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Author: bgroo

Published on

DATE:
June 4, 2026 

TO:
All Principals and Administrative Assistants 

FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources  

SUBJECT:
Summer Hours for School Personnel

The District Administration appreciates and values the relationships you have established  with the patrons in your communities and we believe it is critical that school personnel remain  accessible to the public throughout the year. We also understand that elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools may be without or with fewer students during the months of  June, July, and August. 

Please review the schedule of Summer Hours for School Personnel below, with all  designated summer school personnel at your location. Extended school office/business hours are acceptable; however, other adjusted schedules are NOT acceptable because they limit public access to school personnel. 

If the principal is the only staff member in the building, please place a sign on the door with a telephone number to reach someone inside the building who can unlock the door. If no one is in the building on a particular day, please inform your Administrator of Schools and post a sign on the door indicating the next time the office will be open. 

Elementary Schools
Administrative Assistant 10-month Contract
Principal/Asst. Principal 12-month Contract
Office Hours 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., weekdays (except holidays),  June and August 

Middle Schools
Administrative Assistant 12-month Contract (Funding for vacation/office coverage is allotted)
Principal/Asst. Principal 12-month Contract
Office Hours 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., weekdays, except holidays,  June, July, and August 

High Schools
Administrative Assistant, Registrar – 12 month Contracts  (Funding for vacation/office coverage is allotted)
Attendance, Clerk & Counseling Assistants – 10 month Contracts
Principal/Asst. Principal 12-month Contract
Office Hours 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., weekdays, except holidays,  June, July, and August 

Thank you for your assistance with this important matter.

Published on

DATE:
June 4, 2026

TO:
School Principals
Directors

FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
April Gaydosh, Administrator, Human Resources
Brent Burge, Associate Director, Human Resources

SUBJECT:
Shift Differential Update

As part of JESPA negotiations for the 2026-2027 contract year, the shift differential was increased effective July 1, 2026 as follows:

Swing Shift – The employee’s shift must begin between 12:00 p.m. (noon) and 10:00 p.m.  The employee must work a full eight hours. The additional rate of pay is $0.65 per hour.

Graveyard Shift – The employee’s shift must begin between 10:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m.  The employee must work a full eight hours.  The additional rate of pay is $1.30 per hour. 

Only ESP, benefit-eligible employees are eligible for shift differential.  Please follow the current process to submit for shift differential pay. 

 

Published on

TO:
Administrators

FROM:
Jordan School District Cabinet Members

Administrators,

As we continue our work around the Portrait of a Graduate, we want to celebrate and build upon the momentum happening across our schools.

To help us collaborate and share best practices, please bring your computer along with links to pictures, artifacts, documents, presentations, or other details about activities and ideas—both currently in motion or planned for the future—to the mandatory administrator meeting on June 10th or June 17th. You will be given time in our meeting to enter your artifacts into this template.

Thank you for your continued leadership, creativity, and dedication to bringing the Portrait of a Graduate to life for our students. Your efforts are making a meaningful impact, and we look forward to learning from one another.

Published on

DATE: 
June 4, 2026

TO:
All School Administrators 

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness

SUBJECT:
FREE Mental Health Education for Parents and Caregivers

Jordan District has partnered with the Cook Center for Human Connection to provide ongoing mental health education for parents and caregivers. This collaboration offers FREE access to live, virtual educational sessions covering various topics. Included are the resources for ALL summer months. Please share the following resources with your school community: 

  • Mental Health Series
    • June Mental Health Series: Sessions are offered in both English and Spanish. 
    • July Mental Health Series: Sessions are offered in both English and Spanish. 
    • August Mental Health Series: Sessions are offered in both English and Spanish. 
    • Previously recorded seminars can be accessed through a comprehensive library of sessions and resources for each topic. You can access the library of recorded sessions at any time by visiting this site: https://parentguidance.org/mhsindex. 
  • Included in the mental health series is a "Watch Together Series" for families. While the Mental Health Series is designed for parents, these “Watch Together” events are for the whole family, especially teens and young adults.
    • June Event: Conversations About Consent - Are You Listening?
      • Wednesday, June 17th at 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm MST  REGISTER NOW
    • No July Event
    • August Event: Body Positivity - Kaia & Vince
      • Wednesday, August 12th at 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm MST  REGISTER NOW

Please share the attached flyers/resources with your school communities. Should you have any questions please reach out to Angie Rasmussen at angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org.

Published on

DATE:
June 4, 2026

TO:
All School Administrators 

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness

SUBJECT:
Bark Summer Content Monitoring

During the summer months, from June 5th until August 10th, Bark content monitoring and notifications will have some temporary changes.

  • Notifications to schools will only include administration and not counseling or mental health professionals. This allows for 12-month employees to still receive notifications and not those who are off contract. In case there are administrators that are out of the office, the notifications will go to the entire team of administrators at each school. 
  • Notifications that are not considered emergencies or urgent will not be sent after 2pm to ensure that intervention is reasonable and timely for school personnel.
  • Content monitoring will be checked twice per week, in June, while school is not in session, and once per week, in July.  Notifications will be sent to administrators on those days before 2pm. 
  • We will continue to receive imminent alerts and will continue to work with administrators when immediate intervention is required.

Should you have any questions please reach out to Angie Rasmussen at angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org.

Published on

DATE:
June 4, 2026

TO:
High School Administrators
High School Counselors
High School Registrars

FROM:
Brad Sorensen, Administrator of Schools
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Assessment, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:
ACT Scores to Be Removed from High School Transcripts

Principals are encouraged to forward the following information to their counselors and registrars.

Beginning Monday, June 29th, Information Systems will remove all historical ACT scores from students’ high school transcripts. In addition, no new ACT scores will appear on students’ transcripts.

ACT has provided the following guidance: “ACT recommends that schools do not include State or District ACT scores on school transcripts to avoid student privacy concerns or inconsistent score report data.”

ACT's philosophy is that students own their scores. When a school district automatically prints an ACT score on an official academic transcript, it fundamentally interferes with this ownership in two ways:

  • ACT allows students to decide which scores they want to send to colleges - especially with the advent of the superscore. This is crucial for students who choose to take the exam more than once. Posting an ACT score on a transcript means the student loses the opportunity to suppress a low score, effectively stripping them of their right to privacy and control over their own testing history. ACT allows maximum flexibility, allowing students to share all of their scores, single subtest scores or superscores.
  • ACT has a uniquely generous policy that allows students to permanently delete a test date record from their file at any time (except for state testing used for accountability). However, if a district has already added the score to the student's transcript, deleting the score from ACT's files becomes pointless because colleges will see it on the high school transcripts.

For questions about ACT scores on transcripts, please contact Ben Jameson in Assessment, Research & Accountability. For questions on how to download high school transcripts, please contact the Information Systems Help Desk.

High schools are encouraged to share this information with parents and students using the following message:

To parents of [name of high school],

Beginning Monday, June 29th, the Jordan School District will remove all historical ACT scores from students’ high school transcripts. In addition, no new ACT scores will appear on students’ transcripts.

ACT has provided the following guidance: “ACT recommends that schools do not include State or District ACT scores on school transcripts to avoid student privacy concerns or inconsistent score report data.”

ACT's philosophy is that students own their scores. When a school district automatically prints an ACT score on an official academic transcript, it fundamentally interferes with this ownership in two ways:

  • ACT allows students to decide which scores they want to send to colleges - especially with the advent of the superscore. This is crucial for students who choose to take the exam more than once. Posting an ACT score on a transcript means the student loses the opportunity to suppress a low score, effectively stripping them of their right to privacy and control over their own testing history. ACT offers maximum flexibility, allowing students to share all of their scores, single subtest scores, or superscores.
  • ACT has a uniquely generous policy that allows students to permanently delete a test date record from their file at any time (except for state testing used for accountability). However, if a district has already added the score to the student's transcript, deleting the score from ACT's files becomes pointless because colleges will see it on the high school transcripts.

Between now and June 29th, students may order their high school transcripts with ACT scores by clicking the following link: [include link to order transcripts from your school’s website].

Published on

TO:
Principals

FROM:
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Brian King, Assistant Director of Special Education
Mike Trimmell, Special Education Administrator

Jordan School District Special Education Summer Conference 2026

The Special Education Summer Conference for the 2026-27 school year will be held on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, at West Jordan Middle School. Check-in begins at 7:30 am and the conference begins at 8:00 am. Attendees will receive a $200 stipend, and lunch will be provided. Administrators are also welcome to attend. There will be sessions specifically for Administrators throughout the day.

All Certified/Licensed Special Education staff and school administrators are invited to attend. Please register through PD Catalog by July 31st.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your teacher specialist.

Published on

TO:
Elementary Principals

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning

We have secured one-time funding to purchase K–3 literacy software licenses for summer 2026 and the 2026–27 school year.

Please note an update to the announcement made at the May principals meeting: these licenses may be used in the classroom during the 2026–27 school year, rather than being restricted to home use. Classroom implementation will align with the STEM Action Center grants for math software licenses for the 2026-2027 school year.

License Distribution & Next Steps

  • Existing Requests: If you submitted a Google request form, you will receive the number of licenses you indicated.
  • New Requests: If you did not originally request licenses but would now like them for classroom use, we will provide them based on availability.

To request remaining licenses, please contact Brittney Eldredge at 801-567-8161.

Published on

DATE:
May 28, 2026

TO:
All Elementary School Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Assessment, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:
Changes to Acadience Testing for the 2026-27 School Year

As the 2025-26 school year draws to an end, elementary school administrators should be aware of some changes to Acadience testing. Principals are encouraged to forward this information to relevant personnel.

Acadience Math:
USBE's contract with Acadience Learning for Acadience Math ends on June 30, 2026. During the 2026 legislative session, the legislature did not appropriate funding for the continuation of Acadience Math testing. Thus, Jordan School District will not be administering Acadience Math in grades K-3 for the 2026-27 school year.

Acadience Reading:
Acadience Reading will be administered to students in grades K-3 by district assessment assistants as in years past. Schools will continue to be responsible for administering Acadience Reading for grades 4-6. All Acadience Reading testing results may still be found in ALO.

Data analysis from prior years has indicated that a kindergarten student's scale score and pathways of progress score is impacted by when that student tests during the BOY and EOY windows. To a lesser degree, first grade students are also impacted by when they test.

This year, 23 schools participated in a kindergarten testing pilot that separated kindergarten benchmark testing from grades 1-3 testing with the goal of lengthening the instructional days between BOY and EOY assessments to better capture the full breadth of literacy learning and growth:

  • For schools scheduled at the end of the BOY window: Kindergarten students were tested at the beginning of the BOY window while grades 1-3 were tested during their regularly scheduled testing time.
  • For schools scheduled at the beginning of the EOY window: Kindergarten students were tested at the end of the EOY window while grades 1-3 were tested during their regularly scheduled time.

Preliminary analysis of the 2025-26 Acadience Reading data indicates that lengthening the instructional days between BOY and EOY benchmark testing provided more reliable benchmark scores at BOY as well as pathways of progress scores at EOY.

Thus, Assessment, Research & Accountability will be administering the Acadience Reading benchmark to all kindergarten students, as well as first grade students, at the beginning of the BOY window and end of the EOY window for the 2026-27 school year. This means that for the BOY and EOY windows, district assessment assistants will come to your schools once to complete K-1 testing and again to complete grades 2-3 testing at different times of each window. During the MOY window, we will complete testing for K-3 together.

In the next day or two, you will start receiving your testing schedule for the 2026-27 school year. Please take note of the two separate testing dates for the BOY and EOY windows.

More information about these changes will be released at a later date. In the meantime, if you have questions, please contact Ben Jameson in Assessment, Research & Accountability.

Published on

TO:
Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Director of Teaching and Learning
Jared Covili, Consultant Digital Teaching and Learning

Please join USBE and Google for Education for a series of webinars to help K12 and higher education leaders explore how to deploy AI in safe, effective, and practical ways. These sessions are free and open to all Utah education leaders.

Week of July 13th
AI on Campus - A Practical Guide to Integrity, Policy, and Career Readiness

Week of July 20th
Gemini for Your Campus: A Technical Guide to Deployment and Security

Week of July 27th
The Google AI-Powered Researcher: From Grant Proposal to Final Draft
Inclusive by Design: Using Google AI to Enhance Accessibility and UDL

Week of August 3rd
Gemini for Your Campus: A Technical Guide to Deployment and Security

Week of August 10th
Meet a Google Engineer: Q & A

More information including invites and links to be sent two weeks ahead of the first session. Register in the form at the following link: AI in Education: Leadership Training Series Registration.

Published on

TO:
Administrators
ELD Leads
Staff

FROM:
Mike Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Michelle Love-Day, Director and Language Teacher Specialists

Language and Culture Services wants to make sure you have all of the information at hand to share with your families on WIDA data. In accordance with Title III compliance, we want to ensure the steps are followed to send home the score reports and notification letters. In the document here, you will find those steps along with guidance on compliance and comparing growth data. We also know that many of you will be celebrating the success with your students that have reached proficiency in WIDA. We have added a final tab to have some language that you can use so that everyone, including the ML learner, knows the importance of this test. We would love to attend any of those celebrations, so please let your language teacher specialist and director know. Thank you for all of your hard work this year and being a superhero for our super amazing multilingual students!

Document link here

Published on

TO:
High School Principals
High School Registrars

FROM:
Steffany Ellsworth, Support Services Manager

Information Systems will be populating the Graduation date and Grad/Dipl status to GR on Friday, May 29, for all active seniors who don’t already have a code. The graduation date for every senior who has not withdrawn will be June 4, 2026, even if graduation is being held another day.

If you have any senior who is not receiving a regular diploma, you can start entering their graduation status and date at any time. It is not necessary to wait for this utility to be run, as the utility will not override any existing graduation status or date. Should you choose to wait until after we run the utility to update students not receiving a GR, we will notify you when it has been completed. For those students, you will need to remove the graduation status and date from their profile screen and make sure the drop down next to Graduated is set to “No”.

Every senior needs to have a grad status and here are the possibilities:

GQ – Regular Diploma with Math Competency
GP – Students who have not met graduation requirements at the end of the school year, but plan to complete graduation requirements by October 1, 2026, including adult diplomas.
DO – Students who have not met graduation requirements at the end of the school year and do not intend to do so.
GA – Special Ed students who completed the graduation requirements for an alternate diploma, as reported to you by the Special Ed department.
RT – Special Ed students who will be attending South Valley or Kauri Sue, as reported to you by the Special Ed department.
GC – Students who have already earned the Carnegie unit diploma.
GG – Students who have earned their GED.

If the student has completed the math requirements to receive a diploma with math competency, you will need to change the code to GQ.

As soon as a student that has been identified as GP has completed the graduation requirements, the code will need to be changed to GR or GQ as appropriate, and the graduation date will be the date the student has completed coursework. The GP status should also be used for students that are still enrolled at the end of the school year and intend to receive an adult diploma.

For students who previously withdrew intending to receive an adult diploma: If they earn the Carnegie unit diploma enter a Grad/Dipl Status of GC. If they earn their GED enter a code of GG. For these students you should leave the Graduated field set to “No” but enter the date they earned the diploma.

For Special Ed students, if the student has completed the requirements to receive an alternate diploma the code is GA. Do not mark students as GA without being instructed by Special Ed that the student has completed the necessary requirements. If the Special Ed student is a retained senior going to South Valley or Kauri Sue, the code to use is RT. Please note, it is possible for a special ed student to earn the alternate diploma and still enroll in South Valley or Kauri Sue for next year. These students should receive the GA code not the RT code. Again, do not mark students as GA without being instructed by Special Ed whether they are continuing next year or not.

We are aware that many of your Foreign Exchange students will be leaving the country before the transcripts are posted and uploaded to Parchment. I have spoken to Parchment and foreign exchange students can order their transcripts through Parchment after they have been posted. Transcripts will be posted to Parchment by June 17.

Please contact the IS Helpdesk at 801-567-8737 if you have any questions.

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning

Now Available! JSD Portrait of a Graduate Proficiency Scales

Based on the district’s strategic plan, Jordan District teacher teams have now completed proficiency scales for Portrait of a Graduate characteristics by grade bands. 

To access the Portrait of a Graduate characteristics and accompanying scales along with resources for planning, instruction, assessment, and feedback, enroll in the new JSD Portrait of a Graduate Proficiency Scales Canvas course.

Key Details:

  • Ongoing Updates: Additional resources will be added directly to the Canvas course.
  • Feedback: A link is embedded in the course for submitting questions, commentary, or resource suggestions.

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning

Now Available! JSD Content Proficiency Scales

Together, district teacher teams and Teaching & Learning have developed power standards and corresponding proficiency scales for Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, PE, Health, and Music (with more subjects coming soon). These scales serve as exemplars and anchors for grade-level expectations, ensuring Level 3 indicators align precisely with the depth and rigor of the Utah Core Standards.

To access the standards, scales, and integration resources for planning, instruction, assessment, and feedback, enroll in the new JSD Content Proficiency Scales Canvas course.

Key Details:

  • Ongoing Updates: Additional resources will be added directly to the Canvas course.
  • Feedback: A link is embedded in the course for submitting questions, commentary, or resource suggestions.
  • More Info: Please review the Canvas homepage for additional details.

⚠️ Important Note on Math Standards: The State Board of Education (USBE) is currently reviewing math standards and is expected to release updates soon. Consequently, the development of math power standards and proficiency scales is paused until those official updates are released.

Published on

TO:
All Principals
All Assistant Principals

FROM:
Administrators of Schools

Please share the attached flyer with the future school leaders in your building.

The BYU School Leadership Program invites educators to learn from current school, district, state, and university leaders about becoming a principal. The Academy is a great way to get a taste of school leadership and learn best practices for applying to principal preparation programs and future leadership positions. The district will cover the cost of your substitute teacher, and BYU will award a $1,000 scholarship to any participants who are accepted to and attend BYU’s Masters of School Leadership Program.

APPLY BY AUGUST 28, 2026.

Published on

TO:
All Administrators
All Administrative Assistants

FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources
Brent Burge, HR Administrator

Important Update to FMLA Leave Calculation Method

We would like to inform employees of an upcoming change to the District’s Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave calculation method.

Effective July, 27, 2026, the District will transition from using a fixed 12-month calendar method to a rolling 12-month period from the date FMLA leave is used.

Under the rolling 12-month method, each time an employee uses FMLA leave, the District will look back 12 months to determine how much FMLA leave has already been used and how much remains available. This method is permitted under federal FMLA regulations and is intended to provide a more consistent and equitable administration of leave benefits.

This change may affect how available FMLA leave is calculated for employees who have previously used FMLA leave within the prior 12 months.

If you have questions regarding your FMLA eligibility or available leave balances, please contact Human Resources at leaves@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8429.

Published on

DATE: 
Thursday, May 28, 2026

TO: 
High School Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Assessment, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:
Research Project

The Research Review Committee has reviewed a research project in which your school has been asked to participate.

Project Title: Coaching Styles and Their Impact on Athlete Satisfaction: Youth Sports

Applicant: Micah Giles, Weber State University

The project has been approved by the District Research Review Committee.  The applicant has been directed to contact you to discuss the extent of the project.  Participation in the study is at your discretion.  If you have questions or concerns relating to participation, please contact Ben Jameson at 801-567-8243.

The project will entail the posting of a recruitment flyer on school community boards and/or in school locker rooms.

Thank you for your assistance.

 

 

Published on

TO:
Elementary Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Mandy Thurman, Elementary Language Arts Consultant of Teaching and Learning
Michelle Lovell, Elementary Language Arts Consultant of Teaching and Learning

Save the date and share the following optional professional development opportunity with your teachers.

Literacy Live: Grades K–6 Fall Conference will be offered during the district’s first teacher professional development day on September 25, 2026. This engaging learning experience is designed to support K–6 educators through breakout sessions focused on effective literacy instruction, practical classroom strategies, and implementation-ready resources. Participants will also have opportunities for collaboration, networking, and prize drawings throughout the event.