Happy First Day of Winter this Weekend! I do love the Solstice!
From Tammy and Karen
As we wrap up the final blog of the year and head into winter break, I’m feeling grateful and hopeful. This season has been full of hard work, laughter, collaboration, and countless moments of care and connection that make a difference every day.
Winter break is a chance to pause, rest, and enjoy the simple things. We hope it brings you warmth, joy, and time to recharge. Thank you for all you do, and wishing you a peaceful break and a bright start to the new year ahead.
Over the Break, Tammy and Karen will be working the first part of next week. From Christmas Day through January 2, Tammy will be out of the country, so please reach out to Karen with any urgent concerns. Enjoy any travel or fun plans you might have and we look forward to sharing stories in January!
Community Engagement: Don’t forget about the chance to win a gift card ($25-$49.99) to places like El Sancho, Spork, downtown shops, and more! Just a little motivation and token of appreciation for getting outside your building/office and into the community we serve.
All you have to do: Join your colleagues for quick tours of local service providers, tag along with your family liaison or FAN advocate on a home visit to check on a student, and continue the school-specific efforts you’re already doing. (Bingo card here)
Thanks to all of you who visited The Giving Plate this fall! (If you missed that round, it’s not too late–reach out to me.) Our next community partner visit is in January, to the Bethlehem Inn. Sign up here to participate.
From Dave VanLoo–School Improvement
Here is a brief resource to help administrators with YouthTruth implementation. YouthTruth goes live on January 5. Contact Dave VanLoo with any questions about YouthTruth surveys.
Get ready for Youth Truth! How will you get more staff and families to take it this year?
Enjoy your last day with students and have fun on your break!
Important Dates
December 22 – Jan 2: Winter Break
January 13: Horizontal Meeting 3:00 – 4:30 at Highland Elementary
January 19: Martin Luther King Jr Day – No School
January 20: PLCs 1 and 2 from 3:00 – 4:30
January 21: Educator Network Day
January 27: PLCs 3 and 4 from 3:00 – 4:30
January 28: All Admin PD 3:00 – 4:30
January 30: Progress Reports – No school for students
And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Lybe Hawkins!
Lybe Hawkins brings both deep experience and joyful curiosity to her role as principal of Silver Rail Elementary. She has spent 22 years serving Bend-La Pine Schools, teaching at LaPine Elementary and Ensworth, supporting students and administrators at Lava Ridge, and now leading Silver Rail for the past four years. Lybe is known for her fun, adventurous spirit and her genuine love of the world around her. When she’s not at school, you’ll likely find her in the garden, out with her two fuzzy and adorable dogs, Clyde and Charlie, or binoculars in hand embracing her self-described role as a “Bird Nerd,” always on the lookout for her next feathered friend. Congratulations Lybe, we look forward to bringing you a hot drink in January – hopefully on a snowy day!
What is with the weather here these days? Today my phone said it will be in the 60’s on Saturday! Karen is back from Minnesota and is really missing the white stuff, so bring it on! Nothing like a little snow to get us geared up for the upcoming winter break. One can hope..
Just a reminder that our All Admin PD will be at Aspen Hall and will start promptly at 3:00. Don’t forget to read chapters 6-8 (through page 99) in our Leading with Dignity book. It is also a seasonal celebration as well, so there will be fancy snacks! Come ready to spread cheer with your colleagues and friends!
Please click the link below to look at this year’s child count data, as well as our historical trends. Overall, we are up about 40 students total with IEPs. With the overall decrease in enrollment, that puts the district at 12.5% of students receiving special education services.
As a reminder, December 1 of each school year is the day that we report the total number of students with IEPs in BLS. This is the number that ODE uses to base our funding for the following year. School districts get a “second ADM weight” for each student with and IEP up to 11% of the district population. BLS is currently at 12.5%.
From Kinsey – Office of Policy and Advocacy
Cell phone/personal device usage: As we approach the policy shift that prohibits personal devices effective January, please remind teachers to review the IEPs, 504s, and Individual Health Plans of students in their class, and/or check in with Learning Specialists, to be clear on which students have documented permission to use their personal devices. This info should also be noted in Substitute Folders.
This will help reduce 1) the number of false claims by students saying they have a medical ‘need’ for their phone, and 2) repeated corrections or consequences for students who do need them but who frequently get reprimanded for usage that is actually permissible.
Immigration: Check that you have the ICE guidance (linked and highlighted in this document) printed and posted near your front-entry/reception window for the staff who greet visitors. This is also a good point to refresh yourself on the procedures expected of you and your team.
If you become aware of immigration activity in the community that has impacted a student or family, please: 1) be extremely mindful of confidentiality, privacy, and professional boundaries—do notshare this information unless absolutely necessary, 2) take care of yourself and your emotions so you can take care of others , 3) refer the student or family to appropriate resources (your family liaison, our newcomer counselor specialist George, school counselor, FAN, etc), 4) let me know if you have a need I can support, resource- or policy-wise. Thank you for your calm, compassionate, and steady leadership as these tough things continue impacting our community.
From Kim Crabtree, Transportation
Admin, please note that local field trips will be a “drop and return” for our bus drivers. They will not be staying on site to wait during the trip. If there is an emergency, please contact our office and we will return early. This information was provided to all office managers in August, but lately, our bus drivers are getting quite a bit of pushback from teaching staff.
We appreciate your understanding. Thank you!
From Jennifer Hauth-Student Well Being
Jess Calbreath, Amberlee Solito, and I presented at the Oregon State School Counseling Meeting this week on Bend La Pine’s journey to implementing a Comprehensive School Counseling Program. Please take a look at the slide deck that outlines our implementation journey over the last four years. Also, check out our elementary school counseling video (2 Minutes) that was shared at the Board meeting. For the first time in a long time, we have an elementary school counselor at every school!
At our Elementary School Counselor shared SIW PLC this week, they shares that they will be starting Sources of Strength presentations in January. The parent letter needs to go out two weeks before the classroom presentations.Slide Deck
From Student Services Coach Haley Gembarowski
Student Services is introducing a new process we are going to be using to boost morale and include more positivity and celebration in our weekly Special EDge Blog.
We will be starting Campus Kudos, a section of the blog highlighting two schools per week and celebrating ways that the school’s Student Services team has been working to promote inclusion, belonging for students, and working as a team to support each other. We will NOT be celebrating individual staff members in this process but really would like to make the focus be upon the entire team. Everyone deserves to be celebrated because they are doing hard work!
So here is our ask: Please fill out the linked form when you feel you have seen something from your school team that is worthy of celebration, particularly things around inclusion, belonging, and teamwork. This can be a running record, and does not need to be filled out ONLY when it is time in the schedule for a particular school to be celebrated.
Thank you all! We are excited to start celebrating your school teams and all of the hard work they are doing!
From Dave VanLoo–School Improvement
Here is a brief resource to help administrators with YouthTruth implementation. YouthTruth goes live on January 5. Contact Dave VanLoo with any questions about YouthTruth surveys.
Read Chapter 6-8 (through page 99) in our Dignity book for All Admin PD on Wednesday
Review ICE guidance with office staff and be extremely confidential with information
Review with teachers that when they go on a local field trip, the bus will drop and go
Watch the elementary counseling video–several cameos by amazing people!
Get the Sources of Strength Parent Letter ready to be sent at least 2 weeks prior to teaching the lessons
Be on the look out for Campus Kudos in your Student Services Department
Get ready for Youth Truth! How will you get more staff and families to take it this year?
