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Please invite all kindergarten teachers to join us for Kindergarten Night Out! McKinley Withers, from the Health and Wellness department, will be joining to give us some tips and tricks to manage behavior in the kindergarten classroom. As a special bonus, kindergarten teachers will be paid to attend this session. We will meet in the ASB auditorium on January 12 from 4:15-5:15. Teachers are encouraged to sign up on JPLS.

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Dear Teachers and Counselors, 

Jordan School District is committed to providing high-quality mathematics instruction for every student. All students are capable of learning and succeeding in mathematics. During the upcoming registration for middle school classes, your 6th-grade students may choose their mathematics courses. Students may choose 7th Grade Mathematics or 7th Grade Mathematics Honors. The core standards are exactly the same for both courses. However, the honors course may move a little faster and/or go a little deeper than the regular math course. It is important that students are given the opportunity to access the math course which best fits their needs. Please encourage your students to discuss their options with their parents/guardians. 

The recommended pathway is for all students to take a 7th Grade Mathematics course. 

In light of the education experiences surrounding COVID-19, we see a greater need for students to solidify understanding and build a solid mathematical foundation. 7th grade mathematics is the cornerstone for understanding algebra, geometry, ratios and proportional reasoning, which are critical to the understanding of trigonometry and calculus. 

Jordan School District’s honors courses begin in seventh grade and continue through high school.
Students will have access to AP Calculus, AP Statistics and Concurrent Enrollment courses, regardless of what mathematics courses they are enrolled in during 7th-grade.  

Students can join the Honors Pathway at ANYTIME with no prerequisites.

Jordan District has seen an ongoing pattern, supported by data, showing that students who accelerate through content without a solid foundation in mathematics understanding and skill tend to leave the accelerated pathway. Please note that the Jordan School District has designed opportunities for students to have access to honors courses at every level without having to skip grade levels. Utah Law (Utah R-277.515) states that honors courses now have no prerequisite; however there are requirements for skipping grade levels.  

Alternate Accelerated Pathway
For students who are able to demonstrate mastery of 6th and 7th-grade mathematics standards, an alternative pathway is available. In order to access this pathway, students may choose to take an assessment to determine their readiness for 8th Grade Mathematics Honors. The testing window will be between now and February 24, 2022. Students will take this assessment AT HOME, not in your classroom. Students will receive  the link to the test in a parent letter. 

If students choose to select 8th grade Honors, we will not be able to provide summer courses unlike previous years due to funding being reallocated. Students will have to be fully prepared to begin 8th grade curriculum in August. Many times, they are placed in classes with a majority of 8th grade students. 

Here is an outline of the three options. 

7th grade Mathematics 7th Grade Honors Mathematics 8th Grade Honors Mathematics
This course is recommended 

for the majority of 

incoming students. 

It will provide a solid foundation for developing understanding of mathematics in middle school and beyond. 

This course is recommended for about 80-95% of the population

 This course is recommended for highly motivated students. 

It has the SAME standards as

 7th grade mathematics, however it is fast paced and goes into greater depth with the content. 

This course is recommended for 

10-20% of the population. 

 This course is an 8th grade level honors course. Students will need to enter having mastered the sixth and seventh grade curriculum. Without a solid foundation of 7th grade standards, students will struggle. 

This course is recommended for 3%-5% of the population.
This is a

Parent and Student Choice

 This is a

Parent and Student Choice

 This requires:

Score of 80% or better on a 7th Grade Assessment

Questions
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Amy Kinder, Math Consultant Amy.Kinder@jordandistrict.org (801) 567-8469

Sincerely,
Amy Kinder
Amy Kinder, MS Ed, NBCT
Math Consultant
Jordan School District

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Weather permitting, all locations shall conduct a fire evacuation drill within the first 10 school days after the beginning of the next calendar year (after winter recess).

Conducting a fire drill in January may not be ideal due to winter weather. Try to select the best day according to the forecast. Promote wearing coats and warm attire, appropriate for this time of year.

Remember to record the fire evacuation drill using the Jordan School District, link:

2021-22 REPORT EMERGENCY — DRILLS, ACTUAL EVENTS, or MEETINGS on Google Drive. Bookmark this form for future use.

Contact Emergency Operations Manager Lance Everill with questions:
801-567-8623, lance.everill@jordandistrict.org

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The Purchasing Department/Central Warehouse is seeking feedback from our customers... YOU! (Administrators and Admin Assistants) Your input is important to us as we try to provide the best service to our customer base.
Think of your most recent interaction you have had with an employee of the Department or repeated interactions within the last school year. This would include the Purchasing Department, Central Warehouse, Surplus Warehouse and Fixed Assets. Results of this survey remain anonymous, unless you would like feedback or resolution to issues you currently have or have had in the recent past. If applicable, provide your name in the comments section to receive a call from Purchasing.
We appreciate all the constructive suggestions and constructive criticism to improve our department.

