Special EDge
November 13th, 2025
January 15, 2026
A Short Note
“We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.” Martin Luther King Jr in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” in 1963.
This quote reminds me of the courage in our work. Doing right sometimes means slowing down to truly see a student, speaking up when something isn’t working, or persistently pushing systems to be more inclusive. You all consistently create meaningful impact—creating opportunities, dignity, and belonging for students who rely on adults to act with intention. Your work embodies Dr. King’s message.
STAS and SIRC
Reminder:
This guidance outlines when and how school psychologists should participate in STAS and SIRC processes at the middle and high schools. The purpose is to streamline communication, ensure teams include the right expertise, and support safe, equitable decision-making for students.
Culture of Care Training Opportunity
COREN's Culture of Care team has 2 opportunities in February with space and sub coverage now available:
2/5/26 Restorative Conferencing (Tier III)
- Schedule: Thursday, February 5th, 2026 (9:30am-1:30pm)
- Location: Becky Johnson Community Center, Redmond (In person)
- Substitute coverage provided by COREN for this session.
2/26/26 Restorative Conference Simulation (Tier III)
- Schedule: Thursday, February 26th 2026 (12:30pm-4:00pm)
- Location: Becky Johnson Community Center, Redmond (In person)
- Substitute coverage provided by COREN for this session.
Our Occupational Therapist Team
As we continue to strengthen inclusive, student-centered practices across our schools, we encourage you to become more familiar with the role of school-based Occupational Therapists (OTs). OTs are key partners in supporting student access, regulation, and participation in learning and daily school routines. Reviewing the attached document will provide helpful context on how OTs support students, staff, and school-wide systems.
For full details on OT roles and responsibilities, please refer to the Bend-La Pine Schools Occupational Therapist Essential Roles and Responsibilities document. Not sure who your building’s Occupational Therapist is? Click [HERE] to find your assigned OT.
NEW! OT Screening Tool
Within an MTSS framework, screening helps identify students who may benefit from targeted supports early, allowing Occupational Therapists to match interventions to demonstrated needs rather than waiting for significant challenges to emerge. Using screener data, OTs collaborate with school teams to design timely, personalized interventions—such as hands-on support, consultation, accommodations, and staff training—that improve access, participation, and overall emotional, physical, and mental well-being for students across tiers. Moving forward, if concerns persist after interventions have been provided, school teams will need to complete a short screener via Smartsheet for the OT team to review to support next steps and decision-making. To access the screener, please consult with the OT assigned to your site.
HDESD Learning Labs!
Did you know that HDESD offers this Learning Lab website? It has many, many printable resources and even a video library!
Take a look at this video about how to create a schedule in ChoiceWorks!
Welcome back to Campus Kudos, where we will be celebrating ways that a school’s Student Services team has been working to promote inclusion, belonging for students, and working as a team to support each other. Stay tuned each week to see which school is highlighted and what kinds of amazing work they are doing to support students.
This week we are celebrating Highland Magnet and Summit High School!
HIGHLAND MAGNET
The team at Highland easily works with one another. They're constantly in communication and working together to problem solve, where they're always able to find creative solutions to problems. At Highland, no one ever has to tackle a tricky situation alone. This team is kind, supportive, and fun!
Highland's Storyline culminations are something that every student participates in! It's important to every staff member that each student has something meaningful to share with the community and their families.
SUMMIT HIGH SCHOOL
At Summit, the peer mentor program connects students in meaningful ways to their gen ed peers. They have true connections that fuel interaction. We are implementing co-teaching in our language arts classes to serve student needs for specialized instruction in the gen ed setting. Our coffee shop is a hub for the school. Again, there are daily interactions that are meaningful and grounded in authentic interaction.
Students have visited Healing Reins, swim lessons at Juniper, field trips and internships to Thump to learn coffee shop skills, placement in the St. Charles rotations for real-world work experience, and outings to Sparrow Bakery to connect in our community.
In addition, iIntentional department meetings that are structured to target celebrations, individual needs, and team support. Admin participates fully to be able to provide targeted and individualized support.
Student Services Launchpad
Have you ever wanted all of the most important Student Services links all in one place?? You’re in luck! Look at our new Student Services Launchpad for tons of helpful links. We recommend that you bookmark this page or add a shortcut to your Drive for easy access!
Important Dates and Upcoming Events
- January 19: Martin Luther King Jr. Day - No School
- January 21: Educator Network Day
- January 28: Teacher Directed SIW
- January 30: End of Semester - No Students
- February 4: Building Directed SIW
- February 11: Job Alike SIW
- February 18: Teacher Directed SIW
- February 25: Building Directed SIW
- February 27: CPI Initial Training
- March 10: CPI Refresher Training
- May 12: CPI Refresher Training
*CPI Registration: Click HERE
Action Items
- Review STAS and SIRC processes around school psychologist involvement (middle and high school)
- Read more about our OTs and Processes!
- Check out the Learning Labs
- Check out the incredible work of teams in Campus Kudos!
- Utilize the Student Services Launchpad
- Save the Date for upcoming events
Contributions to the Blog
Do you have something you'd like added to the blog? Please reach out to Sara Young at sara.young@bend.k12.or.us if you'd like to share something!
Previous Blogs
Previous Special EDge Student Services Blogs: