feel free to call your student’s school at (541-355____)  with any questions.  We encourage you to use this reminder as an opportunity to talk with your child about school rules and your family values–our partners at Deschutes County have wonderful resources for supporting this conversation.  Thank you for your partnership in keeping our school events safe and fun for everyone.  

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From Stephen: November 18^th is College and Career Day in Bend-La Pine Schools.  This year we are looking to draw attention to the multitude of pathways available to students after they graduate high school.  Here are a few things you could do at your site to make the day a success.

• Dress as a professional
  • Encourage students and staff to dress up as someone from a career they are interested in.  Remember there are a lot of great careers out there!
• Wear college colors
  • Encourage students to wear the colors of a favorite college.  Remember, college can mean community college, trade school, 4-year university, etc.  Be careful with wording here as college brand clothing can be expensive and prevent students from feeling like they can participate.  Colors are more inclusionary.  As much as we know about the Ducks and Beavers, let’s expand our students’ awareness to what’s out there.
• Consider incorporating videos or lessons bringing awareness to careers and colleges. 
  • Here is a great resource from the State of Oregon on Career Journeys.  There are videos, lesson plans and other activities.
  • Here is a great resource full of college videos.  Students could scroll through and watch short videos on all kinds of colleges. 
• Consider inviting parents from the community in to talk about their careers.  
  • This could be done in a variety of ways from assemblies, to advisory, to lunch.  You could also ask parents to submit a short video of them talking about their jobs and stitch them together for students.  Remember our visitor and volunteer requirements if you decide to invite parents in.

If you do decide to take it up a notch with college and career activities, please be sure to let Stephen and Alandra know.

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From Kinsey: I am excited to share a new opportunity we are offering our staff and colleagues!  This fall we are launching Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), available to all Bend-La Pine Schools’ employees.  

You might remember our employee survey last fall, on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.  Our leadership team’s analysis of the survey responses illuminated many culture and climate improvement opportunities for our staff, colleagues, and ourselves.  

The purpose of these ERGs is to provide spaces for employees to network and build community (Joy!) with one another around common interests, identities, and experiences.  

Two asks of you, as a leader:

1. Please review this information, so you can help answer questions about our ERGs (and let me know if you have questions, or would like support addressing any questions that come to you);
2. Communicate about this opportunity to the staff in your school/department.  To be mindful of employees who have part-time schedules or limited email access, please:
   1. Share this blurb in your staff blog/memo;
   2. Make an announcement at a staff meeting, as applicable;
   3. Display this poster in your staff lounge or work room;
   4. Individually connect with any staff members you might know who are seeking or might benefit from one of these networks.

And of course, we hope that you will participate yourself!  There is no better way to build your own self-care and leadership skills, or to show your staff that you care deeply about their identities and experiences, than to make time for some human connection and Joy!

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UKG Weekly Training

This week’s training  How To Submit a Leave Request in UKG.mp4 (3 minutes) is ready for viewing with your staff at an upcoming meeting.  Please remind them that:

• All current and past UKG materials may be found in the Staff Portal>Human Resources>UKG or via this link
• Leave accruals within UKG are NOT accurate as we are still in the UKG testing platform
• Employees should enter a BLS Help Desk Ticket if they encounters a problem logging in

Upcoming trainings will be: 

• Timekeeper/Admin approval/deny/change of employee leave requests (November 4th)
• Staff member submission of extra time worked (November 11)
• Staff member submission of monthly leave/time sheets (November 11)
• Timekeeper/Admin approval/denial/change to monthly leave/time sheets  (November 18)

Information:

New Course Proposal Process: Here is the process for submitted a New Course Proposal request. Schools interested in requesting that a new course be added to the district standard course list for 22-23 need to submit request on the course request form by November 9, 2022:

1. Teachers are required to get approval from their building administrator prior to requesting district approval to add a course to the standard course list. Teachers do not enter courses into the request form.

2. A building administrator or curriculum secretary enters the course into the course request form.

3. Our district secondary team reviews each course request the week of November 14.

4. Building leaders and curriculum secretaries are notified of approval/denial prior to thanksgiving break.

Reach out to Jess Calbreath, Rachel Mavis or Jo Kienzle if you have questions.

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From Eric: Keep this reference document handy for easy review of district processes related to student management including a link to the Assistant Principal/Dean trainings. There is a wealth of helpful information on this sheet. At the VP/Dean training this Monday, Eric highlighted this template to use for writing behavior and safety plans. The template can be used for all students (Gen Ed and IEP).

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HS Administrator work session slides: During our HS work session this week, we discussed chapters 1-4 in Joe Feldman’s book: Grading for Equity and debriefed the Bias Lesson. Our book study continues at our Dec 13th work session with Chapters 5-9.

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This week’s blog is written by Linda Adams, Mathematics Instructional Coach.  She explores ways to give all students a chance to dig into the important content that you teach each day.  My favorite part is the analogy in that is in blue text. Take a minute to read through ways to hear from all student in your class each day. 

We continue to get great shout outs about the amazing work that is happening at our schools.  There are five shout outs this week. If you would like to praise a colleague, please fill out this form.

