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  • The WIDA testing  Window is open from Jan. 5th – Mar. 3rd
    • Make sure all students have been identified as a language learner and been given the screener so they can take the WIDA during this testing window.
  • Admin workshops for compliance (District Office, rooms 122 & 123)  
    • Dec. 1st, 9 AM-12 PM
    • Jan. 5th 9 AM-12 PM
    • Jan. 12th 9 AM-12 PM (D.O. room 129 A)
  • ELD Quarterly meeting
    • Thursday, Dec. 8th, 1 PM-3 PM
  • Title III Compliance due
    • Friday, January 13, 2023

All employees and their spouses covered on the Jordan School District PEHP medical plan are eligible to participate in the health incentive program. Each employee and their spouse can earn $50 each by participating in the free biometric testing session and completing a questionnaire.

If you would like to schedule a PEHP Healthy Utah testing session for your school, please send an email to bonnie.brennan@jordandistrict.org with the date and time you would like to host the testing session. Healthy Utah is currently scheduling on a limited basis and days fill up fast, so don't delay. Testing sessions can be scheduled between January and April at this time. Please see "First Steps Rebate" on the attached flyer.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate reaching out to the JSD Insurance Department (801) 567-8255.

District allocations for individual schools were updated in Skyward on November 15.  Adjustments were made based on the October 1 headcount.  Carryforward balances and transfer requests are included in the total allocation.  See the following attachments:

  • Student estimate compared to October 1 headcount.
  • Estimated District Allocation compared to October 1 adjustment.

Please review these adjustments and contact Natalie Grange (801) 567-8312 with any questions or concerns.

DATE:   
November 11, 2022

TO:  
Principals and Assistant Principals

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

SUBJECT: 
November Attendance Newsletter 2022


Research shows that attendance lags following a recess/holiday from school. Now is a good time to review attendance and be aware of students who are struggling. Panorama gives easy access to attendance. This month our newsletter focuses on being successful at school by “showing up”. A well-known quote states, 80 % of success is showing up. The newsletter speaks to what it means to show up and why showing up is important for their student, not only with academics but with academic interventions that may be needed. When the student is not present we aren’t always aware of interventions that need to be addressed.

Included is the November newsletter sent out to parents in PeachJar in English and Spanish. Distributing this in your schools will help spread the word as well. Addressing absenteeism takes a village. Together we can make a difference.

 

DATE:
November 10, 2022

TO: 
Jordan School District Employees

FROM: 
Carolyn Gough, Teaching and Learning Administrator
Norman Emerson, Instructional Support Services Consultant

SUBJECT:  
Liquidation and Distribution of District Instructional Media Materials


As a result of the availability of digital instructional media, the District IMC will discontinue its collection of recorded media materials, consisting mainly of DVDs and VHS cassettes that have been available for checkout. Schools and District employees who are interested in any of these materials may obtain them according to the schedule outlined below (instructions on how to view the collection’s contents may be found here). Since school media collections are managed by teacher-librarians and media assistants, they will be given the first opportunity to select materials on a first come, first served basis. After that, any other District employees who are interested in obtaining the materials for classroom use may do so.

The collection is housed at the Auxiliary Services Building (Entrance D) and items will be available for pickup from 7:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. according to the schedule below. Upon arrival at the ASB, individuals should check in with Susy Peterson, who will provide assistance in locating the desired items. Those wishing to pick up materials must come with the titles and catalog numbers of the items they want.

The liquidation will take place as follows:

  • December 5-9, 2022 Teacher-librarians and media assistants may select and remove materials for their schools’ media collections.
  • December 12-16, 2022 Teachers and other District employees may select and remove materials for their classroom media collections.

Any IMC materials remaining after December 16, 2022 will be surplused and materials will no longer be available for checkout.

Please contact Norman Emerson at 801-567-8364 if you have any questions.

Jordan School District is now offering an easy-to-use mobile app called Zonar MyView. The app provides parents and administrators the option to check on the location of a particular school bus. While the best course of action may be for schools to continue contacting dispatch to inquire where the bus is, you now have the ability to look at the Zonar GPS data in order to identify the precise location of the bus.

Schools interested in participating in the new app program need to do the following:

  • Download the Zonar MyView app from the App Store or Google Play
  • Enter the School Access Code (JOR0431)
  • Identify one student on the designated bus the school wants to track (all schools have access to student ridership on each bus at their school), then enter the student's Skyward student ID number
  • Create alert zones around drop-off and pick-up points

That's really all there is to it. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact Deb McKinlay at deborah.mckinlay@jordandistrict.org.

The first lady is hosting a virtual symposium focused on educator mental health and would love to extend an invitation for school secretaries and staff to attend. Please share this with the teachers and staff at your school.

Dear Friends,

I want to sincerely thank you for the incredible work you do in Utah’s schools. While I am in the unique position of first lady, I want to do all I can to uplift and sustain the educators of our state. We received great feedback from our first ever in-person educator wellness conference last summer and will be hosting an upcoming virtual event to continue the conversation about educator wellbeing.

