Thank you for an amazing welcome back week! We are so impressed by the number of teachers choosing to be early adopters! That is a testament to your leadership and hard work!

Thank you all for your attendance at the Standards Based Grading Mini Conference.  Below is an electronic version of the 1-page handout.  On page 2 is a link to the folder of all of the slides from the mini sessions. Handout from Mini Conference 

To Do

MS and HS Principals: plan on sending out this SBGI letter: Family letter to your families by next week. Scroll down for the Spanish version and be sure to remove the MS/HS grade chart based on your level

HS Principals only: Please send this letter as well, regarding College Dual Credit: Family Letter – College Dual Credit (Spanish Translation should be ready within the week and will be added)

Feel free to add your school logo and your signature, but do not change the contents of the either letter.

MS/HS Principals: Teachers who are Early Adopters need to send this letter to the families for every class in which SBGI will be implemented. Scroll for the Spanish version.

Chris and I shared the SBGI district communication plan in our session Wednesday morning which includes letters, graphics and templates that may be helpful for schools and teachers. Here are the slides. We also included screenshots that may be helpful to share with families and students.

From Departments

Grades and Credit AR changes approved by School Board:

Changes to the Grades and Credit AR were approved at the last board meeting.  

During a bargaining session with BEA, it was determined the amount of time a teacher must have feedback in the gradebook (SYNERGY) from the time in which an assignment was due.  

Teachers are required to update their gradebook 3 weeks after an assignment was due to them. Thank you for reviewing this change with your teachers.

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From Sean Reinhart and Aimee Snyder:

$5,000 Budget Per School for Sources of Strength

Each school has the opportunity to receive $5,000 for operating Sources of Strength-Secondary for the 2025-2026 school year.  

Work with your Healthy Schools Public Health Specialist to develop a plan and budget that will aim to meet Sources fidelity by the end of the school year.  See the BLS Sources of Strength Budgets and Fidelity document with more details. 

Once schools have a plan/budget that will meet Sources fidelity, remaining funds can be used for other evidence-based/-informed suicide prevention efforts, such as timesheeting for coordinating school-wide Wayfinder lessons or school health teams that coordinate multiple positive, inclusive school climate activities over a 4-8 week time period. 

This is a two-year grant, specific to suicide prevention. Funds will not rollover. Unspent funds will be reallocated across Sources schools in the 2026-2027 school year and must be spent by the end of that school year.

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ICCL Reminder from Human Resources

We still have several schools who have not completed their ICCL hires for 2025-26.

• Please take a look at the ICCL Master List and verify the employees listed for your site are correct.
• If you need to hire, please follow the ICCL posting and hiring process (check-out line 281 on the ICCL Master List with ICCL Instructions).
• Any ICCL questions should be directed to Candy Gelatt in Human Resources: [email protected] or x1116.

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BLS School Counseling Program Updates for 2025-26

As we start the 2025-26 school year, we want to share important updates regarding our Comprehensive School Counseling Program (CSCP) and how you, as administrators, can be a support to the implementation of CSCP at your school. On August 27, BLS School Counselors gathered for a productive day of planning and collaboration. You can view their slide deck here to see the impressive work being done.

We are pleased to introduce the BLS School Counseling Handbook, a comprehensive resource designed for school counselors, administrators, and educational leaders. Inside, you’ll find:

• The mission, vision, and beliefs of our program
• District priorities and goals
• Roles of counselors and administrators
• Program design, implementation, policy and aligned practices
• Tools, templates, and practices for effective support

Here are the key expectations for this year:

• Complete School-Level CSCP Planning Template – due May 2026, outlining:
  • Annual Calendar – due Oct. 2025
  • Administrator Yearly Planning Conference – held by Oct. 2025
  • Student Outcome Goals (Tier 1 & 2) – due Nov. 2025 (these can be used as SLGGs)
  • Use of Time Study – by Apr. 2026
  • Tiered Program Supports (by domain & tier) – by Apr. 2026
  • Annual Data Review – by May 2026
  • End of Year Results Presentation – May/June 2026

Additionally, counselors will now track student interactions using Synergy’s MTSS Activity Tracker Module, moving away from Student Conference, to enhance access to school counseling data as we continue to develop our MTSS dashboard.

For your reference: School Counselors Professional Learning Calendar with Shared SIW and END Dates.

Wayfinder Updates:

​​We are hopeful to have the Wayfinder admin dashboards have more accurate data but Synergy is currently sending too much data through Clever to Wayfinder. I have put in a help desk ticket but in the meantime, you can edit your teacher list using the following steps:

Here is the helpdesk overview on How to Edit User Data on Admin Dashboards. 

• If you select “unclick content views” and only have “content completions,” then make sure to assign the workbooks or a collection as the featured content. 
• For counselors and support staff, please mark them as “content views,” not “content completion.”
• If there are people in the app that do NOT use Wayfinder, unclick both “content views” and “content collections.”

Other Resources:

• Staff Leader resource library: Staff slide decks, implementation ideas, mtss overview 

Student Success Intervention Updates

Student Success Coordinators/Instructors(Not Clinicians) will now track student interactions using Synergy’s MTSS Activity Tracker Module, moving away from the Synergy Intervention tab to enhance access in all interventions that students are receiving in one place as we continue to develop our MTSS dashboard. Here are the training slides from their PD day on the 27th.

We are excited to be moving forward with our Student Success Clinicians embarking on the Medicaid Billing endeavor! They were all trained on the SEAS Medicaid billing platform and here are the slides from yesterday. As a result of documenting the important clinical work that they are doing, our district can be eligible to be reimbursed for most of the vital services that they are providing.  

In light of these changes, it is essential that our Student Success Coordinators and Clinicians are receiving their weekly prep and case management time to ensure that they can engage in their documentation and provide care coordination for their students and families that they work with.  

For Full-time Elementary Student Success Certified Staff

• Case Management Minutes:  An elementary specialist has a scheduled total of no fewer than 215 minutes per week for case management responsibilities. This time is set aside in blocks of no less than 30 minutes for these responsibilities.
• Prep Time: An elementary Student Success Clinician is scheduled for a minimum of 385 minutes of preparation time per week. This time includes a period of at least 30 minutes per day, uninterrupted, within the student day for grades K-5.

For Full-time Secondary Student Success Certified Staff: 

• Case Management Minutes:  A secondary specialist has a scheduled total of no fewer than 215 minutes per week for case management responsibilities. This time is set aside in blocks of no less than 30 minutes for these responsibilities.
• Prep Time: A secondary Student Success Clinician is scheduled for no fewer than 300 minutes of preparation time per week.  Preparation time shall include at least one daily preparation period equal in length to a normal class period.

For your reference: Student Success PD Calendars 25/26 with Shared SIW and END Dates.

