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Category: Elementary Action Required

Published on

DATE:  
Thursday, February 28, 2019

TO: 
All Principals

FROM:  
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
2019 UEPC School Climate Survey Reminder

We are half way through the 2019 UEPC School Climate Survey administration window.  The survey window is scheduled to close on Friday, March 15, 2019.  Many schools have had great response rates thus far, but there are still some who have not notified parents of the survey and have not given students or faculty/staff an opportunity to take the survey.

Principals are asked to do the following, if they have not already done so:

  • Please notify parents of the school climate survey as soon as possible. Send out a link with the attached sample parent letter (please edit as you see appropriate) via Skylert and post the link on your school’s website.  You may need to send out several reminders between now and the close of the survey window.  In the past, the district’s response rate from parents has reached only 12%.  In order for us to get a healthy response rate from parents, they need as much notice as possible with a few friendly reminders to take the survey for schools.
  • Please schedule a time in which your faculty and staff can take the survey, perhaps during a faculty meeting.
  • Please work with your teachers to ensure that every student second grade and up has a time scheduled during the school day in which they may take the survey.

Principals may check their response rates for each stakeholder survey by clicking on the links below.  Please see the response rates as of Monday, February 25, 2019, attached with this memo.

Response Rate Links:

Faculty/Staff Responses:

https://uepc.co1.qualtrics.com/results/public/dWVwYy1VUl85TnN2ZTc5NE1MNUJZUUEtNWMwYWQ5MDIyNmNjZGIwMDEzNzU0MTY3 - /pages/Page_7ed374a9-bc68-4d7d-b2e2-306bbc1b8a33

Parent Responses:

https://uepc.co1.qualtrics.com/results/public/dWVwYy1VUl85TnN2ZTc5NE1MNUJZUUEtNWM2MmViMjc0ZjBkNWIwMDEzODliYmUz - /pages/Page_932e5fd6-d0b3-4b85-99ba-52154455f84d

Student Responses:

https://uepc.co1.qualtrics.com/results/public/dWVwYy1VUl85TnN2ZTc5NE1MNUJZUUEtNWM2MmVlMTZjMzdmNDQwMDBkZDc3ZDAy - /pages/Page_7205b01b-4d07-4bb9-8f89-4a3d6d6f3108

Published on

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) posted a rule in the Federal Register requiring small drone owners to display the FAA-issued registration number on an outside surface of the aircraft. Owners and operators may no longer place or write registration numbers in an interior compartment. The rule is effective on February 25. The markings must be in place for any flight after that date.

When the FAA first required registration of small drones in 2015, the agency mandated that the registration marking be readily accessible and maintained in readable condition. The rule granted some flexibility by permitting the marking to be placed in an enclosed compartment, such as a battery case, if it could be accessed without the use of tools.

Subsequently, law enforcement officials and the FAA’s interagency security partners have expressed concerns about the risk a concealed explosive device might pose to first responders upon opening a compartment to find a drone’s registration number. The FAA believes this action will enhance safety and security by allowing a person to view the unique identifier directly without handling the drone.

This interim final rule does not change the original acceptable methods of external marking, nor does it specify a particular external surface on which the registration number must be placed. The requirement is that it can be seen upon visual inspection of the aircraft’s exterior.

The FAA has issued this requirement as an Interim Final Rule—a rule that takes effect while also inviting public comment. The FAA issues interim final rules when delaying implementation of the rule would be impractical, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. In this case, the agency has determined the importance of mitigating the risk to first responders outweighs the minimal inconvenience this change may impose on small drone owners, and justifies implementation without a prior public comment period.

The FAA will consider comments from the public on this Interim Final Rule, and will then review any submissions to determine if the provisions of the ultimate Final Rule should be changed. The 30-day comment period will end on March 15, 2019. To submit comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for “RIN 2120-AL32.”

As Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao promised last month, the FAA also posted proposed new rules to let drones fly routinely at night and over people, and to further integrate them safely into the nation’s airspace. The comment period for these proposals is now open and ends on April 15.

Published on

DATE:   
February 4, 2019

TO:  
Principals
Resource Team Leaders

FROM: 
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education

SUBJECT:  
Projected Caseload Process for 2019-2020 Resource Allocations

Based on administrative recommendations, the hiring window has been moved up to meet the increasing demands caused by teacher shortages, particularly in specific job categories. To address this advanced timeline, the Special Education Department will be creating a 1.5 allocation until updated data can be ascertained. Projections and staffing allocations will be made similar to what was done last year. This method should make the workload on special education teachers and team leaders much easier. Please read through this information carefully. Based on updated information, data may be updated by the end of February. If you have any questions, please contact your assigned teacher specialist.

Caseload Information

  • No mid-year SCRAM report will be required. Please continue to send in SCRAM changes as they occur throughout the year. You will still be completing an End-of-Year SCRAM report.
  • Your December 1 SCRAM report will be used as the baseline for next year’s caseload estimate.
  • A 3-year average of incoming students to your school has been calculated to provide an estimate of incoming students in the youngest grade at your school. This number was added to your December 1 SCRAM numbers.
  • The number of students leaving your school in the exiting grade has been calculated. This number was subtracted from your December 1 SCRAM numbers.
  • Finally, we’ve maintained a trend line (for some schools since the 2002-03 SY) that shows estimated caseload versus actual caseloads on Oct. 1 and Dec. 1 SCRAM. We will use this trend line to make adjustments to estimates as needed.
  • All allocations will be conservative and may be re-evaluated at the end of this school year or after the Oct. 1 2019 count has been finalized.

Timeline

  • Initial allocations of certified special education FTE will be provided to the Human Resources Department in time for your 2.0 FTE Allocation.
  • Each Principal will receive a letter outlining their estimated caseload numbers for 2019-20 and the projected resource FTE allocation for 2019-20.
  • We will only be sending the allocation letter to each school’s principal.

Requests for Resource Instructional Assistants

In April, we will send a packet of information to each Resource and Support Class team to request instructional assistants for 2019-20. This will include a regular resource assistant allocation and the information needed to request Critical Needs Instructional Assistants. This timeline should allow your teams to have a better idea of which students with additional staffing needs will be attending your school for 2019-20.

Published on

DATE:  
January 13, 2019

TO: 
Elementary Principals
Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Administrator of Schools
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Planning & Student Services

SUBJECT: 
Guidelines to Establish Kindergarten Enrollment

It is the responsibility of each school principal to obtain a kindergarten roster for the upcoming school year.  This roster helps facilitate kindergarten staffing and establish budgets for supplies and materials. Typically efforts to establish kindergarten rosters begin in December.

The following steps should be used to establish a kindergarten roster:

  1. Send a flyer home with every student.
  2. Publicize in the school newsletter – communicate (several times) the importance of getting accurate kindergarten counts.
  3. Use all other resources available to you. (Skylert, etc.)
  4. NOTE: New Student Online Enrollment (NSOE) for the 2019-20 school year enrollment will not be available until after January 1, 2019 pre-enroll. If applications were entered prior to pre-enrollment, they need to be inactive for the current year and active for next year. This can be done during the approval process in NSOE.
  5. Schedule kindergarten orientation as soon as possible. After the January pre-enroll, check your New Student Online Enrollment to see if there are any pending applications that need follow up.
  6. Hang banners announcing Kindergarten Registration being accepted for the following school year.

Please schedule your kindergarten orientation BEFORE APRIL 5, 2019. 

Optional:

  1. Make a block contact with every home using PTA support.
  2. Contact pre-schools in the attendance area of your school.
  3. Use a telephone tree operated by parent volunteers with a list of questions for consistency.
  4. Contact neighbors who can identify new move-ins.
  5. Contact community members who do not have children enrolled in school.
  6. Avoid forwarding kindergarten orientation letters to new addresses if a family has moved from your boundary area. Delete that name from your list.

Please be diligent in recruiting all the kindergarten students within your school boundary.

Published on

DATE:   
Thursday, February 14, 2019

TO:  
All Principals

FROM: 
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
2019 UEPC School Climate Survey Response Rate Links

Principals are encouraged to use the following links to monitor the response rates for the student, parent and faculty/staff UEPC School Climate Surveys.

As a reminder, all students second grade and up should have time scheduled during the school day to take the school climate survey. Depending on your technology configuration, some schools may need to schedule computer labs to help facilitate the student survey administration.

Principals should provide time during a faculty meeting as necessary for faculty and staff members to take the survey as well.

Finally, principals should notify parents of the option to take the survey via Skylerts, parent newsletters, social media, or by any other communication means available. Parents will likely need several reminders. In addition, it is recommended that schools provide computers and/or a survey link for parents to take the survey while attending spring parent conferences.

Response Rate Links:

Faculty/Staff Responses:
https://uepc.co1.qualtrics.com/results/public/dWVwYy1VUl85TnN2ZTc5NE1MNUJZUUEtNWMwYWQ5MDIyNmNjZGIwMDEzNzU0MTY3 - /pages/Page_7ed374a9-bc68-4d7d-b2e2-306bbc1b8a33

Parent Responses:
https://uepc.co1.qualtrics.com/results/public/dWVwYy1VUl85TnN2ZTc5NE1MNUJZUUEtNWM2MmViMjc0ZjBkNWIwMDEzODliYmUz - /pages/Page_932e5fd6-d0b3-4b85-99ba-52154455f84d

Student Responses:
https://uepc.co1.qualtrics.com/results/public/dWVwYy1VUl85TnN2ZTc5NE1MNUJZUUEtNWM2MmVlMTZjMzdmNDQwMDBkZDc3ZDAy - /pages/Page_7205b01b-4d07-4bb9-8f89-4a3d6d6f3108

Published on

DATE: 
Thursday, January 31, 2019

TO: 
All Principals

FROM:   
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 
2019 UEPC School Climate Survey – Preparation and Administration Details

Please see attached memo with details.

Published on

DATE: 
January 31, 2019

TO: 
All Principals

FROM: 
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:    
RISE Summative and Utah Aspire Plus Summative Help Sessions for Resource Teachers and EL Leads

A member of the Evaluation, Research & Accountability Department will be available at the following dates, times and locations to assist resource teachers and EL leads as they input student accommodations into the RISE Nextera admin system and the Utah Aspire Plus PearsonAccessNext system.

In addition, school test coordinators may also come to these help sessions if they require assistance.

Date: Time: Location:
Monday, Feb. 4, 2019  

 

3:00 – 5:00 pm

  

 

PDC 101
Monday, Feb. 11, 2019
Monday, Feb. 25, 2019
Monday, Mar. 4, 2019
Monday, Mar. 11, 2019

School principals and department heads are asked to provide this information to all school test coordinators as well as special educators and EL leads that will be involved in RISE or Utah Aspire Plus Summative testing.

Published on

As a follow up to the memo sent in JAM on December 20, 2018, we want to clarify that all schools have received their allotted classroom TECC kits. As indicated in the memo, the due date for distribution of classroom TECC kits and the submittal of Your School’s TECC Kit Assignment Sheet, which is sent to Judy Bird in Facility Services, was Friday, January 11, 2019. Thank you to those schools that have distributed the classroom TECC kits and have submitted the TECC Kit Assignment Sheet to Judy Bird.

In addition, you have also been asked to schedule and complete your TECC hands-on training with your local fire agency. Schools should not be holding classroom TECC kits until the training has been completed. Contact information to schedule hands-on training is provided below.

Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Fire Department Contacts for Hands-on Training:

Bluffdale, Herriman and Riverton:
Unified Fire Authority - Bret Fossum, 801-310-6262, efossum@unifiedfire.org

South Jordan FD - Jim Ladle, 801-842-4097, jladle@sjc.utah.gov

West Jordan FD - Wyatt Jones, 801-652-4054, wyatt.jones@westjordan.utah.gov

Published on

Principals:  Please post in your school and send the attached flyer to each School Community Council member, all parents are invited to attend.