I am thrilled to invite everyone in your school to The Show Up for Teachers Virtual Symposium on November 12, 2022 from 8:30-11:30 am. Please share this invitation with your school community.

Kim Strobel, an internationally-known speaker and expert on the science of happiness will be our keynote speaker. In addition, we will hear from local education and government leaders and enjoy a live Q&A with a licensed therapist.

Registration is free to ALL educators and school staff. USBE will offer three relicensure credits to qualified attendees. For registration, please go to www.ShowUpUtah.org/wellness.

-Utah First Lady Abby Cox

Just a reminder that our annual Utah Skyward User Conference is scheduled for next Wednesday, November 16th. The conference will be held in person this year at Alpine School District.

This conference is an opportunity to learn about Skyward directly from the source as most sessions are being presented by Skyward staff. There are some fantastic sessions being offered this year, including Admin Bootcamp, Communication Tools, Discipline, Data Mining for Beginners, Data Mining for Advanced Users, and Skyward Tips & Tricks.

Please see the attached agenda for additional details. We hope to see you there!

DATE:  
November 1, 2022

TO:  
District Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
Fall Enrollment as of October 1, 2022 - REVISED


Attached to this memo is District enrollment as of October 1, 2022.

These totals are revised and approved by the State Board of Education.

 

Ideally most emergencies and disruptions to a school day can be addressed during the normal hours of operation and on school premises.

Other incidents may require releasing students to authorized parents/guardians either earlier or later than the normal end of school time, or from a secondary evacuation location. The Jordan School District Incident Command Reunification Action Plan is utilized when a school is required to conduct this type of controlled release of students. Life safety and accountability are the two main priorities. Maintaining current Student Skyward records is a key part of this.

Elementary and middle schools may have to reunify an entire student body. High schools may only have to reunify preschool children, students in special education, students with special circumstances, that have been traumatized, or need assistance getting home.

The Reunification Action Plan is available in the Incident Command Manual on Google Drive, link: JSD INCIDENT COMMAND MANUAL
You can find Student Reunification Checkout Cards in English and Spanish on the Drive as well. The plan includes the proper reunification protocol, identifies roles and responsibilities, and use of effective communication to safely account for and release students to authorized parents/guardians.

There is a Reunification Video for parents/guardians on the Auxiliary Services Incident Command Webpage, link: Auxiliary Services Incident Command Webpage
Schools are encouraged to share this educational video with parents/guardians in advance of a potential emergency.

Please contact Emergency Operations Manager Lance Everill with questions, concerns, or ideas: 801-567-8623, lance.everill@jordandistrict.org

Distracted driving is any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increases the risk of crashing. While all distractions can endanger drivers’ safety, texting is the most alarming because it involves all three types of distraction.

See the flyer below for more information.

GRAMA HandoutAnyone with a GRAMA request must submit the request by visiting the State of Utah Open Records Portal for Jordan School District or by visiting openrecords.utah.gov and selecting the K-12 link.

For anyone who needs help navigating openrecords.utah.gov and filling out the GRAMA request form, we are providing an information card. Principals and staff can print the card and share it with those making a GRAMA request.

Here is the information card to print and cut in half.

TRAINING FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS: If you haven’t already had a training for your council members, our (State LAND Trust office) annual live online council member training will be held on the following dates. Email invites will be sent out to all council members on October 21st (following the Oct. 20th deadlines).

    1. Nov. 9 (12-1 pm)
    2. Nov. 9 (7-8 pm)
    3. Nov. 14th (12-1 pm)
    4. Nov. 14th (7-8 pm)

DATE:    
Thursday, October 20, 2022

TO: 
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
2022 RISE and Utah Aspire Plus Tableau Dashboards Updated with Student Growth Data


The RISE and Utah Aspire Plus dashboards in Tableau have been updated with 2022 student growth data. School administrators will be able to see the median growth percentile (MGP) for the district, schools, grade levels and individual teachers. In addition, school administrators will be able to see individual student growth percentiles (SGP) for each student for whom growth could be calculated.

The updated dashboards may be found at the links below:

Here are a few reminders about growth calculations:

  • SGPs are calculated on a scale of 1-99
  • SGPs are a comparison of a student’s progress in a content area (ELA, math or science) relative to the progress of other like-scoring peers across the state
    • The comparison data used to calculate SGPs come from the student’s scale scores for a specific content area on the 2021 and 2022 RISE and/or Utah Aspire Plus assessments
    • For example, if a student earned an SGP of 43, that means that this student scored better than 43% of his like-scoring peers between the 2021 and 2022 assessments
  • The state considers an SGP of 40 to be typical growth
  • Students with low proficiency will need higher growth scores to close achievement gaps
  • An MGP is the median, or middle, score of a group of SGPs (class, grade level, school, or district)
    • MGPs answer this question: How fast is my group of students growing in their learning compared to other groups of students in my grade level, school, district or the state?