From Tammy and Karen
Spring: Definition: to originate, to arise from, a season of the year Break: Definition: a pause in work, an activity, or event Spring Break: Definition: a time in which all educators around the globe breathe a deep sigh of relief, take time to rest, relax, rejuvenate, and do things to help them feel good, all in an effort to prepare for the last big push to June. Enjoy your well deserved Spring Break!
Excellence in Education: Before you take off for spring break, please take a moment to nominate a certified and a classified member from your school, who embodies “service above self” and has a high degree of professionalism.
April Site Visit Sign Ups: It’s time again to sign up for our next site visits. These visits will include Tammy, Karen, and Julie when available.
Belonging Survey: Thank you to all of you who have taken the Belonging Survey for Administrators. We appreciate your input, as it will help guide our conversations during “Breakfast and Belonging” for principals, and for our May events for Assistants and Deans. If you have not yet taken it, please take a few minutes to engage with the survey. Thank you so much!
Breakfast and Belonging Groups: We are excited for the April “Breakfast and Belonging” groups. These groups will take place at Jackson’s Corner at the big table (we reserved it!) from 7:00-8:30, and includes breakfast and beverages! We are excited for time to connect in small groups. I will send you calendar invites for your dates/times below.
Friday, April 4: Scott, Tim, Nichole, Kate, Julie
Friday, April 11: Andy, Beth, Lybe, Patrick, Kimberly
Friday, April 18: Wendy, Deborah, Ben, Jesse, Jennifer
Friday, April 25: Dan, Megan, Michelle, Gary, Marc
Spring Conferences: Time Frames and Schedule: After consultation with BEA two years ago, we have landed on the following information regarding length of a conference. If a teacher has 25 or less students, their conferences need to be between 25-30 minutes to accommodate for transition times as needed (25 min gives time for a quick restroom break, time in case one goes longer, etc.). If a teacher has 26 or more students, their conferences can be 20 minutes, giving the teacher the ability to have a few longer ones as well as building in transition times if needed.
For Spring conferences, the work days are as follows: Wednesday, April 16, from 7:15-3:15 (first 8 hours if your day is slightly different) is work time–no conferences during this time and 3:15-7:15 is conference time. Thursday, April 17, 7:15-7:15 are conferences. Friday, April 18, is a day off to trade.
Important Links
- State Testing Folder
- March 19th Elementary TLC Update
- Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice-Got something you want some collaboration with? (New Request about systems to support student behavior)
- FAQs for Special Education Inclusion Topics—Keep checking in here! BEA and BLS supported
Notes from our Team:
From Shelby Paulson, District Librarian-Please consider supporting your Media Managers to go to this amazing event!
From Paul Dean and Kim Crabtree
Transportation of Students. Please be advised that we have some outdated policies regarding what is permissible when transporting students to/from off-site activities and athletic events. Please follow EEADBA-AR and do not refer to EEACD-AR, EEBB-AR or EEADB-AR. It is always advisable to contact the Executive Director of Transportation, Kim Crabtree, when you have questions regarding student transportation.
From Julie Richards in Elementary Curriculum and Instruction
I am looking for a school that would be willing to have some visitors come to observe EL one day during the week of April 7-10th. This would be a team of 6-7 teachers from Sisters School District. Please let me know if you would be open to having visitors. Thank you.
From Maddy Paquette Sustainability and Energy Specialist: Please share the following information with your staff so that we are all doing our part to be sustainable over the break. Thank you!
From Eric Powell in Student Services
If you notice a YELLOW “Restrict!” bar on a student’s Synergy page, it most likely means they are either currently Expelled or that they have been Expelled at some point in their educational history.
The purpose of this practice is to ensure that schools do not unintentionally enroll an Expelled student into their school (if a family attempts to move a student from one school to another to avoid disciplinary measures, for example) AND to encourage schools to review student records for any newly enrolled students (specifically those who were ever Expelled that we are aware of).
If a student ever enrolls in your school from out of the area and the family references a past Expulsion (or you notice a prior Expulsion in the student records), please communicate with me so that I can help research the student’s disciplinary history from their former district(s) and to help us update their “Restrict” status.
If you ever notice a student with this YELLOW “Restrict!” bar, you can call myself or April Jorgenson to discuss the student and we can help you if any Synergy limitations exist while this Restrict is placed on their file.
If you click on the “Other Info” tab (next to Parent/Guardian in the Student screen) you can see the possible Enrollment Restrictions (and corresponding dates) for the specific student:
We will utilize the Enrollment Restriction titled “Other Restriction” for those students who have a past Expulsion on file (but who are not currently Expelled). Thank you!
From Scott and Kayla in Safety
Our School Resource Officer team is rotating out the supervisor position with Bend PD. Most of you know Sergeant Joe Pacheco and the outstanding job he’s done to support our schools and the SRO team over the past few years. Joe was recently promoted to Lieutenant with Bend PD and will be moving to his new supervisory role within their department after this week.
We will be working with Bend PD on Wednesday to select the new Sergeant for the SRO team, but due to Bend PD staffing management, the new Sergeant will not be able to start working with us until September, as we begin the next school year.
You can find the updated SRO contact list in the safety resource google drive, here.
Please follow the guidelines in the contact roster to get support from law enforcement or our SROs as appropriate for the situation and your school. Please let us know if you have any questions. Thank you,
Life and Career Readiness – Jenny White and Jennifer Hauth
Principals, here is a fun activity you can do with your staff before a staff meeting or at the start of a SIW. You will need coins, or soft balls (maybe from PE) or bean bags.
From Ryan Kelling in Human Resources: 2 things!
- Hi all, we have A LOT of contract letters that are still outstanding. Contract letters for licensed employees were sent to all licensed employees via UKG and must be returned no later than April 15. If they have not yet completed theirs, please have them log in to UKG to review and submit their response as soon as possible. Administrators, please ensure your staff are aware of this deadline and follow up as needed – and don’t forget to return yours too! If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to Candy Gelatt or the email group [email protected]
- Excellence in Education Nominations are due tomorrow!
- To date, I have received responses from 7 administrators. Please make this a priority; it is an important tradition and one that is consistently cited by employees – both those recognized and those who see their peers recognized – as an event that brings them pride in their work.
- Nominations should only come from administrators. We have a number of submissions from employees and, while we are happy that employees see their peers as deserving of recognition, that is not the purpose of this particular recognition. If you have already shared with employees and asked for them to submit, please take the time to disregard that and complete the survey yourself.
- The recognition event will be held at Mountain View in the auditorium on Tuesday May 20th from 5:00 – 6:30(ish). Thanks to the Mountain View team for being flexible with our ask.
Action Items
- Turn in Excellence in Education Nominees before spring break
- Please complete the Belonging Survey for Elementary Administrators by March 21st
- Sign up for an April Site Visit
- Let Julie know if you can have an EL visitation
- Share the Energy/Sustainability information before break
- Make sure you and your staff have signed their contract letters by April 15
Important Dates
- March 24-28: The long awaited Spring Break!
- April 4th: Breakfast and Belonging, Jackson’s Corner, 7:00-8:30
- April 8: School Board Meeting 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
- April 9: Administrator Professional Development 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Perseverance Hall, Read Ch 3 of Thriving Leaders
- April 11: Breakfast and Belonging, Jackson’s Corner, 7:00-8:30
- April 15: Horizontal meeting 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at Ponderosa Elementary–PON and Jewell host
- April 18: Breakfast and Belonging, Jackson’s Corner, 7:00-8:30
- April 19: On the Road to Kindergarten Event 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at various parks
- April 22: Admin ICCL 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
- April 25: Breakfast and Belonging, Jackson’s Corner, 7:00-8:30
And finally…Spring Equinox is today!
Did you know on the Spring Equinox you can balance a raw egg on it’s end? Something fun that my nieces and I tried out many years ago (the little gal in the picture is now 16!) Give it a try today!
