Month: January 2025

It was fun taking the Leadership assessment yesterday and learning more about ourselves and each other.  Thanks for participating and leaning into your strengths!  In case you were wondering, here are mine and Tammy’s strengths from yesterday:

Karen’s:  Love, Gratitude, Social Intelligence, Forgiveness, Teamwork

Tammy’s:   Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence, Zest, Kindness, Hope, Teamwork 

From Tammy and Karen

It is time for us to schedule our February Site Visits. This month, we will be visiting you together. We will be focusing on looking at data and extending the conversations we will start at Horizontal on Tuesday. Please sign up for a time here (please note, we have already signed up some sites to connect to the breakfast event).

A reminder that although our preference is that Progress Reports be completed by 5:00 on Sunday, February 2nd, staff do have until 4:00 p.m. on Monday the 3rd due to confusion in timelines that were communicated to them earlier this month.

Quick ask:  Boys and Girls Clubs will be coming around to pass out information to you to share with families regarding their programs (spring break, conference days, summer, etc.)  This is ok.  We partner with Boys and Girls Clubs to provide activities for our students. 

Erich and Tammy have worked to come up with a great resource for upcoming state testing. For building testing coordinators who are interested, we will be meeting at Ensworth at 2:00, prior to the Horizontal meeting to go over the resource and share the ones you bring.

Important Links

• January 22^nd Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–Bear Creek is looking for Youth Truth engagement ideas!
• FAQs for Special Education Inclusion Topics—Keep checking in here! BEA and BLS supported

Notes from our Team:

From Jenny White – Life and Career Readiness: Principals below is an activity you can use at the beginning of a SIW or staff meeting. Telephone Drawing

Policy, Advocacy, and Equity – Kinsey Martin
Taking It Up: Great news: we have re-scheduled the Taking It Up workshop (postponed from August)!  It will be Tues-Wed, February 18-19 (full days).  Substitute costs will be covered as applicable.  A notice will go out to staff early next week with instructions to sign up.  Space will be limited and this powerful workshop usually fills quickly, so encourage folks to sign up fast.  If you are a leader in our district who has not attended the week-long CFEE workshop or this two-day version that is Taking It Up, please consider arranging your schedule to attend.  

If you are a CFEE grad and willing to serve as a table facilitator, please email me ASAP.  Administrators, I am happy to cover the cost of a substitute for a teacher-leader in your building to serve as office support while you’re out (if you have an admin intern you could tap, etc).  

Linguist Link: If you are experiencing issues with Linguist Link services (interpreters not showing up, no responses to your messages, poor quality of linguist services), please A) send a note via the “message all” feature of your project/request in the LL system, and/or B) shoot me an email to let me know. 

There are some transitions going on within those contracted services, but I have been reassured this should not impact the quality of service you receive.  As a reminder if you’re ever in a pinch, here are the various resources and levels of support available to you for translation/interpretation.  

From IT Department – Scott McDonald: Here is a good news sandwich from your IT department.

Top Bun– Beginning this week, our elementary progress report is now available in 11 different languages! (Jason Schneider).

Bologna- Make sure your TV / projection system is off when you leave for the day! (Scott McDonald)

Bottom Bun– AirPlay functionality has returned to normal with the latest available OS update, (Chad Brewer)

Even if you prefer to not have Bologna in your “good news” sandwich, please try your best to choke it down today.  😊

From Becca Burda, Communications:

Help celebrate our SROs! SRO Appreciation Day is Saturday, February 15 but we want to celebrate them all week long. Beginning Monday, February 11, do something special for your SRO. Please pick the day of the week that works best for your school.

Help us share the love on social media. Send your imagery to Becca Burda, Assistant Director of Communications, and we’ll keep the gratitude flowing online. 

From Curriculum, Instruction and Systems-Julie Richards

This letter will be shared with your 3rd grade teachers on Monday.  Please read as it outlines a change to the EL curriculum map. Letter to 3rd Grade teachers. 

From Operations: Paul Dean

COO Ops leaders from Transportation, Facilities/Maintenance, Safety, IT and Custodial/Sustainability will be facilitating the March Leadership Team meeting. Please submit at least one question, concern, curiosity or comment that you have for one or more of our departments at this link.

Animals on school grounds: We want to take a moment to clarify differing practices in our district with regards to animals on school grounds.  We have many playgrounds with this sign:

However, we do not have any district policy that prohibits dogs outside of school hours on our property.  ING-AR: Animal Visitors under Owner Responsibility reads:

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

In order to align our signage with our policy, we will be removing all fence signage pertaining to animals.  In place of those signs, our maintenance department will install one of the signs below.  They will communicate with the head engineer and building principal regarding where you want the new sign placed.

