Happy Friday Staff! Last one with students here. The end of a school year always seems to sneak up on us, and while I’m not sure that’s how I would characterize this one, it is still hard to believe we are staring down the last week.

As I was in and out of rooms this week, there was a lot of cool, fun, and engaging things going on. Thank you for doing your best with our students right up through to the end! Enjoy this last weekend!

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Calendar Items:

• Monday – Wednesday, June 14-16
  • Regular B rotation classes and schedule
  • Staff meeting in the cafeteria at 9:30 on Wednesday, June 15 to honor staff who have reached important milestones in their school/district service
• Thursday, June 17
  • SIW start and end times but with all 7 classes (10:35 – 2:57)
  • 8th grade students eat lunch on lower field and then stay for remainder of the day
  • Students receive yearbooks during 1st period
  • Staff get together at Debi Alayan’s house after school. Food assignments to follow.
• Friday, June 18
  • Grades posted by 3 pm
  • If you have a new professional pursuit for next fall and you will not be at PBMS, please make sure you have checked in with Kasey or Lisa about getting your Laptop or iPad checked in.
  • Stancliff out in the PM (Nephew’s wedding in Montana, but I will be accessible if needed by cell)
  • Checkout list turned into Heather

Click here for a more detailed outline of the last week.

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To Do’s:

Teachers, please make sure that you have completed your SLGG tasks by Wednesday. See my email instructions if needed.

Please take a moment to fill out this short survey related to professional development, so that Mary and Chad can have some input for planning inservice, SIWs, and other PD/instructional opportunities.

Reminder to all staff, please complete your MAC training. This will be one of our admin checkout items. Please see the email Raquel sent for resources.

For probationary staff, please make sure you get your self-reflection completed in TalentEd by Tuesday, 6/15 or before your summative meeting, whichever comes first.

As you wind down next week, please make sure to remember to clear out any food items (dry goods or refrigerated) as well as making sure that on the last day everything in the room or office gets unplugged, glassboards are wiped clean, surfaces have been wiped down, and chairs are stacked. Here some info from the sustainability coordinator that can also guide you.

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On the Radar . . .

2 ICCL slots open for next year. Here are the forms if you are interested. Chad and Mary will likely work together on this and reach out to interested staff in early August. Here is the description. Here is the recommendation form.

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Shout out’s . . .

. . . To everyone who helped plan for and did not give up on the talent show!

. . . To Mrs. Crosby, who will continue on with us next year as well as Dani Zepplin, from Wisconsin, who will fill in for Aracely who will be working in the DI program at Bear Creek.

. . . To Mrs. Corson on the healthy arrival of her granddaughter Isabella!

. . . To the Staff kickball team that showed no mercy on the students!

. . . To Mr. Goldstein on the timely arrival of the yearbooks – – and what an incredible effort on his and the students’ part to produce a great book under very tough circumstances!

Birthday wishes go to . . . Kasey Cartmill (6/12), Dan Potts (6/15), and Gavin MacFarland (6/17), Enjoy your day!

What a week! Just when we thought it was shaping up to be a relatively quiet Friday . . . I appreciate your patience and quick action to keep our kids safe today! As I am sure you have heard by now, there was a robbery down off of 2nd, but the suspect was believed to have fled this direction. We were initially told to do a lockdown, but that quickly changed, and we tried to update you ASAP. I know there were some tender emotions, so thank you for tending to our kids and each other with care.

Thank you so much, again, for our surprise get together on Wednesday. Over the last couple of days, I was able to spend some time with the book you gave me, and you were very very kind in your well wishes. As I hope I made clear in my ramblings that day, I have so much confidence that our team at PBMS will continue to thrive and do amazing things for kids and for each other.

Speaking of doing amazing things for kids and each other, there is still plenty we will do this year though we are running out of time to do it. The next couple of weeks will not be as packed with activities relative to a normal year because we still have RSSL guidelines to follow, but we will definitely stay busy. A lot of you’ll find below will look similar to the post from Tuesday. In normal years, there was a tradition of issuing a paper copy of “The Last Two Weeks.” This blog post will effectively serve that purpose, though there is also a link below to a more detailed document.

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Calendar Items:

• Monday, June 7
  • Rotation A (last one!)
  • State testing (grades 7/8) during advisory
• Tuesday, June 8
  • State testing (grades 7/8) during advisory
• Wednesday, June 9
  • Touch base with students in quarantine where needed (We had several get bumped out this week.)
  • SIW – Individual/PLC time (if you wrapped up rotation B summatives this week, it would be great to get those entered into Synergy)
  • Finish up SLGG processing (data to follow, but feel free to fill in the reflection aspects of this form.
• Thursday, June 10
  • State testing (grades 7/8) during advisory
• Friday, June 11
  • Talent show assembly (during advisory; 2 assemblies organized by lunch of advisory teacher)
  • Last day for rotation A work to come in (unless you make arrangements with individual students)
  • State testing make-up
• Monday – Wednesday, June 14-16
  • Regular B rotation classes and schedule
  • Staff meeting in the cafeteria at 9:30 on Wednesday, June 15 to honor staff who have reached important milestones in their school/district service
• Thursday, June 17
  • SIW start and end times but with all 7 classes (10:35 – 2:57)
  • 1st period awards recognition slideshow
  • 8th grade students eat lunch on lower field and then stay for remainder of the day
  • Students receive yearbooks during 1st period
  • Staff get together at Debi Alayan’s house after school. Food assignments to follow.
• Friday, June 18
  • Grades posted by 3 pm
  • Stancliff out in the PM (Nephew’s wedding in Montana, but I will be accessible if needed by cell)

Click here for a more detailed outline of the last two weeks.

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To Do’s:

Look for a link from me or Raquel soon for the resources associated with completing our annual MAC training. Please consider this task one of your final check out items for the end of the year, and let the administrator who works with you know when you have completed it.

Several of you checked in to verify that you had connected with your advisory families, but we also did not hear from several of you. If you have not done so already, go ahead and let us know if that has been done.

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On the Radar . . .

Here is some info from the team at Teaching and Learning for teachers:

Greetings Teachers,

Our teaching and learning staff is once again excited to be planning the Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference for this August.  The conference will be held Wednesday, August 25 and Thursday, August 26th, at Pacific Crest Middle School.  Like other years ITLC will be an energizing way to start the new school year!In light of many aspects of our current situation, ranging from unknowns about gathering size, vaccine distribution, and even interest – we are going to scale down and focus this year’s conference on several large topics with the hope of giving those who participate the chance to dive deeper into the areas of equity, grading practices, and social-emotional wellness.  Each day will include a morning keynote followed by afternoon breakouts around these topics. You can choose to attend as much as you’d like.  Mary Ehrenworth will be our featured presenter for Wednesday the 25th and the team from Creative Leadership Solutions will be leading us in work surrounding Equitable Grading Practices on Thursday, August 26th.

Registration is available now in Performance Matters (after logging in you should see it in “Recommended Training”, click there, then select the “sections” tab to register separately for each day).  

