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Author: npage

Published on

DATE:   
March 17, 2022

TO:  
All Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
Prevention Planning Workshop

Our Health and Wellness team will be offering prevention planning workshops for school teams on the dates below. To sign up, please visit the Google Form to receive further communication about the workshops.

This prevention planning workshop is an opportunity to communicate to your school community all of the great things that your school does to care for your students! The intended outcome of the workshop for attendees will be a completed, concise, clear prevention plan for their school that highlights their unique approach and follows District and State guidelines. If you would like to make alternate arrangements for prevention planning, please reach out to McKinley Withers (801-567-8245, mckinley.withers@jordandistrict.org)

  • March 31, 7:30-11:00, ASB Auditorium
  • March 31, 12:00-3:30, ASB Auditorium
  • April 4, 7:30-11:00, ASB Auditorium
  • April 4, 12:00-3:30, ASB Auditorium
  • April 8, VIRTUAL (time to be determined based on interest and availability)

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LOCKOUT, LOCKDOWN and Shelter-in-place are emergency responses often confused with one another. Jordan School District created clarifying videos on these responses to train students and staff, all under three minutes in duration, located at: Google Drive > Shared with me > Incident Command Training Videos. Click HERE

REMEMBER: Locks were invented to keep humans out of things. Associate “locks” with humans” and “LOCKOUT” and “LOCKDOWN” with a potentially violent person.  

LOCKOUT and LOCKDOWN are DENY strategies, as part of the AVOID DENY DEFEND response protocols for violence threats. DENY the threat access to you by creating a physical barrier between you and them.

LOCKOUT – external threat

  • Call 911 when SAFE TO DO SO
  • LOCK them OUT of the building, creating a barrier between you and the threat
  • Use the LOCKOUT Card on the dedicated card reader in the main office to quickly lock all exterior doors that are scheduled open at that moment
  • Students and staff on the school grounds should come in for safety
  • Staff card access badges will still work during a LOCKOUT
  • Students and staff remain inside
  • Do not let people exit, or enter until the LOCKOUT has ended
  • Consider bringing occupants of portables into the main building, if SAFE TO DO SO (For supervision, water, lunch, restrooms, medications, etc.)
  • Consider notifying Transportation in case buses are in route to the school
  • Post a sign on entrances stating the school is in LOCKOUT
  • Remain vigilant
  • Keep hallways and common areas clear of students and staff
  • If police enact the LOCKOUT, police end the LOCKOUT
  • Use the END LOCKOUT Card on the reader in the main office to revert to the door schedule at the time it is ended

LOCKDOWN – internal threat

  • Call 911 when SAFE TO DO SO
  • Get behind a closed, locked door of a classroom, office, conference room, etc., creating a barrier between you and the threat
  • LOCKS, LIGHTS, OUT OF SIGHT
  • Consider barricading the door with furniture, if you’re able to do so quickly and safely
  • Remain quiet, silence cell phones, make it seem like an unoccupied room to the intruder
  • The threat is already inside the building so there is no need to lock exterior doors
  • Consider being ready to DEFEND yourself if the intruder gains entrance into the room
  • Consider using text messaging to quietly inform the school Incident Command Team of your status
  • The police will open the door to clear the room, so there is no need for occupants to open the door

Shelter-in-place – chemical spill or severe weather outside (As defined by FEMA, not a response to violence)

  • Call 911 when SAFE TO DO SO
  • Remain indoors, seeking “shelter from the storm” or dangerous air outside
  • Turn off the electrical breakers to the air handlers to quickly restrict outside air from coming in if there has been a chemical spill/leak outside
  • Consider bringing occupants of portables into the main building, if SAFE TO DO SO (For supervision, water, lunch, restrooms, medications, etc.)
  • Consider moving occupants to a specific part of the building, or large gathering space for safety purposes
  • Take direction from police, fire, or the District accordingly

Use the Jordan School District Incident Command Manual when planning, conducting drills and preparing for emergencies. Please contact JSD Emergency Operations Manager Lance Everill with questions: 801-567-8623, lance.everill@jordandistrict.org

