To Do:

YouthTruth Data processing and sharing needs to be completed by April 30.

This look like:

*Process with all staff (including classified team members!): Develop a plan to review YouthTruth data that informs improvement planning during an BD SIW or a staff meeting

*Process with students: Review top two highest and lowest areas and collect/process feedback from students for improvement planning!

*Share with families: Share top two highest and lowest areas in communications with your families (digital newsletter?). Bonus points for collecting feedback for improvement planning!

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From HR:

Contract letters for licensed employees were sent to all licensed employees via UKG and must be returned no later than April 15.

If you have not yet completed yours, please log in to UKG to review and submit your response as soon as possible.  Administrators, please ensure your staff are aware of this deadline and follow up as needed – and don’t forget to return yours too! If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to Candy Gelatt or [email protected]

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From Departments

From Paul – Operations

Transportation of Students

Please be advised that we have some outdated policies regarding what is permissible when transporting students to/from off-site activities and athletic events.  Please follow EEADBA-AR and do not refer to EEACD-AR, EEBB-AR or EEADB-AR.  It is always advisable to contact the Executive Director of Transportation, Kim Crabtree, when you have questions regarding student transportation.

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From Scott and Kayla – Safety

Campus Monitors are required to attend two days of training on Tuesday, April 22 & Wednesday, April 23. The training is focused on Department of Public Safety Standards and Training Unarmed Security Professional Certification. Be sure your CM’s are freed up to attend this training.

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From Eric – Student Services

If you notice a YELLOW “Restrict!” bar on a student’s Synergy page, it most likely means they are either currently Expelled or that they have been Expelled at some point in their educational history. 

Restrict!

The purpose of this practice is to ensure that schools do not unintentionally enroll an Expelled student into their school (if a family attempts to move a student from one school to another to avoid disciplinary measures, for example) AND to encourage schools to review student records for any newly enrolled students (specifically those who were ever Expelled that we are aware of). 

If a student ever enrolls in your school from out of the area and the family references a past Expulsion (or you notice a prior Expulsion in the student records), please communicate with me so that I can help research the student’s disciplinary history from their former district(s) and to help us update their “Restrict” status. 

If you ever notice a student with this YELLOW “Restrict!” bar, you can call myself or April Jorgenson to discuss the student and we can help you if any Synergy limitations exist while this Restrict is placed on their file.

If you click on the “Other Info” tab (next to Parent/Guardian in the Student screen) you can see the possible Enrollment Restrictions (and corresponding dates) for the specific student:

We will utilize the Enrollment Restriction titled “Other Restriction” for those students who have a past Expulsion on file (but who are not currently Expelled).

Thank you!

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From Torie – LA TOSA

Language Arts Teachers Update: 

Below are the details for the upcoming writing workshop training. Substitute costs will be covered by the district. 

Please RSVP to Torie Withers. 

Language Arts Writing Workshop Training ✏️

Date: Thursday, April 3^rd

Time: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Location: The Boardroom (312) in the Education Center, 520 NW Wall Street, Bend

Facilitated by: Torie Withers, Loren Renfroe, and Colin Price 

Who Should Attend:

• Required for new hires or teachers who haven’t previously attended writer’s workshop training 
• Those who have previously attended a writer’s workshop training and are up for a refresher, new lesson and unit ideas, and ample collaboration and planning time with colleagues  

Workshop Focus: Learn how to structure and plan writing workshop units, including:

• Teaching the writing process through the workshop model 
• Standards-based instructional practices: feedback and grading 
• Unit planning time

Language arts teachers are encouraged to attend this professional development opportunity. Consider attending as a department team to engage in collaborative planning and work time. 

Please contact Torie Withers with questions. Thank you!

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From Jennifer – Student Services

Check out the below links for a fun Wayfinder challenge for HS students. Please consider sharing with specific high school classes like leadership teachers, design justice, CTE media/digital arts. Three levels of financial prizes, as much as $2500😊

Wayfinder App Link, Challenge Kits .

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From Superintendent’s Office

Calendar

• March 21: Certified and Support Staff Excellence in Education nominations due
• March 21: EVE Survey completion DUE
• March 21: BLSO closes enrollment for all students on a semester schedule. 
• March 24-28: Spring Break
• April 3: Job Fair
• April 4: BLSO closes enrollment for all students on a trimester schedule.  (Exceptions can be made for graduating seniors.)
• April 8: MS and HS work session 8:00-10:00 @HDMS
• April 9: All Administrator Professional Development 3:00-4:30 @ BSHS Perseverance Hall
• April 11: This is the last day for semester based students to drop a class and earn a W.  Any class kept open after April 11^th will earn a letter grade which includes a Fail. (9 weeks from the start of the semester.)
• April 14: Personal Finance Training (required for HS teachers teaching the course) @Ed Center, Room 203 8-4.
• April 22: HS Administrator work session
• April 22 and 23: All day training for Campus Monitors – mandatory
• April 24: MS Horizontal 3:00 – 5:00
• April 30: Deadline to share/process YouthTruth Data with staff, students and families

Where in the World

In this week’s Where in the World, we are highlighting Assistant Principal/Dean of Students Jamie Brock at Summit High School. Jamie’s place is the cone lap at Mt. Bachelor with her kids!

To Do:

YouthTruth Data processing and sharing needs to be completed by April 30.

This look like:

*Process with all staff (including classified team members!): Develop a plan to review YouthTruth data that informs improvement planning during an BD SIW or a staff meeting

*Process with students: Review top two highest and lowest areas and collect/process feedback from students for improvement planning!

*Share with families: Share top two highest and lowest areas in communications with your families (digital newsletter?). Bonus points for collecting feedback for improvement planning!

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From TLC:

AR UPDATES: Informational Meetings for Rollout of New Policies for MS and HS counselors and administrators

Please take a look at the updated Grading and Credit AR that was approved last month.

This update includes several important changes that will directly affect our work with students, specifically regarding:

• High School Credit for Middle School Students
• Procedures for Dropping a Class
• Awarding Credit for Courses Taken More Than Once
• Extended Parameters for Weighted Grades
• Driver’s Ed Credit
• Courses from Non-District High Schools or Post-Secondary Institutions

Katie Legace, Jess Calbreath, and Jennifer will be hosting two separate virtual office hours to discuss these changes and how we will implement them. It is expected that every counselor and the administrator overseeing counseling attends at least one of these sessions.

Tuesday March 18: 8:10-9:00 am or,

Friday March 21: 8:10-9:00 am

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From Departments

From Scott and Kayla

Campus Monitors are required to attend two days of training on Tuesday, April 22 & Wednesday, April 23. The training is focused on Department of Public Safety Standards and Training Unarmed Security Professional Certification. Be sure your CM’s are freed up to attend this training.

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From Kinsey – Policy, Advocacy, and Office of DEI:

Congratulations:

Be sure to celebrate the folks in your building who won our recent community engagement contest opportunities, and include kudos to all your staff who participated!  Winners, participants, photos of submissions, and more are here.    

Complaints: 

Before spring break: Please go into your Dashboard and ensure you have followed up on all complaints or bias incidents logged there.  You should ensure there is documentation on your findings and follow-up actions/communications.  

Please always circle back with the reporting individual to let them know you received and handled their submission, and to share whatever outcomes you can (respecting confidentiality, of course).  This last step continues to be a frustration of students, feeling like they’re not hearing ‘anything’ from their school on incidents or complaints they report.  Whether that’s true or not, it never hurts to double-check that we’re closing communication loops!

Budgets:

As you prepare your budget for next year, be sure to include dollars to purchase all school supplies required by your teachers, as well as dollars to cover the fines/fees being assessed to any McKinney-Vento-qualifying student (see policy here—this will be a very minor impact on your budget, but is significant to our families experiencing houselessness).  

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From Superintendent’s Office

Calendar

• March 18: HS AP Requests DUE on this sheet – HS ONLY!
• March 18 OR March 21: 8:10-9:00 am Virtual Meeting – Update on Grades and Credit AR Every counselor AND the MS/HS administrator overseeing counselors attends one session
• March 21: Certified and Support Staff Excellence in Education nominations due
• March 21: EVE Survey completion DUE
• March 21: BLSO closes enrollment for all students on a semester schedule. 
• March 24-28: Spring Break
• April 4: BLSO closes enrollment for all students on a trimester schedule.  (Exceptions can be made for graduating seniors.)
• April 8: MS and HS work session 8:00-10:00 @HDMS
• April 9: All Administrator Professional Development 3:00-4:30 @ BSHS Perseverance Hall
• April 11: This is the last day for semester based students to drop a class and earn a W.  Any class kept open after April 11^th will earn a letter grade which includes a Fail. (9 weeks from the start of the semester.)
• April 14: Personal Finance Training (required for HS teachers teaching the course) @Ed Center, Room 203 8-4.
• April 22: HS Administrator work session
• April 22 and 23: All day training for Campus Monitors – mandatory
• April 30: Deadline to share/process YouthTruth Data with staff, students and families

Where in the World

In this week’s Where in the World, we are highlighting Dave VanLoo, Director of School Improvement. Dave shares, “my family and adventure bring me joy. In this picture we are exploring a remote slot canyon in Escalante, Utah.” Stunning image!

To Do:

From TLC:

AR UPDATES: Informational Meetings for Rollout of New Policies

Please take a look at the updated Grading and Credit AR that was approved last month.

This update includes several important changes that will directly affect our work with students, specifically regarding:

• High School Credit for Middle School Students
• Procedures for Dropping a Class
• Awarding Credit for Courses Taken More Than Once
• Extended Parameters for Weighted Grades
• Driver’s Ed Credit
• Courses from Non-District High Schools or Post-Secondary Institutions

Katie Legace, Jess Calbreath, and Jennifer will be hosting two separate virtual office hours to discuss these changes and how we will implement them. It is expected that every counselor and the administrator overseeing counseling attends at least one of these sessions.

Tuesday March 18: 8:10-9:00 am or,

Friday March 21: 8:10-9:00 am

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From Instructional Technology:

Scott McDonald and Karen Rush are forming an Instructional Technology Stakeholder group comprised of teachers, parents, students, administrators, and community members.  We have great representation from district staff and community members, but are hoping to have parents from across the district and grade levels join the group. We have shared this information in the Family Spotlight but would love to see more applications!  Will you please send out this notice to your school community members?  

Parent Newsletter IT Stakeholder (English and Spanish)

From Departments

From Scott in Communications:

ALL-STAFF MEETINGS MARCH 13 WITH DR. COOK: Please remind all your building staff of the virtual meetings with Dr. Cook on Thursday, March 13. These 30-minute virtual meetings are open to all District employees, with two afternoon time slots to accommodate different work schedules. 

Dr. Cook will provide updates on bills making their way through the state Legislature and how they could impact our work to build a budget for next school year. He also will touch on directives related to public education coming out of Washington, D.C. Dr. Cook will leave time to answer a few staff questions. PICK YOUR TIME!

• 3:05 to 3:35 p.m. (best for elementary schedules)
• 3:50 to 4:20 p.m. (best for secondary schedules)

We will provide meeting links closer to the date. Attendance is optional, and we will provide recordings of both meetings afterward.

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From Sean in Student Services:

High Needs Funds:

When you received your school’s 25/26 discretionary funds dashboard last week, you may have noticed that the line item called “High needs” in no longer in your budget.  Several years ago, the Student Services department transferred funds from our discretionary budget and placed them directly into each school’s discretionary budget.  The intent was to allow you to procure 70 hours of substitute EA time quickly and without having to go through our office.  For next year, we have decided to hold those funds in our discretionary budget.  When the need arises and you need extra staffing support due to new student move-ins, etc., please reach out to Student Services Admin and we will collaborate with your team to provide support.  Please reach out with any questions. 

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From Dean in TLC:

Here is a reminder of the important dates for Bend La Pine Online the remainder of the year. 

March 21st – BLSO is closing enrollment for all students on a semester schedule.  (Exceptions can be made for graduating seniors.)

April 4^th – BLSO is closing enrollment for all students on a trimester schedule.  (Exceptions can be made for graduating seniors.)

April 11^th – This is the last day for semester based students to drop a class and earn a W.  Any class kept open after April 11^th will earn a letter grade which includes a Fail. (9 weeks from the start of the semester.)

May 2^nd – This is the last day for trimester based students to drop a class and earn a W. Any class kept open after May 2^nd will earn a letter grade which includes a Fail.  (6 weeks from the trimester start.)

May 18^th – Last Day for All Seniors.  This is a firm deadline.  All K12 teachers have been given this final day for seniors and will grade them out based on this date. No work submitted after this date will be graded. 

June 8^th – Last Day for all 9th-11th graders. All K12 teachers have been given this final day for 9th-11th grade students will issue a final grade based on work submitted up to this date.  No work submitted after this date will be graded. 

Courses will not be extended beyond May 18^th for seniors and June 8th for all other students. 

Due to a platform change, we are unable to reopen or extend any incomplete class from this Spring into Summer.  

Final Grades will be transcribed based on the grade percentage at the time of the class closing and can not be changed or updated later on.  

Students who did not finish their class or are dissatisfied with their Final Grade are not able to improve their grade over summer or in the fall. 

There are absolutely NO Extensions or Reopening of a Class.

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From Instructional Technology:

Students in grades K-8 will now find a new icon on their iPad home screen directing them to the research databases hosted on our media center websites. Utilizing carefully curated research databases, instead of generic search engines, is crucial for fostering responsible information-seeking in the vast sea of online resources. Check out Quick Access to Safe and Reliable Research for more information. If you’d like support with research projects in your classrooms, please reach out to your instructional coach or our instructional technology team, Robbie Faith and Tracy Howk. 

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From Superintendent’s Office

Shout Out

Shout out to our Wayfinder winners! Below are photos of Darla Brandon representing all of LPMS as our middle school winner and Amy James of Mountain View High School taking home the high school award.

Calendar

• March 10: TAG Admin/ICCL 3:45-5:45 @ Ed Center – Board Room (MS ONLY)
• March 10: Incoming 9th grade orientation night 6:00 @ BSHS, CHS, LPHS, MVHS, SHS
• March 12: Educator Network Day
• March 12: Life and Career Readiness Night 5:00-7:00 @ Caldera HS
• March 13: 3:05 or 3:50—Take 30 minutes to participate in the All Staff Update with Dr. Cook
• March 13: Incoming 6th grade family night
• March 18: HS AP Requests DUE on this sheet – HS ONLY!
• March 21: Certified and Support Staff Excellence in Education nominations due
• March 21: EVE Survey completion DUE
• March 24-28: Spring Break
• April 14th: Personal Finance Training (required for HS teachers teaching the course) @Ed Center, Room 203 8-4.

Where in the World

In this week’s Where in the World, we are highlighting Becky Aylor, Assistant Principal at Mountain View High School. Becky states, “I’m an adventure seeker—whether it’s lounging on Hawaii’s beaches, riding through the Arizona desert, or snowmobiling in the Cascades. When I’m not exploring with Hubs, I love spending time with my adult son, Sebastian, his wife, Josie (pictured here), and my epic grandkids, ages 2 and 4.

PS. My “talent” is blinking during photos…I ALWAYS have sunglasses on to avoid the groans of having to retake…again and again.