Jordan School District
ALPS testing will be conducted during the school day at local schools from February 6 - March 14. The GT office and/or the proctor for your site will contact you with dates and times for your school. Please contact Rebecca Smith (88368) with any questions you may have.
Thank you for accommodating the testing at your sites.
Due to a conflict with busing, the Elementary Math Tournament will now be held on Thursday, April 6, 2023. All other details and times will remain the same.
Please see the attached document for complete information. Registration is due on Friday, February 17. Please register here.
Please contact Rebecca Smith (88368) with any questions you may have.
DATE:
Thursday, February 2, 2023
TO:
All School Administrators
FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
Michelle Love-Day, Director of Language & Culture Services
SUBJECT:
Navigating Parental Exclusion Requests with the WIDA Access
The annual administration of the WIDA Access is mandated by the federal government, which uses this assessment to hold schools accountable for providing an equitable education for multi-language learners. This accountability stems from the 1974 Supreme Court case Lau v. Nichols where a California school district was sued because it was not providing language services to many of its ML students. This Supreme Court case essentially ensures that students’ civil right to an equitable education and the government has chosen to use the WIDA Access as a way to hold school districts accountable for doing so.
The WIDA Access is federally mandated, which means that parents cannot opt their students out of taking the test. Because of the part this assessment plays in a student’s educational rights, parents do not have the power to revoke a student’s civil right to take the WIDA Access. Thus, the state was required to remove the WIDA Access from the parental exclusion form a few years ago.
So, what happens when a parent insists that their child not take the WIDA Access? Basic procedures are outlined below:
Please contact Ben Jameson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability with any questions or concerns regarding these procedures.
DATE:
Thursday, February 2, 2023
TO:
All School Administrators
FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
Michael Heaps, Director of Information Systems
David Bowman, Systems & Security Manager
SUBJECT:
Chromebooks with Expiring Hardware that Will Be Used for Testing
When Chromebooks are purchased, they come with a pre-defined time at which the vendors will stop giving updates to the software that makes the computers run. With Chromebooks this is almost always 5 years or a bit more.
This is called the Auto Update Expiration (AUE) Date.
When a Chromebook hits that date it may continue to work, but it stops getting updates from Google. Over time, this will decrease its functionality with the internet where things will stop working properly. Websites won’t load right; extensions and apps either work partially or won’t work at all.
This can become an issue when older Chromebooks won’t be able to update to the minimum device specifications outlined for a testing secure browser such as the RISE Secure Browser, TestNav (Utah Aspire Plus and ACT), DRC Insight (WIDA Access), etc. If the older testing device can’t update to the secure browser’s minimum specifications, it is possible that the testing platform will be glitchy or not work at all.
In some cases, more than 60% of a school’s Chromebooks are already expired. To see how many and what percentage of your school’s Chromebooks are expired, please click here.
As testing season approaches, school administrators will want to think about how to mitigate possible technology issues if the majority of the school’s Chromebooks that will be used for spring testing are expired. Also, school administrators are strongly encouraged to run an infrastructure test prior to ACT, RISE, and/or Utah Aspire Plus summative testing. If schools are unable to replace expired Chromebooks prior to spring testing and many of the school’s devices failed the infrastructure test, school administrators should develop a plan for rotating through newer devices to complete spring summative testing.
This free service is for any JSD student (K-12) in need of dental work that does not have insurance. Book an appointment up until February 22, 2023.
See attached flyer for all of the details.
Valued Licensed Employees:
The Human Resource Department is contacting you with important information regarding upcoming events and opportunities.
LICENSE RENEWAL
Teachers and other educators whose educator license will expire on June 30, 2023, are encouraged to begin the license renewal process starting February 1st by going to the USBE website. You may begin reviewing the videos; however, license renewals cannot be submitted to the USBE before January 2023. The District HR Department will send you reminders in November, January, and March. A FINAL reminder will be sent to you in April as a 4th and FINAL NOTICE & NOTICE OF TERMINATION should you not receive your license renewal certification in CACTUS by June 30, 2023.
DON’T DELAY – START THE PROCESS NOW!
LICENSED EARLY NOTIFICATION (Resignation or Retirement)
Licensed employees resigning/retiring at the end of the current contract year, who give official early notification in SKYWARD – EMPLOYEE ACCESS, will be eligible for a tiered incentive. To qualify, notification must be submitted on or before the following dates:
The incentive will be paid on the last regular paycheck. Notifications of resignation/retirement received after the dates listed above will not qualify for an incentive. The official District “Notice of Resignation” form is found in Skyward under “Employee Access”. Please see District policy DP318 for more detailed information regarding resignations. If you do not know your Skyward username or password please contact the Help Desk at 801-567-8737.
Licensed employees who do not submit an official “Notice of Resignation” form in Skyward “Employee Access” with at least thirty (30) calendar days’ written notice WILL BE FINED $500, which will be deducted from their final check. Informing your principal/school administrator either verbally or in writing is not sufficient. See District Policy DP318 – Resignations - Licensed.
School/District Administrators must submit an official “Notice of Resignation” form in Skyward “Employee Access” with at least sixty (60) calendar days’ written notice WILL BE FINED $500 in accordance with District Policy DP318A – Resignations-Administrators.
DATE:
February 1, 2023
TO:
Principals
Special Education Staff
School Secretaries
FROM:
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
SUBJECT:
Special Education Budget Closeout for the 2022-23 School Year
Please note that Special Education purchase orders/requisitions for the 2022-23 school year must be received by Monday, March 6, 2023 @ 5:00 p.m. Please remember the following:
Staff will be notified of the new budget allocation amount prior to the start of the new school year. Keep in mind that new purchase orders/requisitions will not be processed until late July when all of the current year’s budgets have been closed out.
As you close out your budgets for the current school year, please note the following:
Coding for P.O.s/Requisitions, NPOs, P-Cards, ECHECKS:
| FUND | TYPE | LOCATION | PROGRAM | FUNCTION | OBJECT |
| 10 | E | (School #) | 1295 | 1090 | Use object code |
If you have questions regarding your Special Education budget, please contact Amanda Hamblin at (801) 567-8177.
Please review the Special Education Budget information that is attached below.
How To Become “Highly Qualified” and Receive LANE CHANGE INCREASE.
PARAPRO Testing is optional for most school locations but required for all Title One School locations. Applicants/Employees interested in working at a Title I school may contact the Title One school principal for additional testing options.
Please see the attached document for more information.
This year, the annual Teacher Transfer Fair is open to all CURRENT JSD teacher/educators AND student teachers, interns and those on a 1-year agreement. This event is for current Jordan School District teachers/educators seeking a new teaching/assignment opportunity! The transfer fair will be combined for both elementary and secondary teachers/educators.
Please come prepared with:
Come explore your options in JORDAN SCHOOL DISTRICT!
See the flyer below for more information.
Prior to the TEACHER TRANSFER FAIR on February 13th, principals may post available positions for the 2023-24 school year on a Google Form. Please fill out the Teacher Transfer Fair link to advertise your transfer openings for teachers and other licensed employees. This will allow teachers to view your postings prior to the Teacher Transfer Fair.
THANK YOU to Principals/Assistant Principals, Directors, JESPA Volunteers, HR Assistants, and the Communications Department for promoting and participating in the first JORDAN SCHOOL DISTRICT JOB FAIR!
It was a GREAT success, as it resulted in the hiring of numerous new applicants for open positions throughout the District. A total of 207 households were in attendance and a total of 59 applications were COMPLETED in Frontline during and after the Job Fair. We are certain there will be more applications completed in the near future as a result of the Job Fair.
A special THANKS to Oquirrh Hills Middle for hosting this event and also to those who served as interpreters. The success of this event was due to the efforts of many individuals and groups.
THANK YOU all again for your contributions.
DATE:
February 2, 2023
TO:
All School Administrators
FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness
SUBJECT:
Grief Conference Opportunity
Student Services is continuing to offer training opportunities for administration and school mental health team members with the unspent suicide prevention funds from prior years. With these remaining funds, we will be sponsoring the registration fees for an upcoming grief conference. The Bradley Center is hosting a full day training titled Traumatic Death: How to Help Those Left Behind.
Here is a description of what to expect from this opportunity: Since COVID-19 disrupted life for children and families worldwide, traumatic deaths have impacted millions. Local professionals deal with the impact of those and other traumatic deaths every day. Learn additional strategies to help clients cope.
This will take place on Friday, February 24th at the Mountain America Center. It is a full day of learning from 8:30AM to 4:30PM.
For more information about the conference, you can visit https://bradleycentergrief.org/
If you or any of your school’s mental health team (school counselors, school psychologists, or clinical support/social workers) would like to attend, please reach out to Angie Rasmussen at angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org. Provide an email with the full name, email address, office phone number and meal preference (vegetarian or not) of those who would like to register.
Seating is limited for this event. Please send in your request for registration as soon as possible!
A Clean Work area is a Safe Work Area.
Good housekeeping is one of the surest ways to identify a safe workplace. You can tell how workers feel about safety just by looking at their housekeeping practices. Good housekeeping isn’t the result of cleaning up once a week or even once a day. It’s the result of keeping cleaned up all the time. It’s an essential factor in a good safety program, promoting safety, health, production, and morale.
See the flyer below for more information.
Each year, the Utah Association of Elementary School Principals (UAESP) gives the Jordan Association of Elementary School Principals (JAESP) the opportunity to celebrate elementary principals for the great work they are doing in their schools. Principals may be nominated for awards in the following categories:
Recipients of the National Distinguished Principal of the Year and Assistant Principal of the Year have already been chosen and will be recognized soon.
If you feel that a principal has done exceptional work in one of these areas, we invite you to nominate them for an award through this survey.
All nominations are due Feb. 10, 2023. Please remember this is for elementary principals only.
The following principals are ineligible to be nominated because they have received an award during the last three school years:
Garett York, Theresa Christensen, Tiffany Smith, Ross Menlove, Megan Cox, Cherie Wilson, Odette Desmarais, Buddy Alger, Shauna Worthington, Courtney Titus, Bobbie Nixon, Jennifer Ludlow, Ann Pessetto, Laurie Goodsell, Suzie Williams, Ken Westwood, Aaron Ichimura, Amanda Edwards, Nick Hansen, Joel Pullan, Ronna Hoffman
After all nominations have been received, the JAESP board will present the awards to each recipient at their own school. Recipients will then be eligible for state-level awards in the same category through UAESP.
Thank you for taking the time to nominate exceptional elementary principals!
Please see the document below.
The Conference will be held on March 23 & 24, 2023 at Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo. Registration fees for 1 administrator and up to 2 teachers per school will be provided by filling out this form by Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Please contact LeAnn Nelson for questions.
District office administrators and teacher specialists interested in attending may also sign up by filling out this form.
The 2023 Instructional Leadership Conference has an incredible line-up of speakers! See the attached information.
The final sessions of LETRS training offered by USBE are available for registration. No new sessions will be added so it is important that all teachers who are taking LETRS training through USBE register for the sessions they need ASAP.
Dear Administrators,
During 2021-22 and continuing through the 2022-23 year, schools were given the option to hire benefit-eligible substitutes for which the school paid half the cost (including benefits) and the District paid half. This position was originally intended to be temporary through 2022-23.
GREAT NEWS! As this option has shown to be a benefit to schools, it will now be available going forward.
CURRENT SUBSTITUTES
For schools who are currently taking advantage of the benefit-eligible substitute position, the following information will apply:
POSITION INFORMATION
Please contact a Human Resource Administrator or Recruiter if you have questions regarding this position.
DATE:
January 18, 2023
TO:
Principals
FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
SUBJECT:
Panorama Student Success Implementation and Renewal
The Panorama Student Success platform is a tool to proactively identify student needs and focus on building students’ sense of belonging and relationships. This platform provides immediate and timely information to quickly identify students who may be in need of interventions. Student Success is, at its most basic function, a data-dashboard for school teams to diagnose school/student needs and areas in need of immediate attention. When used, this tool will empower your teams to identify, track, and intervene with students more effectively.
Panorama’s Student Success platform is an early warning system and the only such vendor approved by the State. Currently each elementary, middle, and high school in Jordan District is on the State approved list for the subsidized amount of $2,000. For 2022-23 school year only, Student Services covered the cost for every school to have full access to Student Success. The Student Success contract ends on June 30, 2023.
This information is being shared with you at this time so you may plan your budgets accordingly.
If you are in need of any training, whether it be a refresher or in-depth, please reach out to Travis Hamblin at travis.hamblin@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8439. Trainings can be done in-person or virtually or time can be arranged with Panorama to conduct an ‘office hours’ drop-in style training.
The February Assistant Principal meetings will be held on February 2 (8:00-11:00am) and February 7 (8:00-11:00am). All meetings will be held in-person at the JATC-S. All assistant principals and intern assistant principals are invited. A beverage service will be provided, beginning at 7:30 am at each of the meetings. As a reminder you only need to attend one of the sessions offered per month. Both sessions will provide the same information. Please CLICK HERE and it will take you to the Google Doc to sign up for which day you would like to attend. If you have any questions please call Nadine Page at 801-567-8182 (x88182). Thank you!