Building leaders have the authority to temporarily close school playgrounds in accordance with Facility, Playgrounds, Fields & Property Community Use Guidelines [here is a Spanish Version].   We have created this Community Use Violation Notice [and here is a Spanish Version] that you may copy, edit, print, laminate and zip tie to your gate(s) when you are restricting public access by locking your gates.  

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

From Safety Department: Scott Bojanowski and Kayla Martin

Please ensure all school administrators relay to their staff the updated protocols for district bus driver’s and bus monitor’s access to school restrooms in our Culture of Safety document on the staff portal website here, and in the Safety Resources Google Drive (for administrators and office managers) here. The updated protocols are under the Access to Buildings Procedures section, paragraph (D), subsection (2) on pages 4 & 5 of the document.

In an effort to support our bus drivers and bus monitors, who sometimes are not able to access the main entrance of our schools because of where they have to park the buses, and because they are on a quick turnaround timeline, we have provided updated protocols for those employees to enter our schools during their duty hours to access staff restrooms. Our transportation staff’s key card access will be limited between the hours of 7:00 AM – 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday. Please reach out to the safety team with any questions.

Raptor: As discussed in last week’s Office Manager meeting, all Raptor kiosks and user accounts are equipped with an “Emergency button.” While this button is not a silent alarm/panic system, it a great tool to alert your Building Admin and District Safety Team that you need support in the front office. Please review the document describing use of of the button.

From Lisa Birk, Deputy Superintendent

Please use this document when sharing the BLS Strategic Initiatives rather than the past one when referencing our Strategic Initiatives. We altered the language around Priority Standards to reflect Standards-based instruction and grading.

Substitute Hiring: Please help spread the word that the ESD is hiring substitutes by sharing this flyer! You can also use this Social Media Post jpg

From Social Emotional Wellness – Jennifer Hauth

It is time to celebrate your school counselors!! See this resource. Jess and I will be coming around to drop off a goodie as well😊

National School Counseling Week (NCSW) 2025 is Feb. 3-7, 2025, to focus attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within our schools. The theme this year is: School Counseling: Helping Students Thrive. The special week honoring school counselors provides recognition for school counselors who “implement comprehensive school counseling programs, a vital part of the educational process for all students as they meet the challenges of the 21st century”.

NCSW is always celebrated the first full week in February and there are multiple resources available below to help you celebrate school counselors next week at your school site. We will celebrate our student success staff the week of March 3rd during school social worker week.Here is a “Certificate of Appreciation” that you can use for your counselors and click on link above for some resources to help your school celebrate this week with your counselor(s)😊

From Ryan Kelling, Human Resources

We are very excited to be adding a Director of District Activities and Athletics to bring our secondary school athletic and activity programs together under one vision. This role is focused on ensuring that every student has access to consistent, high-quality extracurricular experiences, no matter which school they attend. By aligning programs across the district, we’re creating more opportunities for students to grow, connect, and succeed—academically, socially, and emotionally.

This will be a BLAST position and we’ll be posting this position on our site Monday and sharing it widely across the region to attract a strong pool of candidates. If you’d like to learn more about the role or have any questions, please connect with Ryan.

Action Items

• Sign up for a February Site Visit here
• Please see that ALL Office staff have received and read the immigration guidance. This is an expectation that it will be followed correctly should you encounter a situation needing it.
• Take the quick Ops Survey if you haven’t already
• Decide where you want your new animal policy sign on your property
• Plan your SRO gratitude! Not too early to start!
• Update office staff on the new protocol with bus drivers accessing the building
• Get ready to recognize your school counselor next week if you have one

Important Dates

• January 31: Progress Report work day. Mandatory Training options at 8, 11, or 2
• February 2: Progress Reports due by 5:00 would be nice
• February 3: Progress Report deadline 4:00
• February 4: Testing Coordinator meeting at Ensworth at 2:00, followed by our Horizontal meeting from 3:00-5:00 Hosted by ENS, BUC and LRE
• February 10: Admin ICCL Training on hold and will not happen today–please communicate that to your team. We will let you know of a future date.
• February 11-12: Tammy and Karen are in Salem at a COSA conference
• February 19: Administrator Professional Development from 3:00 – 5:00
• March 11: Horizontal Meeting 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at Pine Ridge hosted by PRE and NSE

And Finally…It is the end of January!

Sharing a picture of something that makes me happy…Kermit the Frog! I have been in several third grade classes lately and have been seeing the EL module on Frogs, wishing I was 8 again, so that I could learn all about the amphibian that is so near and dear to my heart. As a life long Muppet fan, I think about the many ways we should try to channel our inner Kermit.

“Kermit’s lessons were always the same: Chip in. Share your stuff. Give of your time and genuine concern for the well-being of friends and neighbors. Forget about the glamour and the glitz which ultimately only provides superficial and fleeting happiness.” I couldn’t agree more!

From Tammy and Karen

What? The end of January is next week already? Time flies when you are having fun and we hope you are all having fun out there. This job is hard, and some fun now and then causes us to slow down and reflect on the joy in what we do. Be sure you are making time to have some fun!

Please be sure to read Chapter 1 in “Thriving Leaders” by our All Admin PD on Wednesday the 29th. See you all at Bend High in Perseverance Hall from 3:00-4:30.

Important Links

• January 22^nd Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–Bear Creek is looking for Youth Truth engagement ideas!
• FAQs for Special Education Inclusion Topics—Keep checking in here! BEA and BLS supported

Notes from our Team:

From Jenny White – Life and Career Readiness: Principals, here is an activity you can use at the beginning of a SIW or staff meeting. Word Association Storytelling

From Dave Vanloo–School Improvement: 6 school days remain to survey (surveys close end-of-day Friday, January 31^st). HOW IS YOUR SURVEY PROGRESS? Follow along at http://www.ytsurvey.org/Bendprogress25.

Policy, Advocacy, and Equity – Kinsey Martin

MAC Survey: The next MAC Survey will occur the week of Feb 3rd–specific date coming soon.  If you are in the cost pool you will be notified, and it will be important you complete your training asap.  Even if you don’t claim any activities on the survey day, just being a trained administrator in the cost pool helps our funding.  If you can attend any meetings that day where claimable activities might be discussed, that would be a huge help.  Remember, this survey process brings in critical funding for FAN Advocate services.  Thank you for your partnership!

Immigration Guidance:  Principals, be sure relevant staff have access to the district immigration guidance shared with you last week.  You may share with any/all staff, but at a minimum, it is expected that your entire front-office team be very familiar with the full guidance.  

Please print the ICE Protocol (the document linked in the first section) and post for staff reference at the station where your check-in person sits and greets visitors.  Reach out if you have questions or concerns.

From Becca Burda, Communications:

Good morning! SRO Appreciation Week is around the corner (February 10-14) and we’d like to plant the seed for schools to show their gratitude for their SROs. Can you please include the following in your blogs through the first week of February? I’ve also attached a few photos to spark ideas. Thank you!

Help celebrate our SROs! SRO Appreciation Day is Saturday, February 15 but we want to celebrate them all week long. Beginning Monday, February 11, do something special for your SRO. Please pick the day of the week that works best for your school.

Need some ideas?

• Ask students and staff to make them thank you cards
• Bring them donuts or other tasty morning treats
• Serve them lunch
• Decorate their office

Help us share the love on social media. Send your imagery to Becca Burda, Assistant Director of Communications, and we’ll keep the gratitude flowing online. 

From Eric Powell, Student Services

Quick Message Regarding SIRC/STAS Assessments and the Important “Outcome and Safety Plans”. For any SIRC (Level 1) or STAS (Level 0 or Level 1) assessment that your team works through, we are required to submit the assessment materials utilized AND an Outcome & Safety Plan. The Outcome and Safety Plan is what we attach to the incident in Synergy, so this document and the accompanying safety planning is vital to the process. 

Here is the link to our SIRC/STAS Threat Assessment Guide for specifics: LINK HERE Thanks!

From Lisa Birk, Deputy Superintendent

As we continue into 2025, I wanted to give you a head’s up regarding a couple of items that are coming up prior to Spring Break.

1. ALL ADMIN Mandatory Trainings: We have two mandatory trainings coming up. The first is related to Mandatory Subjects of Bargaining and the other is related to AI Guidance for the 2025-2026 school year. We will have several options to take these trainings over the next few months in an effort to accommodate many different schedules. Each training is 2 hours long. On January 31st (the report card workday), we will have three options to complete the Mandatory Subjects of Bargaining training. Sign up by clicking HERE. Other trainings opportunities for this and the AI training will happen on various Thursdays throughout the winter and spring. More details to come. 

2. Optional Admin PD Opportunities (sign up by clicking link and then clicking on the training of interest): 

• Dave will be leading a testing topic training THIS THRUSDAY from 2-4 and another on 2/6 from 8-10. If you want to come this week, please sign up before tomorrow close of business!
• Dave will be leading a testing topic training THIS THRUSDAY from 2-4 and another on 2/6 from 8-10. If you want to come this week, please sign up before tomorrow close of business!
• Other trainings available before Spring Break are related to SIOP, Evaluations and Feedback, SPED and SPED Law, Financial Management, Positive Behavioral Support Planning, and Instructional Frameworks. Click the link above to sign up.
• If you have an idea for a future training, let me know!

3. Principal, Assistant Principal, and Dean Evaluation Information:

• These are updated and in our system. You can attach your SLGGs using the paperclip if you haven’t already. You level leader needs this too
• All of the details for each scoring area can be accessed by clicking on the question mark to the right of the rating section. You will also notice that Domain 9, 10, 11, and 12 have more specific information than they have had in the past. This is to be more in line with the current district work with which we are engaged. If you have questions about these sections, please reach out to your level leader.
• Please refer to this UKG guidance doc for specific actions. 

4. MTSS Meeting Schedule: Between January and March, I’d like to attend an MTSS meeting at as many sites as possible. This is simply in an effort to better understand what of our past work has stuck, what promising practices are happening, and where we need supports/frameworks. Please e-mail me sometime this week with your schedule for these meetings happening between January and spring break.

From Ryan Kelling, Human Resources

We are providing the following information from Article 14.1 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) to ensure you are aware of the reimbursement policy for certified employees who use their personal vehicles for school or professionally related activities, including those staff who travel between sites in the course of a day due to split assignments:

• Certified employees approved to use their own automobiles for school or professionally related activities will be reimbursed at the current IRS mileage rate.
• Employees required to drive their own personal automobiles in the course of their work will also be reimbursed at the IRS mileage rate for the distance traveled between regular district work assignments.
• Certified employees who reside in La Pine and are required to attend meetings in Bend are eligible for mileage reimbursement.

The reimbursement process is consistent with IRS guidelines, which set the standard mileage rate and helps ensure that employees are not financially disadvantaged for using personal vehicles in the course of their work.

Reimbursement requests should be submitted using the AP-106 form and will be charged to your building’s discretionary funds. For staff who work at multiple sites, a good way to balance the budgetary implications across schools may be for the involved schools to rotate responsibility for these payments on a monthly or quarterly basis.

This information is shared so you can address any questions or reimbursement requests that may arise from employees. While there’s no need to proactively disseminate this information, we encourage you to refer to this information if you have questions or require clarification as to our practice.

Thank you for your attention to this and for your support in ensuring consistent understanding of contract provisions.

From the Culture of Care at the ESD

We still have space available for our upcoming Restorative Conferencing training on 1/30/25 (8:30am-12:30pm at COCC Redmond). This is the tier 3 formal, scripted circle used to repair specific and significant harm between individuals. This session is free and open to educators and our partners.

Register for all RP Opportunities here!

Culture of Care has also been updating our Restorative Practices resources:

• New and improved RP Overview
•   Comparison of the different Types of Circles
• Fair Process Guide
• Consultation/facilitation Request Form 

These resources can also be found on our website: cultureofcareoregon.org 

Action Items

• Read Chapter 1 in Thriving Leader by 1/29/25
• Keep pushing the Youth Truth with staff and families
• MAC Survey the week of Feb 3!
• Please see that ALL Office staff have received and read the immigration guidance. This is an expectation that it will be followed correctly should you encounter a situation needing it.
• Plan your SRO gratitude! Not too early to start!
• Sign up for your Mandatory Admin PD now if your haven’t already.
• Interested in an upcoming optional PD? Sign up here
• Complete and attach SLGGs if you haven’t already
• Invite Lisa to MTSS meetings—let us know as well and we’ll try to make as many as we can.

Important Dates

• January 29: All Admin PD at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30–read chapter 1 in the Thriving Leaders book prior to coming.
• January 31: Progress Report work day. Mandatory Training options at 8, 11, or 2
• February 2: Progress Reports due by 5:00
• February 4: Horizontal meeting at Ensworth, 3:00-5:00 Hosted by ENS, BUC and LRE
• February 10: Admin ICCL Training on hold and will not happen today–please communicate that to your team. We will let you know of a future date.
• February 11-12: Tammy and Karen are in Salem at a COSA conference

And finally…

From Tammy and Karen

January site visits are in full swing, and it has been an inspiring experience to hear about your celebrations and witness these successes firsthand! There’s something truly special about seeing the light in your eyes as you share the accomplishments, hopes, vision, and dreams for your schools. We are deeply honored to partner with such dedicated, insightful, and visionary leaders, and we are here to support you every step of the way!

We hope you enjoy the three-day weekend and find time on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to channel his love, peacefulness, hope, resilience, and vision for yourself, your family, and your community!

Staff Probationary Letters: Please be sure you have completed and uploaded all of your Renewal Recommendation letters into the appropriate school folder within this google drive no later than January 24th. We have moved up the deadline this year, so please don’t let this timeline slip by.

Progress Report Deadlines: Please see the detailed information below from Ryan Kelling about progress report teacher work day and deadlines.

SLGGs: Please use the same template that the certified staff uses for their SLGGs. When you have them filled out, you need to send them to Karen and I as well as attempt to upload them to the paperclip in your UKG. Some of you already have them done, so please just send them our way by Monday, 1/20. Thank you!

Important Links

• January 8^th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–Bear Creek is looking for Youth Truth engagement ideas!
• FAQs for Special Education Inclusion Topics—Keep checking in here! BEA and BLS supported

Notes from our Team:

From Human Resources – Ryan Kellling: Per Article 15.8 of the CBA, Certified Employees are not required to report to their work site on end-of-term work days but must remain available by phone. Supervisors may require in-person attendance if there are articulable concerns about the timely completion of professional responsibilities.
To ensure clarity, we are setting the following expectations that will take effect for the second semester of 24-25 SY:
Progress Reports Submission Deadline: Special Education Progress reports must be submitted by 4:00 PM on 1/31 this semester.
Middle/High School progress reports must be finalized in Synergy by 4:00 PM on 1/31.
Elementary progress reports must be finalized by 4:00 PM on 2/3.

Work Location for End-of-Term Days: Employees who have met the deadlines in regards to grading and/or progress reports in previous semesters, and who have met other expectations surrounding the timely completion of professional responsibilities, will be permitted to work from an off-site location on end-of-term work days.
Employees who have not met these deadlines, and/or for whom their supervisor has further articulable concerns about the timely completion of professional responsibilities, will be required to work from their assigned school site.
Next Steps for Administrators: Notify employees with past concerns about timely completion of responsibilities – with detail regarding those concerns – as soon as possible (no later than 2 weeks before any potential end-of-term workday) if they will be required to work onsite on end-of-term work days. This communication will be followed up in writing with specific articulable concerns shared.
This practice encourages timely completion of professional responsibilities while maintaining flexibility for those employees meeting expectations.

From Janet Bojanowski: During the January 22^nd Office Manager meeting, we will have a discussion on de-escalation led by Eric Powell, Scott Bojanowski, and Kayla Martin. This will include sample scenarios to work through and time for you to bring forth any scenarios you would like to share/discuss. We would like to remind you that your full office staff is invited and encouraged to attend these trainings. Schedule is as follows; however, you are welcome to join either session if the time works better for you. Elementary Team: 1:15-2:15pm followed by the Secondary Team from 2:30-3:30

From Jennifer Hauth – Social, Emotional, and Mental Wellbeing: Two schools from elementary have expressed interest in using the Waypoints summative assessment for mid-year data. We have opened the mid-year summative assessment from January 20^th – February 20^th for optional use. The year-end assessment will still be available from May 12th to June 13th. Here is information that was sent out at the beginning of the year, if you need additional information on how to access the assessments.

Summative Waypoints allow educators to measure student growth of Wayfinder’s six Core Skills across the school year. By administering the summative Waypoints assessments, educators can understand areas of strength and growth for individual students and the class to make informed, data-driven decisions about instruction. Here is the info on Waypoints, including the new Waypoints Implementation Guides to help teachers set up the reason we are assessing students as well as instructions.  The final summative assessment for students will be open May 12^th through June 13^th for students.

From Jenny White – Life and Career Readiness: Principals, here is an activity from Wayfinder called Rock Paper Scissors Battle that you can use during a staff meeting or SIW.  Link to the Activity in Wayfinder

From Dave Vanloo–School Improvement: 9 school days remain to survey (surveys close end-of-day Friday, January 31^st). HOW IS YOUR SURVEY PROGRESS? Follow along at http://www.ytsurvey.org/Bendprogress25.

This Week’s Pro-Tip: To boost participation, try doing a social media blast! Click here for sample Student Survey posts, and click here for sample Family Survey posts.

From Andrea Wilson – Benefits and Risk Management: A reminder that employees and students should not bring pets with them to work or school. ING-AR: Animals in the Classroom or on School Property reviews the conditions and process for by which animals can visit classrooms or be on school property. If you have any questions regarding staff who identify a need for service animals, please reach out to the Human Resources Benefits team at [email protected]

Policy, Advocacy, and Equity – Kinsey Martin

FAN Food Resource: The Giving Plate provides our families in need with weekend food through their Snack Bag program.  Recently, they let us know that their donations and volunteer resources are down, while the number of families they’re serving has been up: from 130 to 700 families weekly.  They are unable to meet demand and need to prioritize their core services, so the Snack Bag program is discontinued.  

While this is disappointing news, there are still many ways families can access food resources.  Please see the links at the bottom of this letter, with bilingual handouts listing current food resources in Bend and South County.  FAN Advocates have shared this letter with impacted families.  Feel free to print copies of the handouts linked there, to have available in your main office.

Want to help out?  One of the best ways you can support our families is to volunteer or donate to awesome programs like The Giving Plate or directly to FAN, so they can maintain their services and programs that benefit our families.  🙂

Immigration Guidance: Please read this information carefully, and reach out with any questions.

Presidential Inauguration: Reminder: Post-inauguration, some students will be walking into your building with big feelings.  The incoming administration has openly communicated upcoming changes intended to directly impact particular populations (immigrants, trans people, etc).  

Please ask your counselors to make themselves as available as possible for drop-ins if students need extra support next week.  If your team knows a particular student or colleague struggled after the election in November, make time on Tuesday to have a trusted adult or friend intentionally check in with them.  Thank you for your increased presence, vigilance, empathy, and grace next week. 

Action Items

• Please read this Immigration Guidance document carefully, and reach out with any questions.
• Write staff probationary letters (use the form that was sent) and upload to the google drive by 1/24
• Inform teachers about the 5:00 deadline for progress report submissions on Sun. Feb 2 and review Ryan’s communication about expectations for timely completion.
• Complete SLGGs on this form and email to Tammy and Karen and upload to UKG
• Arrange for your office to be covered on Jan 22, so all office staff can attend a meeting at SIW
• Youth Truth—check your participation rates and brainstorm ideas for increased participation.
• Pay close attention to the information in Kinsey’s section.

Important Dates

• January 13: TAG Meeting at the Ed Center from 3:45-5:30. Please make sure your admin rep and TAG teacher rep are there.
• January 15: Safety Cadre Meeting—one admin should attend. PBMS from 1:30-3:30
• January 20: No School – Martin Luther King Jr Day Holiday
• January 22: SIW: EL planning time
• January 29: All Admin PD at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30–read chapter 1 in the Thriving Leaders book prior to coming.
• January 31: Progress Report work day, optional/mandatory training for you to come
• February 2: Progress Reports due by 5:00
• February 4: Horizontal meeting at Ensworth, 3:00-5:00 Hosted by ENS, BUC and LRE

And finally…

From Tammy and Karen

Welcome 2025! Here’s hoping the first blog of the year finds you rested and ready to stay the course with all the great work that is going on out in our schools and district! We appreciate and celebrate you!

What schools do Tammy and Karen support? We know many departments are unaware of how we have divided up schools this year. This link is to provide you with a list of which schools Tammy is the lead support person and which schools Karen is the lead support person. As always, we support them all, but this helps you know who to call first.

Staff Probationary Letters: Earlier today, you received a couple of emails from Triz de la Rosa in Human Resources regarding the letters you need to fill out recommending your year 3 probationary teachers moving to contract status. It is imperative that you have those done and uploaded to the Google folder no later than January 24th. We have moved up the deadline this year, so please don’t let this timeline slip by. Which truly means, please don’t make Karen and I reach out to you at the last minute because you didn’t do them. Wink, wink!

Progress Report Deadlines: January 31 is the official day that staff should be working on report cards and the official cutoff for elementary reports is Sunday, Feb 2 at 5:00 pm. Please make sure you communicate that early and often, so that we are not caught in a situation where a school has not submitted their cards and rollover to the next semester becomes tricky.

January 31 Progress Report Work Day: Per Article 15.8 of the CBA, Certified Employees are not required to report to their work site on end-of-term workdays but must remain available by phone. If a supervisor has articulable concerns about a Certified Employee’s timely completion of professional responsibilities, they may require the Certified Employee to report to the work site. Please reach out to Tammy or Karen if you have any questions about this.

For our January Site Visits: The next round of site visits over the next 2 weeks, Karen and I are dividing and conquering, each visiting our individual schools. The visits after that will be joint visits. In case you missed it in your calendar invite, here is our agenda. We really want to focus on celebrating your school and helping you achieve your hopes and dreams for the remainder of the year.

How can you carve out time for Sources of Strength? Jennifer, Karen and I have received a few emails asking how to make time for the new counseling lessons around suicide prevention. Know that the counselors have been working this week on actually condensing the lessons into fewer than originally communicated (2-4 depending on grade level). Here are some ways in which you can help make time for that:

• If your school has weekly or bi-weekly counselor time in the classrooms or a specials spot (all schools with full time counselors should have this), this is a topic that the counselor will teach during their time.
• With 20 Wayfinder core instruction lessons per grade level, 4 Erin’s Law lessons, and 35 instructional weeks, you can take the time teachers set aside for those topics each week and bring the counselor in to teach Sources of Strength lessons for 2-4 more.
• Partner with the counselor to brainstorm other ideas if those two don’t work.

Reminder: Wayfinder is about Social Emotional Learning, Erin’s Law is about child abuse prevention, and Sources of Strength is about suicide prevention. They are all different and should not be replacing each other.

