From Tammy and Karen
What is with the weather here these days? Today my phone said it will be in the 60’s on Saturday! Karen is back from Minnesota and is really missing the white stuff, so bring it on! Nothing like a little snow to get us geared up for the upcoming winter break. One can hope..
Just a reminder that our All Admin PD will be at Aspen Hall and will start promptly at 3:00. Don’t forget to read chapters 6-8 (through page 99) in our Leading with Dignity book. It is also a seasonal celebration as well, so there will be fancy snacks! Come ready to spread cheer with your colleagues and friends!
Important Links
- December 10th Elementary TLC Update
- Special EDge Student Services Blog (December 10)
- 1-Page Student Management guide
- Topics of Interest/Problem of Practice
- FAQs for Special Education Inclusion Topics—Keep checking in here! BEA and BLS supported
- Dates to recognize groups
Notes from our Team:
From Sean Reinhart, Student Services
25-26 Child Count Data
Please click the link below to look at this year’s child count data, as well as our historical trends. Overall, we are up about 40 students total with IEPs. With the overall decrease in enrollment, that puts the district at 12.5% of students receiving special education services.
25-25 Special Education Census Data
As a reminder, December 1 of each school year is the day that we report the total number of students with IEPs in BLS. This is the number that ODE uses to base our funding for the following year. School districts get a “second ADM weight” for each student with and IEP up to 11% of the district population. BLS is currently at 12.5%.
From Kinsey – Office of Policy and Advocacy
Cell phone/personal device usage: As we approach the policy shift that prohibits personal devices effective January, please remind teachers to review the IEPs, 504s, and Individual Health Plans of students in their class, and/or check in with Learning Specialists, to be clear on which students have documented permission to use their personal devices. This info should also be noted in Substitute Folders.
This will help reduce 1) the number of false claims by students saying they have a medical ‘need’ for their phone, and 2) repeated corrections or consequences for students who do need them but who frequently get reprimanded for usage that is actually permissible.
Immigration: Check that you have the ICE guidance (linked and highlighted in this document) printed and posted near your front-entry/reception window for the staff who greet visitors. This is also a good point to refresh yourself on the procedures expected of you and your team.
If you become aware of immigration activity in the community that has impacted a student or family, please: 1) be extremely mindful of confidentiality, privacy, and professional boundaries—do notshare this information unless absolutely necessary, 2) take care of yourself and your emotions so you can take care of others , 3) refer the student or family to appropriate resources (your family liaison, our newcomer counselor specialist George, school counselor, FAN, etc), 4) let me know if you have a need I can support, resource- or policy-wise. Thank you for your calm, compassionate, and steady leadership as these tough things continue impacting our community.
From Kim Crabtree, Transportation
Admin, please note that local field trips will be a “drop and return” for our bus drivers. They will not be staying on site to wait during the trip. If there is an emergency, please contact our office and we will return early. This information was provided to all office managers in August, but lately, our bus drivers are getting quite a bit of pushback from teaching staff.
We appreciate your understanding. Thank you!
From Jennifer Hauth-Student Well Being
Jess Calbreath, Amberlee Solito, and I presented at the Oregon State School Counseling Meeting this week on Bend La Pine’s journey to implementing a Comprehensive School Counseling Program. Please take a look at the slide deck that outlines our implementation journey over the last four years. Also, check out our elementary school counseling video (2 Minutes) that was shared at the Board meeting. For the first time in a long time, we have an elementary school counselor at every school!
At our Elementary School Counselor shared SIW PLC this week, they shares that they will be starting Sources of Strength presentations in January. The parent letter needs to go out two weeks before the classroom presentations. Slide Deck
From Student Services Coach Haley Gembarowski
Student Services is introducing a new process we are going to be using to boost morale and include more positivity and celebration in our weekly Special EDge Blog.
We will be starting Campus Kudos, a section of the blog highlighting two schools per week and celebrating ways that the school’s Student Services team has been working to promote inclusion, belonging for students, and working as a team to support each other. We will NOT be celebrating individual staff members in this process but really would like to make the focus be upon the entire team. Everyone deserves to be celebrated because they are doing hard work!
So here is our ask: Please fill out the linked form when you feel you have seen something from your school team that is worthy of celebration, particularly things around inclusion, belonging, and teamwork. This can be a running record, and does not need to be filled out ONLY when it is time in the schedule for a particular school to be celebrated.
HERE IS THE TENTATIVE SCHEDULE FOR WHEN SCHOOLS WILL BE CELEBRATED (subject to change if we need to shift things around for more time to gather input)
Thank you all! We are excited to start celebrating your school teams and all of the hard work they are doing!
From Dave VanLoo–School Improvement
Here is a brief resource to help administrators with YouthTruth implementation. YouthTruth goes live on January 5. Contact Dave VanLoo with any questions about YouthTruth surveys.
YouthTruth January 2026 Admin One-Page Sheet
Action Items
- Read Chapter 6-8 (through page 99) in our Dignity book for All Admin PD on Wednesday
- Review ICE guidance with office staff and be extremely confidential with information
- Review with teachers that when they go on a local field trip, the bus will drop and go
- Watch the elementary counseling video–several cameos by amazing people!
- Get the Sources of Strength Parent Letter ready to be sent at least 2 weeks prior to teaching the lessons
- Be on the look out for Campus Kudos in your Student Services Department
- Get ready for Youth Truth! How will you get more staff and families to take it this year?
Important Dates
- December 16: PLCs 1 and 2, from 3:00-4:30
- December 17: All Admin PD 3:00 – 4:30 pm at Aspen Hall
- December 22 – Jan 2: Winter Break
- January 13: Horizontal Meeting 3:00 – 4:30 at Highland Elementary
- January 19: Martin Luther King Jr Day – No School
- January 20: PLCs 1 and 2 from 3:00 – 4:30
- January 21: Educator Network Day
- January 27: PLCs 3 and 4 from 3:00 – 4:30
- January 28: All Admin PD 3:00 – 4:30
- January 30: Progress Reports – No school for students
And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Megan Silvey!
Megan Silvey is in her third year as principal at La Pine Elementary, however, she has been there a lot longer than that. Fun fact about Megan, is that she has worked in our district in Nutrition Services, as an educational assistant, a classroom teacher, an assistant principal, and now a principal! She has done it all–almost! You don’t need to talk to Megan long to know she exudes a passion for serving students and creating systems and environments where all students can succeed. Megan is also a proud mom to two grown daughters who are living their best lives as a registered nurse and a high school FFA teacher, and a proud wife to Randy, who loves a good laugh with Megan. We celebrate you Megan! Let us know what your drink of choice is and we will get it delivered!
