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DATE:
March 13, 2023

TO:
All Jordan School District Principals (with bus route students)

FROM:
Scott Thomas, Administrator of Auxiliary Services
Paul Bergera, Director of Transportation
Kathy Jones, Transportation Trainer/Risk Coordinator

SUBJECT:
State Required Bus Evacuations and School Bus Safety 2022-2023


State required semi-annual school bus evacuations have been scheduled for this spring. This applies to those students that ride the bus daily to and from school.

The evacuations will be conducted during the week of:

Monday, April 10 through Friday, April 14, 2023

Your school’s regular bus drivers will perform this evacuation as they drop your students off in the morning, one day during that week. This drill will take place at the school and within the students’ regular bus drop off/pick up zone. All professional school bus drivers that transport students are required to perform evacuation procedures in case of an emergency. This year, bus evacuation will be through the side door, front door, back door or any combination of the three. Students will then, under the direction and supervision of the bus driver, evacuate and meet in a safe place approximately 100 feet away from the bus.

Your assistance is welcome but not mandatory to complete this required evacuation drill quickly, safely and effectively.

We appreciate all you do to help us safely transport your students.

We are excited to announce that in response to teacher requests there are some updates and improvements to the ELA Instructional Minutes Daily Time Allotment documents. The recommended times have not changed, but more detail has been added to provide clarity around the recommended use of the allotted ELA time.

DATE:
March 9, 2023

TO:  
All Administrators

FROM:  
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness
Angie Rasmussen, Student Safety & Wellness Specialist

SUBJECT:  
Management of SafeUT and BARK Monitoring Tips


SafeUT alerts - After hours, holidays, and weekends
SafeUT may still send text and email alerts after hours or during blackout periods when they are deemed urgent. Most tips and alerts are deemed as non-urgent and are batched for 7am the next school day.

When a text/email alert is received after school hours or on a weekend, it should be addressed as soon as reasonably possible. In some cases, SafeUT will call the District’s on-call contact, through Health and Wellness, to obtain information immediately. When SafeUT contacts the after-hours staff member it will be logged in the disposition notes in SafeUT for schools to address the next school day. SafeUT may still send urgent alerts to schools after hours or during blackout periods without contacting the on-call staff. These alerts are managed by the school.

BARK after-hours alerts
A BARK content monitoring alert that comes in after 3pm will not be forwarded to school staff until the next school day if it is non-urgent. Urgent notifications that come in after 3pm are sent to the Student Safety & Wellness Specialist, Angie Rasmussen for triage.

Documentation and closing SafeUT tips
It is essential to assign, document interventions, and close each SafeUT tip. This effectively communicates the status of the tip to all parties involved. Here are some helpful tools for this process:

All school administrators are set up in the SafeUt dashboard to receive alerts. If you are not getting SafeUT emails check your SPAM. There is an email filter in place to ensure that SafeUT alerts are not sent to SPAM. If you have checked your SPAM folder and are still not getting notifications, please email Angie Rasmussen.

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

DATE:  
March 9, 2023

TO: 
All Building Principals

FROM:  
Kurt Prusse, Director of Purchasing/Warehouse

SUBJECT: 
Large Surplus Sale End of School Year 2023


With the closure of West Jordan Elementary School (WJE), the surplus warehouse will be holding a large public surplus sale at WJE this summer. After schools have a chance to select any items they desire, the public surplus sale for any remaining items will be held. In conjunction with that sale, we would also like to add any surplus items you currently have or will be disposing of by the end of the year. Please note: you do not need to wait for any of the below dates or deadlines to surplus your unwanted items between now and the end of the school year. The surplus warehouse will still make their regular pick-ups after receiving your surplus paperwork.

To successfully do this large of a sale, we ask for your assistance by separating your surplus, including your paperwork, into three categories:

  • Furniture & Equipment,
  • Electronics, and
  • Books

Each category is treated differently. We are working with our electronics and books recyclers to possibly pick-up directly from the schools. But, we cannot make those arrangements until we know the quantities available. However, we can pick-up all your items by the dates indicated below.