Time Sheets: Please work to ensure time and leave sheets are correctly filled out before submitting them. Office managers received an email earlier with an example of what is required to be filled out. If an employee has omitted information (the most common mistake) or has another error, please have your office manager work with them to correct the form before submission. Thank you.

ACR Update Process: We have updated the timeline for ACR approvals for the 2025-2026 school year. Here is the new timeline. This does not include a process for approving case by case ACRs that come to us throughout the year.

Please update staffing plans: Please go into your staffing plans and update them with the current enrollment numbers per grade as well as the number of students in each session. This is important, as we look at that when approving/denying ACRs. You don’t want to be caught with a low number from fall but in reality it’s much larger. When you do that, please change the date that is red to the date you have updated it. Please have that done by next Wednesday.

SLGGs: At this time, UKG may or may not be working accurately to upload your SLGGs in that system, so we are asking that you use the same template that the certified staff uses for their SLGGs. When you have them filled out, you need to send them to Karen and I as well as attempt to upload them to the paperclip in your UKG. Some of you already have them done, so please just send them our way by Monday, 1/20. Thank you!

END Update: For next SIW 1/15, a reminder that your counselors, SSCs, and School Psychs will be meeting at Caldera from 2:30-4:00. There is a plan to compensate them for the time beyond the regular work day.

Important Links

• January 8^th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–Bear Creek is looking for Youth Truth engagement ideas!
• FAQs for Special Education Inclusion Topics—Keep checking in here! BEA and BLS supported

Notes from our Team:

Did you know? Last year 6 students in the US were killed by their own bus, 3 of which were in school bus loading zones. We still have schools releasing before 2:15 and students in loading zones without adult supervision. Our buses, at some sites when approaching, have to swing over the curb to make a turn. This is critical there are no students anywhere near that move. Please be out to the bus loading zones to check that your staff and students are not too early and following this very important safety guideline. Thank you!

Kindergarten Ask: It’s that time of year again when Head Start is looking for a couple of kindergarten teachers from Bend La Pine to come and speak to their parents about kindergarten registration. The ask is typically about 30 minutes and covers the following:

• Answer any questions parents might have about a kindergarten day, what they learn
• Speak about kindergarten registration, how and when and what support may be available
• Choice Option Schools, including Dual Immersion

Please let Tammy know if you have a kindergarten teacher who may be interested. We will take two of them and pay them for one hour. Thank you!

From Stuart Eaton in HR: Here is a link with the directions on how to enter parts of the evaluation process (SLGGs, mini’s, formals, etc.) in UKG.

From Nick Shein in the Business Office: We hope you all have a wonderful holiday and winter break!  When you get settled after the new year, please note that the IRS has announced a 3 cent/mile increase to the mileage rate for 2025.  The new rate is 70 cents/mile, and applies to all mileage driven after January 1, 2025.  Below is a link to the Portal page with the electronic mileage forms for in-District travel with both the 2024 and 2025 rates.  There is also an AP-106 for other travel.  Please note that the mileage reimbursement rate is determined by the date of travel, not the date the reimbursement is submitted or paid. Please contact Nick Shein at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Link to the Sharepoint site with the information.

From Janet Bojanowski: During the January 22^nd Office Manager meeting, we will have a discussion on de-escalation led by Eric Powell, Scott Bojanowski, and Kayla Martin. This will include sample scenarios to work through and time for you to bring forth any scenarios you would like to share/discuss. We would like to remind you that your full office staff is invited and encouraged to attend these trainings.

Schedule is as follows; however, you are welcome to join either session if the time works better for you. Elementary Team: 1:15-2:15pm followed by the Secondary Team from 2:30-3:30

Note from Tammy and Karen: This SIW day is EL work time for teachers and you don’t need to lead it, so please cover the office (answer phones, walk-ins, etc.) while the office staff is away. They appreciate the support!

One Class at a Time Awards: Mid Oregon Credit Union is seeking your assistance in nominations for our KTVZ One Class at a Time awards. Selected nominations will be chosen monthly during the school year for innovative classroom education, projects and learning that represent positive student experiences and highlighted with a KTVZ news story and a $1000 award to support the program.

Please have your principals, teachers, advisors, staff send the requests to Kyle Frick, at [email protected] for consideration for the selection process.

From Sean Reinhart:  Child Count 2024. Each year on December 1, we report the number of students on IEPs, as well as other demographic information to ODE.  This “count” is what determines our level of funding for the next year.  You can find a table with 2024 data, as well as historical trends HERE.  

Here are a few highlights from this last year:

• No remarkable trends up or down in disability type last year
• Total students on IEPs is 2027 (up from 1931 in 23/24)
• Total IEPs district percentage is 12.1% (slightly up from last year and up 3% since 20/21)

From Jennifer Hauth and your building counselors: (Note from Tammy and Karen: Please make sure that at least one building admin attend this celebration, so mark your calendars!)

From Paul Dean, Chief Operations Officer, A big shout-out to La Pine and Mountain View high schools (especially CTE teacher Cameron Salvitelli) for submitting the first Facility/Site Modification proposals.  Their proposals were approved by the Executive Leadership Team this past week.  

If you would like to view their proposals as exemplars on how to complete Part I and also view the department feedback that they received in Part II, they are linked here (LPHS and MVHS).  We’d also like to recognize Three Rivers for their recent proposal for a mural on their wall ball court.  They did a great job of filling out the form and the proposal is still in the approval process.

Please remember that filling out this form is a requirement before schools may proceed with any project that impacts your facilities or grounds.  When in doubt, contact your level leader and/or Paul Dean and we’ll advise you.

From Dave Vanloo–School Improvement: This is a quick reminder that YouthTruth is now open through January 31. Here is a link to a document to help you get started. More information and resources are available once you log in to YouthTruth.  Let me know if you have any questions. 

From Deputy Superintendent- Lisa Birk

A reminder: another survey I would like you to share with your team is from one of our partners, COREN. This will give an opportunity for all staff to describe professional development interests. COREN supports many learning opportunities within BLP, and this information benefits both their organization and ours in the sense that it gives us access to supports for our current needs. Right now, participation has been limited so any encouragement you can do to give feedback is helpful. This survey ends on January 10th.

Policy, Advocacy, and Equity – Kinsey Martin

Classroom placement policy: Here is a draft of a new policy going out for public feedback, with a tentative adoption date of mid-February.  This establishes that principals are the final decision-makers with regard to classroom placements.  This should help navigate student, staff, or parent requests or refusals to have a particular teacher or student in a class, or where there is disagreement on a student’s schedule.  The “principal or designee” language allows you to delegate this authority to counselors or coordinators, at least for initial placements or non-controversial requests for changes. 

Upcoming events: Please share this communication in your next weekly staff memo, and participate in any/all of these as you are available.  In particular, encourage your building to be well-represented in our 3^rd annual Door-Decorating Contest (adult teams can participate too, if you have enthusiastic or artistic front-office, counseling, or other non-classroom staff).  Thank you!

CAFE Program training: Do you have a newly-hired staff member who speaks another language?  Would they like a $1,000 annual stipend for using their multilingual skills to support family communication?  Due to multiple requests, we are adding one more round of CAFE Program testing and training for this school year.  This extra round will take place in late January—further opportunities will not be available until next fall, so please help ensure relevant bilingual employees are aware and signed up in UKG’s Learning platform.  (Once a staff member has been tested and trained, they do not need to repeat those steps.)

Do Not Schedule dates: As your team begins to schedule important dates for spring, summer, and fall events, please be sure they are aware of our Do Not Schedule dates.  Thank you for re-sharing this with your office managers, activities directors, athletics staff, counselors, and PTA/Booster Club leaders.  

Action Items

• Write staff probationary letters (use the form that was sent) and upload to the google drive
• Inform teachers about the 5:00 deadline for progress report submissions on Sun. Feb 2.
• Update staffing numbers by 1/15/25
• Complete SLGGs on this form and email to Tammy and Karen and upload to UKG
• Arrange for a class or two for us to visit who are exemplary in your two celebrations
• Ensure that the timesheets your school submits are correctly filled out and are not missing info
• Make sure bus lanes are clear of students and supervised by adults
• We need 2 K teachers willing to attend a 30 min Head start meeting to talk about Kindergarten
• Arrange for your office to be covered on Jan 22, so all office staff can attend a meeting at SIW
• Mark your calendar for end of year counseling celebration
• Got a one class at a time nominee? Send it to Kyle Frick
• Youth Truth—how are you going to get your participation rates up?
• Coren survey for all staff by 1/10
• Pay close attention to the information in Kinsey’s section.

Important Dates

• January 13: TAG Meeting at the Ed Center from 3:45-5:30. Please make sure your admin rep and TAG teacher rep are there.
• January 15: Safety Cadre Meeting—one admin should attend. PBMS from 1:30-3:30
• January 15 and 22: SIWs that are Educator Network day followed by an SIW that is EL planning time
• January 29: All Admin PD at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30–read chapter 1 in the Thriving Leaders book prior to coming.
• January 31: Progress Report work day, optional/mandatory training for you to come
• February 2: Progress Reports due by 5:00
• February 4: Horizontal meeting at Ensworth, 3:00-5:00 Hosted by ENS, BUC and LRE

And finally…