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Category: Elementary Info

Published on

DATE: 
March 11, 2021

TO:    
Principals
Assistant Principals
Attendance Secretaries
Financial Secretaries

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

SUBJECT:   
Accepting and/or Denying Late Enrollment Permit Applications

Permit applications submitted after the third (3rd) Friday of February for the following school year or any permit for the current school year must be determined by the “adjusted capacity” of the school. The adjusted capacity is the total number of students who could be served in a school if each teacher were to have a class size based on the staffing ratio for each grade level (§53G-6-401).  Late enrollment permit acceptance is determined by the staffing ratio as follows:

  • Elementary schools use the student to teacher ratio for each grade level to determine if there is space available.
  • Secondary schools use the student to teacher ratio for each core class within each grade level to determine if space is available.

Schools must use the following standards for accepting and/or rejecting an application (§53G-6-403):

The standards for accepting or rejecting an application for enrollment may include:

  1. For an elementary, the capacity of the grade level;
  2. Not offering, or having capacity in, an elementary or secondary special education or other special program the student requires;
  3. Maintenance of reduced class sizes (Title I, or school trust money used to reduce class sizes);
  4. Willingness of prospective students to comply with district policies; and
  5. Giving priority to intradistrict transfers over interdistrict transfers.

The standards for accepting or rejecting an application for enrollment may NOT include:

  1. Previous academic achievement;
  2. Athletic or other extracurricular ability;
  3. The fact that the student requires special education services for which space is available;
  4. Proficiency in the English language; or
  5. Previous disciplinary proceedings, except as follows:
    1. There has been a serious infraction of the law of school rules;
    2. The student has been guilty of chronic misbehavior which would, if it were to continue after the student was admitted:
      1. Endanger persons or property;
      2. Cause serious disruptions in the school; or
      3. Place unreasonable burdens on school staff.

Using the waitlist in PowerSchool and the standards listed above, permit applications are granted (seated) by the school on a first-come, first-served basis for the entire school year.

Regardless of acceptance or denial, all applications submitted from December 1 to February 19 must be notified of the status of their application by April 2. Applications submitted after February 21 must be notified within two weeks. All applications are notified of their waitlist position when their permit application is processed. While this should satisfy the notification requirements, schools may desire to send an additional notification if they do not plan to accept any permits. Please contact Caleb at x88251 should you have any questions.

Published on

The date for the 2021 Jordan School District High School Graduation exercises is Thursday, June 3, 2021. Valley High School graduation exercises are scheduled for Wednesday, June 2, 2021. School graduation plans and times will vary from school to school.

Principals and Directors are encouraged to provide flexibility to parents or grandparents requesting the opportunity to attend the graduation ceremonies of family members.

Licensed employees are responsible for requesting a substitute through the Frontline Absence Management System (formerly AESOP), if applicable. In the blue “Notes to Administrator” box, the employee should add “graduation” along with his/her relationship to the graduate.

For additional assistance, please contact Juli Martin at juli.martin@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8219.

Published on

Special Calendar requests for the 2021-22 academic year are being collected at this time by the HR Department. If you have a licensed employee currently on a special calendar at your location, you will receive an email with a list of those employees along with instructions to follow. If you do not receive a Special Calendar Request email, there are no licensed employees at your location and you may disregard this information.

Please note that failure to submit a Special Calendar Request for a licensed employee on a special calendar, may cause an employee to be paid incorrectly. All questions regarding special calendar requests should be directed to Kim Richins, HR Senior Assistant, at kim.richins@jordandistrict.org or (801) 567-8220.

Published on

DATE:   
March 2, 2021

TO:  
School Psychologists, Elementary Counselors, and School Social Workers

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

SUBJECT:   
March School Psychologist, Elementary Counselor, and School Social Workers Meeting

A virtual meeting for school psychologists, elementary counselors, and school social workers has been scheduled for Friday, March 12, 2021, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Casey Pehrson, School Psychologist from Herriman High School, will provide us with a presentation on the Thrive and SELFIE programs she has developed.