Who’s Voices are You Hearing in Your Classroom

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From Tami: STOP THE BLEED TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR BLS EMPLOYEES

Bend Fire and Rescue

Wednesday, November 2 3-4pm  Mountain View High School Auditorium

Tuesday, November 8 430-530pm  Bend High School  Black Box Theatre Room

Maximum number 75

Staff must sign up on Performance Matters to reserve a spot.

Can’t make any of these dates? We will send out future training information when the details are set.

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Reminder: Student Health Survey: Begin preparing to implement this survey to all of your juniors:
1. Last week: you should have already communicated to your staff that we are implementing the survey to JUNIORS this year and how this will happen in your building.

HERE is a helpful powerpoint about the survey and the role of the survey coordinator.

2. This week: week of October 24): You should have sent home this Letter to parents. Adjust to your school and send.

3. Beginning next week: Weeks of October 31^st and November 7:  Two-week window for ALL Juniors to take the survey on their iPads.

Here is a link to a shared Google folder containing necessary and helpful materials. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gkoP6xZydelW_uxhdgNs4ZgRqQo5HL0G?usp=sharing  Let me (Dave) know if you have questions or need anything. Thanks!

Calendar:

Weeks of October 31^st and November 7:  Two-week window for ALL Juniors to take the survey on their iPads.

November 1: CEL embedded session 8:00-2:30 @ LPHS – Principals only

November 2: Office Manager Meeting 2:30 @ High Lakes Elementary

November 2: Equitable Grading Think Tank Meeting 2:45 @ High Desert MS

November 8: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30 @ Caldera HS

November 9: New Course proposals due for 23-24 HS curriculum guide. Submit your proposals on the course request form.

November 11: Veteran’s Day – No school

November 14: Principal PD session 3:00-4:30; Brooks Hall, Trinity Church by the Ed Center

November 18: Principal Breakfast 7:30 @ Original Pancake House

November 18: College and Career Day! Plan school wide events to promote post secondary education AND wear your college colors!

November 29: Please save this date for a district-wide Spanish-language FAFSA Night (in partnership between Bend-La Pine Schools, COCC, and Juntos). More information to follow.

And Finally…Something to read… We came across this page that talks about the power of student voice.  This is relevant to read prior to our CEL work next week at La Pine High School.

To Do:

From Dean: It is the time of year to hold your quarterly 9^th Grade on Track meeting. Graduation Coaches were briefed this week on data sources and sample agendas.  Please plan to have a meeting of all LA, Math, SS, Science teachers who teach at least 3 sections of 9^th grade classes meet to determine a tier 1 support for 9^th graders.  This is in line with our current work in MTSS.

Information:

New Course Proposal Process: We have created a google doc for our New Course Proposal process. Schools interested in requesting that a new course be added to the district standard course list for 22-23 need to submit request on THIS google doc by November 9, 2022. Reach out to Jess Calbreath or Jo Kienzle if you have questions.

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CEL November Cohort Update – Our first Principal Cohort work with CEL is coming up on November 1 @ La Pine High School 8:00-2:30. This session is principals only.

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Office Manager meeting –  Office managers are required to attend this meeting. Building leaders, your assistance in helping these team members get out of the building to attend is appreciated.   Elementary will be 1:15 – 3:15, Secondary will be 2:30 – 4.  There will be an overlap of about 30 minutes for the whole K-12 group.  The next meeting is Nov 2nd at High Lakes Elementary.  We look forward to seeing them there! 

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From Stephen: Christie McCormick, one of our Canvas technicians, has worked to put this grading cheat sheet together for schools using the 0-4 scale.  Please pass it along to staff if it applies.

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From Tami regarding Drills and AQI: When conducting scheduled fire drills, please be cognizant of the AQI. We’ve had a few fire drills occur where the AQI was in the unhealthy or unhealthy for sensitive groups range. Some staff and students had respiratory reactions to the smoke causing shortness of breath and the need for their rescue medication. My recommendation would be to conduct fire drills when the AQI is good or moderate (Below 100). If you have a drill scheduled and the air quality is above 100, please consider rescheduling the drill. 

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From Jennifer:

Restoring Youth Mental Health Virtual Event

Join us for an engaging panel discussion featuring three experts in the field of youth mental health and well-being. Each panelist brings a different perspective from their part of the field and will share a report on their work as well as actionable insights on this critical topic. This event is free and open to the public, made available to you through a partnership between the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, Challenge Success, and the U.S. Surgeon General’s Call to Action on Youth Mental Health. Register here.

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Student Conference Input

Student Conference is ready for school counselors to start using, so please begin inputting your contacts in Synergy. We will gather data in a couple of months to see how we are doing. Here is a quick SCREENCAST to show you how to do it.

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Upshift Point of Contact for High Risk students

The MOU has been signed with Rimrock so we can begin referring students that are screened as High Risk for substance abuse counseling through Rimrock. Rimrock is asking that there is 1 point of contact from each Middle and HS for coordination of the high risk students. We are suggesting it is a school counselor since you would want to be in the loop with a student that is going to receive outside counseling. This is different that the Upshift coordinator, that will remain the same. Here is the referral process for the HIGH RISK identified students.

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From Kinsey–Office of DEI Leadership re: CAFE Program: In-House Bilingual Support – We are thrilled to have our first group of CAFE Program staff members in Bend-La Pine Schools!  As a reminder, these bilingual staff are receiving a stipend as trained, qualified linguists who can support occasional translation/interpretation needs in our schools.

