Month: April 2026

From Tammy and Karen

May is here and from this point on it will feel like so much to do and so little time to get it done! I took a peek at the weather forecast and we are in for a beautiful change with at least 10 days of sunshine and high 70s! As a great mindfulness exercise, take a moment each day during arrival, recess duty, dismissal, or any other time to enjoy the feeling of warm sun on your face, the smell of blooming flowers, and the sounds of children playing! So much joy in the world!

We believe it is important to update you on upcoming certified staffing changes within the TLC department due to budget cuts. At this time, we have reduced our elementary instructional coaching staff by one position and our district mentoring staff by 1.5 positions. This represents a loss of over 20%. Like many of you, we are feeling the weight of these reductions and are doing our best to adapt for the coming year.

Consequently, our current instructional coaching and mentoring models will need to be reimagined. We are currently developing a plan to navigate these changes and will communicate exactly what support will look like for your schools next year. This plan will be shared with you before you leave for summer break.

As we finalize our strategy, we are carefully prioritizing several factors, including K-2 Early Literacy, Math GEN, and blended classroom support. If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to reach out to Julie.

Important Links

•  April 22nd Elementary TLC Update
• Special EDge  (April 30 Edition)
• BLS School Libraries Newsletters!
• 1-Page Student Management guide
• Dates to recognize groups
• CPI Trained Staff List (let Sara Young know if you see staff who are not at your school)

Notes from our Team: 

From Scott and the team in Information Technology:

We wanted to share a quick note about web filtering and content blocking. Our system does a strong job of protecting students from the less appropriate parts of the internet. That said, no system is perfect—some content (especially games) may occasionally get through. When that happens, staff play an important role in helping us respond quickly.

If you come across a site that should be blocked, please copy the URL and submit it through a Web Help Desk ticket. Select “Software and Services” and then “Website Filtering.”

There are two reporting options available—please reserve “High Risk” for situations involving student safety.

Alternatively, you can work with your building’s Client Services representative or contact the Help Desk at x1200.

From the Educational Technology Team:

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, introduced a new version of their product, designed specifically for educators, and it is now available to all BLS staff by request. It includes expanded capabilities, higher usage limits, and protections for professional use in education, going beyond what is available in a standard free ChatGPT account. You can find details about access, best practices for use, and how it fits alongside MagicSchool in our EdTech blog post: ChatGPT for Teachers. Please feel free to share with your staff. 

From Eric Powell, Student Support

For ALL Administrators: Please take a moment to review the “Incident Approval Queue” in Synergy for your school (you can access this via a Quick Launch search). 

We currently have 485 incidents waiting to be approved via this queue (district-wide) with some occurring all the way back in September – And our Administrators are the ones who need to approve/deny these incidents.

If you are unfamiliar with the Incident Approval Queue, please call Eric Powell (4810) and he can help you out. 

From Jennifer Hauth, Student Wellbeing

Please remind your teams about implementing the Waypoints Core Skills assessment for the end of the year summative😊 K-5 closes May 22^nd and Secondary closes May 28th!

From Robi Cole:

From Tami Pike, Director of School Health

Action Items

• Check out the incident approval queue in Synergy
• Plan for Middle School Bypass Assessment for identified students
• Identify which admin will attend the Karen Mapp training on May 21, from 8-12
• Correct school discipline audit data–if you do it now, you have less to do at the end!

Important Dates

• May 1: Asian Family Night 
• May 4 – 8: Teacher (Staff) Appreciation Week
• May 11: Phly Like Canadians at Lava Ridge 3:30 to 4:30
• May 12: Horizontal Meeting, 3:00-4:30 at Pine Ridge Elementary
• May 13: All Admin PD at Mt. View High School from 3:00-4:30, (note the change of venue due to the next event)
• May 13: Excellence in Education—plan on attending to honor your two staff—at Mt. View
• May 14: Latino Family Night and KínderFiesta
• May 19: PLC1 Meeting at Westside Village 3:00 to 4:30
• May 25: Memorial Day Holiday, no School
• May 26: PLC3PO at Silver Rail and We are the Winners at Bear Creek 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.
• May 28: School Design Plan Showcase 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
• June 15: End of Year Administrator Celebration

And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Marc Zollinger!

Marc is the Principal at Bear Creek Elementary! He began his career as a high school Spanish teacher, and his fluency in Spanish continues to be a tremendous asset—especially in supporting Bear Creek’s Dual Immersion program and building meaningful connections with students and families. Marc brings a strong equity lens to his work, consistently advocating for students at his school and beyond. Marc joined Bend-La Pine Schools after serving as an administrator in the Reynolds School District, so he is a fairly recent transplant to Central Oregon. As a dad of two young sons who attend elementary school in BLS, and the husband of a BLS science teacher, Marc is a busy guy who is always on the go and shows a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm for learning! Marc, let us know your beverage of choice and we will deliver!

From Tammy and Karen

Karen and I just want to acknowledge how hard this week has been and how proud we are of you all for buckling down and doing the hard things. Our rational brains know how the system works with budget reductions; you can’t buy what you want when you don’t have money. But, the decisions, conversations, and feelings that you and your staff are experiencing are about people you care about and it hits right at the heart, and that hurts. Knowing that, take care of yourself and your people. When the time is right, I like leaning into the phrase, “Yes…and….” when it come to things like this. Yes, this is hard, upsetting, confusing, etc….and what new opportunities will present themselves for change, growth, collaboration, etc. that you haven’t thought about before? You got this!

Important: Please update your staffing plans with names, certified and classified as soon as possible. This is necessary for the next conversations around classified employees. In addition, For all the title schools, I have gone into your plans and placed all the certified positions, and in some cases, classified ones as well. Please do not adjust those, as they have been budgeted for and are done. They support your current certified FTE and school improvement plans. As in the past, when the dust settles later this year (August/Sept) we may be able to add more funds to be used for materials and/or classified hours.

Important Links

•  April 22nd Elementary TLC Update
• Special EDge  (April 23 Edition)
• BLS School Libraries Newsletters!
• 1-Page Student Management guide
• Dates to recognize groups
• CPI Trained Staff List (let Sara Young know if you see staff who are not at your school)

Notes from our Team: 

From Julie in Curriculum and Instruction

Middle School Transition and Math Bypass Testing for 5th grade: An assessment needs to be given for some 5th grade students who could potentially skip 6th grade math if they meet the requirements. This assessment will only be given to 5th grade students whose teacher nominates them based on their math proficiency being exceptional, parents request their child take the test, or students who nominate themselves. This assessment will use iReady and takes approximately 45 minutes to complete on the iPad.  

FAQ you can provide families

Testing coordinators need to schedule this assessment for some time in May and pull the identified students to a space and administer the assessment before the end of the year. 

From Kinsey in Policy and Advocacy

1. Chronic Absenteeism: Family Engagement and Attendance:  (Action needed)

We know you are working hard to get kids to school.  As part of our broader efforts to improve student attendance under the leadership of Eric and his team, and in alignment with our ongoing work on student voice, dignity, and belonging, in addition to our school design plan improvement cycles, we will be taking a closer look at the connection between family engagement and chronic absenteeism.  Research shows that specific, practical family engagement strategies can significantly improve student attendance across K–12.

On Thursday, May 21 from 8:00–12:00 (and continuing into next school year), national expert Dr. Karen Mapp will join us in person to help us reflect on our current work, identify school-specific and districtwide coordinated efforts, and plan concrete, evidence-based strategies to reduce chronic absenteeism. This is a valuable opportunity to reflect on this year and begin planning for next year.

Your Advocacy ICCL rep will attend, with substitute costs covered by the Office of Policy and Advocacy. If there are one or two additional staff members (ex: family engagement committee members) who would benefit from participating, they are welcome as well—we can support some additional substitute costs; please contact me if interested in adding participants. Please also plan for an administrator to join us. This work will directly inform your 2026–27 school design plan and provide practical tools to strengthen attendance efforts.

More information to follow—for now, please mark your calendar.

2. ELL/Multilingual Services (From Liza):  (FYI)

Hello admin teams! I wanted to inform you about a change in ELPA test scores this school year, per ODE:

• There is a new ELPA score called “Early Proficient.” 
• “Early Proficient” means the student scored very close to proficient, so they may be able to exit English Language Learner (ELL) status.
• Next steps: Language Specialists will connect with the families of students who have scored “Early Proficient” and set up meetings to discuss their options during their case management periods. See the attached family flyer.
• The decision must be made by a parent, guardian, or by the student themselves if they are an adult (18 yrs. or older).  All forms are due by June 11, 2026. 

Your Language Specialist will be connecting with you on this new process.  If you have additional questions, please reach out to me directly. Happy to support!  -Liza

From Jason Westmorland in IT

Admins at schools will need to correct data in the ‘School Discipline Audits’ dashboard prior to June for ODE State Reporting.

NOTE: Due to a bug in Synergy, these reports are being hindered from being published directly to PAD Tree locations / screens in Synergy, however, once those issues are resolved they will be much easier to locate and use (by simply using Quick Launch or PAD Tree navigation). Level Leaders should also have access to these reports & should monitor them to verify their schools are making progress cleaning up audits.

Users may have to sign out and back into Synergy to see these changes.

NEW REPORTS

Currently, there are two dashboards being exposed to Principals & VPs, the ‘School Discipline Reports’ & ‘School Discipline Audits’ Analytics reports.

The ‘School Discipline Reports’ displays reports of incidents at schools for which specific reporting requirements at the district or state level are required. These include:

• Title IX Incidents – Incidents of Title IX (sex-based discrimination) incidents at school
• Title VI incidents – Incidents of Title VI (discrimination based on race, color, or national origin) incidents at school
• Threats / Intimidation – Incidents of Threats or Intimidation at the school
• IAES (Interim Alternate Educational Settings – SPED) – Specific IAES alternate placements for SPED at school
• Expulsions – Specific expulsions at school
• Weapons & Counts – Specific weapon violations & counts by school
• Suicides – Typically these are selected in error, but should be verified.
• Homicides – Typically these are selected in error, but should be verified.

The ‘School Discipline Audit’ displays reports of incidents having some kind of known data entry issues, which will need to be verified / corrected prior to ODE data submission by June. These include:

• Discipline Missing Elements V2 – This audit displays data that is missing or mis-configured for the incidents shown
• Disposition Date Issues – This audit returns incidents / students where the date(s) associated with their State Reportable dispositions have some kind of issue and/or conflict with the ‘Days Assigned’
• Overlapping Dispositions – This audit returns dispositions assigned to students on the same day (totally more than a single day) indicating overlapping discipline
• Attendance vs Discipline Mismatched – This report is currently a work in progress and will be released at a later date before the end of the school year. It will show where suspension data & attendance don’t match.

ACCESSING DASHBOARDS

To access these reports, users will need to navigate to the ‘Synergy Analytics Home Page’ screen (using Quick Launch).

Once in this screen, they will need to locate the ‘hamburger’ icon at the top left and expand the navigation menu.

In the menu, select the ‘Discipline’ category, then locate either of these Analytics dashboards to view the reports they contain.

Each individual report can be expanded to use the whole screen (helpful for smaller screens or for the audits having many columns). You may need to SCROLL DOWN to see all of the reports on a given dashboard.

This can be done using the icon with 4 arrows pointing to each corner.

The SIS_NUMBER and INCIDENT_ID columns contain links to either the Student Incidents or Incidents screens, respectively, in Synergy so you can directly access the discipline data entry elements corresponding to that entry / row.

Additionally, these Analytics reports can be filtered, columns re-ordered or hidden and exported to Excel if needed. For details, connect with Ted Helton or Jason Westmoreland.

IMPORTANT

Items that are displayed in the reports on the ‘School Discipline Audit’ dashboard need to be corrected prior to ODE data submission. Please review these items ASAP.

Policy & Procedure questions should go to Eric Powell [[email protected]], while data entry or issues with Synergy should be directed to Ted Helton [[email protected]] and/or Jason Westmoreland [[email protected]].

If anyone that SHOULD have access to these reports does NOT have access, please contact Ted Helton or Jason Westmoreland.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please let us know as well.

Action Items

• Update staffing plans with names asap
• Plan for Middle School Bypass Assessment for identified students
• Identify which admin will attend the Karen Mapp training on May 21, from 8-12
• Correct school discipline audit data–if you do it now, you have less to do at the end!

Important Dates

• April 28: The PLC3PO and We Are the Winners meet from 3:00-4:30
• April 29: Safety Cadre #4 at Pine Ridge, 1:30-3:00
• April 30: Life and Career Readiness Fair
• May 1: Asian Family Night 
• May 12: Horizontal Meeting, 3:00-4:30 at Pine Ridge Elementary
• May 13: All Admin PD at Mt. View High School from 3:00-4:30, (note the change of venue due to the next event)
• May 13: Excellence in Education—plan on attending to honor your two staff—at Mt. View
• May 14: Latino Family Night and KínderFiesta
• May 25. Memorial Day Holiday, no School
• May 28: School Design Plan Showcase 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.

