Author Archives: Tammy Doty

Do Now:

First Aid/CPR: If your school is under the ration needed for CPR/First Aid shared by Stephanie Bent this week, please make a plan to meet this before we leave for the year. It will help you be prepared for next year without a question. If you need help or ideas, please reach out.

Levy Talk: Consider the ways in which you might educate your PTOs related to the upcoming levy. Tammy and I are happy to support you with this type of connection too. Ballots will go out in just a week! HERE is some information that Scott has put together if you’re looking for a bit more information than the flyers.

• Middle School Transition and Math Bypass Testing for 5^th grade: An assessment needs to be given for some 5^th grade students who could potentially skip 6^th grade math if they meet the requirements. This assessment will only be given to 5^th 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. 
  • 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. 
  • Math Bypass Test Info:
    • FAQ you can provide families
• DIBELS Testing will begin on May 9th.  Here is the schedule.
  • Reminders:
    • The testing team tests all students K-5
    • Be sure to set up the testing area with 12 stations
    • Clear schedules for school testing staff so they can also test students on testing day

Reminders:

• Four hour and less sub payments: Every sub coded between July 1, 2023 and the date of March 4,2024, covered by the district. Anyone who was coded 4 hours after 3/4/24 will be paid by you. As of April 5, if you put in for a 4 hour sub they will be paid for only 4 hours.
• Youth Truth. Reminder: Please share the data presentations with your staff by May 8. By May 29, meet with your ICCL teams to synthesize the information you get from the posters at the data walks, and decide what you want to focus on. Write the 2 areas of focus and link them in your School Design Plans under the Annual Plan Review Tab in the mid-year location.

• Interested staff members must indicate their interest in having their child attend KIDS Inc by filling out the KIDS Inc Interest Form and submitting an application to the program that can be found on the KIDS Inc website. The application period is May 6- May 17.
• Roger White support: Want to help? Click this link.
• Performance Evaluation Reminders: All goals, formal observations and most mini’s should be finalized in UKG by the end of April.  We are asking Level Leaders to review your progress during their next one-on-one site visit.
  • In addition, please initiate Self-Reflections (SRs) for your staff this week. You may ‘skip’ instead of ‘initiate’ SRs those who are not on a full evaluation cycle this year.  Staff are instructed to complete their SRs by May 1.
• Here is an instruction video to share with your staff on how to complete self-reflections
• Here is an instructional video for admin on how to review, submit and finalize self-reflections
• Erin’s Law: When you finish with these, let April Jorgenson know!
• Transfer Interviews: Update, they have now been moved to April 30
• TLC Update: April 18,  Elementary TLC Update
• Tentative BEA Agreement can be found HERE
• Inservice Week Certified work calendar for 24-25
• April: Naglieri testing & SBAC for ELA
• May: SBAC for Math and Science

New Notes:

From Tammy and Lisa:

Please look for an e-mail coming from Aimee Snyder, our District/County Partnership Health Supervisor. She is sending an invite for parents/caregivers of students in grades 4th-10^th to participate in a 20-minute online survey.  This survey is part of a county-wide assessment of prevention needs for families around topics like substance use and mental health. And, the first 85 English respondents and 85 Spanish respondents will receive a $15 Visa gift card for their participation!

Important Dates

• April 30: All goals, formal observations, and most mini observations finalized in UKG
• April 30: Transfer interviews: High Lakes Elementary, 3:15-5:15
• May 1: BRYT Focus Groups for SSCs/SSEAs during SIW
• May 4: Queer Prom 7 pm at BTA (Star Wars theme)
• May 6-May 10: Teacher Appreciation Week!
• May 15: Monthly Admin PD at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• May 18: Kinder Fiesta 10-1 at Ed Center (newly enrolling Spanish-speaking kindergarten families)
• May 28: Horizontal Meeting @ Rosland 3:00-5:00 (Please add in travel time, as we will be starting on time)
• May 30: School Counselor Celebration in board room 8-9:30
• June 1: Pride @ Drake Park (BLS Family Advisory hosting a booth)
• June 6: GSA in the Park: 10-1 at Troy Field/Ed Center
• June 6: TAG Night at Juniper 5-6 pm
• June 15-16: Juneteenth Community Celebration in Drake Park
• June 18: Last Horizontal meeting of the year @ Hollinshead Barn, 3:00-5:00.

And finally…

A big thank you to 17 staff members from many of your schools, who have signed up to meet with incoming kindergarten students and their families this coming Saturday. We are excited to welcome the class of 2037 to the 24-25 school year! Out and about on Saturday? Swing by one of the parks at the time above to check it out!

Do Now:

• Change!!! From Julie. April 24 locations for all staff for Ed Network Day—share with staff Now! Lava Ridge and Highland, please note your location changes, so if you have already shared the location, please share this version and location change instead. This link also has locations for Co-Curricular teachers, Specialists, and more. Thank you!!
• Initiate Self-Reflections (SRs) for your staff this week if you haven’t already. Directions are in the reminder section.
• Please let your staff members know that they can indicate their interest in having their child attend KIDS Inc by filling out the KIDS Inc Interest Form specific to BLP employees for the 2024-2025 school year. As a reminder, they also MUST submit an application to the program that can be found on the KIDS Inc website in order to be considered. Indicating interest does not guarantee a spot in the program but BLP employees will be prioritized. The application period is May 6- May 17.

Reminders:

• Youth Truth. Reminder: Please share the data presentations with your staff by May 8. By May 29, meet with your ICCL teams to synthesize the information you get from the posters at the data walks, and decide what you want to focus on. Write the 2 areas of focus and link them in your School Design Plans under the Annual Plan Review Tab in the mid-year location.

• Roger White support: Want to help? Click this link.
• Performance Evaluation Reminders: All goals, formal observations and most mini’s should be finalized in UKG by the end of April.  We are asking Level Leaders to review your progress during their next one-on-one site visit.
  • In addition, please initiate Self-Reflections (SRs) for your staff this week. You may ‘skip’ instead of ‘initiate’ SRs those who are not on a full evaluation cycle this year.  Staff are instructed to complete their SRs by May 1.
• Here is an instruction video to share with your staff on how to complete self-reflections
• Here is an instructional video for admin on how to review, submit and finalize self-reflections
• Erin’s Law: When you finish with these, let April Jorgenson know!
• Transfer Interviews: Update, they have now been moved to April 30
• TLC Update: April 18,  Elementary TLC Update
• Tentative BEA Agreement can be found HERE
• Inservice Week Certified work calendar for 24-25
• April: Naglieri testing & SBAC for ELA
• May: SBAC for Math and Science

New Notes:

From Scott Maben: Levy Communications

LEVY MATERIALS FOR PUBLIC – Please be sure to have your interior levy sign displayed in your entryway, and the larger exterior sign displayed outside, as soon as possible. Also, please be sure to have your levy rack cards (informational handouts) displayed in a prominent spot near your office window. If you need more cards, let Scott Maben know. Spanish-language versions of these cards are being printed and should be ready for delivery by Monday. Additional rack card holders are coming as well.

From Robbie Faith: Instructional Technology:

With conferences in the rearview mirror, many families may be asking about Lexia, Dreambox, or Sora access at home for additional learning. Here are a few frequently asked questions to help with this and to prepare for the upcoming summer as well.

Are students allowed to bring iPads home during the school year? Yes, students can bring the iPad home if the family and school agree, a specific learning goal is provided, and the family knows in advance that the iPad is coming home.

How do students access Clever programs such as Lexia and Dreambox from a personal device? The directions for accessing Clever from home on a personal device can be found here. Please note that this requires students to set-up multi-factor authentication. Your media manager or tier 1 support should have the Student MFA set-up directions.

Can students bring the iPad home for the summer? In most cases, we would recommend that the iPad remains at school for the summer. If a student does not have access to a personal device and the family is requesting access to our district learning programs, then they can check out the iPad for the summer. The student and guardian will need to complete the Acceptable Use of Technology Agreement Student/Parent Summer Form. You can get this form from your site tech or instructional technology.

How long will students be able to access Clever programs (Lexia, Dreambox, Sora, etc.) this summer? Student access to Clever will end in early August in preparation for the 2024-2025 school year.

From Jenny White: Life and Career Readiness

Flexible Thinking and Growth Mindset Collections

Develop students’ ability to think flexibly and adapt to new situations with this collection of activities and lessons. Through problem-solving activities, perspective-taking exercises, and cognitive flexibility tasks, students will learn to approach challenges with an open mind and consider multiple viewpoints. These resources foster resilience, creativity, and the ability to navigate change.

Directions on how to find the collection on Wayfinder

Direct Links. Kindergarten. 1st – 2nd. 3rd – 5th

From Jennifer Hauth: Social, Emotional, and Mental Well Being

BRYT Focus Groups on May 1^st for SIW: We wanted to share an exciting opportunity for our Student Success staff coming up on Wednesday, May 1st. Our BRYT partners from Boston are coming out to visit Bend-La Pine that week, and we have a chance to meet with them Wednesday afternoon in elementary and secondary focus groups. We understand this is a building-discretion SIW. If you are able to release your SSC/SSI and SSEA to join us, we’d be so appreciative. The coaches sent a separate to communication directly to your student success staff as well. Thank you!

From Jessica Scott: TAG flyer with corrections

From Tammy and Lisa:

Self Reflection Due Date Change: The self reflections in UKG are set with a due date of May 1. In talking with Paul, this is a “soft date”. You choose the date you want the staff to have the self-reflections due and communicate that to them (You can’t change it in UKG right now–just tell staff to ignore May 1). Note that the reflections now ask for their ending SLGG information. With the reading SLGG goal, many of them use Dibels as their indicator, so make sure your due date is after your building Dibles day.

4 Hour Subs and Pay. Earlier last month, you received information about a legislative change that said if we hired 4 hour subs, we were required to pay them for 8 hours. At that time, the information your Office Staff received said to code subs moving forward 3.99 or less to not have to pay a full 8 hours. This change is retroactive to July 1, 2023, so every sub coded between July 1, 2023 and the date of March 4,2024, will be covered by the district. It will not impact your budgets between those dates. After March 4, anyone who was coded 4 hours needed to be paid for 8 and that will be paid by you. The legislature fixed the bill and as of April 5, it is back to what it originally was prior to July 1—if you put in for a 4 hour sub they will be paid for only 4 hours. Whew!

Thank you and a reminder: Thank you for unexpectedly digging into the Youth Truth work on Tuesday afternoon and preparing your staff presentations. We know it wasn’t what you thought you may be doing that day. The reports of people who have done the presentations and data walks so far, have been very positive and admin report a feeling of success. Staff are appreciative of the data and chance to talk about it. Let us know how your presentations go and if you need any support–we are happy to help!

Also, a quick reminder that both Lisa and I will be out this next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The Thursday blog next week will be coming to you from the windy city, as we attend a conference on authentic family engagement. We will still be available by text/phone (could be iffy on Wednesday as we will by in the air). If you need support and can’t get us, you can call Lora, Julie, Batman, Obi-Wan…

Important Dates

• April 19: Staffing plans due
• April 23: Horizontal 3:00-5:00–mandatory EL training– at Highland. We need the full 2 hours, so please be on time. No school share outs this time–we’ll catch you up later!
• April 24-26. Tammy and Lisa out of town at a conference
• April 30: All goals, formal observations, and most mini observations finalized in UKG
• April 30: Transfer interviews: High Lakes Elementary, 3:15-5:15
• May 4: Queer Prom 7 pm at BTA (Star Wars theme)
• May 15: Monthly Admin PD at Perseverance Hall, 3:00-4:30
• May 18: Kinder Fiesta 10-1 at Ed Center (newly enrolling Spanish-speaking kindergarten families)
• May 28: Horizontal Meeting @ Rosland 3:00-5:00 (Please add in travel time, as we will be starting on time)
• May 30: School Counselor Celebration in board room 8-9:30
• June 1: Pride @ Drake Park (BLS Family Advisory hosting a booth)
• June 6: GSA in the Park: 10-1 at Troy Field/Ed Center
• June 6: TAG Night at Juniper 5-6 pm
• June 15-16: Juneteenth Community Celebration in Drake Park
• June 18: Last Horizontal meeting of the year @ Hollinshead Barn, 3:00-5:00.

And finally…

Do Now:

• Initiate Self-Reflections (SRs) for your staff this week if you haven’t already. Directions are in the reminder section.
• Please let your staff members know that they can indicate their interest in having their child attend KIDS Inc by filling out the KIDS Inc Interest Form specific to BLP employees for the 2024-2025 school year. As a reminder, they also MUST submit an application to the program that can be found on the KIDS Inc website in order to be considered. Indicating interest does not guarantee a spot in the program but BLP employees will be prioritized. The application period is May 6- May 17.

Reminders:

• Roger White support: Thank you Patrick for sharing the information about how we can help Roger and his family as they rally around helping their husband and dad. While it is a Meal Train link, it is also a place to send gift cards and donate money as well. What to help? Click this link.
• Performance Evaluation Reminders: All goals, formal observations and most mini’s should be finalized in UKG by the end of April.  We are asking Level Leaders to review your progress during their next one-on-one site visit.
  • In addition, please initiate Self-Reflections (SRs) for your staff this week. You may ‘skip’ instead of ‘initiate’ SRs those who are not on a full evaluation cycle this year.  Staff are instructed to complete their SRs by May 1.
• Here is an instruction video to share with your staff on how to complete self-reflections
• Here is an instructional video for admin on how to review, submit and finalize self-reflections
• Recess for K-5 (and state reporting): Please go into your main schedule for the year and make sure your schedule now reflects the added 3-5 recess per Article 16 of the contract. You should now have a morning and afternoon recess K-5, with only one of those recesses being a rotation. No exceptions please (if you are not doing this, please reach out to Tammy/Lisa to talk about it asap.) Also, Jo Kinzel is in the process of auditing for the state, our instructional minutes, and your accurate and current schedules are an important part of this process.
• Erin’s Law: When you finish with these, let April Jorgenson know!
• From Julie: Curriculum, Instruction and Systems: Expeditionary Learning (EL Education, Language Arts adopted materials) launch will be on our next Educator Network Day, April 24^th from 2:00-3:15. Trainers will be here in-person to give us our first look at the “why” behind the curriculum and the components.  We will be travelling to 4 locations.  The expectation is everyone is there on time and ready to learn.
• Transfer Interviews: Update, they have now been moved to April 30 instead of April 23.
• TLC Update: April 3,  Elementary TLC Update
• Tentative BEA Agreement can be found HERE
• Inservice Week Certified work calendar for 24-25
• April: Naglieri testing & SBAC for ELA
• May: SBAC for Math and Science