Friday’s edition of EdTech Bytes:

•   Tech Tip: How to quickly combine multiple pdfs
•   Reminder:Google Takeout for those leaving the district
•   Learn about Canvas on your own time

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Shout out’s . . .

To all of you! Thank you again for your kindness and thoughtful words!

Birthday wishes go to . . . Kimberly Flanagan (6/9), Have a great day!

Feels strange to have written the date above, and yet, here we are. One of our students recently remarked: “The only thing that was normal this year was the setting on the washing machine.” So astute! I think this definitely goes for our sense of time during the Pandemic. I apologize for the delay in posting. I was waiting on a couple pieces of information from this weekend.

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Calendar Items:

• Tuesday, June 1
  • Rotation B
• Wednesday, June 2
  • SIW (individual or PLC collaboration)
• Friday, June 11
  • Talent show assembly (during advisory; 2 assemblies organized by lunch of advisory teacher)
• Monday – Wednesday, June 14-16
  • Regular B rotation classes and schedule
• Thursday, June 17
  • SIW schedule but with all 7 classes (10:35 – 2:57)
  • 1st period awards recognition slideshow
  • 8th grade students eat lunch on lower field and then stay for remainder of the day
  • Students receive yearbooks during 1st period
  • See schedule

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To Do’s:

Teachers, to the extent possible, please keep your Synergy gradebook updated with summative scores. This will allow you, students, and families to have a clear sense of missing or otherwise unresolved items that will impact their grade. Families will receive communication that all missing summatives need to be completed by 6/11 unless otherwise arranged with a specific teacher. (Obvously, this would not apply to summatives folks have planned for the last week.) Keeping them updated now will also reduce your workload on the last day when it comes time to post grades.

Important: Please make sure that when you are doing attendance you actually have your screen up where you can verify that there are no C19 codes for that period. We have had some students going 2 or 3 classes into their day when they should be at home.

This is the week that middle school staff are beginning to set up two factor identification for signing on to the network. Please see instructions and more information in the email you should have received from Chad Brewer.

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On the Radar:

Over the course of this week, Mary will be working on organizing the remaining state testing make-ups, and she will reach out with what that will look like. We are trying to get most of these done during advisory next week, but we may have a few pull out scenarios as well.

Jim Boen wanted me to make sure that everyone is aware of this resource associated with employees receiving assistance associated with significant life events or changes that happen.

Mary, Belén and I will be working hard on the master schedule, even though we will likely not be totally done by the last day of school, we should have a solid idea of what your assignments will be, and we will communicate accordingly. Please bear in mind that we still have some moving pieces in the staffing plan, and there can always have a bit of a domino effect as they resolve.

We sent home communication today letting families know that students will be holding on to their iPads this summer, and that we are finalizing the process for issuing hotspots for summer programming as well.

Stand by for details on an end of the year staff social on Thursday, June 17 after school.

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Shout Out’s:

. . . to the all of the staff who participated last week in selecting students for awards and recognition! Thank you for your help on this!

When you see Brenda Berg working with our Life Skills students tell her congrats, as she interviewed for, and received one of our EA positions for the fall!

Birthday love goes to Mike LaTorre (6/2) . . . Have a great day!

“Therefore send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee (me) . . .” Having worked with nurses, families, and staff on the process of verifying whether or not one is fit to return to a public school setting after experiencing symptoms, I now have the opportunity to go through the process myself. I’ve had one negative rapid test, and will verify again Monday morning, and hopefully be back in action. Is there ever a convenient time to miss work? Probably not. Coming down the final stretch of the COVID-19 year certainly would not qualify.

I would have preferred to explain some of what follows in our meeting this morning, but I can circle up with anyone who needs it to clarify.

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CALENDAR ITEMS

• Monday, 5/24
  • Rotation A
  • 8th grade state testing (science) during advisory
  • Make-up night for families that missed the 5th grade move-up orientation back in March (5:30 in English; 6:00 in Spanish)
• Tuesday, 5/25
  • Principal hiring process (staff/community forum at 5:00 PM here: https://bls.fyi/pbmsforum)
• Wednesday, 5/26
  • Fire Drill at 8:30 AM.
  • 2:00 PM grade level deliberations on student recognition awards (This will be hard to do on Webex. Let’s have 6th grade meet in Ruth’s room, 7th grade in Kale’s room, and 8th grade in Nicole’s room.) Spread sheet to follow.
• Thursday, 5/27
  • 8th grade state testing (science) during advisory
• Friday, 5/28
  • 8th grade state testing (science) during advisory

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To Do’s

Teachers, please use this template to send out our 3rd advisory outreach email (or phone call if you prefer or feel it is needed) to your advisory students next week. Wednesday seems like a great day to do this unless you are inundated with calls from quarantined students. Please reach out to the admin you normally work with when this is complete. (No later than Friday 5/28)

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On the radar . . .

Everyone should have received guidance from Lora today regarding the updates to RSSL and mask requirements. Here it is, if you missed it.

For teachers, this is the time of year when we use Wednesdays to collaborate with our PLCs on assessment calibration/reflections and also updates to our course descriptions. Please consider using some of the unstructured Wednesday time to work with your peers on these topics. I will work with Lyndsey to let you know what the best format would be if you want to make updates. If you do not have an old copy you can start by viewing them here on our site.

Some staff have wondered why students that have had a C19 designation in attendance resolve quickly. Here is a link to the document that staff (including me 😉 get from district nursing crew when they have have to be out. You can see on the second page how symptoms are designated. In some cases where there is quick turnaround, students may have had a symptom that resolved right away and were able to quickly get a test with their doc’s signature.

The last week of school will obviously look a bit different this year. The student recognition slide show will be sent to families, and also viewed during school. Monday through Wednesday will be regular days and Thursday will be 10:35-3:00, and we will follow this schedule (that may be subject to minor changes). As you will see, we will do short versions of all classes. 8th grade students will stay down on the lower field for activities from lunch until the end of the day.

Middle School staff will be asked to set up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on Monday, May 31st. This communication will come from Chad in IT. Chad will also be reaching out to identify 1 or 2 people in our building to set up MFA and be a support resource for others in your building. The deadline for setting up MFA will be Monday, July 26^th.

From HR: Starting next week, and for the remainder of the year, we will not be approving any more personal days unless a substitute can be found.  If we have already approved a personal day, then we will honor that decision.  Moving forward, however, if an employee, either classified or certified, asks for a personal day, we need to know that positions will be covered before okaying the request.  As a reminder, there are special agreements with both associations that employees will be paid for unused personal days.

Here is a free summer learning opportunity. The topic is Trauma-Informed Engagement Practices through the process of continuous improvement.

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Shout out’s . . .

. . . to our awesome Web leaders who have been persistent in pushing for creative ways to keep school fun and positive. I get three to five email proposals a week! Please pass along the love!

Birthday wishes got o Mark Fierro (5/25). Enjoy your day!

Happy Monday to all. Short update here. I hope you were able to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend. I was out in the sunny weather for hours and hours only to have the “enjoy” part of that equation usurped by a not quite finished paver project in the backyard. There is nothing like a daily equipment rental fee to motivate, and, unfortunately, I will have at least one more opportunity to rent some equipment I probably I have no business operating.