Published on

DATE:  
March 17, 2022

TO: 
All Administrators and Administrative Assistants

FROM:  
John Larsen, Business Administrator

SUBJECT:  
Employee Overnight Travel

As a reminder, when employees travel to conferences or other events and it is not related to:

  1. a) student group travel arrangements, or
  2. b) an administrative travel stipend arrangement,

the following policies are to be followed (see the Financial Manual for more details):

  1. The travel request is to be submitted at least 45 days in advance using the Skyward task process called “Travel Request” so the Travel Buyer has sufficient time to make all arrangements in a cost-effective manner and so the traveler can verify information before the travel occurs. The Travel Buyer makes the airline, hotel, and shuttle arrangements. The Travel Buyer may pay for the conference registration as requested. However, suggestions may be made in the notes of the travel request.
  2. All costs associated with the travel are to be listed and preapproved.
  3. Any documentation regarding the reason for the travel is to be attached to the travel request (e.g. conference advertisement, schedule, itinerary, etc.).
  4. Regardless of how the travel is paid for, the travel must follow the same rules (e.g. grant / non-grant; department / school, etc.).
  5. First class, business class, or upgradeable fares should not be requested to be booked or paid for by the District.
  6. Lodging will be at the conference site or in a reasonably priced hotel within walking distance of the conference. A reasonably priced hotel is considered the average cost of hotels within the vicinity of the conference.
  7. Employees do not earn overtime or trade time for attending or traveling to a conference.
  8. Travel less than 50 miles from the employee’s normal work assignment should not include hotel costs or per diem costs.
  9. If an employee chooses to drive rather than fly to the conference, the employee will receive a mileage reimbursement equivalent to the lowest airfare available 21 days in advance or the regular mileage reimbursement, whichever is lower.
  10. Rental cars are to be used only when other forms of transportation are either not available or those forms of transportation are more costly than a standard rental car with the hotel parking fees. Rental cars cannot be prepaid by the Travel Buyer. The traveler will need to pay for car rentals and be reimbursed if not on a P-Card.
  11. Original receipts for airport parking fees, luggage fees, ground transportation (Uber, Lyft, cabs), or other costs must accompany the reimbursement request after the travel occurs. Any applicable per diem will be paid at the same time as these reimbursements. Costs not pre-approved for the travel are not reimbursed.
  12. P-Card use is acceptable only for the following items when pre-approved:
    1. Baggage fees
    2. WIFI if not offered with the hotel
    3. Transportation to/from the hotel/airport
    4. Airport parking
    5. Rental cars
    6. Conference registration
  13. For many personal reasons employees may want to pay for some additional travel costs that the District cannot pay for. For example, if the employee wishes to rent a car so they can tour the city, visit some sites, go out to eat at a distant establishment, etc. or if the employee wishes to extend the trip so they can see some sites, the employee should pay for these additional costs and report leave time as applicable.
  14. The State Auditor has prohibited government entities from booking or paying for non-employees’ travel even when there is a plan to reimburse the government entity.

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Are you ready to be certified as an ESL teacher? Any JSD teacher can sign up while space is available. Please use this link to place your information by April 11th. ​​This endorsement program is open to K-12 contracted licensed personnel in Jordan School District. This does not include substitute teachers or paraprofessionals who are licensed. Principals, please do not sign up for your teachers.

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Really Great Reading Training Completion
Really Great Reading training links will begin to expire. These links are only active for one year. Please make sure all K-3 teachers have completed all modules for their grade level. 

Think Central for Literacy Phase Out
As a reminder from the JAM on October 28, the current platform for Think Central for literacy is being phased out by Houghton Mifflin.  As a result, this will be the last year that Think Central for literacy will be provided by T&L. This change will not affect Think Central for math. All Think Central accounts will remain in operation through the end of the 2021-22 school year. Schools can contact Houghton Mifflin directly for information regarding site based purchasing. 

EOY PLCs and Principal/Coach/Specialist Planning Meeting
Assigned literacy teacher specialists will be contacting principals to set up end of year PLC meetings. In addition, they have been asked to meet with principals and coaches to get feedback from this year and begin planning processes for next year. We have designed an EOY District Literacy Initiatives Checklist to help in this process and are asking them to review this with you at that meeting.

Published on

DATE:   
Thursday, March 17, 2022

TO:     
Elementary School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:    
MOY Acadience Math Results

The MOY Acadience Math results are now available in Tableau viewer accounts. See the memo below.

Published on

DATE:   
Thursday, March 17, 2022

TO:   
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:   
2021-22 USBE Educator Engagement Survey Results

The 2021-22 USBE Educator Engagement Survey window closed on Friday, March 11th. An analysis of the survey has been completed and is available in your Tableau accounts here.

Tableau users may also navigate to the dashboard through the Explore menu: Explore > Surveys > USBE Educator Engagement Survey > 2021-22 > 2021-22 Educator Engagement Survey Analysis

The survey presented question items and solicited comments from classroom teachers regarding mentoring, school leadership, collaboration, professional learning, career growth, and job satisfaction. While no school-level data are available, the survey does present a perspective of educator engagement and job satisfaction that could provide guidance to school leaders in terms of morale, teacher preparation, the efficacy of mentoring programs, and school leadership.

Please contact Ben Jameson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability with any questions.

Published on

DATE:    
March 17, 2022

TO: 
Principals
Assistant Principals

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

SUBJECT: 
Thriving Schools: A Summit for Student Success

These past few years have both challenged us and taught us the importance of prioritizing empathy, relationships, and social-emotional learning to support students. Above all we know that a thriving school community starts with ongoing learning and reflection.

Thriving Schools: A Panorama Summit for Student Success originally aired on February 15th – but they have made it available to access until May 16th for FREE. The topics include:

  • What does it mean for schools to thrive?
  • MTSS and data-based decision-making.
  • School Counselors as leaders within a multi-tiered, multi-domain system of support.
  • Creating a shared understanding & partnering with families to supporting the social-emotional growth.

You may access the summit at the following link:

THRIVING SCHOOLS: A Panorama Summit of Student Success

Please feel free to share this resource with your counselors, psychologists, social workers, leadership teams and/or teachers as you see fit.

Published on

For teachers in grades K-3:  

Below is the information about Unit 2.
The last virtual session for Unit 2 will be held on May 25th.

Many of these sections for the months of March, April and May are either extremely low or have no enrollment whatsoever.
Please sign up for a Unit 2 virtual session ASAP because some of these sessions may be canceled by the state. Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Direct link for Unit 2, MIDAS course #60077

Month Dates
March 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31
April 1, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 21, 22, 25
May 6, 12, 25

Administrator/Psychologist sessions

LETRS for Admin is a two-part training that can be completed anytime between now and September of 2023, your online work is not required to be completed prior to attending a training but is required to be completed before the project end date of September 2023. This all day training is from 8:30am to 3:30pm.  

LAST sessions for Unit 1 (60389) Dates: March 31, April 8, April 13, May 26th

Unit 2 (60446) Dates: June 6 & 15 July 8 & 20 August 5 & 16th. 

Check out this information on the T & L website: 

LETRS Administrator Information

LETRS for Admin Schedule

Questions? Contact  Bev Griffith at #88466 or beverly.griffith@jordandistrict.org

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Dear Principals:

It is time to order student Math Expressions workbooks for the 2022-2023 school year. Student consumables for K-5th grade were included in the 2019 math adoption. Each school site has already pre-paid for 5 years of these materials.  We are currently in year 3 and the orders placed will be for year 4 of the 5 year purchase. In order to be ready to start the 2022-2023 school year, Mtn. States has asked that we submit the refill orders now with expected delivery prior to the end of the year.  They have given us a firm deadline of March 31.  

An administrative assistant from the Teaching and Learning Department will reach out to you next week to confirm your refill orders and student numbers for each grade level. They will have the total number of books ordered for your school for 2021-2022 year and the expected enrollment for 2022-2023. We realize these numbers are projected numbers. Please account for growth, understanding that orders surpassing the initial order will still need to be paid for. If you had significant changes to your school population please work with your area administrator to determine how your school budget will reflect those changes.

6th Grade textbooks will not be purchased by the district, so 6th grade numbers are not necessary.  Teachers have access to PDFs and Word docs for all student materials in the Open Up Resources Program, including Spanish resources.  Additionally, there is a robust Canvas course, including MasteryConnect practice problems, Cool Downs, videos and slideshows for every lesson.  Many lessons also include Desmos, Geogebra, and Nearpod tasks that teachers can adapt and use as they like.  If your school would still like to order student workbooks for 6th grade, we can share the order information with your administrative assistant and your school can handle that order directly.

In order to facilitate this process, please work with your school administrative assistant to ensure that the numbers are ready to report.  When contacted, each school will need to provide:

  • The number of student workbooks needed for each grade K-5 (please account for expected growth). The refill orders will be submitted at the district level based on the numbers you provide and will be delivered to your school prior to the end of the year.
  • If new teacher orders for K-5 need to be placed, T&L will prepare a buy guide for you that will need to be submitted to purchasing at the school level. 

Thank you for your support as we work to have all materials in place for the beginning of the school year.

Sincerely,

Elementary Mathematics Specialists

Melissa Garber
melissa.garber@jordandistrict.org 801-567-8170

Orla Ryan Davis
orla.ryandavis@jordandistrict.org 801-567-8668

 

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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 March 23, 2022.

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. No registration is needed for this training.

Published on

Beginning Tuesday, March 22 the Utah Department of Health will be offering COVID Mobile Testing on Tuesdays & Thursdays, from 4 - 7p.m. at Elk Ridge Middle.  Please use the link or QR Code (see posted document) below to register.

Published on

DATE:    
Thursday, March 10, 2022

TO:   
All Elementary School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
School LAND Trust/TSSA Planning – Helpful Assessment Data

With the School LAND Trust and TSSA Plans due on March 25th, principals have been encouraged to create data-informed goals and supports. The following Tableau dashboards may be useful as principals set those goals:

Elementary Schools:

  • Acadience Reading K-6 – Overall proficiency and growth are included as well as individual measure data.
  • Acadience Math K-3 – Overall proficiency and growth are included as well as individual measure data.
  • RISE ELA, Math and Science – Overall proficiency is included as well as individual reporting category data for each content area.
    • Cohort Percent Proficient Over Time – This dashboard looks at proficiency by cohort (i.e., Class of 2025 or Class of 2027) across school years.
    • School Growth – Median Growth Percentiles (MGPs) for schools were calculated by the state and recently released.
  • WIDA Access 2.0 – Overall proficiency is included as well as reporting categories and individual domains.
  • 6th Grade CogAt Universal Screener – This dashboard contains three years of data on students’ verbal, quantitative and nonverbal reasoning skills as they leave your K-6 educational program.

Other Helpful Data:

Published on

DATE: 
Thursday, March 10, 2022

TO: 
All Middle School Administrators

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

SUBJECT: 
School LAND Trust/TSSA Planning – Helpful Assessment Data

With the School LAND Trust and TSSA Plans due on March 25th, principals have been encouraged to create data-informed goals and supports. The following Tableau dashboards may be useful as principals set those goals:

Middle Schools:

  • RISE ELA, Math and Science – Overall proficiency is included as well as individual reporting category data for each content area.
    • Cohort Percent Proficient Over Time – This dashboard looks at proficiency by cohort (i.e., Class of 2025 or Class of 2027) across school years.
    • School Growth – Median Growth Percentiles (MGPs) for schools were calculated by the state and recently released. MGPs represent growth calculations for both RISE and Utah Aspire Plus combined.
  • Utah Aspire Plus English, Reading, Math and Science – Overall proficiency and predicted ACT scores are included as well as reporting category data for each subtest.
  • WIDA Access 2.0 – Overall proficiency is included as well as reporting categories and individual domains.

Other Helpful Data:

Published on

DATE:  
Thursday, March 10, 2022

TO:  
All High School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
School LAND Trust/TSSA Planning – Helpful Assessment Data

With the School LAND Trust and TSSA Plans due on March 25th, principals have been encouraged to create data-informed goals and supports. The following Tableau dashboards may be useful as principals set those goals:

High Schools:

  • Utah Aspire Plus English, Reading, Math and Science – Overall proficiency and predicted ACT scores are included as well as reporting category data for each subtest.
    • School Growth – Median Growth Percentiles (MGPs) for schools were calculated by the state and recently released. MGPs represent growth calculations for both RISE and Utah Aspire Plus combined.
  • WIDA Access 2.0 – Overall proficiency is included as well as reporting categories and individual domains.
  • 11th Grade ACT – ACT composite as well as subtest scores are included as well as reporting category data.
  • AP Exams – Overall, AP discipline and AP course pass rates are included as well as a distribution of scores.

