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.
Category: Elementary Action Required
JSD-Arts Representatives for 2020-21
DATE:
September 8, 2020
TO:
Elementary Principals
FROM:
Shelley Nordick, Administrator, Teaching and Learning
Norman Emerson, Instructional Support Services/Fine Arts Consultant
SUBJECT:
JSD-Arts Representatives for 2020-21
This year we will continue to have two District Arts Representatives (DARTS) represent your school throughout the 2020-21 school year. We have appreciated the work of past DARTS representatives and how they have helped strengthen arts instruction in your schools. Meaningful progress toward a greater level of arts integration has been made, and we wish this to continue.
DARTS meetings will be held on the following dates: September 16, October 14, November 18, January 20, February 17, March 10, and April 21. The meetings will be held online from 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Please assign two teachers to serve as your school’s DARTS representatives by either selecting a grade-level team, or two teachers from different grade levels. The DARTS representatives will meet once a month for two hours to learn and collaborate. Teachers will be paid at the inservice rate. (Note: In addition to the two regular classroom teachers, your school's BTS arts educator will also be attending the DARTS sessions).
Please email the names of your choices for the JSD DARTS Team for the 2020-21 school year to linda.gold@jordandistrict.org as soon as possible.
Optional Training for Office Staff by Business and Auxiliary Services Departments – October 2020
DATE:
September 10, 2020
TO:
Administrative and Office Staff of Schools and District Departments
FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
SUBJECT:
Business Department Training for District and School Office and Administrative Staff
Optional training will be provided by the Business and Auxiliary Services Departments on October 1, 5, and 15 via Zoom or Google Meet. This training opportunity is for school or department personnel including principals, assistant principals, administrative assistants, clerks, aides or others with responsibilities correlating with the Business or Auxiliary Services Departments. Please see the memo below for detailed information.
ZOOM Pro Plan for Educators
Utah Education Network is working to provide a ZOOM Pro Plan for Educators. Within the next two weeks you will receive an email (sample below) from ZOOM with an invitation to approve a request for a new account through UEN. If you would like the Pro Plan for Zoom, you will have 30 days to approve the request. Please share this.
Requests for Virtual Learning for NEW Elementary Move-In Students
Now that all Elementary students have been placed in virtual or in-person classrooms, a procedure has been created for online requests for new move-in students.
If a family requests virtual learning for a new student when registering at an Elementary School, the Administrative Assistant must complete the following form:
https://forms.gle/WranSUEVAa6vwySL8
Once this form is filled out by the Administrative Assistant, the request will be reviewed and schools will receive information about placement within a few days. This will allow us to carefully balance the amount of students in virtual classes.
If the student was in a virtual class at another Elementary school within our district before the move into a new school boundary, every effort will be made to keep this student with the same virtual teacher.
This procedure applies to New Move-In students who have requested online classes only. If a student would like to attend school in person, standard class placement procedures should be followed.
Working Together to Keep Our Schools Open
The flyer below was posted in JEM earlier this week. Attached below is a PDF copy that you can print and hang throughout your school or building. Let's work together to keep our schools open. What we do makes a difference.
COVID-19 Symptoms Letter
Administrators:
Please review this important letter from the County Health Department with teachers and staff. Especially share with staff working in the front office.
Perform JPAS Evaluation Training – Admin Only – September 29-30, 2020
Register in JPLS by September 18, 2020 for the UETS-Based JPAS online training for administrators!
Training will be held September 29-30, 2020. See more information on the flyer below.
Discretionary Staff Funds
DATE:
September 3, 2020
TO:
All Administrators
All Financial Administrative Assistants
FROM:
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Superintendent of Schools
John Larsen, Business Administrator
SUBJECT:
Discretionary Staff Funds
Please see memo below.
School and Teacher COVID Allocations
DATE:
August 26, 2020
TO:
All Principals
FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Dan Ellis, Director of Accounting, Budgets, and Audits
Derek Anderson, Director of Accounting, Budgets, and Audits
SUBJECT:
School and Teacher COVID Allocations for PPE
Last night the Board of Education discussed and approved the $500 allocation per in-classroom teacher and the $10 allocation per in-classroom student for needed supplies and PPE. Once calculated, the allocations will be placed in account 32 E XXX 9932 4510 612 for each school. However, in-classroom teachers and schools may begin to utilize their allocations immediately. Schools will track individual in-classroom teacher allotments up to the $500 allotment. Use of the funds will follow regular District policy and procedure (i.e. proper receipts, approvals, etc.) and may utilize P-Cards, Purchase Orders, NPOs, inventory requisitions, or check request reimbursement to facilitate the fastest and easiest option for the circumstance.
If you have questions or need assistance, please call Dan Ellis at x88389 or Derek Anderson at x88275.
Thank you.
Acadience Reading Administration Training for Instructional Coaches – September 4, 2020
DATE:
Thursday, August 27, 2020
TO:
Elementary Principals
FROM:
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
SUBJECT:
Acadience Reading Administration Training for Instructional Coaches
Evaluation, Research & Accountability will be training instructional coaches during the Instructional Coaching Institute on Friday, September 4th at 11 am on how to administer Acadience Reading Benchmarks. There are several reasons why this training is important:
- By knowing how the test works – how individual literacy skills are assessed – instructional coaches can better assist teachers in understanding and analyzing the resulting assessment data and implementing interventions that strengthen literacy skills.
