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Category: Elementary Action Required

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Thank you all for your patience and understanding this year with your technology orders.  We have experienced unprecedented delays on the most popular models of Chromebooks, laptops, and even Apple laptops and iPads.

Here are a few updates and recommendations regarding these devices:

  • JSD’s Information Systems department has now asked that we purchase the Jamf School device management licenses for all Apple devices.  We’ve been buying these for the last year or two for the iPads, but this requirement now extends to iMacs, MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros, all iPad models, iPods, etc.  If you are requesting your own quotes from Apple, please ask the sales representative to include these on the quote for you.  You will need a license for each device.  These are ordered under Apple part# HL2M2LL/A, and run $17.50/each.
  • Apple iPads are now experiencing 6-8 week order lead times.  Please plan ahead for your purchases.
  • Other Apple devices are typically on 4-6 week order lead times.
  • Please be aware that Apple has recently discontinued models with Intel processors, and are being replaced with the new Apple processors.  If you have an old quote, we may need to update it to the new equivalent part number.   So far prices seem to be the same.
  • For your Chromebooks, for the most part these are on 16+ week order lead times, and the touchscreen models seem to be taking longer than the basic Chromebook.
  • Please check with Tonya Hodges in Purchasing if you need a rush order on the basic Chromebooks.  Occasionally we can find vendors that have them in stock, but at higher prices.  We can work with you on a case by case basis to see if we may make a purchasing exception to get you some stock right away for your immediate needs, but use the better pricing and longer lead times to get the remainder of your Chromebooks.
  • It is recommended to start planning now and place orders by the end of January 2021for Chromebooks you will need for the 2021-22 school year.  This would allow enough time to get the devices delivered by summer break and ready to go for the start of school in August.

Please contact Tonya Hodges in the Purchasing Department at tonya.hodges@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8706 for assistance with your Technology orders.

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In anticipation of next year's planning and scheduling, we will be turning pre-transfers on earlier than we have in the past. We have scheduled this task for the afternoon of December 11th. You should then be able to start running reports and see your next year's students beginning December 14th.

A few reminders about pre-transfers:

  • A pre-transfer is an active student who is currently attending Jordan School District and will be attending next year at a different school within Jordan School District. The student’s record will pre-transfer to the student’s next year boundary school based on their current address.
  • Once pre-transfers are turned on the School Pathtab will show current year permits under Previous Reason Code and next year permits under Reason Code.
  • Current permits for 6thand 9th grade students will be removed for next year as of December 10th. This will allow these students to pre-transfer to their new entity for next year.

In addition to turning on pre-transfers, the course master will be rolled over on December 10th for next year scheduling preparation.

Please contact the help desk with any questions or concerns regarding the timing of the pre-transfer process.

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DATE:  
Thursday, December 3, 2020

TO: 
Elementary School Principals

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

SUBJECT:  
Updates for Fall Testing

Reading Inventory
Reading Inventory (RI) is up and available for all elementary (4-6) schools. Please contact the teachers at your school to make sure they know that it is available and ready to use. All in-person teachers and virtual teachers should have access to the Reading Inventory test. If teachers are unable to login, please have them email kira.jensen@jordandistrict.org. Kira is now able to easily add any virtual classes that could not be added with the original upload.

Additionally, Teaching & Learning has just purchased more licenses so that all the students who qualify to use RI can test! This means no more shuffling licenses at your schools!

CogAT Testing for 6th Graders
Schools that have gone virtual for two weeks can still complete their CogAT testing when students return to school. We will be extending the testing window until December 18, 2020, to allow for the change in circumstances. Please contact kira.jensen@jordandistrict.org if you need help with CogAT, or if you have any questions or concerns.  Principals are strongly encouraged to not wait until the end of the window to test students, if at all possible.

AAPPL Testing for DLI Schools
The AAPPL testing window has now been extended through January 15, 2021. If any teachers at your school do not complete their AAPPL testing by the original deadline of 12/11/2020, they can still test until 01/15/2021, but they will need to let us know so we can contact the State Office. Please email that information to kira.jensen@jordandistrict.org.

 

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Any and all websites that are domain specific to Weebly or Wix will be blocked by the JSD iBoss Filter on January 18, 2021. All Weebly or Wix sites content will need to be transferred to a JSD supported website. For assistance please contact your school Digital Coach and your school assigned Digital Learning Specialist, Contact Us.

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DATE:  
Thursday, November 19, 2020

TO:    
Elementary Principals
Elementary Administrative Assistants

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

SUBJECT:  
MOY 2020 Acadience Reading Testing – In-person and Online Students

Acadience Reading Benchmarks are once again required this year by the state – both students receiving their instruction in-person and online. USBE has extended the middle-of-the-year testing window by one week to Friday, February 5, 2021. This memo contains information on how the benchmark administration will be accomplished for both.

Students Receiving Instruction In-person:
Principals should have received an updated Monday-Thursday schedule of when district testers 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 testers 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. 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 make 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 testers will follow a similar routine for testing that they have followed in the past.

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 this year.  Parents of online students can choose to have their student tested in-person at their boundary school or virtually via Zoom.  Testing of online students will take place on Fridays at each elementary school.  Evaluation, Research & Accountability will be sending a small team of 4-5 district testers to meet with and administer the benchmark assessments in-person to online students (principals have already been notified if their assigned Friday).  We are requesting that schools set aside a location for the testers 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 online students for a testing appointment.  Schools will not need to schedule anything themselves.  If parents of online students or online teachers request the link to schedule a testing appointment, schools may provide the following link:
https://jordandistrict.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5mYuLUZcEtt9QOx

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

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If your building has extra PPE that is going unused or if your building desires extra PPE currently located at another building, please let Kris Wishart in Purchasing (x88708) know. She will try to match up any existing surplus with existing desires across the District.

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Administrators: Please encourage your Educational Support Professional employees to attend this fun event. They do not need to be off contract time.

We invite you to join us as we celebrate Educational Support Professionals Day with the help of Utah Jazz star Thurl Bailey.

Mr. Bailey will share his inspirational story during a special event honoring Jordan School District ESPs for their hard work and dedication supporting students and education.

Please RSVP for one of four sessions at 8:30 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 18 or Friday, December 4 at Copper Hills High School.

You can RSVP at the link below:

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Dear Principals,

Sign templates are available for schools to print:

  • To create hallway traffic flow patterns
  • To encourage proper handwashing
  • To encourage proper use of face coverings

Attached below is a PDF package containing the templates.  New signs were added on Nov. 12, 2020.

If you would like them customized with your school logo and colors please contact Chad Margetts in the Office of Communications. 801-567-8201.

The Instructional Support Center is available to print traffic flow signs for those who would like to purchase through ISC.

 

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DATE:
Friday, October 30, 2020

TO:  
Elementary Principals

FROM:  
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
Rebecca Smith, Consultant over ALPS/Gifted and Talented

SUBJECT:     
Universal CogAt Testing of 6th Grade Students Training and Test Administration

Time Sensitive:  Principals are asked to share the following information with their school test coordinator and 6th grade teachers.

Dates and Times for training are:

  • Mon, Nov. 2, 2020 11:30 AM - 12:25 PM MST
  • Tue, Nov. 3, 2020 1:30 PM - 2:25 PM MST
  • Wed, Nov. 4, 2020 8:00 AM - 8:55 AM MST
  • Thur, Nov. 5, 2020 3:30 PM - 4:25 PM MST
  • Mon, Nov. 9, 2020 1:00 PM - 1:55 PM MST
  • Tue, Nov. 10, 2020 3:00 PM - 3:55 PM MST
  • Wed, Nov. 11, 2020 12:30 PM - 1:25 PM MST

Please see more information on the memo below, as well as the Parental Exclusion form.

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In an effort to effectively and efficiently provide access to report cards for all families, but especially our online families, Info Systems will be adding the report cards to Skyward Family Access on November 9th. This is typically only done at the end of each school year. Online teachers are not able to print report cards of students outside of their homebase school. The teachers will be asking parents to access report cards through Skyward Family Access.  

Please direct families to follow these steps to access the report cards. 

  1. Log in to Family Access
  2. Scroll toward the bottom and click on Report Card/Academic Progress
  3. Select the current term report card file to open a PDF of the report card.

Please remind teachers that all grades must be finalized by November 6th.  

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Attention Administrators,

The deadline for employees to complete the Crucial Policy review is fast approaching. As of today, 79% of administrators, 83% of licensed employees and 79% of ESP employees have completed the required Crucial Policies review, which includes the new required Title IX and Human Trafficking training. However, only 34% of miscellaneous employees have completed the Crucial Policy Review. The Crucial Policy review is required of all employees, with the exception of minor sweepers/student assistants. The Crucial Policies Review is accessed in Skyward Employee Access.

Administrators and Administrative Assistants may access the Crucial Policy Review Report for their location by following the instructions below:

Website link:  https://is.jordan.k12.ut.usOpens in a new window

Click: Documentation
Click: Human Resources
Click: Crucial Policy Review Report Instructions

Please run your report and notify each employee of this requirement. The HR Department is tasked with monitoring these reports for compliance and will be contacting principals as needed. If any employee listed in this report is no longer employed, please email your HR feeder assistant.

Employees needing assistance in accessing Skyward Employee Access are directed to contact the Help Desk at 801-567-8737.

Regards,

Human Resources

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DATE:   
Thursday, October 22, 2020

TO: 
All Principals

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

SUBJECT:   
WIDA ACCESS 2.0 Test Administration Training for Schools

Please see memo below regarding the mandatory training to be provided and who should attend.

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Dear Administrators,

A populated copy of your Compliance and Assurances Report will be sent to you by the Teacher Specialist assigned to your school. Due dates are Dec. 17 and April 15. A couple of things to keep in mind:

1. The document is current as of Nov., 2020. As new EL students enroll in your school, you will need to add those students to the report. You can check your monthly language proficiency report to determine who the new students are.

2.  There will be virtual administrative workshop times where the ELS team will be available to offer support in report completion. Please bring a list of ESL endorsed teachers at your school.  We will be looking up student information with you.

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Dear Administrators,

The ELS department would like to continue to support our students who are distance learning and provide an opportunity for them to get a free student desk and chair from the warehouse surplus. Supplies are limited and should be reserved for students participating in distant learning. Please have your secretaries, parent liaisons, ELD leads and anyone else who works with our online students reach out to get a school total. Once you have a total, send the request over to Steven Oldham over at the warehouse. Steve can have the desk delivered to your school or patrons can pick up a desk from the warehouse at the ASB. Know that supplies are limited and on a first come first serve basis.

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DATE:  
Thursday, October 15, 2020

TO:  
All Principals

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

SUBJECT: 
Reading Inventory (formerly SRI) Update

Principals are asked to pass this information on to their teachers who will be using Reading Inventory.

We are very happy to announce that Teaching & Learning has now completed the purchase process for SRI, and it will be available to teachers this week. SRI is no longer run by Scholastic, and is now just Reading Inventory, or RI.  It is a product of Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt.

To access the SAM server to view student scores and run reports, go to this link: https://h100005970.education.scholastic.com/

As schools begin to use RI, Information Systems would like you to remember the following information:

For Chromebooks, IS has pushed the link https://h100005970.education.scholastic.com/ to the Chromebooks. It will show as RI.  Schools that want to use RI on non-Chrome devices will need to see if their tech can put the link above on whatever device will be used.  They’ll need to be aware to use that exact link and not the redirect.

If you find any missing courses, cannot log in, or have other problems, please contact Kira Jensen at kira.jensen@jordandistrict.org. As so many students change enrollments at the beginning of the year, Info Systems will upload another round of rosters at the beginning of each quarter.

Students and rosters can be managed manually as well. For more information on how to manage class rosters, add students, and view reports in RI, please use the video tutorials:

Additional information about RI may be found on the Evaluation, Research & Accountability website:
https://assessments.jordandistrict.org/assessments/ri/

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Dear Administrators,

The Utah Department of Health, under the direction of Governor Herbert, has approved adjustments to the 14-day quarantine. Students and employees who have been quarantined due to an in-school exposure, while wearing a mask, may return to school if they are symptom-free, and have a negative test result after day 7 of quarantine. The test may be taken on day 7. State officials and medical experts indicate that this new guidance aligns with the best medical practice. 

The following are key points provided by the State:

  • Masks are effective at preventing transmission in classroom settings
  • This only applies to mask on mask exposure
  • Only applies to exposures that occurred in school
  • % of individuals who will develop symptoms do so on: 
    • Day 7 -75%, 
    • Day 9 - 90% 
    • Day 11- 95%
    • Testing picks up positive cases two days before symptoms onset; therefore, testing on day 7 means there is less than a 10% chance that an individual will contract after day 7
  • This is for individual exposures, and does not pertain to the threshold recommendations for classroom or school virtual learning 

The COVID-19 School Manual will be updated to reflect this change but the change takes effect immediately. 

Please carefully read the attached Low Risk Test and Return guidance document found below.  

More information will be forthcoming as it becomes available.  

 

 

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Administrators, Special Education teachers, those that work with building access, those that deal with 504's, and other compliance issues please take special note of this document.

The document below is from the Officer for Civil Rights and is regarding K-12 public schools in relation to meeting the needs of all students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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DATE:  
October 1, 2020

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

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

SUBJECT:
2021-22 Permit Updates and Trainings

It is time to begin preparation for the out-of-boundary permit application season. As a reminder, the open enrollment window runs from December 1 to the third Friday in February (February 19, 2021). Permits will again be accepted and processed through PowerSchool.

Please see memo below for information regarding training opportunities.

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The Board of Education has approved $4 million for the Educator Grant program.  Please make your faculty aware that all licensed educators can now apply for pandemic and innovative work grants.

As part of the pandemic work grant application, Principals will need to verify the pandemic work completed in the Spring of 2020, so we want you to be aware of this process:

1)    The individual applies for a Pandemic Work grant.

2)    They must request Principal Confirmation of work completed.

3)    This form in the grant application will automatically send you an email to verify their work. You will be able to click on a link to a description of the work and then click to confirm that the work was completed within the Pandemic work period.
The deadline for Principal Confirmation is October 30, 2020. We ask that you complete these quickly, as applicants will not receive a pandemic award if there is no verification by this date.

4)    If you are not the Principal that was working with this individual during the Spring of 2020, please forward this Principal Confirmation email to the correct Principal.

For more information please see the memo below.

 

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Administrators, we appreciate all that you are doing as lead learners in your buildings. Thank you!! We are opening up some additional times for support with FTE audits. In addition, USBE has extended the funding deadline allowing us to extend the FTE audit deadline to October 9, 2020. If you would like to schedule a Zoom meeting for support with your audit please click in the link below. If none of these times work for you please reach out to one of the Human Resource administrators below.

Schedule an FTE meeting

Brent Burge  Kim Gibson  Wyatt Bentley