Some very important notes about this program:

• These folks do not replace Linguist Link.  LL is our primary source for all translation/interpretation requests, and all requests (even most urgent ones) should continue to go through that system.  
• CAFE Program services should be used for walk-ins, phone calls, or situations that could not be planned or predicted in advance, and/or for very small/short messages (i.e. needing to add a short addition to your school newsletter that you’d already sent through translation, or sending a quick text/email to a family).
• These staff members are not for translations of emergency situations—those should continue to go through our Communications and Multilingual Depts for support and translation.
• Each CAFE member has a log of hours, to track their time and effort.  They will monitor and update supervisors regularly, and have the right to say No to a request if they are unable, uncomfortable, or have maxxed their hours.  
• If you don’t have a staff member from your school/dept listed here, you are welcome to contact any of the folks on that list when a need arises.  We’ll update the list as additional folks are tested and trained in the future.

Juntos Program Facilitators

Do you have an awesome Spanish-English bilingual staff member who might be interested in serving as a facilitator for Juntos?  (Juntos is a family empowerment and student academic/college support workshop for our Latino students, facilitated entirely in Spanish and offered in partnership between Bend-La Pine Schools and OSU-Open Campus.)

Juntos facilitators are paid for their time, and trained as facilitators to lead the 6-week workshops.  We are partnering with OSU to help them recruit facilitators: If you have a staff member who might be interested, please invite them to join an informational session with OSU 4:00-4:30pm next Tuesday, Oct 25^th using this Zoom link.  Thanks!

Bias Incident Reporting

THANK YOU for your leadership in rolling out a very successful district-wide student lesson on bias and bias incident reporting!  This was not a perfect lesson or roll-out, but it was a huge step for our system, and your leadership led to a ton of positive feedback from students and families.

Follow-up lessons will come, so this is not a one-and-done conversation.  

In the meantime: 

• Celebrate with your staff that you accomplished a scary and sensitive thing together!
• If you have any observations or feedback from your perspective, please reach out to Kinsey
• Please ensure the reporting posters are visible in various places throughout your building
• Contact the LEAD TOSAs if you or a team in your building would like to continue partnering on controversial topics and productive dialogue in your classrooms

Multilingual Dept Staff Mini-Observations and Evals

As in prior years, in an effort to partner on monitoring the effectiveness of multilingual programs and services across sites, Office of DEI leadership will continue to support mini-observations for certified staff in those roles (ELL/Title III, Dual Language Immersion).  

If you would like to coordinate mini’s more closely, or visit a classroom together to calibrate evaluation conversations with a lens on culturally- or linguistically-accessible practices, please reach out to Kinsey! 

Spanish FAFSA Night

Please save the date for a district-wide Spanish-language FAFSA Night (in partnership between Bend-La Pine Schools, COCC, and Juntos) on the evening of Tuesday, November 29th.  This applies mainly to our high schools, although Spanish-speaking parents/families or our staff members who are interested in support for pursuing financial aid for college are welcome to attend as well!  More details and an invitation will be shared via multilingual programs’ specialists and liaisons.

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From Paul—UKG Update – The current practice for teachers, EAs, media managers, secretaries and office managers is to enter absences into Frontline Absence Management (AESOP) in order to trigger a request for a substitute.  When our district transitions to digital time and leave tracking on December 5th, this practice will continue even when a substitute may not be needed.  Information entered into Frontline Absence Management (AESOP) will be automatically transferred to UKG’s Time and Leave module thereby eliminating the need to complete an additional entry within UKG.

Please spend some time at a future faculty meeting to review this google doc for essential information about this transition on December 5th, best practices when requesting a sub and a Frontline Absences Management (AESOP) “how to guide”.  

Next week, we will provide instructions for digital leave submissions through UKG for other staff members who don’t enter absences into Frontline.

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From Sean re: Behavioral Health Tele-Therapy appointment in school – Many of you have had parents request that their student be able to access their behavioral health tele-therapy appointments while at school.  Myself, school administrators, legal counsel, and IT have developed a protocol to allow this to happen.  Please read carefully and let me know if you have any questions.  You can find the procedure HERE.  Thank you. 

Calendar:

October 24: Assistant Principal/Dean Work Session 7:30-8:30 at Ed Center in Board Room.

October 25: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30 @ Realms HS. Prep for meeting: Read Chapters 1-4 in Equitable Grading by Joe Feldman.

November 1: CEL embedded session 8:00-2:30 @ LPHS – Principals only

November 8: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30

November 18: Principal Breakfast @ Original Pancake House 7:30

To Do:

Bias Lessons should be completed by TODAY – Friday, October 14. Please enter the date your school implemented thee Bias Incident Student Lessons into this doc.  

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Tier III District Meeting Prep: Our secondary team schedules a weekly 10:00 meeting at the Ed Center for MS/HS administrators to problem solve student concerns. Contact Eric if you plan to attend one of these meetings. Also, be sure to prepare for the meeting by filling out the information listed here (LINK) and sending Eric the information prior to the Friday of your scheduled time.