Jordan Parent University
Legislative Forum
Thursday, February 7, 2019
7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Joel P Jensen Middle - 8105 S 3200 W, West Jordan

Published on

The ADD and TECC presentations will be available for viewing  by those that have not been able to attend or view the training previously. This is for administration substitutes and licensed personnel. Principals, please give this information to any teacher who has not yet completed this training.

Monday, January 14, 2019
8:30 a.m.
District Office, Room 129

Thank you for your help.

Published on

DATE:  
January 10, 2019

TO:   
Elementary School Principals

FROM:   
Shelley Nordick, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Nancy Ward, Coordinator of Educational Support Services
District Nurses

SUBJECT:   
Preschool Vision Clinics

Attached you will find a flyer for parents regarding upcoming Preschool Vision Clinics.   You may want to put this on your school letterhead to give out at your kindergarten orientation and/or parent/teacher conferences.

Published on

Elementary Principals:

The 7th Grade Math Placement process has changed. This year students will have the opportunity to choose the math class that they will take in 7th grade. Students may choose 7th Grade Mathematics or 7th Grade Mathematics Honors. The core standards are exactly the same for both courses. It is important that students feel comfortable in their math class which is why they have the option to choose their math course this coming year.

In the past, a few students have been able to test into 8th Grade Mathematics Honors as incoming 7th graders. This will still be an option. It is important that students are able to demonstrate a deep understanding of 7th Grade Mathematics before they are able to take 8th Grade Mathematics Honors. Each elementary school will be coordinating the testing for their students so that all students who wish to test into 8th Grade Mathematics Honors will have the opportunity to do so at the school. It is important for access and equity purposes that the test be administered during the regular school day.

Testing windows are as follows:

C Track - January 22 to February 1
Traditional Schools - February 4 to February 15
A and B Tracks - February 4 to February 15
D Track - February 11 to February 22

Another change to the testing process is that the test will be administered online through MasteryConnect. A paper copy of the test will be provided for any students who are not able to test online. It is recommended that all students test online.

A letter will be sent to every parent or guardian of a 6th grade student outlining the changes for the placement process this year. Please see that the letters get sent home immediately.

If you have any questions about the changes, please contact Wendy Harmon by phone at 801-567-8377 or by email wendy.harmon@jordandistrict.org.

Published on

DATE:
Thursday, January 10, 2019

TO: 
All Principals

FROM: 
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 
2019 WIDA Testing

The 2019 administration of the WIDA Access 2.0 for students receiving ELL services has begun. Testing will run through March 8, 2019. Because the WIDA assesses English language proficiency, the data gleaned from this assessment will have value for school administrators and teachers as they make instructional decisions to support the learning of EL students. In addition, the results of the WIDA assessment play a factor in the new School Accountability Report Card system.

With this in mind, here are a few helpful hints and reminders for the 2019 WIDA administration:

  • The Evaluation, Research & Accountability Department will be sending one (or more) of four teams to your school to administer the WIDA following the schedule attached to this memo.
  • When possible, try to schedule a hardwired computer lab for WIDA testing. At times, wireless networks are less than reliable with some test sections like the speaking subtest.
  • Try to limit the number of announcements over the intercom during testing.
  • When possible, please arrange to have your school technician present on the day of testing in case there are any technology glitches.
  • Your Test Coordinator should enter students’ accommodations on the test schedule that has been shared with them via Google Drive. This is the only way for our WIDA testers to know what students should have which accommodations.
  • Please work with your ESL teachers/ELL leads to provide students an opportunity to interact with the testing interface and take some practice tests. Sample test items can be found at: https://wbte.drcedirect.com/WIDA/portals/wida.
  • Please encourage students to take the test. While state law allows parents to opt students out of the WIDA, the Federal Every Student Succeeds Act does not.

As in the past, WIDA results will be distributed to schools in the spring and will be available on the Data Gateway later in the summer.

