Month: February 2025

From Tammy and Karen

Welcome to March (in 2 days)! You will see above that the new Action for Happiness Calendar is out and we are focusing on Mindful March! What I love about the suggestions in this calendar is that they are simple strategies that when put into action can make a big difference in our mindset and overall happiness. At this time in the school calendar, we are all working on our plans for next school while keeping our schools vibrant places for learning through this school year. When I was a principal, it was in March that I often found myself putting aside my own needs and making the argument that I couldn’t slow down for even a minute. I could not have been more wrong! Mindfully slowing down and taking even a few minutes to rest between activities is the best thing we can do for ourselves! My challenge for you is to choose a chair somewhere in your workspace (not your desk chair) and go and sit in it for 5 minutes. Text or email me a photo of the chair so that I can send you some good wishes for peace and a surprise in the mail!

Sign up for March Site Visits: It is time to sign up for our March Site Visits! We will send an agenda at the beginning of next week and add them to your calendar invitations. Plan on spending some of the time talking about staffing and visiting a classroom or two!

Readings for Admin Meetings: In preparation of our next admin PD meeting, please be sure to complete the Leadership Intention activity from Chapter 1 of Thriving Leaders.  Here is the document in case you want a digital copy. We will also be talking about Chapter 2, so please read that prior to attending on Wednesday!

Kindergarten and the Contract: It’s that time of the year to start thinking about the 25-26 kindergarten season!  There are a couple of things in the contract regarding kindergarten in the springtime we want to make sure you are on top of.  First, 16.2.5.4. For kindergarten staff, no later than the first week of April, you need to convene your team to plan for transitioning students into kindergarten.  This means what are you going to do for your May information day/evening as well as your plan for transitioning and building classes in the fall. 

Secondly, speaking of May information day/evening, please go to this document here and please let us know your May Kindergarten orientation date, time, and activity.  This should be chosen now to be within the contracted 60 calendar days if you are doing it as one of your after contracted hours events you are requiring.  You can also make it optional to your kindergarten team and pay them to attend.  We also advertise it on our website and media outlets very soon and need the information for that.  

Common Language:  We had a conversation at cabinet regarding the use of the term “graduation” for anything other than seniors who “graduate” from high school.  We are going to align K-12 to reserve the terms “graduation”, “graduate”, etc. for graduating seniors only.  For other kinds of celebrations K-8, the terms “celebration” or “promotion” will be used to represent those types of transitions.  So, long story short, if you do any type of Kindergarten or 5th grade celebrations, please be sure to use other words to describe that celebration instead of graduation.

ALL-STAFF MEETINGS MARCH 13 WITH DR. COOK: Please remind all your building staff of the virtual meetings with Dr. Cook on Thursday, March 13. These 30-minute virtual meetings are open to all District employees, with two afternoon time slots to accommodate different work schedules. 

Dr. Cook will provide updates on bills making their way through the state Legislature and how they could impact our work to build a budget for next school year. He also will touch on directives related to public education coming out of Washington, D.C. Dr. Cook will leave time to answer a few staff questions. PICK YOUR TIME!

• 3:05 to 3:35 p.m. (best for elementary schedules)
• 3:50 to 4:20 p.m. (best for secondary schedules)

We will provide meeting links closer to the date. Attendance is optional, and we will provide recordings of both meetings afterward.

Important Links

• State Testing Folder
• February 19^th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–Someone is looking for a Field Trip Checklist!
• FAQs for Special Education Inclusion Topics—Keep checking in here! BEA and BLS supported

Notes from our Team:

From Information Technology – Scott McDonald: We need to talk once again about security and keeping our organization and personal data safe.  Email phishing and scams continues to be our number one threat.  And lately, the bad guys have been busy.  Fortunately, there are actions both we in IT and you can do to protect our data:

Report any suspicious email message– Use the “Phish Alert” button in Microsoft Outlook to flag any suspicious message.  Of course, do not click any links in the email before reporting!

Note External Messages– Along with the yellow banner, you will now see the label “External” beside any message that is not from a Bend-La Pine user. In some cases, you may  also see additional information about the sender.

Only use Microsoft Outlook!- The security features that we invest in and maintain as a district are only available on Microsoft Outlook mail clients and tools.  Please do not add your work email to any other mail application (examples include Apple Mail, Gmail, etc.). 

Soon, we will be disabling the ability for users to view their work email on third party applications.  There will be additional messaging to support users who will be impacted by this change.

Finally, you might have noticed our email phishing campaign has become a lot harder lately.  That is because the bad guys are also getting trickier as well.  Do not be afraid to over report when you are suspicious of a message!

From Social Emotional Wellness – Jennifer Hauth

Join us in celebrating our incredible Student Success Coordinators, Clinicians, Instructors and Educational Assistants the week of March 3rd – March 7th! This coincides with School Social Work Week & Classified Appreciation week.

Student success staff are instrumental in supporting students with significant social, emotional and mental health needs. These amazing humans work tirelessly to provide intensive care coordination, family engagement, academic support and emotional support.  

Our student success staff serve as vital members of a school’s education team, playing a central role in creating partnerships between the home, school, and community to improve student well-being and academic success. 

Please take a moment during this week to celebrate and acknowledge the student success staff in your building! Thank you. 

Wayfinder. Please share this poster with your staff. Unlike the picture below, the poster has live links for them to click on.

Life and Career Readiness- Jenny White

Principals below is an activity you can use at the beginning of a SIW or staff meeting.

Six Word Story: Direct Link to the lesson in Wayfinder

From School Improvement – Dave VanLoo: NNAT3 Update. After several days of back and forth with Pearson, we have confirmed that students cannot use Clever to login to the NNAT3 on iPads. Currently Clever is used for rostering and for adults to log into the website to manage testing and reporting. Unfortunately, this means that students will need to install the TestNav app using Self Service and login to it via username (BLP Perm ID#) and password (Session ID # generated in the website). The Synergy report STU408 (Class list and click 2nd grade and Perm ID) can be used to get usernames. In addition to the NNAT3 resources that were shared in the blog a couple of weeks ago, here is the link to the great slide deck Laci made to help with installing TestNav and administering the test.  Let me know if you have additional questions. https://www.canva.com/design/DAF-weB3_o8/q_rg5hHIpyVC33qE4hfziw/edit?utm_content=DAF-weB3_o8&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

From Director of Multilingual Services -Liza Huet: SIGN UP HERE. *Space is limited

Action Items

• Sign up for a March Site Visit
• Complete the document from Chapter 1 and read Chapter 2 of Thriving Leaders for March 5th meeting.
• Consider participating in the “Chair” challenge! Send a photo to Karen to get a surprise in the mail!
• Start planning Erin’s Law lessons–share the information with your staff
• Start planning when and how you are going to be sharing Youth Truth information with your staff and families.
• Share the Wayfinder contest with your staff
• Share SIOP training with staff

Important Dates

• March 3-7: Better Lesson will be here to do school walk-throughs this week–if we haven’t notified you that they will come to your school, no need to note this.
• March 5: All Admin Professional Learning at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• March 11: Horizontal Meeting 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at Pine Ridge hosted by PRE and NSE
• March 13: 3:05 or 3:50—Take 30 minutes to participate in the All Staff Update with Dr. Cook
• March 19: Elementary Safety Cadre, 1:30-3:30–thanks Scott and Kayla for moving it for us!
• March 24-28: The long awaited Spring Break!

And finally…a photo of my chair!

Click here to learn more about the World Day of Social Justice

From Tammy and Karen

I was listening to the Podcast, “The Dr. Hyman Show” today, and he had on another one of my favorite people, Simon Sinek. The topic they were discussing was called, “Friendship is Medicine:The Surprising Science Behind Connection”. It’s a great listen as you drive to and fro. Turns out, friendship is a huge positive factor in our overall health. As we start to wrap up a month that has been very taxing for many, turning to your friends can help, so make sure you do something good for your health this month…connect with a friend!

Erin’s Law: Let’s get ready to deliver these important child abuse prevention lessons to our kids. Here is the letter for admin, to know what needs to be done for your staff and for the documentation. ( Nothing has changed since last year.) Here is a similar letter for you to give your teachers about the planning and preparing for these lessons. Know that your counselors are prepared to be a resource for you.

Youth Truth: Thank you for all your engagement on Wednesday with your Youth Truth data. Last year we made it a priority to share your school data with staff and families, and that is the same this year as well. Here is the slide deck that we shared last year for you to use to share your data with your staff and to follow up with your ICCL team. The slide deck has sample data for you to see, so that you know what snapshots to take from your data to share. We know several of you used the deck as is and some of you added your flair and dug into additional data as well. Either way is good! The important part is that we are sharing the data with stakeholders, reflecting on the data and working to make our schools amazing places for our students, staff, and families. Several of you had great newsletters and graphics you used to share the data last year. If you don’t mind sharing samples in this folder, I am sure that others would appreciate the collective creativity.

Important Links

• State Testing Folder
• February 19^th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–Someone is looking for a Field Trip Checklist!
• FAQs for Special Education Inclusion Topics—Keep checking in here! BEA and BLS supported

Notes from our Team:

From Social Emotional Wellness – Jennifer Hauth and Wayfinder. Please share this poster with your staff. Unlike the picture below, the poster has live links for them to click on.

From Kinsey – Policy, Advocacy, and Office of DEI: Please review these messages and share with your staff:

Family Liaisons and Translation/Interpretation: Remember that our Family Liaisons are not translators/interpreters–these are distinct positions with different functions, required skills, and pay rates.  Here are details about how to effectively engage Family Liaisons to support our work.  If you need someone to translate or interpret a family communication (including for time-sensitive requests) please review the various options available to you here.  

Immigration information: Make sure your team is very clear that they are prohibited from asking about or documenting students’ or families’ immigration status, even when doing so might be well-intentioned.  

If staff want to coordinate extra support for students or families who might be undocumented, it should be organized based on an educational purpose, not based on immigration status.  Students/families themselves then choose to opt into or access these, without needing to disclose their status or without staff needing to know it.   Examples: 

• A counseling group for students with anxiety (rather than a counseling group for undocumented students),
• flyers for local Know Your Rights workshops made available to all parents or via PTA group lists (rather than sent home with families we believe are undocumented), etc.

Title IX and gender support protocols: I have received several questions about the status of our gender support protocol.  Yes, our procedures for supporting gender-expansive students are still in place.  Thank you for initiating this process when a student indicates a need for support.  

Regarding Title IX more generally, while the national landscape is bringing some policy-based changes to our Title IX procedures (generally reverting back to our procedures from a few years ago–more on that later), please continue to contact me for any concerns or complaints related to Title IX, which includes:

• discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity; 
• sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking;
• athletics, academics, and activities;
• admissions, hiring, access;
• pregnant and parenting students

All-staff update and Q&A with Superintendent Cook: Please make sure that on March 13, you do not have anything scheduled at 3:05, so that staff can have the option to attend one of the sessions below.

With K-12 school funding a big topic in the Oregon Legislature right now, and everything we’re hearing from Washington, D.C., on education and federal funding for schools, we understand that many employees wonder what all this means for us in Bend-La Pine Schools.

Superintendent Steven Cook will address these issues and answer your questions during two back-to-back virtual meetings with District staff on Thursday, March 13. Everyone is invited to join us for one of these 30-minute virtual meetings: The first will be 3:05 to 3:35 p.m., accommodating staff in our elementary schools. The second will be 3:50 to 4:20 p.m. to align with secondary schedules.

The intent is to provide you a quick update on state and federal actions pertinent to our work, and how we can remain focused on teaching students in our communities and serving their needs. The second half of each meeting will be set aside for staff to ask Dr. Cook questions. We will solicit written questions during the meeting and answer as many as time permits.

We will provide meeting links closet to the date. Attendance is optional, and we will provide recordings of both meetings afterward.