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From Paul Dean:

Animals on school grounds: We want to take a moment to remind school about our district practices with regards to animals on school grounds.  We do not have any district policy that prohibits dogs outside of school hours on our property.  ING-AR: Animal Visitors under Owner Responsibility reads:

• Owners walking animals on school grounds must follow city or county ordinances regarding leashing and sanitation. 
• Principals and their designees have the authority to exclude persons and their animals from play fields when he/she determines that there are associated health and/or safety concerns. 

Last year, we created and distributed one of the signs below to your school.  

We have created this Community Use Violation Notice [and here is a Spanish Version] that you may copy, edit, print, laminate and zip tie to your gate(s) when you are restricting public access by locking your gates.  

If you would like to order additional signs ($65 each), please submit a work order request along with a budget code.  Maintenance will collaborate with you regarding where to place your additional signs.  Please reach out to Dan Dummitt for further assistance with signs. 

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From Kayla in Safety:

SafeOregon has been updated and the entire admin team at each secondary school will receive emails and calls. Our new AD/APs at the comprehensive high schools have been added to callout list for SafeOregon. Additionally, now that all Deans are listed as APs they have been added to the callout list. 

Linked here are the Safe Oregon Protocols. All new admin were briefed at the New Administrator orientation. Reach out to Kayla with questions.

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From Gabe Pagano Director of Activities and Athletics:

August 25th-29th, 2025 – Weekly SMORE

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From Jess Calbreath, Lead Counselor

Counselor updates for August 29, 2025

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From IT:

Parents will be able to view schedules in ParentVue on August 29.

HS Only

By tomorrow, August 29: link your SIW plan to HS Admin calendar/planner

Calendar

September 3: 6th/9th grade only days!

September 4: 6th-12th grade students back to school!

September 11: HS Tier 2 Academic Intervention Team meeting 2:30 @ SHS

September 16: HS Administrator WS 9-11@ LPHS

Where in the World

Congratulations to our winner from last week: Paul Hutter. The answer was La Forchette, Lake Geneva, Switzerland.

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:

To Do

1. Share syllabus requirements with staff
2. Submit 2025-26 BLAST Non Contract calendar to Stephen and Katie (VPs, submit to your principal. 
3. A new website and ParentSquare are coming! Complete this SURVEY for communications by August 1.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Please share this information with your teachers regarding August 27:

We are  excited to invite all secondary teachers and administrators to a special Standards-Based Instruction and Grading Mini-Conference at Pacific Crest Middle School on August 27 from 8:30 to 12:15, for the District Directed Professional Development Day. 

This engaging professional development event will begin with our keynote, “Instructional Pillars and What’s in the Box?”, followed by almost 20 choices repeated over three interactive sessions selected designed to deepen understanding of the SBIG framework. Participants will explore how proficiency in district standards—not behavior—drives grading, how feedback via rubrics empowers student learning, and how practices like the decaying average and reassessment opportunities support growth. Sessions will highlight practical strategies, technology tools, communication approaches, and ways to design assessments that truly measure learning. Join us to connect with colleagues, learn from expert presenters, and prepare for a smooth, impactful shift to Standards-Based Grading.

Due to parking concerns, buses will run from Bend Senior High School, Caldera High School, La Pine High School and Mountain View High School. Buses will leave Bend schools at 8:00, and La Pine High School at 7:45. We encourage you to ride the bus or carpool to the site. 

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After the morning sessions, please provide PLC/Department time for teachers to debrief their sessions. Here are some guiding questions you can use, or develop some of your own.

SSC, SSI, School Counselors, School Psychologists will not participate as they will be in training at Caldera HS all day!

From Departments

From Ryan in Human Resources:

Our New Certified Administrator Orientation will be held on Thursday, August 21 at North Star.

• Breakfast: 7:00 AM – Bend Breakfast Burrito will be catering; enjoy a burrito, muffin, coffee, and connection time with our new hires.
• Program Start: 8:00 AM

Any school or department that hired a new Certified employee is required to send a representative so that you can connect with that person/people, but all are welcome to attend, and we encourage you to join us in welcoming our new staff.

If you’re unsure whether your school needs to send a representative, please email me directly.

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From your Student Services Administrators

This was sent to all student services staff members today:

Welcome back to the 25-26 school year!

Please see the attached schedules for in-service week for returning certified and classified staff and new certified and classified staff.

New staff (certified and classified), you have additional onboarding, so please make sure you are looking at the new certified or new classified schedules.

ALL certified staff, the schedule for the District PD day is embedded in the calendar on August 27^th with a link labeled District PD Day.

If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected].

We look forward to seeing you!

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From Scott in IT:

Greetings,

Our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for student device use was updated during the 24-25 school year.  The new version is what our families are receiving in their enrollment materials.  I have linked the updated AUP here.  Sections that you may want to be familiar with include:

      • Grade 6-12 Insurance Device Damage and Loss Guidelines

      • Device Use

      •The Student Pledge

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From Kinsey – Policy, Advocacy, & Equity:

(HS Admin Only) Cell phone policy changes:

If you are interested in participating in a discussion, review, and feedback session regarding district policy for the new cell phone requirements, please contact Katie and I by Thursday the 21st.  We would love to see at least one administrator from each high school.  We’ll reach out to folks after that to schedule the conversation.

In the meantime, here are talking points you can use with your staff.  

Policy Notes:

Updated Attendance policy (updated per conversations and feedback throughout last year).  Please be familiar with the changes to procedures and responsibilities, share with your office and MTSS staff, and bring any questions to the September horizontal admin meeting.  Related: Employee Attendance policy–good reminders for all of us!

Updated Grades and Credits policy final version.  Feel free to share this directly with your teachers and counselors (secondary in particular), if helpful.  

Here are the reference slides from the policy training last April.  Topics/Guidance includes:

  -Law enforcement, student searches, DHS,

  -ICE (here’s additional ICE guidance),

  -controversial subjects (share the policy with your teachers),

  -parent requests for teachers, etc.  

Please share those reference slides with applicable staff, print, and/or bookmark as needed–you don’t want to be looking for these in a time-sensitive situation. 

Updated transportation policy: We updated the series of policies related to transportation.  One important change for you (and ADs/coaches):

Either we provide the bus, or students/families need to coordinate their own rides—employees, including coaches, should not coordinate groups of students with drivers of private vehicles.  Parent volunteers or team parents are welcome to coordinate with other volunteers, but district employees are not involved in non-district transportation arrangements. 

Related: field trip permission forms have been updated (all languages available on the Portal): please share with teachers and office staff.  

Have a recommendation regarding a policy issue?  Please use this form to suggest updates, request changes, identify gaps in policy language, etc. 

Looking for the policy that covers a particular topic?  Need help interpreting a policy for a particular situation?  Contact me! 

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From Kinsey – Policy, Advocacy, & Equity:

Here is follow-up from the complaint training this week.  Please save, file, or bookmark as needed (also sent via email):  

Flowchart for navigating complaints, policies, and timelines.  

Your Dashboard–put this in your Bookmarks Bar!  The link leads to your personal school-specific view (Smartsheet is magic).  

Form for reporting a complaint or a bias incident.  

• Available on the district website: ‘Engage with Us’ blue rectange –> Complaints
• Available as an app/icon on student and staff iPads
• Poster with QR code, for community spaces on campus (lobby, staff lounge, gym, stadium).  

Reach out to me if I can support any investigations or responses to complaints, bias incidents, or policy interpretation or decisions.  Triz is your go-to for employee issues that your admin team identifies directly (not a complaint brought to you by a third party), or for determining personnel actions if your complaint investigation has confirmed there was employee misconduct, policy violation, or performance issues.  

Appreciate your (competitive) engagement in the training.  I learned a lot about how to play Jeopardy!  I hope you learned a bit about complaint navigation.  I’d love any feedback on the training or this topic as it arises.  

Thank you~

 

MS Only

1. UPDATE: Part Time Schedules done by 8/22
2. Send staff-facing Admin team responsibility document to Stephen by 8/31
3. Fill out inservice week times in MS admin calendar/planner by 8/22
4. Fill out Teams/Leads by 8/31

HS Only

August 18, 2025 Counselor and HS admin meeting: Counselors and the admin who oversee the counseling department should attend this virtual meeting from 10-11. We’ll be reviewing key aligned practices that are especially important as we launch into the busy start-of-year season, including:

• Grades and Credit AR Review
• Partial Credit Updates
• BLSO Guidelines and Process with SmartSheet
• Expanded Options

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By August 22: Part Time HS Schedules should be linked HERE

By August 22: link/complete your inservice plan document and your teams/leads doc in the HS Admin calendar/planner

By August 29: link SIW plan to HS Admin calendar/planner

Calendar

August 21: New Teacher Work Day

August 22: Middle School Advisory Meeting – Ed Center Rm 312 – 11-1

August 25: Certified return to work

August 26: District Welcome Back – Virtual – 8:30-10:00

August 27: District PD Day

September 3: 6th/9th grade only days!

September 4: 6th-12th grade students back to school!

Where in the World

Congratulations to MacKenzie Groshong who won our first drawing last week!!!

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:

Important reminders

Safe schools training completion:

You may have questions about the time for staff to complete the mandatory safe schools trainings. This time is already accounted for so you do not need to designate more time for the completion of these trainings.

Evening events for certified staff:

Beginning with the 25-26 school year, certified staff may be required to attend three evening events. However, they must be notified 60 days prior to the event.

Here is the relevant language in the CBA:

15.4. Certified Employees may be required to attend up to one after-school/evening event in the remainder of the 2023-24 school year, up to two (2) after-school/evening events in the 2024-25 school year, and up to three after-school/evening events per year in the 2025-26 school year, such as graduation, family engagement events, open house, etc., and use the remaining time towards Safe Schools training, as contracted “Day 190”. Site administrators will communicate required dates to all Certified Employees no less than sixty (60) days in advance.

To Do

AI PD & Resources in One Place

Everything you need for the Artificial Intelligence PD is on the new AI in BLS website, including the full slide deck for your upcoming staff training, and the AI syllabus statement and Acceptable Use Scale, to be included in course syllabi. 

The training takes about 90 minutes. We’ve scheduled it during August in-service so staff can explore AI early, with the hope that leveraging it can help lighten their workload as the year gets rolling. 

There’s no need to be an AI expert. Just open the deck and guide your staff through it. The goal is to share accurate, useful, and timely information as we navigate the meaningful use of AI across the district.

Questions? Reach out anytime: [email protected]

From Departments

From Scott Maben (Communications):

I’m excited to share that we are building our new websites this summer, with a planned “go live” date of November 1. At the same time, we are starting to plan the launch of our new communications and engagement platform, ParentSquare, in the coming school year. We will share updates with you on both projects at our admin retreat in August.

To help us now, we need each school (Principal or designee) to complete the following form no later than August 1:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScSUMVGL3UMfY1YGPAYngJtDvEK4ATwrnxxwqOQhQMdfBXW0Q/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=103087345545212921575

For ParentSquare, our goal is to complete all necessary training, onboarding and user orientation in the next six months, and go live with in January 2026 when we return from winter break.

To meet this timeline, we will need to provide basic training in use of ParentSquare for all staff members who have a role in communicating directly with families. This includes administrators, office staff, teachers, counselors, specialists, and family engagement roles.  After discussion with level leaders, it was determined that SIW time will not be an option for this training, we will develop a series of four short (20-minute) presentations that you can provide during staff meetings this fall. Every school will need to make time for these staff trainings in October, November and December to ensure everyone is prepared to make the switch to our new platform in January.

ParentSquare will be our approved platform for all communications – at the District, school, classroom and program levels. Several platforms (such as School Messenger and BLConnect) will be discontinued immediately, while others will be phased out over time. The strength of ParentSquare depends on consistent use and fidelity to the platform, and it will be critical for staff to refrain from using other apps or tools outside the suite of services we will have within ParentSquare.

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From Eric (Student Services):

IMPORTANT RESOURCE GUIDE: Here is a direct link to the 1-page Student Management Resource Guide: LINK HERE 

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From Tami Pike (Student Health):

To ensure a safe and successful field trip experience, review the Field Trip Checklist in advance.

It is essential to notify your school nurse at least two weeks prior to any field trip.

If a student requires direct nursing support during the trip, please complete the updated Request for Direct Care Nursing Services form at least two weeks prior to any field trip.

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From Kim Crabtree (Transportation):

Your school principal may receive an invite from Commute Options to meet.  Commute Options partners with us to help deliver education regarding safe walking/rolling to school. Commute Options has a great bike safety program (they provide the bikes/helmets).  We work closely with them to create safe walking paths to schools for our non-bus riders. Our department has hired an Active Transportation Coordinator (Michelle Rhoads) through a 2 year grant. The grant is very specific on where Michelle’s work must be directed (5 Title 1 schools). 

We hope to build a robust program district wide to support those that do not ride a bus. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me. If you are looking for education for your students- Commute Options is your go-to at this time (we are happy to coordinate that for you also through them). 

Have a great safe start to the year!

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From Kinsey Martin (Policy/Advocacy/Equity):

Can you please share here the contact information for your school’s parent organization(s)?  

I would like to be sure your school’s parent/family perspectives are included in work like the re-design of fundraising policies, the development of a district family engagement calendar, and any trainings or activities they might want to participate in.  I don’t intend to spam them with lots of messages, and I’ll copy a member of your team in any messages I send, so you’re looped in.

Feel free to forward this to colleagues who have relevant info to provide for your school as well.  Let me know what questions you have.

