Month: October 2024

Having fun this Halloween season!!

From Tammy and Karen

Thank you! Your engagement, collaboration, and genuine inquiry in yesterday’s EL training was noticed and appreciated. There was a lot to dive into and hopefully you have a better understanding of the ins and outs of what your staff are doing on a daily basis. I think we walked away with a greater appreciation and understanding of the importance of protocols, the structure of a module, and the teacher being the lead facilitator (which is so hard!). Also appreciation for all the coaches who were there to support us in this new learning. As you got to witness first hand, they are a wealth of knowledge and here to support!

Mini and Formal Observations: Please make these a priority as we head into November! Formals are due before Thanksgiving break and first minis are right there as well! Giving meaningful and timely feedback is an important part of improving student outcomes. See the email from Triz De La Rosa.

Important Links

• SLGGs—plug and play for the year
• October 23rd Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–New Question–Please help a colleague!
• TAG Folder of helpful things

Notes from our Team:

From Kerry Morton, Math TOSA and Coach: Math Adoption Update!

To provide more time for teachers to view the math materials, they will remain at your schools a bit longer.  Work with your instructional coach to find a place and timeframe for teachers to look through the three Field Test materials over the next couple weeks.

From Life and Career Readiness (Jenny White). Principal’s here is a simple activity you can do as a connection before a staff meeting or SIW. Link to Slide along with directions on how to find this activity in Wayfinder

From Scott and Becca in Communications: Did you see the latest Family Spotlight? The newsletter is solely devoted to safety and includes a message from Dr. Cook, resources for safe firearm storage, information about SafeOregon, crisis and care resources, details about our latest safety improvements and more. It can be a go-to resource when families have questions about safety in our district. Bookmark the October 30 Family Spotlight and have it at the ready!

From Paul in Operations: Building leaders are to pause any program expansion proposals (academic, athletic and extra duty, that include some form of physical building structure, building additions, or site modification) that will impact your site/facility until further notice.  We are in the process of creating internal procedures that will identify that necessary steps that will need to be taken in order to ensure compliance with regulations (i.e. Title IX, permitting, accounting), district policies, contracts and address departmental impacts.

From Kinsey in Policy, Advocacy, & Equity:

Post-Election Resources: As the presidential elections wrap up, we should anticipate and prepare to support the strong reactions, emotions, and conversations our staff, students, and families will experience.  As leaders, it is our responsibility to ensure our staff are informed, equipped, and supported regarding 1) the expectations for navigating this significant moment in time in a professional manner, 2) the resources available to them as employees, and 3) the strategies for supporting students through their own processing.

Here is a message for staff—I highly recommended you send this to your staff soon.  You are welcome to copy and paste this message verbatim, modify it to reflect your voice/style, or send something else.  Just don’t be silent on this topic!

Equity Stance Brochures: I am going to re-print the brochure versions of our district Equity Stance.  (You received one at our August administrator launch.)  If you would like some for your school (ICCL team? PTA? A stack for the staff lounge?), please let me know by Nov 8th how many you need.  

Holidays: Here is our policy on religion and holidays in schools.  Here is our “Do not schedule” dates document.  Here is a team reflection and guidance tool on holidays.  Consider reviewing these at an ICCL meeting, and/or sharing with all staff.  

From Scott and Kayla in Safety: We will be out of town next week, November 4^th through November 7^th at a conference. We will continue to monitor our emails, cell phones, and text messages to support as best as we can while out of the office. If you have any emergencies that require immediate attention, please reach out to our Chief Operations Officer, Paul Dean for immediate support.

We are happy to announce that we are now staffed with 8 School Resource Officers in the district. Our newest SRO is Officer James Ragland, who will be working out of Pilot Butte Middle School. Please use the updated SRO point of contact roster to see who your current SRO is for your school, and to reach out to any members of the SRO team for support.