Thanks to all for a great week last week, between grinding out some state testing and trying to contain the energy of the 8th grade kickball final on Friday we me have inadvertently struck a balance between work and fun. I commend all who were involved on their positivity and can-do attitude.

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Calendar Items:

• Monday, 5/17
  • Rotation B
• Wednesday, 5/19
  • Principal applicant screening (see Mary for details if you are part of that group)
• Friday, 5/21
  • Staff meeting (9:00-9:30 in Stancliff’s Webex)

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On the Radar . . .

I/S and L/L teachers if you are willing, OSU-Cascades is fairly urgently seeking placements for student teachers, so please reach out if you are interested.

If you are fielding questions from students about relaxed mask mandates, you can let them know, that right now, Governor Brown as said that schools will still be requiring masks through the end of the year.

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Shout out’s . . .

. . . go to everyone who rallied last week to fill in for each other. We had a lot of positions that did not fill, and it took a full team effort to get things covered. Special thanks to Heather for organizing the daily scramble!

Happy Friday to all! It wouldn’t be a week in the COVID-19 year without an update to how we do school. Thank you for your patience and grace as we awaited the details of the Wednesday schedule. Below, you will find links to Wednesday programming and schedule.

I appreciate everyone who came out this morning to wind down our week of celebrating teachers. I am so grateful to be able to work with such a talented and committed group of educators. This year has challenged our profession at every level, and everyone has found unique ways to keep our students and our school moving in the right direction. As we head into the final month or so, I will thank you in advance for continuing to meet students where they are at both intellectually and emotionally, and for continuing to bring energy and positivity to your instruction.

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• Monday, 5/10 – Rotation A; volleyball and wrestling begin
• Wednesday, 5/12 – New schedule (Click here)
• Thursday, 5/13 – BSH counseling visit for IB/ELL connections (afternoon pull out in library for students involved)

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TO DO’s:

All staff, please carefully review the following parameters associated with Wednesdays moving forward.

Teachers, please review the information from this flyer about ongoing opportunities to become nationally board certified. The district is eager to have teachers from the same buildings and levels work together.

Teachers, just a reminder to keep CANVAS as up-to-date as possible with assignments and resources to support students who have to quarantine.

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ON THE RADAR:

Look for confirmation from Mary via email that you are dialed in and set up for state testing. She will be bringing pencils, folders, and mints for your students.

Here is the most update guidance from OHA on gatherings.

As the weather warms up, here is some BLS guidance on fans and propping doors:

There is nothing in RSSL directly related to how to address proper use of fans and the safety of opening exterior doors during warm weather days (or for added ventilation) so our team of health professionals who meets on Fridays gave input into acceptable use.  

Fans can only be used if they are pulling fresh air in from the outside (stationed by a window or exterior door) not if they are only circulating existing air in the classroom (therefore, ceiling fans should not be used).

Any exterior classroom door that is within the fenced area of a school can be opened.  Exterior doors not within a fenced area can be opened but must be closely supervised (ie. closed when no adult is monitoring it).

Dean Richards and Michelle Oaks did an interview with Steve Cook in the Secondary Blog this week.  Here are the transcripts of their conversation:  

A Conversation with our New Superintendent, Dr. Steve Cook (part 1)

A Conversation With our New Superintendent, Dr. Steve Cook (part 2).

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SHOUT OUT’s . . .

Thank you again for all you do Teachers!

Thank you to Mary for organizing and getting us coached up on state testing and to staff for stepping up to support the effort in advisory!

To all of the mothers in our midst and for those that do a fair bit of mothering for our students here, have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Birthday wishes this week go to . . . Mrs. Perry (5/11) and Mrs. Stokes (5/12)! Enjoy your birthdays!

Happy Friday Giants! It is hard to believe we are now peering into May. In a school year already characterized by challenges, April did not disappoint. Having all students return together while cases are spiking has been tough. It would be one thing if we were simply responding to the needs of our students, but our own team members and their families have been significantly impacted as well. Thank you so much for the compassion and support you have shown to one another on both professional and personal fronts. As needs have emerged for coverage and planning, I am humbled to see our team step up and have each others’ backs. I also appreciate your willingness to be flexible and compassionate with our students who have had to quarantine.

As we head into the weekend ahead of teacher appreciation week, I want to express my gratitude for our amazing team of teachers. Under normal circumstances, your dedication to our students is unassailable, and this past year it has been nothing short of heroic. Our students and families are truly lucky to have such a talented group of educators helping them navigate such a tumultuous year. Thank you for all you do to support our school community!

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Calendar Items:

• Monday, 5/3
  • Rotation B
• Wednesday, 5/5
  • SIW (Classroom staff – State testing information 3:15 in Mary’s Webex)
• Friday 5/7
  • Stand-up meeting in the cafeteria to round-out teacher appreciation week (10:00 AM)
• Monday 5/10
  • DCDL and BLO programs close for new enrollments

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To-do’s:

• Teachers, make sure you check-in regularly to break-rooms for snacks and goodies next week 🙂
• Teachers, please continue to enter summative scores in Synergy as they become available. This will help parents stay informed and it will make posting at the end of the term quicker.
• Teachers please reach out to me if you would be willing to be a resource for your content area for students in quarantine. (1hr/day of your daily pay rate outside of student contact time)
• Teachers please circle back to the strategies we/you outlined in the SLGG related to connecting with students to establish trust. We have seen significant progress with several students who had been identified as at-risk and want to continuing working on these relationships right up through to the end of the year.
• Everyone, please take Lyndsey up on her invitation to get out in the building and see some of the great visual displays of our MYP curriculum and learning our students have been engaged in.

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On the radar . . .

Next week, Mary and I will be working with grade level teachers from ELA and Math to help identify students who might benefit from SPARKS (summer learning), and it is possible that we might reach out to a broader group for more context if necessary.

In addition to SPARKS, all middle school students will be able to access BLO learning options for free throughout the summer. This may be something that can be passed along to parents if you have conversations around how to help students who may have missed significant portions of learning due to COVID.

Reminder from Heather, that the last day to spend your department level supply money is Friday, 5/14, and that me be cutting it close. With shipping so unpredictable, if items are not received within the fiscal year (by June 30), then they automatically get returned.

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Shout outs . . .

Kudos to all the individuals and departments that are stepping up to help with advisory content. If you haven’t, make sure to check in with Mr. Z on what it means to leave everything out on the kickball field ;).

Good Monday Morning Staff. I hope everyone had a nice weekend, and that the cooler, wetter weather did not deter anyone from getting out and being active. I apologize for the tardy blog update. There are a few items to consider as we head into this last week of April, so please take a look and check in with me if you have any questions.

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• April 26
  • Rotation A (remember PM advisory)
  • Fire Drill during advisory
• April 27
  • MAC survey
• April 28
  • SIW (Individual/PLC time)

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To do’s:

Here is a reminder from the email I sent last week regarding how we can support students and families as COVID-19 related absences increase:

• We still need to be posting assignments and resources in CANVAS. 
• Please be as available as possible for students and families in the extended prep time in the morning should the need arise. 
• Please consider working with students and families to limit the number of non-essential tasks they need to complete while out. 
• If needed, consider alternate means of students showing progress.
• Please be flexible on the back end of an extended absence in terms of due dates and any other issues related to helping students stay caught up.
• We need to have a caring and supportive disposition when working with families that have been affected. 

On the Radar . . .

Teaching staff, please reach out to me individually if you are interested in hosting/supporting a student-teacher in your classroom next fall.

Shout Out’s . . .

A birthday shout out this week goes to Jessica Hillier (4/27) . . . Enjoy your day Jessica!

Good afternoon staff. I hope you enjoying the sun and finally some warmth to go with it. Conferences in the evenings always makes for a little bit of long week even with the day off. I appreciate everyone’s willingness to engage with families and work with this new scheduling tool and for your flexibility in giving families opportunities outside the evening blocks. Please reach out if you need support in the coming days with regard to any flex time you still have scheduled.

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• Monday, April 19
  • Rotation B (Pds. 4-7)
• Wednesday, April 21
  • SIW (individual/PLC day)
• Thursday, April 22
  • Principal hiring process listening session (9:15 am in the cafeteria)

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TO DO’s:

• Teachers . . . Heather emailed this out earlier in the week, but I feel compelled to re-share it. Taking the time to familiarize yourself with this information now will make the process easier to navigate should the need arise. It would be hard to overstate the impact it has on morning operations when the process is not followed correctly. So, again, please carefully consider the following information:

1. Hours for certified staff are 8:45am-4:45pm.
2. Sub jobs can only be either 4-hour or 8-hour jobs, which means you can only take 4 or 8 hours off.
3. You must use the “custom” feature in Aesop to manually enter either a 4-hour or 8-hour sub job.  It can be whatever time works for your classes depending on the rotation as long as it is either 4 or 8 hours.  Do not use the “full” or “half” day option.  Even the “full” is not correct in the system.  You will need to change the time always now that our schedules have changed, so please look at your day and enter a 4- or 8-hour timeframe that works to cover all of your classes for that day.  
4. If you have any of the Low or High Risk illness symptoms at all, you need to stay home.
5. If you are staying home due to an illness, you must remain home until a district nurse has given you instruction and permission to return back to work.  They will be calling you to discuss your illness, so please wait for their call.
6. When you are going to be absent for any reason (whether illness or personal leave), please enter the job in Aesop immediately (again, using the 4- or 8-hour guideline).  There are times that I am also out, so please do not wait for me to do this for you.  The sooner you enter the job in the system yourself, the higher the chance of getting coverage.

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ON THE RADAR . . .

Due to having bumped to high risk status, BLS secondary schools will be required to provide on-site testing for symptomatic students and staff. The state has shipped our rapid-test kits, and we will have a number of staff members trained on using the kits. Families or staff who would prefer to take care of the testing off-site will be offered that option as well.

The last week of school will be Monday through Wednesday on a regular schedule, and then Thursday will be an SIW schedule.

Click here for more information on summer school.

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SHOUT OUT’s . . .

Huge thank you to Tennille and Kristy for the long hours and hard work helping us communicate with families this week. These are often very difficult conversations to have, and we appreciate your patient and compassionate approach to keeping everyone safe!

Our custodial crew also needs a big thank you. Having all students back means that we have doubled, at least, the volume of students who’ve occupied our isolations rooms not feeling well, and these rooms must be cleaned every time they have been occupied. This means that all of the regular aspects of their daily routine get put on hold many times during the day. Thank you Jess Ron, and Larry!

Happy sunny Friday afternoon to all! I hope the week went well for everyone! As we have moved towards a return to “all-in,” many of you have approached us with great ideas and things for us to consider. We are grateful for this willingness to help make this next phase as safe and productive as possible.

As a staff, let’s be prepared to field and support a variety of new needs that may emerge as a result of bringing all of our students back together. We have been consistently supportive and understanding of what students have experienced during the pandemic, and I expect us to have new and unique opportunities associated with this next phase. In normal times, the end of the year can lead to a heightened sense of urgency around “getting through” everything. I think we need to collectively resist that urge, meet students where they are, and continue to build connections. I know that both collectively and individually we are committed to helping all students regardless of how or in what circumstances we encounter them. Thank you for all you have done and will do in this regard.

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Calendar Items

• Monday, 4/12
  • Start of “all-in” instruction
• Tuesday, 4/13
  • Board meeting (5:00 pm)
• Wednesday, 4/14
  • SIW (3:00-4:30)
  • WebEx conference block time (5:00-8:00 pm)
• Thursday, 4/15
  • Grab ‘n go burritos (4:30 pm in the cafeteria)
  • WebEx conference block time (5:00-8:00 pm)
• Friday, 4/16
  • No school/non-work day

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To-Do’s:

• Teachers, please have your videos uploaded to the folder today.
• Teachers, please fill out this assignment preferences form by 4/16.
• Teachers, please connect with Mary or me if you have any questions about conference scheduling or protocols.
• All staff please review this document as a refresher on supporting student behavior issues that may emerge as we bring back all students together. Please also bookmark the referral form.

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On the Radar . . .

On Wednesday 4/22, Jim Boen and Juan Cuadros will meet with staff from 9:15-10:15 in the cafeteria to talk about the process and priorities associated with the principal search.

Here is the latest newsletter from Kinsey Martin and her team at Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It leads with some great ideas for framing our conference conversations.

Looking ahead to the May elections, here is some guidance for public employees.

Here is the latest version of Special Program’s blog.

From the district office: When staff members visit another school they need to enter through the front door, sign in, and wear their badge in a visible place. This is especially important because, with masks, it can be harder to identify even staff that are familiar. 

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SHOUT OUT’s . . .

Huge thank you to Mary’s leadership in making the conference sign-up times readily and easily accessible to families. I think we may have encountered a model/program that will help conferences be more effective in the future regardless of our ability to meet in-person.

Birthday love for next week goes to . . . Aracely Peddycord (4/16), enjoy your day!

Happy Friday staff! I think I may have run out of superlatives to describe the emotional rollercoasters we board from week to week. As I stated this morning, I am so grateful for your patience and grace as we continue to navigate rapidly changing information flows and quickly developing parameters on how we approach all aspects of doing school.

I hope that everyone has a great weekend! In typical Stancliff fashion, we bought Easter candy on sale way ahead of time. What that means is that all family members, adults included, have been grazing on a steady diet of chocolate for weeks now, and there may well be nothing left to hide in eggs this weekend.

