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Category: Elementary Schools

Published on

DATE:
August 8, 2024

TO: 
Principals
Assistant Principals

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services

SUBJECT:
Panorama Student Feedback Surveys

The student feedback survey conducted within Panorama is to assist schools in providing accurate student and school-wide interventions when needed as well as to inform schools regarding student perception regarding their wellness. These surveys may not be a part of any grade and are never required and always optional for parents/students to take.

53#-9-203 requires prior written consent when a student registers for surveys related to an early warning system. This consent will be included in both the online and printed registration process. Please refer to the “Parental Consent for Surveys” JAM (June 2024) for more information. Only those students whose parents have opted in may take the survey.

The Panorama student feedback survey windows for the 2024-25 school year are as follows (please share with your survey coordinator and other relevant staff):

Fall Winter Spring
Aug. 30-Sept. 20, 2024 Jan. 22-Feb. 21, 2025 April 18-May 16, 2025

Survey information, questions, results, and survey window dates can be found here.

Information and instructions for administering the student feedback surveys may be accessed here.

Published on

DATE:
August 1, 2024

TO:
Principals
Head Financial Secretaries
Special Education Teachers (Resource and Self-Contained)
Speech-Language Pathologists/Technicians

FROM: Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education

SUBJECT:
Special Education Budget Allocations 2024-25

In the document attached below are the special education budget allocations for Resource, Self-Contained Teachers and Speech-Language Pathologists for the 2024-25 school year. (Cluster Leaders and school psychologists do not receive a Special Education budget.) Remember that special education monies must be spent in ways that provide the most benefit to special education students with the goal to improve student achievement and performance.

Published on

TO:
Administrators

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

Leadership in Personalized and Digital Learning Academy 2023-2024

The LPDL Academy is designed specifically for administrators to lead schools toward blended and digital learning through research-based content and job-embedded experiences. Upon completion, you may receive USBE's Educational Technology Endorsement.

The LPDL Academy will follow the blended-learning model; online course expectations in Canvas, five face-to-face meetings, completion of a digital implementation roadmap, and consultations as needed. As a participant, your school will receive professional development grant money to build the capacity of teachers and leaders, $5000 per school.

The face-to-face sessions will primarily be held at the ASB in Room 112 from 8:00 am - noon on the dates listed below. Mark your calendar and look for the Canvas course invite coming soon. If you have questions, please contact Jared Covili, Digital Teaching & Learning Consultant, at  801-567-8191 or jared.covili@jordandistrict.org 

Sign up today at: https://bit.ly/jordanLPDL

Session 1: Blended Learning

Wednesday, September 11, 2024 

  • Session focuses on personalized learning models (competency-based, blended, etc), digital leadership, and an introspective look at you as a digital leader.

Session 2: Culture & Change Management

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

  • Session focuses on understanding school leadership and cultural interactions, a framework for leading school change, and engaging stakeholders.

Session 3: Shifting Teaching & Learning
Wednesday,  November 14, 2024

  • Session focuses on personalized learning and teaching, supporting all students, and the leader's role in observing and evaluating.

Session 4: Human Capacity and Professional Learning

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

  • Session focuses on effective elements of professional learning, digital learning competencies, distributed leadership, and professional learning models

Session 5: Systems for Transforming to Personalized and Digital Learning

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

  • Session focuses on technology and infrastructure systems, devices, budgets, learning spaces, and rethinking current structures to facilitate change.

Published on

TO:
Elementary Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Michelle Lovell, Consultant in Teaching & Learning

Required literacy classes are now available for registration for new teachers and teachers moving to a new grade level. 

If a teacher is moving grade levels and has already taken any of the trainings, they DO NOT need to take them again. If a teacher has completed Wit & Wisdom training for any grade level, they do not need to repeat the training. 

To register for classes go to https://pd.jordandistrict.org/. Classes can be found by searching for the class titles or clicking on the links in the attached document.  Please be sure that all new teachers are aware of the different trainings that they will need for their grade level and the dates that they are being offered. These are currently the only offerings for these classes this year. New teachers should sign up for one date for each training listed under the grade level they will be teaching. In-service rate will be paid for Heggerty and MSRC classes taken outside of contracted hours. Substitutes will be provided for all classes taught during contracted hours. A stipend of $600.00 will be paid to teachers for the completion of the in-person and online bookwork for LETRS training. 

If you have any questions regarding classes or the registration process, please contact:
Brittney Eldredge
801-567-8161
brittney.eldredge@jordandistrict.org

Published on

DATE:
August 1, 2024

TO:
Administrators
School Safety Personnel 

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Matt Alvernaz, District Safety Coordinator

SUBJECT:
National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security

You are invited to join the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on September 25 and 26 for the 2024 National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security. This virtual event brings together K-12 school leaders and practitioners to discuss and share actionable recommendations that enhance safe and supportive learning environments.  

