Skip to content

Category: Elementary Info

Published on

DATE: 
February 26, 2025

TO:  
All Administrators

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

SUBJECT:   
Employee Wellness Booster PD offering on March 14, 2025

On March 14, 2025 the Wellness Team will be hosting a “Wellness Booster” professional development workshop is open to ALL employees on PD Day. Participants will be eligible for professional development credit.

This workshop will be held at Juniper Elementary, in the Tech Atrium, from 1:30-3:00 pm.

In honor of Pie Day (3.14), we will be teaching skills for PIE: Presence, Inner Awareness, and Emotion Regulation. The strategies taught are for employees to use in their personal and professional life. All employee types are invited to this hands-on wellness learning experience focused on cultivating one’s skills. PD credit and dessert pie will be offered!

Please share the attached flyer. A link is on the flyer to register for this PD.

 

Published on

DATE:   
February 26, 2025

TO:   
All Administrators

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

SUBJECT:
Tier One SEW Curriculum Funds Available!

Our District has been awarded State Prevention Block Grant funds to implement prevention best practices. This award includes $2000 per school for tier one, evidence-based social and emotional wellness (SEW) curriculum implementation for the 2025-26 school year. For information about current curriculum options, concerns regarding curriculum use, or other curriculum questions please reach out to Jodee Packer (jodee.packer@jordandistrict.org).

Each school’s selected SEW curriculum implementation must also be included in each school’s annually updated prevention plan (instructions for this are in the Prevention Plan Update JAM).

To access these funds, school principals must complete this form by March 28th, 2025. Unclaimed funds will be re-distributed to schools that were awarded funds and the total award amount may exceed $2,000 per school after re-distribution. For each school that is awarded funds a new budget code will be created and shared with the school to post the allowable expense. Schools will coordinate the purchase of the curriculum directly with curriculum vendors, including covering any additional costs using other school budgets.

As evidence-based prevention practices are implemented school-wide, schools utilizing grant funds will be expected to schedule a 1-hour professional development with the Wellness Team titled “Fewer Tears, More Tier One.” This professional development is meant for the whole school staff and can occur any time prior to the end of the first quarter (October 17, 2025). This can be during PLC’s, staff meetings, August PD days, or other professional development time at your school’s convenience.

Please note, it is not required that all schools utilize these funds.

For questions, email wellness@jordandistrict.org or contact McKinley Withers (mckinley.withers@jordandistrict.org, extension 88245)

Published on

TO:
Elementary Administrators
2nd Grade Elementary Teachers

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Michelle Lovell, Elementary Language Arts Consultant

There have been some updates in Module 3 of Wit & Wisdom for second-grade. Please see below for details.

2nd Grade Wit & Wisdom Module 3 Options
Wit & Wisdom offers an optional version of 2nd grade Module 3 with revised narrative writing craft instruction.

  • Changes were made to Focusing Question arcs 3, 4, 5, and the End-of-Module task. The content for the modules is the same. It's only the craft (writing) instruction that has changed.
  • Great Minds has provided a Revised Narrative Instruction One-Pager and Crosswalk.
  • The optional module teacher manual is only available digitally.
  • Jordan District will provide resources for both versions on the W&W Toolkit, and Great Minds has digital resources for both.
  • Second grade teachers are encouraged to choose which option works best for their students. To enable collaboration, school teams should choose the same option.

Here is a brief comparison of the two versions:

Original Version Optional Version
  • Digital or print Teacher Edition
  • All student handouts are in paper student books and on district W&W Toolkit.
  • Print assessments (district W&W Toolkit)
  • FQ Tasks 3, 4, 5 and EOM:  narrative writing from first-person perspective of Ruby Bridges or Sylvia Mendez
  • Digital Teacher Edition
  • Will need to print some student handouts (available on the district W&W Toolkit)
  • Print assessments (district W&W Toolkit)
  • FQ Tasks 3, 4, 5 and EOM: autobiographical narrative writing about students' own educational experience.

Screenshots of the affected writing assessments are included in the document below.

