Category Archives: Uncategorized

Do Now:

• If you are a Title school, please finalize your compacts and put in your folder.
• Make a plan for working with staff so they can complete SLGGs in the next few weeks. Due 12/1.

Reminders:

• Title:
  • Title School To Do List–Thanks for getting your compacts done!
• HR:
  • SLGG Tools: You may have staff use this google form digitally or print version.
  • Certified Evaluation Guidelines–share with staff
  • Goal setting tasks for administrators (1 min 56 seconds video)
  • Observation Entry – Supervisor video (3 min 14 seconds)
  • UKG Performance Module Overview Document
• Student Services:
  • Monthly REQUIRED inclusion EA Trainings: Contact Krista Hough or Stephanie Smith for info
  • Prevent, Teach, Respond information, PTR Facilitators Guide
  • MTSS Tier 3 process
  • If you have a great candidate for school counseling, please reach out to Jennifer Hauth.
• DEI
• PBIS
  • “top ten” intervention strategies
• TLC
  • October 25^th Elementary TLC Update–

New Notes:

When Signing into Synergy mobile applications be sure you choose  “Sign In with BLS” whenever the option is provided. The regular Username and Password fields will no longer provide access and the change will take effect on the following applications:

HealthVue, AdminVue, and TeacherVue

The change will not impact StudentVue or ParentVUE.

 

New to Sharezies: Look back at some of the great tools colleagues have shared so far!

Important Dates

• Turn back your clock 1 hour Sunday!
• Nov. 10: Veterans Day–No School
• Nov. 15: School Design Plan Template due
• Nov. 15 (3-4:30): Monthly Administrator PD at Perseverance Hall at Bend High
• Nov. 16: District wide Latino Family Night at Pilot Butte Middle School–dinner starts at 5:30
• Nov. 20-24: Thanksgiving Break
• Nov. 28 (3:00-5:00): Elementary Horizontal Meeting at Juniper Elementary

And finally…

Do Now:

• If you are a title school, please finalize your compacts and put in your folder.
• Make a plan for working with staff so they can complete SLGGs in the next few weeks. Due 12/1.
• Please let us know if you have a “Chess Club” at your school. We have a retired teacher in search of a chess club to support (Bend area only please).

Reminders:

• Title:
  • Title School To Do List–Thanks for getting your compacts done!
• HR:
  • SLGG Tools: You may have staff use this google form digitally or print version.
  • Certified Evaluation Guidelines–share with staff
  • Goal setting tasks for administrators (1 min 56 seconds video)
  • Observation Entry – Supervisor video (3 min 14 seconds)
  • UKG Performance Module Overview Document
• Student Serices:
  • Monthly REQUIRED inclusion EA Trainings: Contact Krista Hough or Stephanie Smith for info
  • Prevent, Teach, Respond information, PTR Facilitators Guide
  • MTSS Tier 3 process
  • If you have a great candidate for school counseling, please reach out to Jennifer Hauth.
• DEI
  • Halloween guidance regarding costumes

New Notes:

Updated Background Checks: We have now switched over to our new Background Check Provider and are using the new links to background check for our Volunteers and Independent Contractors, as applicable. Each applicant should use the link appropriate for their group type. Please visit our Volunteer Page for the new link where potential Volunteers will complete their background check application. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the red “Register” tab.

Student medical leaves: Occasionally a student will experience a significant medical situation that requires an extended absence.  While our attendance policy addresses basic options for this, we have developed additional guidance to support teams in navigating these infrequent situations.  Here is the current draft of this guidance.  We are sharing this now for your awareness. 

New to Sharezies: Check out the PBIS area for a link to the Problem Solving Circle Outline from Silver Rail. You can find the CARE referral form and the CARE meeting summary form in the MTSS area shared from Jewell.

Important Dates

• Nov. 2-3: ASIST training. Reach out to Jamie Gunter with questions
• Nov. 10: Veterans Day
• Nov. 15: School Design Plan Template due
• Nov. 15 (3-4:30): Monthly Administrator PD at Perseverance Hall at Bend High
• Nov. 16: District wide Latino Family Night at Pilot Butte Middle School–dinner starts at 5:30
• Nov. 20-24: Thanksgiving Break
• Nov. 28 (3:00-5:00): Elementary Horizontal Meeting at Juniper Elementary

And finally… I don’t know about you but

“the greatest indicator of life span wasn’t genetics, diet, or the amount of daily exercise, as many had suspected. It was lung capacity.”
― James Nestor, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

In other words…..

Do Now:

• Make sure you have the space for your Language Arts preview materials for conferences identified.
• At Fall conferences we are required by Senate Bill 1003 to provide a parent notification for any Kindergarten student who was “well below benchmark” as measured by Acadience (DIBELS) in the area of early literacy skills. Here is a link to the process and the letters. Refer to Julie’s e-mail regarding student names.
• Self Check! Are you following this policy (INB-AR) when it comes to Parents and Guardians receiving Notice and Alternative Options when it comes to controversial issues being discussed in the classroom? Familiarize yourself with the policy and see that teachers are doing it too.

Reminders:

• Title:
  • Title School To Do List—-Thanks for getting all the budgets done!
• Safety:
  • Fire Inspection Document
  • Update the drill tracker and the drill evaluation form in your schools google safety resources folder following drills
• HR:
  • SLGG Tools: You may have staff use this google form digitally or print version.
• SPED:
  • Student Services (SPED) Coaches Roles and Responsibilities
  • Monthly REQUIRED inclusion EA Trainings: Contact Krista Hough or Stephanie Smith for info
  • Prevent, Teach, Respond information, PTR Facilitators Guide
  • MTSS Tier 3 process
• TLC:
  • Most recent TLC Update
• DEI
  • Halloween guidance regarding costumes

New Notes:

From Lisa and Tammy:

• Conference Greeters: It is an expectation that during conferences, there is ALWAYS a greeter at the area where families enter the building. They don’t need to sign in, but someone must be near the door at all times. This may mean that you need to adjust your office staff calendars or share some of these roles with those that are less tied to the classroom.
• Vector Trainings (Safe Schools): If your days aren’t packed, Conferences are a great time to get these done. Due 10/31
• Upcoming horizontal: At our next horizontal, you can plan on digging into personnel scenarios as well as behavioral scenarios together with colleagues. As we share more, we learn more! Jewell and Silver Rail will also be sharing.
• Out: We will be out next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, which means we will miss the District Admin PD and conferences. If you need support during that time, you can reach out to us by text/phone call. If you need on-site support, please reach out to Lora.

From HR:

Certified Evaluation Process

BLS and BEA have reached an agreement to modify the certified evaluation process for 2023/24.  Please share this document with your staff.  The document will be automatically sent out to all certified staff in early November through UKG/BLS email when we go-live with the Performance module.

New administrators are learning about the BLS certified performance review process during a meeting on Thursday, 10/19. We recommend that all administrators re-familiarize themselves with the Certified Growth & Performance Manual. 

Performance Module Training

On Wednesday, August 25, at 3 pm, we’ll be presenting to BLS Leadership the Performance Review module.  If you want to get a preview of the 10/25 presentation, you can access the following resources:

• Goal setting tasks for administrators (1 min 56 seconds video)
• Observation Entry – Supervisor video (3 min 14 seconds)
• UKG Performance Module Overview Document

Conferences and Seesaw:

• Have teachers review their list of connected families and be prepared to help those who still have not connected
• Have teachers print copies of the instructions on how to connect and help parents sign up on the spot
• Follow up with teachers afterward about families still needing to connect. Work together to reach out again
• Want more information or Seesaw how-tos? Check out this document

New to Sharezies: Are you looking for a fun way to check on your Tier 1 and classroom culture implementation? Check out this scavenger hunt that Lava Ridge made for their staff to implement expectations and ask questions about their Tier 1 systems. Also, are you looking for a great visual way to represent all the implementation data you collected from staff at the last Educator Network Day? If so, check out the Phases of Implementation and Goal setting data tracker that Buckingham is using. At a glance, they can see trends among the school and grade levels.

Important Dates

• Oct 24, 3:00-5:00. Elementary Admin meeting 3:00-5:00, at Jewell, with Jewell and Silver Rail hosting
• Oct. 25, 3:00-4:30 Monthly Administrator PD at Perseverance Hall at Bend High (UKG!)
• Oct. 25 & 26: School Conferences
• Oct 25-27. Tammy and Lisa out at a PBIS Leaders Conference
• Oct. 26: Additional CPI Training (paid by SPED for Inclusion or SPED teams)
• Nov 2-3 ASIST training. Reach out to Jamie Gunter with questions
• Nov. 15 School Design Plan Template due
• Nov 16 District wide Latino Family Night at Pilot Butte Middle School–dinner starts at 5:30

And finally…

Are you looking for a unique and mindful way to start the day at your school? Why not Mindful Morning Music? Check out this interview that Deborah at Rosland did with KBND this week about this fun program that the Sunriver Music Festival has brought to their school. (p.s. Heads up If you are an NPR fan like me, the radio host may dis on that program—is it because he is not a fan or is it because it is their morning competition? You decide!). Great job Deborah!

Conferences are on the horizon and every teacher feels some level of anxiety over this event. Here’s an easy checklist to help teachers keep the main thing the main thing. If our schools can say, “Yes!” to the bullets below, we’ve done a great job during conferences.

Do Now:

Title Budget Due 10/13: Please let Meryll know when it is complete!

UKG: Confirm Staff assignments in UKG by going to My Team>Employee Assignments. Use this google form to identify the corrections needed at your site. Due by Monday 10/16.

School Schedule: Share it HERE. Make sure that these have clearly defined PE minutes and that your classified supports have breaks and lunches. Due by Wednesday 10/18.

New Notes:

New to Sharezies: If you want to check out pre-formal observation tools, take a look at some additions from Juniper and Pine Ridge. Elk Meadow created a tool to house the goals that were written during SIW this week. The new TAG folder is shared as well.

Reminders:

• Title:
  • Title School To Do List
• Safety:
  • Fire Inspection Document
  • Update the drill tracker and the drill evaluation form in your schools google safety resources folder following drills
• HR:
  • SLGG Tools: You may have staff use this google form digitally or print version.
• SPED:
  • Student Services (SPED) Coaches Roles and Responsibilities
  • Monthly REQUIRED inclusion EA Trainings: Contact Krista Hough or Stephanie Smith for info
  • Prevent, Teach, Respond information, PTR Facilitators Guide
  • MTSS Tier 3 process
• TLC:
  • Any Wayfinder bright spots? Please let Tammy or Lisa know for the team to observe
  • Most recent TLC Update

Important Dates:

• Oct. 13 Title 1 Budgets due to Meryll
• Oct 24, 3:00-5:00. Elementary Admin meeting 3:00-5:00, at Jewell, with Jewell and Silver Rail hosting
• Oct. 25, 3:00-4:30 Monthly Administrator PD at Perseverance Hall at Bend High (UKG!)
• Oct. 25 & 26: School Conferences
• Oct 25-27. Tammy and Lisa out at a PBIS Leaders Conference
• Oct. 26: Additional CPI Training (paid by SPED for Inclusion or SPED teams)
• Nov 2-3 ASIST training. Reach out to Jamie Gunter with questions
• Nov. 15 School Design Plan Template due

And finally…

A reminder that you can’t have rainbows (2!) without a little rain! Thanks for sharing Elk Meadow!

New Notes:

Admin/ICCL Follow Up: A couple of follow ups from our training on Tuesday. First, we want you to know that we shared the wrong ICCL job description. It was an older version and was not up to date with a few things (hours of work for the year for example should be 60). Here is the current job description. Also, here is the main presentation link, which has links to everything and the link to Julie’s presentation that your team will present on 10/11 SIW. In addition, here is the link to the google drive where you will find your school folder with your school design template.

Speaking of your school design template, we are giving you until Wednesday, November 15 to have your design plans completed. In the meantime, we will be checking in with you at site visits about the work you and your ICCL team are doing, and how we may be of help.

WAYFINDER HELP. Please connect with Lisa and Tammy about any classrooms/grade levels you feel are using Wayfinder regularly and interested in being a showcase classroom. The Wayfinder team will be in Bend on the 24th of October and would like to see this work in action and we need 8-10 classrooms to visit.

From Scott B and Kayla in Safety: Schools are off to a great start with their safety training to staff and students and completing their first fire drill and lockdown drill of the school year.

A reminder, please ensure that once your school has completed your drill(s) for the month, to update the drill tracker with the date you completed your drill, and the drill evaluation form and save the form in your schools google safety resources folder. Please reach out to Scott or Kayla with any questions. Thanks for keeping our schools safe!

From Student Services (Colleen, Josh, and Sean) We are very excited to share that we are partnering with The National Resource Center for Paraeducators, NRCP, to provide monthly professional development opportunities for all Inclusion Educational Assistants. These trainings are designed to help deepen the understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Please read more about these trainings HERE. Your learning specialists and inclusion EAs were provided this information earlier this week in our Special EDge.  For additional questions please contact Krista Hought and Stephanie Smith. 

We are offering additional CPI training.  An initial CPI training is scheduled for Thursday, October 26.  This is a non-workday for elementary and middle school inclusion EAs due to conferences.  If your inclusion EA has not been trained and chooses to attend, the student services department will pay for the timesheet.  This training should be in UKG soon!  Upcoming CPI refresher and initial training will be scheduled on February 2, 2024. 

Our team of eight Student Services Coaches is incredible and we are fortunate to have so much expertise and specialized skill sets.  Because they are so amazing, they are often requested to support in ways that are not aligned with their roles and responsibilities. They have three domains of focus: Staff Development, Leadership/Contribution to Learning, and Working with Teams. Please familiarize yourself HERE to read more about expectations and how they can support you and your special education teams. If you have any additional questions about how your student services coach can support your school and teams, please contact Colleen or Josh.  Additionally, if you need a quick reference for who is assigned to support your site, check out our ‘2023/2034-Who is Where Quick Guide’.

From Paul in HR: Performance Evaluation Module: After some internal discussion with administrative staff who oversee the UKG Suite of Products, we’ve decided to pause the launch of the Performance module for two reasons: (1) we have some people/supervisors mismatched and want to avoid workflows of goal setting and observations forms from landing in an incorrect To Do mailbox, and (2) we’ll be meeting with district leadership on Wednesday, October 25th and will be providing a more extensive overview of the module functionality and answer your questions at that time.

Please continue your mini/formal observations as you’ve been doing and we’ll provide you with information on the 25th about how to enter that data into the Performance module.  For those administrators who are preparing to work with their staff on creating student learning growth goals (SLGGs) during the month of October, you may have staff use this google form. Staff can either make a digital copy to complete or they can print and fill out a hard copy.  On the 25th, we’ll review the method that certified staff will use to upload the goal setting form into the Performance module.  

For those creating school wide or team SLGGs for non academic areas, I came across SLG Goals for Social Emotional Learning & Engagement that I think is a great resource.  Here are two more resources that I think will be particularly helpful:

1. State SLGG Guidance
2. Teacher and Administrator Evaluation & Support Systems: Frequently Asked Questions

UKG Data Check – Reminder. 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 this google form to identify the corrections needed at your site.

DHS Training Video: Please watch this 6 minute video as it is important learning for you regarding the state’s process in investigating child abuse in schools (that is when there is a question about something that has happened at school or on our buses). There were several of these investigations last year in our elementary schools. This will help you better understand the process should it happen at your school.

Bargaining: Some of you are being asked questions about bargaining from staff or families. Please know that any discussion/update on the bargaining process in this context could be considered an unfair labor practice. Instead of trying to respond with information, here’s an example of what you could say (to staff): “I am not involved in this process. Your building rep/association leaders would be good people to check with if you have questions”; (to parents) “I am not involved in this process. If the district has new information to share about the process, it will be part of our family newsletter.” Thanks for navigating these conversations with care. In the meantime, Steve Cook or Steve Herron will continue to provide updates for administrators only at our monthly meetings.

Recommendations for students for private schools: We recently received a question from one of our local K-12 private schools about policies prohibiting teachers from writing recommendations for students to attend private schools. BLS does not have such a policy. On the other hand, staff should feel NO PRESSURE to complete these types of recommendations. Our only suggestion is that in order to avoid bias, staff do not “pick and choose” who they write recommendations for…either they are willing to complete a recommendation whenever asked or as a matter of practice they politely decline.

Elementary TAG Coordinators–from Lora: Our meeting Tuesday, October 9^th, will begin at 4:00 instead of 3:30, so that it doesn’t interfere with 504 training some of you may be attending. I will send out a link to all elementary admin as soon as I figure out Teams ☹ , but only TAG coordinators need to “attend.”

Fire Inspection FYI from Dan Dummit: Dan has been making the rounds with the new fire inspector recently. He wanted to be sure that you all have this document, (created by Portland Fire and Rescue) which outlines the expectations for our classrooms when it comes to fire safety. To highlight a few things that we want to draw your attention to because they are common problems, please refer to #4, #8, #9. Also, while you notice there are some things on this sheet that, if done correctly can be used, they go against our sustainability practices and should be avoided, #10 and #18 for example.

Curriculum, Instruction, and Systems Updates from Julie: Seesaw: Representatives from most schools attended a Seesaw training last week and learned about some of the fantastic features this platform provides for family engagement.  Please invite your representative(s) to share at an upcoming staff meeting. 

Upcoming Professional Learning: You may have a few teachers out next week because they will be participating in some important professional learning.  Instructional coaches may not be in your buildings during these trainings because they are supporting teachers from each of your schools. 

• Monday, 10/9. Blends Support-some of our Blends teachers will be working with our instructional coaches on the morning of the 9th.  
• Monday, 10/9 Experienced New Hire-Literacy Focus-12:15-3:15-Boardroom- This is a professional learning session for educators that are new to Bend La Pine but not in their first 2 years in the profession.  This is an opportunity to learn about Bend La Pine’s focus on literacy, connect with your instructional coach and collaborate with teachers across the district.
• Tuesday, 10/10 Math Curriculum Review Team-8:00-3:00- Educators from across the district will be participating in a math best practices professional learning session. 

New to Sharezies: If you want to communicate expectations about personal electronic devices (phones and watches) to families, check out this communication from Erich at Jewell.

Reminders:

• Conferences- Less than 25 students= 25-30 minutes. More students = 20 minutes.
• Personal Leave- Maximum of 5% of staff can be out on personal leave.
• EA emergency EA funds- you have 70 hours to use when needs arise.
• ASIST training will be coming up Nov. 2 & 3- reach out to Jamie Gunter with questions
• Classified schedules- Are these complete for each employee, including breaks and lunch?
• Prevent, Teach, Respond information, PTR Facilitators Guide
• MTSS Tier 3 process
• most recent TLC Update
• Please share your school schedule here

Title School To-Dos

Please put in the folder called “All Documents Here” :

• Notification of Annual Meeting (flyer, social media post, etc) that advertises the Title meeting
• Sign in sheet from the annual meeting
• Powerpoint/slide deck, handout from the Annual Meeting
• Family Engagement events—flyers/advertising
• Sign-in sheets from any family engagement event you have had
• Ensure EAs are under the direct supervision of a certified teacher and add schedules of Title staff to the folder as well
• Budget completes and Meryll notified by 10/13

Coming soon: A sample Title 1 compact needs to be uploaded to the folder after conferences. You need to retain a copy of each compact at the school (can be paper or electronic) Compacts will be out to you early next week.

