This and That:
SIW Schedule: SIW this week is Teacher Prep. Kelle, Frank, and Jess have a meeting downtown at 1:30, so grab us before 1:00 if you need us on Wednesday. P.S – GREAT job getting the word out about early release last week! We had fewer kids left in the lobby than most typical school days!!!
Hot Spots (From IT): We will again be prepared to support families who do not have internet by providing mobile hotspots. Our team in IT has made some significant improvements that should be known before we start connecting families with hotspots. Some of the improvements include:
- School district Hotspots will only work with student-issued school iPads. This is because they have their own unique network that is only visible to Bend-La Pine student devices.
- Internet content is now filtered in a way that is near identical to our school network. (no more Netflix)
- The set-up process has been simplified and should require little or no support from staff. Here are the set-up directions
At this time, we plan to support only those families without internet access who are either involved in Targeted Remote Learning programs or referred by a FAN advocate or building principal. Please talk with Mary or Frank if you know of a family with a possible need for a hot spot.
Flag Salute: Below is information shared with principals regarding the flag salute. Since we include the salute in Eagle News each week, this is taken care of for you as long as you give your students the opportunity to participate each week. Below is the ORS:
ORS 339.875 Procurement, display and salute of flags.
(1) Each district school board shall:
(b) Provide students with the opportunity to salute the United States flag at least once each week of the school year by reciting: “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
(2) Students who do not participate in the salute provided for by this section must maintain a respectful silence during the salute. [Formerly 332.100 and then 336.045 and then 336.630; 1999 c.137 §1]
Master Schedule Updates: Please be sure to update the Master Schedule and Wednesday Master Schedule with your intended curricular blocks and keep it up to date throughout the year. The Master Schedule link is at the top of the Eagle Essentials Website and the 2021-2022 Standards of Practice links can be found on the right-hand side of the TLC Blog to help guide you.
Teaching and Learning:
TLC Update: Here is a link to this week’s TLC Update. The new blog format is GREAT! You now have access to all of the updates without having to search through your email and several links on the homepage to all of the supports you use most frequently. I recommend that you take a moment to click around on the homepage to see what you have access to and save a link to the blog for easy access.
Dreambox/ Lexia: All students in grades 1-5 should be started on Dreambox and Lexia at this time. Please reach out for support if you need help getting it going.
COVID/ Safety Related Information:
Questions/Concerns about COVID-19 related matters?: Please follow this flowchart. If in doubt about what to do, you can always check with Frank or Kelle. Frank is our Safety Team Lead, and Ann Hollenberg is our School Nurse. Here is a link to our COVID anonymous safety concerns form.
Lunch Outdoors: Although cold lunchtime temperatures are hopefully weeks away, principals are starting to get more guidance regarding temperatures that we might use to bring students indoors for lunch. These numbers are not a hard and fast rule, but more of a starting point for our decision-making. I thought you all might be interested. It will be important to encourage students to dress in layers on days where it will be close to the minimum threshold.
- K-8 students will come inside for meals at 45-degrees.
- If outside temperature + windchill is lower than 40-degrees, move meals inside.
- For example: If the air temperature is 48 degrees and there are sustained winds at 25 mph, then the wind chill temperature is 40 degrees = Meals inside
Wearing Masks Outside: Below are a few different messages administrators received regarding masking this past week:
- Here is the OLD guidance: Masks are not required for outdoor recess, meals, outdoor classes and those actively engaged in sports.
- Here is the NEW guidance: All individuals 5 years of age and older are to wear a face-covering outdoors when individuals cannot or do not consistently maintain at least 6 feet of physical distance from people not in their household.
•According to our Nurse Tami Pike, nearly 100% of our students under age 12 are not vaccinated which makes them the most vulnerable segment of our population right now. So, whether inside or outside, correctly wearing our masks around our students and families sends a positive message that we care about their health and safety and models the behavior we want everyone to practice.
•Masking in the Public Eye: While it is recommended to wear masks at recess, it is not required to wear a mask at recess. That said, when you are at pick up and drop off with many families present, you are also around our students, who being under the age of 12 are our most vulnerable. Correctly wearing our masks around our students and families sends a positive message that we care about their health and safety.
Given this new language, we will be providing an update on football (and possibly some other activities) later this next week. Stay tuned.
To Do:
Vaccination Survey from HR: ALL staff, please remember to complete the vaccination survey recently sent out by Steve Herron in HR ASAP. Can’t find it? Check your “Clutter”. Have questions? Check with Kelle or HR. The survey takes a minute or less.
Scoop on Schools/ Open House: Classroom teachers- Please follow this link to share your Scoop on Schools plans (date, time, team event or classroom event?, any other details you want to share). We will use this information to answer questions from parents as they come to the office. Please let Kelle and/or Frank know if you are hoping to have one of us attend for a short time or the entire time. Thank you!
Important Dates:
- SIW Schedule for the year
- Tuesday: Staff Meeting
- Wednesday: SIW – teacher prep,
- Friday: DIBELS Day