Registration is now open for the 2024 Summit. This year’s event will feature panel discussions, sessions and keynote speakers covering topics such as violence prevention, emergency planning, youth online safety, student mental wellness, K-12 cybersecurity and student interventions and support. These sessions are designed to foster a nationwide dialogue on some of the most critical school safety issues, as well as equip school stakeholders and personnel with resources, training and best practices to apply in their local K-12 communities. 

EVENT DETAILS
Dates: Sept. 25-26, 2024
Time: 10:00-1:00 p.m. MDT each day
Location: Held virtually via Microsoft Teams 
Registration: Registration is required and there is no cost to attend. To register, please visit 2024CISASchoolSummit.eventbrite.com. 

WHO SHOULD ATTEND
The Summit is open to anyone with a passion for improving school safety but will be of particular interest to K-12 school and district administrators; principals and superintendents; school-based law enforcement; teachers and school staff; mental health practitioners; first responders; federal, state, local, tribal and territorial government partners; and other school safety and security professionals. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Additional details, including speakers and agendas, will be shared when available. To learn more about the Summit, please visit cisa.gov/news-events/events/2024-national-summit-k-12-school-safety-and-security. 

Published on

TO:
All Principals
All Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Nadine Page, Administrative Assistant

The following instructions are to help you in compiling the timesheets that will be coming to you from your licensed personnel. The complete list of instructions is attached to this JAM.

PRINCIPAL/ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT INSTRUCTIONS 

Principals and administrative assistants have 11 assignments:

  1. Assign a designated person to oversee this program. Add their name to the google sheet.
  2. Make sure the plans are turned in on or before September 30, 2024.
  3. All plans must be logged (with the date received), by the designated person, no later than Oct 31st on the provided google sheet.
  4. Provide time for eligible staff to complete the plan.
  5. Gather and track the timesheets as licensed employees complete them.
  6. Make sure teachers follow through.
  7. Add the actual number of hours the employee worked, (up to a maximum of 32 hours, which is determined by the FTE of the employee) after you receive the timesheet.
  8. Verify that all employees, that are eligible, have turned in their timesheet on or before April 11, 2025.
  9. If an employee works at multiple sites, the school listed as the check location is to track the timesheet for that employee.
  10. If an employee changes locations during the school year, the administrative assistant for the new location must collect the timesheet and log it by the April 11 deadline.
  11. Keep the plans and timesheets on file at your location for auditing purposes.

Eligible licensed personnel must turn in their plan to the principal or administrative assistant (designated person) on or before September 30, 2024.

Principals are asked to give time in a meeting at the beginning of the year for eligible staff to fill out the Professional Hours Plan and turn it in.

A google doc (school name – Educator Directed 32 Hours 2024-25) will be shared to each individual school to be used in tracking the plan as well as the timesheet. Please use this original google doc to track the hours. Do not create your own form. 

    • Administrative assistants, or other designed person will add 
      • the school location, 
      • names of the employees, 
      • employee ID (six digit #), 
      • FTE of the employee (the awarded amount is determined by the FTE of the employee; 1 FTE = 32 hours, .5 FTE = 16 hours,
  • ***the items above will be prefilled. Please double check to make sure all employees are listed correctly for your school, 
    • date that you received the plan, 
    • finally, the date when you have received the timesheet and the hours to be paid (once you have received the final hours worked).

Thank you for your help in making sure all eligible employees receive the correct pay.

Published on

DATE:
Thursday, August 1, 2024

TO:
Elementary School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:
Summative Testing Changes for 2024-25

Principals are asked to share the following information with their Utah Aspire Plus and RISE tested teachers.

With the change in the ELA core approved by the Utah State Board of Education in recent months, the state’s summative assessments will need to reflect those changes. The changes to RISE are highlighted below:

RISE

  • The ELA RISE assessment and the RISE Writing assessment (5th and 8th grades only) will also be revised according to the new ELA core. We do not expect scores for these assessments to be available due to the necessity of a standard setting process. No grade incentive will be possible for the 2024-25 school year for these two assessments, though an incentive may still be used for RISE Math and Science.
  • RISE Writing benchmarks will also be suspended for just the 2024-25 school year. USBE is working to field test new RISE Writing benchmarks, but they will not be available until the 2025-26 school year.
  • The Listening and Editing benchmarks will be permanently removed from the RISE system beginning with the 2024-25 school year.

For questions about these changes, please contact Ben Jameson in Assessment, Research & Accountability.

Published on

DATE:   
July 1, 2024

TO:   
Principals
Special Education Teachers (Preschool and School-Age) Speech-Language Pathologists

FROM: 
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education

SUBJECT:   
Extended Year Special Educator Stipends 2024-25

The legislation allows a specific group of special educators to work up to 5 additional days for a $200/day stipend (plus applicable benefits). The Bill applies to Special Education Teachers (Preschool and School- Age) and Speech-Language Pathologists only (Speech-Language Technicians are not included). The number of days and stipend amount are based upon the educators assigned FTE equivalent. Please note that eligible staff will only be allowed to work these days two weeks before the first contract day of the 2024-25 school year and two weeks after the last contract day of the 2024-25 school year, not during vacation periods (e.g., holiday recess, Spring Break, etc.). Please see attached memo for more information.

Published on

TO:
Administrators
Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Kurt Prusse, Director of Central Warehouse
Brandon Sax, Warehouse Coordinator

The Central Warehouse is disposing of all its expired hand sanitizer. If any school has expired hand sanitizer, whether it originally came from the warehouse or if you purchased it during the Covid-19 era, the Central Warehouse will dispose of it for you.

After August 7 we will no longer be accepting old hand sanitizer and schools will have to dispose of the rest on their own. We need a final count so we can get quotes from hazardous waste disposal companies that can remove this for us. We are compiling a list of schools so we can coordinate pickup before August 7. Please call Lisa Costanza at x88899 or email her, lisa.costanza@jordandistrict.org, if you have sanitizer you would like picked up.

We would greatly appreciate your cooperation in this effort. If you have any questions please let us know.

Published on

TO:
Administrators
Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Steffany Ellsworth, Support Services Manager in Information Systems

Missed our ParentSquare training for office staff? No worries! We've got you covered with additional opportunities to jump on board, including online sessions! Check out this sign up sheet for a list of dates offered and join us!

For those of you that have already attended a training session, here is the link to access the slides from that training: ParentSquare Training

Published on

DATE:      
Thursday, July 25, 2024

TO: 
Elementary School Administrators
Middle School Administrators
High School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:     
Fall 2024 Testing Bulletin

Check out your level specific testing bulletin.

 

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning

The district-wide professional development day is on August 13th, 2024.

All licensed personnel are required to select and attend a keynote speaker in the morning and are required to attend a corresponding session to their assignment in the afternoon.

Please remind your teachers to sign up for a keynote ASAP if they haven’t already.

Please contact your AOS if questions arise about teachers with unique assignments. Administrators who are NOT hosting at a particular location should be in attendance with teachers. Divide your administrative team accordingly.

To register for a morning keynote:

  1. Please choose a speaker and then register for a keynote speaker using this link. Keynote speakers are NOT content specific. The topics and location information for each keynote speaker are included in the registration information.

Review Your Assigned Afternoon Grade Level/Content Area Schedule

  1. Please review the following flyer to see the lineup of presenters at your content area location. The afternoon breakout sessions on August 13th, ARE specific to content area and grade level. You do not need to pre-register for the afternoon breakouts. You will have time to eat lunch and transition to your content location after the morning keynote.

 

Published on

DATE: 
July 25, 2024

TO:
All Elementary Principals

FROM:     
Administrators of Schools
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning Department
Norman Emerson, Instructional Support Services/Fine Arts Consultant

SUBJECT:   
Utah Symphony Performance at Abravanel Hall for 5th-Grade Students

We are pleased to announce Utah Symphony concerts for the 5th-grade students at Abravanel Hall. The performance dates are February 4 and 5, 2024 at 10:00 and 11:30 a.m. Your school’s date and time are provided on the attached spreadsheet. Please note that there are no assigned seats. School groups will be seated upon arrival.

The Utah Symphony will provide study materials to prepare your students before the performance.

Please have your administrative assistant complete a transportation request on Skyward (your school's date and time are shown on the spreadsheet). The number of teachers (which may also include a parent and two chaperones for each class) should be included in your school’s final count. When entering your busing request, please include the correct group name (e.g. Daybreak, 115 Curr). This will ensure that the Teaching and Learning Department will cover the busing fee.

Transportation requests should be completed as soon as possible. Due to the number of buses needed for the Symphony concerts, there will be a moratorium on other transportation requests for these dates.

Published on

DATE:   
July 25, 2024

TO:   
All Elementary Principals

FROM:  
Administrators of Schools
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning Department
Norman Emerson, Instructional Support Services/Fine Arts Consultant

SUBJECT: 
Utah Symphony Performance at Mountain Ridge High School for 4th Grade Students

We are pleased to announce Utah Symphony concerts for your 4th-grade students at Mt. Ridge High School. The performance dates are November 4 and 5, 2024 at 10:15 and 11:35 a.m. Your school’s date and time for attending the performance are provided on the attached spreadsheet. School groups will be seated upon arrival.

The Utah Symphony will provide study materials to prepare your students before the performance.

Please have your administrative assistant complete a transportation request on Skyward (your school's date and time are shown on the spreadsheet). The number of teachers (which may also include a parent and two chaperones for each class) should be included in your school’s final count. When entering your busing request, please include the correct group name (e.g. Daybreak, 115 Curr). This will ensure that the Teaching and Learning Department will cover the busing fee.

Transportation requests should be completed as soon as possible. Due to the number of buses that need to be used for the Symphony concerts, there will be a moratorium on other transportation requests for these dates.

Published on

DATE:
July 26, 2024

TO: 
Elementary Principals
Elementary Media Assistants

FROM: 
Administrators of Schools
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning Department
Norman Emerson, Instructional Support Services Consultant

SUBJECT:  
Quarterly Training Meetings for Elementary Media Assistants

To prepare and train elementary library media assistants to effectively provide services to elementary schools and to build consistency across elementary library programs, training meetings have been scheduled for the 2024-25 school year. The participation of both of your library assistants in these meetings is appreciated and expected. The meetings are to be included in the assistants' weekly allotment of 17 hours. Except for August 21, 2024, they have been scheduled on Fridays.

The meetings will be held as follows:

  • August 21, 2024 - JATC South, 9:00-11:00 a.m.
  • October 18, 2024 - JATC South, 8:30-10:30 a.m.
  • January 24, 2025 - Viridian Event Center 8:30-10:30 a.m.
  • April 25, 2025 - JATC South, JATC South, 8:30-10:30 a.m.

Please share this information with your school’s elementary media assistants.

Please contact Norman Emerson at 801-567-8364 if further information is needed. Thank you for your continued support of the library media program in the Jordan School District.

Published on

DATE:        
July 25, 2024

TO:   
Principals
Assistant Principals
School Resource Officers

FROM:   
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Matt Alvernaz, School Safety Coordinator

SUBJECT:  
District SRO Training

The annual District School Resource Officer training will be held as shown below and is required for each SRO and at least one administrator. Additional administrators are welcome if desired.

Date: Friday, September 6th
Time: 7:30 AM to 9:30 AM
Location: ASB Presentation Room

Please contact District School Safety Coordinator, Matt Alvernaz at matt.alvernaz@jordandistrict.org or by phone at (801) 567-8623 if you have any questions.

Published on

DATE:  
July 25, 2024

TO: 
Elementary Principals

FROM:  
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Norman Emerson, Fine Arts Consultant

SUBJECT:
BTSALP Funding for 2024-25 School Year

During the 2024 legislative session, the Beverly Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program funding formula was changed. Instead of allocating up to 80% of BTS Arts educators’ loaded salaries to LEAs, a uniform amount is being provided to districts per teacher. This will negatively impact some schools since they would need to come up with an amount that perhaps would exceed 20% of the loaded salary under the new funding formula.

To prevent most schools from paying unexpected increases for the new school year, the district will subsidize the school’s portion for the 2024-2025 school year and keep the current funding structure of 20% in place as in the past. Moving forward the district will work to equalize funding to offset increasing costs, but an increase in overall BTS expenses is anticipated.

Your school’s financial dashboard has been updated to reflect the BTS FTE allotment you will receive and the percentage your school will be expected to pay this year. Further information will be provided at the principal’s meeting in August.

Published on

DATE:    
July 18, 2024

TO:  
Administrators
Administrative Assistants

FROM: 
June LeMaster, Administrator, Human Resources
Brent Burge, Human Resource Administrator, ESP

SUBJECT: 
Labor Day Annual-Personal Leave before-after Critical Day

If you are a contracted employee and need to take Annual/Personal Leave on a Critical Day before/after Labor Day for any reason not listed in policy DP335NEG or DP335B, you must submit a request as follows:  

How to Request
During the window, the employee must send the request through email. Please include your name, school, position, and the date you are requesting the leave. Requests left on voicemail or over the phone will NOT be accepted.

 The employee will receive an email confirmation within two working days after submitting the request. If the employee does not receive a confirmation email, then Human Resources has NOT received your request and your leave will not be approved.

School Holiday Date of Holiday Critical Days* Window
Labor Day Sept. 2, 2024 Aug. 30 and Sept. 3, 2024 July 20 – July 30, 2024

*Critical Days are the first student attendance days before or after a school holiday. If a non-student attendance day falls before or after a school holiday, the Critical Day is the day before or after that non-student attendance day when students are in attendance.