Published on

TO:
Administrators
Directors

FROM:
Carolyn Gough Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Chris Richards-Khong, Associate Administrator of Teaching and Learning

The Education Tribute Award is a prestigious honor presented annually by the state-wide program ResilientYOU. Each year education organizations and individuals are selected based upon their exemplary efforts in building student resilience in their schools, homes and communities. The Education Tribute Award nominations need to be completed online no later than Friday, March 14, 2025.

Find the nomination form HERE

Nomination categories include:
High School
Middle School
Elementary School
Administrator
Secondary School Teacher
Elementary School Teacher
Wellness Professional
Parenting Organization

*School nominations are for school-wide programs and efforts. Please don't feature individuals if you are nominating their school.

Published on

DATE:
 February 19, 2025 

TO:
 All Principals 

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

SUBJECT:
 Professional Development Opportunities for March, April, and May

See the attached memo for a listing of all the professional development opportunities for Special Education Licensed Staff for March, April, and May.  A link to sign up for each training will be sent to all Special Education Licensed Staff Members.

Published on

TO:
All Licensed Educators

FROM:
Ami Shah, Jordan Native American Program

Jordan Native Program invites you to attend a PD on 'Exploring Native American History: Lessons Beyond Textbooks' by Darren Parry, on March 27th, from 4-5:30 PM, at JATC South.

Darren Parry is the former Chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. Darren serves on the Board of Directors for Utah Humanities and the PBS Utah. He attended the University of Utah and Weber State University and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Education. In 2024, he received an Honorary PhD in Education from Utah State University. Darren is the author of “The Bear River Massacre, A Shoshone History” and teaches in the Environmental Humanities department at the University of Utah. He lectures around the country on Native American issues surrounding history and Indigenous views related to sustainability.

Link to register

Published on

TO:
Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Jared Covili, Consultant in Teaching & Learning

Administrators, please share this information with your teachers.

Many of your teachers are pursuing a STEM endorsement (see our EIP website for a full list of endorsements). USBE WILL REIMBURSE THEM FOR THEIR COLLEGE CLASSES! This is called the STEM Endorsement Incentive Program (EIP) and it has been funded again for the 2024-25 school year. See the attached flyer and link to our EIP website for more information.

Applications for reimbursement are now being accepted for teachers who completed STEM courses after June 1, 2024. The next round of reimbursement applications is due February 27, 2025, for teachers who completed STEM courses in Fall/Winter 2024.

If you have any questions, please reach out to the content consultant. We would love to talk to you!

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
Jason Skidmore, Director of CTE

The CTE Work Based Learning team has been tasked with helping students discover and explore careers at an earlier age. In response, we have created nine 30-minute Career Exploration lessons that coincide with the CTE Career Spotlight posters located near each elementary school's lunch room.

Each lesson plan includes a slide deck with videos for class discussion and an activity that can be presented by school counselors, teachers, or aides during rotations. Lessons can be accessed at cte.jordandistrict.org under the Educators tab and will be updated each year with additional careers. Please reach out to jennifer.price2@jordandistirct.org if you need help with implementing these lessons or with career readiness activities at the elementary level, we are happy to help.

Published on

DATE:
February 20, 2025

TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals
McKinney Vento Aides

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Sharon Jensen, Consultant, Student Support Services

SUBJECT:
McKinney Vento Aides- Spring Training

McKinney Vento Spring Training will be held on Monday, March 3, from 10:00 am-11:30 am in the ASB Presentation Room, Entrance C.

Please remind your McKinney Vento aides about this required training. Assistant Principals, interns, & administrators are welcome but not required to attend. Please coordinate with your team on meeting attendance.

Published on

TO:
Building Principals

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Scott Festin, Planning Consultant, Planning & Enrollment
Caleb Olson, Consultant, Planning & Enrollment

See the 2025-26 FTE Authorization and Enrollment Forecast by grade for all schools using the link.

 

Published on

TO:
Elementary Principals
Elementary Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Michelle Love-Day, Director of Language & Culture Services

We are assisting schools with interpreters. For schools not listed on the form, please reach out to lisa.stonedejimenez@jordandistrict.org to request an interpreter for parent/teacher conferences. We encourage you to reach out to the Latinos in Action students for assistance. Please use this LINK to view your school's services:

If you have an ESP that can help out, we can timesheet them and pay them from our office. Please contact Nicole Woodburn by Feb. 14th, prior to the conferences. We just need to know their names and be pre approved. If we do not have their name, they cannot be paid.

