Staff Spotlight

As we approach Thanksgiving week break, I am filled with gratitude. For our students, for our educators, for our support staff, and for our leadership team – and for the education this Bend-La Pine Schools team provides to our community’s children.

As a district we have a shared mission – to educate thriving students – and four goals that center our work together.

• Students are engaged and develop a strong academic foundation

• Students have a passion, purpose and plan for their future

• Students, families, and staff experience wellness, inclusion, and belonging in our schools

• Operational systems align to support an academically effective and inclusive organization

I am thankful for our elementary teachers work adopting and implementing the new foundational skills curriculum based on the science of reading, our secondary ELA teachers who vetted and selected new recommended literature sets to add to our canon, and teachers across grades and subjects for their work identifying “power standards” to support the shift to mastery-based and standards-based grading. These are exciting steps in supporting the engagement and achievement of our students. And the energy of staff in these work sessions was palpable.

I am thankful for the work happening in our new department of Life and Career Readiness, to ensure students complete high school and have “full choice” futures. The focus on CTE brings the workplace into our classrooms, supporting career pathways. And our honors diploma now includes multiple options for capstone work – AP, IB, DI, and CTE.

I am thankful for the deep work of making our schools places where all can experience belonging. From increased common behavior expectations, to translation and translators, to new family liaisons, to bias lessons and incident reporting, to our SEL curriculum – we are taking major steps in this direction. It can be difficult work and I am heartened by all who have embraced and engaged in the process.

Finally, I am beyond thankful for all those in support roles and leadership roles that create the spaces and conditions for students and staff to learn and thrive. From keeping student records to managing payroll, preparing healthy meals to maintaining welcoming facilities, getting children to and from school to getting them outfitted with iPads, building new buildings to building communications for the community, ensuring safety to supporting physical and mental health – our support team does it all. And across each of these areas – and the academic, social, and emotional ones above – I am thankful for the truly inspiring team of leaders at the helm.

During this season of gratitude as you watch our students learn and grow, I hope you do so with pride for all you have done to shape each one of them. And I hope you do so knowing that the Board of Directors sees your work, and deeply, deeply appreciates it. #thankful

Friday, November 17 is College and Career Day in Bend-La Pine Schools. We want 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. We hope to see you sporting college colors or wearing attire that showcase career opportunities. Let's get creative!

Bend-La Pine Education Foundation and Mt. Bachelor Ski for Schools are offering $50 lift tickets for Bend-La Pine district staff TODAY ONLY from 2:30 to 5 p.m. After that, this offer opens to the public. Only 500 tickets are available. Valid for one day of skiing/snowboarding between March 1 and May 26, 2024. Proceeds benefit the foundation's Activity Fee Scholarships.

Purchase tickets at https://shop.mtbachelor.com/s/lift_tickets/single-day-tickets-2/p/ski-for-schools-lift-ticket

Bend Senior High School and school district staff assembled Wednesday to celebrate the career of longtime School Resource Officer Amy Ward, who is retiring today. They gave her a standing ovation, presented her a Bend Senior High School flag that flew over the school below the U.S. flag, and celebrated with donuts. Officer Ward started at BSHS in 2008. She’s the longest-serving SRO in Bend Police Department history.

“The impact you have made on school culture has been amazing," Principal Chris Reese said, thanking Amy for keeping Lava Bears safe all these years. “You are really, really special. ... You are always welcome here.”

Bend Police Sgt. Joe Pacheco, who oversees the department’s SROs, said Amy’s reputation is well known across the district. “They know Amy. And they know her because of her love and her dedication, and the relationship she has built," he said.

Amy told those gathered, “I would not be a police officer right now if I hadn’t had this opportunity.” She added, “I’m leaving with my humanity intact, with my hope intact, with just love in my heart. … It’s really all because of this gig, this job. There’s nothing like in the police department.”

Thank you, Officer Amy Ward, for everything you have given Bend Senior High School and our larger community. Enjoy your retirement!