Important Dates:

• Oct. 6 Complete this google form with your corrections by Friday, October 6th for UKG
• Oct. 11, 1:45-3:15 Ed Network Training–on your site for classroom teachers
• Oct. 13 Title 1 Budgets due to Meryll
• Oct 24, 3:00-5:00. Elementary Admin meeting 3:00-5:00, at Jewell, with Jewell and Silver Rail hosting
• Oct. 25, 3:00-4:30 Monthly Administrator PD at Perseverance Hall at Bend High (UKG!)
• Oct 25-27. Tammy and Lisa out at a PBIS Leaders Conference

And finally…

A little something similar to what we did as a quick connection at cabinet this week. You really get to know someone when you get to know their preferences!

and finally….

In keeping with our theme last week of supporting our little people who get dysregulated, we wanted to share a couple of graphics that show the impact a regulated adult can have on helping a dysregulated child recover more quickly. There is also a graphic that shows how a dysregulated adult can contribute to the problem. It’s a good reminder for us all, that adults can also become dysregulated. What are some tools, skills, ideas you have to share with your adults when they feel this way? Need some ideas? Please reach out!

Transportation Message: Elementary schools are releasing students early, making drivers nervous to pull into their spots. In turn, drivers want to leave earlier to get situated before students are on the sidewalk which costs $. No one needs to be released before 2:15. Kinders can be at 2:15, and the rest of the school at 2:15:30 🙂 We are not scheduled to leave before 2:23 and 8 minutes is plenty of time for the school to load. 

Conferences:   After consultation with BEA last year, 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.  

Reminder about personal leave – Just a reminder that personal days need prior approval and buildings cannot have more than 5% of their staff out on personal leave – that is about 2 teachers for most schools. You do the initial approvals, so please keep an eye out on this.

Info re: Wayfinder from Jennifer: Thank you all for your continued support of Wayfinder. I have drafted newsletter content for your families. You can find that here. Please remember that we are not using the terms “Social Emotional Learning” when speaking or promoting Wayfinder- please use “life and career readiness”. Here is the training deck from in-service week: K-5 Core Training

If you have implementation or wonderings about Wayfinder, please reach out to myself and/or our Program Manager- Diana Curtaz: [email protected]. 916.206.9784

Don’t Delay! Have your teachers apply for an Education Foundation Grant today!

From Skip and Dave: Principals – Leadership teams from each school are being asked to complete this survey so we can better understand how schools use and access student data.  You are encouraged to discuss these questions as a leadership team and complete the survey as a group.  

Survey questions are organized into groups with a number and a letter (e.g., 1a, 1b, 2a, etc.). Each number and letter combination (e.g., 1a) really is a multi-part question. If you answer the first question about the type of data, be sure to answer all follow up questions specific to those data. Please be as specific and descriptive as possible when answering these questions.  

Please complete the survey by Wednesday, October 4.  Contact Dave VanLoo with any questions about the survey.

Sustainability Advisor Position – SustainBLS There are still a few schools that do not have a staff Sustainability Advisor in place for the school year. The SustainBLS program is one of the ways ALL schools can make sustainability, stewardship and conservation the norm across our district. Through SustainBLS, a certified staff member takes on the role of the school Sustainability Advisor and works with a school green team. This team can be a class, a select group of students or an environmental club. Our first training of the year is next Wednesday from 4:30-6:00 in the Facility Development Office behind admin.

Walk and Roll Prizes Walk and Roll to school day is on October 4^th this year. If your school wants to have some give aways stickers, please apply by September 27^th to  Street trust. Teachers should be encouraged to gather information about student transportation to assist BLS. There are tallys here that can be sent to sustainability coordinator, Jackie Wilson Admin via inner district mail.

Get There Challenge with Commute Options The Get There Challenge is an annual competition to encourage people who live or work in Oregon to drive alone less and use transportation options more. Running for two-weeks, October 1-15,  the Challenge helps promote commuting by teams will competing for recognition and prizes by logging trips taken by bike, foot, carpool, vanpool, and transit and remote workdays. Your school can create a team and sign up here. Any member of your team can be the team captain, but there needs to be one for each team. Check out the great prizes, including a $1000 gift card for the winning team. There will be a special district prize for the team with the most trips logged.

Recycling 101 in Deschutes County Solid Waste With school in session, this is a perfect time to share with staff and review what can and cannot go in the blue co-mingle recycling carts in Deschutes County. Please note that plastic produce clamshells, coffee cups and copy paper reams are NOT Recyclable.

Total Building Energy Useage Remember to keep building energy use in mind at the end of the day and on weekends. The building automation system sets schools to unoccupied modes over the weekend. If you have any questions or concerns about your school facility, please contact [email protected]

Human Resources Update:

Classified Daily Break Requirements. This is a reminder to all administrators/supervisors regarding mandatory classified breaks/meals from Article 16.5 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Per the CBA, classified staff who are scheduled for more than six hours receive:

• a 15-minute paid morning break as close to the middle of the morning workday as possible (between the start of the workday and the 30-minute meal period)
• a 30-minute duty free (no students) meal period as close to the middle of the workday as possible, and 
• a 15-minute paid afternoon break as close to the middle of their afternoon workday as possible

(You may view Article for 16.5 for breaks/meals for employees working less than 6 hours)

We understand current staffing challenges, but these breaks and meal periods must be arranged and scheduled per the contract.   We ask that you double-check with your classified staff in the next week to confirm that they have written schedules and that those schedules include the appropriate break/meal times.  

OSEA leadership is committed to supporting their members and will reach out to building/level leaders if they are notified that someone is not receiving their regularly scheduled breaks.

UKG Data. We anticipate checking in with school administrators next week to confirm the accuracy of staffing data within UKG.  We’ll provide a google form for you to log incorrect staff in your My Teams view.  We appreciate your patience as we continue to work through PAs and system updates.

Performance Evaluation Module. The district (Lora) and BEA are in discussions to modify the number of mini-observations and reduce the number of standards to be evaluated for all certified contract staff (probationary/temporary staff requirements won’t change as we must conform to ORS rules).   We will likely have the same amount of mini’s for both on & off cycle staff.  Stay tuned for more information on this.  

In the meantime, please continue your normal classroom visits while we get ready to roll out the Performance Evaluation module in UKG.  You’ll have the opportunity to enter prior mini’s once the new module is launched.

We are currently testing and making tweaks to the Performance module in preparation for an October rollout.  We have to create a different profile for each certified group that has a unique evaluation rubric.  We are prioritizing the classroom teacher rubric first as that is our largest group of certified staff.  We’ll then move to Learning Specialists, Counselors, Student Success Clinicians, School Psychologists, TOSAs and Speech Pathologists. 

Greetings from IT:

The following applies to personal devices only and not school issued student iPads.

Students have always been able to access Bend La Pine Schools digital applications from a personal device (such as a cell phone or desktop computer )while at home. This year, access from a personal device is still encouraged, but in the interest of security and data privacy, just a bit more challenging. 

Students will need to complete multifactor authentication prior to accessing BLS applications on their personal device.  Multifactor authentication adds a critical second layer of security before any student information is visible on a device that is not known by our organization.    The steps to complete multi-factor authentication can be found on this link.

Printed as well as Spanish versions of these instructions are available from the Tier One Technology representative at each school. 

It is important to note that the most efficient way to complete the steps for multi-factor authentication is by using a student iPad.  We in IT would strongly encourage sending iPads home to complete the MFA process (especially for elementary age students). 

The following BLS applications are commonly accessed by students from personal devices.  Lexia, Dreambox, Clever, Canvas, Really Great Reading, Google Drive

New in Sharezies: Elk Meadow has also developed a PBIS handbook for the year. Take a peek steal some great ideas!

Important Dates!

• Sept 26, 8-11 Seesaw Training in the Board Room
• Sept 26, 3:00-5:00 Horizontal Meeting at Three Rivers School, 56900 Enterprise Dr in Sunriver. Notice the time change to 2 hours!
• Sept 27 Dreambox Launchpad Assessment due
• Sept 27 School-wide and Classroom Expectation in place
• Oct. 3, 3:00-5:00 ICCL/Admin Training–Location is still TBA–we are having a hard time finding a space to fit all schools—it may end up being virtual.
• Oct. 11, 1:45-3:15 Ed Network Training
• Oct 25-27. Tammy and Lisa out at a PBIS Leaders Conference

and finally….

here is our very own Marc Zollinger from Bear Creek on KBND! Get to know Marc and Bear Creek right here. It’s fantastic!

As we begin to settle into routines, you may start to see that little people (or big ones) begin to feel stress and demonstrate it in different ways than last week. Remember, your tone and tenor sets the stage for your students, staff, and site. The words you use, things you celebrate, and what you spend your time on send messages to everyone about what is most important. There is SOOOO much good out there! Don’t forget to see it and celebrate it!

Change in Meeting Time and also a location:

• 9/20 at 2:00 instead of 2:30. Lora is going to go over important information for TAG during that time for elementary only. The meeting and the All Admin meetings during this year will be at Bend High in Perseverance Hall.
• 9/26 from 3:00-5:00. All Horizontals will be 2 hours this year and if we end early, that will be a happy surprise. We will be meeting for the first one at Three Rivers. Three Rivers and Pine Ridge will be sharing a bit that day too.

Tier I Expectations and Task Force Work: As we have been in classrooms, it is clear that Tier I expectations in schools are on everyone’s minds. Tammy created THIS IMAGE to make sure that we are clear with all of you about our expectations related to the roll-out of the work from the Task Force. Remember, this is such a focus that within every class, these should be visible, obvious, and referred to frequently. Thanks for your diligence to make our practices consistent and common regardless of the school.

New in Sharezies: Buckingham has been working hard on their new handbook and Pine Ridge is sharing a mini-observation tracker and formal observation forms. Thank you for sharing!

TLC Update: September 13^th Elementary TLC Update. Reach out to your elementary support staff for any needs or supports. The update for this week includes:

• Early Literacy Success Initiative update
• Dreambox Launchpad baseline assessment begins September 18^th
• Digital tools access update and timelines
• Support documents for the first 4 weeks of Community Connection
• And much, much more!

HR Update:

• Staff Data in UKG: Human Resources/Payroll are aware that data in UKG regarding staff assignments is not currently up to date.  Please refrain from contacting either of our offices about this until a future blog entry in which we will be soliciting feedback from you on anything that is not correct.   Payroll is also working on updating accruals that are incorrect (like accumulated personal time).
• Processing of PA in UKG: HR/Payroll are diligently processing PAs and prioritizing changes that impact an employee’s base compensation.  Other compensation like extra duty and ICCL stipends in which hiring was completed prior to September 1st, will appear on an employee’s September paycheck.  Other non-compensation related PA’s (positions, budget codes) will be processed in the order that they are received and be updated in UKG by mid-October at the latest.  Anything that administrators completed after that date will likely not appear until October’s paycheck.
• Certified Evaluation Update: Lora, Paul and Sarah Barclay are meeting this week to discuss certified evals for 2023/24.  This doesn’t mean that admin can’t begin mini-ops now and tracking them on your own before we share how we plan to do this for the 2023/24 school year.  By all means, feel free to start those. We will have the following information to share with admin at the beginning of October:
  • Certified goal setting process
  • Mini-formal observation tracking
  • On year summative evaluation list
  • Summative Evaluation process and timeline
• Important link to the Certified Teacher Performance Evaluation Manual. Recommended that all admin review – especially new admin
• IMPORTANT Reminder: It is critical that administrators/supervisors login to UKG at least once a day to read/process To Do Items.  If, for example, there is a HR Action that has compensation implications (i.e. changing FTE, adding an extra duty stipend) and it is not approved by all of people in the workflow before payroll cutoff (which was last Friday, September 8), then the employee will not receive the correct wages on their September paycheck and will be very unhappy.  Processing your UKG To Do’s at least once a day will prevent these types of issues.

Culture of Care Info: Culture of Care Fall Update

Camp Tamarack Classroom Connection: HERE is a link that outlines a training for teachers who support students at Camp Tamarack. It is designed by OSU and intended to maximize the links between the classroom and the Camp Tamarack experience. Please share with staff!

Technology Resources for Parents: Your IT team would like to encourage you to share the following links with your office staff and directly with families. 

• Technology Resources for Parents (English)

• Technology Resources for Parents (Spanish)

The links include step by step guides for parents who wish to sign up for:

• Parent Vue
• Canvas Observer Accounts
• School Meals
• Bus Information

Updated PE/Music PLC SIW Calendar–The PE/Music PLC calendar has been updated with a few SIW changes. The changes were made to match all the other groups (speech and language, psychs, counselors, SSCs, etc.) who will be meeting during 1 building SIW a month as well. This way you will always have 1 SIW a month with everyone. Please honor these days for the groups and don’t plan things you need them to attend.

For School STAS Team Members: Please make sure members of your School STAS Level 1 team sign up for the SIRC training.