June 9
Due date for schools to submit surplus paperwork to AOS

June 12
Due date for surplus paperwork to be received by surplus warehouse in order to guarantee a pick-up for the WJE Surplus Sale

June 12 - July 7
Pick-ups of surplus furniture and equipment from schools

July 10 - July 11
JSD schools may visit WJE and request transfer of surplus items

July 13 - July 14
Other LEA schools may visit WJE and purchase surplus items

July 15
Public may visit WJE and purchase surplus items

July 17 - Aug 4
Pick-ups of surplus electronics or textbooks from schools

If you have any questions, or special requests, please contact Steve Oldham either by calling x88709 or emailing steven.oldham@jordandistrict.org .

The date for the Jordan School District High School Graduation exercises is Thursday, June 1, 2023. Valley High School graduation exercises are scheduled for Wednesday, May 31, 2023. School graduation plans and times will vary from school to school.

Principals and Directors are encouraged to provide flexibility to parents or grandparents requesting the opportunity to attend the graduation ceremonies of family members.

Licensed employees are responsible for requesting a substitute through the Frontline Absence Management System, if applicable. In the blue “Notes to Administrator” box, the employee should add “graduation” along with his/her relationship to the graduate.

For additional assistance, please contact the Sub Office at 801-567-8219.

Dear Principals,

As we have talked about reading classes and reading instruction, there has been interest from many schools in having teachers more fully trained in the Science of Reading, or LETRS training. 

Over the past month, Lexia (the company who provides the LETRS training) has released a new training geared specifically for students in grades 4-8, Lexia Aspire. (Lexia Aspire Website) There are several benefits to this training including:

  • The course is web based and self-directed
  • The suggested timeline is 29 weeks; however, it could be completed sooner depending on how fast the teacher works through the material
  • The cost for the training is $600 per teacher versus $800 + materials per teacher

The one drawback at this time is that we are unsure how Lexia Aspire will be integrated into the Secondary Literacy Interventionist Endorsement (the new Reading Endorsement). Together with other districts, we are working with USBE through this process; however, we won’t know the answer until later this year.

I have started the Lexia Aspire training, and it is something I wish I would have had as a Language Arts teacher. Not only does this program provide the foundational knowledge for why the Science of Reading is important; it also provides practical application that teachers can integrate into their instruction and classrooms now. 

Feel free to share this information with any Reading or Language Arts teachers who may be interested in the Lexia Aspire training. We’re hopeful that the training will be beneficial toward an endorsement but, at the very least, it is excellent reading instruction training. If you would like to consider paying for this training for your teachers, please contact me.  

Brandee Bergum
Secondary Language Arts Consultant
brandee.bergum@jordandistrict.org

During the opening administrators conference in August, the Teaching and Learning administrators introduced the "Educator Contractual Responsibilities Yearly Checklist” as a tool to use with your teachers. This list of 20 responsibilities was generated from the essential functions and qualifications listed in the Jordan School District Licensed Job Description. To make this more meaningful as a growth tool for teachers and administrators, we are working on building scales for each responsibility that would help educators identify exactly what it means to successfully meet expectations.
I have included a link to a Google Form below. We would love to hear what administrators think each responsibility really means and what it looks like when educators successfully meet the intended expectation for each one. We know you are all busy, so we don’t expect you to provide feedback for each indicator. To help save you time, the responsibilities have been grouped into four categories, and we are asking that you click on at one category and just do as much as you can.
Please feel free to forward this email to your assistant principals. Since we are just gathering information at this point, we aren’t ready for coaches and teachers to start worrying about what this is and how it might be used, so we would appreciate it if you don’t forward this outside of you admin team.
We are grateful for any time you can give to this to help us develop a tool that helps all of us improve our practice in order to provide the best education for students and a working environment where every educator can thrive!
Thank you!!!

DATE: 
March 9, 2023

TO:  
Principals
Assistant Principals

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services

SUBJECT: 
Spring Panorama SEL Surveys


The spring Panorama SEL Survey window will be open for four (4) weeks beginning Monday, April 24th and remain open until Friday, May 19th. Survey coordinators and school administrators will receive instructions, materials, and other resources on Monday, April 10th – two (2) weeks prior to the survey window opening.

As a reminder, schools should notify patrons prior to administering the survey. Student participation in the survey should never be a part of any academic requirement and is always optional. Schools should feel free to share the survey questions or other resources when requested. Survey questions will be included in the April 10th resources email mentioned above.

