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Category: Elementary Info

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The Teaching and Learning department has brought back 5 teacher specialists in the literacy department to support schools through the coming school year. Refer to the attached document to see which specialist has been assigned to your school. The specialists will be reaching out to principals to schedule a time to meet and go over a check list of items that will help schools have a successful literacy launch.

Teacher Specialist Assignments

Literacy Check List

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The Jordan Education Foundation has a STEM-Focused committee. The purpose of this committee is to strengthen STEM in Jordan District. A special emphasis of this committee is to assist the Middle Schools. Donna Hunter will be the liaison to the JEF STEM Committee representing the District Secondary schools.

Bruce Cutler, the chair of the STEM Advisory Committee, would like to visit with your school personnel who have a passion for STEM. The purpose of the visit is to determine what your needs are and how the Jordan Education Foundation can help. He will be reaching out to each middle school principal to set up a time to visit. You can also contact Bruce via email at bruce@brucecutler.org.

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Principals, our Facility Services department could use your help by encouraging your staff to reduce our excessive energy usage this summer. Facility Services administration has recently performed an audit of the portable buildings throughout the District. It was discovered that 8 out of 10 portables were unoccupied, had lights on and air-conditioning running during the first week of July.

Please work directly with your custodians and other staff members to ensure that everyone is doing their part. The following directives are designed to reduce excessive energy usage as temperature continues to soar above 100 degrees.

  • AC needs to be turned off in all the portables and should remain off unless in use.
  • Adjust thermostats: For portables that are being used occasionally, set the thermostat to 85 degrees for periods when unoccupied.
  • Reduce your lighting: Turn off lights in unoccupied areas that are not needed for security and safety.
  • Office equipment: Setting computers, monitors, and copiers to sleep-mode can reduce energy use by 40%.
  • Windows and Doors: Use curtains and shades when the portables are not in use. Keeping doors and windows closed and locked will help reduce inside temperatures and security problems.
  • Concerns about heat damage to supplies or equipment: Smaller items like crayons, or ink cartridges, can be relocated inside the building or stored in styrofoam coolers. Larger items like musical instruments should be relocated inside the school building. Computers are okay to remain in an unairconditioned portables as long as they are powered off.

Thank you for your help

Steve Peart
Director of Custodial / Energy Services

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DATE:
July 8, 2021

TO:  
All District Employees

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

SUBJECT:  
Required Annual Training to Help Prevent Child Sex Abuse

Per state statue all school district employees are to be trained annually concerning Child Sex Abuse Prevention or Human Trafficking Prevention. This year (2021-2022) Child Sex Abuse training will be replacing the Human Trafficking Prevention training conducted last year in Crucial Concerns and Policies.

What:                          An on-line training from Prevent Child Abuse Utah
Who:                           All adult school district employees
Time:                           1 hour to complete
Date:                           May begin now but must be completed by October.
Link to training:      Preventing Child Abuse An Online Course for Adults Working With Youth

At the end of the training there will be a Certificate of Completion that should be printed by the employee for their records.

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The following are new administrative assignments:

New Assignments effective July 1, 2021:

  • Jarom Airhart, administrative intern at Academy Park and Plymouth Elementary in Granite School District, appointed assistant principal at Aspen and Terra Linda Elementary.
  • Aubri Moench, teacher at Fox Hollow Elementary, appointed assistant principal at Riverton and Jordan Hills Elementary.

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Elementary Principals:

The following message is being sent to all elementary personnel:

Calendar Alignment to Quarters

We hope you’re enjoying your summer and getting some much needed and deserved rest. In preparation for the 2021-2022 school year, we wanted to make you aware of a couple of items.  As you know, Jordan School District will no longer have any year-round schools this fall. As a result, it becomes possible to align calendars at all levels to provide clarity and consistency for families and employees.  In order to accomplish this, elementary schools will be adjusting from a trimester to a quarter calendar. We will continue to have parent teacher conferences twice a year at approximately the end of first and third quarter. An updated 2021-2022 calendar is available on the district website. More details will be provided at the beginning of the school year.

Thank you for your dedicated work on behalf of students.

 

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DATE: 
July 9, 2021

TO:  
All School Administrators

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Planning & Student Services

SUBJECT:  
CSTAG LEVEL 2 Training

CSTAG training provides a critical foundation for successful threat assessment responses to ensure a climate of safety, respect, and support for students and staff. Through a restorative/social-emotional foundation this training will provide the processes and tools to help keep our schools safe. CSTAG training is conducted in two (2) levels – Level 1 & Level 2.