MS Only

Deliverables

1. Part Time Schedules done by first day of school – Try to give Stephen a copy by inservice if possible
2. Send staff-facing Admin team responsibility document to Stephen by 8/31
3. Deliver TAG presentation information to staff inservice week (TAG admin and ICCL)
4. Share syllabus requirements with staff
5. Fill out inservice week times in MS admin calendar/planner by 8/22
6. Fill out Teams/Leads by 8/31

Calendar

August 14: MS/HS Horizontal – Caldera High School – 8-12

August 21: New Teacher Work Day

August 22: Middle School Advisory Meeting – Ed Center Rm 312 – 11-1

August 25: Certified return

August 26: District Welcome Back – Virtual – 8:30-10:00

August 27: District PD Day

Where in the World

This year we will have a twist on where in the world. 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.

So, for week one here is the image:

Our celebration of the graduating class of 2025 begins tonight at Caldera! Join us in celebrating our seniors!

June 5: Caldera High School @7:00pm

June 6: La Pine High School @7:00pm

June 7: Bend Senior High School @10:00am

June 7: Summit High School @2:00pm

June 7: Mountain View High School @ 6:00pm

June 9: Bend Tech Academy @7:00pm

June 10: Realms High School @7:00pm

To Do

Tomorrow is the deadline:

For you to tell us which of your teachers will be Standards Based Grading Early Adopters!

Once you know who may be moving forward in your building, please fill out this FORM.  One form per building please.  Do not send it out to staff.  Early adopters will be required to attend a two hour training during in-service week.

From Departments

Congratulations to Jess Calbreath for being recognized for her outstanding presentation at the PNACAC conference in May! She highlighted our College and Career programming work on SchooLinks and will be featured in an upcoming newsletter.

From Stephen and Katie:

Principal evaluations: Plan to have your SLGGS and self reflection completed and submitted in UKG by Friday, June 13.

Principals, you are required to have the evaluation process completed for Assistant principal evaluations completed prior to administrators leaving for the summer. Please let Stephen or me know if you need help or have questions about this.

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From Jennifer regarding evaluations for counselors, student support instructors and student support clinicians/coordinators:

Here are the documents that were shared in the Fall. Feel free to let me know if you need support.

School Counselors 

• People in the position
• Job Description
• Evaluation Rubric
• SLGG Goals should be tied to these for this year:
  • TIER 1 BLS School Counseling SMARTIE GOALS for 2024-25
  • Tier 2 BLS School Counseling SMARTIE GOALS for 2024-25

Student Success Coordinator/Clinician

• People in this position (Elementary, Middle and High School Tabs)
• Job Description
• Evaluation Rubric
• Goal Setting Document

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From Jess and Jennifer:

Recently our counselors celebrated their achievements this year with each other as well as their building leaders. Here are the slides from those celebrations: MS and HS

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From Human Resources RE: Classified Employees:

We are excited to share that the start dates for the 2025-26 school year are now available and posted on the Portal here.

Complete work calendars for all classified employees are nearly finalized and will be uploaded to the Portal as soon as they are ready; we appreciate your patience as we put the finishing touches on them.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

Thank you for your continued support and dedication – wishing you an enjoyable wrap-up to the end of the school year!

MS Only

Please see this document lining out our transition for removing the privlidge to attend certain events for the school year like 8^th grade celebration and extra-curriculars.  This will take effect for next year.

HS Only

From Jennifer: Wayfinder workbook orders:

If your team would like to order Wayfinder workbooks for next year, please add the numbers (if any) needed before the order is placed on June 11^th. If you are placing an order, please list the contact and address of the school for where the workbooks should be sent and make sure the numbers are all accurate by grade level as well as Spanish versions. If you have workbooks leftover from last year, please subtract those from your order number so we don’t waste books as they will be the same for next year.

If your school will not be order any workbooks for next year, please list a 0 in all of the columns so I know you have completed the spreadsheet.

Wayfinder Workbook Orders – Due June 11th

Calendar

• June 6: Standards Based Grading Early Adopters for the fall identified by school HERE
• June 10: HS Principal work session 8:00-10:00 @ Caldera HS Teachers committed to designing the careers class are invited. We will cover the cost for a 1/2 day sub!
• June 11: Wayfinder Workbook Orders DUE!
• June 12: Last Day students—half day
• June 13: Last Day staff work day
• June 16: End of the Year BLAST Luncheon @11:30 Ed Center boardroom
• June 17: Mandatory AI training. Sign up if you have not yet attended a session: AI Training
• June 17: MS and HS Administrator End of the Year wrap up. SBG focus! 8:00-11:00 @ Mountain View HS

Where in the World

This week we are highlighting Kinsey Martin, Executive Director of Policy, Advocacy and Equity. Kinsey shared, “My happy place is anywhere in the world with these two!”

To Do

Standards Based Grading Early Adopters? We need to know…

Please work with staff to identify any early adopters of standards-based grading in Synergy for next fall.  Once you know who may be moving forward in your building, please fill out this FORM.  One form per building please.  Do not send it out to staff.  

Early adopters will be required to attend a two hour training during in-service week.

Deadline for completion is June 6th.  Please contact Stephen with any questions.

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Please Read: Research regarding math options in high school:

Check out this summary of research that supports that taking AP Statistics over AP Calculus serves most of our students better in their post secondary journey. The research is also supports our math pathways.

From Departments

From Ryan in Human Resources:

Process

• Each school (or department) will request a posting for their ICCL hires.
• The hire will be requested and processed through UKG the same as all other hires.
• One TAG ICCL has been added to all elementary and middle schools.  You will want to post this position separately so that it is clear who is applying for the TAG position.
• You can view your current ICCL allocations, who is in the position, what budget code they are paid from and any empty positions on the ICCL spreadsheet.

For those new to ICCL hiring, here are few things that will help you better understand the process

1. All ICCL positions are two-year positions.
2. If an ICCL Leader has completed their two-year term, they may apply for subsequent terms but will be subject to the hiring process.
3. Column F on the ICCL spreadsheet shows the number of district paid ICCL positions allocated to each school, and is based on student enrollment. Student enrollment cuts can be found at the very bottom of the spreadsheet.
4. If you decide to hire more ICCL members than what the district has allocated, those positions can be paid for out of your school improvement funds  This will still be a two-year contract.
5. If you have an open district-paid position and have a current ICCL that is being paid out of SIF funds, you may choose to move the SIF-paid ICCL leader into the district-paid position and collapse the SIF-paid position.  A PA will need to be submitted for the budget code change.

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From Paul Dean: Classroom Guidance from Maintenance & Custodial Departments

While there is no board-adopted policy that explicitly governs classroom furniture or decorations, our BLS operational practice has been to guide schools as follows:

• District-Purchased Furniture: Bend-La Pine Schools assumes responsibility for the cleaning, movement, and maintenance of furniture that has been purchased by the district.
• Staff-Purchased Furniture or Items: Any furniture or furnishings that are brought in by staff members are considered the responsibility of the staff and/or school site. This includes maintenance, movement between rooms, and cleaning as needed.

Regarding classroom decorations and wall attachments, there are fire code restrictions that must be followed. These include limits on how much and the type of material that can be affixed to walls and ceilings, as well as requirements to maintain adequate clearances and pathways for emergency egress. Decorations/furniture should not obstruct exits or create fire hazards that would impede safe evacuation in the event of an emergency.

Additionally, per OSHA safety requirements, any shelving units or storage furniture that exceed a certain height (typically 5 feet or higher) must be properly secured to walls to prevent tipping hazards. This applies to both district-owned and staff-supplied furniture and is an important consideration for student and staff safety during daily use or seismic activity.

Lastly, we ask staff to be mindful of classroom lighting. Excessive use of supplemental lighting (e.g., lamps or string lights) should be minimized, as the district is actively pursuing sustainability initiatives to reduce energy consumption and meet long-term environmental goals. Use of natural light and district-installed lighting should generally meet classroom needs.

If admin have questions about whether a particular room adheres to these requirements, you may reach out to Walt Norris or Dan Dummitt for assistance.

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From Eric:

Check HERE to learn about New Synergy features that have been enabled to assist school discipline staff with correcting discipline data entry errors via the new State Reporting Validation system.

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From Josh Marks in Student Services:

“SLP Updates

Based on the collective feedback and careful consideration, our SLP team is going to move forward with some programmatic shifts for the 25/26 school year. These shifts are designed with several key goals in mind:

·         Increase equity among our SLP team with regard to services

·         Provide additional time for collaboration

·         Enhance flexibility within our team

·         Ensure excellent service to our students and families

Here are the details of the upcoming changes:

1.    New Staffing Assignment Model: Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, we will be adjusting how staffing assignments are made for Speech-Language Pathologists. Assignments will now be made in teams. A group of schools will be assigned to a group of SLPs, allowing for more collaborative and flexible service delivery. 

2.    Elementary and Secondary Focus: Our teams will be primarily focused on either elementary or secondary levels, allowing for more specialized expertise and targeted support. There will be four Elementary teams and two secondary teams that are broken up by Middle School and High School. Lastly, please note that all of our south county schools will be part of each of these teams. 

Process 

In December the core SLP team explored data around workloads and caseloads. When looking at the data it became clear that inequities exist within our system. In addition, Student Services admin conducted 1:1 Interviews with all SLP staff that included a major theme of wanting more professional collaboration and connection with their peers. With this information a few different models of service were explored and debated. After the initial meeting 5 additional SLP’s were asked to join (which increased the group about half of the team). The new models were shared and debated until ultimately one model emerged as the top choice. Once the top choice was selected Student services admin set up 1:1 Meetings with the remaining SLP’s for input. 

Timelines

December through March – Data sharing and exploration including meeting with all SLP’s in small groups or 1:1.

April – Email sent to all SLP’s about the pending updates to service models.

May – Initial teams were shared with SLP Staff.

June – SLP Teams will divide up schools based on workload and caseload data.

June through August – Communication to schools on SLP assignments.  

As we move forward please know that our team is excited about these changes and feel they will enhance our service to schools, students and families. In addition, we believe this will lead to a more equitable, collaborative, and flexible work environment for our SLP team. With these changes services will not change or decrease at any schools. If you have any additional questions please feel free to reach out to me directly!”

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From Sean in Student Services:

You all have done an amazing job of getting your staff trained in CPI verbal intervention and CPI full course. 

CPI training by the numbers! ⚡

THIS YEAR: 

🎉 453 staff members have been trained in CPI verbal intervention or the full CPI course

🛺 Including 65 staff members from transportation

📚There were more than 25 training opportunities

✨ We now have 581 TOTAL staff members trained in CPI strategies

🛟 Every school has AT LEAST a 50:1 student to staff ratio of trained staff

We will offer a full course training for new staff during the August in-service week, so be on the look-out for that date. 

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From Lisa Birk, Deputy Sup:

Hi all, On June 4th, we will be cancelling our All-Admin meeting at Aspen Hall and in the future, I will avoid graduation weeks for All-Admin meetings. 

Instead, we will be having a half-day training later in June in partnership with COREN as we bridge from our current Admin content to our learning for next year. We are working with the partners to nail down the date and will let you know as soon as possible. Thanks for your flexibility!

HS Only

Here is the 2025-26 ABC calendar for the high schools on the rotator schedule.

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Principal evaluations: I will be scheduling evaluations with principals beginning the week of June 16. Plan to have your SLGGS and self reflection completed and submitted in UKG by Friday, June 13.

Principals, you are required to have the evaluation process completed for Assistant principal evaluations completed prior to administrators leaving for the summer. Please let me know if you need help or have questions about this.

Calendar

• June 10 and June 17: Mandatory AI training. Sign up for one session! Mandatory AI Training
• May 26: Memorial Day, No School
• May 27: HS Principal work session 8:00-10:00 @ Summit HS
• May 28: Perseverance Awards Ceremony 5:30 @ The Loft on Bond Street
• May 28: Dual Immersion Graduation Ceremony 5:30 @ Aspen Hall
• May 29: MS Counselor Celebrations 8:00-11:00 @ PBMS (Principals and admin who oversees counseling required to attend)
• May 31: HS only: Deadline by which Distracted Driving assembly or advisory lesson is completed
• June 6: Standards Based Grading Early Adopters for the fall identified by school HERE
• June 10: HS Principal work session 8:00-10:00 @ Caldera HS
• June 12: Last Day students—half day
• June 13: Last Day staff work day
• June 17: MS and HS Administrator End of the Year wrap up. SBG focus! 8:00-11:00 @ Mountain View HS

Where in the World

This week we are highlighting Josh Marks, Director of Student Services. Josh writes: “whether winter or summer, I enjoy spending time outdoors with my family. We like to hike and backpack in the summers and ski in the winter. Keeps me grounded year around!!”

Congratulations to La Pine MS for being honored as a Wayfinder North Star School!

To Do:

From The Business Office: Friendly Reminder: Report Year-to-Date Non-Contract Time by May 11

Administrators: As we approach the end of the fiscal year, all administrators are asked to ensure that their non-contract time—from July through the current pay period—is fully reported in the system no later than May 11, the Time and Leave cutoff.

Missing or outdated entries may lead to an inaccurate display of leave balances, which can create confusion when trying to understand remaining entitlement for the year.

If you have leave to report from any prior month, not just the current pay period, please complete a leave sheet with the accurate dates of the absence. We will process prior leave entries using the same approach as current-month reporting.