Important Dates
December 16: PLCs 1 and 2, from 3:00-4:30
December 17: All Admin PD 3:00 – 4:30 pm at Aspen Hall
December 22 – Jan 2: Winter Break
January 13: Horizontal Meeting 3:00 – 4:30 at Highland Elementary
January 19: Martin Luther King Jr Day – No School
January 20: PLCs 1 and 2 from 3:00 – 4:30
January 21: Educator Network Day
January 27: PLCs 3 and 4 from 3:00 – 4:30
January 28: All Admin PD 3:00 – 4:30
January 30: Progress Reports – No school for students
And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Megan Silvey!
Megan Silvey is in her third year as principal at La Pine Elementary, however, she has been there a lot longer than that. Fun fact about Megan, is that she has worked in our district in Nutrition Services, as an educational assistant, a classroom teacher, an assistant principal, and now a principal! She has done it all–almost! You don’t need to talk to Megan long to know she exudes a passion for serving students and creating systems and environments where all students can succeed. Megan is also a proud mom to two grown daughters who are living their best lives as a registered nurse and a high school FFA teacher, and a proud wife to Randy, who loves a good laugh with Megan. We celebrate you Megan! Let us know what your drink of choice is and we will get it delivered!
This week (which has been especially “interesting”) I’ve been reminded that the greatest gift we have in our work is each other. Every day, we lean on the collective wisdom, creativity, support, and generosity of our colleagues, and it is this spirit of collaboration that turns challenges into possibilities. When we share ideas, step in for one another, ask thoughtful questions, or simply listen with care, we create a community where everyone can thrive. Our individual strengths are powerful on their own, but together they become something extraordinary—something that lifts our schools, our students, and our shared purpose. Thank you for the many ways you show up for one another; your collaborative spirit is the heartbeat of our success.
From Julie Richards, Director of Elementary Curriculum
Please share with staff:
Subject: Maintaining Strong Instructional Routines as We Approach Winter Break
As we move into the final three weeks before winter break, we want to thank you for your continued dedication to high-quality instruction and for the warmth, creativity, and care you bring into your classrooms during this season.
These last weeks before break are a critical window for student learning, particularly in reading and mathematics, where consistent, uninterrupted instructional time has a meaningful impact on student growth. Strong routines, clear expectations, and protected instructional minutes help ensure that students continue to make progress right up to the final day.
We fully support engaging, fun, and meaningful seasonal activities and projects that are inclusive of all students and reflect the diverse traditions, backgrounds, and experiences in our school community. At the same time, we ask that core daily routines for reading and math remain intact and that instructional minutes in these areas are not reduced or replaced. When possible, consider ways to integrate literacy, math, and content standards into projects and celebrations, allowing students to learn while engaging in seasonal fun.
Your ability to balance joy with purpose is one of your greatest strengths. By maintaining consistent instructional routines alongside engaging and inclusive activities, we ensure our students continue to thrive academically while feeling valued and connected during this time of year.
Thank you for your professionalism, intentional planning, and commitment to maximizing every learning minute for our students.
From Kayla Martin, Safety
Thank you all for your attendance and participation at our second cadre meeting! Here is the link to the Cadre and Student Services slides.
A few pieces of information that were discussed:
Here is the Health & Safety POC Roster- The best place to start when fielding your safety concerns.
Policy Training: Here is the slide with links to the policies we discussed via scenarios at your recent horizontal meetings. Let me know if you have an issue related to one of these scenarios or policies that you’d like to discuss.
Bias/Complaint Response Template: As a reminder, most of our complaint policies require that you communicate your investigation findings in writing. This can often be an informal email format (for a bias incident between students, or a straightforward complaint where you’ve been communicating frequently with the parent or employee already), and other times a more formal findings document.
In either case, there are certain points you need to include in that written conclusion of the investigation (ex: your conclusion, how to appeal, etc). Here is a template you can download and use. It’s geared toward bias incidents and a formal format, but you can adapt and use pieces as desired. If this is overwhelming or unhelpful, disregard. I’m always happy to review a draft email or findings document to check it against policy considerations before you send it, if helpful for you!
From Dave VanLoo – Director of School Improvement
Here are links to use for documenting OSAS testing opt-outs and exemptions in 2025-26. These forms are like what we have used in the past and are needed for cleaning up data at the end of the school year. Opt-outs apply only to ELA and Math testing; anything else follows ODE’s exemption process.
In addition, principals and VPs can view students added to the opt-out and exemption forms at these links. These links contain data for all schools, but schools can filter their own students to help plan and manage testing.
Let Dave VanLoo or Stephanie Bent know if you have any questions or need other staff added to the response spreadsheets.
From Tami Pike – Director of Health Services
Health Services Support During School-Sponsored Activities
Please ensure that parents/guardians of students who require specialized health services (e.g., diabetes management, seizure support, adrenal insufficiency care) are informed that the school nurse must receive at least two weeks’ notice before any school-sponsored activity that occurs outside of regular school hours (such as dances, movie nights, or Robotics events). This advance notice is necessary to arrange appropriate health supports.
For overnight trips, a request should be submitted by the parent/guardian at least four weeks’ in advance of the event to allow sufficient time for planning and coordination.
Parents/guardians can submit a request for health services support here (English/Spanish).
This guideline does not apply to athletic events or classroom field trips, as those requests must be submitted by the coach or teacher using the Request for Direct Care Nursing Services form.
PPE Our post-COVID PPE supply is running low, and we are currently out of medium-disposable gloves. Prior to COVID, schools were responsible for purchasing their own gloves for general use, and we will be returning to that practice. The remaining PPE items listed below will not be replenished once they are gone.
Current inventory available through Distribution:
Small disposable gloves
Large disposable gloves
Hand sanitizer
Disposable masks
Well Child Exams. Please share in your school newsletters. English/Spanish
Action Items
Prepare for our PLC meetings in the next two weeks by revisiting the notes, thinking about your problem of practice, collecting any data or helpful resources, and be ready to set goals for outcomes and for your individual and collective learning. You can access notes and slides for the next meeting here.
Share information with staff regarding teaching expectations for the month of December
Share Well Child Exam info in school newsletters: English/Spanish
Use the forms provided by Dave VanLoo to document opt outs from testing
Important Dates
December 9: PLCs 3 and 4, from 3:00-4:30
December 16: PLCs 1 and 2, from 3:00-4:30
December 17: All Admin PD 3:00 – 4:30 pm at Aspen Hall
December 22 – Jan 2: Winter Break
January 13: Horizontal Meeting 3:00 – 4:30 at Highland Elementary
January 19: Martin Luther King Jr Day – No School
January 20: PLCs 1 and 2 from 3:00 – 4:30
January 21: Educator Network Day
January 27: PLCs 3 and 4 from 3:00 – 4:30
January 28: All Admin PD 3:00 – 4:30
January 30: Progress Reports – No school for students
And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Lynne Tat!
Lynne Tat is in her second year as Assistant Principal at North Star. Prior to that, she was a counselor at High Desert Middle School for many years and a District Equity Coach. Her roots in elementary school go way back though, as she started out her career as an elementary teacher in Pendleton. She is the proud mother of Hannah, a member of the Wolfpack at Caldera and Brady, who is a High Desert Diamondback. Throughout the year, you can find Lynne cheering on her kids in sports, or husband Ban, as the coach. Lynne brings a passion for creating school environments in which all students, families, and staff are seen, welcomed, and appreciated as valuable members of a community. Thanks for all you do Lynne! Let us know what your beverage of choice is and we will bring it your way!
