Jordan School District
DATE:
July 22, 2016
TO:
Principals
Special Education Teachers (Preschool and School-Age)
Speech-Language Pathologists
FROM:
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curric./Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director of Special Education
Julie Brown, Program Specialist
SUBJECT:
Extended Year Special Educator Stipends 2016-17
See attached memo and documents outlining changes for the 2016-17 school year.
See attachment for team and bay assignments.
DATE:
July 22, 2016
TO:
Elementary Principals
FROM:
Laura Finlinson, Administrator, Curriculum/Staff Development
Norman Emerson, Instructional Support Services/Fine Arts Consultant
SUBJECT:
JSD-Arts Representatives for 2016-17
This year we will continue to have two Arts Representatives (DARTS) represent your school throughout the 2016-17 school year. We have appreciated the work of past DARTS representatives and how they have helped strengthen arts instruction in your schools. Meaningful progress toward a greater level of arts integration has been made, and we wish this to continue.
The newly revised Utah Fine Arts Core Standards will be the focus of our JSD-Arts work this year. The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) adopted the final revision on April 15, 2016. The USBE designated the 2016-2017 school year for partial implementation with full implementation in the 2017-2018 school year. It is important that teachers become aware of the changes in the Fine Arts Core Standards.
Please assign at least two teachers to serve as your school’s DARTS representatives by either selecting a grade-level team, or two (or more) teachers from different grade levels. The DARTS representatives will meet once a month for two hours to learn and collaborate. Teachers will be paid at the inservice rate.
Please provide the names of your choices for your JSD-Arts Team for the 2016-17 school year by September 2, 2016.
Please fill out and return the information below (or send via email) to Verlene Jensen in the Instructional Support Services Department.
School:______________________________________________________________
Principal:____________________________________________________________
DARTS Team Member #1: ________________________________________________
DARTS Team Member #2:_________________________________________________
Principals: I have prepared some helpful information that you may choose to use to help improve attendance in your schools. Please use these materials according to your community’s needs. Additional information is also available on the website. If you use these materials in your Newsletters, Social Media, marquies, etc., please give credit to the Attendance Works website. All of the information attached to the site is research based.
I have also included some Facebook and Twitter posts from the same site that may be helpful.
Thank you.
Luann Leavitt
Planning & Student Services
Jordan School District
Click here for the AttendanceWorks website: http://www.attendanceworks.org/
See attached document for ideas and information. Also find the permission form from AttendanceWorks to keep on file at your school.
DATE:
July 1, 2016
TO:
Principals
Head/Financial Secretaries
Special Education Teachers (Resource and Cluster)
Speech-Language Pathologists
FROM:
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curric./Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director of Special Education
Julie Brown, Program Specialist
SUBJECT:
Special Education Budget Allocations 2016-17
See attached memo and budget guidelines.
Principals:
Please share this information with your teachers. Because of changes to the law, SAGE scores may no longer be used as the SLO rating for teachers. Therefore, all classroom teachers will need to use SLOs. Preliminary guidelines are described below. Expect more details in the coming months.
Elementary teachers will have the option of using math or reading to measure student growth. Teachers may select their SLO subject now and give the pre-test for only that subject. Teachers also have the option of giving both pre-tests and reporting the one with the highest rating. It is recommended that pre-tests be given within the first three weeks of school.
The process for reporting SLO ratings will be similar to last year; however, teachers will not be required to turn scores in to folders. Details and instructions for completing this process will be available at a later date. For now, please make sure that pre-test scores are recorded in Mastery Connect.
The 2016-2017 Secondary SLOs will be available to teachers throughout the year and can be administered by quarter, semester, or unit. Scores for both pre-test and post-test should be entered into Mastery Connect as soon as students have completed the tests.
All administrators will be assigned to a 6-member team for the TopGolf activity on Friday, August 5th, at 9:45 a.m. If you are unable to participate due to health or other issues, please call Anthony Godfrey at 801-567-8316.
Although all equipment will be provided, you are welcome to bring your own clubs.
Team assignments will be sent out next week.
Principals:
In an effort to increase participation in School Community Councils the Jordan School Board School Community Council committee has created a flyer and poster to provide information to those interested in learning more about School Community Councils. The flyers are to be distributed at your Back-To-School Night and other activities at the beginning of the school year.
The poster, in both English and Spanish, is attached to this JAM. Please post in prominent locations in your school.
You will receive your school specific flyer and instructions of how to distribute it to your patrons through email.
DATE:
July 18, 2016
TO:
Principals
All Special Educators and Service Providers
FROM:
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curric./Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director of Special Education
Julie Brown, Program Specialist
SUBJECT:
SCRAM for 2016-17 School Year
See attached memo for guidelines and multiple deadlines.
The attached letters will be mailed to licensed employees who will begin the 2016-17 school year on step 1, 2 or 3. Employees on these steps qualify for additional supply money and additional hours for preparation at the start of the school year. The principal may use up to one half day (4 hours) in required meetings with these employees. Direct questions to your Administrator of Schools.