And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Andy Slavin!

Andy Slavin serves as Principal at Amity Creek Choice Option School, where he has been principal for many years. Under his leadership, Amity has really strengthened it’s identify, focused on student connection, and placed an emphasis on learning. It is also a place that feels like home, and you feel that, as you walk around the building with him and students say, “Hi Andy!”, “Andy, watch this…” or you attend morning meeting with the entire school and parent community. Andy has had an amazing education journey, spending a lot of time in education overseas, most notably in Bali! Can you imagine? When he is not at school, he loves hanging with his grandchildren (who also attend Amity), traveling with his wife, and especially enjoying the great outdoors. Congratulations Andy! Let us know your coffee order and we’ll head your way!

From Tammy and Karen

In a week filled with challenge and pressure, I found myself returning to a simple but powerful leadership idea shared by Susan, our interim Chief Human Resources Officer. In addition to many interesting leadership moves, she shared the distinction between “low self” and “high self,” and the idea that we could flip it like a switch. I could feel when I was slipping into low self after an especially long day full of aggravation: tight, reactive, and carrying the quiet belief that I had to figure it out alone. The shift came when I chose something different, asking for support, leaning into problem-solving, and grounding myself in the belief that together, we can do hard things. That movement into high self didn’t remove the challenge, but it changed how I showed up within it: more open, more steady, and more connected to the kind of leadership this moment requires. What opportunities have you had this past week to recognize yourself shifting into “high self” mode?

Important Links

•  April 8th Elementary TLC Update
•  Special EDge  
• BLS School Libraries Newsletters!
• 1-Page Student Management guide
• Dates to recognize groups
• CPI Trained Staff List (let Sara Young know if you see staff who are not at your school)

Notes from our Team: 

Student Opportunity: Road Safety Art Contest

Our partners at the Oregon Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) invite students to unleash their creativity and let their imagination shine by participating in the annual Road Safety Art Contest.

Contest Details

• The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (part of USDOT) is holding its annual Road Safety Art Contest, inviting K-12 students nationally to creatively depict how to stay safe on the road around large trucks and buses. 
• Submissions can be original artwork, digital art, a photo or a video – whatever inspires the student – and winners will be awarded in four categories based on grade.
• Entries are accepted through June 5, 2026.
• View contest rules, how to enter and more at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/OurRoadsArtContest.

Contact Us

• Please contact [email protected] with any questions.

From Ryan in Human Resources

We will be announcing the honorees for the 2026 Excellence in Education on Thursday, April 23^rd in an email to all staff. Please be sure that your site/department’s honorees are recognized ahead of this date so that you can capture the significance of the recognition in a way that is distinct and celebrates the individual.

As a reminder: The event will take place at Mountain View High School on Wednesday, May 13 from 4:30–6:30 p.m. 

From Rodger Moore in Operations:

Here is a one page guideline about who is responsible for costs when it comes to repairs and improvements.

Action Items

• Respond in a timely way to the middle school requests for information to transition students
• Notify your Excellence in Ed winners in your building in a meaningful way prior to the big announcement on April 23.
• Review the guidelines from Operations and check in with Karen or Tammy with questions

Important Dates

• April 21: #1 PLC and Phly Like Canadians meet from 3:00-4:30
• April 28: The PLC3PO and We Are the Winners meet from 3:00-4:30
• April 30: Life and Career Readiness Fair
• May 1: Asian Family Night 
• May 14: Latino Family Night and KínderFiesta
• May 28: School Design Plan Showcase 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.

And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Heidi Thomas!

Heidi Thomas serves as assistant principal at Highland, where her passion for belonging and social-emotional learning is evident in the way she supports both students and staff. A Bend native and former Buckingham Elementary student, she has a deep-rooted connection to the community she now serves. Outside of school, Heidi loves spending time on the river, camping, and exploring the beauty of the western United States with her family. As a mother of two, she brings both heart and perspective to her work, creating spaces where students feel seen, valued, and truly connected. Heidi, let us know your drink of choice and we will deliver!

From Tammy and Karen

I have been in awe with the Artemis II astronauts this past week. So much about this mission seems unfathomable, yet here they are, 4 human beings (and many more people on earth), making this amazing mission happen. They will have traveled 695,080 miles by the time they return, with a maximum distance of being 252,756 miles away from earth. Now that is a lot of frequent flier miles! As impressive as all the math and science is that makes all this happen, the expertise, teamwork, and camaraderie of the crew is equally impressive. Here’s wishing them the best as they are set to splash down in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of San Diego on Friday night at 8:07.

