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 19th 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 10th 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?