March is here, which means St. Patrick's day, spring, and (hopefully) warmer temps. It is also Women's History Month, which began the week of March 8th, after President Jimmy Carter declared it Women's History Week. Then, in 1987 congress passed Public Law 100-9, designating March as “Women’s History Month.”

The full newsletter can be found at the link below. Stories include:

Culture Corner
St. Patrick's day is coming up. Remember that many of your ML students may not know the holiday or why they celebrate in class (if you plan on doing this). Teaching about the holiday, informing parents about your plans, and giving them some information about the day is incredibly helpful to those students and their families who have never celebrated.


Teaching Strategies Small Groups

  • Why? More time to talk encourages oral language growth (speaking & listening). It gives students a small, safe group to practice with Builds classroom community.
  • For Success - Teach students how to work in small groups. Assign roles so they know what to do. Give sentence stems for language support (bonus points for helping them practice saying those things out loud in the hallway). Guiding questions or printed out steps can help guide them.

Reflective Questions
At this point in the year, what have I learned about: my students’ lives, families, and past experiences? my colleagues? my school community? my local community? myself?

What more do I want to learn as we end 3rd quarter (March 24) and move into 4th?


ELLevation Tips and Tricks
You can use the Student List to make targeted instructional recommendations for students who meet specific criteria. To batch recommend Activities for multiple students at once from the Student List, found in the full newsletter below.


ELD Lead Celebration
Melanie Nixon is both the coach and ELD Lead at Mountain Point Elementary. She has established great relationships with both teachers and students. Not only does she know what is happening at her school, she knows students by name. She is a great resource for teachers who need language and culture support for MLs as she helps teachers with RtI, language strategies and data. Melanie is very organized and on top of things and the MLs at Mountain Point are lucky to have her as an advocate.


DATE:   
March 9, 2023

TO:
High School Principals
High School Assistant Principals

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Brad Sorensen, Administrator of Schools
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Sharon Jensen, Student Support Consultant

SUBJECT: 
Teen Center Grant


Student Support Services has been awarded a grant to fund Teen Center efforts in each high school and is immediately available for schools to use. The bulk of the grant money will go to one high school to create a fully-functioning teen center. The funding includes a 0.50 FTE salary match for a classified employee to staff the teen center. This year Herriman High School has been awarded the bulk of the grant funds to establish a fully-functioning Teen Center operational in Fall 2023. All other high schools were awarded $8,000 to supplement their existing Principals Pantry and supports for homeless/at-risk students.

Please see the memo below for all of the details!

 

DATE:
Thursday, March 9, 2023

TO: 
High School Administrators

FROM: 
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, 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: Noyce Professional Engagement for Educators in Math and Science

Applicant: Max Longhurst, Utah Valley University and Utah 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 and to obtain your permission to conduct the study at your school. 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 involve Noyce scholars who are student teachers or interns in your building.

Thank you for your assistance.

DATE:   
March 3, 2023

TO:  
Principals
Assistant Principals

FROM:   
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Sharon Jensen, Consultant Student Support Services
Michelle Reyes, Prevention Specialist, Student Support Services

SUBJECT: 
March Attendance Newsletter


As we approach Spring and into the final quarter of the year, you are encouraged to take a moment and reflect on student attendance at your school. Many students are struggling to get to school, on time or at all. Sometimes attendance lags because of issues the family is having at home. The newsletter this month asks families in your community what challenges they are facing and lists some resources that may help them find solutions to these challenges. It addresses possible issues with transportation to or from school, affordable childcare and mental health. Wrap around support can play a role in improving student attendance at school.

Spring recess is at the end of March. Trends show that attendance drops before and following a big break from school. In the days and weeks leading up to Spring Break, schools have the opportunity to communicate with parents about the importance of attending. A best practice to increase attendance is planning a school activity immediately following a break. This encourages students to attend when school resumes.

Included is the March Attendance Newsletter. It is being sent out to parents in Peach Jar in both English and Spanish. This is a great resource send out with your attendance letters as well.

Should you have questions about attendance please contact Michelle Reyes at (michelle.reyes@jordandistrict.org) or 801.567.8205.

We are moving closer to the launch date for the new Brightly/Asset Essential work order system which will be replacing Sprocket effective April 3rd, 2023, we ask that you continue to use Sprocket until that date.

Most of our custodians and administrative assistants have had the opportunity to attend a training for the new system.

Please notify those who were unable to attend any of the scheduled trainings of these additional opportunities.

3/14/2023   
Principal Meeting – time certain during breakout sessions

3/21/2023  
Make up Training Date – ASB Presentation Room    2-4 pm
Open to Custodian and Administrative Assistants

3/28/2023 
Make up Training Date – ASB Presentation Room    9-11 am
Open to Custodian and Administrative Assistants

We appreciate your support as we work toward a smooth transition. If you have any question please reach out to our Brightly Team:

Teresa Lyon  :  801-567-8876  :  teresa.lyon@jordandistrict.org
Judy Bird  :  801-567-8625  :  judy.bird@jordandistrict.org
Jeff Beesley  :  801-567-8876  :  jeffrey.beesley@jordandistrict.org

Greetings!

We are anticipating a HIGH volume of substitute requests for the following dates: March 22nd, March 23rd, and March 24th. To increase coverage for those absences we ask that teachers who will be absent any of the above listed dates, enter their absences AS SOON AS POSSIBLE in Skyward and Frontline.

Thanks!

March 1, 2023

Clearing out & Closing School EARS Budgets (program 5336)

School Administrators:

As you are aware the EARS grant is not a guarantee and is determined on a year to year basis. Please take some time to review your school’s spending, for the 2023/24 school year, to ensure you are covered using all of your other funding sources.

The following information will help you finalize your EARS funding for the current school year: 

CLEARING OUT:
ALL teachers and aides that are being paid for through your 5336 EARS budget will need to be moved to another program for next school year.

  • It will be your responsibility to transition them over to another program after their final paycheck for this school year.
  • Your options could be School Land trust or TSSA

CLOSING:
Program 5336 will have a NO MORE NEW/ADDITIONAL SPENDING date of April 15, 2023. (Personnel already being paid will continue until the end of the 2022-23 school year.)

  • It will be your responsibility to make sure that all your purchases will be cleared by this time. Do NOT open a PO on April 14th to secure $$ for spending.
  • It will also be your responsibility to MOVE MONEY to program 5336, from one of your other programs, if you have overspent.

We hope to procure this money next year to help you continue supporting our “At Risk” students. More information regarding this funding will be available during the early months of next school year and will be disseminated in a timely manner.

Thank you,

Michelle Love-Day

If you are a contracted employee and need to take Annual/Personal Leave before or after the mid-spring recess for any reason not listed in policy DP335NEG or DP335B, you must submit a request as follows:

How to Request
During the window, the employee must send the request through email. Please include your name, school, position, and the date you are requesting the leave. Requests left on voicemail or over the phone will NOT be accepted.

Licensed employees submit their request to licensedpersonalleave@jordandistrict.org

Education Support Professionals submit their request to classifiedpersonalleave@jordandistrict.org

The employee will receive an email confirmation within two working days after submitting the request. If the employee does not receive a confirmation email, then Human Resources has NOT received your request and your leave will not be approved.

School Holiday Date of Holiday Window
Mid-Spring Recess April 24, 2023 Mar. 10 – Mar. 20, 2023

Annual/Personal Leave Taken Before or After a Holiday 2022-2023

Schools should update current hiring totals for 2023-24 on their enrollment dashboards as soon as possible so that accurate districtwide data can be monitored and appropriate adjustments made. Hiring totals should be kept current with changes made throughout the summer as needed. Positions do not need to be filled to be counted (i.e., a position that is planned for next year but not yet filled should be recorded on your dashboard as FTE that has been used). Contact Planning & Enrollment with questions about updating staffing totals.

DATE: 
February 27, 2023

TO:  
School Psychologists and School Psychology Interns

FROM:  
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Fulvia Franco, Program Specialist – Guidance

SUBJECT:  
March School Psychologist and School Psychology Interns Meeting


A school psychologist meeting has been scheduled for Friday, March 10, 2023, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the auditorium at the Jordan School District Auxiliary Services Building (7905 South Redwood Road). Terisa Gabrielsen, Ph.D., BYU professor, will provide us with a presentation on Demystifying Identification of Nuanced Autism in Females in School Settings.

Part-time Staff: I would appreciate it if you could adjust your schedules in order to attend this meeting.

cc:       Principals

The March Assistant Principal meetings will be held on March 16 (8:00-11:00am) and March 21 (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!