The first day of school varies by grade level. Grades 1-6 and grade 9 start Wednesday, September 7. Grades 7-8 and 10-12 start Thursday, September 8. (Note: This is a change in practice for middle school start days, in order to give sixth-graders a full day of orientation.) Families of kindergartners should watch for a communication from their schools about their start date, which will be Sept. 7 or Sept. 8.

Schools release 90 minutes early on Wednesdays (starting Sept. 14) for staff professional development time. Start and end times for our choice option schools are slightly modified and will be communicated directly to families.

Thanks to pandemic-related funding, Bend-La Pine Schools was able to serve millions of free meals to students during the past two years. In the fall of 2022, Nutrition Services will return to more typical meal practices and meals will not automatically be free to all. Students attending one of the following community eligibility provision schools automatically qualify for free meals: Bear Creek Elementary, Ensworth Elementary, Pilot Butte Middle, Bend Tech Academy at Marshall, Three Rivers School, La Pine Elementary, La Pine Middle, La Pine High and Rosland Elementary. Families at other schools may still access free meals by filling out a free and reduced application with new income guidelines at bls.fyi/meals. Income guidelines have expanded, so all families are encouraged to apply.

Schools will provide all necessary basic supplies for students. Families are welcome to provide personal items for students (backpacks, water bottles, headphones, lunch boxes, etc.). If your family needs help securing a personal item, reach out to your school’s FAN advocate for support (advocates are available at the end of August). For specific questions, reach out to your school’s main offices. School offices are now open.

The school year will start the way we ended, continuing our layered mitigation strategies, which include recommended one-way masking. Additional layered COVID mitigation strategies will be added as necessary if outbreaks occur.

Reminder for families that during regular school hours, all visitors to schools must report directly to the school office of the school to obtain permission to visit. All visitors must report to the school office and sign in and out through the visitor management system. Learn more about visitor policy.

Does your student plan to ride the bus this fall? If so, make sure to register them for transportation as soon as possible. This year, only students who are registered will be able to ride the bus (this includes current bus riders as well as new riders). Please log into your ParentVUE account and use the Online Registration tool to walk you through the registration process. If you have questions about accessing your ParentVUE account, please refer to our Online Enrollment Information webpage for detailed information. For more information on transportation eligibility, please refer to the School Buses website for information and links to Bend-La Pine Schools policies.

Check out our at-a-glance calendar for the 2022-23 school year. Our annual Family Handbook & Calendars will also be mailed home to families, so watch for those in your mailbox.