Tim Broadbent pauses for a photo during our Gratitude Tour!
From Tammy and Karen
This week, we wrapped up our “Gratitude Tours” at your schools, and what a gift it was to spend time with you listening, learning, and witnessing the bright spots that make our community so special. Everywhere we visited, one theme rose to the top: you show up for one another. Amid the busyness of the season, it was powerful to pause and hear you name the moments where colleagues stepped in, encouraged, supported, or simply noticed each other. The appreciation you expressed wasn’t superficial; it was heartfelt, specific, and rooted in the relationships that make our schools thrive.
Thank you for living out the values that keep our district strong. Thank you for lifting one another up, sharing kindness so freely, and choosing collaboration over isolation. Gratitude isn’t just something we talk about here, it’s something we practice, and you modeled that so clearly this month. We hope you feel as proud of your work, your teams, and each other as we do! Wishing you a restful and gratitude-filled Fall Break filled with rest and moments of joy.
.From Sean Reinhart, Jennifer Hauth, and Jamie Gunter: Student Support
The Student Services Team is reaching out with yearly reminders of our protocols and procedures around suicide risk and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), as required byAdi’s Act (Senate Bill 52). We will be providing a series of updates to ensure that administrators have information on updated protocols.
Reminder: Safe Oregon
Safe Oregon tips involving suicidal ideation or non-suicidal self-injury require follow up with your school based mental health staff (follow up screening and entry into Student Safe each time).Refer to the student services slide deck or reach out to Sean, Jamie, Scott, or Kayla.
Reminder: Screening Staff
As per our Adi’s Act plan, staff who can risk screen and safety plan with students include school counselors, school psychologists, and student success clinicians. ASIST trained school nurses and student success staff can collaborate with their school based mental health professionals after screening on next steps in safety planning and lethal means calls home. Policy requires that a student is screened and parent/caregivers are notified the same day that a concern is noted. Same day notification to administrators is also a requirement, as is the entry of all screening information and contact details intoStudent Safe. All administrators have access to the Student Safe system, and if anyone would like a 1:1walkthrough, please reach out.
Action Items
ENJOY THIS LIST WITH NO ACTION ITEMS!
Important Dates
November 24-28: Fall Break and Thanksgiving
December 2: Horizontal in the Board Room from 3:00-4:30–Cheer to follow??
December 9: PLCs 3 and 4, from 3:00-4:30
December 16: PLCs 1 and 2, from 3:00-4:30
December 22- Jan 2: Winter Break
January 13: Horizontal Meeting 3:00 – 4:30 at Highland Elementary
And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Anna Park!
Anna Park serves as the Assistant Principal at Ensworth Elementary, where her leadership is defined by heart, versatility, and an unwavering commitment to students and families. On any given day, you’ll find Anna teaching in classrooms, working directly with students, supporting families, or simply spreading joy throughout the school. She wears many hats—and wears them all well. Anna brings a radiant smile and a boundless energy that lift the entire Ensworth community. She has a beautiful gift: she truly sees people. Whether she is partnering with a teacher, listening to a student, or connecting with a family, Anna helps others feel included, safe, valued, and heard. Her presence strengthens relationships, builds trust, and creates a school environment where every person belongs. Congratulations Anna! Let us know what your beverage of choice is and we will get it delivered!
One more week and we can all take a well deserved break, full of rest, family and friends, and some rejuvenation!
We are going to reschedule PLCs 1 and 2, that are scheduled for next Tuesday, the 18th, to Tuesday, December 16th. It is important that we all be able to attend the all district staff meeting , and both options take place during our PLC time that day. Until then, keep on observing your problems of practice. As a reminder, PLCs 3 and 4 are still on for Tuesday, the 9th, and we will all come together in the Board Room for Horizontal on Tuesday, the 2nd.
Dr. Cook and Dr. Birk to provide all-staff virtual updates Nov. 18
Superintendent Steven Cook and Deputy Superintendent Lisa Birk will host an update for all District staff on Tuesday, November 18, with two 30-minute virtual sessions:
They will begin by recognizing several major accomplishments and celebrations from this school year. Other updates include:
State and federal funding
Long-term enrollment projections
Facility updates
Elementary and secondary priorities
They will provide the same update at the beginning of both meetings, then answer questions sent in from staff. Attendance is optional. If you can’t join either meeting live, we plan to share recordings with you afterward.
HAVE A QUESTION FOR DR. COOK?
Use THIS LINK to submit a question for the first meeting (3:05-3:35 PM)
Use THIS LINK to submit a question for the second meeting (3:50-4:20 PM)
From Eric in Student Services
We had a Community Justice Officer from Deschutes County reach out to a school this week with the following request:
Hello,I am _____, (Student’s) Community Justice Officer. I was wondering if I can get a copy of (Student’s) Attendance, grades, and credits. I am not sure if this is the correct email to request all three. If there is someone else, I should reach out to or if you have any questions, please let me know.Thank you.
For this specific student, we did not yet have a record of the student being on probation or an ROI to communicate with outside providers. After communicating with district legal counsel, the following was recommended as the reply to be sent to the CJO:
“We need you to provide us with a release of information or legal basis for releasing this information, such as a health or safety emergency as defined by ORS 336.187.”
If you ever get a request like this, you can also forward the requestor to me and I can work with them directly to get them needed information (as I am allowed). Thanks!
.From Jennifer Director of Student Well-Being
College and Career Day K-12
Don’t forget to promote College and Career day on November 20th! Here are some ways to celebrate.
Dress as a professional
Wear college colors
Consider incorporating videos or lessons bringing awareness to careers and colleges.
Consider inviting parents from the community in to talk about their careers.
We hope you’ll join in the celebration. Please send pictures of your participation to Becca Burda.
Elementary only:
Waypoints formative assessment for K-2 teachers closes on November 21st and will not be able to be re-opened for teachers. Please send a reminder.
Action Items
Choose a time and tune in to the all district staff meeting on Tuesday
Share information with your staff about College and Career Day next Thursday, Nov. 20
Make sure all your K-2 teachers have completed the Waypoints assessment before they leave for break
Important Dates
November 14: Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day
November 18: All District Staff meeting—see choice of times above
November 20: College and Career Day
November 24-28: Fall Break and Thanksgiving
December 2: Horizontal in the Board Room from 3:00-4:30–Cheer to follow??
December 9: PLCs 3 and 4, from 3:00-4:30
December 16: PLCs 1 and 2, from 3:00-4:30
And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Lorin Page!
Lorin is the Assistant Principal at Three Rivers K-8. In case you are new and don’t know who she is, we don’t often get to see Lorin as much as we would like, as she takes on more of the communication with the middle school admin team and Tim does the elementary. When Lorin in not in school, she can often be found camping, hiking, adventuring, and traveling with her husband Ray, who is a teacher at Amity Creek. Prior to Administration, She is proud of her children who she and Ray have successfully launched into the world. Lorin was a special education teacher and Student Services Coordinator and worked at Highland Magnet School prior to Three Rivers. Congratulations Lorin! Let us know what your beverage of choice is and we will get it delivered!
This week we began our Gratitude Tour site visits, and they have truly been bucket-filling for everyone involved. It’s such a gift to witness and hear about the incredible things happening in your schools every day. We are deeply grateful for these moments of celebration and connection over the next couple of weeks.
As many of you know, Karen will be away next week (November 10–14) to support her parents in Minnesota as they transition to a place with additional care and support. While she may be reachable by phone at times, please don’t hesitate to contact me (Tammy) if you need anything—I’m happy to help in any way I can.
We also know that several of you are currently supporting parents or loved ones with significant medical needs. Please know that we are here to support you however we can. Most importantly, give yourself the grace and permission to care for your family first—we’ll take care of supporting your school. Hugs!
When your school is documenting a Child Abuse Report, will you please store the Child Abuse Form in the following ways:
Send a copy to Eric Powell in Student Services (Email is fine)
The building Principal should also maintain a copy of the report. Thank you!
From Ryan in HR
Earlier this week, all Classified staff received an email announcing the opening of applications for the 2025 cohort of Bend-La Pine’s Alternative Pathways Program (APP), a district-supported opportunity for Classified employees to pursue licensure for Certified roles that offers tuition reimbursement, paid student teaching/practicum leave, and other supports as needed as they pursue their license. The announcement was also shared in the most recent edition of this week’s Staff Spotlight.
The APP focuses on hard-to-fill positions and places a particular emphasis on supporting multilingual and bilingual staff, helping us strengthen our connection to students and families while developing our future educators and leaders.
I’m asking that you all take a moment to think about who in your building or department might be a great candidate for this program, both those who have already expressed an interest in becoming licensed educators and those who may not yet see their own potential. A shoulder tap from you might be the spark that helps someone find the confidence they need to take this step.
Applications are open through December 2, 2025. If you’d like more info on the program, you can email Ryan Kelling or visit the Employee Portal.
From Jessica Houser in Payroll
Please make sure employees at your site are aware of this important payroll update.
For the November and December payrolls, all employees will receive a paper paystub (or a live check if not enrolled in direct deposit) mailed directly to their home address on file. Payday remains the last business day of each month.
This change ensures every employee can easily access their pay information during school breaks when most staff are off-site or not connected to the district network. From now on, paystubs and paychecks will no longer be routed to school sites for pickup or distribution.
What to Know
All employees will automatically receive mailed paystubs in November, December, June, July, and August.
Employees who want paper paystubs in additional months can email Payroll to opt in. (This election resets each year.)
Employees can update their home address in UKG.
Those who need help setting up direct deposit can review the “How To” guide on the Payroll Portal or reach out to Payroll.
Substitute and extra-duty employees will continue to receive paper paystubs automatically every month.
Employees can still view electronic paystubs through Employee Online when using a district device or network connection.
Thank you for sharing this information with your teams and helping ensure every employee has consistent access to their pay details.
From Julie in Curriculum and Instruction
The mClass Math Beginning-of-Year assessment is our required benchmark assessment for math k-5.
We have noticed that not all teachers have administered this assessment yet.
Next Steps:
Check Your School’s Status: Log in to Amplify.
Review the Admin Reports: Navigate to the Completion Report. This report will specifically show you which teachers still need to administer the assessment.
Administer Immediately: Please contact any identified teachers and ensure they administer the assessment as soon as possible.
Meeting this benchmark is crucial for informing instruction. Please prioritize completion this coming week.
From Kinsey in Policy and Advocacy
Transgender Awareness Week -Action item-
November 13-19 is Transgender Awareness Week. Next week your building will receive a kit with ideas and supplies for simple ways to support your transgender students or colleagues. Please connect with your Advocacy ICCL representative (or watch your mailbox) for those kits, and encourage your staff to participate.
Family Engagement: -For your review (share as applicable)-
Family Liaisons: Here are our Spanish-speaking liaisons, and here are reminders on how to use their services. We also have part-time Black/African American, Asian, and Youth Partnerships Liaisons–if you’d like to connect with one of them, let me know.
FAN Advocates: Here are reminders on their role. Remind your staff: FAN does not coordinate Christmas gifts for families and hasn’t for over 10 years. FAN resources are maxed out prioritizing basic needs (food, utilities, etc). There are many community-based organizations that do support religious or holiday-based requests like Christmas gifts: Here, here, and here are a few resources.
Concerns/celebrations: If you have concerns about your liaison or advocate (inconsistent attendance, lack of responsiveness, etc), I need to know right away. Of course, if you have a note of appreciation or celebration about them, send me those too!
Translation/interpretation: Remember, CAFE members are not your primary resource for language services. Also, please don’t ask them to “quickly review” your AI/Google-translated communication. Use Linguist Link for translation/interpretation requests. Here are reminders on differences between these services.
Food Access and Your Parent Groups:-For your review (share as applicable)-
In the absence of SNAP benefits for families in need, some of you have parent groups organizing to gather food and distribute it to families. This is great, if/when boundaries are respected. Share these talking points with your parent group, as applicable.
Here is the link to the policy on which movies can be shown during the school day in our schools that we went over at horizontal this week. Don’t forget, PG can only be shown in 4th and 5th grades and you must use a parental permission form to get permission to show them. SWANK , our new movie site can filter movies by ratings.
Action Items
Make sure your office staff knows the new person to send DHS reports to
Do you have a classified staff member who may be a great candidate for the Pathways Program? Let them know!
Share the Payroll Update with your staff
Connect with Advocacy ICCL Rep to partner with them on sharing about Transgender Awareness Week with your staff
Important Dates
November 11: Veteran’s Day–Enjoy!
November 12: All Admin PD from 3:00 – 4:30 at Perseverance Hall
November 14: Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day
November 18: PLC 1 and PLC 2 Meeting Day 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.
November 20: College and Career Day
November 24-28: Fall Break and Thanksgiving
And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Kimberly Sundberg!
Kimberly is the principal at High Lakes Elementary, where she is in her 5th year as principal. Prior to that, Kimberly was in the great state of Alaska, where she cut her teeth in education as a teacher and eventually a school leader. Kimberly is passionate about creating an environment where students are loved, well cared for, and have a strong sense of belonging at their school. You can feel it the moment you walk into High Lakes. You may think of Kimberly as a serious person, but don’t let her fool you, she is as funny as they come! Fun fact, Kimberly and Lisa Birk went to the same high school in Idaho. Congratulations Kimberly! Please let us know your drink of choice and we will be happy to deliver.
As we wrap up a long week of parent-teacher conferences (and the loooong days that you put in), we want to take a moment to express deep gratitude for the time, energy, and heart you’ve poured into building strong partnerships with families. These conversations strengthen the bridge between home and school—and your commitment shines through in every one of them. As we head into the long weekend, we hope you’ll take time to rest, recharge, eat too much candy, and enjoy a well-deserved break!
Please take a moment to sign up for the next round of Site Visits! For November, we will be doing a “Gratitude Tour!” We want to hear about all of the things you are grateful for at your school!
As you may have seen, the anticipated federal shutdown is expected to disrupt SNAP benefits beginning in November. Many families in our community may experience reduced access to food for an unknown period of time. Local food banks are already reporting strain as they prepare to absorb the increased need.
We will share resources and reminders of local food services in the next Family Spotlight. In the meantime, please feel free to 1) print, distribute, and share these bilingual food resource lists with all families and with your staff (Bend, South County, Redmond), 2) if you feel moved, consider donating time, funds, or other support to any of these local services (you can easily google any of their websites and find the Donation button 🙂), and 3) if your PTA or Booster Club wants to support food access, encourage them to support these local services.
For those who visited the Giving Plate for our Community Engagement Bingo activity this week, thank you. Your presence meant a lot to their over-stretched team, now more than ever. (Missed it but want to visit and count that Bingo square? Contact me!)
MAC Survey – Action Needed:
With the SNAP food assistance program being frozen and our students being impacted, this is a great time to remember just how critical our FAN Advocates are for our community. Your participation in the MAC Survey process (completing your training ASAP, claiming time on the survey day in mid-November) brings in funds that pay for FAN Advocate positions, so that we have folks on staff who can help families navigate. Thank you for prioritizing this! Contact your FAN Advocate if you have questions.
From Paul Dean in Operations
Work Order Submission Best Practices
When submitting a work order that requires greater visibility at your site, please include @[insert principal’s email], @[insert custodian’s email], and @[insert office manager’s email] in the comment section of the request. Doing so will:
Ensure that key staff are aware of the request, helping to reduce duplicate work orders.
Allow all recipients to receive automatic updates as the work order progresses.
To help our maintenance staff be better prepared and efficient:
Provide as much detail as possible in the Description/Summary section. This information helps staff bring the right tools and materials and may prevent multiple trips.
When possible, attach photos showing the repair issue. Photos help clarify the request and document the condition of the area needing repair.
From Jennifer in Student Well Being
College and Career Day:
It’s that time of year again. November 20th is College and Career Day in Bend-La Pine Schools. As with last year, we are looking to draw attention to the multitude of pathways available to students after they graduate high school. This is a K-12 day! We want all students to be dreaming about what options they have after they leave our schools.
Here are a few things you could do at your site to make the day a success. It would be great if classrooms or advisories could look to do something for just 10-15 minutes this day. Dress as a professional Encourage students and staff to dress up as someone from a career they are interested in. Remember there are a lot of great careers out there! Wear college colors Encourage students to wear the colors of a favorite college. Remember, college can mean community college, trade school, 4-year university, etc. Be careful with wording here as college brand clothing can be expensive and prevent students from feeling like they can participate. Colors are more inclusionary. Consider incorporating videos or lessons bringing awareness to careers and colleges. Our 6-12 sites could lean into some of the activities in SchooLinks. All secondary students have required activities to complete through BLS School Counseling curriculum and to complete their Educational Plan and Profile, so this would be a perfect opportunity to complete one of these required activities. Consider onboarding 6th and 9th grade students on this day if you haven’t already done so. Students are required to take a “Find your Path” assessment when first logging in that will jumpstart the college and career exploration process. Comprehensive School Counseling Program and Lessons could be completed this week: High School and Middle School Wayfinder also has some great resources, especially their integration with Roadtrip Nation and their Future Ready Collection K-12. For middle school, these have been added for the week of November 17th as potential advisory lessons in ourscope and sequence. Here is a great website from the State of Oregon called Career Journeys. There are amazing short videos, lesson plans and other activities any teacher could do. Also available is the Career Connected Learning Central Oregon website which allows exploration of career paths close to home. Consider inviting parents from the community in to talk about their careers. This could be done in a variety of ways from advisory to lunch opportunities. You could also ask parents to submit a short video of them talking about their jobs and stitch them together for students. Remember our visitor and volunteer requirements if you decide to invite parents into schools.
We hope you’ll join in the celebration. Please send pictures of your participation to Becca Burda.
Wayfinder data Available: Wayfinder Waypoints data from the summative assessment is now available for your MTSS meetings. I will work with elementary admin on Tuesday, November 4th to go over how to use it. High and middle school admin leads, I will meet with you all in our smaller teams in the next two weeks. Reach out with any questions. Elementary and Middle school Counselors will be trained on Wednesday, November 5th during shared SIW. We are still working to schedule time with high school counselors.
From Lindsley – Elementary Literacy Coach
I am putting the following in the TLC blog- it is specific to 2nd grade but if you see cursive taking instructional priority in other grade levels at your school, you could use the same questions to get alignment through your building.
2nd grade RGR Handwriting – recommend sticking with print through the end of the program
At about unit 13, it will shift to cursive. I recommend continuing to do the lessons for all the rich sentence-level grammar, but continue with print (could use this paper)
Why no cursive? Ask yourself and your teams these questions.
What standard supports cursive instruction?
Are your students all fluent with print yet?
Unless your class is at 100% reading at benchmark, how could the additional time it takes to learn cursive be spent teaching them to read?
If they are at 100%, which technology would better serve students today- typing fluency or cursive fluency?
Action Items
Consider printing and distributing information about food resources to your community!
Review Paul Dean’s tips for submitting work orders
Start thinking about celebrating College and Career Day on November 20th.
Bring computers to November 4th Horizontal meetings so we can look at Wayfinder Data together.
Don’t forget Daylight Savings Time ends on November 2, 2025!
Important Dates
October 31: No School and School Improvement Plans are due today.
November 4: Horizontal Meeting 3:00 – 4:30 at the Board Room
November 11: Veteran’s Day–Enjoy!
November 12: All Admin PD from 3:00 – 4:30 at Perseverance Hall
November 14: Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day
November 18: PLC 1 and PLC 2 Meeting Day 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.
November 20: College and Career Day
November 24-28: Fall Break and Thanksgiving
And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Stephanie Jensen!
Stephanie is the Assistant Principal at Buckingham Elementary! She has been a leader with BLS for 10 years. Prior to that she worked at Sisters School District as a Reading Teacher and ELD teacher, which means she has a vast knowledge of instructional strategies and she is passionate about ensuring kids have everything they need to feel a sense of belonging. She believes in the Power of Moments, and likes to create experiences for teachers, kids, and families that are meaningful and memorable. She is always on the go, literally– she even has a treadmill under her desk so she can keep up the steps after the kids are gone! Congrats to a great leader, teacher, and mom! Stephanie, let us know your drink of choice!
Vector trainings of course! Elementary leaders as of 1:30 today still have 63 Vector trainings to complete (4 of you still have all 10!) If you did not get a celebration text from Tammy today that you are done, please log into your system and get them done, as some of you still have 1 that was assigned later hanging out there. Have you checked your staff completion rate lately? Please do that as well and poke those who are not done to get ‘er done. Thank you for prioritizing this as important and urgent.
From Tammy and Karen
Keep this in mind, as you move about your year. We know this is the hard season for a lot of reasons, but even on the hardest of days, there are small steps and celebrations you are making forward, which are going to take you places!
As we head into conference week, we just wanted to wish you all an amazing time connecting with families, staff, and catching up with yourself, because we know that pile called “to do during conference days” is getting big! Let us know if there is anything we can do to support!
To support consistency across schools and ensure appropriate use of substitute coverage, guidelines outlining expectations by role classification for the 2025–26 school year have been developed.
Please review and share with office staff and others responsible for approving or entering substitute requests. These guidelines reinforce responsible staffing decisions while maintaining operational continuity and student support.
From Jennifer in Student Well Being
Just a quick reminder that tomorrow, October 25 is the last day for grades 3-5 Waypoints fall assessments. The K-2 Waypoints are open until November 21.
From Dave VanLoo in Teaching and Learning
ODE requires schools to report OSAS results to parents annually. Individual student reports (ISR) with ELA, Math, and Science scores from spring 2025 testing have been loaded into Synergy. Here is a folder with brief instructions for staff, parents, and students to access OSAS state test scores in a variety of ways in Synergy. All users can view and download the one-page ISR that ODE creates each year. Teachers also can view lists of prior year OSAS scores for their classes in TeacherVue. Whether Spanish ISRs are loaded for a student is based on the ‘resolved’ language in Synergy. Schools should be prepared to print an ISR for any parent who requests it and may continue to print ISRs as makes sense. Teachers who want to use ISRs at conferences can quickly pull them up in real time and display them on any screens that are available to them.
From Michelle Rhoads in Transportation:
We’re excited to announce 2025 Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day on November 14. This special event is an opportunity to celebrate Ruby’s courage by walking to school and is the perfect opportunity to teach students about the Civil Rights Movement and connections to collective efforts for change.
The history of Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day: On November 14, 1960, Ruby Bridges bravely integrated William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. In May 2018, a group of fifth graders from Martin Elementary School in South San Francisco, California, learned about Ruby and asked their school board to pass a resolution making November 14 Ruby Bridges Day. This day honors Ruby’s historic role in advancing civil rights and serves as a reminder of the importance of equality, justice, and education for all children. Communities across the country participate in this event to recognize Ruby’s courage and to inspire future generations to continue her legacy. Here is a video about Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day. Here is a link to the Ruby Bridges Foundation.
For information on how to participate in this event, please contact Michelle Rhoads, Bend – La Pine Schools Active Transportation Coordinator, [email protected] , phone 541-355-5721.
Action Items
Get your Winter and Spring DIBELS dates on your main calendars
Review Substitute guidelines and share with office staff
Review with your 4-5 grade teachers how to get OSAS scores for conferences and print for parents if requested
What is your plan to celebrate Ruby Bridges Day? Don’t have one and want to celebrate? Check out the resources and call Michelle Rhoads for some inspiration and help.
Important Dates
October 29: Teacher work day (8 hrs) Conf. (4 hrs.) Admin will have a ½ day Amplify training on this date. (Half in the morning and half in afternoon–check your calendar invite)
October 30: Parent Teacher Conferences, 7:15-7:15
October 31: No School and School Improvement Plans are due today.
November 4: Horizontal Meeting 3:00 – 4:30 at the Board Room
November 11: Veteran’s Day–Enjoy!
November 12: All Admin PD from 3:00 – 4:30 at Perseverance Hall
And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Tom Lence !
Tom is the Assistant Principal at High Lakes Elementary, where he was a teacher there prior to becoming Assistant Principal. Did you know that Tom and his wife taught in China prior to coming to Bend-La Pine Schools? Tom has also recently discovered that he likes to hunt rocks, so if you know of any good rock hounding areas, hook him up with the coordinates! He is the proud dad of two daughters and proud husband of Tami, a teacher at Silver Rail. Thanks for all you do, Tom, for the High Lakes Lynx and Bend-La Pine Families. We’ll be bringing you a beverage of your choice soon!
October: When the Lost and Found pile achieves legendary status
From Tammy and Karen
We have had great site visits with you this month and have been so impressed with your productivity in getting SLGGs, SIPs, and everything else done. We recognize that you have also been so busy building community with your staff, students, and their families! This time of year, our calendars are full and our patience sometimes… less so. However, this is also the best time to slow down and take a pause when we feel that “October Overwhelm” creeping up on us. Remember that being rooted in purpose means we don’t have to rush to prove our growth — it’s steady, grounded, and real. So refill your coffee, smile at a student story, and give yourself permission to thrive slowly. Even trees take their time turning colors.
It’s time to begin delivering Erin’s Law lessons. Here are the resources for your teachers. Please share with your staff.
From Jennifer in Student Well Being
3- 12 Waypointsopen until Friday October 24th end of day. Thank you to all of you that have had your students complete the assessment. School-wide student data will be ready for review on Monday, October 27th.
K–2 Waypoints Assessments Instructions for Teachers
The custom Waypoints formative assessments are now open in the app for K–2 teachers. Here are the questions.
Julie emailed these instructions to all K-2 teachers, and they will be listed in the TLC blog next week.
Please have teachers complete them by November 21.
You’ll find them listed in your “To Do List” on your Wayfinder Teacher Page as “2025 K Beginning of Year,” “2025 1st Beginning of Year,” etc. Each includes only six questions aligned to the Life and Career Readiness priority standards reflected on the progress report. These are educator observed Waypoints and they are not on student iPads. Detailed instructions here. I have turned off the K-2 Educator Observed Summative assessment so that will no longer be visible for K-2 teachers.
Tip: Have a class list with questions listed across the top. Think about students who might fall into the sometimes (2-developing) or rarely/never (1-beginning) category. Use this rubric to observe these students first. Then use professional judgement and observation to consider where the rest of your class is in their development. In addition, when teaching Wayfinder lessons, notice which lessons are focused on the priority standards and observe how students respond to the corresponding lessons.
From Lillah Lehner in Safety:
All STAS/SIRC Teams:
After completing a Level 1 STAS or SIRC assessment, please upload the 2 page Outcome and Safety Plan into Synergy>Student>Documents tab>STAS/SIRC is a new Doc Category tab. The Doc Comment will be Outcome and Safety Plan.
The following people will have access to this document:
Principals and Assistant Principals
Counselors
Student Success
Athletic Directors
SPED specialist such as Pych’s
District Directors/Executive Directors
Please call Lillah Lehner in Safety with questions: 541-355-8854
From Kinsey – Office of Policy and Advocacy:
Student organizing: clubs, petitions, etc:
Students have the right to gather and organize–examples include forming new clubs, circulating petitions, etc. However, we can put certain limitations on these activities, when done thoughtfully.
Here is the relevant policy with guidance for you. A couple reminders: No new student clubs should be forming without principal approval. If you believe a club, petition, or other student-organized activity is going to cause a disruption and should be prohibited, please contact me so we can discuss specific considerations.
Please remind staff about this policy and ask that they contact you if they are hearing about clubs or other student organizing that would require procedural considerations under this policy.
Family engagement calendar:
We now have an Outlook calendar to communicate and coordinate district-wide family engagement events and key dates! It includes district-wide events where families are the audience, such as Financial Aid night or Latino Family Night, as well as the “do not schedule” dates for religious observances.
This is a staff-facing tool, for awareness, access, and coordination of school, district, and program-specific family events. Please work with your office staff to add this calendar to your school Outlook calendar—instructions here.
If you are planning a district-wide event and would like it added to this calendar, please contact Dalia Juárez or email [email protected].
From Dave VanLoo in School Improvement
OSAS Testing Annual Notices and Opt-Out Forms
The Bend-La Pine website has been updated with the 2025-26 fillable PDF annual notice and opt-out forms that we are required to share with families. There are separate notices and opt-out forms for ELA/Math testing (grades 3-8 & 11) and the SEED survey (grades 3-11). Please share our website with links to the required forms using whatever methods you typically communicate with families and have copies available for parents to pick up in the office by ODE’s dates and timelines below.
Consistent with the requirements of ORS 329.479, ODE has developed an annual notice (available through ODE’s Test Administration webpage) that describes these assessments, identifies the timeframe when the assessment will most likely be administered, and identifies an adult student’s or parent’s right to excuse the student from testing. Districts and public charter schools must provide parents with the ODE-developed annual notice at the beginning of each school year.In addition, districts and public charter schools must provide parents with separate notice at least 30 days prior to administering the statewide summative assessments in Math and ELA using the ODE-provided 30-day notice and opt-out form (also available through ODE’s Test Administrationwebpage), or a district-created form that exactly reproduces the language of the ODE-provided form. School districts and public charter schools must use the language of the 30-day notice and opt-out form provided by ODE to communicate with all parents about state testing requirements and their right to opt out for high school students by January 4, 2026, and for students in Grades 3-8 by March 1, 2026.
ODE SEED Survey
Oregon law (House Bill 2656) requires each school district to make the SEED Survey available to students in grades 3-11. Parents or guardians may decline, either verbally or in writing, to have their student participate in the SEED Survey. Schools will provide parents with notice of administration and the process for declining participation at least 5 days prior to administering the SEED Survey. Students may also decline, at any time, either verbally or in writing to participate. Students may also decline to answer individual questions on the SEED survey.
Please contact Dave with any questions.
From Sean Reinhart, Jennifer Hauth, and Jamie Gunter
The Student Services Team is reaching out with a yearly reminder of protocols and procedures around suicide risk and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), as required byAdi’s Act (Senate Bill 52). We will be providing a series of updates to ensure that administrators are informed on updated protocols.
View the updated sudden death response procedures.
Review with all of your building staff on these procedures.
Ask all staff to contact their building administrator if they become aware of any information on the death of a staff member, student, or parent in your school community.
If a Staff member reaches out to an administrator:
Thank the reporter and ask that they don’t contact other individuals and share the news they have heard. Oftentimes the information is inaccurate or incomplete and unknowingly propagating rumors can cause harm.
The building administrator reaches out to Sean, Jennifer, Scott, or their Level Leader (in that order until the first person is reached).
Student Services will walk you through next steps.
Best-practice postvention around notification helps to prevent further harm or contagion, ensures accuracy and consistency, protects and respects the family, supports emotional safety, and lays the foundation for healing and recovery. If you have questions or concerns around this process, please reach out.
From Lindsley Gehrig – Instructional Coach
Here is a self-paced Acadience progress monitoring training to share with school leadership teams. I hope this serves as a solution for schools needing to train staff on progress monitoring. This training is still a work in progress but can be shared now to get folks started.
Challenges of training folks like we have in years past:
Pulling staff from buildings for large training
Duty/lunch schedules disrupted
Sub shortages
Training within each building
19 individual schools
Instructional coaches focusing on early literacy instruction and math curriculum adoption
Schools not having access to an experienced assessor (interventionist or learning specialist)
I recommend leadership do the following to set folks up for success:
Dedicate time within the staff members’ schedules
They do not need to be done all at once, you can focus on one subtest at a time
I think about 30+/- minutes per subtest
Have people do it together!
They can calibrate and discuss
Problem-solve together
From Scott McDonald – Information Technology
Synergy Mail Delivery Issue
It has come to our attention that on occasion, certain Synergy (ParentVUE) messages are currently being marked as “spam” and are not able to be viewed by families with a TDS email address. We have already engaged both Synergy support and TDS to identify the cause and resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
In the meantime, please be aware that teachers using Synergy mail may occasionally receive a “bounce back” message from families who are unable to view their message. We will provide an update as soon as normal delivery is restored.
Looking for a few administrator iPads- As we transition students over the next two years to the iPad 11, we will be lean on older device inventory. If you are an administrator and you rarely use your iPad for your position, we hope you will “volunteer” to turn in your iPad to your IT Client Service representative. Thank you in advance for your help.
Waypoints Assessment window closes on October 24th. Please remind staff and check out your progress in Wayfinder.
Please work with your office staff to add the Family Engagement calendar to your school Outlook calendar—instructions here.
Review Opt Out notices and contact Dave VanLoo with any questions
Never use your iPad? Consider returning it to IT for reuse!
Important Dates
October 16: TAG Admin ICCL 3:30 – 5:30 Education Center Board Room
October 21: PLCs 3 and 4, 3:00 – 4:30. (PL C3PO @ Silver Rail and We Are the Winners @ La Pine)
October 22: Elementary Safety Cadre 1:30 – 3:00 at Silver Rail Elementary
October 29: Teacher work day (8 hrs) Conf. (4 hrs.) Admin will have a ½ day Amplify training on this date. (Half in the morning and half in afternoon–check your calendar invite)
October 30: Parent Teacher Conferences
October 31: No School and School Improvement Plans are due today.
November 4: Horizontal Meeting 3:00 – 4:30 at the Board Room
November 11: Veteran’s Day
November 12: All Admin PD from 3:00 – 4:30 at Perseverance Hall
And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Ned Myers !
Ned is the Assistant Principal at Pine Ridge Elementary! If you are in need of some fast energy, fun socks, a skip in your step, or advice about where to have fun in the Bend area, then Ned’s your guy! Ned is a native of Bend and a graduate of Bend High School. To say he is enthusiastic about his school, the district, and his home town would be a big understatement! Congratulations Ned! Let us know your coffee drink of choice and we will deliver!
The Black Eyed Peas can sing us a tune, but the chick peas can only “hummus” one.
From Tammy and Karen
I saw that joke this week and laughed my head off. I hope it brought you the same chuckle it brought me!
Before we jump into the news of the week, we just wanted to take a moment and once again, wish you all a happy Principal Appreciation Month! We witness the amazing work you are all doing at your schools to bring clarity to what is taught, to build a sense of belonging for your staff, students, and families, and to share your belief in the positive impact that everyone is making on a daily basis with our students. We see you and appreciate you!
Leave sheets due: This is a friendly reminder to email Tammy, Karen, and April J your leave sheet no later than Monday, 10/13). If you are an AP, please have your principal sign before sending them our way. If you do not have any leave, we ask that you please email us to let us know you did not have any leave. If you don’t do that, we have no way of knowing who forgot to do their timesheet and who didn’t have any leave. You could also email a leave sheet with the words “no leave taken” across it if you would rather document no leave that way. Thank you!
Please take 5 minutes during a staff meeting for your staff to share a “nugget” they took away from Educator Network day. We received great feedback and this is an opportunity for your staff to share what they learned with their colleagues.
It is has come to our attention that some of the center materials are defective or have broken already. Amplify Desmos Math plans to warranty the materials for us. However, we need to know which items at which schools need replacement. Please ask teachers to complete this form for items that are defective.
From Jennifer in Student Well Being
Educator Network Day Success for Counselors and Student Success:
We had a great turnout yesterday at HDMS. Here is the slide deck with outcomes for our trainings this year:
Formalize and implement a clear framework for Tier 2 & Tier 3 mental health/social emotional interventions.
Establish a clear process to Identify, Match + Fit, Provide + Monitor, and Evaluate.
Waypoints open until Friday October 24th end of day. Thank you to all of you that have had your students complete the assessment.
The K-2 formative assessment will be live for teachers on October 15th and will be open until November 21st. The assessment is only 3-4 priority standards and six questions.. For K-2, the custom Waypoints will appear in the teachers’ to-do lists on the dashboard when they log in (starting 10/15). They will be labeled Kinder Beginning of Year, 1st Beginning of Year, etc. Instructions.
Great job Summit (75%), La Pine Middle (84%), Westside Village (56%) and Buckingham (52%)for the highest completion rates for this week. Elementary will have lower completion rates as they do not have k-2 completing the assessments until October 15th.