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• Monday 4/5
  • Start of last hybrid rotation B
  • Start of football and x-country practices
• Wednesday 4/7
  • All-staff meeting @ 1:00 PM
  • No students
  • All-in prep
  • No SIW
• Monday 4/12
  • First day of “all-in”
  • Rotation A starts
• Wednesday 4/14
  • Conferences (teachers available by WebEx from 5:00-8:00)
• Thursday 4/15
  • Conferences (teachers available by WebEx from 5:00-8:00)

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To Do’s:

• Teachers please finish and upload your conference videos to our Drive by 4/9.
• Teachers please use this form to let Mary know when you want us to schedule your 2 flex hours of conferences. We need this information no later than 4:30 on Monday, 4/5.
• Teachers please plan to integrate a quick discussion of content-specific info. students may include in their take-home conference slide deck as part of your warm-ups next week. (This ought to be fairly quick, but advisors have fielded some questions on content that they aren’t sure how to answer. It could be as simple as pointing kids to the slides that are in the advisory module and asking them what questions they have about your class.)
• All staff please use this form to submit names for our “Excellence in Education” staff awards. In the past, our admin teams have been the primary source of input for this process, but this year we would like to put it out there for everyone. As a reminder, nominees need at least three years of experience (including this year) in the district to be eligible. I will submit nominees to Andrea Wilson not later than Wednesday afternoon.

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On the Radar:

For all-in instruction, we plan to move our advisory to the back end of the day. We have already cleared it with Patty Givens and Scott McDonald downtown, so barring any new objections on a technical front, we plan to move forward with a PM advisory. This may mean, however, that on the first day of all-in we do some essential announcements and brief sharing of expectations and safety reminders at the beginning of the 1st period.

Mary will be issuing guidance early next week on conference logistics, and we will be communicating with families this week and next on a range of issues related to returning to all-in instruction in addition to families accessing take-home conferences and WebEx slots.

State testing will move ahead this year, but in a dramatically reduced format, including length and type of assessments as well as what is required at each grade level. We will be working on the logistics, but as a heads up, we will likely leverage advisory classes as the primary venue for administering these assessments. This will require a little bit of training for teachers, but we will streamline that to the extent that we can.

During next week’s staff meeting at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, we will highlight some of the new safety measures we are taking as well as other logistical developments associated with the all-in model. Please forward me individual questions you are hoping to have addressed in that meeting ahead of time, and I will get them on the agenda.

Now that the district has processed ACRs and settled on our FTE numbers for next year, Mary, Belén and I will be sitting down to work on the master schedule for next year. As we do every spring, we will send out a form soon that will allow you to submit assignment preferences.

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Shout-outs:

. . . go to Dan Potts and his army of track volunteers! Dan has been invaluable in helping our school community navigate rapidly changing realities associated with athletics and has consistently advocated for our students having safe access to opportunities. Thank you to Dan as well to everyone who has supported out virtual track meets! It has been super fun to watch our kids get out and be active even if they haven’t had a ton of time to hone their skills.

Birthday wishes go out to Stacy Welsh who will be celebrating tomorrow (4/30) Happy birthday!

Good Friday Morning Staff! I am thrilled to connect with you on the day before a much needed spring break. Two full rotations are in the books, and I just want to extend my thanks to everyone for doing their part to make it work as well is it could for our students and families. This post will be shorter than most with just a few reminders. My hope is that, in a few hours, your focus will quickly shift to whatever you have planned to make your spring break meaningful to you and your family!

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• Monday, 3/29
  • Return to rotation A schedule
  • Fire Drill during advisory
• Tuesday, 3/30
  • Fire Drill during advisory
• Wednesday, 3/31
  • SIW (PLCs meet – menu of topics to follow)

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On the radar:

If you have reconsidered whether or not you would like to have a role in summer school initiatives and think you might like to participate, please fill out the survey here. It closes on 4/2.

In our SIW earlier in the month, I referenced an opportunity to have an informal equity listening session on Tuesday, 3/30 in the evening. With my candidacy for the position at Sisters still pending, I would like to hit pause for a moment, and will give you an update as soon as I can on rescheduling that opportunity.

TIME SENSITIVE OPPORTUNITY: If you are interested in joining Doug Reeves and his team at Creative-Leadership-Solutions as you work on a challenge, define a problem of practice, and test out interventions and ideas as you create an action research project, then sign up for the OSU-Cascades class.  It is a 2-credit class that is offered in Spring 2021 (see the syllabus for dates and course requirements).  Registration is currently open but will close on March 31st.  To register for the class, complete the registration and application form and upload them to this google folder. If you have attended a BLS-OSU Cascades class in the last 12 months, then you do not need to complete the application form.  There is an initial $35 application fee which will be billed by OSU-C once they receive your application. Additionally, we will compensate teachers for the five after school sessions (including May) and the time to prep for the May share out.  

If you have any questions, please contact Michele Oakes  ([email protected]).

Teachers, remember that we will hope to try and have scores entered for rotation B summatives by Friday, 4/2.

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SHOUT OUTS:

Thanks and congratulations to Karen’s work with Chinese culture club . . . and for Kelly Ye’s wonderfully creative and award-winning project!

Happy birthday shoutouts for break and the week after go to Jennifer Horn (3/20), Alisha Schmidt (3/21), Pat Roberts (3/30), Nicole Murphy (3/30), April McCarthy (4/1) . . . We hope you enjoy those Birthdays!

Good afternoon and happy Friday staff! I hope the week has gone well, and that rotation B has also gone as smoothly as possible. My guess is that many of you are being inundated with rumors and speculation about a return to having all students push back in. I have spoken to a few of you, but I do not have much, if any, intel beyond what you may have heard. What I do know, is that next week ODE will update the RSSL guidance and that will have a lot to do with shaping what spring looks like for districts across the state. Such guidance, as has been reported on, could include reducing the distance required for classroom seating and other interactions as well as overall square footage requirements for physical spaces. I hope that I will have more to report on this front headed into break.

In the meantime, I hope everyone will get out and enjoy the sunshine this weekend, and that we can recharge for our last week of rotation B headed into break!

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• Sunday 3/14
  • Spring forward (set your clocks!)
• Monday 3/15
  • Virtual track meet (check in with Potts if you can help)
• Tuesday 3/16
  • Virtual track meet (check with Potts if you can help)
• Wednesday 3/17
  • All staff check in at 1:30 to review conference planning (In my WebEx room)
  • SIW (grade level teams) at 2:00
• Thursday 3/18
  • Stancliff out AM
• Monday 3/22 – Friday 3/27
  • Spring Break

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Staff To-Do’s:

• Please review the plan for the advisory schedule in the email that Mary sent
• Please review the list of your advisory students (if you have advisory) that received multiple NGs
  • Please plan to connect by phone with families to see what support they or the student may need and gauge how the feel the current rotation is going.
• For all families, we will have the first of our three SLGG related communications be focused conference information, and we will provide a script advisory teachers can work from for an email.

On the Radar . . .

Many of you have been inquiring about conference details. This is rapidly taking shape, and we will have a general information share prior to SIW on 1:30 on Wednesday in my WebEx room.

We still do not have any clarity over the testing standoff between the state and the federal government, but we will likely still have to send out some communication to families. When we do, that won’t necessarily be a signal that we are moving ahead.

Please use as much discretion as possible when referring to student information in an email. If information needs to be shared that includes a more than one piece of student information (name, assessment info, IEP information, other identifiable info) then this should not be sent via regular email. Generally, if any private information is needed to be shared we should be using BLS Send.

Initial enrollment numbers are out for fall of 2021. These numbers may flux depending on BLO enrollment, but as of right now we are looking at: 240 for 6th, 226 for 7th, and 192 for 8th.

Instructional technology has rebranded as BLS EdTech to avoid confusion with IT department, and here is their latest post.

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Shout Outs . . .

. . . to our team, which has been extremely generous in helping out when folks when guest teachers have not been available. Thank you so much for supporting one another!

Birthday love goes to . . . Shelby Paulson (3/13)!

Good afternoon staff! Thank you for another outstanding week of supporting students in this hybrid model. Everything we do takes a team effort, and it has been great to recognize our classified staff this week and the critical role they play in serving our students and families. Each of you bring unique talents and skills to our work, fulfill indispensable roles, and add value to our students’ experience. We honor and thank you!!!

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• Monday 3/8
  • Incoming 6th grade orientation (5:00 PM in Stancliff’s WebEx, 6:00 PM for Spanish session)
• Wednesday 3/10
  • SIW 2:30-4:00 – Equitable grading practices with Doug Reeves (See the email from Lora Nordquist on 3/4 for the link)

(This is a departure from our previous plan for grade level meetings because we initially believed only ICCL leaders would be attending this presentation. This will push our grade levels back a week, but we will still push out lists of students with multiple no-grades to advisory teachers next week.)

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TO DO’s:

• Reach out to Mary or Steve if you have not had a chance to get a summative score entered for rotation A.
• You received a survey from Jim Boen about helping with summer school in early August. Please only fill out the survey if you are interested.

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On the radar . . .

Officer Schaier has been reassigned from middle schools and Bend Tech over to MVHS for the rest of the school year. He will continue to help us when needed in an as-needed capacity.

We are working out the logistics of conferences over the next few days but here are some things to expect:

• Students will prepare a guided slide show of their semester 2 progress to present to their parents
• WebEx conferences will be by invite/appt.
• Each teacher will create a 3-5 minute video that contains:
  • An introduction to you
  • How to best connect when needed
  • Overview of courses taught
  • Scan of the room
  • Highlights of important class policies
  • Overview of units taught
  • Tips on how to thrive in your class

We hope to have as many details as possible worked out by early next week, in terms of scheduling logistics and will subsequently update the back-to-school-docs folder. We will also do an information share in an upcoming SIW.

Shout out’s . . .

One more hooray for our support staff! Thank you for all you do!

Birthday love goes to Coach Mac and Mary Koike (3/12) and Shelby Paulson (3/13) Enjoy your birthdays!!

Happy Friday Staff and congrats on finishing up our first three week session! From what I’ve observed, students are starting to open up a bit and despite our distancing measures, classes are beginning to feel more vibrant. I hope the transition to periods 4-7 goes as smoothly as possible. Please reach out to Mary and me for any help or support needed!

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• Monday, 3/1
  • Start of Rotation B
• Wednesday, 3/3
  • SIW 2:30 (whole staff in Stancliff’s WebEx)
• Thursday, 3/4
  • Picture day (Students called down by alpha groups)
• Friday, 3/5
  • Picture day (Students called down by alpha groups)
• Monday, 3/8
  • Forecasting orientation for families (5:00 for English, 6:00 for Spanish in Stancliff’s WebEx)

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TO DO’s:

• Teachers please try to have summatives associated with these first three weeks entered into Synergy by Friday, 3/5. We will use that Synergy data to populate our spreadsheet for grade level meetings on 3/10.
• Teachers please take a moment to fill out the survey that Lyndsey sent in order to help us guide our efforts on re-centering ATLs in our curriculum

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ON THE RADAR:

Next week we get show our appreciation for all of our support staff. We have an amazing crew here, and would not be able to function without their hard work and talent.

Quick note on picture day . . . please know that we do not have a more straightforward way to get the right kids called down for pictures than to use the overhead announcement even though we know it will end up being a bit disruptive. The small window and timing of many schools trying to get this done did not leave us with a lot of options.

Quarantine recommendations do not apply to individuals arriving to Oregon from other states or countries or Oregon residents returning from other states or countries if they have received both doses of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine (or one dose of a single-dose vaccine if it becomes available), AND It has been at least 14 days since their final dose of COVID-19 vaccine, AND They have no COVID-19 symptoms. Individuals should still monitor themselves for COVID-19 symptoms during the 14 days after travel and, if symptoms develop, they should self-isolate and seek testing. Here is the full document from OHA.

As many of you have heard, US Department of Education has not lifted the requirement for states to carryout federally mandated testing. We do not know yet what this means for Oregon. Stand by for more information as the Department of Education did give several options to states related to format and schedule.

The district rescinded their offer to have us do forecasting during the week after break when we are back on an advisory schedule. That means that we will likely have slightly shorter periods during the week leading up to break in order to create some time in the morning to complete forecasting. More details to follow soon.

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SHOUT OUTS:

To our awesome staff for braving the cold and nailing a pretty efficient fire drill today.

Huge thank you’s to the work put in by Stacy, Rachel, Gavin, and Mary in getting advisory lessons pushed out these past three weeks! They now have a much deserved break.

Next time you see Richard Ferguson (aka Aracely’s awesome guest teacher) please tell him thank you for doing such a wonderful job with Aracely’s students! Lucky for us, he is assigned to PBMS!

. . . and a preemptive shout out and thank you to our awesome support staff! Enjoy your week!

Happy Friday to all! In a rare moment of administrative clarity, it occurred to me that just because I often receive information late on Fridays from folks downtown, that doesn’t mean I can’t have as most of it cued up and ready to go. I will work harder to make sure this update is ready by 4:00 pm on Fridays, but feel free to wait until Sunday night or Monday to read. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• 2/24
  • SIW (PLCs – Please confer with one another regarding a preference for in-person or WebEx format, and have someone from your PLC me know what your plan is. I will send some prompts for part of the PLC discussion, but I also want you to have plenty of time to plan and share ideas for rotation B.)
• 2/25
  • Stancliff (out)
  • Fire drill (advisory)
• 2/26
  • Fire drill (advisory)
• 3/1
  • Start of rotation B
• 3/4-3/5
  • Picture day. Details to follow

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TO DOs . . .

• Teachers, remember that as we wind down the first rotation next week, we need to have some summative evidence that we can log in the Synergy grade book (this does not apply to advisory classes.) Our hope is that whatever this is, it can be graded and loaded into Synergy by 3/5, so we can share with parents and inform the data dashboard for our grade level meetings.
• Teachers please be thinking about the ways that you were able to honor Black History Month over the course of the last few weeks, and be prepared to share with your PLC on Wednesday.
• Please remember that the new chime is not a release bell, rather a reminder that class will wrap up in a minute. Please wait for the actual release time to send students to their next class.
• Please check here to see when your next supervision duty is and consider adding it to your Outlook calendar. Please arrange to have it covered if something comes up.

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ON THE RADAR . . .

Here is a link to the teaching and learning department’s blog. In this week’s edition, there are some helpful tips about lessons and content delivery on Wednesdays.

If you are asked by a community member about “area change requests” processes, please refer them to the story on the district website, but a couple things you could share would be that they must be submitted by 3/1 and that everyone whose students are attending a school outside the from outside the attendance boundary, regardless of whether they already had filled one out for their current school, must fill one out this year.