Purple Up Day! Hello! We are Lorene Moore, Lead Child & Youth Coordinator for the Oregon National Guard Child & Youth Program, and Barret Grimm, Senior Ambassador on the Oregon Military Teen Panel. The Oregon Military Teen Panel is composed of twenty-one National Guard Youth who strive to be an active part of their community.  Current members reside in Salem, Sublimity, Albany, Portland, Estacada, Sherwood, Klamath Falls and Happy Valley.

In Oregon, many families are going through a service member being gone for deployment. We are here to support Oregon’s military youth as they go through military life challenges and face occurring obstacles.

We are reaching out to you today to request that you show your support for military kids in your school district by participating in PurpleUp Day! this April, which is recognized nation-wide as Month of the Military Child. Creating a spirit day on April 10^th in schools across the state where students and staff wear purple would provide a visual way to recognize and celebrate military youth, especially National Guard youth here in Oregon.

On April 10th, local groups and communities are encouraged to take part in PurpleUp Day! by wearing or displaying purple. The goal is for military kids to SEE that they are supported and loved by their local communities.

According to Military OneSource, in 2023 there were 8,259 National Guard Members in Oregon. That includes 4,713 Army Guard and 2,159 Air Guard Members, most of whom have families and children.

Attached is a flier promoting PurpleUp Day! Please consider taking part in this annual display of support. Your participation matters!

Here is some more information regarding Month of the Military Child: Please let me know what other questions you may have! 

Action Items

• Start planning Erin’s Law lessons–share the information with your staff
• Start planning when and how you are going to be sharing Youth Truth information with your staff and families.
• Share the Wayfinder contest with your staff
• Clarify with your staff how we can respectfully and legally support our immigrant populations

Important Dates

• March 3-7: Better Lesson will be here to do school walk-throughs this week–if we haven’t notified you that they will come to your school, no need to note this.
• March 5: All Admin Professional Learning at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• March 11: Horizontal Meeting 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at Pine Ridge hosted by PRE and NSE
• March 13: 3:05 or 3:50—Take 30 minutes to listen to the All Staff Update with Dr. Cook
• March 19: Elementary Safety Cadre, 1:30-3:30–thanks Scott and Kayla for moving it for us!
• March 24-28: The long awaited Spring Break!

And finally….. are those temperatures in the 50’s on the horizon?

From Tammy and Karen

Tammy and I had a fantastic time attending the COSA Winter Conference earlier this week. One session that particularly stood out was titled “Leadership Matters.” The discussion explored the significance of effective leadership and delved into the skills, knowledge, and dispositions that make leaders credible, convincing, and inspiring. During the partner talk times we enjoyed reflecting on the incredible leaders we are fortunate to work with each day.

A key takeaway from the session was the fact that leadership demands an immense amount of courage. Simply stepping into the role of leading teams is an act of strength and bravery. It requires the ability to hold space for everyone in your community, working toward a more just and equitable world for all. We know this isn’t always easy or comfortable, so we are truly grateful to know you are there every day, serving our community with dedication, courage, and care.

State Testing: Erich has added to/updated the State Assessment Resources folder. Here is the folder that has been created full of things for you. Start with the checklist to check off the things you have done and see what needs to happen next!

Teacher Contracts: Certified and Admin staff will be receiving their 25-26 contracts through UKG. Please see the important information below from HR around timelines, resignations and retirements, etc. Hard to believe we are already shifting into the world of “next year!”

Important Links

• February 5^th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–Someone is looking for a Field Trip Checklist!
• FAQs for Special Education Inclusion Topics—Keep checking in here! BEA and BLS supported

Notes from our Team:

Curriculum and Instruction – Julie Richards and Kerry Morton

The Amplify Desmos Math materials will be displayed at your school for the next few weeks to allow community members to view and provide feedback around the materials. Please share the information below with caregivers.