To review your leave usage and remaining balances, log into Employee Online and view the bottom section of your most recent pay stub.

Thank you for your attention to this important task and for helping ensure accurate records as we close out the fiscal year.

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School Improvement Funds: April has calculated each school’s SIF funds for this year and has added the allocations to the SIF tab on the staffing plans. We will be reviewing your school improvement plans in the fall. Reach out to Katie, Stephen or April if you have any questions.  

From Departments

Reminder about Tutoring Services and companies: We do not vet or promote them.

It has come to our attention over the last couple of months that a few people are inquiring about a tutor list. We wanted to provide a refresher about the district’s practice regarding the referral of students and families to paid tutoring services.

Currently, and for the last few years, we do not maintain or update a list of tutors. We are unable to vet tutors or companies, nor should we refer families to specific paid services like tutoring.

This approach is rooted in liability concerns, as directed by the district years ago, to avoid promoting individual tutors or specific companies. Our aim is to prevent any potential complications regarding liability for both the tutoring staff and families. Additionally, we do not want to refer families to paid services due to unmet educational needs that could and should be addressed by intervention programs at our schools.

For families looking for tutoring options on their own, we encourage them to explore alternatives through online searches or by discussing with others in the community. Local tutors and companies are welcome to share their information/flier on the school’s designated public bulletin board; however, please note that we do not and should not be actively promoting their services specifically.

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BLS staff members working as private tutors or consultants outside of their work day:

BLP staff members who work as private tutors or consultants may not advertise their services or share any contact information with families or students during the school day or use district devices to do so (ie:  iPad or laptop).  This includes sharing with families or students that you provide these services

Similar to any private tutor who is not a staff member, BLS staff members who work as private tutors or consultants are welcome to share their information/flier on the school’s designated public bulletin board. Again, no staff member should be actively promoting their services specifically during the work day or using district devices.

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Administrator PD in May and June: We will be meeting at Sky View MS for our May meeting and at Aspen Hall for our June meeting. Please make a note of the change.

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From Jennifer:

Wayfinder’s Waypoint Summative Assessment Announcement

The Wayfinder Waypoint Summative Assessment is now active! If your school has completed the Fall Summative Assessment, please ensure that both teachers and students participate in the End of the Year assessment. This assessment will measure student growth in Life and Career Readiness skills.

Instructions for Students:

·         Students can access the assessment in the Wayfinder app on their iPad under the To Do List.

The assessment will remain open until June 12th and is expected to take approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Please note that it may take longer for educators to observe students in grades K-2.

After your school has finished the assessment, feel free to schedule a meeting with Jennifer to review your data dashboard and discuss goals for the upcoming year.

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The End of the Year Celebration is fast approaching. We ask that the principal (for HS) and one admin that oversees counseling attend. The counselors have worked hard on their Flashlight Presentations😊

Yes, the Excellence in Education celebration is the same day at 4:30 at MVHS!

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As we approach the end of the year, we would like to highlight the importance of school counselors having a retreat/planning day as part of our Comprehensive School Counseling Program (CSPC). This practice fosters collaboration, reflection, data analysis and strategic planning for the upcoming year.  

We know many of you already do this, but here are some best practices for your planning day:

• Environment: Take time away from the school building to foster review, reflection, and planning. Work with your admin to determine the when, where and how long based on the needs of your program. 
• Involvement: Invite administrators or stakeholders to join part of the session for insights and support (Admin lead of counseling, STC, Grad Coach, SSC, etc.).
• Agenda: Establish a structured agenda to ensure efficient use of time and cover all necessary topics. Think about roles and norms like facilitator, note taker, etc.
• Calendar Review: Examine the existing annual calendar for opportunities to integrate CSCP goals and activities
  • Please use the ASCA Calendar Template 
  • Example: Secondary & Elementary 
• Program Agreements: Assess how and where the BLS CSCP program agreements can be integrated into your school counseling programming
  • MS Program Agreements (Visual for Families)
  • HS Program Agreements (Visual for Families)
  • EPP
  • ES Program Agreements (in progress) 
• Data Analysis: Analyze relevant data from the current academic year to inform our goal setting and program enhancements.
  • Student Conference
  • Pre/Post 
  • Attendance, Behavior, Credit
  • SchooLinks
    • Course Planner
    • Activities
    • College Application Manager
    • Senior Survey
  • Wayfinder 
  • YouthTruth
• Goal Setting: Set clear and achievable goals for the upcoming year based on your data analysis and program priorities.  Similar to this year, school counseling programs will be expected to submit tier 1 and 2 goals next year based on data needs.
  • Tier 1 SMARTIE Goal 
  • Tier 2 SMARTIE Goal 
• Planning: Develop a plan for the beginning of the school year, including orientation activities, student outreach initiatives, and staff training sessions. 
• Task Distribution: Distribute program tasks among team members for equitable workload and maximum efficiency.
  • Example from CHS

Thank you once again for your dedication and commitment to our students and your comprehensive school counseling program.

High School only

Val and Sal Announcement: Will be made by high school principals to students and their families on Friday, May 23. Please be sure to send a photo of each student and a few sentences highlighting them to Becca and Scott Maben by May 20. Here is what the graduation edition of the family spotlight looked like last year.

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Distracted Driving education: May 31 is the deadline by which Distracted Driving assembly or advisory lesson must be completed!

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Process for changing diploma types:

If there is a request for a student to change their diploma type, the process happens at the school Tier 3 meeting using the Standard Diploma Consent Form that was developed last year. Steps are:

• Transcript review
• Review of Course Plan Progression/credit check for both diploma types
• Parents/guardians, administrators, student must agree with the change and sign the form
• Changes occur before the second semester of the senior year.

Calendar

• May 14: All Admin PD at Sky View Middle School, 3:00-4:30 Read Chapter 4!
• May 20: Val/Sal pictures and a quick blurb about each student due to Becca and Scott M
• May 20: HS Counselor Celebrations 1:00-4:00 @ Wall Street Lab (Principals and admin who oversees counseling required to attend)
• May 20: Excellence in Education Event 4:30 @ Mountain View HS Auditorium
• May 20, June 10 and June 17: Mandatory AI training. Sign up for one session! Mandatory AI Training
• May 22: MS Horizontal – 3:00 @ Pilot Butte
• May 23: High Schools announce Val and Sal today!
• May 26: Memorial Day, No School
• May 27: HS Principal work session 8:00-10:00 @ Summit HS
• May 28: Perseverance Awards Ceremony 5:30 @ The Loft on Bond Street
• May 28: Dual Immersion Graduation Ceremony 5:30 @ Aspen Hall
• May 29: MS Counselor Celebrations 8:00-11:00 @ PBMS (Principals and admin who oversees counseling required to attend)
• May 31: HS only: Deadline by which Distracted Driving assembly or advisory lesson is completed
• June 4: All Admin PD at Aspen Hall, 3:00-4:30
• June 10: HS Principal work session 8:00-10:00 @ Caldera HS
• June 12: Last Day students—half day
• June 13: Last Day staff work day
• June 17: MS and HS Administrator End of the Year wrap up. SBG focus! 8:00-11:00 @ Mountain View HS

Where in the World?

We are highlighting Monica Freeman, Interim Assistant Principal at Realms MS/HS, this week. Monica shares that “finding time to spend with my girl, Lucy.” 💙 is what brings her joy!

To Do

• Check out the “do not schedule” dates from Kinsey below. Put those in your calendars now so you avoid school events on these days.
• If you haven’t already….sign up for the Mandatory AI Training

From Departments

From Scott in Communications:

On our way to brand new websites for Bend-La Pine Schools

A team from District Communications and IT have started the process of converting all our websites to a new platform for the 2025-26 school year. We have partnered with Finalsite, a leading provider of websites for schools. We are beginning this month with design for a new District site and will follow that with a new school template. We will work through the spring and summer with the goal of launching the new sites before school begins in September. If we run into issues or need to change the timeline, we can continue to use our existing sites as long as needed.

We have been talking about this change for a couple of years now, and we’re excited to be underway. The benefits include greater online security, cost savings, cleaning up and better organizing our web content, improved features for those visiting our sites, better mobile functionality, a much-improved content management system (for web editors), visual appeal, and improved accessibility for people with disabilities.

Starting next week, Scott Maben will begin reaching out to each school admin team to ask you questions about your existing website, your thoughts on your new website, and who will be your primary school website content manager in the 2025-26 school year. We also will share details on project timelines and staff training as we solidify those details.

Feel free to ask questions now or hold them for when we connect in the coming weeks.

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From Ryan in Human Resources:

• This note is coming to you a bit later than planned, but please join me in welcoming Sarah Westling to the building. Sarah is serving as our Certified Specialist II, supporting HR tasks and bringing valuable experience from her time in the Eugene 4J HR office. We are thrilled she chose to join us and are grateful for the contributions she’s already made to our team.

If you haven’t already, please stop by the large HR office next time you’re at the Ed Center to introduce yourself and welcome Sarah to BLS.

• The recruitment for three vacant BLAST positions has commenced. We are currently recruiting for a Director of Student Services, an Athletic Director/Assistant Principal position at Summit High School, and for the Principal vacancy at Cascade Middle School.

This Director of Student Services position comes in response to the growing scope of the department, particularly the integration of the Occupational Therapist classification that had formerly existed as a part of our local service plan with the High Desert ESD, which brings added responsibilities and oversight needs. Additionally, this position will supervise the daily operation of the Transition Co-Op program and manage the mentoring and training program for all Student Services staff. 

The Athletic Director/Assistant Principal position is a result of the latest MOA between BLS and BEA that moved the high school Athletic Driectors to the BLAST schedule prosepectively.  I’m confident that this role will help us align our co-curriculars at the secondary level with our overall vision of the student experience we’re working to provide for all students, regardless of their school. 

The Cascade Middle School Principal is to fill the vacancy created by Gabe Pagano, who accepted the offer to be the Director of District Activities and Athletics beginning July 1.

If you’d like to learn more about any of the vacancies, please connect with Ryan.

• Certificate of Insurance Reminder – It’s a busy time of year with events and travel, many of which require a Certificate of Insurance (COI)for participation. If an event your staff are planning requires a COI, please share this link and ask that they complete the form as early as possible to ensure that a certificate can be issued: Certificate of Insurance Request Form. Any questions about this form or COI’s can be directed to Andrea. 
• Clarification on Educational Assistant Responsibilities – There is a need to clarify the scope of Educational Assistant (EA) duties and ensure compliance with OAR 581-037-0015 regarding the supervision and assignment of EAs in our buildings. This message comes in response to recent timesheet entries referencing “teaching” as a task, which is not a permissible responsibility for EAs.

Educational Assistants may support instruction, but they may not provide instruction in place of a licensed teacher. Their role is strictly supportive in nature and must be carried out under the direction and supervision of a licensed educator.

Per state regulation, EAs can assist in the following ways:

• Instructional Support – Reinforcing lessons through practice activities, life skills instruction, or supplemental learning opportunities, as directed by the teacher.
• Clerical Support – Assisting with preparation of materials, duplicating, setting up classroom tools or technology.
• Student Supervision and Control – Monitoring students in various school settings.
• Personal Care, Translation/Family Engagement, and Media Center or Lab Support – As assigned.

If an EA is involved in instructional activities, these must be:

• Planned by a licensed educator
• Supervised and monitored on a regular basis
• Conducted with access to assistance and consultation

This means EAs cannot independently plan lessons, deliver new content, or be responsible for student learning outcomes.

Please ensure that all staff understand these expectations, and that any duties assigned to EAs align with the law. 

In instances where a Certified teacher is not present and no substitute is available, you may shift the EAs responsibilities from their regularly scheduled duties to supervision of a group of students. This would not be compensated, so long as the employee is already working that hour.

If you or your teams have questions about appropriate EA assignments or need support reviewing supervision plans, don’t hesitate to reach out to your level leader or HR.

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From Kinsey – Policy, Advocacy, & Equity:

Student Voice Council:

We’ll be honoring the departing senior representatives of the SVC at the May 13^th board meeting, in case you’d like to join (not critical, but you’re welcome) or otherwise recognize them: BSHS: Iris M, Quincy B, Taylor W; MVHS: Lindsay L; Realms: Elliot D; SHS: Alaina T, Finnegan H.

And, we are launching our recruitment for the 25-26 Student Voice Council!  Most of your schools have current members who will return to continue their term next year, but ALL of your schools will have open spaces for new representatives.  We will be promoting in a variety of ways (materials coming soon), and would love you to talk it up in your school as well (school-wide announcements, advisory, family newsletters, etc).  As you know, these students have quite the audience with our school board and public community, and have a lot to say about your schools—ensuring diverse and strong representative of your school on the SVC is critical in the positive impact this group can have.  Once we have applicants for your school, we’d love your partnership in interviewing and selecting your reps.  More to follow—for now, please help promote this with students, staff, and families.

Do Not Schedule dates:

As you start to schedule dates and events for next year, don’t forget to schedule around these dates.  Please share this with athletics, activities, counselors, office managers, parent groups, etc.  Thanks!

Interpreter requests:

As you submit requests for interpreters for end-of-year requests, please follow these tips (and share these with relevant staff):

• Submit in advance!  
• Be sure to note the event format.  Interpreters deserve to know in advance if they’re showing up to speak in front of hundreds of families!  
• Attach or paste links in Linguist Link any agendas, handouts, slides, or other materials that may be helpful for the interpreter to adequately prepare.
• If you need help thinking through efficient models of bilingual communication during a family event, please contact your Family Liaison, Language Specialist, or me.  

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From Sean in Student Services: Last CPI Training of the year!

Student Services are offering one final Full CPI training this year.   As a place to start, please have any regular inclusion EAs that has not been trained register for this training.  Further, encourage any temporary inclusion EAs that intend to apply for a regular position for next school year to register for this training.  After that, look at your buildings support team and identify untrained folks that you would want trained and have them register as well. 

Training details:

• What:  CPI Training
• Date: May 6, 2025
• Time: 8-4
• Location: Pacific Crest Cornice
• Sign up in UKG

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From Tami Pike:

National School Nurse Day recognizes school nurses who work to improve the health and learning of students. – Oregon School Boards Association

View the National Association of School Nurses National School Nurse Day Proclamation here.

Be sure to let your school nurse know how much you appreciate them!!

Calendar

• April 30: Deadline to share/process YouthTruth Data with staff, students and families
• May 1: HS only: HSS $ must be spent!
• May 2: Deadline: Option Sets must be built for curriculum process
• May 7: National School Nurse Day! Show some love to your nurse this week!
• May 7: District Safety Cadre Training @ 1:30 – mandatory for all safety admin leads
• May 7: Safety Cadre Meeting, 2:00-3:30, location TBA
• May 14: All Admin PD at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30 Read Chapter 4!
• May 20: Counselor Celebrations 1:00-4:00 @ Wall Street Lab (Principals and admin who oversees counseling required to attend)
• May 20: Excellence in Education Event 4:30 @ MVHS Auditorium
• May 20, June 10 and June 17: Mandatory AI training. Sign up for one session! Mandatory AI Training
• May 26: Memorial Day, No School
• May 27: HS Principal work session 8:00-10:00 TBD (moved from May 20)
• May 31: HS only: Deadline by which Distracted Driving assembly or advisory lesson is completed
• June 4: All Admin PD at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• June 12: Last Day students—half day
• June 13: Last Day staff work day
• June 10: HS Principal work session 8:00-10:00 @ TBD

Where in the World

This week we are highlighting Ryan Kelling, Executive Director of Human Resources. Ryan shared that Poipu Beach, Kauai is his happy place. “We come back every year as a family, and each time I’m reminded just how much I have to be grateful for. I’m wound pretty tight most days, but in Poipu, the noise quiets. Being with the people I love most, in a place that lets me be fully present, is enough.”

To Do

Staffing allocations and templates have been shared with principals. We will review plans with principals the week of April 21.

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

From Departments

From Lisa in the Superintendent’s Office:

This year we have done a lot of work on policy and implementation discussion related to AI use in BLPS. This training is MANDATORY for all school admin and you may choose between 4 options (5/20, 6/10, 6/17). Please refer to the document below to sign up for a time. They are listed in Yellow. 

As a reminder, Optional PD opportunities are available for all. As always, if you have an interest in a specific topic, please feel free to let me know so we can work on standing up some trainings. Have a great day. -L

Mandatory AI Training

Calendar

• April 14: Personal Finance Training (required for HS teachers teaching the course) @Ed Center, Room 203 8-4.
• April 14-18: KT out of the office
• April 22: HS Administrator work session 8:00-10:00 @ Realms HS
• April 23: END for all teachers
• 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
• May 1: HS only: HSS $ must be spent!
• May 7: District Safety Cadre Training @ 1:30 – mandatory for all safety admin leads
• May 20: HS Principal work session 8:00-10:00 @ BSHS Perseverance Hall
• May 31: HS only: Deadline by which Distracted Driving assembly or advisory lesson is completed.
• June 10: HS Principal work session 8:00-10:00 @ TBD
• May 20, June 10 and June 17: Mandatory AI training. Sign up for one session! Mandatory AI Training

Where in the World

This week, we are highlighting Susie Alvarez Tostado, Assistant Principal at Caldera High School. Susie shared, “my happy place is traveling. Anywhere and everywhere.  This picture is from this year’s international trip to Iceland, southern coast from Reykjavik and back.”

To Do

HSS Spending: All HSS money must be spent by May 1, which is in four weeks!

From Departments

From Scott and Kayla in Safety:

Here are the Safety Cadre #3 Training Slides- Secondary from the last meeting.

Wednesday, May 7^th is our fourth and final training of the year. Safety administrators for every school are required to attend this training.

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From Ryan in Human Resources:

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 BLPO

For our semester schools, next Friday, April 11^th is the last day that students with a W. For our trimester schools, the date is May 2^nd.

Senior’s last day is May 18^th. 

OSSMs are working to pull the reports and share these dates with students and counselors.

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

Emergency contacts:

We’ve learned from other districts across the country who have experienced immigration raids, or smaller-scale detention/deportation actions in their community, the importance of having up-to-date emergency contacts in Synergy for each student.  If parents/guardians suddenly become unavailable, we rely on emergency contacts–outdated information adds stress to an already traumatic situation.  

With conferences coming up, please encourage families (all families, not just those to whom the above situation might apply) to update their emergency contacts.  This might look like a station in your lobby with iPads and instructions (I’m working on getting some we can provide you), a reminder by classroom teachers, etc.  

Day of Silence:

The 2025 Day of Silence is coming up (student-led advocacy day to support the LGBTQ community).  I have asked your DEI-ICCL rep and/or GSA advisor to send a message to staff about this day, so staff are aware and know how to navigate.  

If you haven’t seen that message come out to your staff, or if you’d like to re-send it in your staff memos, please reach out to your DEI-ICCL rep.  Teachers should plan for nonverbal or written means of participation in class that day, if possible.

HS Only

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

Seal of Biliteracy (and Multiliteracy!) Cords:

In addition to purchasing the Biliteracy Seal cords like always, we’ll also be purchasing the Multiliteracy Seal cords for schools.  This is the same state award process, but designated for students who qualify in three or more languages.  We’ll get those cords (and the accompanying state-issued certificates and seals) distributed via our normal processes in May.  

You will need to add an asterisk to your grad program, delineating the Oregon State Seal of Multiliteracy and the corresponding cord (gold/white/purple), separate from the asterisk that indicates Oregon State Seal of Biliteracy (purple/silver cord).  This will impact very few students, maybe a couple each year.  

Calendar

• 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 8: ICCL/Administrator training 4:15-6:15 @ BSHS Perseverance Hall
• 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 14-18: KT out of the office
• April 22: HS Administrator work session 8:00-10:00 @ Realms HS
• April 23: END for all teachers
• 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
• May 7: District Safety Cadre Training @ 1:30 – mandatory for all safety admin leads

Where in the World

In this week’s Where in the World, we are highlighting Sean Reinhart, Executive Director of Student Services. Sean’s happy place is on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho.

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!