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Share the bond info by October 19: Principals, in your next communication to families, please be sure to share these fliers that provide an overview of the bond (this is similar to the large poster you should have displayed in your lobby) and/or please copy and paste this bilingual information in text form into your next communication. (I know parent communication may take different forms – which is why you have both text and PDF/image options here.) We ask that this information be shared by October 19. If you have any questions or would like any additional information, please let me know.

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From Dave – By Friday 10/21 schools need to determine their primary contact and coordinator for YouthTruth surveys in January.  Please enter the coordinator’s information in columns AF-AI in the spreadsheet linked here, or email their name to Dave VanLoo. Last year’s coordinator, if submitted to YouthTruth, is already populated in the file. If the coordinator cells are blank, the principal will be the survey coordinator for YouthTruth.

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Reminder: Student Health Survey: Begin preparing to implement this survey to all of your juniors:
1. Prior to October 24: Communicate to your staff that we are implementing the survey to JUNIORS this year and how this will happen in your building.

HERE is a helpful powerpoint about the survey and the role of the survey coordinator.

2. Week of October 24:  Letter sent home to parents. Adjust to your school and send.

3. Weeks of October 31^st and November 7: Two-week window for ALL Juniors to take the survey on their iPads.

Dave sent this helpful note to admin this week: I just sent (addressed to principals) an envelope containing handouts for students to receive after completing the SHS. The number you’ll see on the included sticky note is the approximate number of English handouts in the envelope/box. Every school should have received some Spanish language handouts as well. I think schools should have enough English handouts, but it is possible you’ll need to make a small number of copies of the Spanish handout, depending on enrollment.

Please pass these on to your school’s SHS coordinator, or to the appropriate teachers if you are coordinating the survey.

If you haven’t seen it, here is a link to a shared Google folder containing necessary and helpful materials. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gkoP6xZydelW_uxhdgNs4ZgRqQo5HL0G?usp=sharing  Let me (Dave) know if you have questions or need anything. Thanks!

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A request from Scott McDonald in IT – Please use one of your dedicated 30 minute staffing times to give your staff time to complete their cyber security training.  Soon they will receive an email with a link about this training.  It is best for teachers to conduct the training on their own like they do with safe schools as there is a quiz at the end of it. The level leaders are in full support of Scott in this request because this training is very important to keeping our network and data secure.  Here’s some proof of how important the training is.  Please ensure your teachers complete this training before they leave for winter break

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From Instructional Technology: Parent Communication on Digitial Citizenship 

(Admin – please include the following message in your next family newsletter/communication. Thank you!) 

October is Digital Citizenship Month. Bend La Pine Schools uses Common Sense Education to guide students through grade appropriate lessons on safe and effective use of digital tools and platforms. If you’d like to work with your student on digital citizenship at home, these Teen Voices videos and Parent’s Ultimate Guides are both excellent resources. 

Information:

HS Administrator work session slides: At our work session this week, school teams had work time to review the draft of the HS curriculum guide and we discussed the process for adding courses to our district guide. Here is the link to the slides where you can access the draft of the guide. Please continue to provide feedback on the link provided.

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Graduation ceremonies for the class of 2023 we be located at our schools! This decision was made at a recent HS Principal meeting. We have canceled our reservations at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds for 2023.

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Communication and distribution guidelines: As your parent groups start fundraising activities for after graduation celebrations, here are the relevant administrative regulations and policies that that will be most helpful:

• JOA-AP: Directory Information
• KJA-AR: Materials Distribution
• EHA-AR: Appropriate Uses of Technology
• KI-AP: Public Solicitation in District Facilities (addresses fundraising)

Requests for Student Directory Information can be made here: https://www.bend.k12.or.us/district/organization/request-information  

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From Human Resources: We are back to our normal evaluation procedures for 22/23.  Here is the digital link to the Certified Professional Growth and Performance Evaluation Manual.  Below is the specific page regarding the observation requirements and timeline.

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From April: Due to the confidential nature of the child abuse reports, suicide risk screens and student threat assessments, these items need to be sent to me via BLSend instead of through traditional email.  Hard copies may also be sent to me through inter-district mail.  Please make sure to mark the envelope “confidential”.  

There are also a variety of old child abuse reports circulating out there.  The newest version of this reporting form is out on the staff portal but is also attached here.   Please let me know if you have any questions.  

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From Sean about Upshift: Thank you for prioritizing the district-wide roll out of Upshift. Most schools have identified folks to deliver all of the roles of Upshift. There will be another training offered on Oct. 18th from 9:00am-11:30am at [location tbd]. If you or other staff at your school need to be trained, please contact [email protected]. 

There will be an optional virtual Upshift Networking/Troubleshooting call scheduled on Nov. 2nd at 3:00pm-4:00pm. This is an opportunity for you to ask questions, troubleshoot situations, and request support as it relates to Upshift. 

The first couple of Upshift trainings this year instructed admin or Upshift Coordinators to upload the Upshift parent/guardian consent form into the forms/document tab in synergy. CORRECTION – We are not going to be uploading any documents into synergy for Upshift at the moment. Schools should keep all parent/guardian consent forms for Upshift in the student’s working file or disciplinary file. Any other other materials such as the screening tool and exercise handouts are not required to be kept but can stay with the student file as well. 

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From Scott B. – Just a reminder ​​that when conducting your fire drills, please contact the Central Station center to let them know you are conducting a fire drill. We had a recent incident where a school forgot to call Central Station and the fire department rolled out when the alarm went off for the fire drill, assuming it was a real-world call and not a drill. Please let me know if you have any questions about how to contact Central Station, or any questions other questions about your emergency drills.

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UKG Project Update: HR will no longer be sending UKG updates to All BLS Staff since school sites will be incorporating the weekly UKG communications/videos into regularly scheduled staff meetings.  All of our communications will be coming to you via blogs and posted on the HR’s UKG website,

All BLS staff are encouraged to bookmark HR’s UKG website for project updates and for old videos/documents. This week’s video is about how the digital leave request processes will mirror our paper processes after December 5th.

Below is our updated training plan leading up to the December 5th Go-Live plan:

• October 21st: Digital leave request process for those positions that require substitutes: Enter through Frontline
• October 28th: Digital leave request process for those positions that DO NOT require substitutes: Enter through UKG
• November 4th: Conceptual understanding of electronic timesheet submissions
• November 10th:  How to make a timesheet submission within UKG

Members of our UKG Implementation Team will be visiting sites that request it during the next 5 weeks by entering a date/time on this spreadsheet.

Please remember that what you view within the UKG portal is our testing environment and does not accurately reflect employee information.

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From Tami Pike – Reminder to administrators regarding AQI – Please make sure all of your administrators are aware of the tools available to assess whether or not students can be outside/participate in outdoor activities. Additionally, the air quality can rapidly change and what may have been an acceptable AQI number at 8 could change to an unacceptable number at 9. This should be taken into consideration with field trips. 

Download the Oregon Air app. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/oregonair/id1330462330

Another tool that can be used is the 5-3-1 Index.

Estimating visibility using the 5-3-1 Index

Determine the limit of your visual range by looking for distant targets or familiar landmarks such as mountains, mesas, hills, or buildings at known distances (miles). The visual range is that point at which these targets are no longer visible. As a general rule of thumb: if you can clearly see the outlines of individual trees on the horizon it is generally less than five miles away.

Ideally, the viewing of any distance targets should be made with the sun behind you. Looking into the sun or at an angle increases the ability of sunlight to reflect off of the smoke, and thus making the visibility estimate less reliable.

Once distance has been determined, follow this simple guide:

• If visibility is well over five miles, the air quality is generally good.
• Even if visibility is five miles away but generally hazy, air quality is moderate and beginning to deteriorate, and is generally healthy, except possibly for smoke sensitive persons. The general public should avoid prolonged exposure if conditions are smoky to the point where visibility is closer to the 5-mile range.
• If under five miles, the air quality is unhealthy for young children, adults over age 65, pregnant women, and people with heart and/or lung disease, asthma or other respiratory illness. These people should minimize outdoor activity.
• If under three miles, the air quality is unhealthy for everyone.  Young children, adults over age 65, pregnant women, and people with heart and/or lung disease, asthma or other respiratory illness. These people should minimize outdoor activity.
• If under one mile, the air quality is unhealthy for everyone.  Everyone should avoid all outdoor activities. 

Using the 5-3-1 Visibility Index

Distance you can see*	You are:		OR	You have
	·An adult·       A teenager· An older child	Age 65 and over·         Pregnant·         A young child		Asthma·         Respiratory illness· Lung or heart disease
5 miles	check visibility	minimize outdoor activity		minimize outdoor activity
3 miles	minimize outdoor activity	stay inside		stay inside
1 mile	stay inside	stay inside		stay inside

Calendar:

October 14: SIF and HSS Discretionary budgets due.

October 14: Bias Incident student lesson should have been taught by school staff.

October 19: New Admin learning lab with Lora

October 19: Share bond info with your parents (see above from Alandra)

October 19: Stats I Training 12-4 @ HDESD building in Redmond. This training is required for all administrators and Deans. Contact Eric Powell to sign up or if you have questions.

October 24: Assistant Principal/Dean Work Session 7:30-8:30 at Ed Center in Board Room.

October 25: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-8:45 all ; Principals only 8:45-9:30 @Realms HS. Prep for meeting: Read Chapters 1-4 in Equitable Grading by Joe Feldman.

November 1: CEL embedded session 8:00-2:30 @ LPHS – Principals only

November 8: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30 @ Caldera HS

Champion for students recipient: Lindsey Corley, Mountain View High School Office Manager, was honored by the School Board Tuesday night!

Think abouts:

We have been talking about street data and recently our board work session focused on the board ends that will guide our work over the coming years. This podcast from The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast highlights an interview with the authors of the book, Street Data facilitated by Jennifer Gonzales. It is worth a listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cult-of-pedagogy-podcast/id900015782?i=1000537550905Outlook for iOS

To Do:

Bond Info from Alandra: Thanks to those of you who tuned in to Dr. Cook’s presentation to staff about the bond. We recorded it and will share with staff via email next week. Your school will be receiving a stack of bilingual flyers about the bond. Please find a spot for these in your lobby or entrance area (We sent a bunch in anticipation of conferences coming up.) You will also receive a sign with the same information to place on an easel in your lobby area. If you need an easel, let us know and we can send one over. I’m happy to help with any additional questions regarding the bond.

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From Dave Van Loo: By Friday 10/21 schools need to determine their primary contact and coordinator for YouthTruth surveys in January.  Please enter the coordinator’s information in columns AF-AI in the spreadsheet linked here, or email their name to Dave VanLoo. Last year’s coordinator, if submitted to YouthTruth, is already populated in the file. If the coordinator cells are blank, the principal will be the survey coordinator for YouthTruth.

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From Paul: UKG Project Update: Please take a moment, if you haven’t already done so, to visit HR’s UKG website, and view the Training #1 video with your staff during your next weekly meeting.  We’d ask that all staff make a login attempt either via the UKG website or through the app. Anyone who encounters a login problem should submit an IT Help Desk Ticket.  So far 23% of BLS staff have successfully logged in with very few problems.  You may use this UKG FAQ google doc to add questions that staff ask during your weekly meetings.
Below is our updated training plan leading up to the December 5th Go-Live plan:

October 5^th – 11th:  Conceptual understanding of Leave Workflow

October 12^th – 18th: Conceptual understanding of Leave Request

October 19^th – 25th: How to request leave within UKG

October 26^th – November 1st: Conceptual understanding of electronic timesheet submissions

November 2^nd – 8th:  How to make a timesheet submission within UKG

I will be joining the Leadership meeting on October 10th, present the Leave Workflow and Request process and answer any questions that you have.  Our UKG Implementation Team is willing to visit your site during one of your regularly scheduled meetings to address staff questions.  You may sign up for the visit on this spreadsheet.

Information:

ICCL/Administrator Professional Development: Here is the LINK to the powerpoint from our October 10 MTSS training with secondary building leaders and teacher leaders. Please use anything here to help move your school MTSS work forward.

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From Lora: During October and November, community and district facilitators will be hosting approximately 15 “community conversations” with student, family, and community groups. These are the second iteration of our listening sessions that were part of our original excellence and equity review.

This time, we are focusing, for the most part, on talking to groups that already exist: student GSA clubs, the Latino Family Advisory group, RJE, etc. We are using this strategy because a) we think conversations are more open when individuals are familiar with one another; and b) it’s simpler logistically to arrange these.

We will be using the qualitative data gathered in these conversations, along with Youth Truth survey data from staff, students, and families, as well as other quantitative and qualitative data, to inform the district’s strategic planning. As with the excellence and equity review, we will be creating materials to share with our leaders, staff, and community regarding the major findings.

Kinsey Martin will be reaching out to you if a session is planned for your school. Our district team will handle almost all of the logistics, with club advisors supporting. Thanks for supporting students’ and families’ voices, if a session is hosted at your school.

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Mid Year transfer process: Just a reminder that that our team will review mid year requests to transfer from a semester HS to one of our choice high schools on November 4. If you have staff or one of your students/families interested in moving to Realms HS or BTA@MHS from BSHS, CHS, LPHS, MVHS, or SHS, be sure to complete the doc on this link and bring the information to the meeting. Also, let Eric know you would like to be on the agenda for the Nov 4. meeting.

Here is the full message about the mid year transfer process from the September 16 blog:

Important reminder about requests to move mid year: Beginning with the 22-23 school year, we are no longer rescinding ACR’s or moving students back and forth between schools except during grading breaks (trimester and semester) and in exceptional circumstances.  

Yes, we have allowed students to move between schools for years.  However, we know this is not best practice for our students and we are no longer supporting this practice.  

Once a student requests to be at a particular school, that becomes their school.  

Support and process for reviewing requests:

District Tier III team: We will continue our Friday 10:00 meetings which is an opportunity for us to problem solve students who are struggling to access their education (this is a team consisting of behavior coaches, Juan, me and led by Eric).  

Mid Year ACR’s: Additionally, we have developed a process for students, staff and families to review mid year requests.  I included it in the HS blog last week.  Here it is again:

ACR Update & Mid-Year School Location Request Information

Please review this document linked below regarding changes to the ACR process during a school year.  We will review this process in more depth at our September work session with Assistant Principals and Deans.

Here are some highlights from this document:

(1) ACRs can no longer be ‘pulled’ (revoked) for attendance, behavior, grades, etc. Once a student is approved on an ACR, they remain at that school moving forward. 

(2) A district-led team will meet three times during the school year to review unique cases when families are requesting to move, mid-year, from one school to another. 

Mid-Year School Location Requests

Reach out to Eric or me if you have questions about this.

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From Lora: As many of you know, we’re still facing challenges with getting substitute teachers in our schools. While we want to support professional learning and field trips, we also want to be cautious for now. So, for the time being, we ask you to do the following:

• If you have staff that require subs who are taking students on a field trip, please make sure these are only scheduled Tuesday-Thursday. Any exceptions need the approval of your level leader!
• If you have staff that require subs engaged in school business (grade level or department planning, ICCL retreats, etc.), you need to get the approval of your level leader IF more than three subs are needed. Again, these should be scheduled for Tuesday-Thursday.

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From Jenn: Bend-La Pine Schools is partnering with Deschutes County Health Services to provide Parent Connect Workshops. See if your school has a workshop and register here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uR4voCPn28VVPi-D9tjN7wyKkONeT5b34aWruHnXYGg/edit?usp=sharing  

The Connect Workshop is a FREE, 2-hour opportunity for parents and guardians in Deschutes County to learn factual, unbiased information and skills to start conversations with their kids about substance use. Each participant will receive a $15 Gift Card after completing the workshop.

