The school levy approved for the May ballot seeks funding for unmet District needs. With passage of the levy in the May 21 election, the District would focus more resources on:

• Strengthening and adding Career Technical Education pathways
• Protecting and maintaining class sizes
• Recruiting and retaining teachers and support staff
  
• Increasing advanced academic offerings for students
  
• Improving support systems for struggling students
  
• Enhancing elective offerings, including in music, art, technology, business, world languages
  

Calculate your estimated levy tax on our website! View the sample Deschutes County property tax statement and plug your assessed property value into our calculator.

Levy information: https://bls.fyi/levy

The choice option school lottery application deadline for kindergarten and Dual Immersion is Friday, March 22. Find the choice lottery enrollment application in ParentVUE.

IMPORTANT: Entry into the Choice Options lottery for kindergarten and Dual Immersion both require a current enrollment into Bend-La Pine Schools for the school year requested. The 2024-25 school year is open now.

Do you have all of your enrollment documents ready to go? Find the list here.

Discover the endless possibilities awaiting you at Oregon colleges! We're thrilled to extend a warm invitation to Bend-La Pine Schools’ College Information Night tonight, Wednesday, March 13, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. at Caldera High School. This event is designed for families and students in grades 10-11.

Below is an overview of the event:

• Informative presentation by BLS School Counseling and Oregon college representatives
  
• Mini-college fair with reps from all nine Oregon public universities, Central Oregon Community College, and community partners
  
• Opportunity to connect with BLS High School Counseling and School to Career reps from each school on preparing for college

Spanish interpretation will be provided throughout the event. We look forward to seeing you there as we continue to collaborate on this post high school planning journey!

In a continuing effort to promote safety for students traveling to and from school, the District will enforce a new rule prohibiting e-bikes and e-scooters on school property for anyone under age 16 this spring.

“We have seen growing numbers of underage riders bringing electric bikes and scooters to school, even as we’ve reminded students and families that state law prohibits those under 16 from operating these,” Superintendent Steven Cook said. “Stakeholders and our community have asked for stronger measures to promote the safety of riders and the pedestrians who share sidewalks and pathways with them. We’re ready to do what we can to accomplish this.”

Middle schools in the District provided bike safety lessons earlier this school year and have shared safety resources with students and families. E-bike and e-scooter ridership among students under 16 has continued to be an issue, especially at our middle schools. This has resulted in some collisions leading to injuries, as well as many close calls reported to us from bus drivers and concerned community members.

A new District regulation states that those who operate bicycles, electric bicycles or electric scooters must follow Oregon motor vehicle and bike regulations and laws on school property. The rule also states, “E-bikes and E-scooters are prohibited on district property for persons under age 16.” This means the District will no longer allow any student under age 16 to bring an e-bike or e-scooter onto school property.

We are giving families time to arrange alternative transportation if their students are currently using, or plan to use, an e-bike or e-scooter to travel to and from school. Beginning April 8, administrators will contact students and parents/guardians about instances of violations of the e-bike/e-scooter rule. For repeated violations, the e-bike or e-scooter will be held at the school for the parent/guardian to pick up.

We have an important calendar update to share with Middle School families for our school conference week this spring. Wednesday, April 10, will be a NO SCHOOL day for middle school students, just as April 11 and 12 are scheduled NO SCHOOL days. Students in grades 6-8 will attend school April 8 and 9, and conferences with teachers will be held the evening of April 10, during the day on April 11, and the evening of April 11.

Elementary students already have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off during the April conference week, and now middle school students have the same three days off. This change, consistent with the recent collective bargaining agreement negotiated with the association representing our certified staff, provides teachers additional time to prepare for conferences with families.

Please update your calendars to reflect that April 10 is now a NO SCHOOL day for middle school students.

Pop quiz: Who serves 16,000+ meals every day?

Answer: the production kitchen at Bend-La Pine Schools!

Emily Kirk from Central Oregon Daily visited Executive Chef Tracie Surgeon for a tour of the production kitchen at Bend Senior High where meals are prepared for our 33 schools. Bon Appétit!

Our first Life and Career Readiness Night was a smash hit last week, with over 400 students and family members showing up at Caldera High School to learn about opportunities before and after graduation. This was a big night, exposing students to college and trade school options, regional employers, educational travel, internships, volunteer opportunities and so much more.

Thank you to all the programs that presented information and everyone who came to learn more about the world that awaits our students. We can’t wait to do it again!

Join us for SafetyNet Family Night at your neighboring middle school for an internet safety training and free dinner.

The two-hour training provided by the KIDS Center covers internet safety, social media threats, cyberbullying, hackers and scammers, identity theft, and more. Learn how technology can be used in a safe and positive way.

Mark your calendar! All events begin at 5:30 p.m.

• April 4 - La Pine Middle School
  
• April 25 - High Desert Middle School
  
• May 2 - Realms Middle School
  
• May 9 - Westside Village K-8
  
• May 16 - Three Rivers K-8

Learn more and register today.

Do you have a question or comment about students' use of technology in Bend-La Pine Schools? Let us know! Go here to leave your comment or question.

Bend-La Pine students made a strong showing at February’s state wrestling tournament at Portland's Memorial Coliseum! We continue the celebration for the following champions:

La Pine High School finished with seven state placers!

1st Place for Riley Flack, Devon Kerr, and Landyn Philpott

Tag DeLucs (2nd), Cache Montgomery (3rd), Riley Allison (3rd), Bowen Johnson (6th)

Mountain View finished with five state placers.

1st Place for Aiden Nelmes, Scout Santos, Jackson Potts

Brady Johns (2nd), Clayton Waldron (6th)

The Cougars finished 6th overall as a team.

Bend Senior High walked away with four champions.

1st place State Champion Leif Larwin

Eric Larwin (2nd), Uriel Valdez (3rd), Jessie McIver (3rd)

Read more and congratulate all of our athletes!

Congratulations to the 2024 Oregon State 5A Boys Basketball Champions - our Summit Storm! It doesn't get much more exciting than this.

The Board of Directors for Bend-La Pine Schools will hold its next board budget committee meeting on Tuesday, April 9 at 4:00 p.m. at the Education Center, 520 NW Wall Street in Bend. The school board meeting follows at 5:30 p.m.

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.