To Do
Inform your admin and ICCL team about our first training 9/30 from 4:15 to 6:15 at Bend High. We will be looking into instructional strategies that align well in a Standards-Based Instruction and Grading classroom.
Action Needed: Tier I Start-of-Year Check-In
Please take some time with your ICCL team to complete the survey below before the end of the day on October 3rd. The survey should be done together as a team (one survey per school) and will help the Task Force understand the roll-out of Tier I processes across the district. The Task Force will use this information in our first meeting together to recognize bright spots across the district, share trends back to our educator groups, understand consistency, and identify areas that may need more support as we move forward. You can access the survey using THIS LINK. We are finalizing as we speak and this link will go live at 1:00 pm tomorrow.
Please confirm with your level leader that this newly bargained language in the Grades and Credit AR has been shared and discussed with teachers:
Communication with families regarding student progress in Secondary:
1. At the beginning of the reporting period, students and parents will be informed by the teacher regarding the basis of the grades and the methods to be used in determining them.
2. All schools will provide families notification communication regarding student grades at these key times during the school year: a. For schools on trimesters: i. Progress reports six (6) weeks into each trimester ii. Final grades at the end of each trimester b. For schools on semesters: i. Progress reports nine (9) weeks into each semester ii. Final grades at the end of each semester
3. Student work will be graded and posted in the student information system within three (3) weeks of the due date in secondary sites. Students submitted as assignment after the due date must inform their teacher of the submission, and work submitted after the due date will be graded and posted within three (3) weeks of notification by the student of the submission.
4. Graded feedback will be provided throughout the term at regular intervals
Please share the following from Laura clark with teachers:
Subject: Hiding Overall Grades in Canvas
As a reminder, overall course grades in Canvas have been turned off by default this school year through Canvas school templates. This decision was made to help ensure that students and families use Synergy as the official record for course grades and to begin transitioning them ahead of our planned move to Standards-Based Grading.
Canvas continues to be a valuable tool for communicating assignments and assignment-level grades, providing feedback, and supporting student learning. However, by directing families to Synergy for overall grades, we avoid confusion that can occur when two systems display grades differently and help build consistent practices in preparation for next year.
Thank you for your continued support in keeping our grading practices clear and consistent for students and families.
How do I Hide Totals in Students’ Grade Summaries?
From Kinsey – Office of Policy and Advocacy:
Complaints: Recommended action item:
Please go into your Complaints Dashboard and ensure you have either resolved the incidents submitted to date or are actively working on them. (Looking for your Dashboard? See my email titled “Complaints” sent Aug 14.)
Take time with your admin team to notice trends so far: what is and isn’t showing up in your dashboard? How is complaint response going for your team? What feedback or opportunities are showing up there? If you have questions about complaint process, timelines, etc, reach out.
From Departments
From Jennifer in Student Services:
- Please see our Guidance for School Wide Assemblies. Reach out if you have any questions.
- The required Waypoints summative assessment is now open for 3-12! K-2 teacher observed will be ready October 1st.
o 6-12 Implementation Guide and 6-12 Teacher Directions
Please review the help documents, from blog #2.
Please make sure that all teachers understand the “Why” behind the assessment and that the student results will help us to identify intervention skill building groups. Teachers need to read the instructions from the implementation guides to the students. This will ensure that we get quality data to inform interventions. Wayfinder will also recommend additional skill building activities based on what students in their specific classroom need.
Guidance for School Wide Assemblies for Climate/Culture/Connection
From Lisa in the Supe’s Office:
Student Threat Assessment Training:
This week, an invitation to attend a training about Student Threat Assessment went to all new hires who are likely to be involved in this process at your site (Admin, Counselors, Psychs, etc.). Participants can choose one of two training days (October 2 or October 6). Training will be from 8-4 and lunch will be provided. If you yourself, or you have a staff member who you believe should participate, please simply sign up using THIS LINK. Questions? Contact Scott or Kayla in Safety.
From Sara in Student Services:
From Heather Tang with Deschutes County:
Welcome back to the new school year! We hope the start of 2025–26 is going well for you and your teams.
Action Needed: We’re asking admin teams to collaborate and identify staff best suited to serve in this year’s UpShift roles. This information helps us track returning team members and identify who may need training in the coming weeks. Please review and update the BLS UpShift Roles & Responsibilities document with your anticipated staff assignments by end-of-day Wednesday, Sept 24th.
What’s New for 2025–26: UpShift is now an “Opt-Out” program.
As of this school year, UpShift is automatically initiated following a first-time substance-related violation—unless a parent/guardian opts out within 24 hours of notification. Verbal or written parent authorization is no longer required to start the protocol.