Action Items

• Get going on the mini and formal observations if you are behind
• Keep Math Adoptions for a couple more weeks for staff to view
• Pause making any building modifications as a new policy is developed
• Share Kinsey’s message a.s.a.p, as Tuesday is election day!

Important Dates

• November 5: VOTE!!
• November 8: Safety Cadre Meets at the Ed Center Boardroom, 1:30-3:30
• November 11: Veteran’s Day–No School
• November 13: All Admin Meeting at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• November 19: Horizontal meeting, @ Bear Creek, hosted by BCE and Miller, 3:00-5:00
• November 25-29 Fall Holiday Break, (if you take time off, use non-contract for all days except Thanksgiving itself)

And finally…Welcome Karen! We know you are going to feel right at home here in Bend-La Pine!

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Hang in there!

From Tammy

Conferences: I always loved conferences as a principal! What a great time to be out and about connecting with families. Welcoming them in at the door, attending a conference to let a family know how amazing their child is, offering support when students and families are struggling. The key is to be a partner–coming alongside them and letting them know how much you care about their child reaching their fullest potential. Enjoy!

First week of November: The first week of November, the 4th-8th, will be full of on-boarding for Karen Rush. That week, on Mon, Tue, Thur, or Fri, we will be stopping by your schools, to pop in to introduce her to you and your office staff (all pop ins will be morning times before lunch). We won’t be having any sit down visits that week, just a brief overview of a few school names, faces, and locations, to get her excited for her next chapter here at Bend-La Pine Schools. I am going to attempt to group schools by feeders as best as I can, so we can glimpse at middle and high schools as we go by. More to come next week!

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Important Links

• SLGGs—plug and play for the year
• Title 1 Compacts to be done at conferences for all Title 1 Schools (now in a fillable pdf too)
• October 23rd Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–get advice from your colleagues
• TAG Folder of helpful things

Notes from our Team:

From Kerry Morton, Math TOSA and Coach: Math Adoption Update!

Math Field Test Materials – October 29-October 31, each elementary school will have all three programs available in their buildings for families and teachers to view.  Reach out to a Math Curriculum Review Team member if you have any questions about the programs: Amplify Math with Desmos, StemScopes Math, and Experience Math.

From Jennifer Hauth regarding Wayfinder and EL Integration:

To see completion rates of lessons for teachers in Wayfinder, you need to set the core lessons as the featured content. Here is a tutorial on how administrators can set up featured content for their sites (make sure to scroll down to “For Principals + School Admin”). Check out this document that links EL Module 1 with Wayfinder’s 20 Minute lessons that teach the skills students need that was shared with teachers this week.

From Scott and Becca in Communications: Help us celebrate the veterans throughout Bend-La Pine Schools on Monday, November 11! We would love to say “thank you for your service” on social media and include faces throughout the district. If you have a veteran (or more than one) in your building or department, please ask them if they would like to be included in a social media “thank you.” If the answer is yes, take their photo and email it to [email protected], along with the staff member’s name.

From McScott in Technology: YouTube Access for K-8 Students – Trial of “Allow List” Solution. As you know, we are currently blocking all YouTube content for students in grades K-8. Starting next week, we will be implementing a trial of an “allow list” solution, which will enable students to access a curated set of videos. At present, nearly 1,000 YouTube videos necessary for the SchoolLinks curriculum have been added to this allow list.

Why is this important? If this trial proves successful, we can explore expanding the allow list to include additional teacher-requested YouTube content.

We understand that limiting access to non-essential YouTube content remains a high priority for our staff, and this allow list solution is designed to support that goal without diverting from it.

From Dave VanLoo in School Improvement: Accessing OSAS test scores and ODE Individual Student Reports (ISRs) in Synerg during conferences.

Please share the following information with any staff who may need it, particularly teachers who may want to discuss OSAS during conferences.

