To Do

Facilitate an interactive discussion focused on your school’s YouthTruth data with your certified and classified staff (together or separately) and your students by the end of April. Here is the template for you to use with staff and students.

Plan to send out written communication (in English and Spanish) to your families about your two strongest and two lowest data points by the end of April.

HS Admin Only – please add your slides and parent communication to theHS Admin handbook under YouthTruth tab and the bottom.

From Departments

From Sara Young and Gabe Pagano:

Last month, we came out to interview all the buildings about MTSS. HERE are the trends from those interviews.

Thank you all so much for your time and collaboration so we can move forward in creating a stronger system – your insight and tools were critical! We learned so much!

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From Jess Calbreath:

We are looking forward to our upcoming BLS College Information Night on March 11 from 6:00–7:30 pm at SHS (thank you for hosting this year!) and wanted to share a general overview of the evening, along with a request for counselor support.

The night will begin with a main presentation in the Theater at 6:00 pm featuring BLS School Counseling and OPU/COCC. We will also offer a Spanish-speaking presentation with an interpreter available to ensure all families can fully access the information.

Following the presentation, families will transition to the Commons for a College & Career Fair–style setup. Representatives from OPU, COCC, Financial Aid, and College Now will have tables available for individual questions. 

We would greatly appreciate having at least one counselor and one STC from each high school in attendance to support families and represent your school community. Your presence helps reinforce that all BLS students are supported in their postsecondary planning.

You are welcome to use ASPIRE to timesheet your time for this event.

Here is the link to the general communication (English, Spanish, and Chinese) to share with your school community. Please promote this event to all families in grades 9–11, as we want all BLS students and families to feel welcome and included.

Thank you in advance for your support.

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From Ryan in HR:

I’ve now reviewed all of the responses to the Administrator Preference Survey, thank you for taking the time to complete it.

As a reminder, the goal of the survey is to help better understand your interests, reflections, and professional aspirations as we enter the early stages of planning for the 2026–27 school year and the survey is designed to make sure you have voice in the process.

In a handful of cases, a follow-up conversation would be helpful to clarify interests, better understand context, or talk more about professional goals. If that’s the case, I’ll reach out directly to schedule time. If you don’t hear from me, it simply means your responses were clear and don’t require immediate follow-up at this time.

This is just part of our normal planning rhythm and gives me a clearer picture as we look toward 2026–27. We’re just getting started with that planning, and nothing has been decided.

As always, final assignment decisions are made with the needs of the entire district in mind, and your input informs that work.

If you want to talk through anything you shared (or didn’t share), call, text, or email and we’ll set up time.

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Supe’s On Podcast:

Kudos to Emily O’Neill, Language Arts Teacher, and Chris Boyd from Caldera who were featured on the next Supe’s On Podcast focused on SBIG. Check it out here.

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From Sara Young:

Here is this week’s Special EDge, where you’ll find information about:

• Communication Guidance
• Fundraiser opportunity for Transition Co-Op
• Plan for ESY! – Make sure to look at the NEW Workflow!
• Take a look at the information from Jennifer Hauth
• Check out the Learning Labs
• Check out the incredible work of teams in Campus Kudos!
• And MORE!

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From Gabe:

February 23rd-27th, 2026 Weekly SMORE

MS Only

Fly up day is next week. Please ensure students going to BSH, CHS, or MVHS have name tags when they board the buses. SHS, LPHS, and the new choice HS will have their own protocols for when students arrive.

Calendar

February 13-April 10: Pre ACT testing

March 13: Principal Connection 7-9 @ MVHS

March 17: HS Learning Walk – Language Arts 9-12 @ RHS and BTA

March 18-19: MS Spring Conferences

March 19 and 20: Katie out of the office – available by cell

March 23-27 Spring Break

April 3: Principal Connection 8-10 @ SHS

April 7: HS WS 9-11 @ RHS

Who in the World?

