Skip to content

DATE: 
September 9, 2021

TO:  
All Administrators

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

SUBJECT: 
District Safe School Committee Assignments


This year the format of the JSD Safe School Hearings has changed. Each week the committee will be made up of assistant principals from a secondary school, an elementary school, and a representative from various District level departments. The hearings will provide training/insight about Safe School Hearings and a chance for administrators to participate on the other side of the process.

With the approval of the Cabinet, the assignments have been carefully made for maximum balance. If you have been assigned, please add this date to your calendar and plan to be part of this committee on the assigned day. Hearings usually last until 1pm. Please do not take it upon yourself to substitute assigned days. In the rare event you cannot participate on your assigned day, please call Student Support Services or email janie.hyde@jordandistrict.org.

Principals:

We have scheduled two separate training sessions on the operation of the school's security camera and software. The training will include the use of the software, saving of camera footage and the transferring of that footage to the appropriate device. We receive many requests for help in this area.

The training will be held on September 22 2021.
Session 1: 9:00-10:00 am Session 2: 1:00-2:00 pm

Both sessions will be held at the Auxiliary Service Building in the Presentation Room, enter at Entrance C. It is recommended that at least one administrator per building attend one of the sessions and if possible send one hall monitor to each session.

In addition to conducting a fire drill within the first 10 days of school, UT Administrative Rules R277- 400 School Facility Emergency and Safety indicates that all schools are to conduct a drill for “other” emergencies by October 1 each year.

Examples:

  • Bomb Threat
  • Earthquake
  • Shelter-in-place (for external chemical spills or severe weather)
  • Violence (LockOUT for external threats, LockDOWN for internal threats)

Remember:

  • Drills are part of instruction time for students
  • Clearly announce the drill within the school, and always make a clear distinction between “drills” and “actual emergencies”
  • Complete the 2021-22 Report of Emergencies – Drills, Actual Events or Meetings Form on Google Drive, link: 2021-22 Report of Emergencies – Drills, Actual Events or Meetings
    Drill requirements are listed by level at the top of this form
  • Conduct drills according to the District Incident Command System (ICS) Manual Action Plans and Standard Operating Guidelines. Google Drive Incident Command Folder, link:  JSD Incident Command Folder
  • Bookmark the Report Form and Incident Command Folder for future reference

An Incident Command overview will be conducted at Principal’s and Assistant Principal’s Meetings later this month.  Additional Incident Command training opportunities will be advertised for October, or individual locations can schedule meetings with JSD Emergency Operations Manager Lance Everill as needed: 801-567-8623, lance.everill@jordandistrict.org

DATE:
September 3, 2021

TO:
All Principals

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

SUBJECT:
10th Day Enrollment versus the Estimate


Please see memo below.

What's New School LAND Trust Program 2021 2022 - YouTube

"What's New" Training: this 15 minute video covers the most important changes to the program and announcements and reminders.

*Please take note that the deadlines listed in JAM last week are the deadlines Jordan School District will be following.

DATE: 
September 2, 2021

TO: 
Elementary Principals

FROM:
Shelley Nordick, PhD, Teaching and Learning Administrator
Norman R. Emerson, Fine Arts Consultant

SUBJECT: 
Assemblies by Artistic Resources for Teachers and Students, Inc. (ARTS, Inc.)


ARTS, Inc., now in its sixty-second year of operation, was founded in 1959 and has provided performances in all forty-one school districts in Utah, reaching more than 250 schools each year with professional arts and education programming.  We welcome their artists in our schools again for the 2021-22 school year.

Click this link to find:

  • The assembly schedule with the date and time the artists will be at your school.
  • The contact information for the performing group coming to your school.

The artists have been instructed to contact you at least two weeks prior to their assembly to verify starting times and specific needs for their performance.  If the date selected for the music group to perform at your school does not work with your schedule, please contact the music group as soon as possible to reschedule.  The name and phone number of the contact person for each group have been provided.

If you have any questions, please contact Norman Emerson at 801-567-8364.

 

DATE:    
Thursday, September 9, 2021

TO:   
All Elementary and Middle School Administrators

FROM:  
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
Opportunity to Learn Survey Results


As part of RISE and Utah Aspire Plus summative testing for grades 3-10, students participated in an Opportunity to Learn (OTL) survey from USBE. The purpose of the survey was to add context around how shifting learning environments affected students’ achievement on the summative assessments.

The OTL questions used on the survey are attached with this memo. A dashboard that shows the results from this survey for the district and individual schools may be found here, including OTL responses tied to math and reading proficiency level. Additional information and data dashboards will be added in the future.

If you have questions about the survey or the OTL dashboards, please contact Brooke Anderson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability.

School Administrators:

The School FTE Audit process is critical in ensuring employees are paid accurately and out of the appropriate budgets. Like last year, the FTE Audit will be electronic. Below is the process we will follow for the audits:

Electronic FTE Audit Process:

  • September 20, 2021 – HR will share with principals and administrative assistants the FTE Audit Report via Google Sheets. Please review the report with your administrative assistant. The report will include verification of faculty/staff, FTE, title and budget code(s). Please refer to the “Instructions” sheet in the document for assistance in completing the audit.
  • October 1, 2021 – DUE DATE for the FTE Audit Report to be completed for HR to process. Check the “yellow” box on the front page to indicate audit completion.
  • THE BEST NEWS OF ALL – All corrections made on the FTE Audit Report will be made by HR upon return. Change forms will not be required; however, new hires not listed on the report will require the submission of a hire sheet to HR in Frontline.
  • If you are interested in meeting with HR administrators to review/assist with your audit, a link will be available on the Instructions sheet in your audit documents. You are welcome to invite your administrative assistant and Assistant Principal. You can schedule a time to meet. We ask that you review the audit and come prepared to the meeting with needed changes to your audit.

Thank you for your time and assistance.

DATE:  
August 27, 2021

TO:  
Registrars

FROM:
Steven Harwood, Information Systems Support Services & Programming Mgr.
Chris Richards-Khong, Teaching and Learning Staff Assistant Administrator

SUBJECT:  
Dropout Cohort Report


Please refresh and update your knowledge regarding your school reporting data. Check in with your registrars to learn more about the important work they are doing to correct and refine your school reporting for graduation and drop out data. See memo below.

Reminder: The next Assistant Principal meetings will be held on September 23 (1:00-3:30pm) and September 28 (8:00-10:30am). All meetings will be held in-person at the JATC-S. No virtual option will be provided. As a reminder you only need to attend one of the sessions offered per month. Both sessions will provide the same information. If you haven't had a chance to sign up please CLICK HERE and it will take you to the Google Doc. If you have any questions please call Nadine Page at 801.567.8182 (x88182). Thank you!

Principals: Please take note of the new deadline of October 1, 2021 to have all required items on your school website. Other due dates for the 2021-22 school year are also listed.

FAQ - Answers from the State LAND Trust Office

  1. The prior and current School LAND Trust reports, current and prior council members, along with the school’s funding for five years are available when you go to the login page. Choose Public Reports on the right column before you login. Choosing School Plan will produce a Final Report if one has been submitted.
  2. Current School Plans may now be amended online, as needed. You will see a link at the top and side menu on the school page when you are logged in.
  3. You may want to wait until September 23rdto enter the Council Membership and Principal Assurance. We have encountered a bug in the system that should be resolved by then. (The principal assurance is still not working. Please complete the council membership for right now.)
  4. Parent_Licensed on Council Membership Form under Parent Type. This indicates a parent in your school, on your School Community Council, that is employed at a different school within the District. When employed at a different school they can count as a parent on your SCC.

October 1 (Prior due date was October 20)

Required school website postings
For detail see links to the Timeline and Requirements for School Websites. (Hard copy attached below)
Link to Timeline and Requirements for School Websites

Note:  Website compliance review (by the State) will be conducted beginning October 4, 2021.

Online Council Membership Form that now includes an Assurance Statement by the principal. You only need to add in your council members. You don't send the form to them. That happens in the spring. Then sign for the principal assurance and this part is done.

February 11, 2022 - Online 2020-21 Final Report Due

Date for online Final Report on 2020-2021 School Plan Implementation
Available on the State website January 15, 2022. School LAND Trust Final Report for 2020-21 must be completed by February 11, 2022.

March 25, 2022 - School LAND Trust and TSSA Plan for 2022-23 Due

Date for Upcoming School Plan 2022-2023 and Completed Council Signature Form - due online by March 25, 2022.
Available to submit when Final Report review is complete.

 

Join us at our Family Fall Fair! There will be food, games, swag and some fun prizes. Come learn about the departments and resources in our District as well as the business partners around us. If you have a student in JSD, this event is for you!

If you are a contracted employee and need to take Annual/Personal Leave before or after Labor Day 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
Fall Recess

(All 242, 245 Contracts)

October 21-22, 2021 Sept. 6 – Sept. 16, 2021
Fall Recess

(180, 184, 187, 207, 206 Contracts)

October 18-22, 2021 Sept. 3 – Sept. 13, 2021

https://employment.jordandistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/34/PersonalLeaveBeforeAfterHoliday-21-22-updated-1.pdf

Kindergarten Night Out will be held on September 8 from 4:15 - 5:15 in the auditorium at the ASB. Please invite all kindergarten teachers to attend. We will be learning some tips and tricks to use in Walk to Read for students who are above level. This is a time to collaborate and get some freebies for the classroom.

There is a new curriculum planning tool available for third-grade teachers who are using HD Word Plus called the HD Word Plus Weekly Road Map. This map will help guide teachers through the resources available in HD Word Plus and it serves as a helpful day-to-day planning guide. This resource will continue to be developed throughout this school year. Please be sure to share this HD Word Plus Weekly Road Map link with all third-grade teachers and all building coaches.

The literacy department is hosting a weekly literacy Q&A every Thursday in September from 3:30-4:30. An updated link to this meeting is included. Please share this information with your teachers and coaches and feel free to join us if you have any literacy questions. Please be sure to use this updated link to access the meetings.  Literacy Q & A

We have added another make up session for the Literacy Launch for anyone who still needs to attend the training. The new dates are September 27th and 29th and these dates are now available in JPLS.

We have two additional dates for Heggerty and MSRC training scheduled for September 7th and 14th for anyone still needing this training. The classes are available for sign up on JPLS.

We are expecting the additional Really Great Reading teacher manuals and student workbooks to arrive this Friday by 7:00 pm. We will send them out to schools next week as long as they arrive on time. The student workboards are still on backorder.

Each school should have received or should be receiving shortly, a shipment of phonics decodable readers from High Noon Books/Academic Therapies Publications. These were mentioned during Literacy Launch training. These books are perfect for upper-grade students who are working on building decoding skills. These books should be stored in a central location where all teachers can have access to them. The set of books will include 8 different series with a total of 86 books. The series are listed below:

Magic Belt Series (12 books)
Alba Series (12 books)
Totem Series (12 books)
Talisman Series One (10 books)
Rescue Series (10 books)
Titan's Gauntlets Series (10 books)
Talisman Series Two (10 books)
Amber Guardians Series (10 books)

We have a few schools who have not responded to the Google form that was sent out by Sara Henderson regarding the need for Think Central for literacy. If we do not hear from schools by September 7th we will assume that you do not need Think Central subscriptions for your school. This will not affect math subscriptions to Think Central. The link to the Google form can be accessed through this Google Form for Think Central link.

USBE has requested that teachers participate in a brief survey. This survey will be sent out to teachers through Canvas and participation in the survey is encouraged.

Classroom assistants are being allocated to help with any needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This may include covering classes when substitutes are not available. These positions are being funded through Federal COVID money for the 2021-22 school year. Principals may post, interview, and hire immediately. Each school is allowed one 25-hour COVID assistant.

The position will be a lane 1, 2, or 3 depending on their highly qualified status. The normal process will decide the lane placement.

Budget Code:   10 E xxx 7211 1084 165

Please note that this is in addition to the ESSER tracker/intervention assistant that was allocated per the memo on June 17, 2021. See memo HERE.