- Once trained and having gained some experience testing, coaches will then be able to train teachers and classroom aides to administer the benchmarks, which is especially beneficial as aides in particular are hired throughout the school year.
- Coaches will be able to assist the district testing team on the day of benchmark administration at your school if they are short-handed.
- In past years, the district testers have come back to schools on Fridays to test students who were absent on the day of testing. Since students will not be in schools on Friday, coaches can ensure that absent students get tested.
Due to limited space available and the need for social distancing, we request that principals send only one instructional coach to the training. It is recommended that the principal send the coach that will oversee Acadience Reading testing and absent testing for the school. Future trainings, including a self-paced Canvas course, will be available in the coming weeks for the other coaches.
Please contact Ben Jameson (801-567-8243) or Shannon Johnson (801-567-8873) with questions.
FFCRA Questions and Answers for Employees – August 2020
Administrators: Please take note of the information that came out in JEM regarding FFCRA Questions and Answers for Employees. CLICK HERE to see that information.
Mask Exemptions for Employees – August 2020
Administrators: Please see information regarding employees that may have a medical condition, mental health condition, or disability that prevents wearing a face covering. CLICK HERE
School Emergency Drills During the 2020-21 School Year
IMPORTANT!
School Emergency Drills During the 2020-21 School Year
On August 20th, the Utah State Legislature passed H.B. 6004 School Emergency Drills Amendments https://le.utah.gov/~2020S6/bills/static/HB6004.html – stating that schools are not required to hold actual fire evacuation drills before March 1, 2021, due to Covid-19.
Schools are required to:
- Teach age-appropriate fire evacuation instruction (instead of going outside) in lieu of actual evacuation drills, until February 28, 2021.
- Conduct the first fire evacuation instruction within 15 days of the start of the school year.
- Alternate conducting fire instruction with other emergency safety drills, such as: lockdown or lockout for violence, shelter-in-place for chemical spills and severe weather, bomb threat and earthquake drills.
- Conduct the first other emergency safety drill by October 1.
- Conduct a fire evacuation instruction within the first 10 days of the new calendar year, in January.
- Teach Covid-19 precautions/considerations in relation to drills and actual emergencies.
Elementary schools are still required to conduct an instruction or exercise every month, for a minimum of 9 throughout the school year (5 fire, 4 other emergency safety drills).
Secondary schools are required to conduct a minimum of 6 instruction or exercises throughout the school year (4 fire, 2 other emergency safety drills).
Schools are encouraged to conduct actual evacuation drills, if comfortable doing so, and appropriate Covid-19 precautions can be maintained.
Regular fire evacuation drills (going outside) will resume on March 1, 2021.
Questions, contact: Lance Everill, Emergency Operations Manager 801-567-8623, lance.everill@jordandistrict.org
Mask Reminder – August 2020
Elementary – Mask Exemptions August 2020
The public health order allows for some mask exemptions, meaning a mask is not required for certain people or situations. The order does not apply to outdoor recess for elementary school students.
Please refer to the Mask Order FAQ for additional information. CLICK HERE
Jordan Health and Wellness Tuesday Tips – September 2020
Grab your lunch and learn with us virtually every Tuesday at noon for less than 30 minutes! These webinars are aimed to help support wellness at home during this complex time.
Please post the attached flyer and share with staff and parents.
Utah Department of Health Mask Order FAQ’s August 14, 2020
Please review the document found below. Especially take note of the questions regarding "school sponsored events" - #17, #25, and #48-50.
Immunization Policy and Guidelines, Skyward and USIIS Inservice 2020-21
DATE:
August 19, 2020
TO:
Principals
Administrative Assistants
FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Jordan School District Nurses
SUBJECT:
Immunization Policy and Guidelines, Skyward and USIIS Inservice
Jordan School District Nurses will be conducting this inservice on:
Friday, September 18, 2020
High School & Middle School Personnel 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Elementary Personnel 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
ASB COMPUTER LAB D-112
This inservice is open to all office staff and administrators. It is not required that you attend; however, if you are involved with student registration, this inservice will be of benefit to you since immunization status is an important part of the registration process.
Class size is limited. Please contact your school nurse if you are planning to attend. See nurse assignment list below.
Medication Administration Training 2020-21
DATE:
August 19, 2020
TO:
All Principals
Administrative Assistants
FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Jordan District Nurses
SUBJECT:
Medication Administration Training
Utah State Law and District Policy requires that all school personnel delegated to administer medication to students in schools must complete Medication Administration Training.
New employees who will be giving medication are required to attend the live training on Friday, September 11, 2020. Prior to this meeting, they need to view the online training, click on this link https://nursingservices.jordandistrict.org/ and then click on Medication Inservice (use a browser other than Firefox).
Employees who have attended this training and have a certificate of completion will not be required to attend this meeting. However, they will be required to recertify by viewing the online training video and completing the corresponding test available on the district website.
(see above).
Please identify staff members that should receive medication administration training. This may include head administrative assistants, office assistants, cluster teachers or aides, counseling center personnel, and the principal if appropriate. Please inform all personnel that have the potential to administer medication to students at school of their responsibilities in this matter.
Medication Administration Training
Friday, September 11, 2020
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
ASB PDC 101 & 102
Class size is limited. Please contact your school nurse if you are planning to attend. See nurse assignment list below. Thank you for your responsiveness and support.
