Category: Elementary Info

DATE:
April 24, 2025

TO:
Elementary Principals
Head Administrative Assistants

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

SUBJECT:
Elementary Administrative Assistants Trade Days and Summer Hours

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Elementary administrative assistants are calendared to work 206 days in a school year, including 5 days in which students and teachers are not in the building. These days generally occur the Friday after parent-teacher conferences (2) and on grade transmittal days (3). The PTC days can already be traded for the Friday compensation day if the administrative assistant works both evenings of the PTC. They are also allowed to be paid for up to 10 additional optional days during the summer months, which are not included in their 206-day contract. These days are intended to provide additional pay for them to keep up with work, such as student enrollments, over the summer.

Beginning immediately, greater flexibility may be provided to Elementary administrative assistants by:

• Trading up to 5 non-student/teacher work days during the school year to work in the summer months, and/or
• Converting up to 5 optional summer days into pool hours for office assistants to work additional hours from July 2025 to June 2026.

Option 1
Elementary administrative assistants may choose to trade up to 5 contracted days (three grade transmittal and two PTC compensation days) to use as additional work days the following summer. This could provide up to 15 additional work days in the summer.

Option 2
Elementary administrative assistants may choose to convert up to (5) five of their optional summer days into additional pool hours for their office assistants to work July 2025 - June 2026. For every full day that is not used as an additional day by the administrative assistant, 10 hours will be added to the pool hours to be used by the office assistants to work from July 2025 to June 2026.

Option 3
Elementary administrative assistants may choose to do a combination of options 1 and 2, not to exceed 5 trade days in the school year and not to exceed 5 converted pool hour days to use for office assistants.

Tracking
For Option 1 - Administrative assistants will have an option in the Skyward Time Off System to log the grade transmittal day as a “Trade Time - Days” with the reason code “Trade Time Day Taken Off” for building principals to approve. When they work the day in the summer, they will need to log it in the Skyward Time Off System as a “Trade Time - Days” with the reason code “Trade Time Day Worked”. This information will also need to be documented on the Pool Hours spreadsheet.

For Option 2 - A Google form will be available in the checkout materials to declare the number of optional days that will be converted to pool hours for the upcoming school year. These hours will then be documented and tracked in the Pool Hours spreadsheet by the district AOS administrative assistants.

A Google form will be distributed as part of Principal Checkout. Building principals will need to approve these converted days on the Google form and submit it as part of the checkout process.

DATE:  
April 17, 2025

TO:      
Elementary Principals

FROM: 
Carolyn Gough, Administrator, Teaching & Learning
Norman Emerson, Instructional Support Services Consultant

SUBJECT:
Elementary Media Assistants Guidelines

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As part of our ongoing effort to enhance library services and support the District’s goals, guidelines for the work of elementary library assistants are provided below. They are designed to ensure a consistent and effective library experience for all students and staff across our district.

The primary responsibility of elementary school media assistants is administering the school library. The entire 17-hour weekly allocation is typically needed for this. As a result, additional duties outside the library should generally not be assigned.

Please adhere to the following guidelines:

• Please consult with the library media assistants as you plan the master schedule and assign class library times for the school year.
• The schedule should include adequate time for assistants to prepare for classes of varying grade levels and complete tasks such as shelving books.
• An open checkout time for students to independently come into the library to exchange books should be provided.
• To ensure adequate supervision, please avoid combining classes for assigned library times.
• Library assistants should be provided three overlapping hours each week to collaboratively plan and work on book promotions, displays, curriculum scheduling, lessons, and district projects.
• Assistants should be given at least one week at the beginning of the school year to prepare the library for class visits. Two weeks are needed for shelving, cleaning, inventories, and record maintenance to prepare the library for closure at the end of the school year.

If assistants work beyond 17 hours per week, the additional time must be pre-approved by the principal and funded using school-based budgets.

Assistants scheduled to work over five hours in a single day are entitled to a 30-minute duty-free lunch break, which is not counted as part of the 17-hour paid schedule.

Four training meetings are held each year. Please work with your school’s assistants to make arrangements so both can attend each two-hour meeting.

Please contact Norman Emerson at 801-567-8364 if you have any questions about these guidelines.

DATE:
April 17, 2025

TO:
Elementary Principals with Self-Contained Support Classrooms

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:
2025 Elementary Unified Sports Day

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Unified Sports Day will be held over two days this school year (May 28 & May 29). 

