Congratulations on another successful school year. We hope you take some time to relax and enjoy our beautiful summer weather!
To Do:
From Kinsey:
From Kinsey – Office of Policy & Advocacy:
Formal Complaints: -Action required-
Please go into your Dashboard and ensure you have completed your investigations and communication about each complaint or bias incident in your Dashboard. Be sure to mark it as “Resolved By School” when you have included notes, links/attachments, and other documentation. Reach out if you need support.
Community Engagement Bingo: -Action requested-
Time for prizes! Want to win a gift card ($25-$49.99) to places like El Sancho, Spork, downtown shops like Almadorada Coffee, and more?
If you attended any of the community visits and/or did a home visit this year, please note that here so we can celebrate your leadership and enter you into the raffle. For each Bingo square you completed, your chances of winning will go up! We’ll draw names at our June 15 admin lunch.
HR Evaluation Update:
Finalizing your Summative Evaluations? Please remember the following steps to assist HR.
To allow HR to have access to all of the required pieces of the evaluative process, files must be dropped into the HR provided Google folders, in addition to being linked into the workbook.
What happens if you don’t? Files are not accessible to HR and we have the potential of losing data.
If they are only shared in the spreadsheet without residing in the folders it is possible the files may get lost.
Correct:
Incorrect:
If you need technical assistance in accessing any of the documents or folders/workbook shared again, please reach out to Jessica Lamay.
Thank you all so much, for your continued help in making staff evaluations successful!
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Here is the Standard Operating Procedure for classroom relocations, as well as instructions for submitting a classroom relocation work order in Hero HQ.
From Eric Powell (Student Services):
As you continue to review your end-of-the-year discipline audits (based on previous guidance from IT), please do not hesitate to call or Email me with any Incidents that are being flagged as having errors. I plan to spend time next week reviewing audits district-wide and I can help correct any ‘issues’ to help you finish the year. I know you all have so many things going on right now, so please do not hesitate to reach out!!
From Kinsey:
CFEE:
We have a last-minute opening for the week-long CFEE (racial equity workshop that all of Cabinet and many of our leaders have attended). June 22-26 in Salem, expenses covered. If you’re interested or know someone who is, reach out asap—first come first served.
From Jennifer Hauth:
Here is information on the HDESD Summer Institute flyer, and a direct link to the registration form for easier sharing. Please distribute to your networks! Registration closes 7/31.
For Middle School: The EdTech team will provide Jamf Teacher training with other EdTech topics at each middle school during in-service week. Administrators will sign up for a session when they meet on June 16.
To request a professional learning opportunity or have a conversation about the ways our EdTech team can help at your school, please contact [email protected].
HS Only:
From Educational Technology
For High School: Our team is available to provide professional learning for high school staff on any EdTech topic that may benefit your school. Based on teacher feedback, areas of interest include AI literacy and classroom implementation, device-based behavior management strategies, and purposeful technology use.
To request a professional learning opportunity or have a conversation about the ways our EdTech team can help at your school, please contact [email protected].
Calendar:
June 12: Self Assessment due to Katie or Stephen
June 15: School Design Plan Showcase 9:00 – 11:00 p.m. @ CHS
June 15: End of Year Administrator Celebration (and lunch!) @ HDMS 11:30-1:00
June 16: HS Administrator Retreat 8-4 @ CHS – breakfast and lunch provided
June 16: MS Horizontal on MAPS – 8:30 – 10:13 @ Ed Center
June 19: Juneteenth Holiday!
June 22: MS Principal Retreat – 9-1 @ Deschutes Central Library
Where in the World:
Congratulations to Leslie Reif, who correctly guessed the image from last week! The image was of the Lodge at Lake Quinault located in the Olympic National Forest in Washington. It was built in 1926.
Below is the image for this week. No contest as this is the last blog for the year. Thanks to all for playing and we’ll come up with something new for next year!
Please remember to upload all your documents into your google sheet.
From Departments:
From Andrea in Human Resources:
Safety Committee Meeting Minutes
Please upload all Safety Committee Meeting minutes to your site’s shared Google folder no later than June 30.
Questions? Please reach out to Andrea Wilson.
BLAST Leave Records
BLAST members: If you have not already done so, please submit your leave records documenting all leave taken, including non-contract time, during 2025-26 school year. If using the digital leave record, please remember to print, sign, and submit the completed record to our payroll office. Paper leave records may also be used to document your time. Thanks for helping us close out the school year accurately!
Dr. Karen Mapp’s Family Engagement and Attendance Workshop:
Thanks to all who attended—such great energy to get us through the end of the year!
Next steps: 1) As you work on SIWs, school design plans, and family events for next year, pull up her slides and your notes so you can build on that learning. 2) Be on the look-out for more opportunities with her team in the fall, and a copy of her book heading to your school soon.
Community Engagement Bingo:
Time for prizes! Want to win a gift card ($25-$49.99) to places like El Sancho, Spork, downtown shops like Almadorada Coffee, and more?
If you attended any of the community visits and/or did a home visit this year, please note that here so we can celebrate your leadership and enter you into the raffle. For each Bingo square you completed, your chances of winning will go up! We’ll draw names at our June 15 admin lunch.
MS / HS YouTube Access: Please share this with teachers
IT would like to update instructional staff who have essential content in their coursework that is only available via YouTube. Over the past few weeks, the primary focus in IT has been simplifying the teacher experience for allowing instructional videos while continuing to block all other YouTube content. Our current solution has roughly 7,000 videos that have been submitted by teachers. When our high school students move into this environment, we are predicting around 30,000 videos will be submitted during the first year! With that volume in mind, we have made several improvements over our current allow-list process that will be explained further here.
Currently, our method for submitting YouTube videos is a bit cumbersome. It requires at least three actions by the teacher and could take up to a week before the video becomes available to students.
Planned Improvements
Teaching staff can submit YouTube videos directly to the allow list.
Any video submitted by teaching staff will be assumed to be essential for instruction and will not require Ed Tech or administrative review.
Submitted videos will be available within 30 minutes of submission.
Students will use the same link submitted by the teacher, eliminating the need for teachers to copy and paste embed links.
This improved method requires only one action by the teacher and could allow the video to be available to the students in as few as thirty minutes.
Potential Enhancements
We are currently researching the ability to automatically scan all Bend-La Pine Schools Canvas courses for YouTube video links and automatically add them to the allow list.
This enhancement would significantly reduce the workload for staff who need students to access YouTube content on their iPads.
What can you do?
When staff return in the fall, IT will have a mechanism to collect YouTube links that folks need for instruction. Until then, you might consider keeping a running list of the YouTube “must have” videos for submission when the tool is ready. Or, do nothing and enjoy a beautiful summer! Just know that we are taking this matter seriously, and plan to deliver you the most effective and efficient solution possible before your students return to the classroom.
Remember, we don’t automatically ID students based on screening from a test. However, we do flag students in the 97th percentile or above for a case study conversation that could lead to an identification. Additionally, the 97th percentile is a starting point we CAN identify students with other high percentiles if we look at need and other factors impacting a student. Please reach out to Jess Scott or Stephen DuVal with any questions.
Please remember to identify the admin and 1-2 staff to attend the workgroup session on August 25.Please have the people attending for your school register through this link.
The workgroup will review and revise the middle school Wayfinder/Advisory scope and sequence to make sure it’s meeting the needs of schools and aligns with best practices for bullying and substance use prevention.
Bend-La Pine Schools received a grant to be able to timesheet up to 14 school staff (~2 per school) for this workgroup. Please register yourself and your staff, or let me know if you will not have staff attending (so that another school may be able to bring more staff).
HS Only:
From Jenn:
Please make sure all seniors complete the Senior Year End Activity, as we need their personal emails and where to send their final transcripts.
Schoolinks is also where they will access their transcripts in the future so they need their alumni accounts😊
Calendar:
June 11: Last day of school!
June 12: Self Assessment due to Katie or Stephen
June 15: School Design Plan Showcase 9:00 – 11:00 p.m. @ CHS
June 15: End of Year Administrator Celebration (and lunch!) @ HDMS 11:30-1:00
June 16: HS Administrator Retreat 8-4 @ CHS – breakfast and lunch provided
June 16: MS Horizontal on MAPS – 8:30 – 10:13 @ Ed Center
June 19: Juneteenth Holiday!
June 22: MS Principal Retreat – 9-1 @ Deschutes Central Library
Where in the World:
Congrats to Kelly Beaudry for correctly identifying the image from the blog as Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park. It is the largest hot spring in the US and a must see!
Below is the image for this week. Send us your guess for this location by Monday, win the drawing, and Stephen or Katie will bring you your school appropriate beverage of choice:
On Wednesday of this week, we trained office managers on use of ParentSquare. Our family liaison team also attended this training. We learned more about how schools currently use School Messenger, including to message secondary students. This is helpful as we prepare for School Messenger to end on June 30 and we transition to use of ParentSquare as our primary family messaging and engagement tool.
Next week we will invite all district staff to activate their ParentSquare accounts. We are not ready for you (outside of our 5 South County pilot schools) to begin using ParentSquare to communicate with your families, but you will see some content we plan to share from the District level now through summer. Schools may begin using ParentSquare in August, and teachers will be able to use it once trained in early September.
Bringing families into the ParentSquare fold will take time, and we’d like to begin around the end of the school year. Parents will receive an invite to verify their accounts, set preferences, and download the ParentSquare app. We will schedule reminders to those who don’t respond to the initial invite. It’s important to know that even if a parent never responds to these invites, they will still receive our ParentSquare communications — as emails — but they won’t benefit from the full features of ParentSquare, such as setting their message preferences or using the handy mobile app.
We’re looking at dates when we can offer school administrators basic training on using ParentSquare and will communicate those details soon.
Our training opportunity for all teachers and any other staff who need to be ready to communicate with families will be the second day of in-service week:
PARENTSQUARE BASIC TRAINING
Tuesday, Sept. 1, 10-11 a.m.
Teams meeting (link to be shared later) with a trainer from ParentSquare
Note that this will begin shortly after the Superintendent’s Welcome Back program at 8:30 a.m. You may want your team to remain together in the same space.
On Wednesday, Sept. 2, we will provide follow-up ParentSquare support opportunities at the District-led PD (elementary at Caldera, secondary at Pacific Crest).
After school starts, we would like to visit every school for drop-in sessions for staff who’d like to ask questions or get help using ParentSquare.
Please reach out if you have questions on any of this. Thanks!
From Rodger Moore, Director of Facility Operations
To help schools manage classroom relocations smoothly and minimize disruption to instruction, the district is developing a standardized process for both same-school and inter-school moves. The procedure is intended to outline clear responsibilities for administrators, teachers, custodial teams, maintenance, and IT staff to help ensure moves are coordinated efficiently. The district is currently testing our work order platform Hero HQ for submitting move requests and coordinating details such as scheduling, technology needs, furniture, and specialty equipment. Additional procedures, expectations, and implementation guidance will be communicated in an upcoming Level Leaders’ Blog once the workflow and support processes are finalized.
Large-scale moves, such as the Realms transition, will be exempt from this process.
Please read this week’s Special EDge to get more information about:
Review End of Year Check-out Process
Complete High Cost
Paperwork Deadline – June 5!
ESY Case Managers – Reach out to Sara Young with new students who qualify and continue to reach out to families you haven’t heard from
Utilize the Student Services Launchpad
Save the Date for upcoming events
MS Only
Ed Tech Training
Be on the look out for communication from the Ed Tech team about in-service training on tech tools including Jamf. Please coordinate a time for your staff in the fall.
Calendar
June 4: Graduation week begins!
June 11: Last day of school!
June 15: School Design Plan Showcase 9:00 – 11:00 p.m. @ CHS
June 15: End of Year Administrator Celebration (and lunch!) @ HDMS 11:30-1:00
June 16: HS Administrator Retreat 8-4 TBD
June 16: MS Horizontal on MAPS – 8:30 – 10:13 @ Ed Center
June 19: Juneteenth Holiday!
June 22: MS Principal Retreat – 9-1 @ Deschutes Central Library
Who in the world?
Congratulations to an Curfew who won the drawing this week!
He correctly identified the image as Dr. Karen Mapp, who led an outstanding session on family engagement last Thursday!
Dr. Mapp, a Senior Lecturer on Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is a leading family and community engagement expert whose research and practice focus on cultivating partnerships among schools, families, and communities for enhancing student achievement and school performance.
Below is the image for this week. Send us your guess for this location by Monday, win the drawing, and Stephen or Katie will bring you your school appropriate beverage of choice:
Please review ALL your audits on this dashboard including the new Discipline & Attendance Mismatched audit. These audits need to be resolved prior to the end of the school year.
Additional updates for discipline audits have been added to the School Discipline Audits analytics report dashboard. Specifically, an updated version of the “Discipline & Attendance Mismatch” report is at the bottom of the dashboard (you will need to scroll down to see it).
Jason Westmoreland [[email protected]] would like additional feedback on this audit specifically. Are there changes that would be helpful, are there any false positive or incorrect entries shown, or is there any confusion surrounding how to resolve the audits?
To access the discipline audits (until we are able to publish this to a PAD Tree location), you will need to use the Quick Launch, by typing ‘Synergy Analytics Home Page’ and selecting the entry.
Once you are on the Synergy Analytics Home Page, click the ‘hamburger’ under the label, and expand the navigation links. Find the Discipline option and select it.
You may be presented with a number of options to choose from (I recommend exploring when you have time), however, to review discipline audits, you will need to select the ‘School Discipline Audits’ dashboard from the Audits group.
Once you have selected the appropriate dashboard, there will be multiple audits available on the page. The new ‘Discipline & Attendance Mismatched’ audit is at the bottom of the page (you will need to scroll down using the far-right scroll bar – multiple scrolls may be nested).
The audit is intended to show you where ISS/OSS discipline and attendance are not matched on a given day. Based on what actually happened with a specific student / disposition, you should correct either the disposition Dates & Days, or the Attendance codes for those days (and appropriate periods).
Remember that you can expand individual reports in the dashboard to expand the entire display window by using the four arrows pointing to the corners. This will expand the report to use the whole screen for easier navigation.
NOTE: If you have questions regarding how to resolve these audits (or any audits on this dashboard) please connect with Jason Westmoreland (x1222)
From Departments
From Lisa, Deputy Superintendent
Check out this Spring Update regarding Technology and Assessments for the 26-27 school year.
We are currently processing curriculum requests for next year. Approximately 75% of teachers have submitted requests so far. The form will remain open, but please note that May 31 is the deadline for receiving feedback on submissions. Requests submitted in June may not receive feedback, which is especially important if a request is denied.
Please remind colleagues to complete the curriculum request form. They can find related messages from BLS Instructional Technology ([email protected] (opens in new tab)
Updates to curriculum requests are posted on the same page.
As you know, state law prohibits us from requiring families to provide school supplies for their children’s education. Even suggesting contributions in a way that creates undue pressure or expectation for family donations is inappropriate and doesn’t align with our equity values. Please be sure your staff clearly understand this expectation and the reasons for it.
That said, some families would really like to contribute, and I know we’re all interested in maximizing community support to take the edge off our budgets. To balance these competing interests, here are some recommended practices:
Make it very clear to families that there is no obligation for any family to contribute any school supplies.
Avoid publishing classroom- or grade-specific “lists” that can create a sense of obligation.
Let families know that, for those who have extra supplies at home or who simply enjoy purchasing and contributing supplies to prepare for school each fall, the school will accept voluntary donations of general, unused supplies during your fall Welcome Back/Curriculum Night events.
Have school-wide “Optional School Supply Donations” buckets/tubs available in the front lobby during fall events, rather than having families take supplies to a particular teacher or classroom (where donations are more attributable to individual students, which increases pressure).
Pride Month:
June is Pride Month! Bend-La Pine Schools will have our regular booth at the summer Pride festival on June 6th–drop by and visit!
Encourage your teachers to cover LGBTQIA2S+ history (supported by Oregon required standards) by implementing some of the lessons, read-alouds, and activities available on our district Equity Resources page (click on Cultural Calendar, then scroll to June). Here are some teacher prep tips, and/or contact the Advocacy Coaches for instructional support.
Feeding protocols have been updated, completed, and sent to records
Evaluations finished and uploaded
Medicaid logs are completed in SEAS until last day served
All equipment lists are updated
When you have completed this meeting and have all of your paperwork complete, the admin who supports your site (Josh, Colleen, or Sara) will let your building administrator know that you have the GREEN LIGHT from Student Services to check-out for the year! 🙂
If you have any questions, please reach out to the coach who supports your site!
We are currently investigating the option to discontinue Adobe Creative Cloud licenses for all students in grades K–8. Instead, we are exploring a targeted approach by providing licenses specifically for CTE classes and other courses where Adobe tools are required for instruction.
Our usage data shows that student use of Adobe Creative Cloud applications outside of CTE and journalism classes is limited. As a result, we are hoping to reduce costs by focusing licensing on programs and classes where the tools are actively used and instructionally necessary.
If you currently use Adobe Creative Cloud with students in your class, please add your request to the Instructional Tools Request document so we are aware of your instructional need. Requests and approvals will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Thank you for your understanding and partnership as we work to balance instructional needs with responsible stewardship of district resources.
This change will not impact staff Adobe Creative Cloud Accounts.
From Rodger Moore, Director of Facility Operations To help schools manage classroom relocations smoothly and minimize disruption to instruction, the district is developing a standardized process for both same-school and inter-school moves. The procedure is intended to outline clear responsibilities for administrators, teachers, custodial teams, maintenance, and IT staff to help ensure moves are coordinated efficiently. The district is currently testing our work order platform Hero HQ for submitting move requests and coordinating details such as scheduling, technology needs, furniture, and specialty equipment. Additional procedures, expectations, and implementation guidance will be communicated in an upcoming Level Leaders’ Blog once the workflow and support processes are finalized.
Large-scale moves, such as the Realms transition, will be exempt from this process.
From slide 11 Canvas/Syllabus statements for supplemental materials
In response to students’ learning needs, current events, or newly available sources, I will periodically supplement our major text with other materials.
If you do not want your student to read/view any supplemental materials, please let me know. Your student can wait to read/view the material until after they have shared it with you.
State requirement: One year at the high school level. MS every year.
26-27 pilot year, no Synergy entry required.
26-27 END’s will be used to adjust, review, etc. for USH teachers.
The task is adaptable to a current task in your classroom. And similar enough (3-part task) to meet the state requirements.
Rubric language was created from ELA Speaking Rubrics/State Speaking Rubrics
Rubric language utilizes our standard: Communication and Argumentation with emphasis on speaking.
No requirements at this time to upload tasks, samples etc. to a common portal.
HS Only
From Jenn and Jess:
Reminder that all seniors need to complete the Senior Year-End Activity and Alumni Access setup in SchooLinks prior to graduation. This should be included as part of each school’s senior checkout process.
This is especially important because students need to have their alumni access set up before their SchooLinks account transitions to alumni status. Their alumni account will become their primary way to access transcripts after graduation.
I know some schools are completing this with seniors next week, but I wanted to send a quick reminder and share the current completion numbers below. Reach out to Jess with questions.
May 28: Waypoints Core Skills assessment window closes for secondary
June 4: Graduation week begins!
June 15: School Design Plan Showcase 9:00 – 11:00 p.m. @ CHS
June 15: End of Year Administrator Celebration (and lunch!) @ HDMS 11:30-1:00
June 16: HS Administrator Retreat 8-4 TBD
June 19: Juneteenth Holiday!
Who in the world?
Congratulations to former history teacher Colin Bado with correctly identifying Bikini Atoll in the blog. Bikini Atoll was the site of massive nuclear testing for the US in the 1940s and 1950s. The impact on the native cultures to that area was long lasting and significant. If you are a bit of a history buff, National Geographic did a documentary that covered these tests and their impact along with the physical impacts on the ocean floor. Side brag: my brother is featured in the documentary as his team was the one to map the ocean floor.
Below is the image for this week. Send us your guess for this location by Monday, win the drawing, and Stephen or Katie will bring you your school appropriate beverage of choice:
Please remember to upload all your documents into your google Sheet.
From Departments
From Kinsey – Office of Policy & Advocacy:
Student Voice Council: – Action requested –
We are beginning recruitment for 26-27 Student Voice Council representatives. As you’re aware, this group has an impactful seat at the district leadership table, so ensuring great representation for your school (and feeder schools) is important!
Good news: we have a very stable group who will continue next year, so we are only filling a few spots, primarily of graduating seniors. We need to fill the following seats: 1 for BSHS, 1-2 for DRHS, 2-3 for CHS, 2 for LPHS, 4 for MVHS, 3 for SHS.
What makes a good candidate? A student who is consistent, collaborative, and creative, and has something to say about school. As always, we are looking for diversity of identities, academic profiles (i.e. we don’t only need 4.0 students), and experiences in or out of school.
Current SVC members will help recruit, but we need staff engagement also! Current 8th – 11th graders are welcome to apply, and we’d love middle and high school administrators, counselors, specialists, club advisors, campus monitors, and others with student connections to help recommend students and encourage them to apply. Thanks for sharing this with your staff and school community.
From Aimee Snyder with Deschutes County Health:
Follow-up to the April 9 Blog Post: Optional Resources to Prevent “Look-alike” Substance Use Policy Violations
In addition to the optionalhigh school lesson shared in the April 9 blog post, we’ve now added these additional optional resources for both middle and high schools:
For Families – English and Spanish Family Newsletter PSA about Look-alikes as a Policy Violation
For Middle School Students – Slides and adaptation notes for a “whole school” administrator’s announcement about look-alikes
Please reach out to your Public Health Specialist for help coordinating the rollout of any of these resources.
These resources would be most effective if delivered as part of a coordinated sequence of activities that surround students with consistent substance use prevention messages from various trusted “messengers” (admin, Health teacher, peer leaders, parent/family).
From Rodger in Operations:
To help schools manage classroom relocations smoothly and minimize disruption to instruction, the district is developing a standardized process for both same-school and inter-school moves. The procedure is intended to outline clear responsibilities for administrators, teachers, custodial teams, maintenance, and IT staff to help ensure moves are coordinated efficiently. The district is currently testing our work order platform Hero HQ for submitting move requests and coordinating details such as scheduling, technology needs, furniture, and specialty equipment. Additional procedures, expectations, and implementation guidance will be communicated in an upcoming Level Leaders’ Blog once the workflow and support processes are finalized.
Large-scale moves, such as the Realms transition, will be exempt from this process.
Please read this week’s Special EDge for information about:
Complete High Cost
Note the Paperwork Deadline – June 5!
ESY Case Managers – Reach out to Sara Young with new students who qualify and continue to reach out to families you haven’t heard from
TOSA Updates
From Colleen Behrens, Science TOSA
Science Materials and Scheduling
As you build next year’s schedule, please consider how many teachers are assigned to teach the same course during the same period, as they may need to share science kits and equipment. While we are working to support teachers’ needs, the number of kits at each site is limited, so thoughtful scheduling can help ensure reliable access for all teachers.
Science Trainings
Teachers should attend the training that aligns with the course they will be teaching next year.
High school
May 19th – MVHS- all day PEER Physics
May 21st – MVHS- all day Savvas Chemistry
Middle School
May 28th– Bend Science Station – All day 6th grade science teachers**
May 28th– PCMS – All day 7th and 8th grade science teachers
**Teachers who will be teaching both 6th grade and either 7th or 8th grade next year will need to choose which session to attend.
MS ONLY
Dean and Linda will be proctoring the iReady Bypass Test at middle schools between May 22nd and May 29th. Please be sure to communicate with families about this opportunity.
May 14th: MS Only – TAG Admin/ICCL Meeting @ Ed Center 3:30 – 5:00
May 14: Latino Family Night 5:30 @ MVHS
May 15: HS Principal Connection 8-10 @ RHS
May 19: Secondary Administrator work session @ CHS 9-11 – focus on SBIG
May 25: Memorial Day Holiday, no School
May 28: Waypoints Core Skills assessment window closes for secondary
June 15: School Design Plan Showcase 9:00 – 11:00 p.m. @ CHS
June 15: End of Year Administrator Celebration (and lunch!) @ HDMS 11:30-1:00
Where in the World
Congratulations to Becky Aylor for correctly guessing the image from last week!
The image was of the The Cinque Terre, Italy: The Italian candy land of colour, the five villages that make up the Cinque Terre provide the perfect oasis for escaping the Italian summer heat and the perfect test for colour blindness.
Below is the image for this week. (Hint: It’s famous for its role in US atomic testing). Send us your guess for this location by Monday, win the drawing, and Stephen or Katie will bring you your school appropriate beverage of choice:
HS Principals:Send out the senior message regarding pranks to your seniors and families of seniors next week. The message will be sent centrally from District Office tomorrow
HS Principals: Collect/bring feedback from your admin team on the ACR process proposal. Prepare to share at May 15th meeting.
Here is the updated (26-27 through 28-29 school years) list of key religious observance dates to protect when scheduling any academic or extracurricular events. This applies to field trips, family nights, info sessions, tests and exams, special one-time assemblies or events, etc.
Please be sure you have shared that document with all relevant staff: office managers, activities and athletics, counselors, family engagement team, PTA/Booster Club leadership, ICCL team, etc.
Those key observances are also all populated into our 26-27 district-wide Family Engagement calendar in Outlook. If you add that calendar to your school or dept calendar, those “do not schedule” dates (along with any district-wide family events) will be visible to you, to avoid scheduling conflicts.
From Departments
From Ryan:
We are continuing our Classified staffing reconciliation process to ensure that all staff entitled to positions for next school year are appropriately placed. As we complete this work, we are going to temporarily pause posting additional Classified positions until those staff impacted are notified.
We expect communication regarding employees who will be involuntarily transferred to go to building leaders on Wednesday, May 13th, with the expectation that conversations with staff occur by Friday, May 15th.
Following that process, we will move forward with posting Classified positions for next year. In an effort to align our Certified and Classified staffing processes, we will also pause posting new Certified positions for the 2026–27 school year until May 15th.
From Scott and Kayla in Safety on behalf of Bend PD
Just giving you a heads up that your school SRO may be contacting you about gathering some student generated art that they can display in the Bend Police Department. We are unsure about the amount of space they have to display these works, so please talk with your SRO before doing anything. There is also talk that it may be themed related (Nature, animals, F1 cars–wink wink etc.) Your SRO may know about that as well. Thanks for considering helping make their space feel fun and celebrated.
All AP and IB Social Studies teachers were given the paid (sub or curricular rate) opportunity to meet as subject area/class PLC’s to plan and discuss rubric conversions. At this time, one person from MVHS and two from Summit were interested. BHS opted for summer work.
The TOSA/TL team hoped to facilitate this work before the start of next year. Based on the SS teacher feedback, I need to pivot and will offer END breakout sessions or some time in the fall for SS teachers to calibrate.
Dean’s got it; there is variation in content area rubrics, type of question and points allocated. It is not always a one rubric fit all model. This doesn’t mean we can’t calibrate on the 0-4 BLP scale. It will look a little different than the model presented, depending on the class.
Calibration work can happen with a shift in our timeline goal.
I added building leaders from other schools to offer them an update.
Calendar
May 13: All Admin Training 3-4:30 @ MVHS
May 13: Excellence in Ed Awards 4:30-6:30 @ MVHS
May 14th: MS Only – TAG Admin/ICCL Meeting @ Ed Center 3:30 – 5:00
May 14: Latino Family Night 5:30 @ MVHS
May 15: HS Principal Connection 8-10 @ RHS
May 19: Secondary Administrator work session @ CHS 9-11 – focus on SBGI
May 21: Karen Mapp session on Chronic Absenteeism 8-12 – Admin lead for attendance attends
May 25: Memorial Day Holiday, no School
May 28: Waypoints Core Skills assessment window closes for secondary
June 15: School Design Plan Showcase 9:00 – 11:00 p.m. @ CHS
June 15: End of Year Administrator Celebration (and lunch!) @ HDMS 11:30-1:00
Where in the World
Congrats to Quinn McAndrews for correctly identifying the island green at Coeur d’Alene Resort. The green is surrounded by water and golfers ride a ferry out to finish the hole. The green can be moved with a cable system that allows the distance from the tee box to change depending on the day you are there.
Below is the image for this week. Send us your guess for this location by Monday, win the drawing, and Stephen or Katie will bring you your school appropriate beverage of choice:
For ALL Administrators: Please take a moment to review the “Incident Approval Queue” in Synergy for your school (you can access this via a Quick Launch search).
We currently have 485 incidents waiting to be approved via this queue (district-wide) with some occurring all the way back in September – And our Administrators are the ones who need to approve/deny these incidents.
If you are unfamiliar with the Incident Approval Queue, please call Eric Powell (4810) and he can help you out.
From Katie and Stephen:
Open House and staff attendance:
Just a reminder to schedule your Open House date for the fall AND send a notice in writing of your expectations regarding staff attendance 60 days prior to the event!
Requiring certified staff member attendance at evening events:
Attending/participating in three evening events each school year is required for certified staff members. In accordance with the BEA contract, administrators must give 60 days’ written notice if you are requiring certified staff to attend/participate in an evening event. This would apply to any evening event in which you are requiring cert staff to attend and will not be compensating them for their time(ie: dance or event supervision in which you are NOT compensating; graduation; Academic Nights; Life and Career Events).
Participation at parent conferences:
Attendance at parent conferences is already part of the professional responsibilities for certified staff members. Coaches on staff who are late or do not attend parent conferences should work with administration to make up the time. Reach out to Katie, Stephen or HR Leadership with questions.
From Jennifer Hauth:
Please remind your teams about implementing the Waypoints Core Skills assessment for the end of the year summative😊 K-5 closes May 22nd and Secondary closes May 28th!
From Departments
From Katie and Stephen:
Thank you for updating your staffing plans as changes occur.
Secondary schools will be presenting their School Design Plans Monday, June 15th from 9-11 @ CHS. Each school will present for 10 minutes, and cabinet members will sign up to attend. Please use this template for your presentation.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, introduced a new version of their product, designed specifically for educators, and it is now available to all BLS staff by request. It includes expanded capabilities, higher usage limits, and protections for professional use in education, going beyond what is available in a standard free ChatGPT account. You can find details about access, best practices for use, and how it fits alongside MagicSchool in our EdTech blog post: ChatGPT for Teachers. Please feel free to share.
Please read this week’s packed Special EDge for information about:
Check out the Reminders from Records
Complete High Cost
Elementary Case Managers: ECSE Bridges Information from Krista
Order Deadline
ESY Case Managers – Reach out to Sara Young with new students who qualify and continue to reach out to families you haven’t heard from
Check out the Learning Labs
Check out the incredible work of teams in Campus Kudos!
Utilize the Student Services Launchpad
Save the Date for upcoming events
From Tami Pike:
TOSA Corner
From Monica Freeman – SS TOSA:
Here is a link to updates for both MS and HS Social Studies.
From Torie Withers, Language Arts TOSA:
Spring in secondary Language Arts means collaboration and planning. Teachers are engaging in CDA collaborations while also working through key decisions around standards and score conversions in AP courses.
CDA collaborations include scoring calibration of student essays, engagement with our newly revised priority standards and holistic rubrics, discussion of next year’s on-demand writing prompt and assessed standards, and dedicated professional learning focused on current literacy research and instructional strategies.
Upcoming grade-level CDA collaboration dates:
Friday, May 1: 8th Grade
Tuesday, May 12: 11th & 12th Grades
Thursday, May 14: 9th Grade
Friday, May 15: 6th Grade
Friday, May 22: 10th Grade
Additionally, our spring Text Review meeting will take place on Thursday, May 21. During this time, pending book club titles will be reviewed and considered for approval.
You may have seen a note about the Karen Mapp training on May 21 in the HS admin piece last week. Middle Schools also need to prioritize sending the administrator in your school who oversees attendance.
Here is the info again: On Thursday, May 21 from 8:00–12:00 (and continuing into next school year), national expert Dr. Karen Mapp will join us in person to help us reflect on our current work, identify school-specific and districtwide coordinated efforts, and plan concrete, evidence-based strategies to reduce chronic absenteeism. This is a valuable opportunity to reflect on this year and begin planning for next year.
HS Only:
Karen Mapp Training:
Send Katie the name of the administrator who will attend the Karen Mapp training on May 21 8-12. This should be the administrator who oversees attendance. Principals are also welcome, and we encourage graduation coaches to attend. Thank you, BSHS! We will send them an invite to the training.
Principals, please share this message with your Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and College Dual Credit Teachers:
We continue to encourage you to engage in collaboration with other AP, IB and CDC teachers in backwards designing your courses for SBGI implementation beginning in the fall.
Our TOSAs will be reaching out to coordinate time for AP, IB, and CDC teachers teaching the same courses to work together. The offer still stands to pay for substitutes to collaborate during the school day, or we can timesheet you up to 8 hours for work outside of the workday.
If you are a College Dual Credit Teacher, please share the contact information for your mentor with Dean, Katie and your content area TOSA. We are happy to connect with college mentors to provide context for the work and answer questions.
Please reach out to Katie or Dean regarding questions about collaboration, to Dean for questions about time sheeting and to your TOSA for scheduling and content planning specifics.
Open Period notification for families and students:
Beginning with 26-27, we will add the following language to our curriculum guides to notify families about open periods:
Curriculum Guide verbiage:
Students in grades 9-11 are required to enroll in a full courseload. Students in grade 12 have the flexibility to enroll in up to 7 classes depending on their credits towards graduation. Students interested in having less than 7 classes must consult with their counselor to ensure that they meet graduation requirements and on track for their post-high school plan.
This language will be added to student schedules beginning with 26-27:
On student schedules:
If a student is granted an open period, it will be listed on their schedule as “Open Period.” Open periods are typically scheduled during the first or last period of the day; however, exceptions may occur. Reach out to your student’s counselor or your school’s administration if you have questions.
Calendar
May 4: IB/AP LA CDA Meeting
May 13: Excellence in Ed Awards @ MVHS
May 14th: MS Only – TAG Admin/ICCL Meeting @ Ed Center 3:30 – 5:00
May 19: Secondary Administrator work session @ CHS 9-11 – focus on SBGI
May 21: Karen Mapp session on Chronic Absenteeism 8-12 – Admin lead for attendance attends
Where in the World?
Congrats to to Dan Curfew for being the ONLY person to correctly guess the image from last week! 🙌
The image is of Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat (مسقط, Maskat) Sultanate of Oman. The Grand Mosque is located in Oman outside of the capital of Muscat. Oman is on the Arabian Peninsula and hugs the Gulf of Oman, with Iran and Pakistan across the Hormuz Straight and the Arabian sea along the east coast.
Here is the image for this week. Send us your guess for this location by Monday, win the drawing, and Stephen or Katie will bring you your school appropriate beverage of choice:
Option sets for curriculum ordering are due next week! Dean ran a virtual trainings for the HS admin leads on Monday of this week. If you weren’t able to make the meeting or have additional questions, please reach out to Dean.
Thank you for updating your staffing plans as changes are occur. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From Eric, please provide comments for the 26-27 Code of Conduct:
As we look toward the 26-27 school year, we wanted to give administators at each of our levels an opportunity to make comments/propose adjustments to the Code of Conduct.
Ideas presented within the comment copies for your level (below) will be reviewed and discussed at a district Code of Conduct review meeting and also processed through the District’s Culture & Climate Task Force.
Chronic Absenteeism: Family Engagement and Attendance:(Action needed)
We know you are working hard to get kids to school. As part of our broader efforts to improve student attendance under the leadership of Eric and his team, and in alignment with our ongoing work on student voice, dignity, and belonging, in addition to our school design plan improvement cycles, we will be taking a closer look at the connection between family engagement and chronic absenteeism. Research shows that specific, practical family engagement strategies can significantly improve student attendance across K–12.
On Thursday, May 21 from 8:00–12:00 (and continuing into next school year), national expert Dr. Karen Mapp will join us in person to help us reflect on our current work, identify school-specific and districtwide coordinated efforts, and plan concrete, evidence-based strategies to reduce chronic absenteeism. This is a valuable opportunity to reflect on this year and begin planning for next year.
Your Advocacy ICCL rep will attend, with substitute costs covered by the Office of Policy and Advocacy. If there are one or two additional staff members (ex: family engagement committee members) who would benefit from participating, they are welcome as well—we can support some additional substitute costs; please contact me if interested in adding participants. Please also plan for an administrator to join us. This work will directly inform your 2026–27 school design plan and provide practical tools to strengthen attendance efforts.
More information to follow—for now, please mark your calendar.
ELL/Multilingual Services (From Liza): (FYI)
Hello admin teams! I wanted to inform you about a change in ELPA test scores this school year, per ODE:
There is a new ELPA score called “Early Proficient.”
“Early Proficient” means the student scored very close to proficient, so they may be able to exit English Language Learner (ELL) status.
Next steps: Language Specialists will connect with the families of students who have scored “Early Proficient” and set up meetings to discuss their options during their case management periods. See the attached family flyer.
The decision must be made by a parent, guardian, or by the student themselves if they are an adult (18 yrs. or older). All forms are due by June 11, 2026.
Your Language Specialist will be connecting with you on this new process. If you have additional questions, please reach out to me directly. Happy to support! -Liza
In regards to the Karen Mapp training on May 21, the administrator in your school who oversees attendance is required to attend. I will send them an invite to the training.
Calendar
April 22: Forestry/Natural Resources CTE PD @ COCC
April 23: Manufacturing/Natural Resources CTE PD
April 23: MS Horizontal 3-5 @ Pacific Crest
April 28: AP LA Rubric collaboration and decision making teams meeting 8:00
April 30: AP LA Rubric collaboration and decision making teams meeting 8:00
May 1: HS Principal Connection @ BSHS in Perseverance Hall 8-10
May 1: 8th Grade LA CDA Meeting
May 4: IB/AP LA CDA Meeting
May 19: Secondary Administrator work session @ CHS 9-11 – focus on SBGI
May 21: Karen Mapp session on Chronic Absenteeism 8-12 – Admin lead for attendance attends
Where in the World?
Congrats to Kelly Schmidt for correctly identifying the blog image this week. The worlds largest prairie dog in South Dakota!
Here is the image for this week. Send us your guess for this location by Monday, win the drawing, and Stephen or Katie will bring you your school appropriate beverage of choice:
Secondary schools will be reporting out on their School Design Plans Monday, June 15th from 9-11. Stay tuned for more details.
Departments
From Ryan in HR:
We will be announcing the honorees for the 2026 Excellence in Education on Thursday, April 23rd in an email to all staff.
Please be sure that your site/department’s honorees are recognized ahead of this date so that you can capture the significance of the recognition in a way that is distinct and celebrates the individual.
As a reminder: The event will take place at Mountain View High School on Wednesday, May 13 from 4:30–6:30 p.m.
From ODE:
Here is a link to info on a variety of Youth Advisory Councils. Please share with students.
From Rodger Moore in Operations:
Here is a one page guideline about who is responsible for costs when it comes to repairs and improvements.
From Gabe:
Here is the weekly agenda for Athletics and Activities. April13th-April 17th, 2026
Attached is this week’s Special EDge. Please read to find out more about:
Order Deadline
ESY Case Managers – Please reach out to families and ask them to complete the form that was emailed
Check out the Learning Labs
Check out the incredible work of teams in Campus Kudos!
Utilize the Student Services Launchpad
Save the Date for upcoming events
Calendar
April 22: Forestry/Natural Resources CTE PD @ COCC
April 23: Manufacturing/Natural Resources CTE PD
April 23: MS Horizontal 3-5 @ Pacific Crest
April 26: Summative Wayfinder window opens
May 1st: 8th Grade LA CDA Meeting
May 4th: IB/AP LA CDA Meeting
Where in the World
Congrats to Monica Hanson! 🏆 Monica correctly guessed the image for this week!
The image is of Neuschwanstein Castle in Schwangau, Germany. The Gothic-, Romanesque-, and Byzantine-style castle was built in the late 1800s for King Ludwig II of Bavaria and served as the inspiration for the castle in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. If you get a chance to see it – it is worth it!
Here is the image for this week. Send us your guess for this location by Monday, win the drawing, and Stephen or Katie will bring you your school appropriate beverage of choice:
Stephen and Katie would like to meet with a group of students at each of your schools to collect feedback regarding SBGI. This can be your principal’s student advisory group or perhaps your student leadership. Please work with your level leader to get something scheduled for May.
Hope you all continue to cruise through your evaluation process and have experienced some relief in getting all the steps complete. Just a friendly reminder that we need to have files dropped into your provided Google Files as well as the workbooks for HR to have access.If you are having any issues with the sheet, please remember to reach out to Jessica Lamay or me.
We should be starting the summative cycle for classified staff, so if you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Helpful hints about uploading to your google drives.
Linking Files:
Once you’ve dropped your files into the shared site folders
Please be sure to link them into the correct column of your workbook.
See steps in the samples below:
Click to select the file you are attaching in the workbook.
Click the ‘chain link’ icon to copy the link to that file -OR- Ctrl/Command+C.
Click on the ‘File Chip’ in the corresponding row and column for that employee/eval piece. Ctrl/Command+V -OR- Right mouse click, then click Paste, to attach the file.
Tab -OR- click on the file name pop-up (as above) to complete the attachment.
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) is currently seeking applicants for the African American/Black (AAB) Student Success Advisory Committee (Group). The African American/Black (AAB) Student Success Advisory Committee advises ODE on education matters affecting AAB students and families, in order to address systemic inequities experienced by AAB students, through focused investments and community partnerships that align with the AAB Student Success Plan. Application are due by Friday May 15, 2026 at 3pm.
Position Details
Application Deadline: Friday, May 15, 2026 at 3:00 pm
Applicant Eligibility: High school, college age youth and classroom teachers encouraged to apply
According to ORS 329.841 the Department shall form an Advisory Group consisting of individuals representing: Community members; Education Partners; and including representatives of the Department of Early Learning and Care, Youth Development Oregon, and the Higher Education Coordinating Commission.
Meetings: Monthly 2-hour meetings (Zoom) from September-June, on the second Wednesday of the month, from 9:00am – 11:am PST; One in-person all day retreat in Salem, Fall 2026 TBD
Length of Service: 2 year term with the option to continue for up to 4 years total
The role of the advisory group is to advise the department regarding the AAB Student Success Plan, grant program, and related Oregon Administrative Rules (OARs). Additionally, the department will be considering other intersectional identities, roles of applicants, and regional representation to ensure equitable and diverse representation of AAB communities in the Advisory Committee.
How to Apply
If you are interested in learning more or applying to join the Advisory Group, please complete the Smartsheet application form linked below. The application form is due no later than Friday May 15, 2026 at 3:00pm.
To apply by phone call, video call, written letter, or to request translation services or accommodations, please reach out to the AABSS Student Success Coordinator at [email protected] or 971-208-0483.
Contact Us
Reach out to the AAB Student Success Coordinator at [email protected] with any questions regarding the Advisory Group application process.
Were you forwarded this message? To be directly informed of future opportunities, please subscribe to the ODE.AABSS Student Success Listserv
Departments
From Ryan:
Next week, we’ll be sending out the complete list of each site’s Excellence in Education honoree.
Emails inviting each honoree to the recognition event will go out on Thursday, April 23.
Before that goes out, pleaes take a moment to notify their honorees directly.
We encourage you to start thinking about how you can deliver the news in a celebratory fashion – announce it at a staff meeting, share it in front of peers, or however feels right for your setting. These recognitions reflect the incredible work happening across our system, and we want the entirety of the process to feel meaningful.
The event will take place at Mountain View High School on Wednesday, May 13 from 4:30–6:30 p.m.
Optional High School Resources to prevent “Look-alike” Substance Use Policy Violations
This is an optional lesson high schools can deliver through Health 1 classes or as a recorded presentation by administration for an Advisory announcement (teachers will not have enough context to deliver on their own): “But, is it a substance use policy violation?” Lesson
If you would like additional support to deliver the lesson, please contact Dean and/or Aimee Snyder.
This is in response to emerging issue of student use of caffeine pouches, which are designed to imitate nicotine pouch use.
We worked with our Healthy Schools partnership to make a lesson that informs students of the Student Code of Conduct and provide scenarios that are likely to be a surprise violation for students or families.
Stayed tuned to the newsletter content for family newsletters coming soon.
Please work with your Public Health Specialist to coordinate the roll out of this, if you choose to deliver it as an Advisory or “whole school” announcement this Spring. We will work on adding it to the Health 1 curriculum starting next school year.
May Day (May 1st) celebrates the labor movement and workers’ rights, and is often recognized internationally with protests and rallies. This year, a national “Day Without Immigrants” is also being planned on the same date.
Locally, there are some community groups organizing strikes and community action on May 1st. They are hoping our educators and students will participate in their May Day Strike, and have asked the district to support by facilitating student/staff absences and allowing teams of community volunteers to do service projects on our campuses as a form of the protest on that day.
As you know, our neutrality here is important. If you get similar requests for your school to engage in this effort, here are a few tools:
Our response to their request—feel free to borrow any of this language;
Here is the weekly agenda for Athletics and Activities. April 6th-April 10th, 2026
Calendar
April 14: HS Admin WS 9-11 @ RHS
April 14: MS Walkthroughs @ PCMS
April 15: END Session 2:30-4:00!
April 17: HS Principal Connection 8-10 @ BTA
April 23: MS Horizontal 3-5 @ Pacific Crest
Where in the World
Congratulations to Dan Curfew for correctly identifying the satellite image of Chicago. Fun fact, did you know that in 1900 Chicago reversed the flow of the Chicago river to prevent pollution from flowing into Lake Michigan?
Here is the image for this week. Send us your guess for this location by Monday, win the drawing, and Stephen or Katie will bring you your school appropriate beverage of choice:
