Updates, Reminders, Info and Rants…
A friendly reminder about 3 feet distancing – one of the questions that will be asked during contact tracing is “were students 3 feet apart?” As you walk your school and observe classrooms you might want to pay particular attention to this rule and give students and staff a friendly reminder about the 3 feet rule and masking.
Copies – to accommodate students that are being quarantined, teachers are sometimes putting together work packets. This is running up their copy count and worrying some teachers. Please be understanding and increase copy limits for teachers as needed or provide them with another copy code to use for these situations.
Conferences – It has been officially decided that our fall conferences will be virtual and that is what should be communicated to families and staff. The county rate is still too high and is even now being projected to continue to be high into winter. And speaking of conferences, Kinsey recently sent out a communication re: interpreters. Here it is in case you missed it:
Thanks for prioritizing the scheduling of multilingual families who need interpreters. ELL/Language Specialists know which families need interpreters and for which languages, and can help teachers coordinate requests, blocking these appointments together to the extent possible. Specialists can input the blocks of time into Linguist Link for your building, to avoid duplicate requests.
If an interpreter is not available for a teacher’s appointment or the family can’t make the appointment time, we need to provide an alternative time they can access the conference with trained, qualified interpreters.
For bilingual staff who are interested and willing to serve as interpreters for this, there will be more information soon about this option. Family Liaisons are not interpreters for pre-scheduled conferences–they will attend as advocates for families and cultural brokers for staff, but will be available for emergencies if an interpreter no-shows. (Speaking of that, here’s what to expect from an interpreter–please communicate any concerns to your Language Specialist.)
Using conferences as a mini-observation for teachers? These tips for culturally-responsive conferences are helpful look-fors and debrief topics.
Educator Network Days – As you know there were some changes to the Educator Network Days that start on Wednesday. We will talk about this more at our Horizontal meeting on Monday. One thing you can do now is remind your teachers to sign up on Performance Matters. Enrollment is lagging!
The weather is changing – as the temperature begins to drop it’s time to review the outside lunch policy:
- K-8 students will come inside for meals at 45-degrees.
- If outside temperature + windchill is lower than 40-degrees, move meals inside.
- For example: If the air temperature is 48 degrees and there are sustained winds at 25 mph, then the wind chill temperature is 40 degrees = Meals inside
Encouraging students to dress in layers will be important as well on days where it will be close to the minimum threshold.
Subs and PD – just a reminder that you should not be scheduling any professional development or teacher meetings that involve getting a sub. Subs are in such short supply we can’t afford using them for this purpose. Sorry!
Monthly Essential Volunteers Update: – the COVID response team met today and because local COVID numbers are still high we will not lift our ban on visitors and volunteers.
Walking Field Trips – the COVID response team decided we would begin allowing walking field trips if the following conditions are met:
- The field trip should start and finish at the school and should be directly related to curriculum standards.
- Students must wear masks.
- Students must keep 3 ft apart to the extent possible.
- Management and instruction of students has to be done by school staff – no parent volunteers can be utilized.
- Notify parents of the walking field trip but be careful not to over advertise it. We don’t want parents “accidentally” showing up at the location. This would be subverting our current policy on visitors and volunteers.
Department News…
From Jennifer Hauth -SEL Update: (This is also linked in the TLC Update for staff)
Bend La Pine schools has begun our pilot project with Harmony SEL. Bear Creek has fully trained their staff and have implemented weekly circles, community agreements and Harmony’s signature Buddy Up practice. Ponderosa and Elk Meadow are also working on a whole staff training for their teams. We have SEL specialists and school counselors pushing into classrooms each week to teach Harmony SEL lessons. This is more than I expected in my first few months in this role, the enthusiasm and desire to prioritize SEL and creating positive cultures and climates in our schools is inspiring.
When we anchor our work in student relationships, there are emotional, physical, and learning benefits from these relationships. Creating ways to prioritize friendships and connection for children and ourselves creates a positive culture and climate for our classrooms and schools.
Based on the latest research in SEL, the Harmony unit structure centers on building harmonious relationships and creating inclusive environments where all students feel valued, heard and can develop a sense of agency within their educational experience. In an effort to support the evolving needs of our students, educators, and families – Harmony’s curriculum will focus on enhancing cultural competence, equity, and student voices. This focus aligns with the latest updates by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) regarding systemic SEL and SEL in the service of equity and excellence.
If you or your teachers are interested in learning more about Harmony, please attend the Educator Network Day virtually on October 13th from 1:30 to 3:00 pm. Donald Ortman, our Harmony Ambassador, will be hosting a series of training sessions at our Educator Network Days. Please encourage interested staff to create a free Harmony SEL login prior to attending – it takes one minute!
From Lora re: Student Teachers – I recognize we’re all desperate for substitute teachers, but TSPC has sent a directive to all teacher prep programs in the state reminding them of their liability if they allow their student teachers without substitute licenses to sub in schools. As a result, at least one of our program partners has directed their student teachers to LEAVE THE BUILDING if they are asked to cover a class without a certified teacher present in the room. Student teachers CAN be asked to present a lesson if there is a certified teacher in the room, as well.
After we finish the intense process of verifying vaccinations, HR can move forward on requesting emergency sub licenses for all our student teachers. Once that process is complete, (and we will notify you when that is done), student teachers CAN sub in their cooperating teachers’ classes without anyone else present. They should not be asked to sub in other classrooms.
Calendar
- SIW schedule
- Horizontal Meeting Schedule
- Tammy and Skip visitation schedule
- Monthly checklist
- October 11 – Horizontal Business meeting – Silver Rail
- October 25, Horizontal PD Day–bring your draft of your Design Plan to share with a group, receive feedback on your plan, and give feedback to others about their plans–Location TBD
- October 27-29 Work Day and Conference time
- October 27, from 8:00-1:00 Restorative Practices Training
- October 29 – Civil Rights training due
- November 2 and 4 part II of Restorative Practices, 3:30-5:30
And Finally…