DATE:
July 7, 2016
TO:
Jordan School District Administrators
FROM:
District Administration
SUBJECT:
2016 Annual Administrative Leadership Conference
You are invited to attend the annual Jordan School District Administrative Leadership Conference scheduled on Thursday and Friday, August 4 and 5, 2016 at Sunset Ridge Middle School (8292 S. Skyline Arch Drive) in West Jordan.
A program agenda is enclosed for your reference. The conference will follow a full-day format on both days. We will begin in the auditorium at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday after a light breakfast. Lunch will be provided, and meetings will adjourn by 3:30 p.m.
At the start of the day on Friday, time has been set aside for you to take care of any business items before our conference resumes. Our activity will begin that day at 10:00 a.m. at TopGolf (920 Jordan River Bldv.) in Midvale. A flyer explaining TopGolf has been enclosed. The vast majority of TopGolf participants are non-golfers, and all equipment is provided on site. Each administrator will be assigned to a team of six. If you are unable to participate due to health or other issues, please call Anthony Godfrey at 801-567-8316. We are very grateful to Doug Young and Lifetouch for sponsoring this activity.
As noted on the agenda, Craig Zablocki will be our keynote speaker on Friday afternoon. Interns assigned to your building are invited to attend all day on Thursday and in the afternoon on Friday if they wish to do so.
Appropriate dress for the conference is business casual. We look forward to seeing you then!
DATE:
July 30, 2016
TO:
Principals
FROM:
Administrators of Schools
SUBJECT:
Crucial Concerns and Policies 2016-17
Jordan School District Employees are responsible for knowing and adhering to all District policies and procedures. The Crucial Concerns and Policies acknowledgement process has been put in place to provide employees a summary of important policies and procedures to be reviewed each year. The policy review will be available to all District employees in Skyward through “Online Forms.” The review provides summaries of selected policies and asks that employees review the summaries and then sign an acknowledgement of completion and agreement. Employees will be asked to read the summaries of policies but will not be required to answer any questions. In addition to acknowledging completion of the review, employees will also acknowledge agreement to the Employee Acceptable Use Policy and the JSD Social Media Guidelines. You will not have to collect signature pages as you have in the past.
Care has been taken to select important points of the selected policies to save administrators time from having to review each policy and to save employees time from having to read the entire policy. Please emphasize to employees the implications of not being aware of policies and encourage them to review the summaries and read the actual policy where needed. Also emphasize to your staff that the summaries are not policy and it is imperative to read applicable policies in their entirety when dealing with school, student, and personnel issues.
The Crucial Policies and Concerns process will be available to all employees July 20. A message will appear upon login of Skyward Employee Access for the employee to complete an “Online Form.” Employees can complete the steps at that time or can return to the review at another time by selecting “Online Forms” under “Employee Information.” Employees will need to review the policies and complete the acknowledgement before September 30, 2016. Reports of completion will be available through Skyward so you can verify that your staff members have completed this process. If you or any staff members need technical help, please call USER support at
801-567-USER (8737).
The lists of crucial policies and concerns for both classified employees and licensed employees included in the review, as well as instructions for completing the review, are attached. Please note: JPAS Orientation and Testing Ethics are not included in this review and will need to be shared with appropriate staff. State law now requires child abuse prevention training for all employees using materials approved through the Utah State Board of Education. A training kit will be provided to all schools for this purpose when it becomes available in August or September.
Jordan School District employees are responsible for knowing and adhering to all District policies and procedures. The following is a list of policies and concerns that are to be reviewed annually. A review of these policies will be available to all employees through Skyward’s Online Forms. Employees will receive a message upon login to Skyward Employee Access to complete the process. In addition, the form will be available through Skyward Employee Access by selecting “Online Forms” under “Employee Information.” The summaries provided in the review are not policy, so it is imperative to read applicable policies in their entirety when dealing with school, student, and personnel issues. The Jordan School District Policy Manual can be found at http://policymanual.jordandistrict.org/.
Call USER support at 801-567-USER (8737) for assistance.
Personnel Policies
DP324 NEG Sick Leave – Licensed
Student, Instructional, and School Management Policies
Video Presentations
Jordan School District employees are responsible for knowing and adhering to all District policies and procedures. The following is a list of policies and concerns that are to be reviewed annually. A review of these policies will be available to all employees through Skyward’s Online Forms. Employees will receive a message upon login to Skyward Employee Access to complete the process. In addition, the form will be available through Skyward Employee Access by selecting “Online Forms” under “Employee Information.” The summaries provided in the review are not policy, so it is imperative to read applicable policies in their entirety when dealing with school, student, and personnel issues. The Jordan School District Policy Manual can be found at http://policymanual.jordandistrict.org/.
Call USER support at 801-567-USER (8737) for assistance.
