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Category: Elementary Action Required

Published on

DATE: 
Thursday, April 8, 2021

TO: 
Elementary School Administrators

FROM:   
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 
KEEP Exit Remote Administration Materials

Elementary school administrators are asked to pass this information, along with the materials included with this memo, to their kindergarten teachers as soon as possible.

KEEP Exit administration for the 2020-21 school year is still required by the state.  The KEEP Exit window is scheduled during the end-of-year kindergarten testing days on the following dates:

  • Traditional: May 21-28, 2021
  • Year Round:
    A and B Tracks – May 14-20, 2021
    C and D Tracks – June 4-11, 2021

Data entry into the Data Gateway is due by Tuesday, June 15, 2021.  Those who are administering the KEEP Exit (including kindergarten teachers and classroom aides) should have been trained.  Test administrators can access training in one of two ways:

Testing of Virtual Kindergarten Students:
In an effort to accommodate students who are learning online, the state has released procedures and materials for administering the KEEP Exit virtually.  USBE is recommending that, when possible, schools administer the KEEP Exit in-person, which would mean that schools would need to request appointments from parents of virtual students to bring their kindergarten students into the school building to be tested.  If this is not possible, the following procedures should then be used:

  • The teacher should make an appointment with the parent for the KEEP Exit to be administered to the kindergarten student virtually via Zoom.
  • The parent will need to assist with technology and provide four blank sheets of paper, writing utensil, two sheets of lined paper (provided by the teacher), and 10 basic counters (small objects to count like cereal, pebbles, etc.). The parent should plan on being present for the duration of the test, but should be instructed to not provide answers to their child.
  • Two devices with video capabilities will be required at home – one for the student and one for the parent. The parent’s device will be used to show what the student is pointing to on the student’s screen or writing on the paper (see demo video link below).

Included with this memo are the following materials (they may also be found online here):

  • KEEP Exit Remote Administration Guidelines – Kindergarten teachers should use this document as the script they read while administering the test.
  • KEEP Exit Remote Administration Materials – Kindergarten teachers should use this slide deck to display on their screen so the student can see it.
  • KEEP Exit Score Sheet – This is the same scoring sheet for the in-person KEEP Exit assessment. It is recommended that the teacher record scores on this sheet and then input the scores on the Data Gateway after testing has been completed.
  • KEEP Exit Test Administration Manual – This manual contains procedures for administering the entire assessment.

Kindergarten teachers administering the KEEP Exit online are strongly encouraged to watch the demo video here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16sLQsNQjxmqcAKr9y4hoFObuZvT_36OT

If you have questions about the KEEP Exit, please contact the following people:

  • For Data Gateway or test administration questions: Ben Jameson, Evaluation, Research & Accountability: 801-567-8243 or jameson@jordandistrict.org
  • For remote test administration questions: Liz Williams, USBE Assessment & Accountability: 801-538-7542 or williams@schools.utah.gov

Published on

DATE:    
Thursday, April 8, 2021

TO:   
Elementary School Administrators
Elementary Administrative Assistants

FROM: 
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:   
EOY 2021 Acadience Reading Testing – In-person and Virtual Students

Acadience Reading Benchmarks are once again required this year by the state – both students receiving their instruction in-person and online.  End-of-year benchmark testing will begin on April 15th and conclude on June 3rd.  This memo contains information on how the benchmark administration will be accomplished for both in-person and virtual students.

Students Receiving Instruction In-person:
Principals should have received an updated Monday-Thursday schedule of when district assessment assistants will be in schools to administer the state-mandated K-3 Acadience Reading Benchmarks.  For questions about scheduling, please contact Shannon Johnson at 801-567-8873 or shannon.johnson@jordandistrict.org.

There will be 7-8 district assessment assistants during your assigned testing time.  We also ask that the instructional coach, who was trained in September on Acadience Reading testing, assist with testing students as well.  If the testing team gets ahead of schedule during the day, we are happy to excuse coaches to go about their other duties.  To better be able to social distance between individual testing areas, we are requesting that schools use one of two room options:

  1. Schedule the media center.
  2. Schedule two classrooms that are close together. This allows classes to be easily funneled into both classrooms.  It also allows team leads to gather cards easily and assist with technology glitches quickly to minimize lost testing time.

If neither of these room options is possible, please contact Ben Jameson at 801-567-8243 to discuss other arrangements.

Each district tester is equipped with an 18x18 plexiglass shield along with their Chromebooks and student materials.  For this reason, student desks do not provide enough table space for everything.  We are requesting tables with chairs to accommodate our testers’ equipment.

For information on the cleaning and disinfecting procedures district testers will follow after each student, please see the document entitled Acadience Reading Testing Protocols and Procedures for COVID-19 that accompanies this memo.

Besides the changes listed above, our district assessment assistants will follow a similar routine for testing that they have followed in previous years.

Students Receiving Instruction Online:
We are required to administer the Acadience Reading Benchmarks to all students – including our students who have opted to learn online from home this year.  Parents of virtual students can choose to have their student tested in-person at their boundary school or virtually via Zoom.  Testing of virtual students will take place on Fridays at elementary schools throughout the testing window.  Evaluation, Research & Accountability will be sending a small team of 4-5 district assessment assistants to meet with and administer the benchmark assessments in-person to virtual students (principals have already been notified of their assigned Friday).  We are requesting that schools set aside a location for the assessment assistants to administer the benchmarks that will have access to larger table spaces to accommodate the plexiglass shield, Chromebooks and student materials.

Evaluation, Research & Accountability will schedule virtual students for a testing appointment through a Qualtrics survey form.  Schools will not need to schedule anything themselves.  If parents of virtual students or virtual teachers request the link to schedule a testing appointment, schools may provide the following link:
https://jordandistrict.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1ZZwVyBwPCsud4a

Please contact Ben Jameson with any questions or concerns.  We look forward to working with you on a smooth Acadience Reading test administration.

Published on

Every elementary and middle school in Jordan District has an opportunity to receive schoolwide access to Second Step on our District's Project AWARE Grant for the 2021-22 school year. Second Step's evidence-based K-8 curriculum includes weekly lessons, advisory activities, home links, reinforcement strategies, school-wide announcements, and more! The lessons are easy enough for any person to teach with minimal prep time and the digital platform makes this even easier. Second Step is now fully digital and any school that joins will be able to grant full access to the content to anyone in their school.

If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity at your school, please take 5 minutes to fill out this brief form that outlines our promise to you as you continue to find ways to support your student's social and emotional needs. If you have questions, reach out to McKinley Withers, mckinley.withers@jordandistrict.org, 801-448-1404.

Published on

DATE:  
March 25, 2021

TO: 
Jordan District Administrators, Directors

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Administrators of Schools

SUBJECT: 
Time Schedule for the Last Day of School

Please review the entire memo carefully for your school dismissal time, and convey that information to your students and parents. Once again, we extend our appreciation to the administration and employees who work in the Transportation Department for assisting in the transportation adjustment required to accommodate these changes.

Public Law:
R277 Education, Administration
R277-419-2 Definitions
R277-419 Pupil Accounting
R277-419-4 Minimum School Days

“School day” means a minimum of two hours per day per session in Kindergarten and a minimum of four hours per day in grades one through twelve, subject to the requirements described in Section R277-419-4. All school day calculations shall exclude lunch periods and pass time between classes but may include recess periods that include organization or instruction from school staff.

Cc:
Paul Bergera, Director of Transportation
Jana Cruz, Director of Nutrition Services
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services

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Jordan School District has developed an instructional plan for literacy and has adopted curriculum to strengthen instruction in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 settings to support all students and address disrupted learning. Please join us to learn about the plan, the curriculum, and the suggested daily schedule to help you prepare for the coming year.  Two dates have been provided so every elementary school building principal and assistant principal can attend.  The dates are April 8th and 13th from 8:30-4:00 in the ASB Auditorium.

Register in JPLS. Search for Literacy Launch, or Course 101669

Published on

Next steps for planning summer school...

  • By March 26 -- Determine dates and times of summer school. Record on “Summer School Schedule” sheet in your school ESSER Worksheets document.
  • (Optional) By March 26, school administration -- Indicate the number of summer school curriculum packages needed. Record on “Summer School Schedule” sheet in your school ESSER Worksheets document.
  • School Folder Link

IMPORTANT NOTE: T&L needs this information to begin preliminary transportation planning and to order curriculum packages.

  • T&L will share start and end times with transportation for preliminary planning. Schools will be notified if scheduling adjustments need to be made.

Published on

DATE:  
Thursday, March 25, 2021

TO: 
All Principals

FROM: 
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
2021 USBE School Climate Survey Response Rate Links

Principals are encouraged to use the following links to monitor the response rates for the student and adult USBE School Climate Surveys.

As a reminder, all students in grades K-12 should have time scheduled during the school day to take the school climate survey.

An email went out on Monday, March 22, 2021, inviting all school employees to take the climate survey for their school. Evaluation, Research & Accountability will send out emails reminding school employees to take the survey.

An email will be sent out soon inviting all parents to take the climate survey for each school at which they have a student enrolled. Principals will be notified when this email has been sent to parents. Once the initial parent invitation has been sent, principals are encouraged to post the link to the adult survey on their website and send out reminder Skylerts to parents to take the survey.

Response Rate Links:

Parent Survey Response Counts:
https://jordandistrict.az1.qualtrics.com/reports/public/am9yZGFuZGlzdHJpY3QtNjA1OGM1NzA5ZGQzODgwMDBmMGI1NjY2LVVSXzAzMXVIbmNFMUpyaGtZUg==

Teacher and Staff Survey Response Counts:
https://jordandistrict.az1.qualtrics.com/reports/public/am9yZGFuZGlzdHJpY3QtNjA1OGMzYjJjOWMyNjUwMDExOGM2ZTllLVVSXzAzMXVIbmNFMUpyaGtZUg==

Grades K-12 Student Survey Response Counts:
https://jordandistrict.az1.qualtrics.com/reports/public/am9yZGFuZGlzdHJpY3QtNjA1OGMwNTYzZDZkY2EwMDBmNTMyZjk3LVVSXzAzMXVIbmNFMUpyaGtZUg==

Grades 3-5 Student Survey Response Counts:
https://jordandistrict.az1.qualtrics.com/reports/public/am9yZGFuZGlzdHJpY3QtNjA1OGMwZmU3N2I4ODMwMDE3ZTQ2MTQ2LVVSXzAzMXVIbmNFMUpyaGtZUg==

Grades 6-12 Student Survey Response Counts:
https://jordandistrict.az1.qualtrics.com/reports/public/am9yZGFuZGlzdHJpY3QtNjA1OGJkMWJmYTdmOTEwMDEzMmU2MGEyLVVSXzAzMXVIbmNFMUpyaGtZUg==

Published on

DATE:     
Thursday, March 11, 2021

TO:   
All Schools

FROM:   
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:
2020-21 USBE School Climate Survey Links

Jordan School District will be administering the USBE-mandated school climate survey this year in place of the stakeholder survey that has been administered in previous years.  The school climate survey window opens Wednesday, March 17th and closes on Friday, May 7th.  Surveys are administered to all students in grades K-12, parents, school employees and school resource officers (SROs).

To prepare for, and conduct, the 2020-21 USBE school climate survey, please make sure the following activities are completed for each of surveys:

Student Survey
There are three student surveys: One for students in grades K-2, grades 3-5 and grades 6-12.  Links to the student surveys have been sent to each school tech to load onto computers.

Principals are asked to disseminate the USBE School Climate Survey Teacher Script attached with this memo to their teachers.  After the survey window opens, schools should provide time during the school day for students to take the survey.  Principals may consider designating a homeroom class as the time that students take the school climate survey.

Here are the links to the student surveys:

Grades K-2: https://jordandistrict.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bkFAb5FGBOS57vM

Grades 3-5: https://jordandistrict.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3J1c88baiWNlJMa

Grades 6-12: https://jordandistrict.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0uHAKmyjO8NKZPo

Adult Survey
After the survey window opens, individual licensed faculty, classified staff, and administrators will receive an email from the district with a link inviting them to participate in the school climate survey.  Principals may consider notifying teacher and staff that such an email will be forthcoming.  Principals are also encouraged to provide time in a faculty meeting for employees to take the survey.

A Skylert will be sent to parents inviting them to take the school climate survey.  Principals are encouraged to post the adult survey link on school websites and send out reminder Skylerts inviting parents to take the survey.

Please note that there is a Spanish version of the adult survey available.  Respondents simply click on the English box in the upper right corner of the survey and select Spanish instead.

Here is the link to the adult survey: https://jordandistrict.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cGvnQbMjvtfjifA

Please see the JAM dated February 25th for survey administration details, the length of the survey, parental opt out forms and the school climate survey question items.

Please contact Ben Jameson at 801-567-8243 or ben.jameson@jordandistrict.org with questions.

Published on

When planning for end-of-year activities (i.e., Field Day, Fun Run, etc.), please refer to the USBE School Reopening Plan Handbook and follow the “Mitigation Tactics for Specific School Settings” guidelines (page 10). For example, volunteers should be limited in number and follow current check-in practices for adult visitors to the school; parent observers are not allowed at this time. Current mask and social distancing requirements are expected. Work with organizers to select activities that do not require students to share or use the same equipment without time for cleaning. All events should be held within the last two weeks of school. In the event of inclement weather, plan on an alternate date; activities should not be moved indoors. Please contact your AOS with any questions.

Published on

The Utah State Board of Education School and Student Safety Office has informed the District that regular fire evacuation drills (going outside) are to resume as of March 1, 2021. You can no longer substitute evacuation instruction in lieu of an actual exercise. Please practice Covid-19 safety precautions during all drills.

Questions, contact:  Lance Everill, Emergency Operations Manager 801-567-8623, lance.everill@jordandistrict.org

Published on

DATE:    
Thursday, March 4, 2021

TO:    
All Principals

FROM:  
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
Kim Gibson, Licensed Administrator, Elementary
Wyatt Bentley, Licensed Administrator, Secondary

SUBJECT:  
Pedagogical Performance Assessment Parental Permission Forms

To become a teacher licensed by the State of Utah, student teachers, intern teachers, and teacher candidates must submit to a pedagogical performance assessment (PPA) (see R277-502-3-(4)).  A PPA assesses the basic competencies of all newly licensed Utah teachers regardless of their university preparation program, thus ensuring that all K-12 students have access to competent teachers.  The PPA requires the teacher candidate to submit the following:

  • A video of the teacher candidate providing instruction to students
  • Written commentaries and analysis of the instruction
  • Student artifacts and work samples from regular classroom activities

Whenever students are part of a video recording or their classroom work is given to a third party outside of the school district, we are required to obtain parent signed permission (see R277-487-3).  As of the date of this memo, there are two state-approved programs that provide a pedagogical performance assessment product:

  • ETS provides the PPAT
  • Pearson provides the edTPA

ETS uses their own permission form, which satisfies the requirement to obtain signed parent permission (sample copy attached with this memo).  Pearson, and perhaps other vendors that are eventually approved by the state, rely upon districts to use their own forms.  As such, a new Teacher Pedagogical Performance Assessment (PPA) for Pre-service Teacher Candidates parent permission form has been created to fill that need.  This form is attached with this memo and should be used unless the ETS form is being used.

All permission forms for a pedagogical performance assessment should be kept, either physically or digitally, on file by the school for three years.

For any questions about teacher candidate licensure or pedagogical performance assessments, please contact Wyatt Bentley at 801-567-8215 or wyatt.bentley@jordandistrict.org or Kim Gibson at 801-567-8216 or kim.gibson@jordandistrict.org   For any questions about permission forms or student data privacy, please contact Ben Jameson at 801-567-8243 or ben.jameson@jordandistrict.org.

Published on

Parent Teacher Conferences are fast approaching, and many of you will find your school in need of one or more interpreters in order to serve the needs of your parents. Mirsa Joosten is happy to find an interpreter in each language you need, but this can be extremely difficult when there is not sufficient time for her to make arrangements. The virtual format can make finding interpreters even more difficult. For these reasons, we ask you to please request your interpreter right away by completing the Interpreting and Translation Services Request Form available on the Equity and Compliance webpage, if you have not already done so.

Published on

The  ESPIC (Educational Support Personnel Improvement Committee) is looking for courses that would be appropriate and effective for ESP professional learning. We are seeking your input regarding skills and knowledge that would be helpful for various ESP job categories. We would appreciate you taking 10-20 minutes to complete this survey. Survey link: https://jordandistrict.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b44jgy9K3VEMqx0

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Reduction In Staff (RIS) resources for administrators are included below.  Please contact an HR administrator and/or your respective AOS with any questions.

  1. District Policy : Reduction In Licensed Staff - DP327 NEG

This policy includes a link to the RIS Guidelines (RIS Rubric Criteria for Teachers and Counselors)

  1. Reduction In Staff Licensed Employee Request Form

By February 26, 2021, principal are to submit their RIS recommendation(s) to their Administrator of Schools and the Administrator of Human Resources for approval. However, if additional time is needed, please contact your AOS and respective HR Administrator. Once RIS requests are approved, principals will then receive a letter from an HR administrator for each approved RIS, which will prompt principals to meet with the RIS’d employee, complete the Right To Return Form, obtain signatures and return this form to the respective HR administrator.

      • https://employment.jordandistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/34/RIS-Request-2017-fillable-2.pdf

Published on

DATE:   
Thursday, February 25, 2021

TO: 
All Principals

FROM:  
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 
USBE School Climate Survey

Please see the attached memo and documents that are mentioned in the memo.

 

Published on

DATE:  
Thursday, February 25, 2021

TO: 
Elementary School Principals
Middle School Principals

FROM:    
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 
Teacher Training for RISE Summative Testing

With end-of-year testing season starting in a month (or two), it’s a good time to plan for teacher training. Please work with testing coordinators and administrators to schedule or facilitate faculty training at school. The format of the training is flexible and can be done as an all-in-one meeting, or you can ask teachers to complete the RISE Canvas course, or a combination thereof. All administrators, elementary coaches and RISE-testing teachers will be added to the RISE Canvas course, so each teacher has access to the same resources: https://jordanpd.instructure.com/enroll/6XW9EE

If you’d like Brooke Anderson to lead a 45-minute overview of RISE testing, please join her via Zoom during one of the dates & times below:

Wednesday, March 10 @ 4:00 PM:
https://uetn-org.zoom.us/j/89177570866?pwd=bElTZWJsZkN4YWYwOGh0d3lRZ05YUT09

Meeting ID: 891 7757 0866
Passcode: 414957

Friday, March 12 @ 8:30 AM:
https://uetn-org.zoom.us/j/89781595565?pwd=T2VOVlgxci9LL2o4L21PN0hoTWtPUT09

Meeting ID: 897 8159 5565
Passcode: 784457

Friday, March 19 @ 9:00 AM:
https://uetn-org.zoom.us/j/82987533837?pwd=cmwwZ2VTTXhkTk5SUm1RYjhjUXordz09

Meeting ID: 829 8753 3837
Passcode: 508653

Please contact Brooke Anderson at 801-567-8393 or brooke.anderson@jordandistrict.org if you need to set up another training at a different time/date than the ones listed above.

Published on

Thank you for your participation in the Virtual Teacher Transfer Fair! We hope it was a valuable experience. To help continually improve future fairs, we would appreciate your genuine feedback. Please complete the following brief survey https://forms.gle/cVad2HeUmSxSbhk9A.

Published on

The LAND Trust Plan needs to be a component of your TSSA Plan. Your School Community Council reviews the data and provides comments on the TSSA Plan. Understand what the TSSA Plan is and be familiar with the data.

When presenting the data to SCC present what is in place in your LAND Trust and TSSA Plans. Make it parent friendly with the statements used. Give time for them to ask questions. Make sure they feel comfortable.

When putting together your 2021-22 LAND Trust Plan be a brief as possible in providing all of the necessary information.

Use the Data Review to identify critical academic needs.

Create the Goal: Goals must be – Student Centered, Measurable, and Academic
Focus on student improvement and success
Identify the goal and fit your needs to the goal. Don’t just use it as a shopping list
How do we define success?
What will we do?
What do we need?
If multiple goals are in the same subject combine it into one goal
Keep the amount of goals smaller

GOAL:
One Statement
Such as – “Improve 8th grade science scores from 55% to 59%”

MEASUREMENT:
What is the method of coming up with the assessment? How will we know that goal has been met? “Acadience scores”

ACTION PLAN:
Have it be research based. Every expenditure should be discussed in the Action Plan and matched to the action - so it shows how it all fits together. Use:
* A bullet list or
* Outline

“If we receive more funds” – Be thinking of other things you could do, in current goals as well as additional goals.

Recent changes regarding Behavioral Intervention:
Can be a part of the action plan
No longer has a $ limit
Must be tied to an academic goal
Use data to show how it will support the goal

Regarding the website update
It will be more steam lined
The website should be ready for the final reports to be added by March 5, 2021
The 2021-22 Upcoming Plan can’t be submitted until the final report is done and submitted

Final Reports
Using a copy of the 2019-2020 School Plan as a template, prepare responses to each item (text) in each goal or question entered in the original School Plan and Amendment, as necessary.
Expenditures will not be entered by the principal but will be displayed for response and explanation by the council.
School plan expenditures from 2019-2020 may be obtained from the business administrator.

2021-22 Upcoming Plan
A template from the State LAND Trust website is attached to this JAM
Your school plan is due to your AOS by March 26, 2021
The same deadlines are necessary in order to stay on track with reviews by the AOS’ and the approval by the Jordan School District Board of Education.

Please review the attached Land Trust Guidelines in order to place the expenditures under the correct categories.

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This is a reminder for principals to complete their EARS funding request form. EARS funding provides an opportunity for schools to respond to the needs of their EL (ML) students. As you begin to think of ways to use the money, the Educational Language Services Department can provide training on what great Parent Home Visits look like, how to use the WIDA Can-Do statements, and how to strengthen Tier I instruction. Please reach out to Michelle Love-Day in Educational Language Services for any questions. Please use this link to request the EARS funding for use with your EL(ML) students this year.

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We are preparing for the second year of our Elementary STEM PLC. This program supports elementary STEM rotations by training teachers/instructional assistants to use the tech tools from the JSD STEM Library. This PLC focuses on the T in STEM and provides both training and technology throughout the school year. This program will not provide a full-year of activities, but we will discuss several online tools that can be used at any time and add your school to a rotation to use a variety of tech tools during the year.

During 2020-2021, 13 elementary schools participated in this program. We will be extending this to an additional 13-14 schools in 2021-2022. The feedback so far has been positive, and I am happy to connect you with participating schools if you would like to ask questions.

All costs for tech tools and training are covered by a grant from the STEM Action Center. Participants will spend hours outside their regular school contract/hourly commitment, but they will be paid through the grant.

What does your school need to participate?
A scheduled school-wide STEM Rotation that serves the majority of your students
A commitment to using the tech tools when they arrive at your school
A teacher or instructional assistant who can commit to additional hours outside regular contract time

We will meet a few days in August for hands-on training with the tech tools, the plan is to complete this prior to the start of STEM rotations. We will also meet once or twice a month during the school year to share resources, develop lesson plans, and identify best practices.

If your school is interested in participating, please complete this Google Form. I will add schools as I receive the form responses. The grant is a three-year commitment. If your school does not participate in 2021-2022, you will be invited to participate in 2022-2023.