Published on

TO:
Elementary Principals

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Amanda Bollinger, Associate Administrator, Teaching & Learning
Todd Theobald,  Special Projects, Teaching and Learning

Elementary Principals,

Due to the scheduling conflict with the BYU CITES Instructional Leadership Conference, the March 21st Elementary Principal PLC has been rescheduled to March 28th. Please notify your instructional coach(es) that this meeting has been rescheduled and mark your calendars to reflect this change:

Elementary Principal PLC - UPDATE SCHEDULE
DATE: March 28th
TIME: 8:30-11:30 a.m.
PLACE: ASB Auditorium

Published on

DATE: 
Thursday, February 13, 2025

TO:  
Elementary School Administrators

FROM: 
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
MOY Acadience Reading and 6th Grade CogAT Tableau Dashboards Updated with Latest Results

MOY Acadience Reading and the 2024-25 6th grade CogAT results are now available in Tableau viewer accounts. Elementary school administrators may access the MOY Acadience Reading dashboard here and the CogAT dashboards here. Results are available at both the district and school level. School administrators may also filter the data by student groups (economically disadvantaged, ML, race/ethnicity, and students with a disability). Both dashboards also contain results for individual students.

Please contact Ben Jameson in Assessment, Research & Accountability with questions about these dashboards.

Published on

DATE:
February 10, 2025

TO:
School Psychologists & School Psychology Interns

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Fulvia Franco, Consultant– Guidance

SUBJECT:
February School Psychologists & School Psychology Interns Meeting

A meeting for school psychologists and school psychology interns has been scheduled for Friday, February 28, 2025, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Auxiliary Services Building Auditorium (7905 South Redwood Road). Kristina Feldman, Ph.D., Neurodiverse Psychological Services, will provide us with a presentation on ideas and resources to consider with neurodiverse populations. In addition, Kayleigh Brennan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah, will provide us with training on the WAIS-5.

Part-time Staff: I would appreciate it if you could adjust your schedules in order to attend this meeting.

cc:
Principals

Published on

TO:
Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Jared Covili, Consultant in Teaching & Learning

Check out the links below for the latest updates from Teaching & Learning for February. Learn Tips and Tricks, Sign Up for Upcoming PD, and Learn about Important Updates from the T & L team.

Published on

TO:
All Administrators
Administrative Assistants

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

Attached is the Special Ed Newsletter for February 2025.

Published on

DATE:     
January 28, 2025

TO:   
All Principals

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

SUBJECT:   
IEP Notes on Embrace

We are implementing a change in the process for handling Special Education meeting notes.

We encourage you to use the new Embrace Notes starting now, however, the PDF notes on the Forms page will still be available until March 1st. The PDF notes on the Forms page will no longer be available after March 1st. This adjustment aims to simplify our workflow and enhance accessibility to meeting notes.

You can access Embrace through the Google App Launcher. The document is named, “IEP Meeting Notes and Summary”. See the link below for a detailed guide to accessing the Embrace IEP Meeting Notes and Summary document.

If you encounter any access issues, or have questions, please reach out to Brenda Cruz at 801-567-8145, brenda.cruz@jordandistrict.org.

Embrace Notes Guide.pdf

 

Published on

DATE:   
February 3, 2025

TO:        
All Principals

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

SUBJECT:
SCSC Transitioning Meeting for Elementary to Middle School and Middle to High School

To support the transition of students to their new Self-Contained Support Classroom (SCSC), the Special Education Department is providing an opportunity for SCSC teachers to meet with the teachers or team leads of the new SCSC setting for their students.

The transition meetings:

  • Elementary to Middle School will be on February 28, 2025, from 9:00 - 11:00 am through Zoom.
  • Middle to High School will be on February 21, 2025, from 8:00 - 10:00 am through Zoom.

The schedule and transition paperwork that needs to be filled out for each student transitioning to a new SCSC school have been emailed to all teachers.

Please contact your teacher specialist if you have any questions.