Administrators/Directors/Principals:
Please share this post with your building custodian(s). Thank you!
Administrators/Directors/Principals:
Please share this post with your building custodian(s). Thank you!
DATE:
Thursday, December 12, 2019
TO:
All Principals
FROM:
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
SUBJECT:
USBE Teacher Engagement Survey
The Utah State Board of Education is requesting that we disseminate the following teacher engagement survey to all classroom teachers. This is NOT the same as the district’s stakeholder school climate survey scheduled to be released on February 10, 2020. Principals should send the attached letter entitled JSD Educator Engagement Email Template for Survey Distribution to all classroom teachers in their school. This document invites teachers to participate in an 8-minute anonymous teacher engagement survey that they can access using the link in the document.
The survey window is already open and will close on December 31, 2019. Please refer any questions about the survey administration to Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research & Accountability.
Employees resigning/retiring at the end of the current contract year that gives official early notification of resignation/retirement will be eligible for a tiered incentive. To qualify, the notification must be submitted online on or before the following dates:
The incentive will be paid on the last regular paycheck. Notifications of resignation/retirement received after the dates listed above will not qualify for an incentive. The official District resignation/retirement notification form is found in Skyward Employee Access under Task Processes. Please see District policy DP318 for more detailed information regarding resignations. If you do not know your Skyward username or password please contact the Help Desk at 801.567.8737.
Social Emotional Learning Accelerator - date changed to March 6th. Please visit wellness.jordandistrict.org/sel to sign up to present or attend. Please forward to those at your school who you would like to attend.
See attached flyer.
JSD Administrators:
McKinley Withers, our District’s Health and Wellness Specialist, is conducting a research study through the University of Utah on teacher wellness. (See approval form in this week's JAM)
If you would like your school to be considered as a study site for this research please contact McKinley Withers at mckinley.withers@jordandistrict.org, or 801-567-8245. Also, if you have any questions about the purpose, commitment, or privacy related to this study prior to participation, please contact McKinley with your questions or concerns after reading the study summary below.
Study Summary
The purpose of this study is to uncover what school leaders have been doing well as well as what school leaders could do to improve teacher’s workplace wellness, which is defined by their overall subjective wellbeing (teachers’ self-perceptions of healthy and successful functioning at work), teaching efficacy (appraising one’s teaching behaviors as effectively meeting environmental demands), and school connectedness (feeling supported by and relating well to others at school). With an understanding of teacher’s perceptions of what has had a positive impact on their workplace wellness, school leaders will be better equipped to provide meaningful interventions and creative approaches to improve a teacher’s sense of efficacy, connectedness, and overall well-being. The questions guiding this research are:
Your participation in any part of this study is voluntary. There are three types of participation for those who choose to participate at each school. Individual or identifiable information will not be published or publicly available.
If a school is sending a device home with students, it is important to remember that state law (53G-7-216) and federal law (CIPA) prohibit schools from allowing a device to go home with a student that does not have a Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) compliant filter installed on it. This includes, but is not limited to, hotspots and chrome books. I-Pads and laptop computers are not allowed to go home at this time as the District continues looking for a filtering solution for those devices. If you are looking at sending a hotspot home with a student, KAJEET is one option which has satisfied District tests. If your school has allowed students to take home devices, please ensure that every one of them, including hotspots, has an installed CIPA compliant filter.
DATE:
Thursday, November 21, 2019
TO:
Elementary and Middle School Principals
FROM:
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
SUBJECT:
RISE Individual Student Reports Uploaded to Skyward
2018-19 RISE Individual Student Reports (ISRs) have been uploaded into Skyward Family Access by the Information Systems Department. As the ISRs came from Questar without a unique identifier in the file name that would identify which student the ISR belonged to, IS had to do some programming to get them uploaded to the correct students. We appreciate their time and effort in this endeavor.
Included with this memo are step-by-step instructions for parents on how to access these ISRs. Principals are encouraged to disseminate this information to parents via Skylert or by any other means deemed appropriate. Principals may also consider keeping copies of the step-by-step instructions in the main office to distribute to parents as needed.
Please contact Ben Jameson with any questions about the RISE ISRs.
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
Who Do You Call When...Issues Arise?
Thursday, November 21, 2019
7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Mountain Creek Middle | 5325 W. Bingham Rim Road | South Jordan
Free and open to the public!
As discussed at Principals Meeting on 11/5/19, there will be one less ELA benchmark. The attached document is designed to be a communication that you can send to teachers to communicate the change and new assessment windows.
Please see attached parent letter (Spanish Translation) regarding changes in the elementary report card. The explanation letter can be used as desired.
Administrators/Directors/Principals:
Please share this post with your building custodian(s). Thank you!
Please see attached parent letter regarding changes in the elementary report card. The explanation letter can be used as desired.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
6:00 p.m.
West Jordan Middle School
See flyer below for more details. Please post flyer in your school and share with appropriate people in your school and community.
Please see the attached documents for Classified, Licensed and Administration leave policies.
As teachers prepare for parent–teacher conferences, please remind them of the expectation to complete the Skyward SEP form with each student. Setting goals based on individual student needs reinforces focused instruction and student effort in the classroom, as well as parent encouragement at home. Reviewing goals and monitoring progress supports hard work, continued progress and celebration of growth.
Date:
November 14th
Time:
9am-11am or 1pm-3pm
Choose one session to attend
Registration is not required
AND
Date:
November 19th
Time:
10am-12pm
Registration is not required
Who:
School personnel who currently or may potentially work with school choice permits
Where:
Jordan District Auxiliary Services Building Auditorium
7800 South Redwood Road
Park on the North end of the building, Enter through the 1st Auditorium door.
You will need to use your card access ID badge to gain entrance into the building.
Any person that will be working with permits will need to have a password. IF they do not ALREADY have one - please let Donna Kolva (801.567.8259) or donna.kolva@jordandistrict.org) know and she can initiate that process.
Head Custodian Picture day will be held during our November 20th workshop. We would like every Head Custodian to have a professional picture taken for our display board at the ASB. Please make arrangements for them to attend this “mandatory” Custodial Workshop. It would be great if they could wear a school logo shirt and look the part to represent your school. Our November Custodial Workshop will be held November 20th starting starting at 8:30 a.m. and should conclude no later than 10:00 a.m. Thank you for your support.
Elementary Principals:
Please share with 6th grade teachers.
Jordan School District will administer the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) to all 6th grade students in November and December of 2019. The CogAT measures general reasoning abilities in three domains: verbal, quantitative and spatial. These abilities reflect the cognitive processes and strategies that enable individuals to learn new tasks and solve problems. The results of the assessment will:
The test will be administered online, during school hours. A staff member from Teaching & Learning will proctor the assessment. Teachers are asked to help monitor the testing events.
School administrators, 6th grade teachers, and the site testing coordinator can collaborate to set a testing schedule that will best meet the school’s needs. All testing should be completed between the dates of Monday, November 4 - Friday, December 6, 2019. Please record schedule by teacher on the List of 6th Grade Teachers before October 18.
The total testing time is 90 minutes. The test sections include:
The assessment can be administered in three separate sessions across multiple days or within one day. It can also be administered in one complete session.
There are three practice tests that should be reviewed with students 1-5 days before test administration. The practice tests are designed to help students become familiar with the types of questions found on the assessment. Reviewing the practice tests will standardize the testing experience.
Within the next week, the Jordan District communications office will distribute parent notification letters in regards to the CogAT testing. If parents choose to opt out of the assessment, they will bring the opt out form to the school. Results of the assessment will be shared with you and with parents after the assessment process is complete.
Of note: The CogAT is different than most other tests students take. The test includes analogies, sentence completion, and comparisons. Students usually enjoy taking the CogAT assessment process.
For more information about the CogAT assessment, please visit:
Please contact Rebecca Smith (88368) or the Teaching & Learning staff member assigned to your school with any questions you may have.
Cabinet members will be interviewing all administrators currently employed by Jordan School District who wish to be considered for an elementary or middle school principal position between now and October 2020. Similar interviews will be held each fall for anyone who has not interviewed previously. This year's interviews will be held on Monday, November 18, and Wednesday, November 20.
Any administrator interested in being interviewed this year should email Angela Montague at angela.montague@jordandistrict.org by Monday, October 21st at 5:00 p.m. Please indicate whether you would like to be considered for an elementary principal position, a middle school principal position, or both. This process is not designed to select principals for newly-constructed schools or any school in particular. No application or documentation is required.
Any questions should be directed to a Cabinet member. We look forward to getting to know you better.
TO:
All Principals
FROM:
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Superintendent of Schools
DATE:
October 10, 2019
SUBJECT:
Licensed Employee Advisory Committee for the Board
The Board of Education is forming an advisory committee made up of licensed employees from every school in the District. The purpose of this committee is to advise the Board regarding issues that affect licensed employees (salaries, grants, leave, etc.). Representatives will meet four times during the year (November, January, April, and July) and will be compensated at their hourly rate for participation.
Elementary and special schools, Valley High School and Academies will send one representative; middle schools two; and high schools three. Help us in selecting the assigned number of representatives from your school by using the following process. Please adhere to these procedures exactly as outlined.
Nomination
Elementary and special schools, Valley High School and Academies will need a minimum of two nominees; middle schools a minimum of three; and high schools a minimum of four. Additional nominees are at your discretion.
Voting
Please inform the representatives, the alternate, your faculty, and me of the results. Representatives will be contacted with meeting dates, times and location. The first meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 13th from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Thank you for your help with this matter. We are confident that this advisory committee will have a positive impact on the lives of our educators.