We have been working for some time to enhance access to OSAS state test results across multiple Synergy applications. Here is a folder with brief instructions for staff, parents, and students to access OSAS state test scores in a variety of ways. All these groups can view and download the one-page ISRs that ODE creates each year. Teachers also can view lists of OSAS scores for their classes in TeacherVue. ISRs from spring 2024 testing have been loaded in English and Spanish ISRs should be there next week. Whether Spanish ISRs are loaded for a student is based on the ‘resolved’ language in Synergy.

ODE requires schools to report OSAS results to parents annually. In the past this process has been time and resource intensive and involved downloading, printing, and sorting thousands of pieces of paper. With ISRs available in both ParentVue and StudentVue, users can now access OSAS results on-demand in Synergy. This will significantly reduce the number of printed copies that end up in trash or recycling. Schools still should plan to print an ISR for any parents who request it and may continue to print ISRs as makes sense.

During conferences, teachers who want to use ISRs now have the option to quickly pull them up in real time and display them on any screens that are available to them.

Please reach out to Dave VanLoo with any questions about accessing OSAS results in Synergy.

From our Amazing Bus Drivers and Transportation Department! Please share this flyer with your families, (in your newsletters and/or posted at conferences) as our transportation department is holding their very own trunk or treat for our students at the bus garage! This event is something that the drivers are doing to show the kids how much they love them. Pass it on!

Action Items

• Prepare a space for the Field Test Materials for families to view at conferences
• Dig into Wayfinder and see that your staff is teaching the lessons—check out the EL integration!
• Give Scott and Becca in communications the names of staff you know who were in the military
• Share state testing information with staff (4th and 5th grade teachers) for conferences
• Share the Trunk or Treat flyer with families

Important Dates

• Conferences: Oct 29–3:15-7:15, Oct 30–3:15-7:15, Oct 31–7:15-3:15
• October 30: Certified work day, 7:15-3:15
• October 30: Administrator EL training–Ensworth Elementary, 8:00-2:30—lunch provided!
• October 31: Safe School Trainings need to be done by today
• November 4: Karen Rush’s first official day!!! (Maybe sooner if we are lucky!)
• November 8: Safety Cadre Meets at the Ed Center Boardroom, 1:30-3:30
• November 11: Veteran’s Day–No School
• November 13: All Admin Meeting at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• November 19: Horizontal meeting, @ Bear Creek, hosted by BCE and Miller, 3:00-5:00

And finally…

While Karen Rush’s official start day is November 4th, we may get a sneak peek of her this coming week!

The Karen countdown has begun!!!

From Tammy

Wayfinder: For those of you interested in using Waypoints as a measure for your belonging or SEL School Design work, the window to take the assessment is extended to November 15. There are some great ideas on how to use this assessment and I’ve been talking with people at site visits if you are interested.

Also, just a freindly reminder that Wayfinder is our core curriculum for SEL and this year there is the expectation that teachers are teaching the skill lessons (only 20 lessons total, so 1 a week for 20 weeks). Log into your Wayfinder Dashboard to see who is using the system and how you can best support the use of this program. Reach out to your coaches or Jennifer Hauth for ideas for PD!

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Important Links

• SLGGs—plug and play for the year
• Title 1 Compacts to be done at conferences for all Title 1 Schools
• October 9th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–list them here! (Check out what your colleagues are doing or not doing for Halloween festivities)

Notes from our Team:

From Kinsey – Policy, Advocacy, Equity:

Attendance policy: Last call for any feedback on content as we update the attendance policy. 

• The draft linked above includes all language from both OSBA’s sample and our current version.  We’ll weave them into one coherent policy, but we left all the language from both in order for you to review and give input on preferences regarding any/all of it.  
• Please share with relevant office staff and ask for their insights.
• Feedback we’re looking for:
  • Anything in this language that contradicts our preferred practices, or anything missing that we should add to capture current processes working well in your buildings;
  • Requests for training or procedural support related to this policy topic;
  • Please don’t make specific red-line edits—I’m just looking for your general thoughts on what’s helpful for you to codify in policy.
• Send your feedback to Kinsey via email or phone call, by October 25
• Related to attendance: We’ll be offering an admin PD group to dig into best practices for home visits.  More on that soon!