New Notes:

From Kinsey:

Title IX Coordinator:

Coordination of TItle IX responsibilities are transitioning from Steve Herron to Kinsey, to align better with current practices and with other Civil Rights-related coordination duties.  

As a reminder, Title IX protections cover: 

• 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

If you have a potential incident or complaint that involves one of the above topics, please promptly:

• Report it via the bias incident reporting form, or
• Contact Kinsey  🙂

Upcoming Office of DEI district-wide events:

Mark your calendars!  Please share a ‘save the date’ with your staff as applicable (flyers and details to follow):

• Queer Prom = Saturday, May 4^th 7:00pm at BTA (Star Wars theme, of course)
• KínderFiesta = Saturday, May 18^th 10:00am-1:00pm at the Ed Center (for newly-enrolling Spanish-speaking kindergarten families)
• GSA in the Park = Thursday, June 6^th 10:00am-1:00pm at Troy Field/Ed Center
• Community celebrations (BLS family advisory groups will host booths):
  • Pride = June 1, Drake Park
  • Juneteenth community celebration = June 15-16, Drake Park

More details to follow.  If any staff wants to volunteer or participate, please reach out!

From Jackie Mueller- SUSTAINABILITY

EARTH DAY RESOURCES: Looking for something to use with students during Earth Day? Here are two great resources to explore:

• Subject to Climate Website
• Oregon Climate Educator Hub

FOOD WASTE REDUCTION VIDEOS: Food waste reduction week, which took place April 1-7^th provided an opportunity to challenge students to make changes in their choices. This initiative not only aims to reduce waste but also plays a crucial role in our greenhouse gas reduction and climate change mitigation.

If you have not had the chance to view them yet, you can watch the food waste reduction video created for elementary schools here and for middle/high schools here. These videos will help you and staff and students learn about the meal program requirements and how to reduce waste through choices.

IDLE-FREE CAMPAIGN: School green teams are preparing for Earth Week, and many will be working on Idle-Free campaigns at schools. Here is a PDF you can share with parents and driving students about idling. Here is some information that was created by the green team at BSH. And lastly, here is newsletter and parent letter ideas.

MAY 8^TH WALK AND ROLL TO SCHOOL: New this year, we will be distributing a google sheet to each school for each teacher to log a simple tally of who walked, biked, took the bus, or drove to school on May 8th. It will take less than 30 seconds and we really appreciate your help with this!

Please join us in celebrating the May Walk + Roll to School Day Event on May 8th! If your school is interested in participating please contact ([email protected]) She can drop off Walk + Roll swag, posters, and informational flyers for to distribute to students. In addition, feel free to use this poster and take-home flyers. The following language can be sent to students and parents:
* Please join us in celebrating May Walk + Roll to School Day on May 8th by walking or rolling to school. Log your trip for a chance to win a prize! See the following link to log your trip and for more information. Thank you!

Unirse a nosotros celebrando el día de Mayo de Walk and Roll a escuela el 8 de Mayo con caminando o rodando a escuela. ¡Registre su viaje para una oportunidad a ganar un premio! Para más información y registrar su viaje, ve este enlace. ¡Gracias!

From Tammy and Lisa:

The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education is announcing an opportunity for 5th grade classrooms to be invovled in designing and proposing microgravity experiments to fly on the International Space Station (ISS) in the fall of 2024. Read more here!

We’re looking forward to meeting with you all on April 16th at Jewell from 3-5. We will discuss planning for the end of the year and prep for next year. Please bring a fully charged computer, your mid-year data, your school design plan, and your Youth Truth materials (all likely accessed electronically).

Jessica added a TAG Night information graphic (linked in the below Important Dates) for June 5th. Be sure to share this with your families in you TAG communications. Thanks!

Important Dates

• April 16: Admin Meeting (formerly Admin/ICCL) at Jewell 3-5 pm.
• April 17: Office Staff training in the board room from 1:15-2:15. Cover your office for staff please
• April 19: Staffing plans due
• April 23: Horizontal 3:00-5:00–mandatory EL training– at Highland. We need the full 2 hours, so please be on time. No school share outs this time–we’ll catch you up later!
• April 24-26. Tammy and Lisa out of town at a conference–24th will be traveling and may not be able to receive texts/calls, 25-26 should be fine. Call Lora Nordquist if you need some help right away and we are not available.
• April 30: All goals, formal observations, and most mini observations finalized in UKG
• May 4: Queer Prom 7 pm at BTA (Star Wars theme)
• May 7: Transfer interviews: High Lakes Elementary, 3:15-5:15
• May 18: Kinder Fiesta 10-1 at Ed Center (newly enrolling Spanish-speaking kindergarten families)
• May 30: School Counselor Celebration in board room 8-9:30
• June 1: Pride @ Drake Park (BLS Family Advisory hosting a booth)
• June 6: GSA in the Park: 10-1 at Troy Field/Ed Center
• June 6: TAG Night at Juniper 5-6 pm
• June 15-16: Juneteenth Community Celebration in Drake Park

And finally…

A big thank you to all who came to the job fair! Especially this one, who was there interviewing til the bitter end with all the clanging and banging, when everything was taken down around her. Anna Park did not give up–way to go Anna! It was an afternoon connecting with colleagues and friends, new and old, and meeting eager teachers ready to come to Bend-La Pine to change the world. Thanks again everyone.

Do Now:

• Levy Presentations: Thank you for signing up! We are hitting the circuit and are ready to roll!
• Student Services Survey: One administrator per school needs to take this- Survey Link
• Recess for K-5 (and state reporting): Please go into your main schedule for the year and make sure your schedule now reflects the added 3-5 recess per Article 16 of the contract. You should now have a morning and afternoon recess K-5, with only one of those recesses being a rotation. No exceptions please (if you are not doing this, please reach out to Tammy/Lisa to talk about it asap.) Also, Jo Kinzel is in the process of auditing for the state, our instructional minutes, and your accurate and current schedules are an important part of this process.

From Julie: Curriculum, Instruction and Systems

Please share the following information with your staff now.

Wonders Materials

• More information will be shared in the coming weeks on the plan for disposing of Wonders and Units of Study materials
• The Wonders and Wonderworks decodables are great resources.  I recommend teachers keep these as resources for the coming years. 
• The Leveled Readers are also a great resource.  Teachers are welcome to keep these in their classroom libraries.
• During April conferences teachers can give away shared read and anthology books (lock and key)

Expeditionary Learning Launch

Expeditionary Learning (EL Education, Language Arts adopted materials) launch will be on our next Educator Network Day, April 24^th from 2:00-3:15. Trainers will be here in-person to give us our first look at the “why” behind the curriculum and the components.  We will be travelling to 4 locations.  The expectation is everyone is there on time and ready to learn.

Administrators:

Expeditionary Learning (EL Education, Language Arts adopted materials) launch for administrators will be on April 23^rd at our horizontal meeting from 3:00-5:00 at Highland Elementary. Come prepared ready to learn!

Reminders:

• Take some time in the next week or so to complete your School Design Mid-Year Review. Let us know if you need some help!
• TLC Update: April 3,  Elementary TLC Update
• Tentative BEA Agreement can be found HERE
• Inservice Week Certified work calendar for 24-25
• April: Naglieri testing & SBAC for ELA
• May: SBAC for Math and Science

New Notes:

From Jenny White: Life and Career Readiness

Digital Citizenship for 3^rd  – 5^th graders in Wayfinder’s Collections

Equip students with essential digital literacy skills and promote responsible online behavior, empowering them to navigate the digital world safely, critically evaluate information, and become responsible digital citizens. Direct Link. Directions on how to find this collection in Wayfiner

Game Collections in Wayfinder

Engage students in fun and interactive games that promote engagement. This collection includes games that encourage cooperation, adaptability, and connection. Directions on how to get to the collections in Wayfinder. Here are the direct links: Kindergarten, 1st – 2nd  3rd – 5th

For Principals or Teacher Leaders a fun Wayfinder Activity you can use in a SIW or Staff Meeting. Rock, Paper, Scissors Battle

From Paul in HR: HR has been working to better understand what staff may or may not do during their lunch periods and here is what we’ve learned:

• For certified staff:  We cannot enter into any agreement that infringes on their 30-minute duty free lunch. Here is the relevant ORS 342.608

• For classified staff: The district consulted with BOLI as to whether classified employees can voluntarily waive their meal period. The answer we received was to refer to our CBA to see if it includes language allowing classified staff to forgo the meal period and work through it. The BLS/OSEA CBA states the following:

16.5.2: With the supervisor’s approval, employees may work through break
and/or meal period, work a regular schedule, and receive pay for the extra time.

In unusual circumstances, supervisors may require employees to work during break and/or meal periods, provided employees will be granted compensatory time off, for the time worked, or paid time and one-half for the break and/or meal time actually worked.

In summary, certified licensed staff cannot work during their 30-minute duty free lunch period.  Classified staff may agree to work through breaks or meal periods, with prior supervisor approval, and receive pay for this extra time.

Performance Evaluation Reminders

All goals, formal observations and most mini’s should be finalized in UKG by the end of April.  We are asking Level Leaders to review your progress during their next one-on-one site visit.

In addition, please initiate Self-Reflections (SRs) for your staff this week. You may ‘skip’ instead of ‘initiate’ SRs those who are not on a full evaluation cycle this year.  Staff are instructed to complete their SRs by May 1.

• Here is an instruction video to share with your staff on how to complete self-reflections
• Here is an instructional video for admin on how to review, submit and finalize self-reflections

From Lora:

A reminder that our April 10 Admin PD is Youth Truth Training. This training is in the boardroom (not Perseverance Hall), from 1:00-3:00, so that you have time to get back for conferences. Bring a fully charged computer and be ready to dive into your data.

From Tammy and Lisa:

Conferences and Levy Information: This next week, you will be receiving information informing families of the upcoming levy and what it means for Bend-La Pine Schools. You will get a stack of fliers that are to be distributed to each classroom teacher to pass out to each family at conferences. As a reminder, we can educate all about the levy, but we cannot tell people how to vote for it.

New to Sharezies: Thank you Kimberly and Tom for sharing High Lakes “end of the year” check-out tool!

Transfer Interviews: Update, they have now been moved to April 30 instead of April 23.

Erin’s Law: Child Abuse Prevention Month (April) is upon us. This is a friendly reminder that you need to let April Jorgenson know when you have completed the trainings. Thanks for checking in with her.

Roger White support: Thank you Patrick for sharing the information about how we can help Roger and his family as they rally around helping their husband and dad as he fights the hardest fight of his life to recover. While it is a Meal Train link, it is also a place to send gift cards and donate money as well. What to help? Click this link.

Important Dates

Please check that your calendars have all these dates.

• April 10: Youth Truth Training 1-3 pm in the Board Room (all Elementary Admin)
• April 10-11. Spring Conferences W: 3:15 pm -7:15 pm , Th 7:15 am-7:15 pm
• April 17: Office Staff training in the board room from 1:15-2:15. Cover your office for staff please
• April 19: Staffing plans due
• April 23: Horizontal 3:00-5:00–mandatory EL training– at Highland. We need the full 2 hours, so please be on time. No school share outs this time–we’ll catch you up later!
• April 24-26. Tammy and Lisa out of town at a conference–24th will be traveling and may not be able to receive texts/calls, 25-26 should be fine. Call Lora Nordquist if you need some help right away and we are not available.
• April 30: Transfer interviews: High Lakes Elementary, 3:15-5:15
• April 30: All goals, formal observations, and most mini observations finalized in UKG
• May 30: School Counselor Celebration in board room 8-9:30

And finally…

Do Now:

• Levy Presentations: If you haven’t yet signed up, please sign up for a levy presentation for your staff to better understand this upcoming ballot item.
• Vulnerable Students Commitment: To date, only 11 administrators at the elementary level have completed the commitment from our training on Wednesday. Please complete this now if you haven’t yet.
• Student Services Survey: One administrator per school needs to take this- Survey Link
• CPI training: Please let us know who will be attending and when you will attend HERE. As a reminder, Assistant Principals are asked to participate first if available.
• Relax and refresh this Spring Break! You deserve it❤️❤️❤️

Reminders:

• Please make sure you share this message with families regarding care resources during break.
• Take some time in the next week or so to complete your School Design Mid-Year Review.
• ECSE Information Update: Please review THIS GUIDANCE with your team as you make a plan for your site.
• Excellence in Education: Please refer to Ryan’s e-mail about Excellence in Education Nominations. Due by March 24th!
• TLC Update: March 6^th Elementary TLC Update
• Tentative BEA Agreement can be found HERE
• Inservice Week Certified work calendar for 24-25

New Notes:

From Jenny White: Life and Career Readiness

Support students to develop healthy personal boundaries through activities and discussions that promote self-confidence, character, and the ability to set and maintain boundaries in various contexts. Directions on how to find the collections on Wayfinder.

Direct Links: Kindergarten. 1st – 2nd. 3rd – 5th

From Tami Pike: UPDATED COVID-19 INFORMATION

The current supply of COVID-19 iHealth tests for BLS expires at the end of March. There has not been an expiry extension notice provided from the FDA. OHA will no longer be distributing free iHealth tests to schools. Unexpired COVID-19 tests can be obtained at a local pharmacy or through a health care provider. 

For more information on when to stay home due to illness, please visit the “Health Info and When to Keep Your Student Home” in the Bend-La Pine Schools website.

From HR: The HR Department is moving from the 3^rd floor of the Ed Center to the 2^nd floor (in the space previously occupied by HDESD).  Because of the move, our physical offices will not be accessible during the week of April 1-5, but HR staff will be available via phone (you may use our current extensions) and email throughout that time.

From Lora: First Aid/CPR Training District Reimbursement

To ensure that BLS meets the state requirement for staff ratios of current CPR/First Aid certifications, the district supports the following: 

• The school may assign staff to attend training during their regularly scheduled workday, in which case attendance would not be timesheeted;
• IF administration has solicited volunteers because their schools need additional staff with certifications, BEA staff who volunteer to attend training after working hours may timesheet 3.5 hours at the curriculum rate;
• IF administration has solicited volunteers because their schools need additional staff with certifications, OSEA staff who volunteer to attend training after working hours may timesheet 3.5 hours at their hourly rate.
• If more staff volunteer to attend training than the number needed to meet the ratio, the district will timesheet only the number of staff needed, in the order in which they signed up for the training. 
• For the 2024-25 school year, schools will use either their SIW or discretionary funds to make these payments. 
• Staff will code the 3.5 hours into UKG to “Other.”  The timekeeper would approve and code the hours to First Aid/CPR.  Before approving, staff will need to show their First Aid/CPR card from the district.  

From Tammy and Lisa:

Staffing Plans: These are coming out tomorrow morning to everyone. There shouldn’t be any surprises as we have met with all of you to discuss but if something seems incorrect or you’d like to talk through options, please reach out to either of us. We ask that these are completed by April 19th.

Transfer Interviews: We are targeting April 23rd for transfer interviews. There will be more information from HR coming soon with all the details for staff and we will share details with admin regarding location and times as soon as possible.

Erin’s Law: Child Abuse Prevention Month (April) is upon us. This is a friendly reminder that you need to let April Jorgenson know when you plan to teach your Erin’s Law lessons. As of today, she has received zero, nada, zilch, from anyone about the dates. Thanks for checking in with her.

Important Dates

• March 24: Excellence in Education Nominees are due!
• March 25-29: Spring Break—enter in UKG which days you will be taking as non-contract
• May 21: National Board Info Session 4:30-5:30 in board room
• April: Naglieri testing & SBAC for ELA
• April 2: Elementary Horizontal at Lava Ridge with Lava and High Lakes sharing, 3:00-5:00
• April 4: Central Oregon Job Fair
• April 10: Youth Truth Training 1-3 pm in the Board Room (all Elementary Admin)
• April 17: Office Staff training in the board room from 1:15-2:15.
• April 19: Staffing plans due
• April 23: Transfer interviews (Location and time TBD)
• May: SBAC for Math and Science
• May 30: School Counselor Celebration in board room 8-9:30

And finally…

Take note! Before you break out your green to wear on Sunday, some of your Irish colleagues would like to remind you that it is the Shamrock, and not the 4-leaf clover, that is associated with St. Patrick’s Day! Just a bit o’ trivia for ya thar!

Do Now:

• Kindergarten Orientation Night! Please put your date in THIS DOCUMENT, by March 15
• Job Fair: You rocked the sign ups—Thank you!!!
• New! Who and When are you taking the CPI training: Please let us know HERE
• School Design Mid-Year Review–see below

Reminders:

• ECSE Information Update: Please review THIS GUIDANCE with your team as you make a plan for your site.
• Excellence in Education: Please refer to Ryan’s e-mail about Excellence in Education Nominations. Due by March 24th!
• TLC Update: March 6^th Elementary TLC Update
• Culture of Care: Check out the Wellness Activities for Families!
• Tentative BEA Agreement can be found HERE

New Notes:

From Jenny White:

• The Wayfinder highlight this week is Restorative Circles.  In the TLC update there was a highlight on Restorative Practices so below are additional collections that will give you resources for your community connection time.
• Facilitate restorative circles that encourage dialogue, empathy, and understanding. This collection of lessons and activities can be used to provide a platform for conflict resolution, healing, and strengthening relationships within the classroom community.
• Directions on how to find the Restorative Circles in Wayfinder.
• Direct Links to Wayfinder’s Collection
• Kindergarten
• 1st – 2nd
• 3rd – 5th

From Lora: Here is the link to the Inservice Week Certified work calendar for 24-25

From Scott in IT:

Your giant Stanley Cup may be costing your school money!

We have been issuing teacher computers to all certified staff since 2006.  Eighteen years ago.  In each of those eighteen years, our breakage has been relatively flat.  That is, until January of this year.  For the first half of the school year, we had 4 teacher laptops turned in for non-warrantied damage.  Since January 2024 we have already received 18!  Eight of which the user reported that a (water) spill was the source of the damage.  

Your school or facility will now be responsible for the cost of any computer repair or replacement caused by damage or negligence.  Any money going toward repair is less money going toward necessary technology updates or innovation.

Now, we can’t officially link the cause of this uptick to the popularity of Stanley sippy cups that seems to have occurred at exactly the same time. However, it is quite a coincidence!   Please help us and your school by keeping any beverage on a separate surface away from your computer.

AI tools: AI tools are considered apps or services!  As such, both IT and Teaching and Learning need to be informed to perform the required Privacy/Security/Quality audit before they are put to use.  The details of this process can be found here.  

From The Whole Student Services Department:

The Student Services Team has been working all year to implement and support Positive Behavior Support Plans. We want to hear from you about your experiences and needs moving forward. Please take a few minutes to fill out the attached survey. We only need one administrator per school to complete it. Thank You!

Survey Link

From The Communications Department: Please make sure you share this message with families prior to spring break. We want to make sure our families have the resources for care during break when we are not available to support.

CPR/First Aid Training: Do it!

The district offers free CPR/First Aid training to all employees. The majority of the training is online with a 20 minute in-person skills check-off by one of our district instructors. Instructions on how to sign up for the class are below.

  How to Register for CPR/First Aid Training/Renewal Course for BLS Staff  in UKG

• Go to UKG 
• My Info (drop down menu, 3 stacked lines upper left side, above your initials) 
• My Career 
• My Learning 
• Access Learning (upper right side) 
• Training (top menu bar) 
• Courses 
• First Aid (on right side) 
• Click on First Aid Link  
• Click on green Enroll Now button 

Please contact Michelle Spetic if you have any issues signing up.

