As we move into the holiday season here’s a great story to share with your staff and to personally reflect upon (thank you Juan for sharing). Who are the people around us who contribute to the work we do and who do the things that sometimes go unnoticed? I know all of you fall into that category for me. I’m fortunate to have a great group of people to lead our schools. Thank your for all you do, for all your support, and for all your patience in these uncertain times.
Focus on Excellence and Equity…
Our Excellence and Equity/BRYT training will be at Cascade Wed 11/18 – We will start at 3 and go until 4:30. This is a shift from the last meeting so please check your calendars to make sure you have the correct time. Same groups as last time. Please remember your your homework assignment. Be ready to share your insights with your small team on that day.
LATE NOTE: our meeting might shift to completely online because of the Governor’s recent announcement. Stay tuned for more news on this!
Updates, Reminders, Info and Rants…
Governor’s Press Conference – today Kate Brown held a press conference to announce a 2 week freeze that will go into effect on 11/18. How these changes could affect our schools will be communicated early next week. However, childcare will NOT be affected. This will continue as normal.
No Horizontal – We will not have horizontal on Monday. I would like to reschedule that meeting for Thursday @ 2pm when I might have more information on expanded LIPI that we discussed Friday afternoon.
The weather is changing – Just a reminder for you and your staff to sign up for BLConnect to receive weather related closures.. While we wouldn’t cancel instruction during CDL, we would close our buildings and that would affect LIPI and childcare. Look for a more detailed flyer on inclement weather practices soon.
State Testing – Every year we need to communicate with parents regarding statewide assessments. It is that time of year. At this time we are assuming that there will be statewide assessments this next spring, so we need to communicate with parents. The information that needs to be communicated with your families has been added to your school webpage; all that we need you to do is let them know that it’s there in your next newsletter communication. This information should be found within the “Our School” tab on your website, then the bottom right side of the page has information regarding opting out.
YouthTruth – we have contracted with YouthTruth to conduct student surveys with us. There is some “pre-work” that needs to begin occurring – prior to the survey window of Jan. 4 – 22, 2021. First, here is a 20-minute kick-off Webinar to watch. This Webinar contains important information regarding these student, staff, and family surveys. This needs to be viewed no later than Nov. 20th. Second, here is a survey timeline that has been developed between YouthTruth and BLS. Please read over and become familiar with this. Third, on Nov. 23 you will receive an email from Whitney Ivie, from YouthTruth, regarding how to access the Student Implementation Guide, so you’ll have time to prepare for this survey before the window opens.
Department News…
From Kinsey – Building admin, if you have an awesome classified staff member who brings diverse talents, background, and/or expertise to our district and might be interested in becoming a certified educator in a hard-to-fill role, please reach out to them to recommend they consider attending the Info Session coming up next week. See this flyer for details (this has been shared with all classified, but personal invitations go a long way).
Report card news from TLC – we are in continuing conversations with Becky around report cards and changes due to CDL. As soon as we have a first draft we will share it with you all.
And Finally…
Who says you can’t still have school assemblies during covid? Warning: the dance segment might result in nightmares.