The district is rolling out a series of PD opportunities associated with our recent shift on grading practices. This will not be revolutionary for us as we already have a criteria-referenced system, but there may still be some valuable opportunities for our staff. For example, there will be an opportunity for staff to receive credit for participating in an action research project associated with assessment. Standby for more information.

Scott McDonald recently loaded a blogpost regarding Apple Classroom, and we will be sharing a series of tech steps students should take in order to have this to be effective.

Here is a link to the updated and condensed version of the district inclement weather policy.

SHOUT OUTs . . .

Hopefully everyone got a chance to see the art work that Pat’s kids did, but if not here is a link just in case. Great work!

Huge thank you to Shelby and the Life Skills department for their collaboration on processing library books!

Big thanks to April and Matt for continuing to make the most of a robotics season that has been very challenging to pull off during COVID-19. Well done!

Good afternoon staff! I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend and the day today. My weekend was going really well with a mix of rest, family time, and some skiing and hiking, and then I pretty much fumbled the Valentine’s day situation in epic fashion. I’ll spare you most of the details, but Sunday began with Amy coming downstairs fairly early to find me simultaneously watching a soccer game and a rugby match at which point she said, “Happy Valentine’s Day!” And in a moment that I seem uniquely capable of screwing up, I wondered aloud, “Is that today?” I hope all of you faired better. On the bright side, we wound down the day as a family, playing a card game called “Skull King” which I highly recommend. With a short week ahead of us, I hope the following information helps you plan and hit the ground ready tomorrow!

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• February 17
  • SIW (2:30-4:00, individual day)
• February 18
  • Fire Drill (11:30)
• February 19
  • Fire Drill (11:30)

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TO DO’s:

• Teachers, please remember to get your SLGGs dialed by the end of SIW this week. Please reach out if you need any guidance.
• In case you missed it in the email last week, I believe all would benefit from reviewing this guidance on inclement weather.

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ON THE RADAR:

• Report cards were mailed home this last week. It is certainly possible that we may have some surprised parents that would like more context. Please approach these conversations, if they happen, with patience and grace, and let us know if you need support.
• Please be prepared to be flexible with lunch locations this week. Even if temps are good, outside conditions on the ground may impact our decisions on whether to head out.
• The district has asked us to ensure that we have an anonymous way for folks to submit safety concerns. Here is a Google form that will only collect personal information if you choose to share it. We will also add this to our Hybrid site for families to use. It is also just as effective to email Mary or Heather your concerns, if you prefer, and they will be a part of our safety meeting records.
• For classified staff on evaluation cycle this year, we will be reaching out in the next couple of weeks with details on the timing of that process.
• With all of the information swirling about exposure at the high school level, you might be curious about our protocol for communicating with families. Here is a link to the protocol document that lives on our hybrid site.
• Reminder that Scott McDonald and crew curate a tech blog for the district with helpful hints and resources.
• The other middle school principals and I had a great WebEx conversation with our incoming superintendent, Dr. Cook. He is very excited to be a part of our community. He will be visiting schools the week after spring break.

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SHOUT-OUTs:

Big thanks to Mary and the lunch crew for flexibility in lunch distribution and supervision!

Birthday wishes this week go to Ron Varner! (2/18)

This has been a tough week. We wrapped last week with lots of questions and mostly tentative answers. This week has brought more new things to consider as well as what I believe will be resolution on some of the open questions that tie into your own need to plan for your families needs. As we have processed and will continue to process the parameters of our return, I thank each of you for reaching out individually and collectively to voice your concerns and share your perspective. I readily acknowledge that many of the answers to our questions have left a significant number of you with incredibly difficult decisions to make. Please know that I stand ready to help brainstorm and workshop possibilities with you or even just to listen and be someone with whom you can safely vent frustrations.

What follows will be fairly heavy in terms of information to process, but the urgency of a rapidly approaching transition does not lend itself to a more gradual release. As you will see later in the post, we have a Q/A doc we will link to, and I will be attending to it throughout the long weekend all the way until Tuesday when we will meet in grade levels.

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Calendar Items:

• Monday 1/18 – MLK Day
• Tuesday 1/19
  • 6th grade meeting – 2:30pm (Stancliff’s WebEx)
  • 7th/8th grade meeting – 3:15 pm (Stancliff’s WebEx)
• Thursday 1/21
  • Last synchronous WebEx day with periods A-4
• Friday 1/22
  • Last synchronous WebEx day with periods 5-7
• Monday 1/25
  • All staff report to building (follow CDL contract hours)
  • Teachers in rooms
  • Start of asynchronous instruction (See link below for guidance)
• Tuesday 1/26
  • Small group building walk throughs focused on safety and logistics (time/group assignment to follow)
• Wednesday 1/27
  • SIW (details to follow)
• Mon – Thurs 2/1-2/4
  • Second week of asynchronous instruction
  • Orientations (See link below for details)
• Friday 2/5
  • Last day of term
  • Grades entered by 4:00 PM

Transitions Updates and Links:

Staff Toolkit – This link takes you to a document that has OHA and BLO mandates and guidance related safely transitioning back to our building.

Schedule – As far as I know, this is the final version of our hybrid schedule including Wednesday slots

Master Schedules – Here you will find one Google Sheet with two tabs, one for each of the three week rotations.

Orientation Schedule – Refer to this to see what Mon-Thurs. will look like in the week of Feb.1.

Asynchronous Guidance for 1/25-2/8 – This document was created by the Teaching and Learning staff with input from middle school teachers and admin. This is guidance and we will review in grade level meetings.

Q/A form

BLS “Ready Set Learn” Guidance

ODE Ready Schools Safe Learners

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On the Radar . . .

It can be a sensitive topic when folks voluntarily share or are asked about whether or not they have received the vaccine. Please consider using a high amount of discretion on this topic as there are private/personal health issues for our staff and their families they should not feel pressured or compelled to talk about.

As most of you probably heard, Governor Brown announced that a first round of COVID-19 vaccines will be made available to public school employees beginning he week of 1/25. Stay tuned for details on how you will access the vaccine if you want to receive it.

As we continue to move through tough times together, our classes will provide us with opportunities to help our students navigate complex and often controversial issues. This is part of our work, and can be a source of powerful learning for our school community when done well. Please direct your attention (snuck a to-do in here) to the following resource for guidance: Difficult dialogue checklist, BLS resources for equity, Board policy on studying controversial issues, and Staff participation in political activities.

Having looked at the dates above, it should be clear that the opportunities to be in front of kids via WebEx for synchronous classes are quickly fading. Please make sure to use your final sessions to make sure students understand the expectations of the two asynchronous weeks.

Mike LaTorre, Melissa Scott, and I will be meeting weekly to connect on issues that our staff would like to address, so you can connect with them or with me in any given week and we will workshop solutions or find answers together.

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Shout Outs . . .

. . . to YOU!! Despite how hard things are right now, everywhere I look, I see people who are part of our school community taking care of each other and supporting one another in their needs. Thank you for having each others’ backs, and for being an example of kindness and compassion!

