Staff Talk
A Newsletter for Beaverton School District Employees
Cybersecurity Update - Non-BSD Email Banner
In an effort to increase security awareness and to assist staff with spotting fraudulent phishing emails, the I.T. Department will add a banner to all external emails beginning Wednesday, September 19, 2018. If you see this banner, do not open links or attachments unless you are sure they are safe.
The banner, shown above, indicates “This is from a Non-BSD Email address.” All emails from an external email address will receive the banner. The banner will also help with senders trying to mimic a BSD Account and trick users into clicking the link. The banner indicates that this is not in fact from an internal sender although it is designed to look like it.
Some legitimate emails will also include the banner. It is designed to remind us to take a few seconds and think about:
- Whether or not a sender is trusted
- If you are/were expecting this communication
- If the sender may be trying to get us to give up information that is not appropriate
NOTE: One example of emails that may be legitimate and will always include the banner are notifications and links shared from Google Drive. A good rule with Google Drive sharing is to not click the link included in the email unless the individual has told you directly that they will be sending the invitation. The best practice is to login to Google Drive and search for the document by using the "Shared With Me" link on the left.
A second type of banner that will be activated on Wednesday, September 19, 2018, will alert users to spoofed email addresses. This is a higher level warning that indicates a system or person is making an email look like it is coming from our own system.
These two banners are meant to act as a warning to users. If in doubt, do not click or open any links or attachments.
As the District raises awareness around cybersecurity, the I.T. Department will continue to provide tools and education that can help us all protect the critical student and staff data maintained in our systems.
For more information about the Email Banners, including a Frequently Asked Questions, please visit the Email Banners webpage on the Staff Intranet.
Helpful I.T. Information and Updates
- For more information about Cybersecurity and Phishing scams, please visit the IT Security and Data Privacy page on the Staff Intranet.
- To stay up-to-date with all IT changes and updates, please bookmark the IT Changes page on the Staff Intranet.
- There is now a page on the IT intranet site that houses IT Procedures and Guidelines. The IT Department will continue to add and formalized guidelines to this page.
Smore Resources for School Newsletters and Social Media
Check it out!
https://www.smore.com/rg6su
SafeOregon Tipline
School Safety is a Priority!
Maintaining a safe school environment is a priority of the Beaverton School District. Many factors are critical to fostering a “Safe School Climate.” A critical ingredient in creating a safer school environment is classroom response to an incident at school. Weather events, fire, accidents, intruders and other threats to student safety are scenarios that are planned and trained for by students, teachers, staff and administration, in partnership with our first responders.
The Beaverton School District, in collaboration with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO), Beaverton Police (BPD) and Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue (TVFR), has implemented the Standard Response Protocol (SRP).
The SRP is not based on one individual possible scenario but on the response to any given scenario. One large benefit of the SRP is the standard language used by all responders; this includes students, parents, staff and first responders. The protocol also allows for a predictable series of actions as an event unfolds.
The SRP is based upon four actions: Lockout, Lockdown, Evacuate and Shelter. Each has specific staff and student directives that are unique to the action.
Do you know the difference between a Lockout and a Lockdown? Watch the following video to find out!
2018-2019 School Office Hours - Beginning October 8
To improve consistency across the District and ensure access for our community, the Superintendent's Cabinet has determined consistent hours for all schools will go into effect Monday, October 8, 2018.
School Office Hours District-wide will be as follows:
- Early Start Elementary - 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Late Start Elementary - 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
- Middle Schools - 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
- High School and Options - 7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Be Here. Get There. Attendance Campaign
We launched a District-wide attendance campaign last month called “Be Here. Get There.” to raise awareness about the impact of absences on student achievement and engagement. ODE plans to release its “Every Day Matters” attendance campaign sometime this school year and we will evaluate how to integrate their campaign with ours.
We have developed a toolkit including a logo, newsletter article, social media graphics and posts located on the Attendance Campaign page off of the Communications & Community Involvement staff intranet page. You can find all of these assets there, available to download.
Attendance Matters Infographic
Nondiscrimination Statement Update
"The District prohibits discrimination and harassment based on any basis protected by law, including but not limited to, an individual's actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national or ethnic origin, marital status, age, mental or physical disability, pregnancy, familial status, economic status, veteran status, or because of a perceived or actual association with any other persons within these protected classes."
The District letterhead with Goals & Pillars has been updated on the Communications & Community Involvement Department Intranet page.
District seeks volunteers to serve on Budget Committee
Zone 3: Bonny Slope, Cedar Mill, Findley, Ridgewood, Terra Linda, and West Tualatin View elementary schools, Cedar Park Middle School, and Sunset High School High School.