Dear Bend-La Pine Caregivers,

Would you like to learn more about the recommended K-5 math curriculum? Bend-La Pine Schools is seeking public feedback on the proposed new elementary math program

Caregivers and community members are invited to review the curriculum materials in two ways:

• In person: Visit your child’s elementary school to view program samples.
• Online: Explore digital sample lessons and program summaries using the links below.

🔍 Program Overview (English | Español)
💻 Sample Digital Lessons

We value your input! Please share your feedback by completing the survey below:
📝 Feedback Form (English | Spanish)

Thank you for partnering with us in shaping the future of math learning for our students.

Life and Career Readiness – Jenny White

Principals below is an activity you can use at the beginning of a SIW or staff meeting.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Human Resources – Trish Uhart and Candy Gelatt

  Over the course of the next couple of days, we will be initiating the Contract Letters for 2025-26 through UKG.  Certified and Administrative staff will receive an email notification that they have a To Do Item to complete.  This is their Contract Letter to be reviewed and signed.  Same as last year, Candy and I will keep track of which letters have been returned and will chase down any stragglers.  

Below is the email being sent out to all Certified Staff this morning; in case you get questions.  

Hello!  The Bend La Pine Board of Directors acted on the renewal/extension of licensed contracts during the February 11, 2025, Executive Session.    Over the course of the next couple of days, we will be initiating the Contract Letters for the 2025-26 school year through UKG.  You will receive an email notification stating you have a To Do item to complete – this is your Contract Letter to be reviewed and signed.  The letters are assigned one at a time so you may not receive a notification at the same time as your collogues.  We ask for your patience while we work through all our licensed staff.  If you have not received a notification by Monday, February 17^th, please let us know.   

The steps to access your letter are outlined below:

• Access your letter from your To Do list in UKG (click on the bell in the upper right-hand corner of your UKG profile to find your To Do tab)
• Click Modify at the bottom right corner 
• Read your letter

• Click in the signature box
•  Enter the last four digits of your social security number to electronically sign your letter
• Click modify again in the upper right-hand corner 
• You will receive a pop up, choose “modify” again and “okay” to complete the submission to the Certified team. 

You must sign and submit your letter no later than April 15^th.  

If you are not planning on returning for the 2024-25 school year, you will reject your letter, add a comment as to why you are rejecting the letter and then you will need to submit a formal letter of resignation to [email protected] no later than April 15^th.  

Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions.  

From Human Resources – Ryan Kelling

As we move through the school year, it’s important to ensure that we are handling employee resignations in a timely and compliant manner. If you receive a resignation—whether verbal or written—it is critical that you notify HR immediately.

Why This Matters: Oregon law requires final paychecks to be issued within strict timelines. Delays can result in statutory penalties and, if not processed on time, overpayments that require collection efforts. To avoid compliance issues, send all resignations to HR immediately (hr-certified@ for licensed employees; hr-classified@ for non-licensed employees).

What You Need to Do

1. Report Resignations Right Away – As soon as an employee notifies you of their intent to resign, ask them to deliver that information to you in writing via email and then forward that notification to HR. If the resignation is verbal and a written resignation will prove difficult to obtain, confirm the details with the employee and document the conversation before sending it to HR.
2. Do Not Hold Resignations – Even if an employee has given a long notice period, HR needs to process it immediately to ensure proper payroll and benefits adjustments.
3. Be Mindful of Final Paycheck Deadlines – Employees who resign with at least 48 hours’ notice (excluding weekends/holidays) must receive their final paycheck on their last day worked. Employees who resign without notice must be paid within five business days.

Failure to meet final paycheck deadlines can result in financial penalties for the district, as well as frustration for the departing employee. This is easily preventable by ensuring that all resignations are sent to HR as soon as they are received.

Your prompt attention to this process helps us maintain compliance, support smooth transitions for staff, and avoid unnecessary complications. If you have any questions, please reach out to the HR team for guidance. Thank you for your diligence and partnership in this important process.

From Social Emotional Wellness – Jennifer Hauth

🌟 You’re Invited! Mark your calendars! Join us for inspiring presentations led by our dedicated BLS school counselors. In these brief school presentations, our teams will share their progress on their yearly goals, highlight their programming initiatives, and discuss the data they’ve gathered throughout the year. This reflection on our year will help us develop future programming as we continue to develop a comprehensive student support framework as part of our MTSS process. More importantly, this data informs our practices and aids us in better supporting all of our students in Bend La Pine Schools through a multi-tiered system of support and a coordinated continuum of care.

Your presence is invaluable as we reflect on our progress and plan for the future. Let’s celebrate our achievements and inspire each other to continue nurturing the potential of every student. 

Facilities Development Office – Paul Dean

The FDO project management team has been working on major construction projects.  For Bond Project Updates – visit: https://www.bend.k12.or.us/district/news-events/2022-bond.  And a recap of all the Bond Projects in this upcoming 2022 Bond Cycle – visit: https://www.bend.k12.or.us/application/files/3116/7407/4163/2022_Bond_Management_Plan.pdf

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

Network Outages: Be prepared for power/internet outages by printing a copy of Power & Internet Outage Emergency Protocols

Field Trip/Athletic/Club Transportation All district staff are required to communicate with their administrators and the Transportation Department prior to scheduling an off campus trip. Below are reminders to keep everything moving smoothly and in compliance. 

• Submit ALL trip requests through BusHive as early as possible (months ahead).
• Questions about your trip? Call Daniel Lopez X5706 (Bend) Call Scott Steinhauer X5753 (La Pine)
• Don’t have a BusHive log in- Call Daniel Lopez X5706 (Bend) Call Scott Steinhauer X5753 (La Pine)
• Charter Buses- We do NOT use these unless we have no other options.
  • Schools cannot book these trips directly. You must contact Daniel Lopez X5706 (Bend) Call Scott Steinhauer (La Pine)
  • We are required to document use of any charter plus, plus a copy of the parent notification letter. ODE requires we maintain a documentation file for charters.
  • We have not used charters for several years. We have drivers & school buses available. 
• Drivers of students must hold an ODE certificate (Bus, Type 20, Type 10) for school sponsored event transportation.
• Student transportation must be provided in an ODE approved vehicle. (Bus, Type 20, Type 10).  
• Rental vehicles- contact Transportation prior to renting any vehicle being used to transport students.
• What about after a game? A student wants to go home with another family, but came to the game on a bus? This is between the student and the parent. The teacher, AD, coach should not be involved in this conversation, other than you know the student has permission from their parent to go home another way. If the teacher/AD arranges or organizes transportation for a student, the liability is on the school district- meaning we use ODE approved transportation. This area can be “grey”. Be very careful not to organize transportation outside of ODE approved transportation. 
• We understand that trips have been taken in the past that do not follow these protocols- we are working to clarify policies and procedures.
• Staff members who fail to follow these requirements may be subject to disciplinary action. 
• Questions?? Give us a call- we are here to help!  541-355-5702 

Action Items

• Start Preparing for state testing—choose your testing dates by around Feb 17! Detailed info from Dave is in the February 6th Blog
• Encourage Door Decorating for Black History Month!
• Check out the new math adoption recommendation and send information home to caregivers

Important Dates

• February 17: Just a reminder that this is Presidents Day and it is a contracted BLAST day. If you are taking it off, you will need to use non-contract time. No students/staff this day
• February 19: Administrator Professional Development from 3:00 – 5:00–Perseverance Hall
• March 3-7: Better Lesson will be here to do school walk-throughs this week–if we haven’t notified you that they will come to your school, no need to note this.
• March 5: All Admin Professional Learning at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• March 11: Horizontal Meeting 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at Pine Ridge hosted by PRE and NSE
• March 19: Elementary Safety Cadre, 1:30-3:30–thanks Scott and Kayla for moving it for us!
• March 24-28: The long awaited Spring Break!

And finally….. Send us any fun photos of snow structures at your schools!

From Tammy and Karen

There is no business like snow business these days! It’s been fun seeing all the snow people and forts being crafted throughout playgrounds across our district. While out having fun, please take care to drive cautiously, walk carefully, and catch a snowflake or two on your tongue!

