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DATE:   
Thursday, March 31, 2022

TO:  
All Elementary School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:    
Spring 2022 Summative Testing Reminders

School administrators are encouraged to share the following information with their RISE-tested teachers.

Please see the memo below.

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On Thursday, April 21, 2022, at 10:15 a.m. hundreds of thousands of Utahns will “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” in the annual Great Utah ShakeOut Earthquake Drill.

All schools are encouraged to participate in this drill, or to conduct an earthquake drill sometime in the month of April. This is an opportunity to incorporate emergency preparedness in classroom lessons and to include proper ways to protect oneself during an earthquake. The drill will help us to be prepared for an earthquake, like the one we experienced on March 18, 2020.

Schools can register to participate in the Great Utah ShakeOut, at: www.ShakeOut.org/Utah. After registering your school, you can also review the “PLAN YOUR DRILL” section at the bottom left of the Webpage. Under the “Resources” tab, towards the top of the Webpage, you can find NEW! PowerPoints for leading ShakeOut Drills (online or in-person). Materials on the Resources page will help support your participation in the ShakeOut and promote awareness and preparedness. Schools are encouraged to take Covid precautions as needed, to include awareness about distancing prior to people gathering under a common table as they Cover and Hold during the drill.

Please review the Jordan School District Incident Command Manual - Earthquake Action Plan and Standard Operating Guidelines for planning, drilling and responding to an earthquake. The manual is located in the JSD Incident Command Folder on Google Drive, link: Incident Command Folder. Bookmark for future reference.

Please plan and prepare to take part in this statewide earthquake drill. Remember to report your drill and related meetings using the Jordan School District 2021-22 REPORT EMERGENCY — DRILLS, ACTUAL EVENTS, or MEETINGS Form on Google Drive.  Bookmark for future reporting.

Please contact the JSD Emergency Operations Manager Lance Everill with questions, etc.:   Office 801-567-8623, lance.everill@jordandistrict.org

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Principals:

Effective immediately full-time Classroom Assistant positions have been created at Lane 1, 2, and 3. These positions are 180 days, are not eligible for substitute coverage when the person in these positions are absent, and must be paid for from school budgets (not the District 0050 budget). Salary calculations for these positions must include a fully loaded benefit eligible salary including insurance costs. Principals interested in hiring for these positions must post the position for five days, interview qualified applicants, and follow the district hiring processes and procedures. See the attached job description for further details. Please feel free to contact an HR Administrator or an Administrator of Schools if you have any questions.

Published on

DATE:   
March 31, 2022

TO:
Principals and District Administrators

FROM:   
Brad Sorensen, Administrator of Schools

SUBJECT:  
Stipend for Department Chairs and Team Leaders

Stipends for Department Chairs and Team Leaders will be paid in May.

  • Elementary Schools may pay $300 for 8 Team Leaders.
  • Middle Schools may pay $500 for 12 Department Chairs or Team Leaders.
  • High Schools may pay $500 for 16 Department Chairs or Team Leaders.

A multiple timesheet roster should be submitted to the Payroll Department by May 3, 2022. All Department Chairs or Team Leaders will be paid out of the same program number from which their salary is paid. Each roster should be clearly marked “Stipend for Department Chair” or “Stipend for Team Leader.”

Kauri Sue, River’s Edge, South Valley, and JATC will be paid as middle schools. If a school houses an additional special education program (cluster program or preschool program), the school will have an additional team leader allocation.

Budget Code
10 xxx xxxx 2216 131

10 xxx 7551 2216 131 (Special Education)

Published on

DATE:
March 31, 2022

TO:
All Principals
All Budget Directors

FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
June LeMaster, Ph.D., Administrator, Human Resources
Daniel Ellis, Director of Accounting, Budgets, & Audits
Cheryl Matson, Director of Insurance Services
Michael Heaps, Director of Information Services
Sarah Palmer, Director of Payroll
Kurt Prusse, Director of Purchasing

SUBJECT:
Year-End Processing Deadlines

Please observe the following critical deadlines, listed in the memo below, regarding the financial year-end processes for the 2021-22 year. Please review these dates as they could have a major effect on your location’s ability to operate.

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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 of December 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.

Please complete this form and return it to Cheryl Matson, Director of Insurance Services, by April 30, 2022.

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We are excited to announce that all elementary school teachers will have a number of opportunities to participate in a required Jordan School District Literacy Launch Refresher Course.

Teachers will be paid for any session that does not require a sub!

This is a chance to enhance the skills you already have, and learn even more about language comprehension instruction in the elementary classroom.

Teachers will be paid a $200 stipend for participating in each 2½ hour course that does not require a sub.

Thank you in advance for continuing the important work, elevating the level of literacy in our elementary schools!

All teachers K-6 must sign up for one of the following training dates through JPLS using course number 101889:

  • Spring Dates: 
    • April 29 • 8 - 10:30 a.m.
    • April 29 • 11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
    • April 29 • 2 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
    • May 19 • 4:30 - 7 p.m.
    • May 20 • 1:30 - 4 p.m.
    • May 23 • 4:30 - 7 p.m.
    • May 25 • 4:30 - 7 p.m.
  • Summer Dates:
    • June 22 • 9 - 11:30 a.m.
    • June 22 • 1 - 3:30 p.m.
    • June 28 • 9 - 11:30 a.m.
    • June 28 • 1 - 3:30 p.m.
    • June 29 • 9 - 11:30 a.m.
    • June 29 • 1 - 3:30 p.m.
  • Fall Dates: sub required
    • Sept. 1 • 8 - 10:30 a.m.
    • Sept. 1 • 1 - 3:30 p.m.
    • Sept. 12 • 8 - 10:30 a.m.
    • Sept. 12 • 1 - 3:30 p.m.

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USDA Free Meals Waivers to End

The USDA free meals waivers were not renewed by the federal government and will end with the close of this school year. These waivers allowed schools to serve free meals to all students during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Next year, schools will return to the regular National School Lunch and Breakfast programs where students have a free, reduced or paid meal status.

This has large implications for the Nutrition Services Department as well as the families in our district. With the help of JSD schools, the Nutrition Services Department will plan to focus efforts on communicating to families this change as well as the need to apply for free/reduced meals (if they qualify) after July 1st for the 2022-23 school year. Nutrition Services anticipates meal prices will remain the same for this next school year.

Due to the return of National School Lunch Federal regulations, the following changes will occur:

  • Families will need to fill out the free/reduced application and qualify to receive free/reduced meals. Applications will need to be filled out after July 1st to qualify for the 2022-23 school year.
  • Virtual learners will not be able to receive meals. Students will need to be enrolled in a brick and mortar site to receive meals.
  • Students will need to be onsite and receive instruction to receive meals, i.e. schools will not be able to provide meals on professional development days because there is no instruction for students.
  • There will be no grab and go options, meals are to be served and eaten on site.
  • There will be no meal service time exceptions, meals will need to be served during the times originally provided to the state.
  • Siblings of enrolled students will no longer be able to receive free meals.

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The district will not be renewing data services to the mobile Internet hotspots in the district’s Loaner Kajeet Program when they expire on June 30, 2022. Instead, these devices will be available for schools to request on a permanent basis. Any school doing so will be responsible for acquiring data services for those devices. It should be remembered that these devices were granted to the district specifically for use by students who do not have adequate Internet service in their homes. If you have an interest in permanently receiving any of these devices for your students, please contact Mark Sowa in Information Systems, at mark.sowa@jordandistrict.org, or at 801-567-8392.

Published on

DATE:
March 22, 2022

TO:
High School Principals, Assistant Principals and Counselors

FROM:
C. Brad Sorensen, Administrator of Schools
Stacee Worthen, Secondary Counseling Consultant
Jacinto Peterson, Principal, Valley High School

SUBJECT:
Critical Dates Regarding 24-credit Diploma through Valley High School

Counselors with students planning to graduate with a 24-credit diploma from Valley High School need to be aware of the following date/deadlines:

May 16, 2022
Names of all students planning to graduate with a 24-credit diploma must be submitted to Jacinto Peterson, Principal of Valley High School.

All students who are planning to walk at Valley High School’s graduation ceremony need to contact Jostens at 1-800-JOSTENS immediately to order the Valley High School cap and gown package. If they have previously ordered from their boundary school, Jostens will help them with the cancellation and reorder of Valley High School colors.

May 23, 2022
Deadline for official transfer of student to Valley High School. All transfer students must have credits complete and transcripts reviewed by their boundary school before transfer is submitted, and student is withdrawn from their boundary school. Valley High School registrar will complete all transfers on May 23rd.

May 25, 2022 - Mandatory Meeting
All students who are planning to walk during the Valley High School Graduation Ceremony must attend one of the following meetings at Valley High:
12:30 p.m. OR 4:30 p.m.
Each meeting will be approximately one hour. Students will not be allowed to walk with fellow graduates if they do not attend one of these meetings. Caps and gowns will be distributed at the end of this mandatory meeting.

June 1, 2022
Valley High School Graduation Ceremony 10:00 a.m.
Real Salt Lake Training Academy
Zion’s Bank Stadium, Real Academy (14787 Academy Parkway, Herriman, UT)

June 2, 2022
Students who do not wish to attend the graduation ceremony may pick up their diploma at Valley High School.

Please make note of these important dates and ensure they are communicated to students who are planning to use this option.

*Attached are instructions and the application for a 24-credit diploma through Valley High School.

 

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Kindergarten Night Out will be held on April 6 in the ASB auditorium from 4:15 to 5:15. We will be talking about writing! We will be giving ideas on how to prep for the KEEP test and other ideas to easily integrate writing throughout your day. Please sign up on JPLS. This is one that every kindergarten teacher will want to attend! Please share the attached flyer with all kindergarten teachers.

Published on

DATE:   
Thursday, March 24, 2022

TO: 
Elementary School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
EOY Acadience Testing Reminders

The end-of-year Acadience testing window opens on April 11th. With a six-day spring break and six additional days with no kindergarten students in buildings, the 2021-22 EOY window is one of the shortest testing windows on record. As we prepare for Acadience testing, there are a few friendly reminders that help the district testing teams be as efficient as possible while they are at your school testing students:

  • Avoid scheduling kindergarten and first grade classes back to back, when possible. They take longer because assessment assistants are administering both the reading and math measures.
  • Encourage your teachers to be flexible. They need to be prepared to come early or late to their allotted time.
  • Be sure to have an adult runner available who knows the school and can quickly have a teacher come to the testing area, distribute student cards, and help the testing run as efficiently as possible. If schools don’t have a runner available, a parent who knows where teacher classrooms are is a viable option. If there is no runner, one of our assessment assistants has to do it, which means she is testing less students.
  • We continue to need the assistance of instructional coaches as well as anyone else who has been trained to administer all of the Acadience Reading and Math measures on the days we are in your building. We have been unable to fill 10 district assessment assistant positions. Earlier this year, we sent department personnel to help with testing (though there are only eight of us). Testing in RISE, Utah Aspire Plus, DLM, Reading Inventory, and AAPPL for foreign language are all being administered at the same time as Acadience Reading and Math. Because of this, department personnel will not be as available to assist with Acadience testing during the EOY window.
  • We have left some time at the end of the testing window for assessment assistants to complete absent testing for any students at any of the 41 schools that were absent on the day(s) of testing. That said, there have been occasions in previous windows this year where there were 60-90 K-3 students absent on testing day(s). If there are that many absences in a school during the end-of-year window, the school will need to help test some of those absent students.

If you are interested in having your aides get trained to administer both Acadience Reading and Math tests, there are two Canvas courses available:

Please contact Ben Jameson or Shannon Johnson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability with any questions or concerns.

Published on

DATE:  
Thursday, March 24, 2022

TO:   
Administrators of TSI Schools

FROM:   
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Michelle Love-Day, Consultant of Language & Culture Services

SUBJECT:  
TSI Workshop for School Administrators

As a requirement under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), USBE identified schools for Targeted School Improvement (TSI) in 2018 and 2019. A workshop has been designed to help administrators of TSI identified schools understand the calculations behind their school’s TSI designation as well as the timeline and criteria necessary to exit TSI. The vast majority of our TSI schools have second language learners and/or students with a disability that are struggling as a student group. This workshop will offer evidence-based strategies and ideas to help provide more robust supports to both student groups, thus allowing schools to exit TSI. Representatives from Special Education, Language & Culture Services, and Evaluation, Research & Accountability will be on hand to provide guidance and answer questions.

All school administrators of TSI schools are encouraged to attend one of the two sections offered on March 29th and April 6th. School administrators may register for either date on JPLS using course #101888.  Here is the information for each section:

Date Time JPLS Section # Location
Tuesday, March 29th 1:00 – 4:00 pm 117119 ASB Presentation Room
Wednesday, April 6th 8:30-11:30 am 117120

Please contact Ben Jameson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability, Kim Lloyd in Special Education or Michelle Love-Day in Language & Culture Services with questions about this workshop.

Published on

Are You Interested in
Getting Mathematics Software for Free?
Here is the perfect grant for you!
Apply as a school to meet your specific needs.

It is EASY and QUICK to apply. It will only take about 15-20 minutes.
This grant does not fund the entire school to use a program but will fund about 70%-80%.
This grant lasts for ONE year! You are able to reapply each year for continued funding.
All the software is approved for privacy.
You need to commit to using the software 40 minutes a week to maximize the learning experience for students.

See the flyer below for the programs that I (Amy Kinder, K-12 Mathematics Consultant) recommend: