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The Special Education Department is offering professional development to support co-teaching instruction.

Interested schools will need to submit the attached application no later than September 3, 2021 to Amanda Bollinger. The co-teaching cohort will be capped at 13 teams/26 individuals. A signature on the completed application indicates that the principal is committed to supporting the teachers’ commitments in the co-teaching PD described in the attached document.

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Earlier this summer the Field Trip Office launched BusHive, the new field/activity trip software for all field/activity trip requests. During the first week in July, Kitt sent BusHive online training resources and videos to designated point(s) of contact at all schools. If your school did not receive the training videos and you would like Kitt to resend them to you, feel free to contact him at kittisack.soumpholphakdy@jordandistrict.org or give him a call at 8-8809.

An in-person BusHive training option will be conducted on Wednesday, August 18 from 10:30-11:00 a.m. If your school's point of contact is interested in attending, please contact Kitt via email or by phone as mentioned above or Michele at michele.yuill@jordandistrict.org or at 8-8804.

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This year Community Nursing Services (CNS) will be our preferred provider for Flu Shot Clinics in your school. Two flu shot clinics have been scheduled already:

District Office
October 4, 2021
11:00 am - 2:30 pm

ASB
October 6, 2021
3:00 pm - 6:00 pm

If you would like to schedule a Flu Shot Clinic for your school and receive preferred pricing, please complete the attached 2021 Flu Shot Scheduling Form and return to CNS attention Yvette. Her information is included on the attached form.

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Custodial Workshops Reminder

3rd Wednesday every other month during the school year
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM.

September 15, 2021
November 17, 2021
January 19, 2022
March 16, 2022
May 18, 2022

New Location: Transportation Building
8480 S 4361 W West Jordan

The purpose of these workshops is to communicate any new information pertinent to the custodial operations of each building. All Head Custodians should attend these meetings.

In an effort to insure that these workshops are productive trainings, the Custodial/Energy Services Department would like to address any ongoing, widespread problems or concerns that you might have.

  • If you are aware of any training needs that should be addressed in these custodial workshops, please e-mail me at peart@jordandistict.org.
  • We are also looking for very specific positive examples of individuals that are doing things right. If you have someone on your custodial staff that deserves some public recognition for the exceptional job they are doing, please e-mail me at peart@jordandistict.org.

Thanks!

Steve Peart
Director of Custodial/Energy Services
801-567-8770
steve.peart@jordandistrict.org

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DATE:    
Thursday, August 12, 2021

TO:  
Middle School Administrators

FROM:  
Shelley Nordick, Ph. D., 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: Exploring the Impact of Hour of Code on Students’ Computer Science Interest and Perceptions

Applicant: Jessica Marie Yauney, Brigham Young University-Provo

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.

Thank you for your assistance.

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DATE: 
Thursday, August 12, 2021

TO:  
All School Administrators

FROM:  
Shelley Nordick, Ph. D., 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: Perspectives on Maternity Leave Policies for Educators in three Utah School Districts

Applicant: Jordan Chaves

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 interviews and focus groups with teachers across various district schools.

Thank you for your assistance.

 

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All schools are required to conduct a fire drill within the first 10 days of the school year.

This provides a great opportunity to review plans, emergency response/Incident Command assignments, evacuation maps, rally locations outside, communications, and related supplies.

Please take special care to orient new students and staff, individuals with special needs and younger students that may not have been exposed to alarms and emergency response protocols.

REMEMBER/CONSIDERATIONS

  1. Call the District 24-hour Alarm Response 801-567-8865 at least 30 minutes in advance, to inform them of the drill, so the fire department is not dispatched.
  2. It is required that the fire alarm is activated for fire drills.
  3. All occupants are required to evacuate, with the only exception for the staff member responsible for notifying the local fire emergency contact and handling emergency communications.
  4. Clearly announce the “drill” within the school, and always make a clear distinction between drills “actual emergencies”.
  5. 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
  6. Conduct drills according to the District Incident Command System (ICS) Manual, located in the Google Drive Incident Command Folder. Link:  JSD Incident Command Folder
  7. Bookmark the Emergency Report Form and Incident Command Folder.
  8. Conduct a debrief meeting afterward to review successes and plans for areas of improvement. Use the same report form to record related meetings.

Utah Administrative Rules (R277-400-6 & 7) drill requirements for elementary and secondary schools are listed at the top of the 2021-22 Report of Emergencies – Drills, Actual Events or Meetings Form for your reference.

Please contact Emergency Operations Manager Lance Everill for assistance: lance.everill@jordandistrict.org, office 801-567-8623.

 

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Attached are all forms and documents distributed during the level meetings at the annual Administrative Leadership Conference held August 4, 2021

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Attached are all forms and documents distributed during the level meetings at the annual Administrative Leadership Conference held August 4, 2021

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Special Education Resource and Cluster Team Leaders will receive a SCRAM report via Move-It of all students who should be receiving services through your school’s special education program(s) at the start of the 2021-22 school year.  All team members and service providers need to verify each student on this list as either correct, changed, exited/moved, and/or incomplete. Since only one copy is being sent per “team” (i.e., Resource and Cluster), it is important that resource teams, cluster teams, SLPs, Guidance Specialists and other itinerant providers work together to check and complete the requested information.

Please have your Scram Reports and corrected SCRAM returned to the District Office by
Wednesday, September 8, 2021

We are in the process of hiring a new SCRAM secretary. Until we have a replacement, please continue to send your SCRAM documents and reports to Amanda Hamblin at the District Office. When we have someone in place, you will be notified of who the new contact person is for SCRAM.

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Attached are the special education budget allocations for Resource, Cluster Teachers and Speech-Language Pathologists for the 2021-22 school year. (Cluster Leaders do not receive a Special Education budget.) Remember that special education monies must be spent in ways that provide the most benefit to special education students with the goal to improve student achievement and performance.  It will be up to you, your team, and your school principal/financial secretary to keep track of how much of your budget you have spent individually.

Please note equipment purchases, electronic games and/or any materials that are not instructional in nature must be pre-approved from the Special Education Department. Equipment purchases that are not pre-approved will not be reimbursed. Requests must include the approval from your teacher specialist.

When submitting requisitions, follow Skyward procedures and guidelines. Requisitions for the 2021-22 school year can be submitted anytime between July 1, 2021 and March 1, 2022. The final deadline for all purchasing requests, reimbursement requests, E-checks and P-Card purchases is March 1, 2022. This is a different deadline than we have previously had and will not be extended.

If you have questions regarding your Special Education budget, please call Amanda Hamblin at (801) 567-8177 or the Teacher Specialist assigned to your school.

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Access the schedule and the ZOOM link from the Canvas Elementary JELL Course

https://jordanpd.instructure.com/enroll/DRNC6Y

(If you are new to the course, it will direct you to self-enroll.)

Schedule:

8:30     Superintendent’s Welcome Message
9:00     Cultural Diversity Video & Discussion

9:30  - - BREAK - -

9:45     How Does It All Fit Together, Part 1

  • This session will review the journey we have been on as a district over the past year and help teachers understand how the new literacy implementation fits into that work.
  • This session will include multiple opportunities for collaboration and school discussions. Principals should plan to be actively participating throughout the session.
  • Some of the topics of this session include:
    • The JELL Instructional Cycle
    • Review Core Standards
    • Identify/Review Power Standards
    • Using Data To Drive instruction
    • Creating Learning Scales
    • Literacy Launch

11:30 - - LUNCH - -

12:30     How Does It All Fit Together, Part 2

  • During this session, schools will map out the vision for your successful implementation of the new literacy tools. Using a familiar process, your faculty will create a framework that will help you set measurable goals throughout the year.
  • Some of the topics of this session include:
    • The JELL Instructional Cycle
    • Creating Learning Scales
    • Literacy Launch

1:30     Planning for Success

Schools can choose one of the following options:

  • OPTION 1
    • Schools continue together in a live session. This session will review the power of planning for success, teach the “What” and “Why” of a 60 day plan, and guide your faculty through the creation of your first plan of the year.
    • This is a great option for schools who feel their faculty can benefit from a strong discussion about setting goals with actionable steps, as well as any schools who may have struggled to stick to their plans last year.
    • Principals will share their school’s new 60 Day Plan with their AOS and save it in their school’s folder.
  • OPTION 2
    • Principals can use this time to direct their faculty in a discussion about their past plans and create their first plan for the new school year.
    • This is a great option for schools who have a clear plan already in place and could use this time to engage their faculty in discussions that are more specific to their goals.
    • Principals will share their school’s new 60 Day Plan with their AOS and save it in their school’s folder.
    • Please note that this is not an opportunity for schools to finish early.

**Principals should pay close attention to the conversations and discussions throughout the day in order to create a plan that addresses the needs of your school. Your goal is to clearly identify where your school is at in the process and then guide your faculty to create a time bound plan with incremental action steps that will move you closer to where you want to be.

Principal TO DO List:

“Selecting Power Standards” Spreadsheet

  • Make sure you know where your school’s copy of the “Selecting Power Standards” Spreadsheet is located in your Google Drive. (You may need to share this with teachers who are new to your school.)
  • Click HERE
  • (Links to an external site.)
  • if you need a blank copy to remind you which form this is.
  • Please share your Power Standards with T&L (Ronna Hoffman).

60 Day Plans

  • Review your past 60 day plans prior to the PD Day. This will prepare you to celebrate the achievements your faculty made last year, and help you get ready to create your first 60 day plan this year.
  • Plans should be shared with your AOS and saved to your school’s planning folder.
  • Click HERE
  • (Links to an external site.)
  • if you need a blank copy to remind you which form this is.

JELL Meetings -- Details coming

  • October 7; October 12
  • January 17
  • February 10
  • March 1
  • April 5; April 12

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DATE:     
Thursday, August 5, 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 Reading Grades 4-6 Testing Materials

For the 2021-22 school year and beyond, the state Legislature will be funding Amplify licenses for students in grades 4-6, thus making it possible for all grades 4-6 students to participate in Acadience Reading benchmark testing and progress monitoring. USBE will be rostering students to mClass and Information Systems will be rostering teachers. This process will be completed by soon and teachers will receive their mClass accounts. As part of the Literacy Launch, participating 4-6th grade teachers were trained on the administration procedures for Acadience Reading benchmarks. Those teachers who did not participate in the summer training will need to wait to administer the benchmarks to their students until they have been trained later this fall as part of the Literacy Launch.

Attached with this memo are the test administration materials listed below. School administrators are asked to pass the information from this memo and the attached materials onto their grades 4-6 teachers.

Grades 4-6 Acadience Reading Test Administration Materials:

  • Student benchmark materials (stories for all three benchmark periods)
  • Student progress monitoring materials
  • Instructions for administering the Daze

For any questions about testing procedures, please contact Ben Jameson or Shannon Johnson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability.

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DATE:  
Thursday, August 5, 2021

TO:    
Elementary School Administrators
Elementary Administrative Assistants

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

SUBJECT: 
Fall 2021 Acadience Reading and Math Testing

Principals should have received their schedule for when district assessment assistants will be in schools to administer the state-mandated K-3 Acadience Reading and Math Benchmarks. For questions about scheduling, please contact Shannon Johnson at 801-567-8873 or shannon.johnson@jordandistrict.org.

There will be 9-10 assessment assistants during your assigned testing time along with your school’s instructional coach, which means that we will need space for 10-11 testing stations. To minimize distractions and the chance that students will overhear answers to test prompts, we are requesting a larger space to accommodate our testers. The school media center is preferred. If this is not possible, two classrooms in close proximity may be an option. The assessment assistants will need a larger table space than a student desk as they will be using an electronic device to administer Acadience Reading benchmarks and will also have additional materials to administer the Acadience Math benchmarks via paper/pencil.

Acadience Math:
For the first time, the state is also requiring that the Acadience Math benchmarks be administered in grades K-3. Kindergarten and first grade students will participate in one-on-one individual measures with the assessment assistants at the same time they complete the Acadience Reading benchmarks. In addition, there are whole class measures in grades 1-3 that classroom teachers will proctor. Here is what is expected of grades 1-3 teachers for Acadience Math benchmark administration:

  • Evaluation, Research & Accountability will send master copies of the quizzes to schools.
  • Each teacher will need to make copies of their quiz(zes):
    • First Grade: Computation only
    • Second and Third Grade: Computation as well as Concepts & Applications
    • Each teacher will need to attach a label with each student’s information (provided by Evaluation, Research & Accountability) to each quiz.
    • Teachers can administer both quizzes consecutively on the same day or at separate times.
    • Teachers will follow the instructions provided, proctor the quizzes and then collect them when the allotted time has expired.
    • All quizzes need to be completed prior to the date on which the assessment assistants are coming to your school. Completed quizzes will be given to assessment assistants on this day.
    • Evaluation, Research & Accountability will grade quizzes and then manually enter the data into Acadience Data Management (ADM). Teachers will only proctor the quizzes.
  • Because all Acadience Math measures are administered via paper/pencil and then manually entered into ADM, test results will not be immediately available. For at least BOY 2021, test results will be available by October 30th.

Please contact Ben Jameson or Shannon Johnson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability with any questions or concerns. We look forward to working with you on a smooth Acadience Reading and Math test administration.

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Students will have the option to have text read to them on the RISE Summative and Utah Aspire Plus Summative testing systems once again this year. For students in grades 3-6, the Acadience Reading Daze test will also have audio functions. Principals or their designee are encouraged to place an order for student earbuds. Please place your order by Friday, August 27, 2021.

To place an order, please click here.

Earbuds may be used for other district- or state-mandated tests, but schools will need to create a system by which the same student uses the same earbuds throughout the year as there is no additional funding to purchase more than one pair of earbuds per student in grades 3-10.

If schools wish to purchase additional earbuds for other uses, school administrators are welcome to contact Gaylene Miller in Evaluation, Research & Accountability at 801-567-8185 who can share the purchasing information and quotes used to acquire these earbuds.

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Hello Administrators:

We have a few forms we would like you to fill out to give our department a better way to assist you this year.

  1. Please fill out this form to indicate who your ELD lead, compliance lead, and any Diversity clubs you will have.
  2. For an update on the amount of EARS funding you used, please indicate the information on this form.  You can also view the application and the goals that were sent in to the state here.

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DATE:  
August 2, 2021

TO:   
Principals and Administrative Assistants

FROM:  
John Larsen, Business Administrator

SUBJECT:
Legislative Classroom Supplies Appropriation for 2021-22

In preparation for the new school year, we are providing you with Record of Receipt envelopes for distribution to teachers. Teachers should use these envelopes to record and keep receipts for supply purchases made throughout the year. This year each eligible teacher will receive $175.00 for supply purchases. As in the past, teachers working less than full-time will receive a portion of the $175 based on the FTE rate listed on the school’s Skyward FTE report. The language in paragraph two of the Guidelines (printed on the back of the envelope) was revised to reflect the change in the amount. If you have envelopes left from the previous school year, please discard them and issue only the new envelopes dated 5/20/21.

It is anticipated that the legislative supply funds will be deposited to teacher’ bank accounts on about the 24th of September. The supply money is not included in a paycheck, but rather as a separate deposit to the bank account the teacher provided to the Payroll Department. If you have teachers that received permission to carry over funds from the prior year, please write the amount in the box entitled “carry-over funds” on the teacher’s envelope so it can be added to the “new funds-current year” amount. If a teacher with a carry-over amount transferred to a different school within the District and your principal gave the teacher permission to use his/her carry-over amount at the new school, please communicate this information to the administrative assistant at the new school so they can record the information on the teacher’s envelope. If a teacher with a carry-over amount resigns, the teacher will need to return the funds to the school either via a payroll deduction, check, or cash payment.

Immediately following the September 24 distribution of supply money, you will receive 1) an FTE report which lists the teachers assigned to your school and 2) a disbursements report which lists the amount of money each received. These documents should be kept for reference throughout the year.

One last reminder: If a teacher resigns during the year, please insure that they turn in their legislative supply envelope prior to leaving. If the resigning teacher has a balance remaining of unspent funds, a request for a payroll deduction should be sent to Sarah Palmer, director of Payroll Services. The teacher can also return the funds by check or cash made payable to the school.

As always, if you have questions or need additional envelopes, please feel free to contact my administrative assistant, Lisa LeStarge, at 801-567-8120 or lisa.lestarge@jordandistrict.org.

Thank you for your assistance with the legislative supply money.

jl/jc
Enclosures

cc:
Anthony Godfrey
Mike Anderson
Cody Curtis
April Gaydosh
Jill Durrant
Rebecca Gerber
June LeMaster
Lisa Robinson
Brad Sorensen
Dan Ellis
Jason Mott
Mike Heaps
Jeri Gamble
Sarah Palmer
Kelly Giffin, JEA

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DATE:      
July 22, 2021

TO:  
All Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
Educator Wellness Representative Opportunity!

During the 2020-21 school year, Health and Wellness began a new initiative that allowed schools to select an “Educator Wellness Representative.” Almost all of our District’s schools selected a representative. This group of wellness reps met monthly throughout the school year and collaborated with PEHP, Blomquist Hale, and others to offer opportunities to enhance individual wellness for employees. Wellness reps led efforts across the District that were tailored to their school and several schools secured additional grant funds through this initiative to support their fellow educators.

For the 2021-22 school year we will be able to offer this again!

The purpose of the Educator Wellness Representative initiative is to increase educator wellness by enhancing wellness education and mental health awareness among the school’s adult staff. As part of the initiative, each school may nominate one or two adult staff members (non-administrative) per school as “Educator Wellness Representatives.” Review the information below if you would like to take advantage of this opportunity:

  • Each school will receive up to $500 in stipends paid directly to their wellness reps (each wellness representative will receive $250)
  • Each school that selects wellness representatives will have access to a set of wellness supplies that could be used to support your teacher wellness initiative. Your school's representative will work with your school and the health and wellness team to identify and use supplies according to school needs.
  • Representatives will attend monthly meetings/trainings beginning with a virtual kick-off on September 8th from 4:00-4:30. Wellness reps can split meetings/trainings as their schedule requires if there are two per school.
  • It will be expected that your school's wellness representatives will work with your school's administration to set goals and be a resource in communicating essential wellness information and supporting wellness initiatives with your school's staff.

We are excited to use this group to disseminate great information and provide tools and strategies to help your school staff maintain wellness throughout the school year.

To select your wellness representative(s), please fill out this short Google Form by September 3rd. If you have questions, please contact McKinley Withers, 801-567-8245.