Happy birthday to Amy Brunner! (1/20)

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THANK YOU . . .

I just want to lead today with a note of gratitude for your thoughtful participation in our question and answer session on Friday afternoon. We had a very robust turn out and covered a lot of ground. One of the things I observed, and frankly that is characteristic of our staff, is that there was a tremendous amount of mutual support within the group and a willingness among you to both ensure that all voices are heard and to bring your colleagues concerns to the table if they were not able. As we move forward our sense of solidarity and respect with and for one another will be critical in navigating challenges.

I know that for some folks the conversation did not yield answers to all of your questions, and in many cases, it simply generated more. Many of you have reached out individually with other questions or concerns, and we honor and appreciate your openness. I hope you know and feel that Mary and I hear you, and that we will continue to do everything we can to support our staff as we move forward.

I spoke with Jim Boen, immediately following our meeting in an effort to communicate the sentiment of our conversation, and will do so again this morning with the other middle school principals, who I know have fielded many of the same concerns in their buildings. Jim is going to send out district wide, middle school specific communication this week that I believe will help provide context for some of the parameters and decisions.

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• Wednesday 1/13
  • Hybrid planning team (2:00-4:00)
• Consult dates and schedules for transition to hybrid here.

TO DOs:

Licensed staff, please ensure that as we move through these last few weeks that your Synergy settings are dialed so that NGs and Ps are showing in your gradebook rather than Fs and Ds. If you are still seeing Fs and Ds in your Synergy gradebook, and need help with your settings, please reach out to Mary, Lyndsey or me.

All staff, please consult the hybrid folder regularly. As plans and information from both the district and our internal safety and hybrid planning teams solidifies, we will add them here.

ON THE RADAR:

Next week we will have grade level meetings, and one the purposes will be to go over SLGGs and observation guidelines. Please do not worry for two seconds about either of these items now, and know that we are doing are absolute best to streamline the SLGG piece so it is a building wide approach that we work on as whole. We will also preview how we will leverage our SIS data to transition effectively to term 2.

For classified staff, I am told that the district will be reaching out soon related to returning to work leading up to and during hybrid.

SHOUT OUTs:

Hopefully you were all able to see the incredible work that Pat Robert’s students have been doing in art this term. What an inspiration! Great job Pat!

(Remember, if you see awesomeness in our school community, please let me know so I can include it here)

Welcome to the most anticipated winter break in recent memory! What an intense few months it has been! Just a few items for your consideration as we wrap up the week and prepare for a couple of weeks of rest from our hard work.

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TO DO:

Have an amazing and well-deserved winter break! Despite the travel and get-together limitations associated with COVID-19, I hope that everyone unplugs, relaxes, gets outside, and enjoys these next couple of weeks with an eye of optimism looking ahead to 2021!

(I will update this section on the back end of break and send a reminder)

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ON THE RADAR

Santa. He will literally be on the radar here. The Hallmark Channel. Activities and people that bring you joy. A good book or two. Relaxing music. Time to reflect and look ahead. Yummy baked goods. Zoom calls with family. A variety of beverages and spirits. And, hopefully, good times had by all . . .

(I will update this section on the back end of break and send a reminder.)

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SHOUT OUT . . .

. . . to our collective PBMS GIANTS community. As I am sure all of you are, I have been overwhelmed the last week or two, and frankly all of this fall and early winter, by the seemingly endless supply of energy and creativity that you bring to your work and to our kids. Your willingness to try new things, repeatedly head back to the drawing board, and share your learning with your peers has kept students and adults engaged and aspiring for more. And while not all of us are holding WebEx meetings with students on a daily basis, our staff who are behind the scenes are doing an amazing job supporting our students families and each other. Our collective mindset is one of resolve to make the most of what is possible given the circumstances, and I know our students, families, and broader school community feels it, so thank you!

Special thanks to Heather for all of her hard work organizing our gifts this year, and all of our staff who made this week festive and fun!

Happy birthday to our staff who have spent a lifetime getting “combined” birthday and Christmas gifts!

Letty Hellerud (12/24), Kristi Bourlai (12/27), Brett Brunner (12/28), Lisa Brooks (12/31)

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• Wednesday 12/16
  • Safety team meeting (9:00 am)
  • Staff meeting (2-3 pm in Stancliff’s WebEx)
  • Superintendent search public forum (5:00 pm & 6:15 pm) Click here for more info.
• Thursday 12/17
  • Hybrid planning (3:00 pm)
• Friday 12/18
  • Social (1:00-1:30)

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TO DO:

Teaching staff:

If you were not able to this week, please make sure that you have updated your Synergy grade book settings with the new scale that includes the P/NG. Click here for instructions. As we mentioned in grade level meetings, timely and accurate entry of summative grades into Synergy will allow us to update the new spread sheet that Mary created for tracking student progress.

In that same spirit, if you have an advisory class, please look for communication early next week around giving families an update before we head to break.

Please use this document that Mary sent out on Thursday to sign up to host one of the social activities. Stand by for protocols managing student behavior.

All staff:

Please work from home if you are experiencing any symptoms that could potentially be related to COVID-19. If there is anything you need from us in the way of support for working from home, please let us know.

Please continue to follow safety protocols when working here on campus, including wearing a mask when not in a private enclosed work space, social distancing whenever possible, and using the QR code to check in and out.  

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ON THE RADAR

For teachers that are new to Bend-La Pine Schools, remember there is a training on 1/13 from 2-4 pm that will focus on metacognition, Habits of Mind, and Habits of Interactions within specific academic disciplines. If you have questions please reach out to Dean Richards.

Our Hybrid Planning Team has met twice now, and we are working out site specific details in the following areas: 3 week rotations, classroom sanitation logistics, student movement in hallways, student movement in classrooms, adult movement in classrooms, library access, and staff collaboration. Our goal is to create a “quick-guide” for adults and one for students and families that summarizes what we believe will be best practices. We will also develop a schedule for sharing the information in advisory and other forums ahead of our return to a hybrid model.

Bend-La Pine Schools is participating in the Youth Truth survey after returning from the winter break. It consists of three components: student survey, staff survey, and family survey.  The student survey will be administered in Individuals and Societies classes. We will communicate with students, staff and families ahead of the survey administration.

Middle School Athletics will continue to follow the high school athletics calendar, which was recently updated to include 3 different seasons between Feb. 22 and June 11.

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SHOUT OUTs

Thank you to Val Overley for being a rock star! Her peers would want her and everyone else to know: “She has created endless hours of Canvas Videos for staff and students to help us navigate through all things Canvas. She is a super problem solver and is more than willing to find the answer to any question as she patiently walks us all through tech challenges. Not only is she a tech queen, she also writes and develops amazing digital learning lessons for her students. She is awesome.”

Happy birthday to the following individuals: Val Overly and Kim Crosby (12/13), Chuck Clair (12/14) Patty Brun (12/16) & Todd Brown (12/18) Enjoy your day!

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TOOLS & RESOURCES

Please refer to Scott McDonald’s emails from this week if you are continuing to experience issues with WebEx glitches. Here is the form to report issues to folks at tech.

Here is a link for District Tech Tips and Tools for CDL