This and That:
Halloween on a MONDAY?: It should be against the law to have Halloween on a MONDAY! Since we don’t control the world’s Halloween calendar, I hope your Monday is full of fun and laughs, and I pray for our sanity for the remainder of the week.
CEL Admin Training: Through a grant, all BLS administrators are participating in a training with the University of Washington’s Center for Educational Leadership (CEL). All BLS admins participated in a two-day training in August and will have several more days throughout the school year. Only BLS principals will participate in the CEL training this week to avoid taking both administrators out of the building on a school day. Kelle will be out on Wednesday, 11/2, for this training. So far, this work has been focused on Equity and student voice. Here is a link to a short article that we have been asked to read before the training this week; I think several of you will enjoy the read and will get a flavor of the training we are participating in.
College and Career Day (from Stephen Duval): Friday, November 18th 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: (**Note from Kelle – We will be advertising something along the lines of “college and dream job day,” encouraging our community to dress for the dream job or their favorite college colors. Let me know if you have a clever idea for the title of the day. Please feel free to add to this with other activities in your classroom or grade level**)
- 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.
Field Trips/ Nursing (From Tami Pike): It is important to let the school nurse know at least 2 weeks before a scheduled field trip. This is for student safety. This time allows for the school nurse to assess and prepare for the medical needs of the students attending the trip and train staff who may need to administer medication. If the nurse is given short notice, they end up scrambling to gather the needed student medical information and train a staff person to safely administer medication. This practice is not safe for students or staff. To avoid unnecessary field trip delays or cancellations, please develop a practice to help ensure that school nurses are notified (at least 2 weeks in advance) of a scheduled field trip.
10/24/2022 Family Newsletter: Link here.
SIW: This Wednesday will be an “A” week for our specialist schedule. Our SIW time will be teacher prep.
Monday Staff Meeting Agenda: No staff meeting! Please feel free to leave guilt-free as early as you are able to celebrate Halloween however you do it!
Focus on Excellence and Equity:
TLC Update: Here is a link to the 10/26 TLC Update. The update for this week includes lots of information, including:
- Lexia vs. Reading Playgrounds
- Math: Unit Screeners and Pre-Assessments – What’s the Difference?
- Active Listening Resources from Harmony
- PE Minutes Menu
- Instructional Technology Resources Available for Check-Out
- And more!
Please remember… you can reach out to your elementary support staff for any needs or support.
Math Adoption: BLS is starting a two-year adoption process to select new math materials. A big thank you to Steve and Jill for taking part! The team had its first meeting and is reading a book titled “Catalyzing Change” in preparation for the next meeting on November 8th. I am happy to purchase a copy of this book for anyone on our staff who will pinky swear to read it this school year. Please be sure to check in with Steve and Jill about any questions you have regarding the math adoption.
Language Arts Adoption: BLS is in the second phase of the Language Arts Adoption. Last year, the team focused on foundational skills. This year, the team will be looking at the whole of language arts. Thanks to Emily, Allison, and Olivia for participating on this team! The team had its first meeting a couple of weeks and go and is currently studying best practices from research around teaching reading, writing, listening, and speaking with the goal of beginning to write core beliefs in early December. Please be sure to check in with Emily, Allison, and Liv if you have any questions.
COVID & Safety Related Information:
EME Safety Concern Form: Link here. You can use this form to report any safety concerns – big or small. Please use this form or talk directly with Frank or Kelle.
Safety Drills/ Locked Doors Reminder: Thank you for your help with TWO smooth safety drills last week. We have to complete two more in November, so we will be having a “secure drill” this week. One noticing – we found 5 unlocked doors during the fire drill. Please remember that ALL doors need to be locked ALL of the time – Chris will follow up with those who had unlocked doors.
Stop the Bleed Training Opportunity (From Tami Pike): STOP THE BLEED TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR BLS EMPLOYEES
Bend Fire and Rescue
| Wednesday, November 2, 3-4pm Mountain View High School Auditorium | Wednesday, 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.
To Do:
Parent Volunteers: Before a volunteer can begin, you will need to get official confirmation from Cindy or Chris that the parent has passed the background check. Once they say yes, you will need to add them to this weekly google document letting us know who to expect each day.
Important Dates:
- Monday: Halloween, Costume Day, NO STAFF MEETING
- Tuesday: Secure Drill
- Wednesday: Kelle at CEL, SIW= Teacher Prep
- Thursday: Gr. 5 EBISS (We may postpone)
SIW Schedule:
- 11/2 Teacher prep
- 11/9 Core Effectiveness
- 11/16 District Training – Educator Network day
- 11/23 Thanksgiving Break
- 11/30 QPR Training
- 12/7 Grade-level team time
- 12/14 Teacher prep
- 12/21 Winter Break