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Digital Citizenship from Instructional Technology: October brings a refreshed emphasis on digital citizenship. Most of us agree that digital citizenship skills are important but are unsure how to fit teaching them into our already full schedules. Rather than recreating the wheel, Bend La Pine Schools leans on the expertise of Common Sense Education and their vast resources, including ready-made free digital citizenship lessons for all grade levels. To get started, check out Digital Citizenship Made Simple. These skills will carry our students into the future; please take a few minutes to highlight their importance in your school this month. 

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From Jackie (Wilson) Mueller, our BLS Sustainability and Energy Specialist:

Walk and Roll to School Day October 12th: Please help spread the word that October 12th is Walk and Bike to School day. Let parents and teachers know it is Walk + Roll to School Day on October 12th and parents/students can enter their trip here to win prizes: commuteoptions.org/walkroll

BLS is collecting baseline data on # of students using alternative transportation and we need your help. Pass on the tally sheets to teachers to fill out for two days. You do not need to have it on the 12^th just sometime in the month of October. There are two forms per sheet and they can be done in a simple hand raise or stand-up collection style. Completed forms can be turned into the main office and then sent to Jackie Wilson, at Admin Building, through inner district mail. Teachers can use this google document if it is easier.

National Recycling Day – November 15th: Coming soon will be information about National Recycling Day and how to celebrate it with your school. To prepare, please ensure that your staff understand what can and cannot be recycling in Deschutes County. Please share this document so that folks can be on the same page. If staff want to learn more, they can watch this video from 2021 National Recycling Day, The Do’s and Don’t of recycling! If you need any additional bins or recycling signs, please reach out to [email protected]

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From our Education Foundation: SHOUT OUT because we know our K-12 educators are working hard planning, developing, and executing stellar programs and curriculum for our Bend-La Pine students.  To help with that, we are offering our 2022 Back-to-School Classroom Grant opportunity for funding.  Please see the  Classroom Grant Guidelines and Classroom Grant Application, both of which can also be found on our website.  The deadline for applications is Friday, October 14, 2022, and all application requests must be emailed to our office at this email address:  [email protected] 

Funding decisions and fund distribution will occur November 1, 2022.

The Education Foundation for Bend-La Pine Schools is an independent non-profit 501(c)3 that has aided local schools since 1988.  Our mission is to prepare our students for success and the future through educational and extracurricular opportunities.  Since 2003, the Education Foundation has invested over $2.1 million into local schools through endowments, special projects, and our main programs.  For more information about the Education Foundation, please visit our website at www.engagedminds.org. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or our Program Coordinator Jessie Norman at [email protected].  We look forward to receiving your applications and continuing to help make opportunities possible for our students and teachers!   Education Foundation for Bend-La Pine Schools

Calendar:

October 10: Principal PD 3:00-4:30 @ Ed Center in board room

October 11: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30 @MVHS Library

October 14: SIF and HSS Discretionary budgets due.

October 14: Bias Incident student lesson should have been taught by school staff.

October 19: Stats I Training 12-4 @ HDESD building in Redmond. This training is required for all administrators and Deans. Contact Eric Powell to sign up or if you have questions.

To Do:

There will be a required training session for Health teachers for the next 3 weeks.  All secondary Health teachers are expected to attend. We are paying for your sub coverage. Please indicate workshop/conference 

These are the dates and times of the in-person sessions, by grade level band: 

• High School: Oct 5, 12, 26 from 8am-12pm
• Middle School: Oct 6, 13, 27 from 8am-12pm

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From Alandra: In the coming days, you’ll receive some informational flyers with key facts about the November construction bond. Please be sure to put one on your bulletin board and keep others at the check in counter area. I’m happy to print additional should you like some for an event, etc. Thanks!

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Please check in with your Athletic Director to learn how the required Interrupting and Preventing Discriminatory Acts Training is being implemented and tracked in your school: This is part of the OSAA STAR Initiative which is not in effect.  OSAA developed this initiative in partnership with COSA, ODE, OSBA, and OASC and the purpose of the initiative is to disrupt racism and combat discrimination at Oregon High School Athletic Events.  

Part of this initiative is an equity training required for all AD’s, coaches and officials and then specific training for each sport prior to stepping on the field/court.

Dave Williams confirmed with me that the Interrupting and Preventing Discriminatory Acts Training is part of required certifications of all coaches and athletic directors. He explained that our high schools have added and are tracking this with our coaches as a requirement prior to coaching.  Here is a link to the training:  https://www.osaa.org/training-courses/discriminatory-acts/index.html. Your administrative team should be familiar with this initiative so that in the event an athletic event must be interrupted due to a violation, or you must interrupt an event yourself, you can partner with your athletic director to address the situation.

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Roles and Responsibilities in our high schools: Please complete this doc identifying the leaders of teams in your school. I did add a tab for Canvas family support. This led should not be a teacher as this individual will need flexibility during the day to contact parents.

