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Category: Elementary Info

Published on

TO:
Elementary Administrators
Elementary Administrative Assistants

FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources
Brent Burge, Assistant Director, Human Resources

With the implementation of the new Rotation Assistant (RA) position in elementary schools for the 2026-2027 school year, the following information outlines the requirements and the process to move or hire employees who are teaching a rotation for STEM, PE, Fine Arts, etc.

Requirements

    1. RAs must be paid for through a school budget only.  “0050” may not be used.
    2. The maximum number of hours per week is 25.
    3. The RA assignment may only be used for STEM, PE, and Fine Arts.  Media or other assistants do not qualify for the RA assignment.
    4. To qualify for an RA assignment, the employee must meet the following qualifications:
      1. Requires one (1) year of experience working in a classroom setting; AND
      2. Must be “highly qualified-HQ” which includes one of the following:
        1. An Associate’s degree; or
        2. 48 semester hours from an accredited college; or
        3. Passed the ParaPro assessment ($80); or
        4. Project Para Title I ($15)

For information about becoming highly qualified, click here.

5. RAs are hired at lane three (3) unless they are a current or former licensed teacher.  The non-licensed RA may be eligible to advance to lane four (4) upon completion of one year as an RA and upon completion of a training program provided by Teaching and Learning.  Upon completion of the requirements, submit the Rotation Assistant salary change form to Teaching and Learning.

Procedures

  1. For current classroom assistants who taught a rotation in 2025-26, the school must submit a change form in Qmlativ to modify the employee(s) title, budget, FTE, etc.  You must include the subject they are teaching in the notes.  These employees will be allowed to continue, even if they do not meet the HQ status.
  2. If you are interested in moving a current part-time employee at your school into an RA position, you must first ensure they meet the HQ requirements.  The school will need to submit a change form in Qmlativ. Please note: If the employee does not meet the HQ standard, the employee will not be eligible to be hired, and the change form will be denied.
  3. To hire someone from outside your school into an available position for which they qualify, the school will need to submit a requisition in Frontline to post.  Please use the Rotation Assistant template.   The school will need to conduct interviews and references.  Before a hire sheet is submitted in Frontline, you must verify that they meet the HQ requirements.

If you have any questions on the process, please contact Human Resources.  For questions about the training, please contact Teaching and Learning.

Published on

TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals
Instructional Coaches
Kindergarten Teachers

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Michelle Lovell, Literacy Consultant
Mandy Thurman, Literacy Consultant

The following letter, as well as the attached Planet Kindergarten Newsletter, will be sent to all kindergarten teachers this week. Please celebrate them with us.

Dear (Kindergarten Teacher),

As a literacy team, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks for your incredible work this year. We recognize that it was a year filled with new challenges: quarterly goals, new curriculum, learning Mastery Connect, and new voluntary professional development opportunities. You not only stepped up to the plate, but you truly hit it out of the park!

Hundreds of teachers and coaches attended each session of the Planet Kindergarten PDs. We know this required sacrifice of your time and energy, but your extra effort in Tier 1 instruction, small groups, and data tracking has made a real difference. Thanks to your dedication, we have more proficient kindergartners in literacy skills moving on to first grade than ever before!

Please know how grateful we are for everything you’ve done. As you begin planning for next year, don’t hesitate to reach out for any support you need.

If you'd like a refresher of Letter Launch or dive deeper with the Letter Launch Workshop, we'd love to see you there.

Wishing you a wonderful summer filled with well-deserved rest and relaxation.

Thank you for changing the lives of students in Jordan District!

Published on

DATE:
June 8, 2026

TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals
School Safety Specialists

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Matt Alvernaz, School Safety Coordinator

SUBJECT:
2026-27 Monthly Drill Schedule

This schedule is designed so that our district will remain in compliance with state regulations.  The design is set up so the district can help prepare and support each of your schools throughout the year to better implement these drills.  This schedule is to be followed throughout the district.

Secondary schools are required FOUR (4) evacuations a year.  You may do more if desired.

Elementary schools are required to conduct an evacuation EVERY OTHER MONTH.  These evacuations can follow any drill and DO NOT have to be in conjunction with a fire drill.  Due to this regulation and the mandated fire drill after winter break, an evacuation drill will need to be conducted in both December and January in order to remain in compliance.  This only applies to elementary schools.

Three virtual drill preparation trainings will be held back-to-back on the first Wednesday of each month at 2:40, 3:10 PM, and again at 3:30 PM.  The ZOOM LINK will remain the same for each session throughout the year.  School Safety Specialists are expected to attend.  Other administrators or interested employees are always welcome as well.

MONTH DRILL TYPE NOTES
August Fire First 10 days of school
September Secure
October Lockdown Evacuation required for elementary schools
November Shelter
December Hold Evacuation required for elementary schools
January Fire First 10 days of school after winter break
February Secure
March Lockdown Evacuation required for elementary schools
April Earthquake Great Shakeout. Evacuation is optional
May Drill of Choice Choose whichever drill is appropriate for your school

If there are any questions, concerns, or conflicts, please contact the District Safety Coordinator Matt Alvernaz at matt.alvernaz@jordandistrict.org or by phone at (801) 567-8623.

Published on

TO:
Elementary Principals

FROM:
Odette Desmarais, Administrator of Schools
Meredith Doleac, Administrator of Schools
Becky Gerber, Administrator of Schools
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools

The Board of Education has approved an allocation of 16 days of substitute support (per school, per year) to provide classroom coverage when part-time assistants, who are designated as rotation assistants, are absent.

Human Resources will provide additional information and instructions regarding the process for requesting these substitutes at a later date.

Published on

TO:
All Administrators and All Financial Administrative Assistants

FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Dan Ellis, Director of Accounting
Bonnie Brennan, Director of Insurance Services

For fiscal year 2027 the insurance composite rate will be increasing to $17,652 annually or $1,471 per month. This rate represents the District’s portion of medical and life insurance premiums for an individual employee. Please ensure you are using this amount when forecasting personnel budget costs for next year.

Additionally, for fiscal year 2027 the industrial insurance rate will be increasing to 0.2%.

If you have questions or need assistance, please call Dan Ellis at (801) 567-8389.

Thank you.

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
David Bowman Assistant Director of Systems and Security

The district-wide student YouTube block will be put in place, discontinuing direct student access to YouTube from their Chromebooks beginning August 18, 2026. This change applies only to student accounts.

As announced in the November Principal Meeting, principals continue to have the option to block students from accessing YouTube sooner. If you would like to have YouTube disabled before August 18th, please contact David Bowman in Information Systems.

Teachers will continue to have access to YouTube and may use instructional video content with students through MyVideoSpot. MyVideoSpot allows teachers to import videos from YouTube and other sources, create custom video links, remove advertisements, and select specific start and end points for classroom use. These videos can then be easily shared with students through Canvas, Nearpod, Google Slides, and other instructional tools.

Training and support resources are available through Digital Teaching and Learning.

To access additional training information, please see the JAM below:

https://jam.jordandistrict.org/2025/11/20/myvideospot-for-student-youtube-access/

Published on

DATE:
June 4, 2026 

TO:
All Principals and Administrative Assistants 

FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources  

SUBJECT:
Summer Hours for School Personnel

The District Administration appreciates and values the relationships you have established  with the patrons in your communities and we believe it is critical that school personnel remain  accessible to the public throughout the year. We also understand that elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools may be without or with fewer students during the months of  June, July, and August. 

Please review the schedule of Summer Hours for School Personnel below, with all  designated summer school personnel at your location. Extended school office/business hours are acceptable; however, other adjusted schedules are NOT acceptable because they limit public access to school personnel. 

If the principal is the only staff member in the building, please place a sign on the door with a telephone number to reach someone inside the building who can unlock the door. If no one is in the building on a particular day, please inform your Administrator of Schools and post a sign on the door indicating the next time the office will be open. 

Elementary Schools
Administrative Assistant 10-month Contract
Principal/Asst. Principal 12-month Contract
Office Hours 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., weekdays (except holidays),  June and August 

Middle Schools
Administrative Assistant 12-month Contract (Funding for vacation/office coverage is allotted)
Principal/Asst. Principal 12-month Contract
Office Hours 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., weekdays, except holidays,  June, July, and August 

High Schools
Administrative Assistant, Registrar – 12 month Contracts  (Funding for vacation/office coverage is allotted)
Attendance, Clerk & Counseling Assistants – 10 month Contracts
Principal/Asst. Principal 12-month Contract
Office Hours 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., weekdays, except holidays,  June, July, and August 

Thank you for your assistance with this important matter.

Published on

DATE:
June 4, 2026

TO:
School Principals
Directors

FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
April Gaydosh, Administrator, Human Resources
Brent Burge, Associate Director, Human Resources

SUBJECT:
Shift Differential Update

As part of JESPA negotiations for the 2026-2027 contract year, the shift differential was increased effective July 1, 2026 as follows:

Swing Shift – The employee’s shift must begin between 12:00 p.m. (noon) and 10:00 p.m.  The employee must work a full eight hours. The additional rate of pay is $0.65 per hour.

Graveyard Shift – The employee’s shift must begin between 10:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m.  The employee must work a full eight hours.  The additional rate of pay is $1.30 per hour. 

Only ESP, benefit-eligible employees are eligible for shift differential.  Please follow the current process to submit for shift differential pay. 

 

Published on

DATE: 
June 4, 2026

TO:
All School Administrators 

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness

SUBJECT:
FREE Mental Health Education for Parents and Caregivers

Jordan District has partnered with the Cook Center for Human Connection to provide ongoing mental health education for parents and caregivers. This collaboration offers FREE access to live, virtual educational sessions covering various topics. Included are the resources for ALL summer months. Please share the following resources with your school community: 

  • Mental Health Series
    • June Mental Health Series: Sessions are offered in both English and Spanish. 
    • July Mental Health Series: Sessions are offered in both English and Spanish. 
    • August Mental Health Series: Sessions are offered in both English and Spanish. 
    • Previously recorded seminars can be accessed through a comprehensive library of sessions and resources for each topic. You can access the library of recorded sessions at any time by visiting this site: https://parentguidance.org/mhsindex. 
  • Included in the mental health series is a "Watch Together Series" for families. While the Mental Health Series is designed for parents, these “Watch Together” events are for the whole family, especially teens and young adults.
    • June Event: Conversations About Consent - Are You Listening?
      • Wednesday, June 17th at 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm MST  REGISTER NOW
    • No July Event
    • August Event: Body Positivity - Kaia & Vince
      • Wednesday, August 12th at 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm MST  REGISTER NOW

Please share the attached flyers/resources with your school communities. Should you have any questions please reach out to Angie Rasmussen at angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org.

Published on

DATE:
June 4, 2026

TO:
All School Administrators 

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness

SUBJECT:
Bark Summer Content Monitoring

During the summer months, from June 5th until August 10th, Bark content monitoring and notifications will have some temporary changes.

  • Notifications to schools will only include administration and not counseling or mental health professionals. This allows for 12-month employees to still receive notifications and not those who are off contract. In case there are administrators that are out of the office, the notifications will go to the entire team of administrators at each school. 
  • Notifications that are not considered emergencies or urgent will not be sent after 2pm to ensure that intervention is reasonable and timely for school personnel.
  • Content monitoring will be checked twice per week, in June, while school is not in session, and once per week, in July.  Notifications will be sent to administrators on those days before 2pm. 
  • We will continue to receive imminent alerts and will continue to work with administrators when immediate intervention is required.

Should you have any questions please reach out to Angie Rasmussen at angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org.

Published on

TO:
Principals

FROM:
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Brian King, Assistant Director of Special Education
Mike Trimmell, Special Education Administrator

Jordan School District Special Education Summer Conference 2026

The Special Education Summer Conference for the 2026-27 school year will be held on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, at West Jordan Middle School. Check-in begins at 7:30 am and the conference begins at 8:00 am. Attendees will receive a $200 stipend, and lunch will be provided. Administrators are also welcome to attend. There will be sessions specifically for Administrators throughout the day.

All Certified/Licensed Special Education staff and school administrators are invited to attend. Please register through PD Catalog by July 31st.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your teacher specialist.

Published on

TO:
Elementary Principals

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning

We have secured one-time funding to purchase K–3 literacy software licenses for summer 2026 and the 2026–27 school year.

Please note an update to the announcement made at the May principals meeting: these licenses may be used in the classroom during the 2026–27 school year, rather than being restricted to home use. Classroom implementation will align with the STEM Action Center grants for math software licenses for the 2026-2027 school year.

License Distribution & Next Steps

  • Existing Requests: If you submitted a Google request form, you will receive the number of licenses you indicated.
  • New Requests: If you did not originally request licenses but would now like them for classroom use, we will provide them based on availability.

To request remaining licenses, please contact Brittney Eldredge at 801-567-8161.

Published on

TO:
Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Director of Teaching and Learning
Jared Covili, Consultant Digital Teaching and Learning

Please join USBE and Google for Education for a series of webinars to help K12 and higher education leaders explore how to deploy AI in safe, effective, and practical ways. These sessions are free and open to all Utah education leaders.

Week of July 13th
AI on Campus - A Practical Guide to Integrity, Policy, and Career Readiness

Week of July 20th
Gemini for Your Campus: A Technical Guide to Deployment and Security

Week of July 27th
The Google AI-Powered Researcher: From Grant Proposal to Final Draft
Inclusive by Design: Using Google AI to Enhance Accessibility and UDL

Week of August 3rd
Gemini for Your Campus: A Technical Guide to Deployment and Security

Week of August 10th
Meet a Google Engineer: Q & A

More information including invites and links to be sent two weeks ahead of the first session. Register in the form at the following link: AI in Education: Leadership Training Series Registration.

Published on

TO:
Administrators
ELD Leads
Staff

FROM:
Mike Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Michelle Love-Day, Director and Language Teacher Specialists

Language and Culture Services wants to make sure you have all of the information at hand to share with your families on WIDA data. In accordance with Title III compliance, we want to ensure the steps are followed to send home the score reports and notification letters. In the document here, you will find those steps along with guidance on compliance and comparing growth data. We also know that many of you will be celebrating the success with your students that have reached proficiency in WIDA. We have added a final tab to have some language that you can use so that everyone, including the ML learner, knows the importance of this test. We would love to attend any of those celebrations, so please let your language teacher specialist and director know. Thank you for all of your hard work this year and being a superhero for our super amazing multilingual students!

Document link here

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning

Now Available! JSD Portrait of a Graduate Proficiency Scales

Based on the district’s strategic plan, Jordan District teacher teams have now completed proficiency scales for Portrait of a Graduate characteristics by grade bands. 

To access the Portrait of a Graduate characteristics and accompanying scales along with resources for planning, instruction, assessment, and feedback, enroll in the new JSD Portrait of a Graduate Proficiency Scales Canvas course.

Key Details:

  • Ongoing Updates: Additional resources will be added directly to the Canvas course.
  • Feedback: A link is embedded in the course for submitting questions, commentary, or resource suggestions.

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning

Now Available! JSD Content Proficiency Scales

Together, district teacher teams and Teaching & Learning have developed power standards and corresponding proficiency scales for Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, PE, Health, and Music (with more subjects coming soon). These scales serve as exemplars and anchors for grade-level expectations, ensuring Level 3 indicators align precisely with the depth and rigor of the Utah Core Standards.

To access the standards, scales, and integration resources for planning, instruction, assessment, and feedback, enroll in the new JSD Content Proficiency Scales Canvas course.

Key Details:

  • Ongoing Updates: Additional resources will be added directly to the Canvas course.
  • Feedback: A link is embedded in the course for submitting questions, commentary, or resource suggestions.
  • More Info: Please review the Canvas homepage for additional details.

⚠️ Important Note on Math Standards: The State Board of Education (USBE) is currently reviewing math standards and is expected to release updates soon. Consequently, the development of math power standards and proficiency scales is paused until those official updates are released.

Published on

TO:
All Principals
All Assistant Principals

FROM:
Administrators of Schools

Please share the attached flyer with the future school leaders in your building.

The BYU School Leadership Program invites educators to learn from current school, district, state, and university leaders about becoming a principal. The Academy is a great way to get a taste of school leadership and learn best practices for applying to principal preparation programs and future leadership positions. The district will cover the cost of your substitute teacher, and BYU will award a $1,000 scholarship to any participants who are accepted to and attend BYU’s Masters of School Leadership Program.

APPLY BY AUGUST 28, 2026.