Other Helpful Data:

  • Graduation – This is a good source to track graduation and dropout rates for your school across student groups.
  • 2021-22 Stakeholder Input Survey – This is a good source for perception data on academic resources and supports from the perspective of faculty, students and parents.
  • 2020-21 USBE School Climate Survey – This is a good source of perception data on school climate and culture.
  • Longitudinal Demographic Data – Based on the Oct. 1 enrollment count, this dashboard will provide assistance with demographic population trends and patterns.

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Please note that the following positions will be available for schools for the 2022-2023 school year only using ESSER III funds. 

  • High Schools 1.0 FTE for a tracker
  • Middle Schools 0.25 FTE for a tracker
  • Elementary Schools 25-hour assistant to support intervention

Any additional trackers or aides that have previously been paid for using CARES / ESSER funds will be the responsibility of the school for the 2022-2023 school year. 

Schools will need to update budget codes for personnel who will be covered through ESSER III funds in 2022-2023. Please complete a New Hire/Change Form and code ESSER III Budget #7225 starting July 1, 2022.

The following Budget Codes will be discontinued after July 1, 2022:

10 E xxx 7211 1084 165 and 10 E xxx 7215 1084 165 

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Please take note of the following MANDATORY deadline:

2022-23 School LAND Trust Upcoming School Plan
Completion Deadline: March 25, 2022
Your school's 2022-23 LAND Trust Allocation can be found on the State Website. When you click on the "Upcoming Plan" your "Estimated Distribution for 2022-2023" can be found in the box "Funding Estimates" on the 6th line down. This is your actual distribution.

  • Do not end up with a negative estimated carry-over to 2023-2024.
  • Under "Action Plan Steps and Expenditures", please click on the provided button to input the budget allocations for that goal.
  • Add in what you will do if you have "Funding Changes". Remember that if it's listed here you won't need to do an amendment if you have extra money that you need to spend. (See tips and hints below for some suggested wording.)
  • REMEMBER THE LAST STEP, go into Council Membership & Signature Form and click to send the emails to your SCC members.

I can't stress this enough------please use the correct categories for the expenditures as you add them to your goals. They need to be distributed correctly. Don't put everything under salaries/benefits. Call Nadine Page (x88182) if you have questions of what category it should go under. 

Last Reminder: The 2022-23 TSSA Plan will also be due on March 25, 2022. Your TSSA Plan Link can be found HERE.

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Reminder:

A great opportunity to listen to two scholars address the intersection of public education, law and democracy. The event is scheduled for March 4, 2022 at 11:00 am. Two prominent legal
actors, Judge William E. Smith (District of Rhode Island) and Professor Michael Rebell (Columbia), will be the presenters.

See flyer below for the details.

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Due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, the Challenge Run will now be held, Saturday, May 14, 2022  All other information is the same.

Saturday, May 14, 2022
Start Time: 9:00 AM
Veteran's Memorial Park
(8030 South 1825 West in West Jordan)

Cost per person is $20
Team Captains who wish to create a team of runners can register for free!

THE CHALLENGE OBSTACLE RUN is a family-friendly fundraising obstacle course run open to all ages and created to make a difference in Jordan District Classrooms. Sponsored by local businesses and Jordan Education Foundation, 100% of proceeds go directly toward Classroom Grants benefiting students & teachers in Jordan District. The Challenge begins at 9 am, Saturday, May 14th and ends with a fun family festival with lots of free giveaways. You can participate in any one of the events (Obstacle Run, Festival, Fundraising) or in all three!

For more details and to register online, visit:

www.jefchallenge.org
OR
https://runsignup.com/Race/UT/WestJordan/TheChallengeObstacleRace.

Please see attachment for more information.