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The following are new administrative assignments:

  • New Assignments effective January 3, 2022:
    • Carolyn Gough, principal at Riverton High, appointed Administrator of Teaching & Learning, replacing Shelley Nordick who is retiring.
    • Rochelle Waite, principal at South Hills Middle, appointed principal at Riverton High replacing Carolyn Gough.
    • James Groethe, assistant principal at Bingham High, appointed principal at South Hills Middle replacing Rochelle Waite.
    • Frederico Rowe, principal at Northport Elementary in Robbinsdale Area Schools, Minnesota, appointed staff assistant in Teaching & Learning.
    • Beverly Griffith, principal at South Jordan Elementary, transferred to Teaching & Learning.
    • Bryce Eardley, principal of Dugway Schools in Tooele School District, appointed principal at South Jordan Elementary replacing Beverly Griffith.
    • Staci Moore, assistant principal at Majestic Elementary, appointed principal at Bluffdale Elementary replacing Cynthia Tingey who is retiring.
    • Trudy Jack, administrative intern at Ridge View Elementary and Rosamond Elementary, appointed assistant principal at Majestic Elementary replacing Staci Moore.
    • Michelle Kilcrease, assistant principal at Blackridge Elementary and Foothills Elementary, transferred to ALPS at Riverton Elementary.
    • Baylee Lansford, assistant principal at Elk Meadows Elementary and Monte Vista Elementary, transferred to Blackridge Elementary and Foothills Elementary.
    • April Thompson, administrative intern at Aspen Elementary and Terra Linda Elementary, transferred to Elk Meadows Elementary and Monte Vista Elementary.
  • New Assignment effective July 1, 2022:
    • Brandon Larsen, band teacher at Herriman High, appointed assistant principal at a secondary school, location TBD.

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DATE: 
December 9, 2021

TO:    
Administrators and Administrative Assistants

FROM:      
John Larsen, Business Administrator
June LeMaster, Ph.D., Administrator, Human Resources
Sarah Palmer, Director of Payroll
Michael Heaps, Director of Information Systems

SUBJECT: 
Substitutes on Semi-Monthly Payroll

The District has decided to begin paying substitute teachers, substitute nutrition, and substitute bus drivers/attendants on a semi-monthly pay schedule. This means that, beginning February 2022, substitutes will be paid twice a month. Pay dates will be on the 10th and 25th of each month, with the pay periods as follows:

  • Days subbed from the 1st–15th paid on the 25th of that same month
  • Days subbed from the 16th–the last day of the month paid on the 10th of the following month

The new payroll deadlines to accommodate this semi-monthly pay schedule for substitutes are attached. All other payrolls will remain on the 25th of each month. Please reach out to Juli Martin in the sub office at 801-567-8219, or to the Payroll Department at 801-567-8154, with any questions.

Thank you for your support.

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DATE:      
December 8, 2021

TO:   
School Psychologists and School Psychology Interns

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

SUBJECT:  
January School Psychologist Guidance Meeting

A meeting for school psychologists and school psychology interns has been scheduled for Friday, January 7, 2022, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Auxiliary Services Building (7905 South Redwood Road). Dr. Brian King and the Jordan Behavior Assistance Team (JBAT) will provide us with a presentation on Functional Behavior Assessments FBA’s and Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP’s)

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

cc:
Principals

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Dear Employees,

Beginning August 9, 2021, Jordan School District is making additional leave days available for all employees who test positive for COVID-19 and are required to isolate. This additional leave will be available through the end of the school year on June 30, 2022. Below is a summary of steps an employee should take to utilize this isolation leave.

  • The employee stays home due to illness, notifies their supervisor, and requests a substitute as needed.
  • A benefit-eligible employee records their leave time in Skyward.
  • The employee gets a COVID-19 test.
  • If the test is positive, the employee notifies their supervisor and then submits their positive test result to jane.olsen@jordandistrict.org in Human Resources.
  • The employee will receive an email acknowledgement.
  • Leave days previously reported in Skyward from the date of the positive test result going forward will be adjusted to Isolation Leave by the District.

The employee isolates as directed by the Salt Lake County Health Department.

Isolation Leave is also available for the following situations where a positive test result is submitted as indicated above:

  • The employee never had symptoms but tests positive. The isolation period for this situation is up to 10 calendar days from the day they tested positive.
  • The employee is the caregiver of an individual in their household who is required to isolate due to a positive test result and the employee needs to care for the isolated individual.

Isolation Leave ends when any of the following occurs:

  • They are no longer required to isolate OR
  • They have utilized 10 isolation leave days OR
  • Until June 30, 2022

Part-time employees testing positive will have pay adjusted to offset average wages lost for the time they are required to isolate, or up to 10 days.

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In anticipation of next year's enrollment planning and scheduling, Information Systems will be turning on pre-transfers the afternoon of December 10th.  You should then be able to start running reports and see your next year's students beginning December 13th.