CSTAG Level 1 training is provided online and is highly interactive. All school level administrators will need to complete the Level 1 training prior to the Annual Administrators Conference August 4, 2021. Please refer to the JAM dated June 17, 2021 for more specific information regarding Level 1.

CSTAG Level 2 training is a three hour in-person training and multiple sessions will be held for your convenience. The first sessions have been scheduled as follows:

When:
July 22, 2021

Where:
ASB Auditorium
7905 S Redwood Road, West Jordan
Enter from the North nearest 7800 South

Time:
Session 1:   8-11:00am
                   or
Session 2:   12-3:00pm

Please sign up using JPLS for the session you will be attending. School teams should attend the same session.

Additional trainings will be scheduled at later dates to facilitate school teams attending together.

Should you have any questions please contact Travis in Student Services (801.567.8439) or travis.hamblin@jordandistrict.org.

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Administrators:

As discussed in Principals' Meeting, we are excited to launch our new BusHive field/activity trip software. The administrator responsible for scheduling your school's field/activity trips will receive a welcome email, which includes BusHive training and information from Kitt this Friday, July 2. The Field Trip Office will then begin accepting field/activity trip requests on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Please feel free to contact Kitt at 801-567-8809 or Michele at 801-567-8804 with questions.

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As of March 2021, the Fire and Security department began replacing all employee access badges that are approximately 5 years and older. This process is being conducted on a school by school basis. They are also upgrading badge holders that will assist in preventing wear and loss. Office staff at each location will be contacted for assistance in confirming active employees, in collecting the old badges, and in distributing the new. The process of replacing said employee access badges will be free of charge. Employees will remain responsible for the fee of $7.00 to replace a lost access badge. This will be done through a payroll deduction.

Pass badges, such as portable passes, substitute passes, sweeper passes, and elevator passes, will also be replaced considering the needs of each location.  This is also being conducted on a school by school basis. Once schools receive new pass badges, they will be required to pay the $7.00 replacement fee for any badges that are lost or stolen. This can be done through a journal entry.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

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The T&L department has ordered a full set of Geode decodable readers from Great Minds for each school. The set includes three levels (K, 1, 2) and there are 64 titles with 6 books of each title. Geodes will match the lessons in Really Great Reading and they can be used in whole group or small group instruction. The books should be stored in a place in the school that will allow all teachers to have access to them. These books will be good for students receiving tier 1 instruction in grades K-3 and they can be used as a support for all students in grades K-6 who are receiving intervention in phonics. The books have been delivered to the warehouse at the ASB and they are being prepared to send to schools. T&L is also looking at additional decodable readers for upper grade students as well. More information will be coming as it is available.

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DATE: 
Thursday, July 1, 2021

TO: 
Elementary School Administrators
Middle School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:   
Unofficial RISE Data Available on Tableau

RISE data downloaded from TIDE are now available on school administrator Tableau Viewer accounts.  The dashboards contain RISE proficiency data for ELA, math and science for both the 2021 test administration as well as longitudinal SAGE/RISE data as far back as the 2013-14 school year.  Included in the dashboard are demographic filters (i.e., socioeconomic status, EL, minority and special education status) that will allow administrators to interact with the data to look at individual student group performance.  Dashboards that contain student level data are included as well.

With the 2021 RISE test administration, there are some key things to remember:

  • Grades 4-5 science data are not currently available. Because the core changed, the test also changed.  USBE staff and educators from across the state will be working this summer on standard setting and validation.  Science grades 4-5 data with proficiency cut scores will be released later this fall.
  • The assessment data on these Tableau dashboards are not the official state data and cannot be shared with the general public. The dashboards will be updated with official state data and can then be released to the public later this fall.  However, school administrators may use the data to target student groups for extra support as well as allocate personnel and resources where needed.
  • Student growth will not be calculated for the 2020-21 school year. Thus, for the time being, the dashboards contain only proficiency data.

School administrators will note that, in general, proficiency scores decreased from previous years across the board.  Administrators are encouraged to exercise caution as they analyze their school’s 2021 RISE data.  There are some mitigating factors that make the 2020-21 school year unique in nature and our proficiency scores, along with most LEAs across the state, reflect that.  There is still much to be done to mitigate unfinished learning in the coming year and the 2021 RISE scores are simply a snapshot of where we are in that effort.