We are excited to start our next round of site visits. This round we will be coming together and Julie will attend ones that fit her schedule. As a reminder, we will be focusing on talking about data based on our horizontal this week. Not to worry if you were sick or out, we’ll catch you up when we are there.

State Testing: Thank you to all who were able to make the state testing meeting this week. We covered quite a bit of information and you had some amazing resources to share! Here is the folder that has been created full of things for you. Start with the checklist to check off the things you have done and see what needs to happen next! Also, please note Dave’s section below, as he highlights some important testing information as well.

Train Your Brain: Thank you to those of you who have signed up for Train Your Brain sessions to come to your school. We still have many who need to sign up. Now would be appreciated! All who are signed up by end of the day tomorrow will be in the drawing for lunch duty covered at your school!

Taking It Up: It’s not too late to sign up for the two day Taking it Up equity training. It is Feb 18-19 and there are still plenty of spaces. If interested, sign up in UKG–have questions, reach out to Kinsey.

Field Trip Tip: High Lakes learned the hard way, that when transportation reaches out for more information from your teachers about a trip, it is not “spam”. Great job to High Lakes 4th grade teachers who were very suspicious of a system that didn’t look like ours, asking for class lists and lesson plans. After great debate, they decided to report it for phishing! They were fishing alright, for more information about the trip! Be aware that it could look suspicious, but in reality, the system just needs more info. Ha-ha-ha!

Important Links

• February 5^th Elementary TLC Update
• Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice–Someone is looking for a Field Trip Checklist!
• FAQs for Special Education Inclusion Topics—Keep checking in here! BEA and BLS supported

Notes from our Team:

Health Services–Tami Pike

Field Trip Reminder. To prioritize student safety, please notify the school nurse about any upcoming field trips at least two weeks in advance. Last-minute notices can create safety concerns and may interfere with the care of other students, as the nurse needs time to review health conditions and medications. This applies to both middle and high school students. There have been instances where a nurse only learns of a field trip when an announcement is made over the school intercom. 😳

Finance, Business Office–Jessica Houser

Hello Admins!This is a friendly reminder that time and leave sheet cut-off is Sunday, February 9th. All completed time and leave sheets you receive for sign off are due to the Payroll Office by Monday, February 10th.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to [email protected] with any questions or if you need additional support. Thank you for all you do!

School Improvement- Dave VanLoo

“Testing season” is quickly approaching. Here are a few pointers and resources to help with planning and organization. Please reach out with any questions or suggestions.

• Like last year, the recommendation is for elementary schools to complete NNAT3 testing in March, OSAS ELA testing in April, and OSAS Math and Science in May.
• NNAT3 is for 2^nd graders and new to district 3^rd-5^th graders in March. Synergy has a report for identifying new to district students at your school. Here are instructions for accessing that report. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WW8zrUU1ShqHulNh12iMxQHzm10Xq4eXuMWZeO1LGM4/edit?usp=sharing
• New this year, NNAT3 is supposed to be integrated with Clever, which would eliminate the need for students to manually log in. That functionality currently is not working, but we are in contact with Pearson and expect to get it resolved (if possible) before March. In the meantime, manual log in processes should work.
• Here is a folder including manuals and teacher scripts for NNAT3 https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vBy6RnI2rYM0PPhbqsFFYO1kqLbL5zuX?usp=sharing
• Here is the updated for 2024-25 OSAS Essential Information and Planning Resources document for school test coordinators. This resource is meant to compliment ODE’s resources by and help highlight some of the most important big ideas.  This document will be updated as is helpful. Please save and use as a resource https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EJzxywh4ykm_WHT7uA4pNBpQsT2csXarETHJvtXquQE/edit?usp=sharing
• I’m resending this high-level summary of 24-25 test and survey timeframes. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IQxbIzjNj6l-1KNWzsrXjEeSGJ7uVIocWEX7IOpeeRk/edit?usp=sharing
• I’m also resending this document that summarizes key purposes and scheduling considerations of many commonly used tests in the district. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I8YT25DGBaAtIgkpGc2XvzFDhY2b9s7sf-sJD_DqGGY/edit?usp=sharing

Policy, Advocacy, and Equity – Kinsey Martin
Winners! Thank you to all who participated in the Asian Family Night’s Year of the Snake drawing contest.  Submissions came from: Pacific Crest, Buckingham, Lava Ridge, Ponderosa, Highland, Pine Ridge, Juniper, Bear Creek, Miller

The winners from the submissions above will be announced shortly—stay tuned!