Below are a few reminders about pre-transfers:

  • A pre-transfer is an activestudent who is currently attending Jordan School District and will be attending next year at a different school within Jordan School District.  The student's record will pre-transfer to the student's next year boundary school based on their current address.
  • Once pre-transfers are turned on, the School Pathtab will show current year permits under Previous Reason Code and next year permits under Reason Code.
  • Current permits for 6th and 9th grade students will be removed for next year as of December 9th.  This will allow these students to pre-transfer to their new entity for next year.

In addition to turning on pre-transfers, the course master will be rolled over on December 10th for next year's scheduling preparation.

Please contact the help desk (ext. 88737) with any questions or concerns regarding the timing of the pre-transfer process.

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Please join us December 11th for Christmas for Kids!  - helping to make the holidays brighter for deserving teens.  

Every year Jordan Education Foundation provides holiday gifts for teens who would otherwise go without in the Jordan School District community through an event called “Christmas for Kids.” This year the foundation is once again working with Walmart in South Jordan to provide a little bit of Christmas cheer for 500 deserving middle and high school teens.  

Chaperones are still needed!  Please visit www.jefchristmasforkids.org to register to be a chaperone!

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All provisional first full evaluations are to be completed and submitted on Perform no later than December 17, 2021. 

Beginning of the year interims are now past due. Please make sure to have teachers who have not completed this requirement get them done no later than December 17, 2021. 

If you need assistance regarding these deadlines, please contact Susy Peterson at (801) 567-8296 or susanlyn.peterson@jordandistrict.org.

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DATE:  
Thursday, December 2, 2021

TO: 
Elementary School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
Acadience Math Dashboards Available in Tableau

Acadience Math dashboards are now available in your Tableau Viewer accounts.

You can access the Acadience Math dashboards here or through your Tableau Explore menu:

Explore > Acadience Math & Early Numeracy

The dashboards contain both district and school level composite and measure data. In addition, you'll find individual student scores organized by grade level and teacher. To aid you in your data analysis, I have attached a summary of benchmark goals and cut scores similar to what you are already accustomed to with Acadience Reading.

Evaluation, Research & Accountability will disseminate student scores directly to teachers since Acadience Data Management (ADM) is still broken.

Originally, USBE was going to transition schools to Acadience Learning Online, but that transition has been delayed until next year. Once Acadience Data Management is fixed, we will disseminate login credentials to school administrators and educators. We don’t have a timeline for this fix as there are a number of issues, but USBE and Acadience Learning are working on it.

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All kindergarten teachers are invited to join us for Kindergarten Night Out on December 8 at 4:15 pm in the ASB auditorium. The theme will be “A Few of My Favorite Things” and there will be presenters from many of the departments in Teaching and Learning who will share a few of their favorite things to use with kindergarten students. We will have some really fantastic prizes and every teacher who attends will take home something amazing! Please join us for a night of fun!

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Volunteer reports need to be submitted to Insurance Services.

Workers' Compensation insurance costs are based on numbers submitted by schools. It is important that this information be accurate and complete.

PTA figures must be separate from other volunteer hours.

Attached is a copy of the Volunteer Report for the period from August 1, 2021 to November 30, 2021.

Please complete this form and return it to Cheryl Matson, Director of Insurance Services, by December 22, 2021.

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DATE:
December 2, 2021

TO:
All school administrators and administrative assistants

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

SUBJECT:  
Instructions for using $1000 suicide prevention grant funds

Administrators and Administrative Assistants,

Each school has been awarded $1000 from a State suicide prevention grant “to implement evidence-based practices and programs, or emerging best practices and programs, for preventing suicide.”

Some common ways this fund is spent by schools is on HopeSquad, Sources of Strength, training and stipends, curriculum costs, parent education, and student-focused education and prevention efforts or assemblies. Jordan’s suicide prevention guidelines can be reviewed here.

Approved expenses can be reimbursed through a journal entry or can be coded to this grant using the program number 5674. Contact Carmen Covarrubias (88203, carmen.covarrubias@jordandistrict.org) in Student Services with questions regarding reimbursements or using your school’s grant funds. Any time this fund is used, copies of invoices and/or receipts will need to be sent to Carmen for reimbursement from the State.

Contact McKinley Withers (88245, mckinley.withers@jordandistrict.org) with questions about approved expenses related to training, curriculum and suicide prevention (no treats, T-shirts, or other rewards/incentives are allowed).

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DATE:   
November 29, 2021

TO:  
School Psychologists and School Psychology Interns

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

SUBJECT:   
December School Psychologist Guidance Meeting

A meeting for school psychologists and school psychology interns has been scheduled for Friday, December 10, 2021, from 12:00 to 3:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Auxiliary Services Building (7905 South Redwood Road). We will start at 12:00 p.m. with lunch. You have the option of participating in our pot-luck luncheon, or bringing lunch for yourself if that’s your preference. Dr. Anne Kirby, faculty member at the University of Utah in the Department of Occupational and Recreational Therapies, will provide us with a presentation that addresses suicidality in students with autism. In addition, Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education, will address Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA’s) and Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP’s).

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

cc:
Principals