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All Principals:

Thank you for your past and present participation and assistance with the JSD Teacher Transfer Fair Events. This is an important event for teachers and for you as you fill vacancies at your school location.  A special thanks to Jim Birch and his administrative team for volunteering to host the first Teacher Transfer Fair in 2019.

The first JSD Teacher Transfer Fair in 2019 is scheduled as follows:
Date:  Monday, January 14, 2019
Time:  12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m.
Location:  West Jordan High School - Gymnasium
Enter at the northeast end of West Jordan High School

Both Elementary and Secondary Schools will be participating.

As previously discussed, there will be a separate area available for conducting interviews.  This interview area is in addition to the tables, where interviews have been conducted in the past.

If you are unable to attend this event, please assign another administrator to take the lead, as all schools must be represented.  You should also notify your respective AOS.

HR will be communicating the details of the Teacher Transfer Fair to teachers soon via JEM and would appreciate your assistance. Please remind all educators attending the Teacher Transfer Fair to wear their JSD ID badge, which will allow them entrance into the fair.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you at the 2019 Teacher Transfer Fair at West Jordan High.

Published on

DATE:  
Thursday, December 6, 2018

TO:   
Elementary School Principals
Middle School Principals

FROM: 
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
Annual RISE Summative Administration Training for Test Coordinators and Administrators

To prepare for the 2019 end-of-year Utah Aspire Plus Summative tests, principals, or their administrative designees, and school test coordinators are asked to attend one of six training sessions. Please see memo below for more information and dates of the trainings.

 

 

Published on

To: Elementary School Principals:

Jordan Education Foundation is tasked to keep an up to date Approved Fundraiser's List on the JEF website. Could you help by sending a list of fundraisers you use in your school and/or fundraisers you have used in the past? We only need a name of the company and a contact then JEF will contact them, if necessary, for the appropriate approval process. Email your lists to:
Thank you so much!

Published on

Attached you will find a copy of the WIDA Testing schedule.  It is somewhat tentative where the numbers of students can increase before your scheduled time.

As in past years, some schools will need more than one computer lab on one or more days. Please check the schedule carefully.  Our goal is to work as efficiently as possible so as not to take up too much of your and the students time.

Please, check the date or dates your school is assigned, reserve the necessary lab, or labs.  If there are conflicts let me know as soon as possible.  I would like to have the schedule finalized by the first week of December, to help in your planning.

Like last year, middle schools and high schools will be scheduling the students.  We will send you a list of your students.  We will do the elementary schedules.  As in the past as students complete the test we will ask for other students to come in, so the schedules are a guide.  We do make sure the students go to lunch.

This year we are asking that besides reserving your lab/labs on our testing days, that you reserve the lab on the Friday of the week we are testing your students.  This will help in facilitating absent testing.  Schools with large numbers of students requiring the test, might require our coming back multiple times but, we will make those arrangements as needed.

Thank you so much for your help.

Published on

DATE:  
November 8, 2018

TO: 
Principals
Special Education Staff

FROM: 
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Kristin Norris, Teacher Specialist-SLP/A, ESY Coordinator

SUBJECT:  
ESY MID-YEAR UPDATE

Critical things to be thinking about for Extended School Year now:

  1. Every student must have regression and recoupment data.

This is the first step in determining eligibility. The second step of looking at predictive factors is only completed after first looking at the regression/recoupment data. Therefore, every student needs data on regression and recoupment.

START NOW!  We just completed fall recess, and Thanksgiving and Winter breaks are coming quickly.

To aid you in this process, we have included the data collection page for this step.

  1. Be clear about why students attend ESY.

Ask yourself this question for each student.
Does this student need an Extended School Year because without it this student would not be able to make adequate progress on their goals and maintain adequate access to their education? The purpose of ESY is to provide FAPE for students who without ESY would not be able to access their education appropriately.

Thank you for all of your hard work for our students in identifying and meeting their needs!

Attachment:
Determination of Eligibility for ESY page 2