ECSC Transition Meetings: Many of you are getting ready to start ECSC transition meetings for your incoming kindergarteners next year. Here is some guidance we have put together to help you know how to make sure your kindergarten teachers, who are being asked to attend the meetings are being covered with subs, or in some instances, compensated for their time.

Guidance for upcoming ECSC transition meetings (* is from the contract):

• *The district will provide substitute release time or compensation for preparation for, as well as attendance at ECSE meetings. 
• *Kindergarten teachers who are required to attend ECSE meetings will be compensated at the certified employee’s per diem rate unless a substitute is provided to allow for such meetings to occur within the workday. 
• *If the certified employee volunteers to attend such a meeting outside of the workday, such member shall be compensated at their per diem hourly rate.
• Kindergarten teachers can attend IEP meetings for their current students during their scheduled prep time. However, if a teacher misses their prep time to attend ECSC meetings (requiring sub coverage), they must either be provided with equivalent makeup prep time or be compensated at their per diem hourly rate.
• If Kindergarten teachers attend ECSC transition meetings after the student contact day during a designated ‘work day’ (2:30–3:15 PM), they will be compensated at their per diem hourly rate. If other meetings are scheduled during that time—such as staff meetings, PLCs, MTSS, committees, etc.—the teacher will be excused to attend the ECSC meeting instead.

Important Links

•  April 8th Elementary TLC Update
•  Special EDge   April 9th
• BLS School Libraries Newsletters!
• 1-Page Student Management guide
• Dates to recognize groups
• CPI Trained Staff List (let Sara Young know if you see staff who are not at your school)

Notes from our Team: 

From Julie, in Curriculum and Instruction

Here is the list of sessions for Educator Network Day on April 15^th from 2:05-3:15.  

Admin:  Please note your location for the session.  Also, please plan to participate in the session you are attending. 

For our virtual hosts, A link will be sent to you with a list of participants and a zoom link to the session.  Please plan to email participants the zoom link about 30 minutes before the session begins.  Plan to take attendance.  Virtual sessions are below:

• Tammy- TDG
• Karen and Anna- NEWSELA
• Gary and Laci- Wayfinder

From Triz in Human Resources

Hope you all continue to cruise through your evaluation process and have experienced some relief in getting all the steps complete.  Just a friendly reminder that we need to have files dropped into your provided Google Files as well as the workbooks for HR to have access.  If you are having any issues with the sheet, please remember to reach out to Jessica Lamay or me.

We should be starting the summative cycle for classified staff, so if you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.  

Thank you again for all your work on these!

Classified Eval Guide

Certified Evaluation Guide

Helpful hints about uploading to your google drives.

Click the link to open the Rubric.

Choose the Download Icon to download and save your own copy to complete digitally complete or print and complete.

Save and/or upload with the correct naming convention to your provided Google folder and the correct employee spot in your workbook.

Linking Files:

Once you’ve dropped your files into the shared site folders  

Please be sure to link them into the correct column of your workbook. 

See steps in the samples below:

2. Click to select the file you are attaching in the workbook.
3. Click the ‘chain link’ icon to copy the link to that file -OR- Ctrl/Command+C.

2. Click on the ‘File Chip’ in the corresponding row and column for that employee/eval piece. Ctrl/Command+V -OR- Right mouse click, then click Paste, to attach the file.
3. Tab -OR- click on the file name pop-up (as above) to complete the attachment.
4. File is attached.

From Tami Pike in Nursing

From Kinsey, Policy and Advocacy

May Day. May Day (May 1st) celebrates the labor movement and workers’ rights, and is often recognized internationally with protests and rallies.  This year, a national “Day Without Immigrants” is also being planned on the same date.  

Locally, there are some community groups organizing strikes and community action on May 1st.  They are hoping our educators and students will participate in their May Day Strike, and have asked the district to support by facilitating student/staff absences and allowing teams of community volunteers to do service projects on our campuses as a form of the protest on that day. 

As you know, our neutrality here is important.  If you get similar requests for your school to engage in this effort, here are a few tools:

• Our response to their request—feel free to borrow any of this language;
• Our guidance on participating in protests;
• Please let us know if you believe your school will be impacted by substantial student or staff absences that Friday, so we can support you;
• Media inquiries should be directed to Communications.  