Having some FOMO?  Here’s another opportunity:

February is Black History Month.  Your school’s DEI-ICCL rep should have shared with staff some teaching and learning opportunities related to this important topic.  This includes our annual Door-Decorating Contest!  

Please encourage your teachers (and non-teaching staff—counselors, athletics, front-office teams, principal’s office, Superintendent’s office, transportation etc) to participate!   Don’t be left off the list of schools engaging in this important work of representation, belonging, equity, and celebration in what might otherwise feel like a time of fear and frustration for many students and colleagues of color in our community.  Some details you can share with them here.  

From Curriculum, Instruction and Systems-Julie Richards

Principals:  This information will be shared with teachers Friday morning.

The Math Curriculum Review Team met on February 6th and came to consensus on Amplify Desmos for a K-5 mathematics curriculum. This recommendation will be presented to the school board on February 11th.  If you would like to take some time to check out this program here is login information:

Amplify Desmos Math Sample accounts:

• Password: Amplify1-bend_lapine_sd_k-5_amplify_desmos_math
• Go to learning.amplify.com and select “Log in with Amplify”.
• UN: Teacher Logins: [email protected]

From Social Emotional Wellness – Jennifer Hauth

Care Solace is a care coordination service to help students, staff, and their families find mental health and substance use treatment matched to their needs. Care Solace’s multilingual and culturally sensitive Care CompanionTM team is available 24/7/365 to quickly connect individuals to community providers regardless of need.

Register & Login to your Care Solace Account. If you missed the registration email for your Care Solace account, reach out to Lisa McNulty. Administrators, School Counselors, Student Success Clinicians/Coordinators, School Psychologists and Nurses have accounts.

Care Solace Family and Staff Flyers

Spanish Flyer Family Version and Letter

MTSS and using Care Solace for Warm Handoffs

Care Solace Best Practices for School Site Teams:

1. Integrate Messaging into Your Communications. Care Solace creates monthly mental health messaging and social media posts for you to use in your communication with your school community. Send this content to your school families and staff as a resource, share it on your social media, or share it at school events.

2. Print and Distribute Flyers Around Campus. Post flyers around the school for students and staff to provide additional information about Care. Solace. You can find these flyers in the Care Community in the Resource Center.

3. Configure Your Email Signature & Out-of-Office Notification. Add information about Care Solace to your email signature and out-of-office messaging. This will. promote access and ensure support outside of school hours or when staff members are away from work.

Action Items

• Start Preparing for state testing—choose your testing dates by around Feb 17!
• Sign up for Train Your Brain if you haven’t already
• Timesheets due Monday!
• Encourage Door Decorating for Black History Month!
• Check out the new math adoption recommendation
• Encourage people to sign up for a Care Solace account

Important Dates

• 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–please text before calling as we will be in sessions.
• February 17: Just a reminder that this is Presidents Day and it is a contracted BLAST day. If you are taking it off, you will need to use non-contract time. No students/staff this day
• February 19: Administrator Professional Development from 3:00 – 5:00–Perseverance Hall
• March 3-7: Better Lesson will be here to do school walk-throughs this week–if we haven’t notified you that they will come to your school, no need to note this.
• March 5: All Admin Professional Learning at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• March 11: Horizontal Meeting 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at Pine Ridge hosted by PRE and NSE
• March 19: Elementary Safety Cadre, 1:30-3:30–thanks Scott and Kayla for moving it for us!
• March 24-28: The long awaited Spring Break!

And finally…..