Personnel Policies
Student, Instructional, and School Management Policies
Video Presentations
DATE:
July 14, 2016
TO:
All Principals
FROM:
Administrators of Schools
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent of Schools
Travis Hamblin, Human Resources
Luann Leavitt, Consultant of Planning and Student Services
SUBJECT:
Dates for 1st, 6th and 14th day counts
Following are the dates for the 1st, 6th and 14th day counts for the 2016-2017 school year.
Staffing will also be reviewed on the following dates:
The official October 1 revised count is taken from Skyward and verified by the Utah State Board of Education.
DATE:
July 7, 2016
TO:
Principals
FROM:
Administrators of Schools
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Clyde Mason, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
SUBJECT:
Parental Exclusions – Procedures Reminder
A link to the parental exclusion (opt-out) form for state assessments has been posted on the Evaluation, Research and Accountability Department’s webpage: http://assessments.jordandistrict.org/ . An additional link to the parental exclusion (opt-out) form can be found on the Jordan School District’s webpage in the “General Information” section under the “Parents and Students” tab. The General Information link is titled “Parental Exclusion (Opt-Out)”. http://jordandistrict.org/parents-students/generalinfo/.
Parents or guardians who choose to not have their student participate in one or more state-mandated assessments can download the 2016-17 Parental Exclusion from State Assessments form from either of the above links, complete and sign the form, and return the completed form to the school principal. The completed form needs to be submitted to the principal before the date scheduled for the state-mandated assessment(s).
A parent’s use of the 2016-17 Parental Exclusion from State Assessments form is not mandatory. If a parent or guardian chooses to not complete, sign and submit the form, or if the parent/guardian submits a different opt-out document, the principal should contact the parent or guardian to determine which 2016-17 state-mandated assessment(s) the parent does not want their student to participate in. The principal should then mark the assessment(s) on a 2016-17 Parental Exclusion from State Assessments form. The principal should make a notation on the form of their conversation with the parent and indicate that the parent chose to not complete and/or sign the 2016-17 Parental Exclusion from State Assessments form. The principal should attach any applicable documents or email communications from the parent to the 2016-17 Parental Exclusion from State Assessments form and maintain a folder of the completed forms and documents.
Finally, principals need to provide a copy of the completed 2016-17 Parental Exclusion from State Assessments form to the school’s testing coordinator. The testing coordinator should be directed to 1) make necessary changes in the SAGE TIDE system and 2) inform the Evaluation, Research, and Accountability Department, using the established Google Docs procedure, that the student is being opted out of the specified state-mandated assessment(s). If the testing coordinator needs help with this Google Docs procedure, she/he can reference the two videos posted on the Evaluation, Research, and Accountability Department’s webpage under the “Testing Coordinators” tab: http://assessments.jordandistrict.org/testing-coordinators/.
Questions regarding the above should be directed to Brooke Anderson at brooke.anderson@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8393.
DATE:
July 5, 2016
TO:
All Principals
FROM:
Administrator of Schools
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent of Schools
Luann Leavitt, Consultant of Planning and Student Services
SUBJECT:
June 30, 2016 Enrollment
See attached memo.
DATE:
July 6, 2016
TO:
All Principals
Elementary Head Secretaries
Registrars
Attendance Secretaries
FROM:
Administrators of Schools
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent of Schools
Luann Leavitt, Consultant of Planning and Student Services
SUBJECT:
Enrollment 2016-17
This memo is a reminder of the issues you may face when enrolling students for the upcoming school year. This should help when assisting patrons in enrollment.
Kindergarten: The student must be at least 5 years of age on or before September 1, 2016 to enroll in Kindergarten. Utah State Law 53A-3-402 which states: (6) Except as provided in Section 53A-1-1001, a board may enroll children in school who are at least five years of age before September 2 of the year in which admission is sought. Active military children are an exception. Contact Planning & Student Services with questions.
Legal Guardians: Please make sure the child is enrolling with their Legal Guardian. Check the birth certificate and Identification to make sure the enrolling adult belongs to the enrolling child. If they are not their legal guardian, either a Durable Power of Attorney needs to accompany the paperwork or legal guardianship through the courts. Contact Planning & Student Services with these questions at 801-567-8251.
Custodial Parents: Please make sure you obtain legal documentation (signed by a judge) in divorce situations when necessary. The Court orders parents’ behavior in their enrollment decisions, not schools. If you have questions or need help interpreting court documents, contact Luann in Planning & Student Services at 801-567-8251 for assistance.
Foreign Exchange: Students coming from other countries without a legal guardian need to be referred to the Planning & Student Services Department for enrollment. Contact Shelly at 801-567-8183.
Please be consistent in your enrollment process with all students. Ask questions to determine individual situations, show patience and understanding and contact Planning & Student Services for any issues you may need help in resolving. We know this is a busy time for you and we are here ready to help with individual situations. Thank you.
