Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School

Hey Silver Eagles - Let's do some E Learning on Wednesday! Looks like pretty heavy snow across the Bug O Nay Ge Shig region, maybe with some rain and ice in the mix. Stay safe out there, and we will see everyone on Thursday morning. E Learning for Wednesday, February 18th.

The Bugonaygeshig School Board will have their regular February meeting on Tuesday, February 17th at 4:30pm. This is rescheduled from Thursday, February 12th.

Aaniin Bugonaygeshig Families & Community Members! Today has been a good day at school! We started with everyone together in the gym with the drum. Thoughtful words were offered, smudging happened, and it all got our day started in a good way. We have a full driving staff, so afterschool activities are on track. There are lots of 50th anniversary t-shirts being worn, and we had chicken strips for lunch. A lot of people who were ill earlier this week have recovered. Altogether, it's a good day to be a Silver Eagle!

Alright....last post for the night. We need to adjust for tomorrow, but I want to be clear about why. Our core Student Support Team had discussion, and we want to roll with a good day at school tomorrow. However, we know we need a strong day from our staff, and right now we have half our driving staff down with flu, 4-5 teachers sick with any of the numerous bugs going around, and some of our support staff who also won't be in. It's a bummer, but the right decision is to keep everyone home tomorrow and let the Bugonaygeshig staff recover and come back strong on Thursday. What happened today was sad for all involved, and we want to be there for our kids as they come back to school. We appreciate your patience as we give a minute for our awesome school-wide staff a chance to heal from whatever is ailing them tonight. There will be no school on Wednesday, February 11th. But we are already looking forward to Thursday, Silver Eagles!!!! If you've got your 50th Anniversary shirt, let's wear 'em on Thursday!

Bug O Nay Ge Shig Families & Community Members – Today our school went through a hard thing, and we want to share facts with our families and with everyone who feels the Bugonaygeshig School is an important place for Leech Lake and Native youth. Before we get to the facts, I want to recognize that several staff members were truly great today. In the face of a stressful situation, they responded swiftly but calmly, keeping safety the top priority, and that stressful situation was quickly resolved and our students were kept safe. The facts: • Around 1:10pm today a staff member received an anonymous tip that a student in attendance may be carrying a firearm. • Within a few minutes the student and some peers were located and then isolated in a private space with staff members, law enforcement was also notified of the situation and asked to respond. • A search located an unloaded firearm, which was immediately taken into possession and secured by school staff. • A “Yellow Lockdown” was initiated, which means students would stay in their classrooms with doors locked, no one would be in hallways and no passes would be issued (as opposed to a “Red Lockdown” which would be used if there was an active threat that had not yet been neutralized). • We remained on Yellow Lockdown while LLPD did their work, and together decided that staging for a slightly earlier departure than normal was a good decision. • Dismissal was conducted at 2:45 rather than 3:20. • A staff meeting was held at 3:20 to share information. • Canine Law Enforcement were utilized to search the entire campus for any firearms or ammunition. At no point was any ammunition located. • Two students were taken into custody by law enforcement. The plans for moving forward: • The Bugonaygeshig School will run a regular school day on Wednesday, February 11th (as long as we have enough healthy drivers to run routes!). • We will prepare talking points for our elementary teachers and middle school/high school advisors to share information with students first thing in the morning. • Staff from Behavioral Health as well as our own Student Support Team will be available throughout the coming days to talk with any student who would like to talk. • Staff will continue to have a robust presence at our entries, our hallways, our cafeteria, and all the places students spend time throughout the day. • The investigation is ongoing, so we are sharing the information that we can at this time. Everyone is safe, and the Bugonaygeshig School will be ready for a good school day on Wednesday, February 11th. If any families choose to keep their student home tomorrow, that student’s absence will be exempted from their record.

Bug O Nay Ge Shig Families and Community Members - Our MS/HS is currently on a Yellow Lockdown. Students and staff are all safe, and there is not a threat to safety and security. Our school and LLPD are responding to an emergency situation, but we will say again, students and staff are safe. LLPD is onsite and working with School Staff to follow our protocol. Buses will load at 2:45, so you can expect students home approximately 35 minutes earlier than normal. After school activities have been canceled due to illness within our transportation staff and instructional staff, so we will be sending everyone home to get rest and come back tomorrow feeling better. The school will share additional information about the lockdown when we are able to do so. For now, the important point is that the Silver Eagle students are safe!

The flu bug is real this winter! We have one bus route we cant get covered tomorrow, so students on Terry's north Bemidji route wont have transportation on Tuesday, February 10th. Students will be exempted from attendance, and we apologize we cant make transportation happen. Multiple drivers are ill, and we are covering as best as we can. Dispatch will contact impacted families in the morning. Miigwech for your patience and understanding.

Aaniin Bugonaygeshig Families, Staff, and Community Members. Our school will be closed tomorrow, January 30th, along with other tribal entities in recognition of the massive work being done to support all those impacted by federal violence in Minnesota and beyond.

Phones and internet have been restored! Miigwech for your patience.

The phones and internet are not currently working at Bugonaygeshig. School is still on, and the problem is being addressed. Staff to report at 9:45, and school starts at 10:15!

Boozhoo Bug O Nay Ge Shig families and staff! Our region will get above zero degrees tomorrow, but the morning starts very cold and beyond our thresholds for a late start, so the Bugonaygeshig School will start 2 hours late on Monday, January 26th. Buses will be two hours later than normal, Staff should report at 9:45, and school will start at 10:15. See you in the morning, Silver Eagles. Miigwech.

We have school staff headed out soon with food boxes. If you have already reached out to the school, you are on our list and can expect delivery later this morning or early afternoon. If you haven't requested food but would like to, please call 218-407-3820 to get added to our list!

Boozhoo Bug O Nay Ge Shig! It's a cold but beautiful morning across Leech Lake, and as we head into a cold and unexpected long weekend away from school, we want to make food resources available to our families and students. If you are interested in a food box, here are some ways to make that happen: 1. Stop by the school anytime before noon today. We are set up on the elementary side and can bring a box right to your car. 2. Reach out to Petra (218-407-3820), Jamie, or your child's teacher to request a box. That will get you on a list and then we will work with you to coordinate delivery. We can't promise door to door delivery, but we will work with each family who requests food to make it happen!

Boozhoo! It's about to get cold, Silver Eagles! Here's the plan for the next two days: Thursday, January 22 and Friday, January 23 will be E Learning Days for Bug O Nay Ge Shig students. Our kids were prepped for this today, so they should have materials and instructions from their teacher for how to be counted as attending and how to get their work done. Teachers will be available throughout the school day hours to help when needed. Temperatures exceed our threshold for a late start tomorrow morning, but then they just continue to drop throughout the day. Safety has to be the top priority, so we will keep people home and warm. We are also working to make food boxes available to families due to this very cold and unexpectedly long weekend. We are working on plans to get food to various strategic locations throughout Leech Lake, probably from 10am-Noon on Thursday. We will post that info no later than 9am on Thursday morning, along with information for who to contact if you have questions. Staff, please watch your email for more information tonight. To all the Bug O Nay Ge Shig Community, stay safe and stay warm!

The fact that Bug O Nay Ge Shig will be 2 hours late tomorrow will make the wasboozoog happy, but our staff is bummed they will have to wait to see the kids! Roads are going to be tough with the new snow and wind, so buses will be 2 hours behind normal schedule on Friday, January 16th. See you mid morning, Silver Eagles!

Aaniin! We have very icy roads in various spots across the Bug O Nay Ge Shig region, so school will be on a 2 hour delay for Tuesday, January 13th. As of now, we plan to have buses picking up students 2 hours later than normal. School will start at 10:15, with staff reporting at 9:45. See you later this morning, Silver Eagles!

Our 21st Century Program is ready to offer a new set of activities starting on Tuesday, and we thought the Leech Lake community might like to know what we are up to! Starting Tuesday afternoon, kids will be choosing from some of these awesome choices: Ojibwe Language & Legos Basketball & Organized Games Reader's Theater Making Shoe Art Woodland Dancing Ojibwe Beading & Art Life Skills & Seasonal Science Good things are happening at the Bug O Nay Ge Shig School, and we are excited to see what our students produce!

Bug O Nay Ge Shig buses will be running on Friday, January 9th! Yay! Please note it is the first Friday of the month, which means it is an Early Release Friday. We are excited to have our students back, and we appreciate the patience of our school community. See ya'll in the morning, Silver Eagles!!!!!

For E-Learning information, you should be getting a phone call from your students' teacher. If you don't see a message from them on the live feed, or you haven't gotten a phone call, please call the school office at 218-665-3000 and ask to speak to your students' teacher Miigwech!

Here is a link to the 4th Grade E-Learning Documents.
https://bugonaygeshigmn.sites.thrillshare.com/documents/24079691