Category: Elementary Action Required

This is a mandatory 2-day in-person training for all school administrators (principals and assistant principals). More details will be shared at a later date. Please go to this LINK and sign up for the 2-day training that will be best for your schedule.

For many years, Apple TVs have been an essential part of the instructional environment in Jordan School District, permitting teachers and students to display their digital screens through the classroom projector. One significant limitation of these devices has been their compatibility solely with the Apple platform, leaving Windows and Chrome platforms without options. A new device has recently entered the marketplace that solves this dilemma.

The Vivi company produces devices that permit all three major computer platforms to project through a single device (see attached for more specifics, reference the company website at http://vivi.io/product/, or view informational videos at the Vivi channel in YouTube, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjHO-hO1X3U and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTEj0EKy9GI). This is a tremendous advance in classroom technology, particularly for Jordan District, where the majority of student devices are Chrome-based.

Because of the potential value that Vivi units advertised, Information Systems purchased and tested a number of them at multiple locations throughout the district. The results of these tests indicated that the Vivi units live up to performance levels as promoted. For references, reach out to Curtis Jenson (principal) or Matt Gates (tech), at South Jordan Middle, to discuss their school’s experience with Vivi.

Information Systems wants to ensure that all schools are not only aware of this new technology, but also have an opportunity to try it out so that it can be considered when planning future technology purchases. For schools that have interest, Information Systems will provide one Vivi unit for testing among the school’s instructional staff. If there is sufficient interest, the school can retain the single Vivi unit, and then pursue the purchase of additional units on their own.

The cost for a Vivi Pro unit is $499.00. These units are great not only for classroom purposes, but also for digital signage and other advanced features. Vivi also offers a “Lite” version, which could be considered where additional features are not necessary. The cost for these units is $399.00 each. This pricing is valid through October of 2023. While the pricing for these units is clearly higher than Apple TVs, Information Systems believes that the advantage of projecting screens from computers of any platform makes these devices worth serious consideration.

To arrange for delivery of a Vivi unit to you school, please contact Mark Sowa at 801-567-8392 or mark.sowa@jordandistrict.org. We would like to have these units assigned and distributed by the end of November. If we have not heard from you by that point, it will be assumed that you are not interested in Vivi, and the unit previously reserved for your school will be redistributed to a different location. We look forward to your response.

DATE: 
October 13, 2022

TO:  
In-Person Elementary, Middle, High School Principals

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

SUBJECT:   
Preparation for Permits 2023-24

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Utah Code 53G-6-402 (which governs the out-of-boundary permit process) was amended in the 2022 Legislative Session. The major change is a shift in dates for the permit windows, as outlined below:

Window	Description	Old Dates	New Dates
Open Enrollment	Permits awarded by Board lottery priority; seats available based on school capacity.	December 1 to third Friday in February	November 15 to first Friday in February
Late Enrollment	Permits awarded first-come, first served; seats available based on 2.0 FTE allocation space.	Third Friday in February through June of the next year.	First Friday in February through June of the next year.

In preparation for the opening of the permit window, the following items must be completed by the building principal no later than November 1, 2022:

1. Access your school’s enrollment dashboard. There is a new tab for the 2023-24 school year. In the permit section, enter the names and authorizations of all individuals who should be allowed to process permits at your school for the 2023-24 school year. Names have not been copied from previous years due to high turnover at many schools.
   • Elementary permit information begins on row 124
   • Middle permit information begins on row 170
   • High permit information begins on row 198
2. When permit names and authorizations have been updated, click the checkbox to the right side of the permit section to signal your school’s completion.
3. Review your school’s anticipated open enrollment permit seat total, shown just below the permit staff names and authorization section. These are anticipated numbers and are subject to change until they receive final authorization by the Jordan Board of Education.

If your school has new staff responsible for permit processing or there are administrators new to the process who need training or review, please communicate the following training information to them:

Permit Trainings
When: Wednesday, November 2, 2022
Where: District Office, room 129
Times: 9:00 AM-11:00 AM or 12:30 PM-2:30 PM
Who: Staff new to the permit process and any staff/administrators who need refresher training.

Attendance is NOT mandatory this year; only those who need training must attend.

Seating is limited to 30 per session. Please sign up using the link below. If both session fill, additional sessions will be added.

Link to Sign Up

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 October 5, 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.

Principals:

Please invite your SCC Chair to attend this important Jordan Parent Advisory Committee (JPAC) meeting with the Jordan District Board Members.

October 18, 2022
JATC-S in the auditorium
6:30-8:00 pm

Thank you!

JSD has been working through the new Medicaid billing processes with USBE for the last several months. Medicaid in the State of Utah has changed how services are billed. Utah was, for many years, the last state in the U.S. that used a bundled rate. Starting this year the State of Utah is changing to a fee for service pattern of billing.

Please see the attached memo for information regarding how this will impact you.

Administrators, please send a sky alert to your families inviting them to our Family Fall Fair. 

Note to send: Come out to our District Family Fall Fair. You can learn about resources available for the success of your students, see student performance and hear a live band called Superintendent's of Rock, where our own Superintendent, Dr. Godfrey plays guitar.

DATE:   
Thursday, September 15, 2022

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

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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, October 14th.

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.