School administrators may access RISE data at the following links:

  • District RISE Report – Explore > RISE > RISE Data Review and Analysis > 1 – District Report, RISE, 2014 – Present
  • School RISE Report – Explore > RISE > RISE Data Review and Analysis > 1 – School Report, RISE, 2014 – Present
  • RISE Student Level Data – Explore > RISE > RISE Data Review and Analysis > 1 – 2021 RISE Student Level Data > [Your School] 2021 RISE Student Level Data

Tableau dashboards containing official and final RISE data will be released this fall along with the Opportunity to Learn survey results that students took at the end of their RISE math test.  The OTL survey questions will help frame the relationship between the unique learning environments students and teachers experienced and student achievement on the RISE test and will help school administrators further address unfinished learning during the 2021-22 school year.  A copy of those OTL questions are included with this memo.

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DATE:     
June 23, 2021

TO:  
Principals

FROM:  
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent

SUBJECT: 
Fee Waiver Materials 2021-22

The annual Certificate of Compliance report will be due October 31, 2021. October 1st of each year the Local Board Chair, District Superintendent, and each Principal will receive an email containing a personalized link to complete the Certificate of Compliance. The email will be titled Utah State Board of Education School Year 2021-2022 Certificate of Compliance. Each individual will have 30 days to complete the certificate. Click here to access a sample Certificate of Compliance.

All USBE School Fees Notices and School Fee Waiver Applications can be found by clicking HERE.

Forms can be found under Grades K-6 and Grades 7-12 in multiple languages. The Fee Waiver Application, for both elementary and secondary was revised 3/24/2021. Use the current form when having parents fill out the application.

Attention:  Students who previously showed verification of eligibility do not need to resubmit documentation. It may be necessary for the principal (or designee) to contact the previous school of transferring students for verification of fee waiver status. Kindergarten students coming into the school, new students to the District, and students with extenuating circumstances will still be required to submit documentation.

 

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DATE:   
June 17, 2021

TO:  
Elementary Principals

FROM: 
Shelley Nordick, PhD, Teaching and Learning Administrator
Norman Emerson, Instructional Support Services Consultant

SUBJECT: 
2021-22 Elementary Area Library Media Specialist School Assignments

Please see document below for information and school assignments.

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Due to the recent approval of changes made to BP178 – Purchasing Provisions, the Accounting and Purchasing Departments would like to announce the following changes. Effective July 1, 2021, the Purchasing Guidelines will have increased spending thresholds at each level, which will also include Pcard and eCheck purchases. Most notable in the changes is the increase of the individual procurement item threshold (single item) from $1,000 to $5,000. There will not be a distinction under the Level 1 purchase threshold of a single item purchased and a single procurement aggregate (multiple items purchased from one source at one time) purchase. They will both be $5,000 and will not require any additional quotes.

This also means that the maximum one-time charge that can be made using the district Pcard is $5,000. Because some administrators may not be comfortable with their employees having a higher limit on the Pcard, all cardholders will remain at current levels. A new application needs to be filled out with an acknowledgement for the higher dollar amount authorization must be signed by the cardholder and their supervisor. That form will be made available on the Purchasing website beginning July 1st. The Purchasing Card Manual has also been updated and must be read and understood before making any credit limit increases.

Attached is the updated and revised Purchasing Guidelines. Please don’t hesitate to contact the Purchasing Department with assistance with future purchases that will be affected by these changes.

Published on

DATE:  
Thursday, June 24, 2021

TO: 
Elementary School Administrators

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

SUBJECT: 
Acadience Reading Dashboard and Data Analysis Protocol

Acadience Reading assessment data have been added to administrator Tableau Viewer Accounts.  School administrators may view longitudinal data from 2015 through 2021 for the entire district as well as any elementary school. Dashboards include proficiency and growth (Pathways Achieved) data as well as grade level measure performance. In addition, for the 2020-21 school year, there is also a dashboard that analyzes performance based on form of instruction (in-person vs. online).

These dashboards may be found here:

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

School administrators may also view student and teacher level data for their school.

Student and teacher level dashboards may be found here:

  • Explore > Acadience Reading & Early Literacy > School Acadience Reading Analysis, 2015-2021 > [Your School Name] – 2021 Acadience Reading Student Level Data

To help you make sense of and analyze your Acadience Reading assessment data in terms of core instruction and tier II interventions, a data analysis protocol has been included with this memo.

Please contact Ben Jameson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability with questions about the dashboards or data analysis protocol.