Jordan School District
TO:
All Administrators
FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources
Rebecca Lee, HR Administrator, Evaluations
The Beginning of the Year Interim is due by October 31, 2025. Remember that this includes a self-evaluation, three required goals, and administrator approval.
Please see the attached flyer.
DATE:
October 1, 2025
TO:
Administrators
Licensed Personnel
FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources
Brittany Bauer, HR Specialist
SUBJECT:
Transition from CACTUS to USIMS
Dear Educators,
Starting November 30th, 2025, educators will no longer be able to access the CACTUS (Educator Licensing) platform. Instead, all licensing information will be available in the new USIMS platform.
To ensure a smooth transition, it is essential that you take the following steps:
For detailed instructions and support on setting up your USIMS profile and managing the transition, please visit the following link: USIMS Support and Instructions.
We understand that changes in systems can be challenging, and we are committed to supporting you throughout this process. Should you have any questions or require further assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Brittany Bauer
HR Specialist, Licensing
801-567-8214
brittany.bauer@jordandistrict.org
DATE:
September 25, 2025
TO:
Principals and Administrative Assistants
FROM:
Cody Curtis, Administrator of Schools
Brad Sorensen, Administrator of Schools
SUBJECT:
Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences for Secondary Schools
The dates for Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences for secondary schools are Wednesday, September 24, 2025 and Thursday, September 25, 2025, from 4:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.
Here is the schedule that the schools will follow:
TO:
Office and Administrative staff of schools and District departments
FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
The agenda for the optional Zoom training session for office and administrative staff of schools and District departments is attached. The October 9 session will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. via Zoom. This meeting is a refresher course that will go over any changes in district departments this year, offer clarification on broad-based issues, and general reminders.
If you would like to participate, please send an email to Lisa LeStarge at lisa.lestarge@jordandistrict.org. Attendees of each session will receive an email the day prior to the training with instructions for connecting to the Zoom meeting.
TO:
New Administrators and anyone who wants a complete overview of Business and Auxiliary Services department information
FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Training will be provided by the Business and Auxiliary Services Departments on October 7, 2025 from 8:00 a.m. to noon at the Auxiliary Services Building Presentation Room. This training opportunity is for school or department personnel including principals, assistant principals, administrative assistants, clerks, aides or others with responsibilities correlating with the Business or Auxiliary Services Departments. The draft agenda is attached.
If you would like to participate in this session, please send an email to Lisa LeStarge, at lisa.lestarge@jordandistrict.org. The total number of participants in this session will be capped at 60 (plus presenters). Attendees will be provided with a link to hand-outs provided by the presenters so they can be viewed during the training or downloaded for future use.
We hope you will take advantage of this training opportunity.
DATE:
September 17, 2025
TO:
All Secondary Principals
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:
Professional Development Opportunities for Back to Basics: The Essentials of EBD, OHI, and Anxiety in Special Education
The Special Education Department will be offering a training session for Secondary Special Education teachers on October 3rd.
This training will address: Does every student with an anxiety diagnosis qualify for IDEA educational classification? How can school teams communicate with parents about the difference between ADA (accommodations) and IDEA (SDI) when discussing eligibility based on an anxiety diagnosis?
Secondary Teachers will use this registration link to sign up.
Training Details:
Participation is optional.
DATE:
Thursday, September 11, 2025
TO:
All School Administrators
FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
SUBJECT:
Earbud Orders for State Testing
Students will have the option to have text read to them on the RISE Summative and Utah Aspire Plus Summative testing systems once again this year. Principals or their designee are encouraged to place an order for student earbuds. Please place your order by Friday, October 17th.
To place an order, please click here.
Earbuds may be used for other district- or state-mandated tests, but schools will need to create a system by which the same student uses the same earbuds throughout the year as there is no additional funding to purchase more than one pair of earbuds per student in grades 3-10.
If schools wish to purchase additional earbuds for other uses, school administrators are welcome to contact Gaylene Miller in Assessment, Research & Accountability at 801-567-8185 who can share the purchasing information and quotes used to acquire these earbuds.
DATE:
September 08, 2025
TO:
High School Principals
Assistant Principals Responsible for District/School Suburbans
FROM:
Brad Sorensen, Administrator of Schools
SUBJECT:
Change in Terminology for District/School Suburbans
Beginning September 08, 2025, the terminology related to our district/school vehicles previously referred to as "Suburban(s)" will now be designated as "Large SUV(s)."
Action Required:
Your help in implementing these updates promptly is greatly appreciated.
All involved school personnel are asked to review the Jordan School District Large SUV documentation to ensure you are familiar with the guidelines for their use. This will help maintain consistency and clarity across all communications and operations.
DATE:
September 4, 2025
TO:
All Administrators
All Registrars
FROM:
Steffany Ellsworth, Manager - Information Systems
Steven Harwood, Manager - Information Systems
SUBJECT:
Dropout Cohort Cleanup Report
In an effort to improve our graduation and dropout statistics at the State Board of Education, it is important that we correctly account for each student’s enrollment. Each school’s current dropout cohort cleanup report will be provided to registrars by Monday, September 8th. The report will come from JSD Information Systems through MoveIT. This is a report of students who are currently counted as dropouts for your school for the 2024-25 Cohort. Registrars review each record on this report to determine whether or not an existing dropout exit code can be changed (thus lowering your dropout rate).
Please connect with your registrars to ensure they are working to enter the corrected information and return the report in the same electronic format as was sent via MoveIT to Carrie Norris (carrie.norris@jordandistrict.org) in Information Systems by September 26, 2025. They should also send a cc copy to Stacee Worthen (stacee.worthen@jordandistrict.org) in Student Services and Brooke Anderson (brooke.anderson@jordandistrict.org) in Assessment, Research and Accountability.
Information Systems will be providing training for registrars on September 12th at 1:30 p.m. at the District Office, Room 129. This training will provide registrars with the information and tools needed to review the dropout cohort report and make changes as necessary. If your registrar is new to this report, or just needs a refresher, please ask them to attend this training.
Feel free to contact the Information Systems Help Desk at (801) 567-8737 with any questions as you work through this process. The UTREx system is a great help in locating students. If your registrar doesn’t have access to UTREx, principals may request access for them by emailing a request to ishelpdesk@jordandistrict.org.
DATE:
September 4, 2025
TO:
All School Principals
All School Head Administrative Assistants
FROM:
Cabinet Members
SUBJECT:
Required Finance & Accounting Rules Training
Cabinet members would like every school principal and the head administrative assistant to receive training on District finance and accounting rules. This is a required training and both the principal and administrative assistant should attend together, side-by-side.
Please use the following form to sign both of you up for a training session:
Available Dates:
| DATE | TIME | LOCATION |
| Friday, October 3, 2025 | 12:00 – 3:00 pm | District Office, room 129 |
| Tuesday, November 25, 2025 | 12:00 – 3:00 pm | ASB Auditorium |
| Tuesday, January 20, 2026 | 1:00 – 4:00 pm | ASB Auditorium |
| Friday, February 13, 2026 | 1:00 – 4:00 pm | ASB Presentation room |
| Friday, March 6, 2026 | 1:00 – 4:00 pm | District Office, room 129 |
| Friday, April 17, 2026 | 1:00 – 4:00 pm | JATC South |
DATE:
Thursday, September 4, 2025
TO:
All School Administrators
FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Assessment, Research and Accountability
SUBJECT:
TSI/ATSI Workshops and Funding
School improvement planning workshops for schools designated for targeted support and improvement (TSI) or additional targeted support and improvement (ATSI) will once again be offered during the 2025-26 school year.
See the memo below for all of the details.
DATE:
September 4, 2025
TO:
All School Administrators
FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness
SUBJECT:
FREE Mental Health Education for Parents and Caregivers
Jordan District has partnered with the Cook Center for Human Connection to provide ongoing mental health education for parents and caregivers. This collaboration offers FREE access to live, virtual educational sessions covering various topics. Please share the following resources with your school community:
Please share the attached flyers/resources with your school communities. Should you have any questions please reach out to Angie Rasmussen at angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org.
DATE:
September 4, 2025
TO:
All School Administrators
FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness
SUBJECT:
Suicide Prevention Training Video and Staff and Parent Resources
September is suicide prevention month.
Schools play a critical role in suicide prevention for current and future students. It is important that we expand our knowledge about the warning signs of suicide and how to facilitate opportunities to strengthen connections. Remember: These suicide prevention activities can all be included as part of your schoolwide prevention plan.
In accordance with the Utah State Legislature's Administrative Code (53G-9-704), Student Services has created this short training video for ALL District employees. Here are some ideas on how to show the video to school staff: Send the link in an email and instruct your staff to watch it, show it at a faculty meeting, or allow time during early release/late start
We have also created new guidelines for Secondary Suicide Prevention Classroom Lessons, which can be reviewed at this link: Suicide Prevention Classroom Lesson Guidelines
Here are additional, important Suicide Prevention Resources that can be used as part of your prevention plan:
DATE:
September 2, 2025
TO:
Secondary Principals
Secondary Assistant Principals
FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Sharon Jensen, Consultant, Student Support Services
SUBJECT:
Fall 2025 Campus Monitor Training
Fall 2025 Campus Monitor Training will be held in two sessions on Monday, September 15, 2025. The morning session will be held in the ASB presentation room from 7:30 -9:00 am. The afternoon session will be held in the ASB presentation room from 1:30 -3:00 pm.
Please coordinate with your team on meeting attendance. All Campus Monitors are required to attend one session. Assistant Principals, interns, & administrators are welcome but not required to attend.
TO:
All Administrators
FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
The following professional development days have been added to this year's calendar.
Professional Development Day (No Students Attend)
Friday, September 26, 2025 (Elementary)
Friday, October 3, 2025 (Secondary)
Friday, March 6, 2026 (Elementary & Secondary)
Friday, April 17, 2026 (Elementary & Secondary)
All employees should work in the building on these days. As you are planning Professional Development in your schools and departments please plan as follows: Principal-Directed School Level Professional Development will be held in the morning hours and optional District-Level Professional Development may begin at 1:00 pm.
Please provide these dates to your employees.
If you have any questions please contact your Administrator of Schools.
DATE:
September 4, 2025
TO:
High School Principals
High School Athletic Directors
FROM:
Brad Sorensen, Administrator of Schools
Bryan Veazie, District Athletic Director
SUBJECT:
New Stadium Lights with Flashing Capabilities
Some high schools have recently had new stadium lighting installed that have flashing capabilities. It is imperative that prior to using this feature, the school has taken the necessary steps to ensure notification of the use of these lights, follow the expectations and be aware of the safety concerns identified by Utah State Risk Management. The district will provide required signage to be posted at the stadium when the light system is installed. Those expectations are as follows:
Safety Concerns:
TO:
All Administrators
FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources
Rebecca Lee, HR Administrator-Evaluations
Please review and mark educator evaluation due dates on your calendar. Reach out to Rebecca Lee for any questions or concerns.
DATE:
August 26, 2025
TO:
All Principals
All Special Education Staff
School Psychologists
Elementary School Counselors
FROM:
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Melanie Dawson, Program Administrator of Behavior
SUBJECT:
ASPEN Training for Special Education Personnel 2025-2026
ASPEN training will continue to be required during the 2025-2026 school year for all licensed special education teachers, SLPs, school psychologists, elementary school counselors, as well as all Education Support Professionals (ESPs) in SEB and Autism self-contained support classrooms who do not have a current Mandt certification. Staff members working in any other special education setting may choose to attend ASPEN at the discretion of their building administrator and at the cost of their school.
Please see the attached memo for dates and registration information as well as other pertinent information. For questions, please contact: stephanie.johnson@jordandistrict.org or cassidy.hansen@jordandistrict.org
DATE:
August 28, 2025
TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals
School Safety Specialists
FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Matt Alvernaz, School Safety Coordinator
SUBJECT:
September Drill Preparation (Fire)
*DRILL MUST BE CONDUCTED WITHIN THE FIRST 10 DAYS OF SCHOOL*
Our monthly drill preparation will be held on September 3rd at 3:00 PM with a second session at 3:30 PM. This month we will be covering FIRE. Each School Safety Specialist is expected to attend along with administrators assigned to oversee school safety. All other administrations are welcomed to attend as well. The meeting is also opened to any staff who may be interested. Most of you will have likely already completed this drill prior to the training so it will be more of a debrief and clarification as needed. (see original JAM on July 30, 2025)
After each monthly training all school staff should be trained by the administrator over school safety and the School Safety Specialist. After being trained each month, teachers should educate their students on each safety drill. Additionally, schools should communicate with their patrons regarding Standard Response Protocol(s) (SRP) and the drill being conducted each month. Videos, handouts, and other resources can be found at the link(s) below.
Information regarding the FIRE response protocol can be found in the Jordan School District Safety Manual on pages 32-33. We will discuss how to implement and execute the drill. This will be an opportunity to ask questions and share ideas amongst the schools.
We will be holding this meeting over Zoom so please join using this link.
DATE:
August 21, 2025
TO:
All Administrators
FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness
SUBJECT:
2025-26 Employee Wellness Representatives
Each school or department is invited to select an employee wellness representative! The Employee Wellness Representatives will support faculty/staff wellness efforts within your schools.
Action Items for administrators: Please nominate your Employee Wellness Representative for the 25-26 school year!
Employee Wellness Representatives Duties include:
Steps to having an Employee Wellness Rep for your school or department:
