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Category: Elementary Action Required

Published on

DATE:
December 15, 2025

TO:
Elementary School Principals
Secondary School Principals

From:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Amanda Bollinger, Associate Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Jared Covili, Digital Administrator of Teaching & Learning

SUBJECT: LanSchool Classroom Management Software Extension

In cooperation with the JSD Purchasing Department, Teaching and Learning has procured an extension for LanSchool classroom management software for all current subscribers through the end of the school year. No new schools are permitted to purchase LanSchool software during this school year, but all currently subscribing schools will be able to extend their current LanSchool contracts through June 30, 2025. Please reach out to Tonya Hodges in Purchasing for more information about extending your current LanSchool contract.

Teaching and Learning will be conducting a new RFP (Request for Proposal) in Spring 2026 to allow all classroom management software vendors to participate in the process for selecting a district-wide solution. This is necessary to ensure that classroom management software works both in classrooms and computer labs. Once the RFP process concludes we plan to have a solution that will work on all computers throughout the schools.

Published on

DATE:
December 15, 2025

TO:
Elementary Principals
Middle School Principals

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Matt Alvernaz, School Safety Coordinator

SUBJECT: 2026-27 Safe Routes to School

It is time to begin our Safe Routes for 26-27. Please go to the Safe Routes Utah website. If you need help getting your log in information or adding a new contact at your school please contact Kristen Hoschouer at khoschouer@utah.gov to request what you need.

Each map must be reviewed, completed with no gaps in the lines, and updated. If the state map does not match the map you submitted, please contact Kristen Hoschouer (khoschouer@utah.gov) at the state directly. Corrections to the maps cannot be edited or amended at the district level.

Instructions from the state require that schools:

  1. Identify a Safe Routes Committee
  2. Create/update the Safe Routes Map and submit for district approval
  3. Create/update the Safe Routes plan report

All of this information, including guides and video tutorials, can be found on the new state website.

The District Safe Routes To School (SRTS) forms from last year have been updated and placed in a shared drive by the corresponding city.  Follow the appropriate link below and find your school.  You will see last year’s information entered by the school still on it for reference and convenience.  Make updates to the form as needed.

Once updates have been completed, these forms will be shared with city governments for review and response.  Because it is shared, you will be able to see the city’s responses to better prepare for our meetings (DATES TBD).  Your schools Safe Routes to School forms are due on or before Friday, February 13, 2026 (but the sooner the better).  If you have any questions please contact the district School Safety Coordinator, Matt Alvernaz matt.alvernaz@jordandistrict.org.

West Jordan Schools        South Jordan Schools

Herriman Schools             Riverton Schools

Bluffdale Schools

 

Published on

TO:
DLI School Administrators
Administrative Assistants
Registrars

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Kaye Rizzuto, DLI Consultant in Teaching and Learning

The following guidelines will assist schools in identifying where DLI students should be placed when moving between levels within a feeder.

DLI students will generally attend school through the feeder where they began the program. As long as the student remains in the DLI program, a seat will be available for them at each level through high school. This means that a middle school or high school may receive a DLI student who may not live in their boundaries.

- Students in DLI who are out-of-boundary should be granted a permit manually in Skyward using the “D” reason code.

- Please do NOT use PowerSchool for DLI out-of-boundary permits, otherwise students must legally be allowed to remain at the school through the last grade offered even if they choose to end their participation in the DLI program.

- Every year by January, a “sending” DLI school should prepare a list of DLI students who are planning to continue in the program at the next level. This list should specifically identify the students who do not live in the boundaries of the “receiving” school but who qualify to attend because of their participation in the DLI program. This will allow the “receiving” school time to pre-enroll these students in Skyward by the end of January and have these students counted in their yearly 2.0 FTE allocation. An administrative assistant or registrar should review and send this list to the “receiving” school for enrollment.

Additional Considerations:
- If a student begins a program in one pathway and later becomes a boundary student of a school in a different DLI pathway for the same language, they may enroll at their new boundary school and join the pathway for that school; however, doing so will forfeit any seat or claim on the previous DLI pathway.

- If a student begins a program in one pathway and later wishes to move to a school in a different DLI pathway for the same language but has not moved into the boundaries for the school they wish to attend, they may do so only if A) space is available in that school’s DLI program, AND B) an out-of-boundary permit seat (in Skyward) is available and can be granted to that student. In this instance, established out-of-boundary permit priorities and waitlist orders must still be followed.

Published on

DATE:      
Thursday, December 4, 2025

TO:  
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
Proficiency Scale Survey

We have appreciated the many educators who have engaged with the Proficiency Scale Survey in order to provide feedback about the district’s ELA, math, science and social studies exemplar power standards and proficiency scales.

We want to be sure that every teacher has a voice in the development of these exemplar power standards and proficiency scales. The survey administration window has been extended to Friday, December 19th. Thus, principals are encouraged to provide designated time during contract time for teachers to take the survey.

Teachers may access the survey at this LINK

Questions about the survey instrument may be direct to Ben Jameson in Assessment, Research & Accountability. Questions about the power standards and proficiency scales may be directed to Carolyn Gough in Teaching & Learning.

Published on

DATE:    
December 4, 2025

TO: 
All Elementary Principals

FROM: 
Administrators of Schools
Carolyn Gough, Administrator, Teaching and Learning Department
Norman Emerson, Instructional Support Services/Fine Arts Consultant

SUBJECT:   
Utah Symphony Performance at Abravanel Hall for 5th-Grade Students

We are pleased to announce Utah Symphony concerts for the 5th-grade students at Abravanel Hall. The performance dates are February 9 and 10, 2026 at 10:00 and 11:30 a.m. Your school’s date and time are provided on the attached spreadsheet. Please note that there are no assigned seats. School groups will be seated upon arrival.

The Utah Symphony will provide study materials to prepare your students before the performance.

Please have your administrative assistant complete a transportation request on Skyward (your school's date and time are shown on the spreadsheet). The number of teachers (which may also include a parent and two chaperones for each class) should be included in your school’s final count. When entering your busing request, please include the correct group name (e.g. Daybreak, 115 Curr). This will ensure that the Teaching and Learning Department will cover the busing fee.

Transportation requests should be completed as soon as possible. Due to the number of buses needed for the Symphony concerts, there will be a moratorium on other transportation requests for these dates.

 

Published on

DATE:   
November 20, 2025

TO:   
All District Administrators

FROM:   
Anthony Godfrey, Superintendent
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director, Student Services
Caleb Olson, Enrollment Consultant, Student Services

SUBJECT: 
November 2025: Compliance with Utah’s Government Data Privacy Act

Utah’s Government Data Privacy Act (or GDPA, found in code at §63A-19) sets standards for the use and protection of employee and patron data collected and used by a governmental entity. The standards of the GDPA build on, but do not replace, existing protections for student data as found in state law (§53E-9) and federal law (FERPA and PPRA).

The GDPA requires the implementation of a privacy program across each governmental entity, with deadlines as soon as December 31, 2025. Jordan District will establish a committee to create and implement this privacy program. The committee will be under the direction of Caleb Olson, Enrollment Consultant in Student Services.

ACTION REQUIRED: The GDPA requires that all employees who "have access to personal data was part of the employee's work duties; or supervise an employee who has access to personal data” receive an annual training. In future years, this training will be included as part of Crucial Concerns; however, for this year’s compliance, each school and department will need to view the eight-minute training video prepared by the state Office of Data Privacy, which is linked below, prior to winter break and report both A) completion of this requirement, and B) the number of employees who viewed the training on the spreadsheet also linked below.

A scheduled group viewing in an upcoming faculty or department meeting is likely the easiest way to complete this requirement.

The GDPA defines “personal data” as “information that is linked or can be reasonably linked to an identified individual or an identifiable individual” (§63A-19-101-24). Not every employee in a location will need to watch the video - many hourly employees in departments like Nutrition Services, Auxiliary Services, or site-based hourly custodial employees likely do not have access to “personal data” and can be excused from viewing at this time. Supervisors with questions may contact Caleb Olson (caleb.olson@jordandistrict.org or x88251).