Class of 2025 Results are in! From thousands of college applications to exciting post-grad plans, the Class of 2025 kept busy shaping their futures last year. Using SchooLinks data, we are excited to share a snapshot of their accomplishments and next steps. 💙 Check out the full story here by Jess Calbreath: secure.smore.com/n/f3z05
From Scott and Kayla in Safety: Please take a moment to review this document reminding you of the protocol for calling 8888.
From Tami Pike, Director of Health Services:
First Aid CPR Certification Required for Medication Administration
Per Administrative Policy JHCD-AP, staff who administer medication must hold current First Aid and CPR certification. Bend-La Pine Schools provides free CPR/First Aid certification and renewal training for all staff. The course includes a 4-hour online component followed by a 20-minute in-person skills check. Instructions for registering for the training can be found here.
For any questions regarding CPR/First Aid training, please contact nurse Oliver Tatom by phone at 541-355-6922 or email at [email protected]
From Kinsey – Office of Policy and Advocacy:
Dignity and Belonging: Community Engagement
Here is the Bingo card from our leadership meeting. Please keep a copy throughout the year that you cross out as you go.
This spring, completed copies will go into our raffle for some great prizes! We will share the number of leaders from each school/dept who completed the full Bingo, and celebrate the creative ways your team engaged with the community in this process.
Community Visit #1: The Giving Plate sign-up. The dates for this tour/visit are coming up, so sign up soon! Here is our home visit guidance. Feel free to share with staff as applicable, and ask your Liaison or FAN Advocate if you can join their next visit.
Election Season and Political Topics – Action Item: Please share this principal/supervisor message with your staff:
Dear staff — As election season approaches, this is a good time to revisit our expectations around political topics in our school and workplace. While this November may not bring the same intensity as a presidential election year, maintaining neutrality in our professional capacity remains essential.
Here is our policy around staff engaging in political activities. This is a great tool outlining boundaries and appropriate use of district equipment, time, and resources in relation to election topics. District leadership asks that each employee read the information in those links carefully. Let me know if you have any questions or need clarification.
In addition, we know students may initiate conversations about politics, candidates, or ballot measures. To help navigate these moments: Here are 10 steps for teachers to prepare, navigate, and respond to sensitive discourse. Our district Advocacy Coaches are also available to support you in facilitating respectful and balanced discussions.
From Ryan in Human Resources
Quick Reminder: Check Your UKG To-Do List
Please take a moment this week to log into UKG and check your To-Do list. Pending Personnel Actions (PAs) can hold up key processes like pay changes and assignment updates if they’re not approved in a timely manner.
Regularly reviewing your To-Do list, even when you don’t expect anything pending, helps keep workflows moving smoothly and ensures your employees are set up for success without delay.
This should be done regularly, but is particularly important on and around the Payroll cutoff dates, which can be found on the Portal on the Payroll page.
If you have any questions about what’s showing in your queue or how to clear an item, reach out to [email protected] for support.
Thank you for helping us keep things running efficiently.
Extra Duty Procedures for 2025–26
We have a number of new Extra Duty positions this year and want to make sure everyone understands the procedures for tracking, and maintaining these roles. The details below outline how schools should handle placements for the new positions, updates to existing roles, and ongoing expectations for managing extra duty assignments.
Newly Bargained Positions (Effective 25/26)
K–12 Green Team Advisor – Range F
Elementary Music Director – Range E
Elementary Yearbook Coordinator – Range E
Elementary Battle of the Books Coordinator – Range E
High School Link Crew
Placement Process for 25/26
If someone is already performing the duties of one of these new positions, please email [email protected] to have the stipend assigned no application needed this year.
If no one is currently performing the duties of these positions, they must be filled through a competitive process – posting, interviewing, and hiring.
Future changes will follow the standard extra duty process: the current person resigns, the school requests a posting, and HR processes the hire.
Each school is allocated 1 FTE per position.
Ongoing Procedures and Reminders
Start Date: All year-round extra duty positions begin on September 1; complete hires before this date to avoid prorating.
Automatic Roll-Forward: Positions continue year to year unless HR is notified that duties have ended.
Annual Verification: Each August, HR will request confirmation of who will continue in each role.
Step Advancement: Each year an employee holds the same position, they move one step on the extra duty salary schedule.
Google Docs Tracking
All MS and HS Extra Duty positions are tracked on a view-only shared Google Doc so schools can see current assignments.
If someone is missing or incorrectly listed, email [email protected]; payment accuracy depends on these records.
Updates to Existing Positions
High School Musical Directors: Formerly offered every other year, this stipend is now available annually when a musical is produced. Total FTE remains 2.0 per school.
HS/MS Band, Orchestra, Choir, and Drama: Stipends are no longer tied to certified FTE. Staff offering the full complement of after-hours performances receive the full 1.0 FTE stipend per school.
Thought I would take a moment to remind you that the due date for SLGG’s is quickly approaching. (October 15, 2025)
Probationary and temporary certified staff and Contact staff ON & OFF the evaluation cycle should be completing this task.
Goal Setting & Evaluation Tools:
Student Learning Growth Goals (SLGGs) (ONLY Teacher, SPED Teachers, and Teacher Librarians- all other specialists use alternate goal-setting plan):
SLGG google form – Staff can either make a digital copy to complete or they can print and fill out a hard copy. These will need to be uploaded to your site’s certified folder in the Google Drive.
Please let Jessica Lamay (HR Tech) and I know if you need any assistance with your evaluation google doc. We are here to support you. Thank you!
From McScott in IT
Cyber October IT update-
Just who is Bend-La Pine IT and what is the best way to get a hold of them? There are 30 people who work in the basement of the Education Center who represent our IT team. The document linked here shows you a little bit about what each person does and how best to reach them.
Action Items
Turn in Leave sheets on Friday, 10/10
Make time at a staff meeting for teachers to share a nugget from END
Check out the Tier 2 and 3 learning from counselors/SSCs and make sure your Waypoints assessments are completed on time
Review 8888 protocol document
Check to see that you meet CPR/First Aid qualifications
Play Bingo and Sign up for a community visit or home visit
Share the election message from you to your staff (pre-made in Kinsey’s section)
Check the UKG “To-do” section and do it
Read all about the Extra Duty positions. Make sure you follow the procedures for someone already in the role or hiring someone new
Complete SLGGs meetings by October 15.
Important Dates
October 12: Timesheets due
October 14: PLCs 1 and 2, 3:00-4:30 at (1 @ Rosland and Phly Like Canadians @ Lava Ridge)
October 15: SLGGs are due by today
October 16: TAG Admin ICCL 3:30 – 5:30 Education Center Board Room
October 21: PLCs 3 and 4, 3:00 – 4:30. (PL C3PO @ Silver Rail and We Are the Winners @ La Pine)
October 22: Elementary Safety Cadre 1:15 – 3:45 at Silver Rail Elementary
October 29: Teacher work day (8 hrs) Conf. (4 hrs.) Admin will have a ½ day Amplify training on this date. (Half in the morning and half in afternoon–check your calendar invite)
October 30: Parent Teacher Conferences
October 31: No School and School Improvement Plans are due today.
And finally… Congratulations to our Next Duck Drawing winner Deborah Buduan, !
Deborah is in her third year with Bend-La Pine Schools, in the role of Principal of Rosland Elementary, one of the two elementary schools located in La Pine. If you want to see Deborah’s eyes light up, just start talking about data, as she loves meaningful and informative data that can be used to celebrate growth and identify next steps to progress the learning. The rockets are currently working through the book, Driven by Data 2.0 with some great success. Want to know more? Reach out to Deborah!