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

cc:
Principals

Published on

DATE:   
Thursday, March 4, 2021

TO: 
Elementary Principals

FROM:   
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 
MOY Acadience Reading Dashboards in Tableau

Middle-of-the-year Acadience Reading benchmark data have been uploaded into Tableau.  School administrators may access school and district aggregate data by clicking on the following link:

https://10az.online.tableau.com/ - /site/benstableau/workbooks/1684578/views

Explore > Acadience Reading & Early Literacy > School Acadience Reading Analysis, 2015-2021 > Acadience Reading Analysis, 2015-2021

This dashboard contains the following aggregate data:

  • Participation
  • Proficiency over time (2015-2021)
  • Individual measures for grades K-3
  • An analysis of in-person and virtual student performance
  • Student growth

In addition to the aggregate data listed above, school administrators may also view MOY Acadience Reading data at the teacher and student levels.  Administrators may take advantage of the demographic filters to narrow down lists of students that need extra support.  Teacher and student level data may be found here:

https://10az.online.tableau.com/ - /site/benstableau/projects/126126?:origin=card_share_link

Explore > Acadience Reading & Early Literacy > School Acadience Reading Analysis, 2015-2021 > [School Name] Elementary MOY Acadience Reading Teacher and Student Level Data

Please contact Ben Jameson at 801-567-8243 or ben.jameson@jordandistrict.org with any questions about these data.

Published on

The 2021 School Safety Survey will be administered to building administrators, through Qualtrics, beginning April 12th and closing May 21st. Please schedule some time to complete this survey.

The School Safety Survey is the current method of gathering state-wide data on the implementation of best-practices, challenges, programs being used, innovations, and current issues in school safety. The topics include (but are not limited to) building security, law enforcement partnerships, school-based mental health efforts, student threat assessment, and prevention programs. The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) Safe and Healthy Schools Team will be sending out additional information and details in the next month.

Published on

The following are new administrative assignments:

New Assignments effective as soon as possible:

  • Staci Moore, assistant principal at Jordan Ridge and Majestic Elementary appointed assistant principal at Majestic Elementary.
  • Jayme Gandara, Facilitator in Provo School District appointed assistant principal at Jordan Ridge and South Jordan Elementary.
  • Kimberly Ranney, assistant principal at Rose Creek and South Jordan Elementary appointed assistant principal at Rose Creek Elementary.
  • Jared Covili, Product Manager/Instructor at Utah Education Network appointed Consultant, Digital Teaching and Learning.

Published on

The Utah Department of Health as issued an updated State Public Health Order.  The School Manual and School Manual Summary have also been updated.

Utah Department of Health School Manual

This information can also be found by clicking HERE and going to Moving Forward at Jordan District.

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One of the board rule requirements of being able to use LEA-specific licenses (Formerly known as letters of authorization) is that we post the percentage of the different types of licenses that are used in the individual schools. Chad Margetts has worked behind the scenes to help us get this requirement fulfilled. (Thank you, Chad!!) You may notice an additional link at the bottom of your school website “Educator Licensing”. This link will take you to the HR website with some additional licensing information including the required information on LEA-Specific licenses.

Short video with additional information.

Published on

This is a reminder that there are plenty of Chromebooks available for temporary loan. If you are in need while waiting for an existing order to be fulfilled, or for any other reason, please contact Mark Sowa. Keep in mind, these will still be loaner machines that will need to be returned at the end of the school year.

Similarly, the Loaner Kajeet Program has many devices still available. If a student has Internet access concerns (such as slow Internet, or too many people in the home trying to share limited bandwidth, or even student travel that would necessitate mobile Internet access), these could be solved with an additional point of Internet access. If you believe any of your students could benefit from having  Kajeet devices at no cost to the school or students, please contact Mark Sowa to make arrangements for a loan.

Mark can be reached at mark.sowa@jordandistrict.org, or at 801-567-8392.

Published on

DATE:    
Thursday, February 25, 2021

TO:    
Elementary Principals

FROM:  
Shelley Nordick, Ph. D., Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 
Research Project

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

Project Title:   The Roles and Responsibilities of the COVID-19 Elementary Principal in Relation to Job Descriptions and Utah School Leadership Evaluation Metrics: A Case Study

Applicant:   Sarah Nielsen, Utah State 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 obtain your permission to conduct the study at your school.  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.

The project will involve a recorded one-hour interview between elementary principals and the researcher.

Thank you for your assistance.

Published on

The Utah State Board of Education, Utah Department of Health, SafeUT at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute, Utah Department of Public Safety, and the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health are pleased to announce the Safe & Healthy Schools Webinar Series!

This webinar series is intended for any professionals who would benefit from the information provided. There is no registration required or cost to attend. One relicensure point/hour is available through completion of a required questionnaire following the presentation (details will be provided at the end of the webinar). The questionnaire for each event will be open for one month following the presentation date. 

 

Save the date for the March webinar:

“Mental Health, Trauma, COVID-19 and the Value of Schools”

Presenter: Marci Hertz, Senior Behavioral Scientist for the Division of Adolescent and School Health for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Date: March 23, 2021

Time: 11:00AM - 12:00 PM

Zoom link: TBA

More information will be posted on the Safe and Healthy Schools website, Events and Trainings page (https://www.schools.utah.gov/safehealthyschools/resources/eventstrainings). 

Published on

Organizers of the conference have opened a new window for Jordan School District. The conference platform will be open and participants will have access to all speakers from April 3 - April 12, 2021. (This is a change from the original dates of March 25 - April 3.)

Schools are encouraged to participate in this unique opportunity to participate in the Instructional Leadership Conference. This year’s conference will be held virtually and will include keynote speakers Doug Fisher, Anthony Muhammad and Gerry Brooks, along with many other well-known and motivating speakers. Cost for the conference is $150/person or $1,500 for all school faculty members. This provides a unique opportunity to join a conference in creative ways anytime during the week.

  • Bring staff together and listen to one of the speakers as a group.
  • Invite grade levels or departments to watch a speaker together.
  • Invite teachers to watch a specific speaker and meet together to discuss.
  • Invite teachers to watch speakers of their choice.

This conference will be well worth the cost, even if you’re not able to watch all speakers. See the attached brochure for session and registration information. Take note that the dates on the brochure are the original dates for the conference. To accommodate Jordan's spring break our dates will be April 3-12, 2021.

Published on

On November 10, 2020, Apple Computer Inc., began deployment of computers using their new proprietary M1 chip. Since that time, it has been discovered that this new technology is not compatible with many enterprise and business applications utilized and required by Jordan School District. Because of this, Apple devices that feature the M1 chip will not be able to function within Jordan District’s computing environment.

This incompatibility with major systems has been acknowledged by Apple, and is currently under review. An anticipated resolution date has not been released. Because of the significant nature of the issue, there is no way of knowing when the incompatibilities will be sufficiently resolved.

Until these issues with the Apple M1 chip have been resolved, purchases of Apple devices containing the M1 chip have been discontinued. Please do not attempt to purchase an M1 chip Apple device through alternate means. These devices will not function in the district computing environment.

Alternatively, a dwindling number of Intel chip-based Apple products are available, but they are significantly more expensive than their comparable M1 chip siblings. If you are in immediate need of computers that will function within the district environment, please consider either Window-based computers, or Chromebooks.

Please feel free to contact Information Systems if you have further questions concerning this topic.

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We are excited to announce the JSD Virtual Teacher Transfer Fair will be held on Wednesday, February 17, 2021 from 4:00PM-6:30PM in lieu of the traditional in-person transfer fair.  

Schools are to remain open so teachers may Zoom from their classroom.

All principals can access Virtual Teacher Transfer Fair resources and tools immediately by clicking on the following link: Feb 2021 JSD Virtual Teacher Transfer Fair. Anticipated openings, based on your 2.0 FTE projections, and school Zoom Meeting links must be added to the “JSD Virtual Transfer Fair Links/Openings” Google spreadsheet by February 16th.

Interested licensed employees will have the ability to start uploading resumes and video introductions on February 10th.  Principals can begin previewing these documents by school level (Elementary, Middle, High, Special Ed) in the Form Responses spreadsheet. 2020-2021 Teacher Transfer Fair (Responses) This document will also give you access to a live support Google chat during the JSD Virtual Teacher Transfer Fair on February 17th for any questions or concerns that you may have during your interviews.

If you have any questions, please contact Human Resources:

Elementary 
Kim Gibson kim.gibson@jordandistrict.org
Brittany Bauer brittany.bauer@jordandistrict.org

Secondary 
Wyatt Bentley wyatt.bentley@jordandistrict.org
Mark Sowa mark.sowa@jordandistrict.org