From Tammy and Lisa:

Registration: Dear Office Staff–We just want to make sure that as you are starting to help new kindergarten families and incoming families register for school, that we load all areas of the registration form into Synergy. Recently, we have discovered a large group of multilingual families that were not receiving services properly because sections on the forms were not put into the system. Super important we make sure our families receive all the necessary services for their child. Thank you for your help with this. Also, don’t forget, you are all (Office Managers and Secretaries) expected to attend the Office Staff training in the board room on April 17, from 1:15-2:15. Your admin will make sure the front office if covered in your absence–in fact, your admin may be the ones to do it!

Check out Sharezies: Thank you Patrick and Lybe for a couple of examples on how you are surveying your staff as to their interests in what grades to teach within your buildings this next year.

• Staffing Preference Survey
• What are you doing next year? Survey

Erin’s Law: Child Abuse Prevention Month (April) is upon us. This is a friendly reminder that you need to let April Jorgenson know when you plan to teach your Erin’s Law lessons. As of today, she has received zero, nada, zilch, from anyone about the dates. Thanks for checking in with her.

School Design Plans: While it is a little past mid-year, it’s not too late to pull up your design plan document and add in your notes of where you are at in working towards your goals this year. Are you on track with the activities, PD, and student growth you are hoping for? Do you need some thinking partners on how to create momentum? Are you knocking it out of the park and crushed your goal and are ready to adjust it? At your next ICCL meeting, you will want to do this reflection and take some time to talk about next steps.

Important Dates

• March 15: Kindergarten Orientation documentation due
• March 20: Admin PD at Perseverance Hall at Bend High 3:00-4:30
• March 24: Excellence in Education Nominees are due!
• March 25-29: Spring Break—enter in UKG which days you will be taking as non-contract
• May 21: National Board Info Session 4:30-5:30 in board room
• April: Naglieri testing & SBAC for ELA
• April 2: Elementary Horizontal at Lava Ridge with Lava and High Lakes sharing, 3:00-5:00
• April 4: Central Oregon Job Fair
• May: SBAC for Math and Science
• May 30: School Counselor Celebration in board room 8-9:30

And finally…

As we gear up to have one more week until Spring Break, take some time to focus on some Healthy Happiness! Share the love (and calendar) with your staff too.

Do Now:

• Please make a plan for Kindergarten Orientation. More info in Tammy and Lisa’s section.

Reminders:

• Job Fair: Please sign up for one shift at this link by Wednesday – March 20th. Job Fair will be April 4th from 1-6.
• End of Year Counselor Celebration: Please make sure you have scheduled at least one of your admin to be part of the counselor celebration from 8-9:30 on May 30th in the boardroom.
• End of Year Schedule: Now 6/5 will be an building discretion SIW and 6/12 will be a teacher-directed SIW. Please make sure all activities (even for those students who matriculate to a new level) are academic during our added days. This may mean that you need to move our celebrations to better send that message.
• Admin CPI VP target: Sign up HERE. 
• TAG Testing Timeline: Please make sure these dates are on your radar and you have a plan for testing at your school.
• ECSE Information Update: Please review THIS GUIDANCE with your team as you make a plan for your site.
• Excellence in Educaiton: Please refer to Ryan’s e-mail about Excellence in Education Nominations. Due by March 24th!

New Notes:

From Jenny White:

• Wayfinder Activities of the week are focused on commitment and growth mindset. Kindergarten: Intro to Growth Mindset. 1^st – 2^nd: Drawing, Dancing, Dialogue. 3^rd – 5^th: Intro to Goal Setting
• Principals and leaders here is an idea you could use for your staff from Wayfinder. Believe. Video that is connected to the lesson: The Olympic Athlete that Teaches Kids About Life Hurdles. In a community circle or small table groups after watching the video teachers can share one thing that helps them believe or keep going when they are faced with hurdles.

TLC Update: March 6^th Elementary TLC Update which includes:

• Restorative practices lessons from Wayfinder
• Movement moments
• Storyline Design course information

From Jennifer Hauth- StudentSafe Raptor Training: We have recently expanded our partnership with Raptor Visitor Management System to include one of their new products called StudentSafe. StudentSafe is platform to enter, collaborate, and track data round NSSI (non suicidal self injury), suicidal ideation (suicide risk screens). Eventually, we will use this platform for behavioral safety (threat) assessments for school teams as well. Stay tuned for more information this summer from Eric Powell.

On February 28^th, all School Counselors, Nurses, School Psychs and Student Success Clinician/Coordinators were trained in the new platform and will be using this tool for all Suicide Risk Screens and NSSI going forward. School risk screening teams will enter these screens into this system moving forward and we will all be able to better collaborate and track student safety concerns in buildings going forward.  You may have already received an alert in your inbox from a risk screen that has been completed in the last 10 days by one of your staff. The emails alerts will come from StudentSafe.

All building administrators have access to their school site(s) dashboards and data. Here is the BLS Raptor/StudentSafe Navigation Walkthrough document. Please make sure that you can log in to Raptor StudentSafe (using your district email address, no password required). Any administrator or building team who would like more training, or for any technology issues or related problems, please contact our district Suicide Prevention Coordinator, Jamie Gunter ([email protected]).

From Paul in HR: This week office managers received information from HDESD about subs and a change to 4 hour sub positions. They will now need to be entered in as 3.99 in Red Rover and they were instructed to watch for this through the end of this year. Check in with your office manager about these new practices for your awareness and reach out if you have questions, reach out to Tammy or Lisa.

From Julie: Regarding….clarification on disposal of Wonders Materials….Information went out a couple of weeks ago communicating to teachers to go ahead and send home Wonders leveled readers. I strongly recommend teachers keep the leveled readers as additional reading materials in your classroom libraries. Additionally,  I recommend keeping all of your Wonders and Wonderworks decodable readers as these are great resources!! Communication regarding anthologies will be communicated after Spring Break. 

From Dr. Cook: Potential opportunity for fifth grade students in the area of science and space!

From Tami Pike: Clarification/Update to Overdose Emergency Kits

Information was included in your blogs last week on the Overdose Emergency Kits. Questions have come up regarding kit placement locations in school buildings. Currently, there are 2 doses of Narcan in every AED cabinet in our schools. The emergency kit cabinets received from OHA should be stored as follows:

Elementary Schools (each received 1 emergency kit cabinet)

• 1 overdose emergency kit cabinet mounted to the wall in the school nurse’s office. 
• 1 box (2 doses) of Narcan to be placed in the orange front office first aid kit.
• All remaining extra Narcan doses received should be stored in the overdose emergency kit in the school nurse’s office. 

Please inform your staff about the locations of the additional doses of Narcan. Many staff received Narcan training at the beginning of the school year by their school nurse. For additional Narcan training, please connect directly with your school nurse to arrange a training time.

From Tammy and Lisa:

Although we still do not have a finalized copy of the CBA for BEA, HERE is the tentative agreement that was shared with all members in order for them to ratify. As questions arise, please reach out for clarification. It will be several months before everything is crystal clear.

There are a couple of new tools in SHAREZIES in the area of Testing Tools. Check them out!

Per our contract: No later than the first week of April, building administrators will convene their Kindergarten staff to develop a plan for transitioning students into Kindergarten. It’s that time of year again when we begin to talk about Kindergarten Orientation Expectations so, by the end of next week, (March 15) please meet with your Kinder team to determine how you will meet the expectations outlined in the document above. All spring orientations will be in May. As soon as you have a plan for your site, please add your date and description to THIS DOCUMENT. Our district communications team will use this for to communicate to families all through April. And, we are tentatively planning to do our kindergarten roundup with the bus at parks on April 20th. More on this in future updates.

Important Dates

• March: Prep for Naglieri
• March 15: Kindergarten Orientation documentation due
• March 20: Admin PD at Perseverance Hall at Bend High 3:00-4:30
• March 20: Sign up for Job Fair due
• March 24: Excellence in Education Nominees are due!
• March 25-29: Spring Break—enter in UKG which days you will be taking as non-contract
• May 21: National Board Info Session 4:30-5:30 in board room
• April: Naglieri testing & SBAC for ELA
• April 2: Elementary Horizontal at Lava Ridge with Lava and High Lakes sharing!
• April 4: Central Oregon Job Fair
• May: SBAC for Math and Science
• May 30: School Counselor Celebration in board room 8-9:30

And finally…

Do Now:

• Be glad February is over!
• Enjoy the upcoming weekend!
• Be on the lookout for your data on Friday! Between now and the time you meet, spend time digging into it, so you can speak fluently about the data with your ICCL team.

Reminders:

• CPI info update from last week: Sign up HERE.  Many of you have inquired about what is paid—it is all paid, the conference fee, transportation, hotel accommodations if needed, and meals. I know several of you have signed up for the April sessions in LA, as you indicated you wanted the training sooner and it is during conferences, so missing student contact time is minimal.
• TAG Testing Timeline: Please make sure these dates are on your radar and you have a plan for testing at your school.
• ECSE Information Update: Please review THIS GUIDANCE with your team as you make a plan for your site.
• Additional Student Services Staffing Requests: If your 70 of emergency EA time is gone, additional requests must be made by an admin. See last blog for details.
• Wonders Reading Materials At this time, we need to hold on to all TE’s and Anthologies. You should start sending home leveled readers after the close of a unit with your students. 
• February 21^st Elementary TLC Update

New Notes:

From Jennifer Hauth:

From Lisa and Tammy: It is our expectation that all schools with counselors send at least one of your admin to attend this celebration. The counselors present a lot of good information about the impact of their work and we should all be present to celebrate it. If you do not have a school counselor (yet) you are still welcome to come celebrate as well!

From Lora Nordquist: Here are two important items pertaining to the adjustment of the end of they year schedule.

1. Revised SIW Schedule. Because the week of June 10^th is now a full week, Wednesday, 6/12, will be an SIW. This changes the designation of our June SIW’s. Wednesday, 6/5, will now be a building discretion day; Wednesday, 6/12, will be a teacher-directed work day.
2. End of Year Activities. With the last two days of school being pushed to the week of June 17^th, the district’s expectation is that end-of-the-year celebrations (5^th grade or 8^th grade promotions, field days, etc.) be scheduled during these last two days. Additionally, the high school exam schedules should carry over to the 17^th, at least, or the 18^th. Full speed ahead with learning!

From Ryan Kelling: We are very excited for the 2024 Educator Job Fair, which will be held at Deschutes County Fairgrounds on Thursday, April 4 from 1:00 – 6:00 pm.

Please sign up for one shift at this link by Wednesday – March 20th. You will notice there are 2 shifts, 12:00-3:30 and 2:30-6:00. Please save the date and time to your calendars.

We are offering a remote component again this year in an attempt to attract a wider range of candidates. There is a spot on the sign-up sheet to indicate if you are interested in meeting with candidates via MS Teams. Kathryn Moseley will follow up as the event gets closer to those who indicated that they are interested in helping our efforts to reach a wider range of candidates by participating in the remote interviews.

Some nuts and bolts for the day:

• Lunch will be provided, more info to come.
• Interviews will be 15 minutes long
• Interview questions and rating forms and rubrics will be provided
• The first interviews will be scheduled at 1:00, the final interviews will be scheduled at 5:45
• You will receive training prior to starting
• Please bring a fully-charged laptop
• NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR DRINK PERMITTED

Please, let me know what questions you have and thank you in advance for participating.

From Nurse Tami Pike: On February 8, 2024,A 90-day state of emergency was declared by the Deschutes County Commissioners for the escalating fentanyl crisis in Central Oregon. As a response, all schools are being equipped with the following kits. Please follow the directions below for placement. If you have any questions, please reach out to your school nurse.

Overdose Emergency Kits. BLS received several Overdose Emergency Kits through OHA’s Save Lives Oregon Initiative. Each kit contains:  Administration instructions, 4 boxes of naloxone, 2 CPR face shields, and 1 emergency box for storage. Each middle and high school received two kits and elementary schools received one kit. 

Overdose Emergency Kit Location. Ideally, the Overdose Emergency Kit box should be mounted on a wall next to an AED cabinet so that it is easily accessible. However, this may not be feasible for your school site. Please consult with your school nurse about where the best location would be for these Overdose Emergency Kits. AED cabinets still contain 2 doses of naloxone. 

Overdose Emergency Kit Location and Expiration Date Information. Once the location of the Overdose Emergency Kits have been identified, the school nurse will add the locations and the naloxone expiration dates to our district AED Master Spreadsheet.

From Tammy and Lisa:

Important Dates

• Feb 27: 3:00-5:00. Elementary Leadership, at North Star Elementary
• Feb 28: Ed Network Day (see details above from Julie)
• March 20: Admin PD at Perseverance Hall at Bend High 3:00-4:30
• March 25-29: Spring Break—enter in UKG which days you will be taking as non-contract

And finally…

Are you having a bad day? Call: 707-8-PEPTOC. You won’t regret it! Really—do it!

Need a good book? As we dive into Women’s History Month this March, here are some books you might consider. This year’s theme is women who advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion and these authors may be your inspiration this March!

Do Now:

• District Snow Day Messaging: Please refer to Scott Maben’s message about the new dates at the end of the year. Go over this again with staff sometime next week during a staff meeting.
• Welcome Back Survey: We are working on plans for the Welcome Back event for the 2024-25 school year, to be held on Tuesday, August 27, and would like to hear from employees on the preferred format. Please use THIS SURVEY to vote until Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 5 pm. The planning team is considering three options:
  • A virtual meeting with school and department staffs gathering in their buildings to participate. This would last a little over an hour and may include a new interactive experience for participating teams.
  • In person with all District staff together in one place, with District buses shuttling staff to and from the central gathering place. This may entail a commitment of up to three hours and include breakfast and employment-related vendors.
  • A hybrid in-person/virtual event at multiple locations: For example: High school, middle school, elementary school, and support staffs each meet at separate schools, with a portion of the program being a virtual event to connect all staff, followed by an in-person program with a focus on interests specific to the level or group. This also could be a 3-hour event with breakfast and district buses shuttling staff to and from these four locations.

Reminders:

• CPI info update from last week: Sign up ASAP.   We recommend you sign up for the “Nonviolent Crisis Intervention,includes Verbal Intervention”, the second selection on the page (standard program only) training, which can be done HERE.  The cost will be $4349 and you have to pay to sign up, so you will need to use your building credit card.  Once you have designated who will be trained, please notify April Diehl in the Student Services Office.  She will provide you with an account code so your office manager can reimburse your school account.  If you have any questions, please contact Sean Reinhart. 
• TAG Testing Timeline: Please make sure these dates are on your radar and you have a plan for testing at your school.
• ECSE Information Update: Please refer to Colleen’s recent e-mail if you have questions regarding new processes related to ECSE transitions. Please review THIS GUIDANCE with your team as you make a plan for your site.
• Additional Student Services Staffing Requests: Some of you may be finding that you are coming to the end of your 70 hours of additional services supports. Remember- any requests for additional Student Services staff (including unfilled positions) need to come directly from building administrators and not from teachers. Each request will be reviewed by a team of Student Services administrators and level leaders for consideration. Some considerations when requesting additional student services staff:
  • All high-needs student discretionary funds (see above) must be spent first
  • Prior to requesting additional staff, develop a plan for how the person will be utilized, the duration of the request, the plan to fade support, and the name of the staff member facilitating the sub and plan implementation
  • Any additional student Services staff requested via this process would need to directly serve students under the umbrella of special education.
• Wonders Reading Materials (stolen language from Pine Ridge staff letter): As we progress through this final year of instructing with Wonders curriculum there are a few moves to start planning for. Downtown is in the process of locating a purchaser to buy all teacher manuals and anthologies that are in good condition. At this time, we need to hold on to all TE’s and Anthologies. You should start sending home leveled readers after the close of a unit with your students. Come the end of the year, we are going to have a lot of material to organize. Please start sending the leveled readers home now after they have been used for this year’s instruction.

New Notes:

Curriculum, Instruction and Systems (Julie Walker): Here is the schedule for Educator Network Day on February 28th.  Please see the far-right hand column for locations for administrator support at each of the classes being offered. 

From Life and Career Readiness (Jenny White): This week’s highlight in Wayfinder is encouragement which can be found in the Activity Library in Wayfinder.

• Encouragement Relay (K – 3)
• Encouragement Wings (2 – 6) In this exercise you might want to assign partners.  Make sure every student will get a set of wings.

February 21^st Elementary TLC Update: This week’s update includes:

• EL Education adoption update
• 1^st grade teachers – sign up for an early literacy classroom visitation with Julie
• Forefront Dashboards are here
• Bullying collections from Wayfinder
• and more!

UKG Performance Module Tips & Tricks: The slide below has been added to the Performance Training – January 31 2024 slide deck.

From Tammy and Lisa:

We are looking forward to taking some time to review the data that we received as a result of our recent survey. This will be part of our meeting on Tuesday. You can use this time to start to think about how you will roll this information out to your ICCL team and make plans for PD.

You also should now have access to your Youth Truth information. We will have some dedicated time in the future to look through these data but if you want to start planning now, please feel free. If you don’t see an easy way to access the information in your account, please reach out to Dave.

Below is our agenda for our upcoming site visits. This is a first step as we begin the process of staffing for next year. Start thinking about your needs moving forward so we can understand your vision as we meet together.

Important Dates

• Feb 27: 3:00-5:00. Elementary Leadership, at North Star Elementary
• Feb 28: Ed Network Day (see details above from Julie)
• Mar. 1: Education Foundation Grants are due: www.blpedfoundation.org

And finally…

Did you know that the longest jump observed by a snow leopard was more than 49 feet (15 meters), even longer than the length of an average school bus! Thursday 2/29 (Leap Day) is a great day to start practicing your leaping. The Paris Olympics are only 154 days away!

Do Now:

• ICCL Work: Please remember to have your whole staff fill out the “Implementation Practices” survey by Friday 2/16. Also, make sure your ICCL team has scheduled a date to review your building data and set next steps after February 27. Here is the Admin/ICCL slide deck where slide 11 focuses on how to review the data.
• Schedule in some self-care time this coming weekend! You deserve it!

Reminders:

• Time for a reminder refresh—need something? Check out this section from last week.

New Notes:

From Jenny White (SEL/LCR): This week the Wayfinder highlight is an activity around LOVE and JOY.  Directions on how to find the activity in WAYFINDER

Kindergarten – The Reflection in Me

1 – 2 – Joy Garden

3 – 5 – The Importance of Love

From Curriculum, Instruction, and Systems (Julie Walker)

Here is the template we will be using for mid-year core effectiveness meetings.  Please make a copy if it doesn’t force you to do so. Please reach out to your instructional coach, Julie Walker, Lindsley Gehrig or Kerry Morton for support. 

From Lora for Admin PD: Next Wednesday, 2/21, beginning at 3:00 in Perseverance Hall at BSHS, we will be doing a deep dive into the new collective bargaining agreements with BEA and OSEA. It is important for you to review the highlights of the certified CBA ahead of time and record questions and concerns:

Highlights of certified CBA 23-27

FAQ’s on CBA’s

From Tammy and Lisa:

Thank you!!!! From the bottom of our hearts, thank so so much for all of you who interviewed, who was on an interview team, or who left your school to support another school while their teams were out for the interviews. We could not have done it without you! What a gift to work with such an amazing group willing to pitch in where needed.

Staffing: We talked with Brad this week, trying to get a better understanding about what to expect with the upcoming staffing season and how the significant budget shortfall will impact your staffing plans. We all know there will be cuts and some of you will feel it more than others, due to the nature of some school enrollments growing and some enrollments shrinking. We will also feel a pretty significant cut in HU funding as well. Over the course of the next three weeks, Lisa and I are going to schedule joint site visits with the sole purpose of giving you time to talk to us about your schools, your hopes, the realities of potential cuts and thoughts you may have about supporting students differently. We’ll send out an “agenda” with the specific questions we’ll want you to have time to process before we come.

Just remember, that when things are hard, your rate of making it through the hardest days of your life is 100%. Can’t beat that! We’ll get through this too, side by side, one step at a time.

Important Dates

• Feb 16: Bear Creek Principal Hiring Day
• Feb 19: President’s Day—This is not a paid holiday, so use non-contract if you don’t work
• Feb 21: Admin PD at Perseverance Hall at BSH–3:00-6:00–with substantial snacks! (This will cover the new contract–you won’t want to miss this!)
• Feb 27: 3:00-5:00. Elementary Leadership, at North Star Elementary
• Mar. 1: Education Foundation Grants are due: www.blpedfoundation.org

And finally…

Did you know that Friday, February 16 is National “Do a Grouch a Favor Day”? What will you do for your favorite grouch in your life today?