We are thrilled to celebrate four staff members who applied for and received funding to work on several projects in partnership with Oregon State University and Oregon Department of Education this year.

Accelerating Learning in K-8 Project: The Equitable Accelerated Learning Program will support hundreds of teachers and teacher leaders as they spearhead efforts to identify and help reverse inequities exacerbated by the pandemic. Participants will identify problems of practice and co-design practical solutions to support teaching and learning for all students, especially multilingual learners and students experiencing disabilities.

Math Curriculum Review Team Project: This Accelerating Learning in K-8-funded project will provide essential collaborative learning opportunities for the Math Curriculum Review Team. Throughout the project, teachers will learn how to use math accessibility strategies to provide access to students, especially those who are multilingual learners and students who struggle with math.

Literacy Interventionist PLC Project: As often solitary positions in our elementary schools, interventionists often feel isolated from the peers they need the most for collaboration. This grant will provide space and time for all literacy interventionists to meet monthly to establish a Professional Learning Community where intervention teachers and instructional coaches share best practices and develop effective literacy intervention strategies. "By addressing our problems of practice, we aim to improve student outcomes, particularly for those in Tier 2 literacy intervention," Lindsley explained.

Kindergarten Innovation and Design Project: Many students in kindergarten are emerging multilingual learners and/or navigating poverty. There is a huge divide between students who have access to preschool and early learning experiences and those who don't. This creates an uneven playing field as students enter kindergarten, both in academics and in social-emotional development. In addition, the District has moved to an inclusion model, and teachers need support in differentiating instruction and creating a classroom culture of belonging for students experiencing disabilities. Our goal is to support teachers in making students' first experiences with school positive and rewarding.

Data Literacy for All Project: Twelve middle school teachers specializing in math, science, and social science are ready to dive into the "Data Literacy for All" project, where they will collaborate to tackle the real-world problem of practice centered around data literacy. Our mission? To empower multi-language learners and students with disabilities by addressing inequities head-on. The focus of this project lies in creating a unit of lessons designed in alignment with Oregon's Middle School Math, Science, and Social Science standards. These lessons will showcase the power of data in exposing disparities, offering opportunities, and nurturing critical thinking skills. We're turning students into investigators, encouraging them to explore and interpret data as they connect with the world around them.

Of our 43 National Board Certified Teachers, 19 are at the elementary level and 24 are in secondary education. Several serve in district, local or state leadership roles.

“The difference that Board-certified teachers make in our school district is profound, especially for our students from low-income families and living in unstable housing," Superintendent Steve Cook said. "Policies that would open doors for more educators to become certified would ensure that every student can learn from a highly effective teacher.”

Do you know a staff member, student or community member who has gone above and beyond to lift up others and improve our school communities? We would love to consider them for our Champion for Students Award presented by Superintendent Cook and our Board of Directors.

Bradley Warkentin, former head custodian and longtime Bend-La Pine Schools employee, passed away October 9 after a brief battle with cancer.

In his 30-plus years with the District, Brad worked as head custodian in several elementary schools, most recently at Highland Magnet School at Kenwood. His time spent at the elementary schools, as we would say, made him a “silly heart” with the kids.

"He loved the kids, and they loved him," his obituary noted. "He hoped to make a difference in their lives, at least add a spring in their step and a smile for the day."

A celebration of life was held November 11 at Highland school.

Looking for some Canvas help? Resources for student services? Office staff essentials? You can find a host of handy tools, tips and resources at the bottom of our Staff Portal website. There's so much to explore... check it out!

The Board of Directors for Bend-La Pine Schools will hold its next board meetings on Tuesday, December 12 and Tuesday, January 9, both at 5:30 p.m. at the Education Center, 520 NW Wall St.

For information about board members, meetings and agendas, please visit our School Board page.

Are you curious which district policies and regulations are currently under review? To see proposed changes and give feedback on new language, click here.