- The Student Code of Conduct was edited to remove any references to requiring parent/guardian consent and now links to an editable, public-facing UpShift Protocol.
- See the “Response to Substances” page (page 12) in the published Student Code of Conduct. Click the link to the UpShift Protocol which is where it includes the opt out language.
SAVE THE DATE: Tuesday, October 7th 9:00am-11:00 we will convene secondary VP Admin (Principals optional) to discuss changes to UpShift, go over any questions/challenges, share any communication expectations and next steps.
Resources
Please visit the UpShift FAQ document for ongoing updates to questions that may arise.
From Aimee Snyder:
Last Call: Registrations for Monday’s Sources Adult Advisor (AA) Training
This is a last call for registrations for Monday’s Sources of Strength Adult Advisor (AA) REFRESHER training. We’ll accept registrations until the training starts at 12:30pm.
This is the link to register for the training. The training is Mon, Sept 22, from 12:30-4pm, at Bend Senior High School’s Perseverance Hall.
Click here to see who is registered for your school.
We recommend for each school to send 2-3 Adult Advisors* to the refresher in order to maintain the Adult Advisor to Peer Leader ratio required for program effectiveness:
- 1:7 for middle schools and
- 1:10 for high schools.
*The minimum number of trained AAs for a school to maintain (“refresh”) depends on the size of their Peer Leader group, which is based on your school size. New AAs can attend the refresher, but they should meet briefly with your Public Health Specialist before to make sure they’re ready.
Sub coverage for your teachers will come from your school’s $5,000 Sources budgets. Sources budgets are for meeting Sources fidelity criteria, including trainings.
Contact your Public Health Specialist or Aimee Snyder with questions about this training or Sources fidelity criteria.
From Educational Technology:
We’re excited to share the new Guide for Bend-La Pine Students: AI in Your Learning. This 20-minute advisory or classroom lesson introduces students to AI use and academic integrity in a way that supports discussion and reflection. The guide is also available on our AI in BLS website. Many thanks to those of you who sparked the idea and collaborated with our team on this project.
From Kayla in Safety:
- STAS & SIRC Training
- All new admin and counselors have been asked to attend one of the 8-hour sessions. REGISTER HERE.
- Training dates are:
- Thursday, October 2 -location TBD
- Monday, October 6- Pacific Crest Middle School
- Safety Cadre Invites have been sent out. Reach out if you have been missed.
- Dates are October 22, December 3, March 11, April 29
- Secondary will be 8:00-9:30am, Elementary will be 1:30pm-3:00pm
- *8888 Extension Reminder
- When schools have an incident, we want to send a friendly reminder to use the *8888 voicemail. See handout attached you can share with any admin and front office staff. Handout here.
MS Only
We’re circling back to the summer email you received from Stephanie Bent, which included a list of students at your school who scored at or above the 97th percentile.
Next Steps:
Please begin reaching out to parents/guardians of these students to obtain permission to move forward with the TAG identification process. Do not proceed beyond parent contact and permission at this time.
We will be introducing a new TAG form during our first district PD on October 16, so it’s important to pause further steps in the identification process until then.
HS Only
New course proposals will be due to Dean on Nov 6.
The secondary team will review them the following week and send notices to schools notifying you if they have been approved.
Calendar
September 23: Complaint Process Meeting – Invite Only 12:30 – 2:00 in Board Room
September 25: MS Horizontal @ PCMS 3-5
September 29: LA Book Club Training 8-1@ Ed Center Board Room- Admin overseeing LA required to attend
September 30: Secondary Admin/ICCL 4:15-6:15 @ Bend High
October 7: Secondary Admin Tier 1/UpShift work group – 9-11 @ CMS
Where in the World
Congratulations to our winner from last week: Dan Curfew, Assistant Principal at Pacific Crest! Potala Palace: Lhasa, Tibet was the answer. This iconic symbol of Tibetan Buddhism is the highest palace in the world. The Potala Palace complex, comprising the Red Palace and White Palace, is nestled on top of Red Hill. This landmark overlooks the Lhasa Valley at 12,100-plus feet above sea level and houses more than 1,000 rooms. The Potala Palace – which was originally constructed in the seventh century and substantially expanded by a dalai lama in the 17th century – once served as the winter home of the dalai lama.
Each week there will be an image of a landmark from someplace in the world. Any admin who responds with the correct location (be specific!) by Monday morning will be entered in a drawing for coffee/tea or morning beverage of choice to be delivered by Katie or Stephen. Note: This contest will be limited to MS and HS admin.
Here is the image for this week:
