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DATE:
September 30, 2017

TO:
All Elementary Principals

FROM:
Administrators of Schools
Laura Finlinson, Administrator, Curriculum/Staff Development
Norman Emerson, Instructional Support Services/Fine Arts Consultant

SUBJECT:
Utah Symphony Performance at Abravanel Hall for 5th Grade Students


Once again we are pleased to announce Utah Symphony concerts for your 5th grade students at Abravanel Hall. The performance dates for 4th grade at Abravanel Hall are February 6, 12 and 20, 2018. Your school’s date and time will be provided on a separate schedule.  Please note that there are no assigned seats.  Schools will be seated upon arrival.

Study materials for use in preparing your students will be provided by the Utah Symphony in the weeks prior to the performance.

Your secretary will need to complete a transportation request on Skyward. The number of teachers should be included in your school’s final count. When entering your busing request, please include the correct group name (e.g. Daybreak, 115 Curr). This will ensure that the Curriculum Department will cover the busing fee.

Transportation requests should be completed as soon as possible.  Due to the number of buses that need to be used for the Symphony concerts, there will be a moratorium on any other transportation requests for these dates.

DATE: 
September 30, 2017

TO: 
All Elementary Principals

FROM:   
Administrators of Schools
Laura Finlinson, Administrator, Curriculum/Staff Development
Norman Emerson, Instructional Support Services/Fine Arts Consultant

SUBJECT: 
Utah Symphony Performance at Copper Hills High School for 4th Grade Students


Once again we are pleased to announce Utah Symphony concerts for your 4th grade students at Copper Hills High School. The performance dates for 4th grade at Copper Hills High are February 14 and 15, 2018. Your school’s date and time will be provided on a separate schedule.  Please note that there are no assigned seats.  Schools will be seated upon arrival.

Study materials for use in preparing your students will be provided by the Utah Symphony in the weeks prior to the performance.

Your secretary will need to complete a transportation request on Skyward. The number of teachers should be included in your school’s final count. When entering your busing request, please include the correct group name (e.g. Daybreak, 115 Curr). This will ensure that the Curriculum Department will cover the busing fee.

Transportation requests should be completed as soon as possible.  Due to the number of buses that need to be used for the Symphony concerts, there will be a moratorium on any other transportation requests for these dates.

DATE:
September 18, 2017

TO:  
All School Principals
All School Financial Secretaries

FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Daniel Ellis, Director of Accounting, Budgets and Audits

SUBJECT:
Quarterly School Financial Report for July, August and September 2017


Each school is asked to report the quarter end account balance and transaction detail with the Apple Volume Purchase Program and return with your bank reconciliation.  If your school has no Apple account, please so indicate and return.

Please include the account balance with Apple on the reconciliation sign off form and print a report or screen shot(s) of the balances and quarterly transactions from Apple’s website.  If you need assistance, please contact your Curriculum Technology Specialist – Bonnie, Deana, Harrison, Nancy, Jay, and Raimee.

Please photocopy the selected elements and send to Accounting by October 20, 2017.

Please include:

  • The signed attached memo to Accounting
  • A copy of your July, August and September 2017 Reconciliation Worksheets
  • A copy of your July, August and September 2017 Bank Statements
  • A copy of your July, August and September 2017 Skyward Balance Sheets
  • A copy of your July, August and September 2017 Outstanding Check Reports
  • Screen shot(s) of your September 30, 2017 Apple Volume Purchase Program transaction history and balance

If you have questions or need assistance, please call Liz Robins at (801)567-8267.

Thank you.

Cc:
Michael Anderson, Administrator of Schools
Jill Durrant, Administrator of Schools
Anthony Godfrey, Administrator of Schools
Brad Sorensen, Administrator of Schools
Teri Timpson, Administrator of Schools

DATE:
September 21, 2017

TO:
Jordan District Contract Employees

FROM:
Dr. Patrice A. Johnson, Superintendent of Schools

SUBJECT:
Change of Schedule for Spring Break


A week-long spring break is scheduled for the 2017-18 school year. Students and teachers at both traditional and year-round schools, as well as staff on a 10-month/206-day classified contract or a 225-day licensed contract, will be out of school Monday-Friday, April 2-6, 2018.

Currently, employees on a 12-month/242-day or 12-month/245-day contract are scheduled to work Monday-Wednesday (April 2-4) and off on Thursday and Friday (April 5-6). With Easter falling on April 1st, we are implementing a change in the employee calendar to accommodate time off closer to the holiday. Employees in these two groups will have Monday and Tuesday, April 2-3, for spring break and will return to work on Wednesday, April 4th and work through Friday.

If anyone in your department has already made plans based on being off April 5-6, please work with them to resolve any hardship this change may cause them.

 

Attached is a copy of Superintendent Johnson's Power Point from the September 12th Principals' Meeting.

As a reminder, please be prepared to bring an assessment to the November 7th Principals' Meeting.

Principals:

Please announce this and post in your school and on your website. Share with your School Community Council and PTA members.

Do You Know What's on Your Child's Smartphone?
Thursday, September 28, 2017
7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
West Jordan Middle School

Principals:

Please share the attached flyer with your School Community Council members. As a reminder, new principals and new chairs are required to attend one of these trainings. An online video will be provided for training all other members during a SCC meeting. Watch JAM for information of when the video will be available.

Administrators:​

Please remember that all JSD schools are required to conduct a fire drill within the first 10 days of the start of school, and then again within the first 10 days after winter recess.  Emergency drills are reported electronically and information compiled on the Compliance Report for our Administrators of Schools and the Risk Management Coordinator.  Attached are instructions, including the link to the report form and also a review of the process and list of other emergency drills requirements.

The report can also be accessed in the shared Google Drive file:  ASB - Website Doc and Forms, Safety/Security, Reports/Forms/Documents.

Below is the link to the Report of Emergency Drills:

https://goo.gl/forms/NAEiaB69QE5B9p712

For questions, please don't hesitate to contact Peggy Margetts at 801-567-8753 or at peggy.margetts@jordandistrict.org.

Please be reminded that each school, along with the School Community Council, must provide digital citizenship and internet safety training.

Please see attachment for information regarding the rules and regulations.

 

DATE:
August 24, 2017

TO:  
All Principals

FROM:  
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
Upcoming Changes to UTIPS


USBE has been working to update the UTIPS system to be aligned with the Utah Core.  The item bank for English language arts is 100% updated and aligned with the core, the math item bank is 75% completed, and the science item bank will be updated later this fall.

Teachers will now need to check their assessments on UTIPS to be sure that they are aligned to the Utah Core as well.  The standards bank in UTIPS will be updated in mid-September and all obsolete standards will be removed from the system.  This will affect any teacher-created assessments that are not aligned to the current core.

We ask that all principals pass this information on to their faculties so that teachers may take the appropriate actions to ensure that they will still have access to their assessments on UTIPS and that those assessments are aligned to and assessing the current Utah Core.

If you have any questions, please contact Ben Jameson at 801-567-8243.

DATE:
August 24, 2017

TO:
All Principals

FROM:
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:
2017 SAGE Data Release on USBE Data Gateway


Beginning August 25, 2017, the 2016-17 SAGE proficiency results will be released on USBE’s Data Gateway for principals, schools, and districts to review.  The URL for the Data Gateway is https://datagateway.schools.utah.gov/.  The login prompt is in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

We ask that principals log into the Data Gateway and review their school’s SAGE results for accuracy as soon after August 25th as possible.  The intent of the review is to address any data errors before the mid-September public release date.  Please report any concerns or inaccuracies to the Evaluation, Research & Accountability department at 801-567-8185.

It is anticipated that USBE will release accountability data and school report cards in mid-September for principals, schools and districts to review.  While the release date is still tentative, schools will have an opportunity to review their accountability data prior to public release.

If you need assistance navigating the Data Gateway or logging in, please contact Ben Jameson at 801-567-8243.

DATE:
August 23, 2017

TO:
All Principals

FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum & Staff Development
Ron Bird, Director of Information Systems
Michael Heaps, Support Services Manager, Information Systems
Mark Sowa, Instructional Technology Consultant

SUBJECT:
Canvas Licenses


Many of you may have heard that Canvas licenses have been purchased by the State for all students in Utah public schools. This is accurate. However, funding has only been committed for the current school year. There is no current plan or guarantee that the State will pay for licenses after this school year.

