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Category: Elementary Schools

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We are excited to offer our Utah Skyward Conference virtually this year!

The conference has been scheduled over two weeks, November 2nd-6th and November 9th-13th. The first week is dedicated to Skyward presenters and the second week is focused on state-specific sessions, along with presentations from vendors and other districts that use Skyward from across the country. There will be morning and afternoon sessions offered each day, in order to give everyone the opportunity to attend. For example: Monday morning will have Finance sessions and Monday afternoon will have Student sessions. On Tuesday, the morning sessions are Student and the afternoon sessions are Finance.

Here is a link to the Skyward Virtual User Group. On this site, you can browse the sessions that are offered, as well as download the agendas (also attached to this email), and register for sessions. You can filter the sessions by date, product (SMS - which is the Skyward system we currently use in JSD, and Qmlativ - which we currently do not use), and Skyward area, i.e. Food Service, Student Management, Human Resources, and Special Education. **Important Note** All times listed for the sessions are Central Standard Time.

To register for sessions on this site, you will need to select "Register for SMS 2.0" in order to view the session for the Skyward system we currently use. If the button "Register for SMS 2.0" is not available, that session is not offered for our current Skyward system. Once you select the option to register, you will be prompted to select your state and school district, then enter your login credentials for Skyward (credentials for both Student Management and Finance will work). Select "Confirm". You will be taken to a new screen where you need to enter your first name, last name and email address, then select "Register". You will receive a confirmation email after you register for each session. You will also receive an email one business day prior to the session you registered for that will include instructions on how to attend the virtual session.

During the virtual sessions you will have the opportunity to ask questions via chat or Q&A periods throughout the sessions. However, if you have a problem that will take a bit longer to resolve, we suggest that you call our help desk to get further assistance. If you find that you are not able to attend something that you really wanted to see, Skyward will be recording every session and will post links to each session along with any presenter notes and handouts.

As always, we hope you get the best out of this virtual conference and are able to see new things, learn new tips and tricks, get some of your questions answered, and see some of the new possibilities in Skyward. If you have any questions about attending the conference, please feel free to reach out to me, Steffany Ellsworth, (steffany.ellsworth@jordandistrict.org) or x88240.

Thank you!

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DATE:   
Thursday, October 22, 2020

TO: 
All Principals

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

SUBJECT:   
WIDA ACCESS 2.0 Test Administration Training for Schools

Please see memo below regarding the mandatory training to be provided and who should attend.

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DATE:
October 15, 2020

TO:
Principals

FROM:
Administrators of Schools
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director Student Services
Caleb Olson, Consultant of Planning and Enrollment
Scott Festin, Consultant of Planning and Enrollment
Steven Harwood, Support Services & Programming Manager

SUBJECT:
Fall Enrollment as of October 1, 2020 - REVISED

Please see memo and report below.

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Screening tools for literacy are assessments that can be administered quickly and give “yes” or “no” answers to let teachers know if a student is reading on grade level or not. If a screener indicates a student is reading below level, a diagnostic assessment should be given. The diagnostic assessment is crucial to identify missing skills and help teachers determine what instruction the student needs for continued progress. The district has several options for screening tools listed below.

Screening Option 1:  RI (formerly SRI)
The Teaching and Learning department has paid for licenses for all students in grades 4-6. The IT department is currently working to upload the system for all schools.

Screening Option2:  Acadience MClass (Amplify)
This is the same system used by students in grades K-3.  If schools choose to use this system, they need to contact the company directly and pay for the student licenses they wish to purchase. The district does not cover the cost of this screener. To contact Acadience MClass, go to the homepage where you log in to see your Acadience data for lower grades and click on the service tab, then follow the prompts.

Screening Option 3:  Acadiencelearning.net
This is a system similar to Acadience MClass (Amplify), but does not contain as many reporting features. In the past, the district was able to cover the cost of this system for schools, but due to some system changes, the district will not be able to cover the cost of this system this year. If schools choose to purchase this system, they need to contact the company directly at:
E-mail: info@acadiencelearning.org
Toll-Free: 888-943-1240
Phone: 541-431-6931

PLEASE NOTE: Progress monitoring should assess the skill(s) that have been identified through the diagnostic assessment. Using a screener alone to progress monitor will not be sufficient because screeners do not give specific information into individual skill mastery or mastery of standards. Diagnostic tools can be found on the Elementary Literacy website.

Elementary Assessment and Intervention Plan

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Elementary Literacy Assessment Plan

 

Protected article: Diagnostics

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Dear Administrators,

A populated copy of your Compliance and Assurances Report will be sent to you by the Teacher Specialist assigned to your school. Due dates are Dec. 17 and April 15. A couple of things to keep in mind:

1. The document is current as of Nov., 2020. As new EL students enroll in your school, you will need to add those students to the report. You can check your monthly language proficiency report to determine who the new students are.

2.  There will be virtual administrative workshop times where the ELS team will be available to offer support in report completion. Please bring a list of ESL endorsed teachers at your school.  We will be looking up student information with you.

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Dear Administrators,

The ELS department would like to continue to support our students who are distance learning and provide an opportunity for them to get a free student desk and chair from the warehouse surplus. Supplies are limited and should be reserved for students participating in distant learning. Please have your secretaries, parent liaisons, ELD leads and anyone else who works with our online students reach out to get a school total. Once you have a total, send the request over to Steven Oldham over at the warehouse. Steve can have the desk delivered to your school or patrons can pick up a desk from the warehouse at the ASB. Know that supplies are limited and on a first come first serve basis.

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We are fast approaching our December 1 SCRAM count deadline. Special Education Resource and Cluster Team Leaders will soon receive a SCRAM report via Move-It of all students who are currently receiving services through your school’s special education program(s). All team members and service providers need to verify each student on this list as either correct, changed, exited/moved, and/or incomplete. Please check that the names, entry dates, scram school, service patterns, weekly minutes and providers are correct for each student on the printout. If a correction needs to be made, a new scram document should be submitted.

All Corrections and SCRAM reports are Due:
By 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 9, 2020

Special education funding and, therefore, school staffing/assistant allocations, etc. are contingent upon the accuracy of this data. Your timely and accurate response is critical! Thank you for all your efforts to get us the correct information in a very short time period. See memo below for more information.

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Beginning of the Year Interims are due October 31, 2020. Remember that this includes the following: self-evaluation, 3 required goals (UETS goal, JPAS goal, Stakeholder & Student Growth goal), and administrator approval with date. Interims for all educators (teachers, teacher specialists, psychologists, secondary counselors, etc.) will be found on JPLS.

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DATE:    
Thursday, October 15, 2020

TO:   
All Principals
All District Department Heads and Directors

FROM:  
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
Kurt Prusse, Director of Purchasing
Michael Heaps, Director of Information Systems

SUBJECT:
Student Data Privacy Updates and Reminders

Principals are asked to read and then communicate the following information to their faculty.

We cannot buy or use websites, apps, or software without checking into how they collect, manage, and use student data. If we do, we run the risk of breaking state and federal laws. Because of this, we are asking that all purchases related to website subscriptions, apps, or software go through Purchasing. This includes purchases made with teacher money and p-cards.

We cannot let children under 13 use websites or apps that collect their data without parent notification. This can be done in disclosure documents, emails to parents or other means of communication. Some websites, software, and apps do not allow children under 13 to use their services even with parent permission. These are prohibited by the district for grades K-7. Some websites, software, and apps do not allow children under 18 to use their services. These are prohibited by the district for all students.

Current processes for purchasing websites, apps, and software: 2020-2021

  • The school submits the requisition for the purchase of an app or program to Purchasing.
  • Website, app, or software is vetted for student data privacy.
  • Purchasing will send the district’s data privacy agreement (DPA) to the vendor to sign if needed.
  • Once the vendor signs the DPA, the purchasing process is completed.
  • If a vendor chooses not to sign or does not respond, the purchase of the app or program is halted and Information Systems is asked to block the website or application. There are currently two apps that have been blocked because of student data privacy reasons:
    • Quizlet
    • Beano

At a later date, Evaluation, Research & Accountability will be contacting digital teaching and learning coaches at each building in order to train them on vetting apps and programs. In addition, together with Teaching & Learning, we are working to develop an interactive website where schools and teachers may go to see what apps and programs have been approved and denied.

Please email the district student data privacy managers if you have any questions.
Holly L. Allen: holly.allen@jordandistrict.org
Steven Harwood: steven.harwood@jordandistrict.org

 

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Due to the District Office closing for Fall Recess at the end of the day on Thursday, Oct. 22, and not returning until Monday, Oct. 26, the Payroll Department is making the following recommendations:

  1. If you need to close your bank account, please call Payroll immediately.
  2. If you are a True Time employee, make sure your time is submitted. If you are a True Time approver, please make sure all time is approved.
  3. Paychecks are available for viewing in Employee Access on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
    Please review your pay check and call Payroll immediately with any questions or concerns.  (801) 567-8155.
    If you need help logging into your Employee Access, call the help desk at 801-567-8737.
  4. Payday is on Oct. 22nd.

The Payroll Department will resume work on Oct. 26, 2020 and will be available if you have any questions.

Thank you for your efforts in assisting Payroll.

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DATE:  
Thursday, October 15, 2020

TO:  
All Principals

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

SUBJECT: 
Reading Inventory (formerly SRI) Update

Principals are asked to pass this information on to their teachers who will be using Reading Inventory.

We are very happy to announce that Teaching & Learning has now completed the purchase process for SRI, and it will be available to teachers this week. SRI is no longer run by Scholastic, and is now just Reading Inventory, or RI.  It is a product of Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt.

To access the SAM server to view student scores and run reports, go to this link: https://h100005970.education.scholastic.com/

As schools begin to use RI, Information Systems would like you to remember the following information:

For Chromebooks, IS has pushed the link https://h100005970.education.scholastic.com/ to the Chromebooks. It will show as RI.  Schools that want to use RI on non-Chrome devices will need to see if their tech can put the link above on whatever device will be used.  They’ll need to be aware to use that exact link and not the redirect.