What is SIRC: The Sexual Incident Response Committee sets of assessment protocols and safety planning procedures overseen and administered by a unique collaborative team. The SIRC process is much like the STAS process, but is used when the event is sexual in nature (harassment, assault, etc..).

All Level 1 Team members must register for a full day of SIRC training if they have not previously attended. It is only necessary to attend one day (not both). There is a maximum of 50 participants for each day. Training dates have been separated by elementary and secondary levels.  Additional dates will be determined as needed.  Registration links for SIRC trainings are attached.  

SIRC Training Dates:

• October 16, 2023 8:00 – 4:30 @ High Desert ESD (Middle & High School). Registration 

• October 17, 2023 8:00 – 4:30 @ Bend-La Pine School District (Elementary). Registration

From Kinsey:

• Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): We are working to improve the workplace experiences and sense of belonging of our employees.  One of the many ways we are doing this is through co-designed systems of support and networking called Employee Resource Groups (ERGs).  Details here—page 2 has FAQ, in case you get questions.  
  • In 22-23 a few different ERGs met regularly throughout the year, with awesome facilitators and lots of fun activities!  Thanks to those of you who participated or encouraged your staff to participate.  We are re-launching groups for 23-24, and need your help.
  • Can you please ensure all staff are aware of this opportunity?  Here is a pre-written message you can send your staff—thanks for sharing in the next week or so. 
• CAFE program: If you haven’t shared last week’s CAFE Program info with your staff yet–or if you’d like to send a reminder–here is that staff message again as well.
• Bias Lessons: HERE ARE the Bias Incident Lesson Series materials. Admin, please connect with your ICCL DEI reps to include teacher leadership in preparing the lesson roll-out for successful implementation across your building. Reach out to our district Equity Coaches to schedule support for your staff, and let me know if you have questions or concerns I can support!

From Julie (Curriculum, Instruction and Systems):

• Important Information regarding Dreambox: Dreambox has a new baseline assessment called Launchpad. ALL students will need to take this assessment as it will provide teachers and schools with valuable information regarding student’s strengths and areas for growth. We will be launching the assessment on September 18th.  When student’s login they will need to complete the assessment which will take 15-45 minutes depending on grade level.  The assessment can be paused and started again-it does not need to be finished in one sitting.  Students will need to complete Launchpad by September 27th.  Here is a link to a quick video and one-pager explaining Launchpad.  Students will have normal access to Dreambox until September 18th.
• Language Arts and Math Curriculum Review Update: Please plan for 15-60 minutes 4-5 times this year during a staff meeting or SIW for both the Language Arts and the Math Curriculum Review team members to share updates.

Important Dates!

• September 18-29, first round of partnered site visits will happen these two weeks. Scheduling will come later, but you can expect they will be sometime between 8:00-11:30.
• Sept 20, 2:00 All Admin Meeting at Perseverance Hall @ BSHS.
• Sept 26, 3:00-5:00 Horizontal Meeting at Three Rivers School, 56900 Enterprise Dr in Sunriver.

and finally….

“I know I am only in kindergarten, but I am doing amazing!!” —-one very excited and confident kindergarten student talking to Mr. Brocker this week about his first day of school.

As we traveled around the district these last two days to stop in and say hi, it was clearly evident across elementary schools, that this year is off to a great start. We saw that Tier 1 systems and belonging is a priority, and that the people in our schools love what they do and know why they do it. May the year continue with the same boost of confidence and belonging that that kindergarten teacher at Jewell instilled in one of the class of 2036 this week!

From Jennifer Hauth: Thank you all for participating in the Wayfinder trainings last week. We trained 33 schools in one tool – a huge success and lots of great feedback. Many of you have been so excited about Wayfinder and you are ready to share information with your families.  I am working with Scott Maben on content that can be shared, we want to be mindful to use Life and Career readiness when speaking about our new tool so please wait to share with families until we get some agreed upon text.

Our focus has been teachers and students for this first wave of training. Later this month, we will prioritize Student Success, Learning Specialists, School Psychs and Speech and Language for logins and training. Many secondary people in this position have received training with their school site and are waiting on a login. We are working on it 😊

For ongoing tech assistance, please use the process outlined in the blog last week for Austin’s team. Thank you!

From Tami Pike re: Communication to the School Nurse After School Hours

Non-Urgent Student Matters For any non-urgent student health matters, please email your school nurse and they will get back to you on the next school day. Please do not phone or text after school hours.

Urgent/Emergent Student Matters For any urgent/emergent student health matters that need to be addressed immediately, please contact Tami Pike for assistance. (please text first 541-350-8387)

Employee Health Related Questions. For any employee health-related questions/concerns, please reach out to Human Resources at 541-355-1100.

WHEN TO STAY HOME REMINDER

Illness Symptoms and When to Stay Home. Bend-La Pine Schools follows the Oregon Health Authority/Oregon Department of Education’s Communicable Disease Guidance for Schools. This guidance includes when an individual should be excluded from attending school on site (including any school-related activities such as clubs and sports). 

For information on symptom-based exclusion guidelines, see page 8 of the Communicable Disease Guidance for Schools. 

• Fever – An individual must be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications.
• Diarrhea/vomiting – Must be 48 hours since last episode.

COVID-19 is no longer an excludable disease (unless symptoms of fever, vomiting, and/or diarrhea are present). 

Parents/guardians/staff are no longer required to report positive cases of COVID-19 to the schools. COVID-19 test kits and medical grade face masks are available to students and staff upon request. Check with your school nurse about how to obtain a supply for your school.

You may also refer staff to the Health and Wellness section on our Bend-La Pine Schools website for more information about when to stay home.

From Kinsey:  CAFE Program Please read and share applicable portions with your staff:

A key tool we offer for translation/interpretation support is the Bend-La Pine Schools’ CAFE Program for staff.  Full details here.  Note: School and dept administrators should be familiar with items 5 and 6 on page 2.  

We are lauching the sign-up process to add new members to the CAFE Program.  Please help us ensure all staff have access to this information and opportunity: Here is a pre-written message you can copy and send to your whole staff (all certified, classified, administrative, and confidential staff are welcome to participate).  

Thank you for sending that message within the next week!  Additional information about CAFE, including the most up-to-date list of members, can always be found on the Portal’s Equity page.

Rock Chucks, and Mice, and Squirrels—Oh My! Hopefully that got your attention, as we do not want to draw attention to these critters in our schools. Here is a quick word from Walt Norris and Wes Martin in Custodial regarding these.

As you all know Central Oregon is home to many critters who like to set up camp in and around our school buildings.  Each year the Custodial and Maintenance Dept fields many phone calls and receives multiple work orders regarding various pests.  Here is the newsletter created by Oregon State University Extension Service regarding Intergrated Pest Management and what you can do to avoid these critters in your schools. (cliff notes: ALL food should be stored in plastic tubs with tight fitting lids!) Wes and Walt appreciate the seriousness in which you take these guidelines, as it truly does help keep the pests at bay.

Curriculum, Instruction, and Systems Updates from Julie: Curriculum- If you have staff members who still need additional curriculum please have them fill out this form.

Access to Digital Tools Updates:  Please share with staff

Teaching and Learning and Instructional Technology are working hard to make sure each and every teacher and student has access to the digital tools they need for a successful start to the school year.   The team has hit a few barriers along the way and is working hard to resolve those issues as quickly as possible. 

Here is an update on timelines:

1. Wonders- a few rostering issues are happening currently. These should be resolved by next week . K-1 will only have access to the Teacher’s Edition. 2-5 will have access to both the Teacher’s Edition and the Student Edition

2. Really Great Reading-Classroom teachers should have access to their online teaching tool and reading playgrounds by the end of this week.  Blend classrooms are loaded and should be visible for teachers and students.  Interventionists, Learning Specialists and Educational Assistants should have access by the middle of next week

3. Lexia and Dreambox-a few rostering issues were happening earlier in the week and should now be resolved.  Both programs should be visible for teachers and students

4. Acadience– will be available early next week. If you don’t have what you need. Please let us know by following the link below:

Instructional Tech and Information Technology partnered to build an application where teachers can see what tools have been deployed to each of their classes. At the top of this page there is a feature where they can request a new tool. This can be requests to add, change, or remove tools

.

5. DIBELS testing starts next week.  Here are a few reminders of building responsibilities for setting up for a successful testing day. 

• The DIBELS team tests all students K-5.  The only exception to this is students who need to be tested by a familiar tester. 
• Set up the testing space with at least 12 testing spaces
• Have school staff (interventionists, educational assistants) available to support testing
• Arrange to have a runner available to pick up classes at testing time and to help manage classes when waiting to be tested
• Send a schedule of when classes will be tested out to staff
• Optional but very appreciated:  a few snacks for the team

6. Instructional Coaches– Next week a few of our instructional coaches are completing a two-year LETRS (Language Essentials for Teaching Reading and Spelling) training and will officially become LETRS facilitators.  This will allow us as a district to train district staff in LETRS.  This is a note to let you know that Sara Swedlund, Dyan Sultzer and Kaelynn Adams will not be in buildings next week.

Seesaw Training – a reminder to sign up 2 teachers…. On Sept 26^th we will be having a half day Seesaw training for teachers from each school.  On this spreadsheet please indicate the two teachers you will be sending to the Seesaw training on 9/26. Ideally you will send one primary and one intermediate teacher. These teachers don’t have to be a current super user of Seesaw but should be enthusiastic to learn more about the program and be willing to train others back at your site. The training will focus mainly on parent engagement and will take place in the board room at the Ed Center. The actual training will run from 8-11 to allow teachers time to return to their building. 

From Sean in Student Services: Please make sure you review this and present the information to staff at some point this fall.

Building Level Process for Suicide Risk Intervention

Oregon requires each school district to have a comprehensive suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention plan, otherwise known as Adi’s Act. Our plan requires staff training in suicide prevention (QPR, ASIST), a plan for intervention when suicide risk is recognized, and postvention response procedures to support students, staff, and families. 

Each administrator will work with their school based mental health staff to ensure a building level process for referring students who demonstrate concern and be able to answer the following questions to inform all staff: 

• What is your school’s process for staff to refer a student to help?
  • Do your staff know where and how to refer?
  • Do they know what to do after hours?
• In the event of risk for suicide, is there a back up plan in case trained staff are unavailable? 

The BLS Schools Intervention Flyer outlines the process for referring a student for help while in school as well as the process for all staff if they receive information on risk after school hours or on break. All staff are responsible for reporting risk. 

Please ensure that all building staff have access to this handout and are comfortable with how to refer students both during the school day and after hours. 

Questions?  Please contact:

Sean Reinhart, Executive Director of Student Services, [email protected]

Jamie Gunter, Suicide Prevention Coordinator, j[email protected]

Will the next “Kid Governor” in Oregon come from a 5th grade class in Bend-La Pine? We hope so! Please share the information at this link for the 5th grade Kid Governor program with your staff and students. Don’t delay, the program is now open!

Next Week’s Site Visits: We are trying something new this year with site visits. We’ll be around more often but for shorter visits with a foucs on getting into classrooms to observe belonging and high quality instruction. A visit will be 60 minutes, with at least 30 minutes in classrooms, time to debrief what we all notice, and a few minutes left for any topics you may need to talk about. Our schedules are tight with short travel windows between schools. Please know this is an attempt at a new format and we will be getting your input after a couple rounds to make sure it is working for all of us. Thanks for letting us try something new!

Important Dates!

• September 11-15, first round of Director site visits will happen. By now you should have received an invite to a visit. If not, reach out to Lisa or Tammy to let them know.
• September 13, First School Improvement Wednesday (SIW). Early release at 12:45.
• September 18-29, first round of partnered site visits will happen these two weeks. Scheduling will come later, but you can expect they will be sometime between 8:00-11:30.

and finally….

From Julie: 2nd draft of the DIBELS schedule.  We had a couple of changes. 

Thank you to our Elementary Leaders for helping to make yesterday a great day of learning for our teachers.  Thank you for lending a hand for tech support and supporting our presenters.  YOU ARE THE BEST!

Wayfinder Update: We are getting lots of questions in our trainings around teachers not having the correct Wayfinder digital tools and workbooks associated with their name. Below are several common questions and answers.

Q: A teacher has the wrong grade level materials, what do I do?

A: Digital Tools- Please make sure that the teacher is loaded into Synergy correctly. In theory, Clever will synch with Synergy each night and assign the correct digital tools. If you do this and they continue to have the incorrect tool, please refer to the “Request new tool” feature listed below.

A: Workbooks- Your administrator should collect numbers for workbooks needed for the school. Then, they can USE THIS FORM to do a curriculum request which comes to Julie and Stephanie.

Q: A teacher is teaching a blend and needs both grade levels, what should they do?

A: For Digital Tools-the teacher should have the lower grade level materials. If they need another grade level to explore, please ask that they use the “Request new tool” feature listed below.

A: For the Workbooks- See above

Q: I have teachers who should have access to all grade levels (Counselors/PE teachers, Music teachers, etc.) How do we go about getting them access?

A: For Digital Tools- Make sure they are loaded into synergy correctly and then ask that they request the tools using the feature below.

Instructional Tech and Information Technology partnered to build an application where teachers can see what tools have been deployed to each of their classes. At the top of this page there is a feature where they can request a new tool.

This can be requests to add, change, or remove tools.

From Kinsey:

DEI and ICCLs: Last spring Kinsey asked principals to be thinking about identifying someone to have the role of DEI rep from their ICCL team. Kinsey provided more details in the last blog and asked for names of those reps by today. Here is the link.

Bias Incident Student Lesson for this year: All students should participate in this learning (except those whose families opt them out, as required by policy).  Plan for your teachers to complete this lesson by October 27th. 

This year, the lesson is actually a series of four lessons: 

• Required (by Oct 27): the revised-but-similar version of last year’s single lesson.
• Highly recommended: The other three lessons in the series are Wayfinder activities that our equity coaches have carefully selected and sequenced, to facilitate classroom climates conducive to dialogue around identity and bias.  Feel free to require the whole four-part series in your building!  🙂

Our LEAD/Equity Coaches are available to launch, preview, and/or rehearse this lesson with your staff at an upcoming SIW or staff meeting in Sept-Oct.  They can also come co-teach the lesson with specific teachers when it is delivered to students.  

These coaches will soon share the lesson sequence and updated materials with you and the ICCL member who is your liaison to our district DEI/LEAD efforts (details about that here).  If you haven’t submitted the name of that person yet, please share it asap.  

Ask of you as admin colleagues:

• Be familiar with the lesson content, in particular the one required lesson;
• Contact the Equity Coaches for any support your staff needs;
• Send the family letter a week-ish prior to your school’s lesson delivery;
• Be visible and participate in classrooms when teachers teach this; 
• Ensure the Bias Reporting tool is posted around your school for student, staff, and family access;
• Send any other questions, overly-concerned community members, or feedback my way!

PE/Music/Specialist PLC Dates: HERE is the calendar showing our PLC Times for our PE and Music teachers. When planning for Building Discretion SIWs, please consider when these specialists will not be in the building. It is also linked and marked via an asterisk on our Admin Calendar.

August 30^th Elementary TLC Update: The update for this week includes: The Connection, Belonging, and Community Building presentation, math updates regarding Dreambox and Forefront, Welcome Back iPad Checkup presentation, and more!

KN95 Needs: If you or a staff member is in need of any KN95 masks due to needs arising from smoke, please contact your office manager and they can get some (if they don’t already have them) from Tami Pike/Michelle Spetic.

From Doug re: Indoor/Outdoor Air: Summer and fall can mean smoky air in Central Oregon.  The amount of smoke in the air will vary across our 1,700 square mile District, so recommended strategies to keep the smoke outside will also vary.  You can find the DEQ operated air quality station nearest you at: Oregon DEQ Air Quality Index Map

Indoor Mitigation Strategies:

• First, please keep your doors and windows closed during smoke events.  I know this seems simple, but our facilities have lots of doors and windows, so it’s best to walk the building and check.  If you have smoke in the building, opening doors and windows will not help the smoke leave the building.
• Second, let the filters do their job.  The filters in our air handlers will filter interior air 4 to 6 times per hour.  The units will also pull a small amount of outside air 4-6 times per hour, which is filtered as it enters the building.  Please do not shut off the air handler units! 
• Third, use the air scrubbers provided to each school by our Custodial Department (541-355-6601).  This added filtration can help in areas that may be smokier than others (ie entryways).  If the smoke in the facility appears to be excessive, please call our Maintenance team at 541-355-4700 and they will evaluate the system. They may ask you to shut down the air handler system with the shut-off button at that time.

Education Foundation Classroom Grant Application: Here is a flyer from the Education Foundation with the information. Stay tuned for a video and more information to come! Who can say no to free money! Get those creative juices flowing!

Tower Theatre Opportunities: We are excited to announce The Tower Theatre’s LessonPLAN Education Series for the 2023-24 school year. Since 2011, our award-winning education and outreach program has connected over 40,000 students to performing arts in Central Oregon. We believe that the key to creating a vibrant future for the arts is passing the love of it on to the next generation.

HERE is the season, locations, and costs. We have 5 performances held at the Theatre, an amazing, diverse, and sensory friendly mix, and 6 in school performances that would love a host school. To make reservations, please email Becca Swain, Education Coordinator, at [email protected]. Please include your school’s name, grade, how many students, and chaperones/teachers you estimate bringing. Reservations are taken on a first come first serve basis, and often get reserved quickly, so please let us know as soon as you can if you want to sign up.

Growing Together Teams & Horizontal Administrator Team (HAT): HERE is a list of our Growing Together Elementary Admin Teams. The person listed in bold is your team lead and will also be part of HAT (schedule to come). As a reminder, we ask that these teams meet at least three times per year and that you treat this as a mandatory meeting, although the agenda is up to you. If you’d like to let us know when you have a get-together, we can help with some funds for common snacks. Excited to Grow Together this year!

Discipline Entry Staff and Training: Each school will need to add the names of your disciplinary entry staff to THIS DOC. Jason will be in contact regarding trainings to be able to appropriately enter discipline into the system. Please enter these names by the first day of school.

Seesaw Training: On Sept 26^th we will be having a half day Seesaw training for teachers from each school.  On this spreadsheet please indicate the two teachers you will be sending to the Seesaw training on 9/26. Ideally you will send one primary and one intermediate teacher. These teachers don’t have to be a current super user of Seesaw but should be enthusiastic to learn more about the program and be willing to train others back at your site. The training will focus mainly on parent engagement and will take place in the board room at the Ed Center. The actual training will run from 8-11 to allow teachers time to return to their building.

What are secondary schools doing about cell phones? Take a moment to review this document, outlining the expectations of personal electronic devices in our middle and high schools this year. Knowing our secondary schools are implementing this tight of protocols, the expectations are that elementary schools are as well. Rule of thumb in elementary schools are personal electronic devices are off and away all day. Please communicate and emphasize that parents must contact the office to arrange afterschool plans for students.

Important Dates!

• September 6, first day of school! It is a full Wednesday.
• September 11-15, first round of Director site visits will happen. We will share schedules soon but plan to see your director for about an hour one morning this week at your school.
• September 13, First School Improvement Wednesday (SIW). Early release at 12:45.
• September 18-29, first round of partnered site visits will happen these two weeks. Scheduling will come later, but you can expect they will be sometime between 8:00-11:30.

and finally….

It has been so fun talking with everyone about their launches. Thanks Buckingham for sharing this video on how the broncos will Grow and Ride Together this year.