If you are interested in using Canvas at your school under the current free licensing, please contact Michael Heaps or Steffany Ellsworth in Information Systems (801-567-8140) for more information and instructions on how to begin this process.

You will also want to consider a professional development component to implementation. To discuss this further, please contact your respective Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist.

DATE: 
August 17, 2017

TO:   
Elementary Principals

FROM: 
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Norman R. Emerson, Fine Arts Consultant

SUBJECT: 
Assemblies by Artistic Resources for Teachers and Students, Inc. (ARTS, Inc.)


ARTS, Inc., now in its fifty-sixth year of operation, was founded in 1961 and has provided performances in all forty-one school districts in Utah, reaching more than 250 schools each year with professional arts and education programming.  We welcome their artists in our schools again for the 2017-18 school year.

Click this link to find:

  • The assembly schedule with the date and time the artists will be at your school.
  • The contact information for the performing group coming to your school.

The artists have been instructed to contact you at least two weeks prior to their assembly to verify starting times and specific needs for their performance.  If the date selected for the music group to perform at your school does not work with your schedule, please contact the music group as soon as possible to reschedule.  The name and phone number of the contact person for each group has been provided.

If you have any questions, please contact Norman Emerson at 801-567-8364.

 

DATE:
July 1, 2017

TO:    
Principals
Head/Financial Secretaries
Special Education Teachers (Resource and Cluster)
Speech-Language Pathologists

FROM:  
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curric./Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director of Special Education
Julie Brown, Program Specialist

SUBJECT:  
Special Education Budget Allocations 2017-18


See attached memo and budget guidelines.

JPLS Reminder:

Administrators, please remind all administrative assistants to not create default accounts for new teachers on JPLS.  New teacher accounts are created on JPLS within a week of HR updating information on Skyward. If you have questions please contact the JES office at (801) 5f67-8239 or (801) 567-8369. Thank you.

In compliance with our Employee Immunization policy (DP377) and State Health Regulation #38 (attached), many schools have arranged for Community Nursing Services (CNS) to come to their schools to provide immunizations for their staff. Attached is a list of dates, locations, and times for employee immunization clinics in our district. You may attend a clinic at a location other than your own.

If you are planning to attend, please bring your insurance card with you. You may want to bring proof of immunizations that you have already received, as well. CNS will enter them into the State website for you. These are not immunization clinics for students. If you have questions, contact Educational Support Services for additional information.

The solar eclipse is an incredible event that many may want to witness. However, because of the dangers involved in viewing it, we have secured guidelines from the National School Nurse Association and from State Risk Management. If you, your classes, or your families plan to view the eclipse, please read and share the information in the two attached documents.

DATE:  
July 15, 2017

TO:    
All Principals
Elementary Administrative Assistants
Registrars
Attendance Secretaries

FROM:   
Administrators of Schools
Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Planning and Student Services

SUBJECT:  
Enrollment 2017-18


This memo is a reminder of the issues you may face when enrolling students for the upcoming school year.  This should help when assisting patrons in enrollment.

Kindergarten:  The student must be at least 5 years of age on or before September 1,

2017 to enroll in Kindergarten.  Utah State Law 53A-3-402 which states: (6) Except as provided in Section 53A-1-1001, a board may enroll children in school who are at least five years of age before September 2 of the year in which admission is sought.  Active military children are an exception.

Legal Guardians:  Please make sure the child is enrolling with their Legal Guardian.  Check the birth certificate and Identification to make sure the enrolling adult belongs to the enrolling child.  If they are not their legal guardian, either a Durable Power of Attorney needs to accompany the paperwork or legal guardianship through the courts.

Custodial Parents:  Please make sure you obtain legal documentation (signed by a judge) in divorce situations when necessary.  The Court orders parents’ behavior in their enrollment decisions, not schools.

Foreign Exchange:  Students coming from other countries without a legal guardian need to be referred to the Planning & Student Services Department for enrollment.

Please be consistent in your enrollment process with all students.  Ask questions to determine individual situations, show patience and understanding and contact Planning & Student Services for any issues you may need help in resolving.  We know this is a busy time for you and we are here ready to help with individual situations.