September 28, 2023

NEW NOTES:

From Tammy & Lisa:

• If you are gone for any reason (sick, trip, etc), please text Tammy and Lisa so we can be prepared for any extra communications that might be coming from your building.
• Please share your final school schedules to THIS FOLDER. If you’d rather us add a link to your schedule via googledocs, please share it with us so we can drop it in. Your schedules should be complete with PE minutes and content areas completed.

From HR:

UKG Data Check: We are asking building leaders to confirm that their staff assignments in UKG are correct.  You may navigate to your My Team tab, then go to My Saved Reports and Staff Assignments to view your people and positions.  If you see something that isn’t accurate, please use the link below. Please don’t undertake this task until Monday, October 2 and complete this google form with your corrections by Friday, October 6th

Performance Evaluation Module: We are going to use the week of October 2nd to complete our testing (thank you Julie and Sky View MS staff for helping us with this) and then roll out communications regarding the launch of Certified goal-setting, observations and evaluations processes.  Certified staff can expect an introductory notification through UKG regarding the launch of Performance by October 6th.

Administrative/supervisor are invited to view the google document Performance: Certified Evaluation to begin to acclimate yourself to this module.  It includes short video tutorials.  I am scheduled to conduct a Performance training with all administrators on Wednesday, October 25th at Bend Senior High School, but you’ll need to be interacting with this module for Certified goal-setting and Observations prior to the 25th. I will schedule a couple of weekly virtual drop in sessions and advertise those in next week’s blog to assist with any questions that you have.

From DEI: Here’s a local story to share with everyone. The part where it states that the court found that the principal “knew of the bullying but did not investigate or intervene” is a good reminder about the critical importance of leaders and staff to use the bias incident reporting and response process appropriately and consistently. If you need a refresher, please reach out!

If you haven’t already, please identify two teachers in your building (any two 4^th and/or 5^th grade teachers) who can attend this workshop on Thursday, October 5^th. Once you’ve confirmed your two participants, have them register ASAP please (registration form in the link above). Administrators are welcome to join.  If you can’t stay all day, the morning portion is recommended, and you’re welcome to stay for lunch—just please rsvp using the registration form.

Safety Site Visits– Starting next week, Kayla and I will be visiting one school per week to partner with your administration team to conduct a safety site visit. A few days prior to our visit, you will receive an email from us with the checklist of safety related areas we will be visiting. We will typically be at your school for 2-3 hours per site visit. We always welcome you to walk with us during our visits to highlight safety strengths and concerns for your building, but we understand it’s not feasible for you to spend the entire time with us during our visits. 

These visits are not a “gotcha” moment, but more of an opportunity for the district safety team to spend time in your schools partnering with you to ensure you have the safest learning environment possible. Please reach out to us with any questions. 

From Julie in Curriculum, Instruction and Systems:

1. Educator Network Day on October 11^th will be at each school site from 1:45-3:15.  The topic will be reflecting and refining foundational skills and planning for community connection, partner up and Wayfinder lessons. Admin/ICCL teams meet on October 3^rd from 3:00-5:00. We will set each team up to facilitate October 11th during this session. Expect a printshop order delivered to your building which will be utilized on the 11th. 
   • Document for Locations/Topics
2. Exciting News from the Language Arts Curriculum Review Team: The Language Arts Curriculum Team met September 14th and reached strong consensus on moving forward with EL Education from Imagine Learning as our finalist for K-5 Language Arts Curriculum. 
   • Why EL Education?
     • Deep knowledge-building scope and sequence
     • Eight-week modular structure allows for students to go deep with each topic
     • All writing and conversations are purposeful, focused, and anchored in in the content students are learning.
     • Students own their own learning and develop the habits of successful citizens 

Next steps: Between 10/2 and 12/11, the Language Arts Curriculum Review Team will move forward with field testing a module for the purpose of identifying professional learning needs and beginning to plan for implementation. During the field test the team will be collecting video, survey and interview data from classroom educators and students. Between 10/25 and 10/27, each school will have an information table with resources to explore the curricular materials and provide feedback during conferences (community and staff feedback).

You can expect materials to be arriving at your schools in the next couple of weeks.  All materials have been sent ATTN: Instructional Coach.  Your instructional coach will organize the materials and set up the table for viewing during conferences. 

From Jennifer Hauth: Outside Service providers meeting with students on campus during school hours: Memo

From Wayfinder: Transformative SEL Workshop, November 9th 2023 in Bend from 10-4! We are thrilled to invite you to Wayfinder’s in-person event of the 2023-24 school year! Join us and colleagues from across the state of Oregon for collaborative conversations and strategic planning around Oregon’s Transformative Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Framework & Standards. Use this link to pre-register before the official invite goes out next week. Food, refreshments, and swag will be provided. 

• What to Expect:
  • Engaging Workshops: Interactive sessions led by renowned experts in SEL will empower you with practical tools and strategies.
  • Intimate Discussions: Share your experiences and learn from fellow educators and leaders in a close-knit setting.
  • Hands-On Activities: Experience the power of SEL through immersive activities that you can take back to your students.
  • Resourceful Takeaways: Leave with practical frameworks and tools to support SEL implementation at Scale
  • Community Building: Forge lasting connections with like-minded educators who are passionate about driving student success.

From Josh Marks: HERE is a link to the presentation from Tuesday’s Horizontal Meeting.

IMPORTANT DATES:

• Oct. 3, 3:00-5:00 ICCL/Admin Training–Location is Jewell Cafeteria
• Oct. 6 Complete this google form with your corrections by Friday, October 6th for UKG
• Oct. 11, 1:45-3:15 Ed Network Training
• Oct 25-27. Tammy and Lisa out at a PBIS Leaders Conference