Happy New Year!
Welcome back everyone. I hope your first week back was smooth and uneventful (sorry about the snow). Tammy and I just wanted to remind everyone to sign up for this round of visits if you haven’t already. And just a reminder that we will not have a January 10 Horizontal meeting but we will have a January 24 Horizontal meeting.
Skip’s Sign Up — Tammy’s Sign Up
February 2nd Work Day/Inservice Day Update Thursday, February 2, was originally scheduled as an additional workday for all staff to prepare for a districtwide systems performance review. However, that process has been delayed. The district decided to keep this as a non-student contact day; however, it remains a paid day for ALL STAFF, certified and classified. For certified staff, the day will be divided into half site-directed inservice and half work time. Some classified staff will be required to attend inservice on that day (see Kinsey’s note today for information about that). For other classified staff, it will be a building-directed work time.
What does half a day of site-directed inservice look like? First off, we need you to reserve 30 minutes for a cyber security training (see Scott Mc Donald’s info in the blog today). The focus of the rest of your site-directed inservice would be working around your school goals like Foundational Skills, School Design plans, Tier 1 instruction, Culture and climate work , PLC work to focus on these goals, training that your ICCL team has planned, professional book club, etc. You could also have some time for virtual/asynchronous training. Here are some asynchronous (virtual) options that you can consider. These options would provide teachers with an opportunity to dig deeper into an area of interest such as: Lexia, Dreambox, Forefront, NCTM, Newsela and additional Really Great Reading training. Here is the link to those trainings.
From Julie and Marci – Please keep reminding teachers about the Bend Science Station opportunity for our k-5 teachers – Announcing an exciting professional development opportunity at the Science Station! Over the past few years, they realigned the Amplify curriculum for grades 2-5 to make it manageable and relevant for Bend-La Pine teachers. In addition, they designed POP Science, which includes a short sequence of NGSS-aligned, hands-on science lessons for each grade level. This January, they will conduct teacher “refresher” trainings on 2nd-5th grade modified Amplify units and on K-1 POP Science lessons. These HANDS-ON workshops combine interactive instruction and time to collaborate with grade-level peers. You will practice and walk away with specific lessons for your classroom. Even if you’ve done these workshops before, we encourage you to participate again.
Sessions run from 3-6 pm and will take place at the Bend Science Station on the OSU-C campus. You will be compensated by the district at the curriculum rate for your time. In addition, the Science Station will be offering food and drinks. Click here for a list of the sessions and dates then follow this link to up: Bend Science Station Amplify + POP Science Training – Google Sheets
From Paul: UKG Update
Plans for the Business Department’s Time & Leave module and HR’s Recruitment/HRIS module remain on track for a February 13th go-live launch. Below are the communication and training plans for January and February.
Mon 1/9 – Leadership Team Meeting:
- Overview of Recruiting & HRIS Implementation
- Time and Leave FAQs
Wed 1/18 – Office Managers Meeting
- Overview of Recruiting & HRIS Implementation
- Time and Leave FAQs
Fri 1/20 – Go Live Vote for T&L, Recruiting and HRIS modules
Mon 1/23 – Video trainings for T&L
Tue 1/24 – Video trainings for Recruiting and HRIS
Admin/Supervisor In Person Sign Up Link
Tue 1/31 – In Person Recruiting/HRIS/T&L trainings
- 9:30 – 11 am @ Northstar
- 2 pm – 3:30 pm @ MVHS
Tue 2/7 – In Person Recruiting/HRIS/T&L trainings
- 9:30 – 11 am @ Silver Rail
- 2 pm – 3:30 pm @HDMS
Fri 2/10 – In Person Recruiting/HRIS/T&L trainings
- 9:30 – 11 am @ LPHS
- 2 pm – 3:30 pm Virtual (Paul’s Webex Room)
Fri 2/17 – In Person Recruiting/HRIS/T&L trainings
- 9:30 – 11 am @ Ensworth
- 2 pm – 3:30 pm @ Caldera
UKG Testing Volunteers Sought
We are looking for a handful of administrators/supervisors to spend a couple of hours with the HR team to do some testing of UKG’s Recruiting and HRIS modules during early to mid January. Shoot an email to [email protected] if this appeals to you. We are happy to schedule it during or after work hours (with meals provided).
From Kinsey re: Upcoming school-based info sessions – For all Choice Options info sessions and 9th grade family nights, you must provide language access for our multilingual community. Please work with your office manager and language specialist to identify any languages (in addition to Spanish, if applicable) that you anticipate needing to support, plan ahead for how you will incorporate interpretation into your presentation and event structure (let Kinsey know if your team could use support with options for this), and then submit your interpreter request ASAP via Linguist Link. Also submit any invitations or promotional flyers for translation.
Prior to the event: share any slides, materials, or event details with the interpreter. Welcome them when they arrive and explain the plan for their services. At the beginning of the event, be sure to make it very clear to families how to access interpreter services (if the entire event will not be bilingual). This topic can take as much time and effort as planning the actual event—thank you for your dedication to equity, inclusion, and access for our families. Reach out if you could use support.
From Kinsey re: Upcoming Community Events – Our Office of D.E.I. has several district-wide family engagement and/or community partnership events coming up! Please check out specifics on each one, below, and mark your calendars and/or share as applicable. Principal presence at these events is critical to our families—thank you for your participation!
Latino Family Night – Flyer with details here. This has been emailed to families, posted on our Spanish FB page, and a limited number of paper copies are being distributed. Feel free to share in your newsletter or otherwise help promote. Please also consider attending—great opportunity to deepen relationships and trust with our families!
Asian Family Night – Flyer with details here. Same requests for support and participation as for Latino Family Night, above.
Flip the Script – This is a learning and celebration opportunity, to develop community amongst and with our Black students and families, and to launch Black History Month.
If you (administrators) are interested in participating in the event, please register (using the QR code on the flyer, or direct link here) at your earliest convenience—first come first served! Please do not yet share this flyer with certified or classified staff. At the request of our Black Student and Family Union, we want to prioritize administrator and family registration first, and then will expand to other roles.
Alliance – This (draft still!) is a youth and adult collective for LGBT student success. This is mostly an FYI for you—you are welcome if interested, but please do not share this info broadly. If you have a particular student, staff member, or family who has been seeking support related to this topic, feel free to share with them specifically. We will work with GSAs, LEAD/equity coaches, and other key roles to reach the priority populations.
The Red Zone – Things to definitely do or share
Feb 2nd Plan for Classified – Principals, please share this message with anyone in your building in one of the classified roles highlighted YELLOW here. If some of these folks don’t have easy access to email, be sure to share with them in an accessible manner to ensure they receive this information. Thank you!
From Kinsey re: Elementary Certified Workshop for Equity Dialogue in Health Instruction – This is the workshop we discussed at the Riverbend Parks and Rec horizontal meeting in December. Please share this blurb with your K-5 classroom teachers (administrators are welcome, too). Remember, this is a precursor to upcoming conversations on Health Curriculum materials, so teachers feel prepared and supported to implement those materials.
From Alandra—Important Key Dates to share out to families NOW (spanish translation included below)
Principals, timelines for applying for ACRs and Choice Option schools have changed significantly this year and we need your help making sure families receive this communication. We are asking every school to share the following info with families:
Applications Now Open for Choice Options, Attendance Area Change Requests for the 2023-24 School Year
Applications are now open for families to submit an Attendance Area Change Request or to apply for a choice option school for the 2023-24 school year. Interested families have until 3 p.m. Jan. 20 to submit a request or application for students in grades 1-12 (deadlines for incoming kindergarten students vary and are listed below.)
- Submit an ACR request – deadline is 3 p.m. Jan. 20 for grades 1-12; deadline is 3 p.m. May 1 for incoming kindergarteners.
- Apply for a Choice Option school – deadline is 3 p.m. Jan 20 for grades 1-12; deadline is 3 p.m. March 24 for incoming kindergarteners.
Solicitudes ahora abiertas para opciones de elección, solicitudes de cambio de área de asistencia para el año escolar 2023-24
Las solicitudes ya están abiertas para que las familias envíen una Solicitud de cambio de área de asistencia o soliciten una escuela de opción de elección para el año escolar 2023-24. Las familias interesadas tienen hasta las 3 p.m. el 20 de enero para enviar una solicitud o solicitud para estudiantes en los grados 1-12 (los plazos para los estudiantes que ingresan al Kinder el siguiente año escolar varían y se enumeran a continuación).
- Presente una solicitud de ACR – la fecha límite es a las 3 p.m. el 20 de enero para los grados 1-12; la fecha límite es a las 3 p.m. el 1 de mayo para quienes ingresan al kínder el siguiente año escolar.
- Solicite una escuela de opción de elección – la fecha límite es a las 3 p.m. el 20 de enero para los grados 1-12; la fecha límite es a las 3 p.m. el 24 de marzo quienes ingresan al kínder el siguiente año escolar.
If it makes sense for your school – please also share additional details found in the larger messaging (for instance, middle schools should share information about the High school choice options in their communication as well.)
From Scott McDonald–Cybersecurity Training to add to your Feb 2 PD – Since the beginning of this school year, 31 school districts across the country have experienced large scale ransomware attacks. In each case, the attackers are seeking to steal the personal information of every student and staff member. This type of attack can easily be prevented by informed and vigilant end users.
On Thursday, February 2nd, we will be pushing out a 30 minute Cyber Security training called, KnowBe4 Cybersecurity Awareness Training. All staff can expect a link in their email. They will need to be given 30 minutes during your building PD time that day to complete this training.
We last offered a similar training over two years ago. The training is informative, engaging and will only take 30 minutes of your time. Additional information will be made available prior to February 2nd. Thank you in advance for your participation and support.
Guidance for Feb 3rd – Some of you have reached out asking if staff can work from home on the end-of-term workday February 3rd. For a number of reasons, it’s the district’s expectation that all staff report to their sites on all workdays (with the exception of the last workday in June this year): 1) This time is designed for teachers to not only complete grading, but plan for the weeks and months ahead, if they have time-they may want to confer with colleagues as a part of that work; 2) If there are glitches with anything related to report cards and/or grading, it’s easy to find staff; and 3) This day provides great opportunities for staff connections (NOT REQUIRED FOR STAFF) such as bagels for breakfast, a PTO-provided lunch, a staff potluck, etc.
Calendar
- Jan 9 – Principal PD session 3-4:30 Board room
- Jan 10 – Elementary Horizontal – CANCELED
- Jan 11 – Educator Network Day
- Jan 16 – No School
- Jan 18 – SIW – teacher prep
- Jan 24 = Elementary Horizontal
- Jan 25 – SIW – school discretion
And Finally…
Check out the friends that showed up at Juniper today! Thanks for sharing Dan!