Zone 5: Elmonica, McKinley elementary schools, Five Oaks Middle School, Health & Science School, Bridges Academy, Early College PCC, Merlo Station and Hope Chinese Charter School.
Zone 6: Cooper Mountain, Hiteon, Nancy Ryles, Scholls Heights and Sexton Mountain elementary schools, Conestoga and Highland Park middle schools and Mountainside High School.
Read more...
Week 3 courses can also be filtered by job role and content area for staff not interested in a specific pathway. The hope is that all staff will more easily find courses that are applicable to their job and professional learning goals.
Check out the continuously updated Week 3 page on TeacherSource to choose a pathway, role, or content filter to find relevant professional learning.
BEF Phone-a-thon - October 9-17
Between October 9-17, hundreds of BSD high school students and community volunteers will telephone Beaverton residents during the 20th Beaverton Education Foundation’s annual Phone-a-thon, requesting donations to fund critical classroom, after-school, and summer programs across our District. Programs funded by BEF include Safe and Sound for Student Success (S4), Camp Achieve, Innovation Exposition 18 (iX18), and Beaverton’s Choice, a crowdfunding platform to support BSD teacher innovation and hands-on academic programs for Beaverton students.
Last school year Beaverton Education Foundation’s 3,000 donors helped fund 96 programs and activities that reached 22,261 students at all 53 BSD schools. Our goal this year is to fund 130 projects and reach 30,000 students in all 53 schools, in honor of our 30th anniversary supporting inspiration, innovation and success. The partnership between BEF and BSD is vital and ensures that thousands of students benefit from these important hands-on projects and programs, all created by fellow Beaverton educators, for Beaverton students.
Costs of our phone-a-thon are underwritten by our generous sponsors, so that donors’ tax-deductible donations can help more Beaverton kids. BEF thanks them for their support.
For additional information or to learn how to apply for Beaverton’s Choice funding, visit our website at www.beavertonEDfoundation.org
Beaverton's Choice
All Beaverton School District staff members, at all locations, are encouraged to apply for a Beaverton’s Choice campaign of $500-$2,500, to support student-engaged projects that enrich learning and encourage classroom innovation in any content area.
Creating a project is a simple online process, get started today!
TOSA Camp 2018
District TOSA's including content area, multi-language, instructional innovation, and mentors gathered to share their work in progress, plans for the coming year, and coordinated strategies to leverage their work across the District. "At the root of why we planned this event for all of the TOSAs was a desire to a need to try to make things as clear and concise for the teachers we work with District-wide," says Sarah Langton, TOSA - Digital Curriculum Specialist. "If we can connect some of our dots that will hopefully make things easier to implement in the classroom."
Feedback from attendees included:
- "Meeting together like this was invaluable. The Science sessions will help me support Science and Math teachers better around language. Getting to handle tech and seeing how tech integrates into content was powerful."
- "Meeting everyone and finding out about the cool things going on in the District was really helpful. I have several contacts that I feel like I can reach out to with questions or to get ideas. It helped me to see how passionate each person is about their job and to realize that we all have the same end goal of impacting student learning."
Southridge HS Marching Band #1 Band at Beaverton Celebration Parade
Beaverton School District earns Meritorious Budget Award
Participants submit their applications and budget documents to a panel of school financial professionals who review the materials for compliance with the MBA Criteria Checklist and other requirements and provide expert feedback that districts can use to improve their budget documents. Districts that successfully demonstrate they have met the necessary program requirements may earn either the MBA or Pathway to the MBA, an introductory program that allows districts to ease into full MBA compliance.
This is the seventh year in a row the District has received this recognition. This award reflects the District’s commitment to sound fiscal management and budgetary policies.
5th Grader takes on the Oregon Statewide Spelling Bee
Some of the tough words that Sree spelled correctly were "traipsed", "phytoplankton", "kinkajou", and "gloaming."
Congratulations, Sree!
School Board Business Meeting
Monday, September 24, 2018
6:30 p.m.
District Administration Office
16550 SW Merlo Rd.
Beaverton, 97003
Bond Accountability Committee Meeting
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Hazeldale Elementary
Library
20080 SW Farmington Rd
Beaverton 97007
Construction Updates
Beaverton School District
The Beaverton School District prohibits discrimination and harassment based on any basis protected by law, including but not limited to, an individual’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national or ethnic origin, marital status, age, mental or physical disability, pregnancy, familial status, economic status, veteran status, or because of a perceived or actual association with any other persons within these protected classes. Policy AC Nondiscrimination
Email: melissa_larson@beaverton.k12.or.us
Website: www.beaverton.k12.or.us
Location: 16550 SW Merlo Rd, Beaverton, OR, United States
Phone: 503-356-4360
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeavertonSchoolDistrict
Twitter: @beavertonSD