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Category: Elementary Action Required

Published on

DATE:      
January 9, 2025

TO:   
Principals
Assistant Principals
School Safety Specialists

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services

SUBJECT:   
School Safety and Support Grant

On January 6, 2025 USBE sent out a notification regarding the availability of the 2025 School Safety and Support Grant. This is grant is not completed by each school and you should disregard the School Safety Support Grant email from USBE. This grant will be completed at the district level for all schools according to the safety needs assessments that were conducted at each school. Individual schools do not apply for this grant.

Published on

DATE:     
December 19, 2024

TO:     
Principals
School Safety Administrators
School Safety Specialists

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

SUBJECT:  
January Drill Preparation (Fire)

*DRILL MUST BE CONDUCTED WITHIN THE FIRST 10 DAYS AFTER BREAK*

Our monthly drill preparation will be held on January 8th 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.

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:     
December 19, 2024

TO:   
Elementary Principals
Middle School Principals

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

SUBJECT:  
Annual Safe Routes to School Updates

Last year, Safe Routes Utah created a new website https://saferoutes.utah.gov/school-mapping/. If any schools need help getting log in information, contact Kristen Hoschouer at khoschouer@utah.gov to request what you need. If there is a new contact at your school, then explain that in the email so it can be updated on their end.

All maps will need to be approved by the district on the new site after submission by the school. The system is still undergoing statewide issues on their end so the maps may or may not reflect what you have submitted. Consider saving a screenshot of your map for your record.

The mapping process on the site has been updated as well. Instructions given to us state that schools should:

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

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

Separately, the District Safe Routes to School (SRTS) forms from last year have been updated and placed in a shared drive by the corresponding city (below). 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 and complete the “SURVEY” indicating it is done.

Once they have all been completed, these same forms will be shared with city governments for review and response. With it being shared, you will be able to see the city’s responses to better prepare for our meetings (DATES TBD). The due date for completion is Wednesday, February 19, 2025 but the sooner the better. If you have any questions please contact the district School Safety Coordinator, Matt Alvernaz at matt.alvernaz@jordandistrict.org

West Jordan Schools    South Jordan Schools

Herriman Schools       Riverton Schools

Bluffdale Schools

Published on

TO: 
All School Administrators

FROM: 
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Brandee Bergum, Secondary Language Arts Consultant

As we begin to prepare for the 2025-26 school year, we would like to collect our mid-year 6th grade Acadience and Star Reading data as soon as possible. This will allow us to provide the data to middle school principals and counselors as they begin their 7th grade registration process in January. 

Please advise your 6th grade teams to administer their mid-year Acadience and Star Reading in December, with the deadline being Friday Jan. 10, 2025. The mid-year testing window for Star Reading opened December 2, 2024. 

The data we collect will inform the rubrics that we use as recommended guidelines for Reading placement. (See attached.) We appreciate your patience and collaboration in our efforts to use data to do what is best for students. 

Published on

DATE:
Thursday, December 19, 2024

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 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 2024-25 WIDA test administration window begins on January 7 and ends on March 7, 2025.

All school personnel who will assist with WIDA Access test administration are asked to attend a mandatory test administration training. Participants may choose to attend any one of six training sessions, including one online training. Training participants will need to bring a device. Please note that if schools choose to send a classroom teacher, principals will need to cover the cost of the substitute teacher. Test pool hours may also be used for this.

Those who are to be trained to administer the WIDA should register in Canvas Catalog so that we may create their accounts in the testing and training platforms prior to their selected training date. Please see the dates and times in the attached memo.

Please contact Ben Jameson or JoLynn Snelgrove in Assessment, Research & Accountability with questions about the WIDA Access test administration and training.

Published on

We have adopted Open Up Resources K-5 Math as our new math curriculum for the 2025-26 school year.

We are kicking off our new K-5 math adoption of Open Up K-5 Resources with a district-wide Professional Development series. All K-5 and special education teachers will engage in 2 full professional learning days with an optional planning day.

Teachers will receive TWO comprehensive professional learning sessions, delving into effective routines, math practices, and student discourse on Day One and focusing on scaffolding, engagement, and rigor on Day Two. These sessions offer evidence-based strategies to enrich your student-centered learning environment and refine lesson structures.

Additionally, there is an opportunity to sign up for an optional 3rd full day of team-based planning to integrate your new insights into the curriculum, ensuring a dynamic and inclusive classroom experience.

See the attached flyer for more detailed information with a link at the bottom to sign up for training.

Published on

DATE: 
Thursday, December 12, 2024

TO: 
All School Administrators

FROM: 
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Assessment, Research and Accountability
Brandee Bergum, Secondary Language Arts Consultant

SUBJECT: 
Star Reading Account Logins

The Star Reading assessment, replacing the retired Growth Measure, is now up and running. The middle-of-year assessment window opened on December 2nd and will close on February 14, 2025. This assessment is optional for students. However, Star Reading is a required assessment for 6th grade students in the middle-of-year window as the results are used with other assessment results to determine 7th grade reading placement. 6th grade testing should be completed no later than January 10, 2025.

Teachers and students may login to Star Reading using their Google waffle. They should look for this Renaissance tile (see the memo below for a picture of the Renaissance tile).

School administrators and other non-teaching staff may login here. For the first time logging in, users will enter the following Renaissance ID: 252187-11TN. The username is the firstname.lastname part of district email addresses. Then users will need to go through the Forgot Password procedure to set up a new password. After the first time logging in, return users will only need to enter their firstname.lastname and their password to login.

For more information on the Star Reading assessment, take a look at the Star Reading Quick Start Guide.

For any other questions about Star Reading, please contact Kassidy Towery in Assessment, Research & Accountability or Brandee Bergum in Teaching & Learning.

Published on

DATE:   
November 26, 2024

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 be held on December 4th at 3:00 PM with a second session at 3:30 PM. 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

TO:
Administrators
Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Sarah Palmer, Director of Payroll

Due to the last working day at the District Office, Payroll changed payday to Dec 20th.

Because of this change, we also need to change the Frontline Deadline.

Sub Pay Period -  Dec 1-13, 2024

Schools and Dept Deadline - Dec 13 - 5:00 p.m.

Payroll will pay what is in Frontline on Dec 13 @ 5:00 p.m.

Any changes afterwards - an Absence Management Form will need to be submitted.

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
Bonnie Brennan, Director of Insurance Services

The safety of our students, teachers, and staff is our #1 priority.  These few slides will remind all of us to slow down, be aware of our surroundings, and how we can all do our part in making the district a safe place to work.

Please take a minute in one of your upcoming staff meetings to review this information with your staff.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Bonnie Brennan, Director of Insurance Services at 801-567-8285.

Published on

TO:
Elementary Principals
Elementary Assistant Principals

FROM:
Becky Gerber, Administrator of Schools
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Schools
JAESP Committee Members

Each year, the Utah Association of Elementary School Principals (UAESP) gives the Jordan Association of Elementary School Principals (JAESP) the opportunity to celebrate elementary principals for the great work they are doing in their schools.

The categories are:
*Distinguished Principal of the Year
*Distinguished Assistant Principal of the Year
*Rookie of the Year
*Innovator of the Year
*Community Leader of the Year
*Student Advocate Principal of the Year
*Instructional Leader of the Year
*Principal Mentor of the Year

If you feel that an elementary principal or assistant principal has done exceptional work, we invite you to nominate them for an award by clicking this link.

This survey closes on December 11, 2024 at 11:59 pm.

Published on

DATE:
November 21, 2024

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

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

SUBJECT:
School Choice Permit Allocations and Procedures

The open enrollment permit window opened on Friday, November 15, 2024. Permit seat totals can be found on each school’s Enrollment Dashboard. Open the “2025-26” tab and scroll down to the permit section.

ACTION REQUIRED: Principals should review the individuals listed on their 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 6, 2024.

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 Tuesday, January 3, 2023, 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 2025-26 school year workspace and prepare them to be processed and moved to the waitlist. At least monthly, schools should verify applications in the 2024-25 school year workspace and prepare them to be processed and moved to the waitlist.

During the early enrollment window (now through February 7), 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 the Administrator of Schools for the building. In the late enrollment window (after February 7 and 2.0 allocations are released), schools may request additional seats from their Administrator of Schools. Available seats in this window will be determined by the availability of space, by grade, in the teacher allocation based on current enrollment figures.

One final reminder: the early enrollment window (now through February 7) requires schools to seat students if permit seats are available. Schools MUST follow the waitlist order when offering seats. It is inappropriate – and potentially illegal – 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 raise the issue with their Administrator of Schools.

Published on

DATE:  
11/5/2024

TO:  
Principals
Special Education Teachers (Resource & Cluster)

FROM: 
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education

SUBJECT:  
Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) Testing Checklist

Attached is the DLM checklist for all special education teachers who are administering the DLM assessment to any of their students for the 2024-25 school year. You are required to complete and return the checklist to Jen Birrell for all Elementary teachers and Mikaylee Krebs for all Secondary teachers at the District Office by Friday, December 20, 2024. This form is also available online at specialed.jordandistrict.org/staff/forms on the Special Education website.

Please direct any questions or concerns to Jen Birrell for Elementary Teachers and Mikaylee Krebs for Secondary teachers.

Jen Birrell: 801-567-8905 or jennifer.birrell@jordandistrict.org

Mikaylee Krebs: 801-567-8356 or mikaylee.krebs@jordandistrict.org

 

Published on

TO:
Elementary Principals
Elementary Assistant Principals

FROM:
Becky Gerber, Administrator of Schools
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Schools
Garett York, JAESP Committee Member

Please submit concerns to be discussed by JAESP committee and cabinet by November 6, 2024. You may submit concerns or questions using the Google Form OR you may send items to be discussed directly to Ann Pessetto at Westland, Megan Cox at Midas Creek, Kaleb Yates at Juniper Elementary, or Garett York at Southland.

All items will be discussed anonymously as we work to provide clarification and solutions to concerns of elementary administrators.

Notes of the discussions will be published on a Google Doc titled "JAESP Committee Notes 2024-25" which will be shared with Elementary Administrators.

Published on

DATE: 
Thursday, October 24, 2024

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:  
CogAT Sample Parent Notification Letter and Parental Exclusion Form

The 6th grade CogAT testing window opens Tuesday, October 29 and closes Friday, December 6. In preparation for testing, school administrators may wish to communicate with parents about CogAT testing. To facilitate this, a sample parent notification letter in both English and Spanish has been attached with this memo. School administrators are welcome to use the sample letter as it is written or add additional information as they see fit. It is recommended that school administrators send the parent notification letter via ParentSquare to 6th grade parents rather than sending the note home with students.

If parents express a desire to exclude their student from CogAT testing, the parental exclusion form on the main page of Assessment, Research & Accountability’s website may be used. That parental exclusion form may be found here.

Questions regarding the 6th grade CogAT may be referred to Kassidy Towery in Assessment, Research & Accountability or Rebecca Smith and Taryn Cox in Gifted & Talented.

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
Jordan School District Cabinet Members

All licensed administrators are invited to complete the following questionnaire by November 15, 2024. 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 (2025-26) 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. Please use this link to access the form: 2024-25 Licensed Administrator Assignment Questionnaire.

Published on

TO:
Principals

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Brandee Bergum, Consultant in Teaching & Learning

To prepare for using the Star Reading assessment as our new district-wide reading screener, we are offering training for two educators from each school to become school-based guides on the assessment.

These guides will assist their ELA departments or grade-level teams in accessing, administering, and understanding the reports from the assessment. We will provide multiple virtual training sessions, starting with the first session on November 8, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. Additional sessions will be available before or after school in November and December. Educators will be compensated at their hourly rate for attending.

Please submit the names of your two educators or have them contact Brandee Bergum, x88152 or brandee.bergum@jordandistrict.org,  to receive the link for the November 8 training.

Published on

DATE:   
Thursday, October 17, 2024

TO:  
Elementary School Administrators

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

SUBJECT: 
2024-25 Stakeholder Input Survey Preview and Administration Materials

Please see the memo below for instructions of what needs to take place before the survey window opens on Friday, November 1, 2024.

Published on

DATE:  
October 10, 2024

TO:  
School-based Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
Bullying Action Plans & Required Training

As per State requirements outlined in H.B. 84, Jordan District has created a “Bullying Action Plan” to support a caring, proactive response to bullying incidents.

Training on the Bullying Action Plan will occur through in-person, 2-hour sessions of each school-based administrator’s choosing. All school-based administrators are required to attend one training session.

All training will take place at JATC-South on the following days and times:

November 12
Session One: 8:30-10:30 – Register HERE
Session Two: 11:00-1:00 – Register HERE

November 20
Session One: 8:30-10:30 – Register HERE
Session Two: 1:00-3:00- Register HERE

December 3
Session One: 8:30-10:30 – Register HERE
Session Two: 1:00-3:00 – Register HERE

January 7
Session One: 8:30-10:30 – Register HERE
Session Two: 1:00-3:00 – Register HERE

Register for your session through Canvas at pd.jordandistrict.org

Note: Training for school mental health staff members who support bullying intervention will be arranged through Student Services at already scheduled training meetings.

 

Published on

DATE:  
Thursday, October 10, 2024

TO: 
Elementary Principals and Instructional Coaches

FROM:  
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Assessment, Research and Accountability
Michelle Lovell, Elementary Language Arts Consultant

SUBJECT:
ALO Data Training with Principals and Coaches

With the transition from mClass to Acadience Learning Online (ALO) for the Acadience Reading assessment, it is important that building administrators and instructional coaches know how to access the reporting suite in ALO and understand the data they are analyzing. The ALO reporting suite allows users to view data by district, school, grade level, class, and student for benchmark status, pathways of progress (after the MOY benchmark window), and progress monitoring.

In collaboration with Teaching & Learning’s Literacy Department, Assessment, Research & Accountability is offering a training for elementary principals and instructional coaches that will cover the following:

  • How to access the various reports and data views in ALO.
  • How to ask the right questions to think intentionally about Acadience results.
  • How to prepare for conversations principals and coaches will have with teacher leaders, grade level PLC teams, community members, and other key personnel.

Principals and instructional coaches from each school are asked to attend the training together. Attendees may choose from one of five sections in JSD’s Canvas Catalog using this link:

Date Location Time
Tuesday, October 29 ASB PDC 103 (Entrance B) 12:00 – 3:30 pm
Wednesday, October 30 ASB PDC 113 8:00 – 11:30 am
Thursday, November 7 ASB PDC 102 8:00 – 11:30 am
Thursday, November 7 ASB PDC 102 12:00 – 3:30 pm
Wednesday, November 13 ASB PDC 102 8:00 – 11:30 am

All trainings will be held at the Jordan School District Auxiliary Services Building located at 7905 South Redwood Road.

For questions or more information about this training, please contact Ben Jameson in Assessment, Research & Accountability or Michelle Lovell in Teaching & Learning.