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DATE:
January 16, 2020

TO:    
Principals
Administrative Assistants
Registrars

FROM: 
Administrator of Schools
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Caleb Olson, Planning and Enrollment Consultant

SUBJECT:  
New Student Grade Level Placement


When a student enrolls in Jordan School District they should be placed according to their age (see “Appropriate Age Chart” in online Planning & Student Services Manual). This would include students that enroll from another state or country. Exceptions include:

  • A military child who does not meet the deadline but has previously attended kindergarten or a higher grade as a resident in another state. (53G-4-402 and 53E-3-902)
  • A student who was accelerated or retained in a previous school or district within the state of Utah. Jordan District will honor the acceleration or retention and continue to place the student in the next consecutive grade.
  • A student who was home schooled should be placed based on the parent’s request. Examples include, but are not limited to:
    • The student attended a public school in the 7th grade but was in home school for the 8th grade. The parent(s) or guardian(s) requests placement in the 8th grade. The school would place the student according to the request.
    • The student attended public school in the 7th grade but was in home school for the 8th grade. The parent(s) or guardian(s) states that the student completed both the 8th and 9th grade during the past school year, and requests placement in the 10th grade. The school would place the student according to the request.
  • A student who has never been in an educational setting should be placed according to their age.
  • A student may be enrolled in the first grade even though the child did not meet the entry date for kindergarten the previous year, provided a full year of kindergarten was successfully completed in another state or private school (not daycare or preschool). The parent(s) or guardian(s) shall provide convincing evidence that the child has the academic, social and emotional skills necessary to succeed in first grade AND provide a statement from the previous school that verifies the student’s successful completion of the kindergarten curriculum.

Jordan School District does NOT enroll:

  • Any student who has previously received a diploma.
  • Any student who is not five (5) years of age before September 2nd of the year they will be entering school (R277-419-2).

If the parent(s) or guardian(s) disagree with the student’s placement they may request acceleration or retention testing. Acceleration and/or retention testing is conducted to determine academic ability (see “Accelerations and Retentions” in online Planning & Student Services Manual).

Please contact Student Services (801-567-8183) with any questions you may have.

DATE:
January 16, 2020

TO:
Elementary Principals
Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Administrator of Schools
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Caleb Olson, Planning and Enrollment Consultant

SUBJECT:
Guidelines to Establish Kindergarten Enrollment


It is the responsibility of each school principal to obtain a kindergarten roster for the upcoming school year.  This roster helps facilitate kindergarten staffing and establish budgets for supplies and materials.  Typically, efforts to establish kindergarten rosters begin in December.

The following steps should be used to establish a kindergarten roster:

  1. Send a flyer home with every student.
  2. Publicize in the school newsletter – communicate (several times) the importance of getting accurate kindergarten counts.
  3. Use all other resources available to you. (Skylert, social media, etc.)
  4. NOTE: New Student Online Enrollment (NSOE) for the 2020-21 school year enrollment will not be available until after January 1, 2020 pre-enroll.  If applications were entered prior to pre-enrollment, they need to be inactive for the current year and active for next year. This can be done during the approval process in NSOE.
  5. Schedule kindergarten orientation as soon as possible. After the January pre-enroll, check your New Student Online Enrollment to see if there are any pending applications that need follow up.
  6. Hang banners announcing Kindergarten Registration being accepted for the following school year.

Please schedule your kindergarten orientation BEFORE APRIL 3, 2020.

Optional:

  1. Make a block contact with every home using PTA support.
  2. Contact pre-schools in the attendance area of your school.
  3. Use a telephone tree operated by parent volunteers with a list of questions for consistency.
  4. Contact neighbors who can identify new move-ins.
  5. Contact community members who do not have children enrolled in school.
  6. Avoid forwarding kindergarten orientation letters to new addresses if a family has moved from your boundary area. Delete that name from your list.

Please be diligent in recruiting all the kindergarten students within your school boundary.

DATE:  
January 15, 2020

TO:   
All Principals
All Special Education Staff

FROM:     
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Brian King, Principal, River’s Edge

SUBJECT:     
A.S.P.E.N. Training for all Special Education Staff 2019-2020


A.S.P.E.N. training will continue to be required for all licensed special education teachers, SLPs, school psychologists, elementary school counselors, and for all instructional assistants in SEB and Autism self-contained support classrooms during the 2019-2020 school year. A.S.P.E.N. is a positive, preventative, and proactive approach to managing aggressive student behavior.

Although not required, instructional assistants working in any other special education setting may choose to attend at the discretion of their building administrator.

Those who participated in A.S.P.E.N. training during the 2018-2019 school year do not need to take the full course, but should instead plan on taking an ASPEN re-certification class.

If you have more than one teacher or instructional assistant that needs to attend, please consider having them attend on separate days in order to maintain adequate coverage in your school. The Special Education Department will cover the costs of substitutes for licensed special education teachers under budget code 1292. Instructional assistants will be asked to use True Time to record their typical workday hours on the day of the training. Any additional hours spent in the training above their typical workday will need to be recorded on a time sheet. Staff should register for a training session through JPLS.

Mandt training will continue to be required at Kauri Sue Hamilton and River’s Edge School and staff at these schools will not need to attend A.S.P.E.N. Others wishing to keep their Mandt training current may do so; however, participation is not mandatory and teachers and instructional assistants will not be compensated for their attendance. A Mandt training schedule will be forthcoming.

Additional spring A.S.P.E.N. training dates and times are attached to this memo.

For questions, contact:
Daveed Goodrich at daveed.goodrich@jordandistrict.org or
Cassidy Hansen at cassidy.hansen@jordandistrict.org

Task Force - the sequel
EL Culturally Responsive Task Force Meeting

Secondary
Thursday, February 6, 2020

Elementary
Wednesday, February 26

Please see flyer below for details and share with appropriate people. Sign up in JPLS and find the sub code listed.

DATE:  
January 9, 2020

TO:     
Secondary School Principals
Secondary School Financial Secretaries

FROM:  
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Daniel Ellis, Director of Accounting and Audits

SUBJECT:   
Quarterly School Financial Report for October, November, and December 2019


Each school is asked to report the quarter end account balance and transaction detail with the Apple Volume Purchase Program and return with your bank reconciliation. If your school has no Apple account, please so indicate and return.

Please include the account balance with Apple on the reconciliation sign off form and print a report or screen shot(s) of the balances and quarterly transactions from Apple’s website. If you need assistance, please contact your Curriculum Technology Specialist – Bonnie, Deana, Harrison, Nancy, Jay, and Raimee.

Please photocopy the selected elements and send to Accounting by Friday, January 24, 2020.

Please include:

  • The signed attached memo to Accounting
  • A copy of your October, November, and December 2019 Reconciliation Worksheets
  • A copy of your October, November, and December 2019 Bank Statements
  • A copy of your October, November, and December 2019 Skyward Balance Sheets
  • A copy of your October, November, and December 2019 Outstanding Check Reports
  • Screen shot(s) of your December 31, 2019 Apple Volume Purchase Program transaction history and balance

If you have questions or need assistance, please call Jason Mott at (801)567-8388.

Thank you.

Cc:
Brad Sorensen, Administrator of Schools
Cody Curtis, Administrator of Schools

DATE: 
January 9, 2020

TO:  
Secondary School Principals
Secondary School Financial Secretaries

FROM: 
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Daniel Ellis, Director of Accounting, Budgets and Audits

SUBJECT:  
School Bank Account Balances for December 31, 2019


Please send the following information for each bank account balance as of December 31, 2019 to Accounting by January 24, 2020. If you have multiple bank accounts, please list each account separately.

School Name
Name of Bank
Type of Account (checking, savings, money market)
Account Balance

The balance requested is the balance from your December bank statements, not Skyward. This information is required annually and will be used to complete reporting requirements for Utah Money Management Council.

If you have questions or need assistance, please call Jason Mott at (801)567-8388.

Thank you.

Cc:
Brad Sorensen, Administrator of Schools
Cody Curtis, Administrator of Schools

The mileage reimbursement rate is based upon the IRS rate. Effective January 1, 2020, the reimbursement rate is $0.575 per mile. Please use the attached form when submitting for mileage reimbursement. All 2019 mileage reimbursement requests should be submitted as soon as possible.

What is eduroam?
Eduroam is a secure, world-wide wireless network available to the international research and education community. Eduroam allows any user from an eduroam participating site to get wireless network access at any institution connected to eduroam. The eduroam wireless network is available in thousands of locations across more than a hundred countries worldwide.

What does this mean for Jordan School District now that we are an eduroam participating site?
As you travel to other participating school districts and universities, look for a wireless network called Eduroam. If you see one called Eduroam, you can connect to it using your Jordan School District email address as the user name and your Active Directory password (the same password you use to login to your computer every day). Likewise, visitors to Jordan School District from other participating school districts and universities will now be able to connect to our Eduroam wireless network using their school district or university login and password.

The following are new administrative assignments:

SECONDARY

  • Assignments Effective Jan. 21, 2020
    • Shawn McLeod, principal at South Jordan Middle appointed principal at Hidden Valley Middle.
    • Nicole Johnson, assistant principal at Jordan Hills and Rosamond Elementary Schools appointed principal at South Jordan Middle.
    • Amber Zdunich, assistant principal at Joel P. Jensen Middle appointed assistant principal at Hidden Valley Middle.
    • Jody Deland, CTE teacher at South Jordan Middle appointed assistant principal at Joel P. Jensen Middle.
    • Audrey Fish, assistant principal at Oquirrh Hills Middle appointed assistant principal at Fort Herriman Middle.
    • Jennifer Jarrard, teacher specialist at Kauri Sue Hamilton appointed assistant principal at Oquirrh Hills Middle.
  • Assignment Effective July 1, 2020
    • Raimee Jensen, assistant principal at Fort Herriman Middle appointed assistant principal at Hidden Valley Middle.

ELEMENTARY

  • Assignments Effective Feb. 3, 2020
    • Tami Bird, principal at Rose Creek Elementary appointed principal at the new elementary school in West Jordan.
    • Karen Egan, principal at Bluffdale Elementary appointed principal at Rose Creek Elementary.
    • Cynthia Tingey, principal at Riverton Elementary appointed principal at Bluffdale Elementary.
    • Joel Pullan, principal at Oakcrest Elementary appointed principal at Riverton Elementary.
    • Ken Westwood, principal at South Jordan Elementary appointed principal at Oakcrest Elementary.
    • Beverly Griffith, assistant principal at Fox Hollow Elementary appointed principal at South Jordan Elementary.
    • Nancy Ward, educational support consultant in Teaching & Learning appointed assistant principal at Fox Hollow Elementary.
    • Brenda Anderson, instructional coach at Mountain Shadows Elementary appointed assistant principal at Jordan Hills and Rosamond Elementary.

We will be upgrading to the new version 4 of Lexia Core 5. This switch will take place on Tuesday, January 21st. Please be sure you have supported technology in place by this date to avoid any interruption in access to the program. Please see the JAMs dated 10/3 and 11/14 for details regarding supported technology.

Administrators are invited to attend a presentation by Dr. Johnathan Plucker on the morning of February 7, 2020 at the Granite School District office building. Dr. Plucker is a Julian C. Stanley Professor of Talent Development at John Hopkins University and the current President of the National Association for Gifted Children. He will address excellence gaps and promoting high achievement for all students. Please see the attached flyer for more details and registration information. Please contact Rebecca Smith (801-567-8368) with any questions you may have.  

 

Please remind your 6th grade teachers to have all 6th grade students take the middle of year (MOY) SRI assessment and to enter current guided reading levels in Skyward by January 24th. Brooke Anderson will access this data through SRI and Skyward and compile the reports for middle schools.

Special Education State Complaint Training presented by the State Special Education Attorney
Some school teams are required to attend these trainings, but all special education personnel and administrators are welcome. Space and number of substitutes are limited so please sign up as soon as possible through JPLS using the correct section code indicating whether you will or will not need a substitute. Please contact the teacher specialist assigned to your school with any questions. See flyer below for more information.

DATE:  
January 9, 2020

TO:  
Principals
Special Education Staff

FROM:   
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Kristin Norris, Teacher Specialist-SLP/A, ESY Coordinator

SUBJECT:  
Extended School Year (ESY) Qualification Procedures and Timelines


The packets for Special Education Extended School Year (ESY) are due March 26, 2020. ESY forms are available online on the SpEd Forms page. Guidelines and instructions are included in the memo.

T&L is excited to introduce Multisyllable Routine Cards from 95% Group for all 3rd-6th grade teachers. This is a short daily routine that can be implemented similar to Heggerty in K-2nd grade. Please share the attached flyer with all 3rd -6th grade teachers and encourage them to pick a date to attend. Teachers will receive all materials needed to implement the program as well as receive inservice pay for attending. If you would like to arrange a training at your school for all 3rd-6th grade teachers, that is an option as well. Please contact Mandy Thurman (ext: 88119) to arrange a school training or with any other questions.

DATE:
January 6, 2020

TO:
All Principals

FROM:
Administrator of Schools
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Caleb Olson, Consultant of Planning and Enrollment
Scott Festin, Consultant of Planning and Enrollment

SUBJECT:
Student Enrollment for December 2019


Please see document below.

Dear Elementary Principals,

We are excited to invite you to the upcoming elementary principal conversations about improving school culture and student learning through the arts. We have planned three site visits in 3 different school districts: Jan. 17, February 21, and March 27, 2020 . Please RSVP for all sessions that you plan to attend so we can order lunch for you : artsrichschools2020.eventbrite.com

Please see flyer below for more information.