Wow! What a week! Thank you to our front office team for organizing the delicious food and for contributing to our discussions! And thank you to ALL of you for being present, open-minded, and collaborative during Launch Week 2022!
Based on our work together, administration has finalized a few key policies. You helped make these policies. We feel they represent the best of our ideas and are practical to enforce. Remember–we need 100% enforcement for any policy to work!
Also, our front office team provided many updates and overviews earlier this week. Please refer to quick links at the bottom of this blog for important information. (i.e. bell schedules, staff list, student supplies list, field trips, visitors/volunteers, etc.)
Just a reminder for those who want to contribute to “The Sunshine Fund” and/or be on the “Staff Social Planning Club,” please see Deb.
Electronic Device Policy
All electronic devices (cell phones, gaming tablets, etc.) need to be OFF AND AWAY ALL DAY. By “off,” we mean silent: no buzzing, no ringing, no distraction whatsoever. Students are allowed to keep their phone with them, but if it becomes a distraction to learning, they will lose this privilege.
Students may use their iPads during lunch, and they may use their iPad during class time, as long as they are following all teacher direction. For example, if, during an art project, the teacher says they may listen to music on the iPad, then the student may do so, but they must use headphones or earbuds.
If students do not follow this policy, we have a series of consequences. We will detail these on a slide which teachers will deliver during Advisory.
Backpacks Policy
Backpacks are not allowed in classrooms. They must remain in student lockers. Because of our large class sizes, backpacks impede teachers and students from moving around the classroom. We must be able to move easily in order to teach and collaborate. Students will have plenty of time to go to their lockers between classes to get the materials they need.
Tardy Policy
Please mark attendance in the first 5 minutes of class–every single period, every single day. We must know where students are at all times. And we must track attendance for case management, records requests, and interventions. We have to know if students are consistently late to class so we can intervene.
A tardy is when a student enters your classroom after the tardy bell (the bell that starts class). Please do not add your own rule about students being in a seat. Let’s all have the same policy of students being inside your classroom when the bell rings. After three tardies, please fill out a Student Support Form. We will work with those students on setting attendance goals. Students who continue to show up late will serve lunch detention. We will reset the tardy count each semester.
Bathroom Policy
We will allow students to use the bathroom during class. Please only let 1 student leave class at a time, with a hall pass. (We will make these halls passes and deliver them to you before Wednesday.) If we all follow this, we’ll have fewer students gathering in the bathrooms during class time. Also, students have 5 minutes to use the restroom and return to class. Please keep track of this. If a student takes more than 5 minutes, please remind them of the policy after class, in a private moment, away from other students, if possible.
If a student is using the bathroom everyday, and you suspect work avoidance or some other issue, please meet with that student privately to discuss your concern and seek more information. If you feel a counselor should have this conversation, please ask the counselor for help. Also, please fill out a Student Support Form so we can track this data.
Advisory
All middle schools will have common Advisory lessons. Here is our PCMS Advisory Sheet. We are free to use all of these lessons or change them to suit our needs. For example, Dan and Sarah are creating lessons now for the first few days. They will add these to the sheet. Our Advisory Coordinator, Lynne Tat from High Desert MS, will hyperlink the lessons once they’re ready.
BLS IT Message: NEW Staff Portal
We hope you will find the new staff portal to be both user-friendly and practical. Here are a few tips:
- Searching is now effortless and accurate. Use the search tool for hunting down a calendar, HR document, or any document you previously had to click around and dig for when using the portal.
- The new portal splash page will feature links from our public-facing website as well as other sources that are tailored to the needs of our staff. Examples include SupesON!, open enrollment info, content blogs, calendars, and countdowns.
- If you click on the “three meatballs” in the upper right corner and then choose “the star”, you would be following the staff portal. Meaning you will receive an email update anytime something new is added to the portal splash page.
- You will be asked to perform your regular sign-in/MFA routine. Once there, feel free to create a bookmark or make it your homepage!
If something is missing from our old portal, or if you have other suggestions, please share them on the document linked here. We encourage you to participate and help make our portal useful for ALL Bend-La Pine School staff.
ACTION: OEBB Open Enrollment is happening now!
For those who have not done so this is a reminder for benefit eligible employees. Enrollment is mandatory, takes place online, and must be completed by September 15. Please don’t wait until the last minute to enroll! Click here for more info and links. Also, check out the district’s Employee Benefit Website for enrollment information, plans, rates, and much more.
If you need help with enrollment or have questions, our Benefits Team will be hosting in-person help sessions. Please feel free to stop by any location – no appointments are necessary.
- September 12th, 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. – Education Center – Room 314, 520 NW Wall Street Bend, OR 97703
- September 13th, 9:00 a.m. – 12 noon – Bend Transportation – Small side of lunchroom, 501 SE 2nd Street Bend, OR 97701
ACTION: Section 125 Open Enrollment
The Section 125 Open enrollment is coming to a close soon. Todd Wells with American Fidelity has some set virtual appointments to be held through September 15th. You can schedule a one-on-one with Todd through this link. Or feel free to reach out to him directly. Email: [email protected] or Phone: 503-828-3720.
ACTION: Upload Summertime Photos
Steve Remer has offered to create a slideshow of staff summertime adventures and will post on school monitors for us and our students to enjoy. Upload your favorite photos as soon as possible. Feel free to share as many as you like/can, the more, the merrier. Here is the link to a Google Drive folder to upload to.
Quick Links
- PCMS 2022-23 Campus Map
- 2022-23 Bell Schedule
- 1st Day of School for 6th Grade Schedule
- PCMS Staff Extension List (Confidential list. Do NOT post in classroom viewable by students)
- 2022/23 Student Supplies List
- Field Trip Forms
- Volunteers in Classroom/Field Trips Information
- BLS New Staff Portal
- Admin Office Area of Responsibilities