Congrats to Monica Hanson for correctly guessing the image from last week! 💥

The image was of James Arthur Baldwin (né Jones; August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987).  Baldwin was an American writer and civil rights activist who known for his essays, novels, plays, and poems. His 1953 novel Go Tell It on the Mountain has been ranked by Time magazine as one of the top 100 English-language novels.

We continue our celebration of Black History! Who is this famous individual and what is he famous for?

To Do

HS principals and VP’s who oversee social studies: Schedule time to meet with your social studies departments to review the timeline for adoption and the materials available for adoption. Monica and Dean can be available to be present if requested. Please coordinate with them directly.

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Facilitate an interactive discussion focused on your school’s YouthTruth data with your certified and classified staff (together or separately) and your students by the end of April. Here is the template for you to use with staff and students.

Plan to send out written communication (in English and Spanish) to your families about your two strongest and two lowest data points by the end of April.

HS Admin Only – please add your slides and parent communication to the HS Admin handbook under YouthTruth tab and the bottom.

From Departments

From Communications:

ParentSquare is coming! Thank you to the south county schools who agreed to pilot ParentSquare as their communication tool this spring. Additionally, district level communications will use ParentSquare this spring. Staff will be trained in ParentSquare this August and will be the required form of communication beginning with the 26-27 school year.

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Ongoing Communication about Standards Based Grading and Instruction:

Social Media:

You may have seen our recent social media posts on SBGI.  We plan to send out a new post every Sunday between now and the end of the year featuring information as well as students, staff, and administrators talking about the change.  

The first two weeks in February we highlighted the difference between Traditional and Standards Based Grading and Instruction. Donna and Cooper, one of the Student Voice Representatives from Summit, were featured in the video. Next up: SBGI Definitions highlighting CHS students!

Make sure you’re following Bend-La Pine on our social media platforms!

Supe’s On Podcast:

Kudos to Emily O’Neill, Language Arts Teacher, and Chris Boyd from Caldera who will be featured on the next Supe’s On Podcast focused on SBGI!

COTV feature:

Check out Stephen and Shauna Johnson, MVHS Social Studies Teacher as they talk about SBGI on COTV!

Thank you to Scott and Becca for their amazing partnership on these projects!

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From Scott in IT:

Never let an outage go to waste!

On Monday,  Clever access was restricted for students and teachers due to an outage.  We know that determining whether something is a “user error” or an actual outage can be frustrating.  

You can reduce your frustration by visiting-https://bls.fyi/status

This handy dashboard lists all of our common tools and their current operational status.  Our team will also update a custom message at the top of the site listing any known issues.

Go ahead and bookmark it now.  That way, you can check it out the next time something gets wonky!

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From Gabe:

February 17th-20th, 2026

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From Kinsey – Office of Policy and Advocacy:

Guidance on Email Communications and Student Information:

Here is the guidance we reviewed at horizontals recently, and the quiz activity you can use when introducing this to staff.  Please don’t only email this guidance out to staff—it’s not urgent, but take some time to review and discuss it together at some point between now and your August launch next year.  

Policy Updates: 

Here is the policy we reviewed and discussed together recently.  This sets out specific expectations for administrators, certified educators, and all employees.  As a reminder, it replaces and covers Staff Responsibilities, Assignment, Employee Dress Code, and more.  Worth being very familiar with!

Here is our policy on showing movies/films in class.  As discussed, it’s not necessarily intuitive in all cases—please share with your teachers. 

Ramadan and Religious Practices:

This week marked the beginning of Ramadan, which continues through March 19. Please be mindful of both employee and student needs related to religious observances:

If an employee requests accommodations for fasting or prayer (or any other religious purpose throughout the year), contact me so we can ensure we meet our Civil Rights obligations and coordinate with Benefits.

Please also remind your staff that students may request accommodations related to religious observances. This could include adjustments connected to fasting, prayer, PE participation, or assessments. When these arise, loop me in so we can support the student’s civil rights appropriately and consistently. 

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From Jenn:

🎉In honor of School Social Work Week and Classified Appreciation Week (March 2 -6th), we want to take a moment to specifically honor our Student Success Coordinators, Clinicians, Instructors, and Educational Assistants.

The ongoing need for specialized and compassionate support for students makes the Student Success team a central role in bridging the gap between home and school, ensuring that social, emotional, and mental health needs are met with expertise and empathy.

Whether they are providing intensive care coordination, fostering family engagement, or offering a steady hand during a mental health crisis, they work to bridge between a student “getting by” and truly thriving. The effort they put into building safe, trusting relationships that extend from the classroom to the home with students is essential.

Please take a moment at your school the first week of March to thank them for their service!

🌟 You’re Invited! Mark Your Calendars!

Join us for end-of-year presentations led by our dedicated Bend-La Pine Schools counselors. During these brief school updates, each team will share progress on their annual goals, highlight key programming initiatives, and reflect on the data gathered throughout the year. These presentations offer an opportunity to see how counseling programs are supporting students academically, socially-emotionally, and in their college and career readiness. Teams will share successes, lessons learned, and how this year’s work will inform future planning within our coordinated system of student support.

This reflection helps us continue strengthening a comprehensive, responsive support system for all students across Bend-La Pine Schools. Your presence matters as we celebrate growth, learn from one another, and look ahead to the next year of impact. I will send the lead counselor over counseling a calendar invite for each school. We hope you’ll join us!

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📅 Presentation Schedule

Thursday, May 21, 2026
High School | 8:00–10:30 a.m.
Location: (Awaiting Confirmation) Perseverance Hall

Thursday, May 28, 2026
Middle School | 8:00–11:00 a.m.
Location: Education Center Boardroom

MS Only

A friendly reminder to please make sure anyone helping with school traffic or crossing guard duties is wearing a high-visibility vest and/or clothing.

Wearing a vest helps reinforce safe practices for our students and families. We appreciate your attention to this and your continued support in keeping our campus safe.

If your site needs a vest, please email Andrea Wilson.

HS Only

Graduation Ceremony Expectations: High Schools are required to follow these expectations. Please reach out to Katie if you have questions.

Calendar

February 13-April 10: Pre ACT testing

February 23-26: Katie out of the office – available by cell

March 10: HS WS 9-11 @ RHS

March 13: Principal Connection 7-9 @ MVHS

March 17: HS Learning Walk – Language Arts 9-12 @ RHS and BTA

March 19 and 20: Katie out of the office – available by cell

March 23-27 Spring Break

April 3: Principal Connection 8-10 @ SHS

Who in the World?

Congrats to Kelly Schmidt for correctly identifying Bessie Coleman as our who in the world this week.  Coleman was the first licensed Black pilot in the world as well as the first Native American to hold a pilot license.

We continue our celebration of Black History! Who is this famous individual and what is he famous for?

To Do

Remind ICCLs of the Admin/ICCL meeting at Bend High on Tuesday from 4:15-6:15

From Departments

From Sara in Student Services:

Please read this week’s Special EDge to read more about:

• DUE February 20th: Review assigned OT equipment at your site and complete the Smartsheet
• Remember about OTs when scheduling
• Plan for ESY! – Make sure to look at the NEW Workflow!
• Consider passing on the Boys and Girls Club opportunity for teens to families
• Check out the Learning Labs
• Check out the incredible work of teams in Campus Kudos!
• And more

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From Jess, Lead Counselor:

School Counseling Program Updates

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From Kayla in Safety:

SRO Appreciation Day– Schools are encouraged to celebrate their SROs the week of February 17th for SRO Appreciation Day. Some ideas for appreciation that have been done in past school years are: decorate their office doors, buy lunch for them one day during the week, have students make cards and drawings, or have breakfast and invite the entire team. You have all done so amazing that the past two years BLS has been featured in the national SRO magazine!!

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From Gabe Pagano, District Activities and Athletic Director:

Here is the weekly.  Have a great week.

February 9th-13th, 2026

MS Only

Fly Up Day: For future Bend-area high school students – Ensure these students receive this PowerPoint by next Friday and have their form filled out. For future La-Pine High students – connect with La Pine High about this day if you haven’t already done so.

Calendar

February 13-April 10: Pre ACT testing

February 17: HS Administrator Work Session 9:00-11:00 @ BTA

February 17: Admin/ICCL – Bend High 4:15 – 6:15

February 18: All Admin Meeting – Bend High 3:00-5:00

February 19: MS Horizontal – Sky View 3:00 – 5:00

Who in the world?

Congratulations to Jessica Gambee, who guessed the image from last week!  The image was of Zora Neale Hurston, an American novelist.  She is seen as one of the most important Black writers in American history.  In 1937, she published Their Eyes Were Watching God, the story of a Black woman looking for love and happiness in the South. The book was criticized at the time, especially by Black male writers, who condemned Hurston for not taking a political stand and demonstrating the ill effects of racism. Instead, the novel, now considered her masterwork, celebrated the rich tradition of the rural Black South. Hurston’s work remained uplifting and joyful despite her financial struggles.

We continue our celebration of Black History! Who is this famous individual?

To Do

Timesheets are due Monday! The time period we are recording for is 01/12/2026-02/08/2026. 

Principals, if you do not have any leave to report, please let Katie or Stephen know so we don’t expect a sheet from you.

Assistant Principals submit your timesheet to your principal.

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From Kinsey – Office of Policy and Advocacy:

Family-teacher conferences:

Please work with your language specialist and family liaison to submit ASAP your interpreter needs for conferences.  Remember to schedule blocks/back-to-back appointments for families who need interpreters, to the extent reasonable.  This helps maximize interpreter resources, which will be tight this year.

Also, please remind staff that virtual interpreters are perfectly acceptable and sometimes even better quality than in-person services.  If the Linguist Link team says an interpreter will be available virtually for your request, the teacher(s) should provide a link to their Teams/WebEx/etc account (send the link to the language specialist and/or paste into the Linguist Link request), and pull up the interpreter on their iPad or laptop during the conference.   We are prioritizing in-person interpreters for secondary conferences, given the format of those conferences.  

Someone should be available in your front office during all conference hours, to greet interpreters and point them in the direction of their assigned rooms, and/or to answer phone calls if interpreters are trying to log into a virtual appointment and getting locked out.  Interpreter no-show?  CAFE Program members can step in in a pinch, as available.

Remind teachers to honor family requests for virtual or phone conferences, within reason (if you need reminders about what’s ‘within reason,’ check in with your liaison or ELL specialist for details).

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From Dave Van Loo:

Please read and reach out to me with questions. “Testing season” is quickly approaching. Here are a few resources to help with planning and organization.  I’m happy to come out and meet with you as is helpful, especially with anyone who may be new to testing-related roles.

• Here is an updated for 2025-26 OSAS Essential Information and Planning Resources document for school test coordinators. This resource is meant to compliment ODE’s resources and highlight some of the most important big ideas.  This document will be updated as needed. Note that we have made a change to the opt-out and exemption tracking tool to streamline it and make it easier to use. Please save and use as a resource https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tTBz01GxuRhjZvxM8RoqF02uGBuRM4c2daIoPlv7f4Q/edit?usp=sharing 
• I’m resending this high-level summary of 25-26 test and survey timeframes. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PTS5BYZPRJTJcmcB1o_Fb3nFEVmoQlec3xnE2-uQNWQ/edit?usp=sharing 
• I’m also resending this document that summarizes key purposes and scheduling considerations of many commonly used tests in the district. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qe6LnQ2IOKwaWUne6TF-AIctTlDAQHh2Y6taoAhFL8Y/edit?usp=sharing 

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How will YOUR school honor your counselors next week?

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ICCL/Administrator Training February 17: If you haven’t already, be sure to forward the invite to your ICCL’s!

From Departments

From Lisa:

Assessment Team: As you know, SB141 will require interim assessments in grades K-8 for reading and mathematics to begin in the fall. In mid-February, we will know the identified assessments and logistics related to their implementation. We would like a team of administrators and teachers to review tools, give input, and consider implementation plans in preparation of this requirement taking place in our district. If you would like to be considered to be part of this group, please add your name to the following sign-up sheet by February 13th. SB141 Assessment Consideration Team

Data Team: Throughout this year, we have spent time considering data related to EWS and MTSS needs for our teams. However, as an administrator it is likely that you have specific data that you’d like to be able to see about your school frequently to help guide your training, actions, and team plans. I would like to bring a team of administrators together to discuss what would be most beneficial to have access to in a dashboard format that you would be able to consistently access daily to lead your school best. If you have ideas and would like to join this team, please sign up using the following sheet by February 13th. Data Dream Team

SIF Budgets: When you receive your budget for next year, you will notice that SIF will no longer be a separate budget tab.  In the past, these dollars were governed by a grant and required specific spending approval. That is no longer the case and remains as an extra hurdle for our business office. To streamline processes, it will be included in the dollars for your general fund moving forward. Your level leader will continue to meet with you for general budgeting guidance as always.

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Any new classified staff member hired after tomorrow, Friday February 6, 2026, will not need to have a summative evaluation completed for the 25-26 school year.  Classified employees hired as of February 9, 2026, through the end of the year, will participate in goal setting in the fall and be evaluated for the 26-27 school year.  Please let me know if you have any questions/concerns.

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From Student Services:

Collaborative Problem Solving Training

We wanted to reach out and share an upcoming Collaborative Problem Training for Educators this March. The training is free, and slots will be limited. 

Please check out the Collaborative Problem Solving Flyer and Registration Link to learn more!

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From Gabe Pagano, District Activities and Athletic Director:

Here is the update for this week.

MS Only

Elementary and Middle School Admin – 

Human Resources will be sending an Extra Duty Attestation Form to employees we have on record as currently serving in the Elementary Music Director, Elementary Yearbook Advisor, and Elementary OBOB Advisor roles prior to their formal inclusion on the Extra Duty Schedule, as well as to the building principal for verification.

These roles were added to the Extra Duty Schedule through agreements between the District and BEA. 

The form is intended to document prior service – within Bend-La Pine Schools or in other districts – so that employees can be accurately placed on the Extra Duty Salary Schedule. Employees will be asked to complete, sign, and return the form, with the supervising administrator reviewing and confirming the information.

The Middle School OBOB Advisor role was also added to the Extra Duty Schedule. Because we in HR do not have a record of who may be serving in this role, Human Resources will send the attestation form to all middle school Principals to share with the individual currently performing these duties, if applicable, for completion and return.

Please let Ryan know if you have any questions.

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TAG Support:

In addition to the four elementary and middle school PD sessions offered throughout the year, Jess Scott has volunteered to meet one-on-one with the administrator in charge of TAG to provide support with complex TAG case studies or to further walk through the TAG identification process. These individual conversations can be a helpful space to ask questions and talk through specific situations. Please feel free to reach out to Jessica Scott to coordinate a time to meet.

HS Only

From Lisa, CTE TOSA:

CTE Month is coming up next month, and we’re excited to celebrate the amazing work happening across our programs!

To help us highlight and recognize CTE, we’d love your support with the following:

• Here is the nomination form to identify exemplary CTE students. Students will be highlighted throughout the month: Student Nomination Form
• We would also love to highlight past CTE students (alumni)—please share names or success stories on the above form.
• Please send along photos or information about activities, projects, field trips, or events from your program that the district can feature during CTE Month to Becca Burda and Lisa Keown.

Thank you for all you do to support CTE students—we can’t wait to showcase your programs!

Calendar

February 13-April 10: Pre ACT testing

February 10: HS Learning Walk 9:00-12:00 @ SHS

February 17: HS Administrator Work Session 9:00-11:00 @ BTA

February 19: MS Horizontal – Sky View 3:00 – 5:00

Who in the world?

Congratulations to Colin Bado for correctly identifying Shirley Chisholm for Who in the World this week.  Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to congress and represented New York’s 12^th district from 1969 to 1983. 

We continue our celebration of Black History! Who is this famous individual?