Other Dates For Your Calendars: 

Thurs, May 14 = Latino Family Night and KínderFiesta*   *These can be found on our district Outlook Family Engagement calendar

• Thurs, April 30 = Life and Career Readiness Fair*
• Fri, May 1 = Asian Family Night*

From our Middle School Partners

Our middle school partners either will be reaching out or already have reached out regarding information on your 5^th grade students.  They are looking for data around supports as well as critical need to know information.  Please be on the look out for this and ensure your teams are responding to these requests in the desired time frame.  Thank you!

From Ryan in Human Resources

Next week, we’ll be sending out the complete list of each site’s Excellence in Education honoree.

Emails inviting each honoree to the recognition event will go out on Thursday, April 23.

Before that goes out, pleaes take a moment to notify their honorees directly.

We encourage you to start thinking about how you can deliver the news in a celebratory fashion – announce it at a staff meeting, share it in front of peers, or however feels right for your setting. These recognitions reflect the incredible work happening across our system, and we want the entirety of the process to feel meaningful.

The event will take place at Mountain View High School on Wednesday, May 13 from 4:30–6:30 p.m.

Action Items

• Look at your Educator Network Day assignment for Wednesday and plan on attending and supporting the instructor, whether it is live or virtual
• Follow the directions for end of the year summative evals that Triz sent–make sure you can access them and get questions answered before you need it
• Orient yourself with the May Day protest information and how to respond
• Respond in a timely way to the middle school requests for information to transition students
• Notify your Excellence in Ed winners in your building in a meaningful way prior to the big announcement on April 23.

Important Dates

• April 14: Elementary Horizontal 3:00 – 4:30 location North Star Elementary
• April 15: Educator Network Day for SIW
• April 21: #1 PLC and Phly Like Canadians meet from 3:00-4:30
• April 28: The PLC3PO and We Are the Winners meet from 3:00-4:30

And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Jesse Rasmussen!

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Jesse Rasmussen, Principal at RE Jewell. Prior to being the Principal at Jewell, Jesse was the Assistant Principal and a teacher at there as well. One could say that the Jaguar pride runs deep with him! Jesse has had a worldly upbringing and education. From growing up in Africa to spending three years teaching in the Middle East, he has experienced diverse educational environments firsthand. Jesse and his wife, who is also a teacher in the district, are proud parents to 3 amazing daughters, who have all had the opportunity to attend school with him at Jewell. When he is not “principaling”, Jesse enjoys various hobbies, from designing board games, painting figurines for the games, and getting energized weekly on the Taekwando mat. Please let us know your drink of choice Jesse and we’ll deliver!

From Tammy and Karen

It’s been a while since we posted a monthly calendar from the Action for Happiness Series! With the wonderful weather on the way, its a great month to focus on getting more active! I am dusting off my hiking shoes and hitting the trail this weekend! What are your favorite activities? Speaking of activities, see the information below about after school clubs!

Extra-Curricular Clubs 

We’re happy to share that we’ve found a path forward for our elementary after-school clubs! We want to ensure that those of you eager to start programs like Lego Robotics, Chess, or Choir can do so while fairly compensating our hardworking staff.

Moving forward, you may utilize your school’s discretionary funds to pay club leaders at their hourly (per diem) rate. While PTA/PTO funds cannot be used for direct compensation, you can coordinate with them to purchase  supplies or materials for the school.

As you decide which clubs best serve your students, please run your plans by your Level Leader for a second pair of eyes. We look forward to seeing these programs come to life!

Important Links

• March 18th Elementary TLC Update
• Please read this week’s Special EDge    April 2nd
• BLS School Libraries Newsletters!
• 1-Page Student Management guide
• Dates to recognize groups
• CPI Trained Staff List (let Sara Young know if you see staff who are not at your school)

Notes from our Team: 

From Kayla Martin, Safety

All schools are required to complete two earthquake drills per school year. We apologize if there has been any miscommunication that they were optional. These are required by the state in ORS 336.071

From Jennifer Hauth, Director of Student Well-Being

🌟 You’re Invited! Mark Your Calendars!

Join us for end-of-year presentations led by our dedicated Bend-La Pine Schools counselors. During these brief school updates, each team will share progress on their annual goals, highlight key programming initiatives, and reflect on the data gathered throughout the year. These presentations offer an opportunity to see how counseling programs are supporting students academically, socially-emotionally, and in their college and career readiness. Teams will share successes, lessons learned, and how this year’s work will inform future planning within our coordinated system of student support.

Your presence matters as we celebrate growth, learn from one another, and look ahead to the next year of impact.

Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Elementary School | 7:30–10:30 a.m.
Location: Education Center Boardroom & Room 312

Waypoints Summative Assessment for grades K-12: 

The final summative assessment opens April 28th and closes May 30th for secondary and May 22nd for Elementary: 

•  Overview of resources. One pager for new Admin.
• 3-5 Implementation Guide. K-2 Infromation coming soon.
• 6-12 Implementation Guide and 6-12 Teacher Directions
• Admin Tutorial Video

The assessment takes 15 to 20 minutes and can be completed on a student’s Ipad, using Clever and then selecting Wayfinder. Here are instructions for how it will appear in Student View. 

• For students in grades 3–5: When they log in to the Wayfinder platform, the Waypoints assessment will be clearly visible at the top of their dashboard. It will appear as a box containing the assessment’s name with a “Start” button next to it.
• For students in grades 6–12: When students log in, the Waypoints assessment will be displayed in their “To-Do List,” which is typically located on the right side of the page. On a smaller screen like an iPad, the To-Do List may appear at the top of the screen. Students will see the name of the assessment and a “Start” button. 

Students can leave and return to the assessment at any time, as their progress is automatically saved. 

Please make sure that all teachers understand the “Why” behind the assessment and how it ties into any of your schoolwide goals or initiatives. Teachers need to read the instructions to the students so that we get quality data. 

Finally, we don’t need to get parent permission for Waypoints. However, there is a letter that you can adapt language for your newsletter if you would like.

From Andrea Wilson, Human Resources

Seeking Spring Conferences Feedback – Elementary & Middle School Administrators

Please share your experiences with elementary and middle school conferences held the week prior to spring break. Your input will help inform future planning decisions. Thank you for your time and perspective.
https://forms.gle/Hc4Qu7X53XNTqqtMA

From Kinsey, Policy and Advocacy

Day of Silence  – Action needed –

Please share this message with your staff: 

2026’s Day of Silence is Friday, April 10.  You will likely have students observing this day.  Students have the right to express themselves (including through silence, in this case) as long as it is done in an orderly and non-disruptive manner—see related policy.  Thank you for accommodating your participating students by:

1. Planning nonverbal or written options for class participation that day

2. Letting substitutes know to be prepared to accommodate students as well

3. Learning about the day and its significance to your students

4. Promptly interrupting and reporting any harassment or bias incidents

Community Engagment Bingo  – Action requested –

Sign up by this Friday for a quick drop-in to the Latino Community Association office, to get a quick tour and overview of their services.  It is easy to be upset by what we see in the news regarding the treatment of immigrants—this is one way to actually do something about it, by supporting the local folks who are helping our students, their families, and some of your own staff.  Sign up by this Friday—thanks for your care for this important topic.  

Action Items

• Make sure you complete 2 earthquake drills this school year.
• Plan to attend the End of Year presentations for counseling programs on June 2nd.
• Get ready for the Waypoints assessment window opening on April 28th.
• Give your feedback to Human Resources on conferences and spring break.
• Sign up for a visit to the LCA and share Day of Silence information

Important Dates

• March 23-27: Spring Break!
• March 31: All staff virtual update–see information above
• April 8: All Admin PD 3:00 – 4:30
• April 14: Elementary Horizontal 3:00 – 4:30 location North Star Elementary
• April 15: Educator Network Day for SIW
• April 21: #1 PLC and Phly Like Canadians meet from 3:00-4:30
• April 28: The PLC3PO and We Are the Winners meet from 3:00-4:30

And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Beth Martin!

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Beth Martin, who is in her second year as Principal at North Star Elementary.  While originally from the Lone Star state, Beth has spent a good part of her career in the Corvallis School District, where she has been both a teacher and principal.  However, the year prior coming to Bend, she packed up her family and took them on an adventure to Costa Rica! It was there that Beth dabbled in K-12 leadership, taking on a much broader role than she thought she was going to do, while experiencing a new culture and place with her family. Beth is an innovative and humble leader, who puts student needs at the center of everything that the Navigators do. Her exceptionally kind and caring personality helps make everyone feel welcomed and cared for! Please let us know your drink of choice Beth, and we’ll deliver!