Location: Riverton High School

Time: 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 

May 28, 2025 - Daybreak, Eastlake, Mountain Shadows, River’s Edge, Rocky Peak Virtual, Rose Creek, South Jordan, Terra Linda

May 29, 2025 - Antelope Canyon, Golden Fields, Heartland, Kauri Sue Hamilton School, Monte Vista, Mountain Point, Riverton, Riverside

This memo is for your information. Your self-contained support classroom teachers will handle the organization of the event for your school (as has been done in years past). The following documents will be sent to your self contained support classroom teachers in preparation for the events. 

Sports Day Information 

Permission slips: May 28th

Permission Slips: May 29th

Sample letter for the general education peer

For questions about Unified Sports Day, please contact Ashley Calhoun at (801) 567-8208 or ashley.calhoun@jordandistrict.org

 

DATE:    
Thursday, April 17, 2025

TO:  
Elementary School Administrators
Norm Emerson, Fine Arts Consultant

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

SUBJECT:  
Research Project

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The Research Review Committee has reviewed a research project in which your school has been asked to participate.

Project Title: Best Practices for Elementary Fine Arts Specialists

Applicant: Rachel L. Wadham, Brigham Young University

The project has been approved by the District Research Review Committee. The applicant has been directed to contact you to discuss the extent of the project and to solicit your participation in a survey. Participation in the study is at your discretion. If you have questions or concerns relating to participation, please contact Ben Jameson at 801-567-8243.

A survey will be distributed to elementary arts specialists and art teachers to discover best practices for instruction and classroom management in the fine arts classroom.

Thank you for your assistance.

 

DATE:
April 1, 2025

TO:
Elementary Teachers, Coaches and Administrators

FROM:
Teaching & Learning

SUBJECT:
Wit & Wisdom Round Table Discussion

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Due to popular demand, the Teaching & Learning department will host a second Wit & Wisdom Round Table opportunity on April 18, 2025 from 1:30-3:30 at the JATC South located at 12723 Park Avenue in Riverton. A panel of teachers from each grade level will share how they are making Wit & Wisdom work in their classrooms and how they are finding success with their students. Teachers attending this session will receive a stipend of 150.00. Teachers who were not able to attend the round table on March 14, 2025 will be given first priority. Registration is required and is available at pd.jordandistrict.org.

DATE:
March 27, 2025

TO:
Elementary Principals

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

SUBJECT:
Updated Requirements for the Use of Inflatables at PTA-Sponsored School Events

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Utah State Risk Management's Liability Policy now excludes bounce houses and related items. Specifically, the policy states: "No coverage under this coverage agreement shall apply to any bodily injury resulting from the use of any recreational inflatable or trampoline except when the use of a trampoline is supervised by a trained instructor as part of the covered entity’s designated programs."

As the school administrator, if your PTA chooses to include inflatables as part of a PTA-sponsored event at your school, you are required to provide documentation of the following items prior to your PTA representative signing a contract. If you already have contracts in place for this school year (2024-2025), you will need to provide this documentation 15 days prior to the scheduled event.

The PTA must contract with a private vendor and provide current documentation of the following from the contracted vendor:

• A current business license 
• A current insurance policy that includes ALL of the following:
  • A current certificate of insurance with a minimum coverage of $1,000,000 per person and $3,000,000 aggregate in relation to a single occurrence.
  • The certificate of insurance listed above must list Jordan School District as an additional insured entity on the policy.
• A written verification from the contracted vendor that they and/or their employees will set up and run the inflatable equipment for the entire event. Your school employees and volunteers cannot run the inflatable equipment at any time during the event. Your employees and volunteers may not be covered for accidents that occur.

Your PTA may choose to purchase an additional liability policy for this event to provide additional coverage in the event of an accident.

All documentation listed above must be sent to the Elementary Administrator of Schools Office prior to signing an event contract or at least 15 days prior to the event if your PTA has already contracted for an event this school year (24-25).

Send all documentation to shannel.hooper@jordandistrict.org.

You will receive an email verification when the documentation has been received and verified, notifying you that you may proceed with the requested event.

DATE:
March 27, 2025

TO:
Elementary Schools

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

SUBJECT:
University of Utah Summer Reading Camp Opportunities

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The University of Utah will be offering a summer reading camp for students who may benefit from additional reading support this summer. Please share the attached flyer with families who may be interested in this event.

DATE:
March 27, 2025

TO:
Elementary Teachers and Instructional Coaches

FROM:
Teaching & Learning

SUBJECT:
Wit & Wisdom Workshop Opportunity

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Join Teaching & Learning for a special workshop where the BTS specialists will highlight ways to integrate the arts with Wit & Wisdom. This event will take place on April 9th in the ASB Auditorium from 4:15 - 6:15pm. Registration is now open in the Canvas Catalog.