Your cooperation with this requirement of the GDPA and with monitoring the JAM for future privacy program-related requirements and responsibilities is greatly appreciated.

Published on

DATE:    
November 18, 2025

TO:    
Principals
Assistant Principals
School Safety Specialists

FROM:    
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Matt Alvernaz, School Safety Coordinator

SUBJECT: 
Monthly Drill Preparation (HOLD)

Our monthly drill preparation will now include an additional time slot to accommodate more schedules. The next one will be held on December 3rd at 2:40 PM, 3:10 PM, and again at 3:40 PM. Each session will last about 20 minutes.

This month we will be covering HOLD. Each School Safety Specialist is expected to attend along with administrators assigned to oversee school safety. All other administrations are welcomed to attend as well. The meeting is also opened to any staff who may be interested.

After each monthly training all school staff should be trained by the administrator over school safety and the School Safety Specialist. After being trained each month, teachers should educate their students on each safety drill. Additionally, schools should communicate with their patrons regarding Standard Response Protocol(s) (SRP) and the drill being conducted each month. Videos, handouts, and other resources can be found at the link(s) below.

Information regarding the HOLD response protocol can be found in the Jordan School District Safety Manual on pages 5-7. We will discuss how to implement and execute the drill. This will be an opportunity to ask questions and share ideas amongst the schools.

We will be holding this meeting over Zoom so please join using this link.

Published on

DATE:    
Thursday, November 20, 2025

TO:   
All School Administrators

FROM:   
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Assessment, Research and Accountability
Michelle Love-Day, Director of Language & Culture Services

SUBJECT:   
WIDA ACCESS 2.0 Test Administration Training and Preparation for Schools

School administrators are asked to pass this information on to anyone who will be proctoring or coordinating the WIDA Access testing in your school this year.

As part of a federal requirement and the state’s accountability system, districts are required to administer the WIDA Access 2.0 annually to all ML students who have earned a Language Proficiency Level (LPL) of less than 4.2 and a Speaking score of less than 3.5. The 2025-26 WIDA test administration window begins on January 6 and ends on March 6, 2026.

See the memo below for all the details.

Published on

DATE:
November 12, 2025

TO:
Administrators of Locations with Employees Paid with Federal Dollars

FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Dan Ellis, Director of Accounting
Natalie Grange, Accounting Administrator

SUBJECT:
Federal Program Work Certification

Federal Regulations require the district to certify the payroll of any employee being paid with federal funds. Accounting identifies employees that meet this federal criteria and prepares certification forms by location. Principals and department heads please review the attached instruction memo and look for your payroll certification email the week of November 10, 2025. Certifications are due Friday, December 12, 2025.

Please review your certification ASAP and contact Natalie Grange if you have any questions or concerns. natalie.grange@jordandistrict.org, ext. 88312

Published on

DATE:  
November 10, 2025

TO:  
Principals
Assistant Principals
Elementary Administrative Assistants
Secondary Registrars
Secondary Attendance Secretaries

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Scott Festin, Planning Consultant

SUBJECT:  
School Choice Permit Allocations and Procedures

The open enrollment permit window opens on Saturday, November 15, 2025. Permit seat totals can be found on each school’s Enrollment Dashboard in Google Drive. Open the “2026-27” tab and scroll down to the permit section.

ACTION REQUIRED: Principals should review the individuals listed on their school’s dashboard in the “Permit” section and ensure that permissions are marked appropriately. Planning & Enrollment will defer to the permissions marked for various staff members when requests for additional seats are made. Please ensure that staff information is updated by December 5, 2025.

Schools should verify all outstanding applications prior to leaving for Winter Recess and verify any applications received during Winter Recess as soon as possible in the morning on Monday, January 5, 2026, so that the lottery can be run that afternoon. Once the lottery has been run, schools may immediately begin offering seats (if available). Seats not accepted within two weeks should be revoked (after attempting communication with the parent) and reoffered to the next student in line on the waitlist. At least weekly, schools should verify applications in the 2026-27 school year workspace and prepare them to be processed and moved to the waitlist. Schools should regularly continue to verify applications in the 2025-26 school year workspace and prepare them to be processed and moved to the waitlist.

During the early enrollment window (November 15, 2025 through February 6, 2026), the availability of permit seats is governed by BUILDING CAPACITY. Schools that are the most full will have the least available seats. Adding seats is governed by rules of the tier system established by the Board of Education and, in all instances, requires conversation with your Administrator of Schools. In the late enrollment window (after February 6 and 2026-27 FTE allocations are released), schools may request additional seats from their Administrator of Schools. Available seats in this window are determined by the availability of space and by grade in the teacher allocation based on current enrollment figures.

One final reminder: the early enrollment window (November 15, 2025 through February 6, 2026) requires schools to seat students if permit seats are available. Schools MUST follow the waitlist order when offering seats. It is inappropriate for a school to modify the waitlist order so that students who listed the school as a “first choice” are placed before others, regardless of their lottery priority. Schools who follow this practice may lose the ability to seat permit applications themselves. School administrators with concerns over this guideline may contact their Administrator of Schools.

Published on

TO:
Elementary Principals

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Odette Desmarais, Administrator of Schools
Meredith Doleac, Administrator of Schools
Becky Gerber, Administrator of Schools
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools

We are launching a special initiative to maximize the use of the new Innovation Lab at Juniper Elementary and have secured funds to cover busing costs for all 4th grade students to visit.

Each school may schedule a trip for every 4th grade class using these funds. The experience is 2.5 hours long and accommodates 35 students per session. Chaperones must accompany the group.

Action Steps:

  1. Schedule your Innovation Lab visit directly with Juniper Elementary using this sign up form. (The buses for each 4th grade class will be covered. Disregard any part of the form that requests payment.)
  2. Schedule the bus directly with the Transportation Department and contact LeAnn Nelson at 801-567-8367 for the budget code.

Published on

DATE:    
Thursday, November 5, 2025

TO:    
K-12 Principals

FROM:    
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Amanda Bollinger, Associate Administrator, Teaching & Learning
Nathan Foster, Health/PE Specialist, Teaching & Learning

SUBJECT:   
Required Firearm Safety Instruction – Implementation for 2025-26

During the 2025 legislative session, Utah passed HB104, which requires firearm safety instruction to be provided three times in K-6, once in middle school, and once in high school. Jordan School District will meet this requirement by providing firearm safety instruction in 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades, Health I, and Health II, aligned with Health Education standards.

Instruction may be delivered through live lessons, videos, online materials, or as part of health or physical education curricula. Before instruction, schools must notify parents or guardians and offer an opt-out option, with alternative educational activities provided as needed.

For details, resources, and curriculum materials to support this requirement, please review the attached HB 104 Implementation Document and visit the linked resources.

Please reach out to our JSD Health and PE Teacher Specialist, Nathan Foster, with any questions: nate.foster@jordandistrict.org.

HB104 - Parent Information Sheet - Opt Out Form

Published on

DATE:
Thursday, November 6, 2025

TO:  
Elementary School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:     
Historical Data Lookup Tool for Teachers

In the transition from mClass to ALO as the test administration platform for the Acadience Reading assessment, teachers lost access to valuable historical performance data for individual students. In an effort to remedy this issue, Assessment, Research & Accountability has created a student historical data lookup tool. Teachers can simply enter a student’s Skyward number to view historical Acadience Reading data for that student. Here is a list of the historical data included in each grade level lookup tool:

  • Composite benchmark level
  • Measure score
  • Measure benchmark level

Later today, school administrators and instructional coaches will receive an email from the district Acadience testing coordinator, Janice Sperry, which will give access to the historical data for their school. Each grade level will have its own data lookup tool that functions off of Google sheets. Principals are encouraged to delegate an assistant principal or coach to share the lookup tool for each grade level to their relevant grade level team (i.e., share the first grade lookup tool with first grade teachers, etc.). In addition, the look up tools for each grade level may be shared with anyone who has a legitimate educational reason for needing access to every student (i.e., special educators who work with multiple grade levels).

For questions about the Acadience Reading historical data lookup tool, please contact Janice Sperry in Assessment, Research & Accountability.

Published on

TO:
Principals

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent

Principals, please personally invite your School Community Council chair to attend this important meeting with the Jordan District Board Members.

Dear School Community Council Chair,

On behalf of the Jordan School District Board of Education, we invite you to the upcoming Jordan Parent Advisory Committee (JPAC) meeting. Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2025 Time: 6:30–8:00 pm Location: Jordan Learning Center, 3706 W. 9800 S., South Jordan. (The Learning Center is located directly across the street from Elk Ridge Middle School.)

This important meeting will focus on two topics:

School Safety Update: Our School Safety Specialist, Matt Alvernaz, will present the latest updates on current safety protocols and be available to answer any questions.

ParentSquare Feedback: As time permits, we will gather your feedback on how it is working for parents.

Your insights and participation are very important to us. If you are unable to attend, please ensure another parent representative from your School Community Council attends in your place.

We look forward to a productive meeting and to seeing you there!

 

Published on

TO:
All Licensed Administrators

FROM:
Cabinet

All licensed administrators are invited to complete this form by November 14, 2025. This formal process of gaining your input will serve as a conversation starter with your Administrator of Schools about work assignments for the coming school year (2026-27) in Jordan District. Personal preference is one of many factors considered when determining administrative assignments. This does not take the place of the need to sign up for a formal Principal interview.

Published on

TO:
All Administrators
All Admin Assistants

FROM:
Jordan District Cabinet Members

We are excited to announce and provide a method for employees to pay their school meal balances remotely without going to the front office. Please see the attached instructions on how to set this up. Employees can also set up recurring payments and low balance notifications similar to parents.

Additionally, we want to remind employees that they should avoid having a negative balance on their meal account. Employees may not have a negative balance greater than $10.00.

Published on

DATE:   
Thursday, October 16, 2025

TO: 
Elementary School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
2025-26 Stakeholder Input Survey Preview and Administration Materials

Jordan School District will be administering its own student, parent, and faculty/staff stakeholder input survey this year. The student survey will be administered to all students in grades K-12. The survey window opens Monday, November 3, 2025, and closes Tuesday, November 25, 2025. Administrative assistants were asked to verify a list of licensed educators at their school location, which was due on Friday, October 10th. Those verified and updated lists have now been added to the Stakeholder Input Survey. If schools have hired licensed faculty since October 10, 2025, please contact Assessment, Research & Accountability as soon as possible so that we can update your school’s surveys before the survey window opens. We will not be able to update the surveys once they go live.

See the memo below for all the details.

Published on

TO:
Principals

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Amanda Bollinger, Associate Administrator, Teaching & Learning
Amy Lloyd, K-12 Math Consultant, Teaching & Learning

Principals,

If you have any K-5 teachers that have not received training on the Open Up Math curriculum, please have them sign up for the final training of the year at this LINK. This information was also shared with teachers this week in a JEM.

Training Details:
Day 1:

  • Date: October 29th, 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM
    Location: ASB Presentation Room (Entrance C)
    Lunch will be on their own.

Day 2:

  • Date: November 10th
    (Half-day, grade-level sessions; details coming soon)

In these sessions teachers will dive deeper into evidence-based practices in mathematics, explore high-quality instructional mathematics materials, and gain strategies to strengthen their student-centered learning environment. We look forward to learning together and continuing to build a strong mathematics community!

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources
Rebecca Lee, HR Administrator, Evaluations

The Beginning of the Year Interim is due by October 31, 2025. Remember that this includes a self-evaluation, three required goals, and administrator approval.

Please see the attached flyer.