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Category: Elementary Action Required

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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.

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Kindergarten Night Out will be held on March 9th in the ASB auditorium from 4:15 to 5:15. Katie Jarvis, a district behavior specialist will be presenting. She will give us tips and tricks to help our students who need extra support for behavior. This is one that every kindergarten teacher will want to attend! Please share the attached flyer with all kindergarten teachers.

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Last week to register for the “What I wish you knew” mini conference. We are so excited to bring you a vibrant keynote and stories from parents and students that will continue to help us be curious, be united, and intentional. Last day to register is March 9th.

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Throughout our JELL journey together, we have worked hard to establish practices that not only focus our instruction on high priority standards, but also allow us to pinpoint where each of our students are in the learning process. Doing this helps us know exactly what each of our students needs in order to continue to learn and grow. We know this has not been an easy task, and we honor the work that each school is doing to move forward in their implementation of these skills.

We also know that some schools have felt like they are in a holding pattern until we know what the new report card looks like and how it fits with the work your teachers have done. While this is certainly important, the work your teachers have done to increase clarity around the standards and how students move through the learning process has been crucial in preparing them for the new reporting tool.

Many of you have expressed interest in piloting the new report card next year. While we are excited for this next step, we are also committed to making sure that we get it right. We anticipate working closely with a small number of schools who truly believe that this is their next step in their journey. In order for this to be successful, it is critical that each pilot school considers the culture of their school, current practices, community factors, and the commitment of their faculty.

For those who believe they are ready to move forward, please read the Next Steps section below. If your school is not there yet, don’t worry. We’ll continue to support you. You should not feel pressure to volunteer to pilot something new. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to your AOS for guidance and support.

Next steps:

  • Self-Reflection- Take a moment to review the Learning Scale for Standards Based PLC’s. You do not need to fill it out, but reviewing each step may help you celebrate how far you’ve come and reflect on what work may still need to be done.
  • Readiness Assessment- If you feel that piloting the new report card is a clear next step for your school, complete the New Elementary Report Card Readiness Assessment by Mar 1, 2022.
  • Communicate with your AOS- Make sure your AOS is aware that you are interested in being a part of the pilot, and that you have completed the readiness assessment.

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Republican Party Caucus Night is March 8. Democratic Party Caucus Night is March 22. Where possible, please avoid scheduling school activities on those evenings so that employees and community members have the opportunity to attend their local caucus meetings.

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Only 6 additional sections were added to the LETRS for Admin, part 1, course (#60389). Any administrative participants who would like to enroll for Part 1 can do so by following the links below:

LETRS for Amin, part 1 (Admin Overview) – Course #60389

The remaining dates for these sessions include March 4, 15, 31, April 8, 13 & 26. 

You do NOT need to have the Principal’s Primer book read before this session.

LETRS for Amin, part 2 (Principal Primer) – Course #60446

Dates for these sessions are from February 17 - August 16. 

*Remember that LETRS for Admin is a two-part course and you will need to enroll and attend both. These are the same 2 sessions that your school psychologists attend. 

Questions? Call Bev Griffith at 801-567-8466 or email beverly.griffith@jordandistrict.org.

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The long awaited G9 and G4 model Chromebooks are now available! These Chromebooks will be supported by Google through June 2029. We encourage everyone to move to these new models as you make your Chromebook purchases.

The new models are:
Part# 3V2Y2UT#ABA  HP Chromebook 11 G9 Education Edition, 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC, 11.6" (basic model)

Part# 3V2Y3UT#ABA  HP Chromebook 11 G9 Education Edition, Touchscreen 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC, 11.6".  (Touchscreen model)

Part# 3V254UT#ABA  HP Chromebook x360 11 G4 Education Edition, Touchscreen & Flip design , 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC, 11.6" (Touchscreen & Flip model)

Please check the monthly Technology Pricing page on the Purchasing Department webpage for current pricing and awarded vendors:
https://purchasing.jordandistrict.org/vendors/references/

Since these are just starting into production, HP is estimating that orders placed now will be on 8-12 week lead times. However, demand is expected to be high for these models, as well as supply chain and logistics problems can quickly extend these lead times. The sooner you place your orders, the quicker you will receive your Chromebooks.

Larger orders over $80,000 needing school board approval should note school board meetings will be March 29th and April 26th. Your order will be held until it can be approved at one of these meetings.

Please contact Tonya Hodges in Purchasing with any Chromebooks questions. She can be reached at tonya.hodges@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8706.

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CSTAG training consists of two (2) training levels and both levels must be completed by all administrator’s and threat assessment team members. Please see the memo below for all the details.

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Employee Health & Wellness Day FlyerTo help manage added stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are converting Friday, February 11, into a Health and Wellness Day for employees, in place of the Flex Friday previously scheduled.

We are extremely proud and appreciative of community partners who are contributing to our Health and Wellness Day because they care deeply about teachers and all district employees.

For complete details of free offers, discounts and all of the in-person and virtual activities available to employees on Health and Wellness Day, Friday, February 11, please see the flyers below or visit wellness.jordandistrict.org/day

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A reminder to spend your At risk funds. Your reporting for EARS can be completed on this form. Please include the totals you used from the 5336 budget. You can view this sample here as you work on the spending for 2021-22. Please email your final budget to M. Love-Day (michelle.love-day@jordandistrict.org). A new funding budget will be allocated soon.

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We invite parents who are newcomers (refugee, immigrant, or asylee) to our school district to attend this month’s parent orientation to get information on how they can best help their child in school. Please have parents fill out this RSVP form. If you need a flyer translated into another language, please contact michelle.love-day@jordandistrict.org.

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DATE:  
Thursday, February 3, 2022

TO: 
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT: 
2021-22 Stakeholder Input Survey Results

51,139 students, parents and educators participated in the 2021-22 Stakeholder Input Survey, which was administered in November 2021.

The Stakeholder Input Survey results have been released via Tableau accounts for school principals. Principals may request that their assistant principals have access to the results in Tableau by contacting Ben Jameson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability. PDF reports containing individual educator effectiveness ratings will also be distributed to principals in the coming days. Those reports will subsequently need to be distributed to educators. More information about these pdf reports will be forthcoming.

Principals may access school and district survey results by clicking here or through their Tableau accounts: Explore > Surveys > Stakeholder Input Survey > 2021-22 Stakeholder Input Survey

In addition to district results, each school will have the following dashboards that contain their school’s survey results:

  • [School Name] Faculty Stakeholder Input Survey
  • [School Name] Parent Stakeholder Input Survey
  • [School Name] K-3 Student Stakeholder Input Survey and [School Name] 4-6 Student Stakeholder Survey for elementary schools
  • [School Name] 7-12 Student Stakeholder Input Survey for secondary schools
  • [School Name] Stakeholder Input Survey Overall Educator Effectiveness Scores

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

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Registration for the Literacy Promise Conference is now available! This is a conference you will not want to miss! There is an amazing line-up of presenters this year including Linda Ferrell, Nancy Frey, David Kilpatrick, and Kelly Gallagher just to name a few. The conference will be held March 23-25, 2022 at the Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo, Utah. The Teaching & Learning department will pay the registration fee for an administrator and up to four other staff members from each school. Noreen Samowitz will complete the registration. Please contact her by March 13th with the list of attendees from your school. Schools are responsible to secure and fund their own substitutes for this event. More information can be found here.

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Updated information from USBE: 

LETRS 3rd Edition (Teacher Training)
If you still have participants that need to enroll in unit 1, there is still plenty of room and dates available for enrollment. Below are direct links to units 1-4, please share with any participants that may still need to enroll for these unit trainings. 

LETRS, UNIT 1 (General Registration) – Course #60068 (NO ADDITIONAL SECTIONS WILL BE ADDED FOR THIS UNIT) 

*All sections with low enrollment are subject to cancellation due to low enrollment, if a section is flagged, participants currently enrolled will be notified through MIDAS and will be encouraged to enroll on a different section and date. 

LETRS, UNIT 2 (General Registration) – Course #60077
LETRS, UNIT 3 (General Registration) – Course #60078
LETRS, UNIT 4 (General Registration) – Course #60079

*Units 5-8 (vol.2) are coming soon, we will share these courses and links once we have them ready for General registration enrollment in MIDAS.

For JSD teachers: When teachers have completed BOTH the online coursework and the online class, then they can complete this survey Unit Course Completion Form to receive their $500 in their next paycheck.
Questions? Call Bev Griffith at 801-567-8466 or email beverly.griffith@jordandistrict.org.

LETRS for Admin:
I’m also excited to announce that a few additional sections were added to the LETRS for Admin, part 1, course (#60389). Any administrative participants that would like to enroll for part 1 now can do so by following the links below:

LETRS for Amin, part 1 (Admin Overview) – Course #60389
LETRS for Amin, part 2 (Principal Primer) – Course #60446

*Remember that LETRS for Admin is a two-part course and you will need to enroll and attend both.

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Mentoring in Jordan School District is essential to retaining and supporting new teachers in their first three years of teaching. Each year provisional teachers are identified and provided a mentor. Below are a few reminders and updates. 

Reminders:

  • Make sure you know who your lead mentor teacher is. Decide if this individual will remain the lead mentor or if you need to assign a new lead mentor. 
  • Have teachers who are interested in becoming mentors sign up for the mentor training on JPLS. Teachers cannot mentor if they are provisional or if they are not trained. 
  • All mentors will be recertified every 5 years. Teachers will be notified when they need to recertify. Teachers who do not recertify will no longer be able to mentor. 
  • Administrators are to work directly with lead mentors in assigning mentors and mentees. 

Updates:

  • Mentors and mentees must be logging all meetings they have on their shared log. 
  • Mentors, mentees, and lead mentors have clearly defined roles with each contributing to the partnership. 
  • Mentors, mentees, and lead mentors have updated contracts that must be signed at the beginning of the mentoring partnership. 
  • Quarterly surveys are sent out to mentees and mentors to gather information as to how district mentor specialists can provide needed support.
  • Each school needs to have a designated administrator over mentoring at their school. This will facilitate communication between district mentor specialists, teachers, and administration.
  • The administrator over mentoring, at their school, will have specific duties. See attached information.
  • Each school will need to complete the administrator mentor survey indicating which school administrator will be over mentoring.   Mentoring Survey

Administrator Mentor Checklist

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DATE:   
Thursday, January 27, 2022

TO:   
Elementary School Administrators

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

SUBJECT: 
2022 RISE Summative Test Administration Training and Resources

The RISE assessment is a computer adaptive criterion referenced assessment system that includes summative tests for English Language Arts (ELAs), Mathematics, Science, and Writing. Please see the memo below for the summative tests that are scheduled to be delivered to the listed elementary grades.

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Utah State Senate Bill 150 requires schools to assess students three times per school year (fall, winter, & spring) and inform first, second, and third grade parents/guardians of whether or not their child is reading on grade level. Please use the attached letter templates to send information home to all parents/guardians of students in first, second, and third grades by February 28, 2022.

Acadience Mid-Year (English On-Level)

Acadience Mid-Year (English-Below Level)

Acadience Mid-Year (Spanish-On Level)

Acadience Mid-Year (Spanish-Below Level)

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The JES department recognizes that due to COVID-19 and other unforeseen circumstances schools are feeling overwhelmed with meeting deadlines. In an effort to support schools as they work hard to meet the needs of students, the UETS- based JPAS Full Evaluation due date has been changed. All full evaluations will now be due April 22, 2022.

This change includes all educator, teacher specialist, counselor, psychologist, and administrative evaluations. Please contact the JES office with any questions at (801) 567-8369.