I had this blog entry pretty much done Thursday but I waited to send it out because I thought maybe there would be some news about distancing. I was right! (finally). Over the next couple of weeks there is going to be a lot of work to do and a lot of communicating taking place. I don’t want you to fret about this now. Take time over Spring Break to relax and take care of yourselves. Once we return we will start tackling the job of bringing all kids back. We’ve got this!
Focus on Excellence and Equity…
In this week’s Marshall Memo, Kim Marshall reviews a recent article from Educational Leadership. In “Is Your Approach to Continuous Improvement Colorblind?” the authors suggest five steps for addressing racial inequities and unconscious biases in schools.
- Break down assessment and survey results by race, gender, and ELL status
- Take an honest look at what’s working for which students
- Shift to the language of personal responsibility
- Identify root causes and effective strategies
- Look within
I would encourage you to read the entire Marshall Memo summary or the complete article if you have a subscription to Ed Leadership
Department News…
From TLC – At the end of our professional development conversation with Doug Reeves Wednesday, he described the opportunity to participate in a problem of practice series this spring. If you are interested in joining Doug Reeves and his team at Creative-Leadership-Solutions as you work on a challenge, define a problem of practice, and test out interventions and ideas as you create an action research project, then sign up for the OSU-Cascades class. It is a 2-credit class that is offered in Spring 2021 (see the syllabus for dates and course requirements). Registration is currently open but will close on March 31st.
To register for the class, complete the registration and application form and upload them to this google folder. If you have attended a BLS-OSU Cascades class in the last 12 months, then you do not need to complete the application form. There is an initial $35 application fee which will be billed by OSU-C once they receive your application. Additionally, we will compensate teachers for the five after school sessions (including May) and the time to prep for the May share out.
If you have any questions, please contact Michele Oakes ([email protected]).
From Instructional Tech – The second edition of the EdTech Bytes newsletter is here. The post includes…
- Tip of the Week: Searching the Tech Blog for Resources
- Secondary Update: Recommended Notification Settings for Students Using Canvas
- Bonus: Book Recommendations for All Ages
- and more
From Paul Dean – Please remember to double check with your custodians that all exterior gates are locked shortly after school starts each day. This was a request from our OSEA leadership team during today’s labor management meeting.
Another from Paul – Not a whole lot of updated language in yesterday’s RSSL release of version 6.0. This short document will provide the district’s stance on the primary changes related to cohorting, screening and visual/performing arts.
From Andrea – We are excited to revive our Excellence in Education event and are ready to start gathering nominations for employees who have knocked your socks off during the 2020-21 school year. We are looking to honor a certified and classified staff member from each school and departments are also encouraged to nominate staff members. The nomination form is HERE and due back to the Superintendent’s Office by March 31 (email to me, or paper copy works great). As you are well aware, we are not able to host large gatherings, so we are continuing to work on logistics of how to safely celebrate staff members, during the month of May…stay tuned. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like nomination history for your school or department. Thank you in advance for your help!
Updates, Reminders, Info and Rants…
Hiring this and that…
Music and PE Hiring – I am working with Jon and HR to get a district-wide music and PE posting up. I know these are positions that some of you will want to jump on sooner rather than later. Some of you have asked about alternatives to hiring a music teacher. I know these teachers are few and far between but we want to do our best to fill them. However, if there are no viable applicants we can look at hiring a different type of specialist, preferably an applied or integrated arts teacher. Call me if you find yourself in this situation.
Transfer Interviews – We have tentatively scheduled xfer interviews for Tuesday, April 20th. This whole process is fairly new to me so I’m working closely with Jon on this. Stay tuned for more information.
Staffing plans are coming- I will be sending out the overview of your staffing allocations in an email. JoAnne will be putting these numbers into a spreadsheet later and will share that document with you. There were a few more ACR’s than usual so it’s taken a bit longer to get plans together. Once staffing plans are out, Jon and I will be meeting with Carrie Hulbert to review teachers that are returning from a leave or have been on a reassignment this year. As you can expect, this year is going to be a bit trickier than previous year which might result in a later than normal hiring season.
The day formerly known as Kindergarten roundup – thanks for your ideas around kindergarten orientation. I will share them with Alandra and Julianne. From there we will see what can be done centrally and what can be done at the school level.
Dental Screenings – this year we are not doing dental screenings but we will start this program back up next year. Because we missed this year (and possibly some of last year) we will be doing dental screenings for all students next year. Your office manager recently received information about this from Tami Pike and schedules are being formed.
Train Your Brain – The Center Foundation is a local non-profit organization that exists to promote the health and safety of kids through access to sports medicine services and education. Every year as part of our Brain Trust program, they provide brain and spinal cord injury prevention programs to 3rd grade classrooms and youth organizations throughout the region. In 2020, they were forced to cancel their programs due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 they are adapting their program to a virtual format that will be offered to both 3rd and 4th grade classrooms. Parent letters and links to videos will be provided to schools in April with the goal of all this happening during May. Each school will need to provide a bit of information on this spreadsheet. I really appreciate the Center taking a different approach to this program so that our students can still learn how to be safe while out on their bikes and other wheeled devices.
Bend Science Station – this wonderful partner of ours has put together some awesome science lessons for each grade level that have detailed directions, videos, and materials. Teachers are going to love them and they complement our Amplify science curriculum. The goal was to provide teachers with lessons that will require very little preparation that kids will enjoy. Expect a one page introduction to these lessons and the delivery of materials to your school sometime after Spring Break.
CampFire and Friends of the Children – some of you may have received an email from Camp Fire about an after school opportunity. Please know that this group is approved to come into our school and work with kids. Additionally, volunteers from Friends of the Children are also approved to enter our school.
Calendar
- 3/22-26 – Spring Break
- 3/29 – Horizontal 3:30 – 4:30
- 4/5 – Horizontal 3:30 – 4:30 – Equity goal revision (Kinsey)–30 min
- 4/12 – Horizontal 3:30 – 4:30
- 4/20 – Transfer interviews (tentative)