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Oct. 6: State of the Schools: Staff members are invited to tune in to one of two presentations by Superintendent Cook on Thursday, October 6. He will share information about the state of our schools as well as information about the upcoming construction bond on the November ballot. Tune in at 8 a.m. or 2:30 p.m. If time allows, Dr. Cook will also answer questions from staff. Submit a question in advance using this form. For those that can’t make it, we will record the presentation and share it at a later date. If your school is interested in having Dr. Cook share a presentation in person, please reach out to Marta Broberg and we will gladly add you to the schedule. Thanks!

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Parent Conferences and Canvas support: Plan to open up a space (Library?) during parent conferences or Open House so families can get support with accessing Canvas (including getting the code they need). Reminder, parents can get the code from their student.

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Information:

Forecasting timeline for 23-24: Here is a link to the finalized timeline.

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Reminder from TLC: On October 4^th at 4:00 in Bend High School’s Perseverance Hall we will have our first convening of secondary administrative teams and building ICCLs. Our purpose is:

• You will have a understanding of the ICCL position, and some of the changes
• You will make connections between equitable grading, MTSS, and administrators work on Leading Equitable Schools
• You will think about how types of data can inform our school wide (tier 1) MTSS work

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From Jennifer: The link below has some some helpful tips and some things to consider for conferences, curriculum nights, and open houses to make the event more meaningful for our families: Family Engagement: A Meaningful Back-to-School Night  Thank you Jennifer! 

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Bias Incidents: As you lead the Bias Incident Student Lesson in your buildings, you will have the opportunity to engage with some families in dialogue about the ‘why’ of this work.  Here are some tips and resources:

• Remember, our Equity Stance has language you can pull from to respond
• Remind families they are invited to share their thoughts (positive ones, too!) via the feedback form linked in the letter they received.  Staff are welcome to use that form as well, to share how it went in their classrooms.
• If you get anyone particularly persistent or upset, Kinsey is happy to connect with them individually or in partnership with you. 
• Once you have completed the lessons in your building, please note that here

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From Tami regarding field trips: For students who may need nursing support during a field trip, please complete the Medical Request for Direct Care Nursing for Off Campus Fieldtrip form and send to Tami Pike at least 2 weeks PRIOR to the trip. Due to nurse scheduling, requests submitted less than 14 days prior to the event may be denied due to staffing. 

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UKG Project Update: The HR/Business Department will be sending out an email to admin and all BLS staff regarding the UKG Phase One Implementation separately from the weekly blog announcement.  

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AP Fees: Here are the charges related to AP testing this year. Schools do not have the option of charging fees different from what is listed below. Please communicate this information to your families. If you have questions, please reach out to Stephen.

The College board is still charging fees for changing an order.  Please remind families and students about the fees for canceling and adding tests:

1. $40 fee if a student CANCELS a test after the November 15 deadline.
2. $40 fee if a student ADDS a test after the November 15 deadline.
3. $40 for a late test.
4. Tests this year cost $72 and $0 for students on F/R lunch. Please let students know they must be officially on that F/R lunch list if they want their fees waived so they should start looking into that now if it would apply to their families. We also can help a student if they have some extenuating financial circumstances…. Please have them work with your AP Coordinator or VP overseeing AP if families have questions or concerns.  
5. AP Seminar is $120

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From Dean and our secondary TOSA team: The Secondary Instruction Blog begins this year with a post from Social Sciences TOSA, Monica Freeman, on some ideas about engaging in controversial topics in the classroom. 

We know that it can be intimidating to wrestle with the big ideas of the day.  Whether this is a topic that your standards take on or it is a “teachable moment” from a student, engaging in critical thinking, respectful dialogue, and seeing multiple perspectives are important skills for all of us to use in our democracy. 

This post gives some reasons why these topics are important, some of the protections that you have, and a resource for setting up your classroom to be a space where students and teachers can be brave enough to speak their minds in a respectful way.

Why Should I Teach Controversial Subjects in the Classroom

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SLGG Guidance – Dave VanLoo helped us track down SLGG info for 22/23.  Here is a guidance document and below is the link to the ODE site.  

https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/educator_effectiveness/Pages/slg.aspx

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From Instructional Technology: Canva for Education is now available for all teachers and students.  Canva is an online design and publishing tool that provides templates for easy-to-create presentations, posters, documents, and other types of visual content.  This link explains how to get access and login to your Canva for Education account.  If you need any support with Canva for Education, please reach out to Tracy Howk, Robbie Faith, or Austin James.

Calendar:

October 4: Graduation Meeting – Principals only 3-4@BSHS in Perseverance Hall

October 4: ICCL/Administrator Work Session 4-6pm @ BSHS in Perseverance Hall

October 7: Principal Breakfast@ Original Pancake House 7:30

October 10: Principal PD 3:00-4:30

October 11: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30 @MVHS Library

October 14: SIF and HSS Discretionary budgets due.

October 14: Bias Incident student lesson should have been taught by school staff.

October 19: Stats I Training 12-4 @ HDESD building in Redmond. This training is required for all administrators and Deans. Contact Eric Powell to sign up or if you have questions.

October 24: Assistant Principal/Dean Work Session 7:30-8:30 at Ed Center in Board Room.

October 25: HS Administrator Work Session 8:00-9:30 @Realms. Prep for meeting: Read Chapters 1-4 in Equitable Grading by Joe Feldman