If you find any missing courses, cannot log in, or have other problems, please contact Kira Jensen at kira.jensen@jordandistrict.org. As so many students change enrollments at the beginning of the year, Info Systems will upload another round of rosters at the beginning of each quarter.

Students and rosters can be managed manually as well. For more information on how to manage class rosters, add students, and view reports in RI, please use the video tutorials:

Additional information about RI may be found on the Evaluation, Research & Accountability website:
https://assessments.jordandistrict.org/assessments/ri/

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Dear Administrators,

The Utah Department of Health, under the direction of Governor Herbert, has approved adjustments to the 14-day quarantine. Students and employees who have been quarantined due to an in-school exposure, while wearing a mask, may return to school if they are symptom-free, and have a negative test result after day 7 of quarantine. The test may be taken on day 7. State officials and medical experts indicate that this new guidance aligns with the best medical practice. 

The following are key points provided by the State:

  • Masks are effective at preventing transmission in classroom settings
  • This only applies to mask on mask exposure
  • Only applies to exposures that occurred in school
  • % of individuals who will develop symptoms do so on: 
    • Day 7 -75%, 
    • Day 9 - 90% 
    • Day 11- 95%
    • Testing picks up positive cases two days before symptoms onset; therefore, testing on day 7 means there is less than a 10% chance that an individual will contract after day 7
  • This is for individual exposures, and does not pertain to the threshold recommendations for classroom or school virtual learning 

The COVID-19 School Manual will be updated to reflect this change but the change takes effect immediately. 

Please carefully read the attached Low Risk Test and Return guidance document found below.  

More information will be forthcoming as it becomes available.  

 

 

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Please take note of the USBE State LAND Trust virtual trainings to be held during the month of October. Training materials will be posted on the state website after the last training is held on October 28, 2020. You can also access last years training videos HERE. We would encourage you to use these resources in working with and training School Community Council members for the 2020-21 school year.

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Mark your calendars! Our next JELL Sessions will be in December. The sessions will be through ZOOM but will be smaller sessions. Each school will have an assigned date (see below). We anticipate substitutes may still be an issue and social distancing will still be practiced; therefore, T&L will cover the costs of 3 substitutes per school. You may choose to include the same group from September’s session, rotate leadership team members or cover the substitute costs for additional leadership team members. Add the date to your calendar, reserve your substitutes, and watch for more information.

Thursday, December 3 Tuesday, December 8 Thursday, December 10
Becky and Lisa Jill Doree
Antelope Canyon Bastian Blackridge
Bluffdale Elk Meadows Butterfield Canyon
Columbia Falcon Ridge Copper Canyon
Daybreak Fox Hollow Eastlake
Heartland Golden Fields Foothills
Majestic Hayden Peak Herriman
Oakcrest Jordan Hills Jordan Ridge
Oquirrh Midas Creek Monte Vista
Riverside Mountain Shadows Mountain Point
South Jordan Rose Creek Ridge View
Terra Linda Southland Riverton
West Jordan Welby Rosamond
Westland CDC Silver Crest
Westvale    

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We want to acknowledge the standards-based grading work that you have been doing with your teachers. We know your efforts to intentionally identify power standards and create explicit proficiency scales will help students learn and reach their highest potential. We had originally hoped to begin new report cards this year but feel that the timing is not conducive to implementing something so important. We will continue standards-based work throughout the year and hope to let the process drive the implementation of new report cards.  

The report cards will include the same skills as in the past, with one minor change. Teachers will notice in their grading books that reading and writing are now two separate categories. In the creation of the online content, reading and writing were designed as two separate courses, and Skyward requires that each course be its own category for grading purposes. The skills within the categories have not changed. If a skill is included in both categories, teachers may choose to mark each one or may mark the category that is most appropriate based on classroom assignments and/or instruction.

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Cabinet members will be interviewing all administrators currently employed by Jordan School District who wish to be considered for an elementary, middle or high school principal position between now and October 2021. Your participation in these interviews is the way for you to declare your interest in a principalship. Similar interviews will be held each fall for anyone who has not interviewed previously. This year’s interviews will be held on Thursday, November 19th and Friday, November 20th.

Any administrator interested in being interviewed this year should email Angela Montague at angela.montague@jordandistrict.org by Monday, October 19th at 5:00 p.m. Please indicate whether you would like to be considered for an elementary, middle or high school principal position. This process is not designed to select principals for newly-constructed schools nor any school in particular. No application or documentation is required.

Any questions should be directed to a Cabinet member. We look forward to getting to know you better.

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We have had many requests for a tutorial on how to create a Special Project or create a Work Order in Sprocket. Attached you will find the step-by-step tutorial in a PDF. Please share this with your custodians and head administrative assistants. Only principals can create Special Projects.

If you feel you would like a more in-depth training, you are welcome to contact:

Judy Bird (801)567-8625 or Teresa Lyon (801)567-8626

They are located at the Auxiliary Services Building and would be happy to have you stop by anytime.