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Category: Elementary Action Required

Published on

DATE: 
Thursday, September 11, 2025

TO:  
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
Earbud Orders for State Testing

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. Principals or their designee are encouraged to place an order for student earbuds. Please place your order by Friday, October 17th.

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 Assessment, Research & Accountability at 801-567-8185 who can share the purchasing information and quotes used to acquire these earbuds.

Published on

DATE:    
Thursday, September 11, 2025

TO: 
Elementary School Administrators

FROM:         
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Assessment, Research and Accountability
Rebecca Smith, Consultant, Gifted & Talented

SUBJECT:  
6th Grade CogAT Test Administration Training

The test administration window for the 6th grade CogAT opens October 27th and closes December 4th. 6th grade teachers, in collaboration with school test coordinators, can administer this assessment to their classes.

A test administration training is being offered to school test coordinators as well as 6th grade teachers. School administrators may attend a training session, but it is not required. Testing pool hours may be used for ESPs who are attending a training session outside of their usual hours. There is no funding for substitutes; thus, schools will need to cover the cost of a substitute if a classroom teacher is attending a training session. Attendees should bring a device to the training.

Below are the training session dates, times, and locations. Those who are planning to attend a training session should sign up here.

Date Time Location
Wednesday, October 1, 2025 9:00 – 10:30 am PDC 112

7905 South Redwood Rd., West Jordan

Entrance D
1:00 – 2:30 pm
Thursday, October 2, 2025 9:00 – 10:30 am
11:00 – 2:30 pm

Please contact Ben Jameson in Assessment, Research & Accountability or Rebecca Smith and Frankie Walton in Gifted & Talented with questions.

Published on

DATE:
September 4, 2025

TO:   
All Administrators
All Registrars

FROM: 
Steffany Ellsworth, Manager - Information Systems
Steven Harwood, Manager - Information Systems

SUBJECT:
Dropout Cohort Cleanup Report

In an effort to improve our graduation and dropout statistics at the State Board of Education, it is important that we correctly account for each student’s enrollment. Each school’s current dropout cohort cleanup report will be provided to registrars by Monday, September 8th. The report will come from JSD Information Systems through MoveIT. This is a report of students who are currently counted as dropouts for your school for the 2024-25 Cohort. Registrars review each record on this report to determine whether or not an existing dropout exit code can be changed (thus lowering your dropout rate).

Please connect with your registrars to ensure they are working to enter the corrected information and return the report in the same electronic format as was sent via MoveIT to Carrie Norris (carrie.norris@jordandistrict.org) in Information Systems by September 26, 2025. They should also send a cc copy to Stacee Worthen (stacee.worthen@jordandistrict.org) in Student Services and Brooke Anderson (brooke.anderson@jordandistrict.org) in Assessment, Research and Accountability.

Information Systems will be providing training for registrars on September 12th at 1:30 p.m. at the District Office, Room 129. This training will provide registrars with the information and tools needed to review the dropout cohort report and make changes as necessary. If your registrar is new to this report, or just needs a refresher, please ask them to attend this training.

Feel free to contact the Information Systems Help Desk at (801) 567-8737 with any questions as you work through this process. The UTREx system is a great help in locating students. If your registrar doesn’t have access to UTREx, principals may request access for them by emailing a request to ishelpdesk@jordandistrict.org.

Published on

DATE:  
September 4, 2025

TO:
All School Principals
All School Head Administrative Assistants

FROM:    
Cabinet Members

SUBJECT: 
Required Finance & Accounting Rules Training

Cabinet members would like every school principal and the head administrative assistant to receive training on District finance and accounting rules. This is a required training and both the principal and administrative assistant should attend together, side-by-side.

Please use the following form to sign both of you up for a training session:

LINK to Sign Up

Available Dates:

DATE TIME LOCATION
Friday, October 3, 2025 12:00 – 3:00 pm District Office, room 129
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 12:00 – 3:00 pm ASB Auditorium
Tuesday, January 20, 2026  1:00 – 4:00 pm ASB Auditorium
Friday, February 13, 2026  1:00 – 4:00 pm ASB Presentation room
Friday, March 6, 2026  1:00 – 4:00 pm District Office, room 129
Friday, April 17, 2026  1:00 – 4:00 pm JATC South

 

Published on

DATE: 
Thursday, September 4, 2025

TO:   
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT: 
TSI/ATSI Workshops and Funding

School improvement planning workshops for schools designated for targeted support and improvement (TSI) or additional targeted support and improvement (ATSI) will once again be offered during the 2025-26 school year.

See the memo below for all of the details.

 

Published on

DATE: 
September 4, 2025

TO: 
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
FREE Mental Health Education for Parents and Caregivers

Jordan District has partnered with the Cook Center for Human Connection to provide ongoing mental health education for parents and caregivers. This collaboration offers FREE access to live, virtual educational sessions covering various topics. Please share the following resources with your school community:

  • A calendar for September’s Mental Health Series sessions is attached. Sessions are offered in both English and Spanish. Previously recorded seminars can be accessed through a comprehensive library of sessions and resources for each topic. You can access the library of recorded sessions at any time by visiting this site: https://parentguidance.org/mhsindex.
  • Ask a Therapist live virtual event. This is an anonymous opportunity to ask questions from a licensed family therapist about your child’s mental health. It is a live event on 23rd at 6 pm with access to the recording afterwards. Registration Link: https://cookcenter.info/ATLSept23
  • Included in the mental health series this September is a "Watch Together Series" to highlight for families. While the Mental Health Series is designed for parents, these “Watch Together” events are for the whole family, especially teens and young adults. In this series, each month, you'll meet a new animated character facing real challenges that teens and young adults experience. Together, you and your family can watch their story and learn how to start meaningful conversations at home.
    • First Event: Meet Amie from My Life is Worth Living. Amie is a bright, ambitious student who worked hard in school. But beneath the surface, she struggled with feelings of guilt and shame that led to a suicide attempt. Her journey shows how hope, support, and honest conversations can help teens find their way forward.
    • Wednesday, September 10 | 6pm MT REGISTER NOW

Please share the attached flyers/resources with your school communities. Should you have any questions please reach out to Angie Rasmussen at angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org.

Published on

DATE:   
September 4, 2025

TO:    
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
Suicide Prevention Training Video and Staff and Parent Resources

September is suicide prevention month.  

Schools play a critical role in suicide prevention for current and future students. It is important that we expand our knowledge about the warning signs of suicide and how to facilitate opportunities to strengthen connections. Remember: These suicide prevention activities can all be included as part of your schoolwide prevention plan.

In accordance with the Utah State Legislature's Administrative Code (53G-9-704), Student Services has created this short training video for ALL District employees. Here are some ideas on how to show the video to school staff: Send the link in an email and instruct your staff to watch it, show it at a faculty meeting, or allow time during early release/late start

We have also created new guidelines for Secondary Suicide Prevention Classroom Lessons, which can be reviewed at this link: Suicide Prevention Classroom Lesson Guidelines

Here are additional, important Suicide Prevention Resources that can be used as part of your prevention plan:

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent

The following professional development days have been added to this year's calendar.

2025-26 School Year Calendar

Professional Development Day (No Students Attend)
Friday, September 26, 2025 (Elementary)
Friday, October 3, 2025 (Secondary)
Friday, March 6, 2026 (Elementary & Secondary)
Friday, April 17, 2026 (Elementary & Secondary)

All employees should work in the building on these days. As you are planning Professional Development in your schools and departments please plan as follows: Principal-Directed School Level Professional Development will be held in the morning hours and optional District-Level Professional Development may begin at 1:00 pm.

Please provide these dates to your employees.
If you have any questions please contact your Administrator of Schools.

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

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

Please review and mark educator evaluation due dates on your calendar. Reach out to Rebecca Lee for any questions or concerns.

Published on

DATE:
August 26, 2025

TO:
All Principals
All Special Education Staff
School Psychologists
Elementary School Counselors

FROM:
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Melanie Dawson, Program Administrator of Behavior

SUBJECT:
ASPEN Training for Special Education Personnel 2025-2026

ASPEN training will continue to be required during the 2025-2026 school year for all licensed special education teachers, SLPs, school psychologists, elementary school counselors, as well as all Education Support Professionals (ESPs) in SEB and Autism self-contained support classrooms who do not have a current Mandt certification. Staff members working in any other special education setting may choose to attend ASPEN at the discretion of their building administrator and at the cost of their school.

Please see the attached memo for dates and registration information as well as other pertinent information. For questions, please contact: stephanie.johnson@jordandistrict.org or cassidy.hansen@jordandistrict.org

Published on

DATE:     
August 28, 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:   
September Drill Preparation (Fire)

*DRILL MUST BE CONDUCTED WITHIN THE FIRST 10 DAYS OF SCHOOL*

Our monthly drill preparation will be held on September 3rd at 3:00 PM with a second session at 3:30 PM. This month we will be covering FIRE. 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. Most of you will have likely already completed this drill prior to the training so it will be more of a debrief and clarification as needed. (see original JAM on July 30, 2025)

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 FIRE response protocol can be found in the Jordan School District Safety Manual on pages 32-33. 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:     
August 22, 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 Copper Hills High School for 4th Grade Students

We are pleased to announce Utah Symphony concerts for your 4th-grade students at Copper Hills High School. The performance dates are November 10 and 11, 2025, at 10:15 and 11:35 a.m. Your school’s date and time for attending a performance are provided on the attached spreadsheet. 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 that need to be used for the Symphony concerts, there will be a moratorium on other transportation requests for these dates.

 

Published on

DATE: 
August 21, 2025

TO: 
All Administrators

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

SUBJECT: 
2025-26 Employee Wellness Representatives

Each school or department is invited to select an employee wellness representative! The Employee Wellness Representatives will support faculty/staff wellness efforts within your schools.

Action Items for administrators: Please nominate your Employee Wellness Representative for the 25-26 school year!

Employee Wellness Representatives Duties include:

  • Attending virtual trainings, which will be offered at 3:15 and 4:15PM for each of the following dates. Employee Wellness Reps can choose one of the two listed sessions at either time on: 9/16 or 9/18; 10/14 or 10/16; 11/18 or 11/20; 1/13 or 1/15; 4/14 or 4/16.
  • Learning emotional regulation and stress management strategies for educators
  • Enhancing connection with colleagues and District wellness specialists
  • Promoting wellness initiatives within your school or department
  • Modeling holistic wellness for your school community

Steps to having an Employee Wellness Rep for your school or department:

  1. Consider the following:
    1. School Employee Wellness Reps must be licensed, non-administrative staff members who are eligible for the $500 stipend. We recommend using a non-mental health team staff member who is also on a leadership team or social committee at your school.
    2. Department Employee Wellness Reps can be any individual who represents wellness for the employee group. Though department employee wellness reps may not be stipend-eligible, we hope that directors will allow reps to fulfill their duties as part of their work schedule.
  2. Principal and directors nominate ONE employee wellness representative for each school or department using this form.
  3. Support your Wellness Rep throughout the year as the work to enhance your school or department!

Published on

DATE:
August 21, 2025

TO: 
All administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
Back to School SafeUT Reminders

Administrators,

Please review these SafeUT reminders to start off the 2025-2026 school year.

It is critical that ALL SafeUT tips are “closed” promptly and your school's SafeUT Dashboard is up to date. When tips are not closed, it appears that the school did not address or respond to the concern. It can also disrupt feedback and data used by SafeUT to improve the platform or allocate State funds. Email reminders from SafeUT will be sent to the assigned user of any open tip if it is not marked as resolved after two weeks. This email will act as a reminder to close the tip. Every week after that, a reminder will be sent to the District Dashboard Admins (McKinley and Angie) that the tip is still open and should be closed.

To assist with this, school administrators will receive notifications about the number of open tips for your school with the discipline log each week.

Here are some additional tools to support your use of SafeUT:

  • If you are having trouble logging in or forgot your password, use this link to review the login FAQS. If you are concerned about not receiving tips for your school, contact Angie Rasmussen about a “test tip.”
  • Review this document for a refresher on the different tabs on your dashboard. Be mindful that the “Return Tip” button is only used if the tip was assigned to the wrong school (and must be accompanied by a note as to why the tip needs to be re-evaluated and re-assigned). The “Return Tip” button is not used for false tips or resolved tips.
  • Instructions on how to assign, document, and close a SafeUT tip.
  • A complete training for new dashboard users.

We have made any personnel updates to your school dashboards that we are aware of, but if you have additional updates, changes, or would like to add or remove anyone, you are encouraged to reach out with any requests. Please email Mckinley Withers or Angie Rasmussen (angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org). In your email, include the individual’s name, email address, and title in your email. For any individual who would like text message notifications in addition to email notifications, please include a cell phone number.

Published on

DATE:   
August 21, 2025

TO:  
Principals
Administrative Assistants
Attendance Secretaries
Registrars

FROM:  
Administrators of Schools
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Caleb Olson, Consultant, Planning & Enrollment

SUBJECT:  
Reporting Completion of 10-Day Accounting

Students who are registered to a District school and have not attended (or been marked absent with a valid excuse) for ten consecutive school days at any point in the school year must be withdrawn from membership. This is particularly important during the first ten days of the school year so that our enrollment calculations and reporting is accurate.

Accurate enrollment counts are used to generate future projections. Projection totals are needed very soon after ten-day adjustments are completed. To assist in preparing projections, we are asking all schools to report the completion of their 10-day drops on a Google Sheet as soon as these drops are processed. Only the staff member responsible for processing the drops should indicate completion status. The Google Sheet is available at this link and will be emailed to attendance staff again close to the 10th day of school.

10 day drops for high schools may be processed at the end of the day on September 3, 2025. Elementary (Grades K-6) and middle school may process drops at the end of the day on September 4, 2025.

Welcome to 2025-26! Send these words "JSD is Great" to Nadine Page nadine.page@jordandistrict.org to win a prize.

Guidelines for how to process these drops are available at the links below:

Published on

DATE: 
August 21, 2025

TO:    
All Administrators

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

SUBJECT: 
PBIS Stipend & Supply Funds

Administrators,

For the 2025-26 school year, funding for each school’s positive behavior plan has been renewed through the State’s E-cigarette and Nicotine Prevention Fund. As a reminder, these funds can only be used for the following purposes:

  • $1,000 of supply funds to administer your positive behavior plan. Accounting has set up your school’s account, and instructions are in the form linked below. PLEASE, DO NOT EXCEED $1,000 IN EXPENSES.
  • Stipends for individuals implementing your school’s PBIS plan in amounts below. Stipends will be paid out in November or March. Please submit the form to Janie Hyde by October 3, 2025, to have the stipends paid on the November paycheck, or please submit it by February 6, 2026, to have the stipends paid on the March paycheck:
    • You may choose one person to receive - $2,250.00
    • You may choose two people to receive - $1,125.00 each
    • You may choose three people to receive - $750.00 each

To access supply and stipend funds, please fill out the following form and follow its instructions:

Published on

TO:
Elementary Principals

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

Principals,

It is mandatory for all Health and 4th-grade teachers to complete the Botvin Life Skills training. Please share this information with the applicable teachers at your school. See the attached document for upcoming training opportunities and requirements for this curriculum. Our new Health & PE Teacher Specialist, Nathan Foster (nate.foster@jordandistrict.org) will be emailing a list of employees that need to complete the training.

Published on

DATE: 
August 7, 2025

TO:  
All Assistant Principals

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Sharon Jensen, Consultant, Student Support Services

SUBJECT: 
Safe School Hearing Committee Assignments

Please see the 25-26 Safe School Hearing Assignment Calendar for your assignment to serve on the Safe School Hearing Committee.

This Committee is chaired by Sharon Jensen, Consultant at Student Support Services. With a few exceptions, Safe School Hearings are held on Wednesdays.

Please plan on being at the District Office on your assigned day from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm. You will be notified the day before the hearings of how many hearings are scheduled.

If you have a conflict on your assigned date, please contact Janie Hyde at janie.hyde@jordandistrict.org or call 801-567-8326 as soon as possible so she can secure a replacement for you.

Thank you for your commitment to our students and the Safe School Hearing process.

 

Published on

TO:
Building Administrators
Kindergarten Teachers
Instructional Coaches

FROM:
Michelle Lovell, Consultant in Teaching & Learning

As we move into the school year, we want to remind schools that the district has a kindergarten goal to have all students know all of their letter names and sounds by the end of the first quarter. We are asking teachers to input their data into Mastery Connect as a benchmark by November 7th. Meeting this goal will set students up for being able to meet the end of year goal of 20 Whole Words Read in Acadience Reading. Whole Words Read is an indication that students can blend closed syllable words proficiently. Acadience Reading is an indicator of risk and research shows that when students end the year as highly proficient (blue) they have a 90-99% chance of achieving subsequent early literacy benchmarks. If students end the year at benchmark (green) they have a 70-85% chance of meeting subsequent early literacy benchmarks.