Upcoming events and key dates: Please mark your calendars for these events:

• District-wide 7th annual Latino Family Night:
  • Thursday, November 21st  5:30-7:30pm at MVHS
  • The Woodburn High School student mariachi band will be performing!  Come grab some dinner, check out their performance, and connect with families, students, and staff for some games and fun!
  • Invitation here.  Family Liaisons and Latino Family Advisory members will provide you with some copies, but feel free to share in staff and family newsletters.
• MAC Survey Day: This will happen sometime the week of Nov 11.  Please make sure your FAN Advocate can get in front of staff ahead of that week, to introduce themselves and remind about procedures.  Also, thank you for prioritizing your own time to claim an activity that day if at all possible.  Without you doing that, we can’t afford to have FAN Advocates in our schools (eek).
• LGBTQIA2S+ Alliance principal conversation:
  • Our Alliance group would love to connect with principals (or an administrator from each school) for some conversation and to learn about what you’re proud of at your school, as far as LGBTQ student/family supports, resources, and experiences they can seek out.  
  • Please plan to join us Tuesday, January 21st.  (I’ll remind you later—just mark you calendar 🙂)
• Reminder: 3 years’ worth of Holidays/”Do Not Schedule” Dates 

From Becca Burda in Communications:

Please share with your staff and check out the special opportunity for admin too!

Celebrate a successful start to the school year at Educators’ Night Out at the High Desert Museum! It is Thursday, October 24, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

• New this year – join the HDM for a special presentation for school administrators! We’ll share about upcoming grant opportunities and projects. Administrators will also have their own opportunity to win a raffle (we’ll even give you more tickets for each educator from your school you bring with you!)
• Delicious snacks from the one of the best chefs in Central Oregon – Luckey’s Woodsman
• Fabulous door prizes from local businesses like Bar Rio, Bend Pet Express, Greg’s Grill, Mountain Supply, and so many more!
• Register by October 22 here!

From Scott Bojanowski in Safety. Please review the updated  AQI protocols on our staff portal. We have updated the AQI map resources for administrators to use to make real-time decisions on AQI readings near your schools. We will now be using the EPA Air Now Smoke and Fire Map or the Watch Duty AQI Smoke and Fire Map applications that provide real-time AQI readings.

We will also be forming a stakeholder committee to review the AQI thresholds for cancellation of outdoor recess, sports, and activities. We will use the feedback from that committee to make future decisions and potential updates to our AQI threshold levels.

The public facing district website AQI page will be updated with this information in the next few days.

From Triz delaRosa in HR: Here is a quick guide designed to assist you as you navigate the UKG Evaluation tab in your dashboard. This guide will help you determine which of your staff are on cycle for evaluation this year. It’s intended as a “how-to” resource for using the dashboard report effectively. (See the email from Triz for more information.)

Action Items

• Check out your Wayfinder Dashboard–do you have anyone needing support?
• Send Kinsey feedback on the new attendance policy. 
• Schedule a few minutes for your FAN advocate to get in front of staff at a staff meeting before 11/11 to talk about MAC survey day
• Share information from Educators’ Night Out—sign up if you want to go!
• Review new AQI protocols

Important Dates

• October 23: All Admin PD at Perseverance Hall (Bend High) 3:00-4:30
• October 24: Educators Night Out at the High Desert Museum, 6:00-8:00
• Conferences: Oct 29–3:15-7:15, Oct 30–3:15-7:15, Oct 31–7:15-3:15
• October 30: Certified work day, 7:15-3:15
• October 30: Administrator EL training–Ensworth Elementary, 8:00-2:30—lunch provided!
• October 31: Safe School Trainings need to be done by today
• November 4: Karen Rush’s first official day!!! (Maybe sooner if we are lucky!)
• November 8: Safety Cadre Meets at the Ed Center Boardroom, 1:30-3:30
• November 11: Veteran’s Day–No School
• November 13: All Admin Meeting at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• November 19: Horizontal meeting, @ Bear Creek, hosted by BCE and Miller, 3:00-5:00

And finally…in case you need a day to celebrate meatloaf, here it is…October 18, National Meatloaf Day!

From Tammy

Time Sheets: This is a friendly reminder to submit your timesheets by Sunday. You also should have submitted any requests for leave during this time as well. Thank you!

EL Training: Update: We are all set to have our Administrator EL training at Ensworth Elementary in the library on Wednesday the 30th. It will be from 8:00-2:30. Lunch will be provided, so come ready for a day of learning with your colleagues and friends.

All Admin Training: It was confirmed this week that the all-admin monthly training is on for this month. It will be on Wednesday, October 23 at Perseverance Hall at Bend High, from 3:00-4:30. I know this month has felt brutal with so many trainings and meetings and for that I apologize.

SLGGs: Back by popular demand, here is a list of plug and play SLGGs for you and your staff. There are goals for Reading, Writing, Math, Wayfinder, and generic ones for any other content. You can see an email from Ryan below regarding filling them out in UKG. As far as a timeline goes, aim for having staff turn them in by November 8.

Title 1 Compacts for Conferences: Title schools only—here is a folder with this year’s Title 1 compacts. There are compacts for 3 languages: English, Spanish, and Chinese (Simplified).

SpEd Team Meeting Template: I have shared with a few of you that Deborah at Rosland has a great template she uses when she has a weekly/bi-weekly meeting with her SpEd Department. This has really helped communication and planning within the department. Deborah has created a blank template that you are welcome to copy if you want. The first page is a long range planner and the agenda starts on page 2. Thanks for sharing Deborah!

Safety Cadre day has moved! Mark your calendars if you are the safety rep at your school. The Safety Cadre meeting has moved to Friday, November 8, 1:30-3:30 in the boardroom!

Important Links

• October 9th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–list them here! (Check out what your colleagues are doing or not doing for Halloween festivities)

Notes from our Team:

From Kinsey – Policy, Advocacy, Equity:

Family-teacher conferences: Please ensure you coordinate and submit requests for interpreters ASAP.  Your Language Specialist and Family Liaison can help advise and coordinate this with your office team.

Policy training resources: Thanks for attending the policy training this week!  Here is follow-up–please share with your staff and PTA/Booster Club leaders:

• Advertising:  AP and AR
• Other topics: Holidays/”Do Not Schedule” Dates 
• Linguist Link (translation/interpretation request) account set-up for all staff
• Crown Act info and poster

Bias incident student lessons: As you wrap up the teaching of those lessons across all classrooms in the upcoming days, can you please share a celebration with Kinsey about something that your building did well with these lessons?  Did you have a teacher successfully incorporate student voice?  A team who was creative with implementation?  Presence from the equity coaches that was helpful?  Please let me know what your school did well!

From Scott Maben in Communications:

Bookmark our Staff Portal for quick access to updates and staff resources

A great way to keep up on employee news, announcements, resources and tools is to check our STAFF PORTAL regularly. We are posting updates to the Portal almost every day.

We encourage all staff to bookmark the Portal on your browser. Better yet, you can designate it as one of your browser startup pages so it’s always right there. Here’s how to do that using Google Chrome:

• 1. In your Chrome browser window, click on the three vertical dots (for “More”) in the top right corner
• 2. Go down the list to “Settings” and click that
• 3. On the left, click “On startup”
• 4. Select “Open a specific page or set of pages” then “Add a new page”
• 5. Paste the site URL into the window and hit “Add” The URL for our Staff Portal is this: https://bendlapine.sharepoint.com/

You can add other startup pages as well, such as our District website (https://www.bend.k12.or.us/district) and your school website.

The “Quick Links” on the Staff Portal is a go-to resource for many of us. And keep an eye on the featured news items, which provides a mix of local news headlines and timely information we are sharing with you and our community.

From the Secretary of State: The countdown is on – checking in and hoping you’ll have participating 5^th grade classes for the upcoming 2025 Oregon Kid Governor .. the clock is ticking for candidate video submissions, they’re due at 10am on October 25^th and more information can be found here. In addition to the vital learning components, my ongoing engagement with past participants confirm the reverberating effects and experience of participating in this program are remarkable.

We’d be thrilled if you’d alert your 5^th grade teachers of the impending due date for candidates and that alternately their classroom may choose a “voting only” status, without submitting a candidate. Please feel free to reach out to Nikki Fisher at [email protected] with any questions and we look forward to the most exciting ORKG campaign season yet!

With advance appreciation for your consideration, support and partnership

From Kim, Tina, and Chris in Transportation : Just a friendly reminder: Classroom chaperones are not allowed to bring other children with them on the bus for field trips. We have had a couple of instances already this year, and it puts our driver in a difficult position to deny them a ride. Thank you!

From Ryan in HR: There is work that needs to be done to get the 2024/25 UKG evaluation process up and running; in the meantime, schools may begin their SLGG process by copying/filling out the Google Form template and keeping a copy of it until the process launches in October. 

Here are useful links:

• SLGG Google Form – Staff can either make a digital copy to complete or they can print and fill out a hard copy.  These can be uploaded into UKG (instructions to follow)
• SLG Goals for Social Emotional Learning & Engagement is a great resource for those creating school wide or team SLGGs for non-academic areas
• State SLGG Guidance
• Teacher and Administrator Evaluation & Support Systems: Frequently Asked Questions

Staff can then attach a pdf of their completed form when the goal-setting task appears in their UKG To Do list.

From McScott in IT. To ensure the safety, quality, and compatibility of our technology, ALL tech-related purchases must be approved and processed through our IT department.

If the answer is “yes” to any of these questions, the purchase must go through IT:

• Is it a computer, tablet, or related device?
• Does it connect to or charge one of our devices?
• Does it connect to our networks or get installed on a device?

Why is this important? While it may be tempting to purchase cheaper options from websites like Amazon, our district maintains strict standards to ensure all devices are safe, reliable, and compatible with our systems. Unsafe or substandard devices can:

• Fail to work properly within our network environment
• Pose risks such as electrical shock or fire
• Introduce security threats like malware

Action Items

• Turn in your Timesheet in UKG by Sunday
• Arrange interpreters for conferences
• wrap up bias lessons
• Mark your calendar for all-admin training at Bend High, 10/23, from 3:00-4:30.
• Want to apply to be on the District Admin Advisory Team? Sign up here by 10/16
• Share SLGG information with staff
• Remind staff to make sure chaperones do not bring non-school age children to ride buses for field trips

Important Dates

• October 15: Horizontal Meeting at La Pine Elementary, 3:00-5:00 (La Pine and Juniper host) Please allow extra time for travel, depending on where you are located it could take 45 min to get there. Please do your best to be on time.
• October 23: All Admin PD at Perseverance Hall (Bend High) 3:00-4:30
• Conferences: Oct 29–3:15-7:15, Oct 30–3:15-7:15, Oct 31–7:15-3:15
• October 30: Certified work day, 7:15-3:15
• October 30: Administrator EL training–all day, Ensworth Elementary, 8:00-2:30—lunch provided!
• October 31: Safe School Trainings need to be done by today
• November 4: Karen Rush’s first official day!!! (maybe sooner if we are lucky!)
• November 8: Safety Cadre Meets at the Ed Center Boardroom, 1:30-3:30
• November 11: Veteran’s Day–No School

And finally…

Registration is free for all attendees, but space is limited, so we recommend registering ASAP. This event is for partners and Wayfinder-curious leaders across Oregon.

What to Expect:

• Support your Staff and Students with Re-Aligning to their Purpose 
• Learn from a panel of Wayfinder partners across Oregon (80+ districts) 
• Learn How to Align with ODE TSEL Standards
• Understand Barriers to SEL Implementation
• Learn What’s to Come with Wayfinder Product Roadmapping 
• Address Buy-In Issues
• Networking Time

Hot breakfast, coffee, and a hot lunch will be provided. Feel free to share with colleagues, all are welcome!—> REGISTER HERE

From Tammy

Announcement! Check your email tomorrow for an exciting announcement about our next Executive Director of Elementary Programs! I’m so excited!

Editable SIW Planning Doc: This was a request from our admin meeting last week. Here is a link to the SIW planning doc I made in Canva. Please make a copy and make it your own. Cross your fingers this works! If someone with more Canva experience than me can make it easier than this—please help!

Division 22 Requirements: Each year, the Deputy Superintendent has to submit to ODE a report stating that we meet a variety of requirements and have the evidence to back it up. There are several requirements that pertain to elementary and we need evidence to back them up. This week, we are focusing on your main schedule and where there is explicit mention of 150 minutes of PE/week. I have taken the sample schedule I shared with you and made slight changes that show what it is you need to do. You can see those here. This sample schedule shows the following:

• 75 minutes of PE+ per week using the SEL PE standards during morning circle
• 60 minutes of PE+ per week using one recess a day, 4 days per week of certified supervised and structured PE games at recess (4/5 need this to meet instructional minutes in other ways)
• 60 minutes of PE class/week

That is 45 min/week more than needed, so staff can adjust morning meeting/recess as they do already. Just make sure your main schedule shows where it would be in general. Please document on the specials block how many minutes/week PE is and for the others (recess and SEL), please put (PE+) to indicate you know the PE standards will be used here.

While it feels big, keep in mind, you are already doing it. It is the documenting of it for evidence we have to produce. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything. Many of you already shared you main schedules a while back. Because you shared live docs, I should automatically get your changes. If you did not share your schedule or don’t remember, here is the link to the folder that shows them and where you can link them to. (It’s the Admin Resources Drive—Schedules—24/25) The updates and sharing of schedules need to be done by Wednesday, Oct 9. Thanks so much!

October Site Visits: Please sign up here for an October site visit. When I send the invite it will include an agenda (spoiler alert! it will mostly be about school design plan work).

Conferences Time Frames: After consultation with BEA two years ago, we have landed on the following information regarding length of a conference.  If a teacher has 25 or less students, their conferences need to be between 25-30 minutes to accommodate for transition times as needed (25 min  gives time for a quick restroom break, time in case one goes longer, etc.).  If a teacher has 26 or more students, their conferences can be 20 minutes, giving the teacher the ability to have a few longer ones as well as building in transition times if needed.  

Important Links

• September 25th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–list them here! (Check out what your colleagues are doing or not doing for Halloween festivities)

Notes from our Team:

Tracy Howk in Instructional Technology: Digital Citizenship week is October 14-18, an annual campaign to promote healthy, balanced, and positive approach to media and tech use among young people. Here are some handy resources. 

Visit our Instructional Technology blog for more, including resources for families 

Common Sense Education: Digital Citizenship lessons

Wayfinder: Digital Citizenship lessons found in Activities Library, filter to grade level   

Digital Citizenship Kahoot! or search and filter to find one that best fits your needs 

From Kerry Morton, Math Instructional Coach: The Math Curriculum Review Team will need to share the pros and cons of each Field Test as we progress through the year. These will probably only be 10-20 minutes depending on how many questions your staff has about each program. These are the date ranges of when the team will need some time:

November 8-22 Amplify with Desmos

December 12-January 10 StemScopes

January 31-February 7 Experience Math

From Ryan in HR: I’d like to remind you of the importance of having all staff record all absences in Red Rover, not just those requiring substitute coverage.

Please share with your teams that every absence, regardless of whether a substitute is needed, must be logged in Red Rover. This streamlined process allows clerical and administrative staff to plan efficiently for any gaps throughout the day and helps us better manage school operations.

I appreciate your attention to this small but important ask. Your support in communicating this expectation to your staff will help ensure consistency and efficiency across the board. If you have any questions or need clarification, don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for your cooperation!

From Andrea in HR: We are excited to introduce Canopy, Bend-La Pine Schools new Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider!

Canopy EAP services include mental health support, counseling, behavioral coaching, digital tools, and resources to help navigate life and work – from financial coaching to gym and pet insurance discounts – Canopy’s mission is to create happier and healthier lives for employees.

Canopy services are free, confidential, and available to ALL district employees and their family members.  Learn more about Canopy and how to access their services on our district’s Benefits website.

From Scott Mc in IT: Regarding the Cybersecurity Awareness Training-

First of all, thank you all for supporting our Cyber October effort. Especially for your help to promoting the Cybersecurity Awareness Training.  We will have another automated message sharing the link to the training early next week.  It would be very helpful if you could communicate with your buildings the 30 minutes you are setting aside for the completion of the training.    Now that this training is required, it will be a module in our “Safe Schools” effort moving forward.

From the Spotlight: New advisory committees to give employees a voice in District-level discussions

In an effort to bring Bend-La Pine Schools staff and leaders together in dialogue on District initiatives, Superintendent Steven Cook is forming advisory committees for Classified, Certified, Administrative, and South County employee groups. Each District Advisory Committees will meet four times during the school year, giving employees an opportunity to be a voice for their community. The purpose of each meeting will be to:

• Hear from leadership on the state of the District, Legislative updates, District initiatives and issues before the School Board
• Have a dialogue on these issues
• Provide feedback on areas of focus
• Share current and emerging issues from the field

The advisory meetings will begin in November at the Education Center, 520 NW Wall St. in Bend. The South County committee meetings will be in La Pine. Classified Committee members will be paid for their time. Certified Committee members will be provided with a half-day substitute.

We are planning for up to 15 members per committee with representation from schools, levels, and operational groups. Depending on the number of applicants, a lottery or other selection process may be used to select committee members.

Applications are due Wednesday, October 16. Applicants will be notified on Monday, October 21. To see the meeting schedule and submit your application, please use THIS FORM.

From Jessica Houser, Business Operations Manager: This is a reminder that the deadline for submitting information regarding employees who missed work due to being in a level two or three evacuation zone between September 9^th and 17^th is tomorrow, Friday, October 4^th at 12pm.

If you have not filled out the Google From, please do so at your earliest convenance to ensure we have all the necessary information. Your input is important for us to determine the next steps for those affected. There is no need for your employees to submit additional forms at this time. We truly appreciate your prompt response and continued support.

Action Items

• Update and share main schedules with PE documentation by 10/9
• Sign up here for October’s Site Visit
• Want to apply to be on the District Admin Advisory Team? Sign up here by 10/16

Important Dates

• October 9. PE minutes documented in main schedule due
• October 7. Advertising training in the boardroom 10:00-11:30 (at least 1 admin and Office Manager)
• October 15: Horizontal Meeting at La Pine Elementary, 3:00-5:00 (La Pine and Juniper host) Please allow extra time for travel, depending on where you are located it could take 45 min to get there. Please do your best to be on time.
• October 23: All Admin PD—more to come
• Conferences: Oct 29–3:15-7:15, Oct 30–3:15-7:15, Oct 31–7:15-3:15
• Work Day: October 30, 7:15-3:15
• October 30: Administrator EL training–all day, exact time and location TBD
• October 31: Safe School Trainings need to be done by today
• November 11: Veteran’s Day–No School

And finally…

Here is the link for the site!