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DATE:   
April 26, 2016

TO:    
Principals

FROM: 
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Clyde Mason, Director of Evaluation, Research, and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
Research Project


The Research Review Committee has reviewed a research project in which every school has been asked to participate.

Project Title:  “… Study of the School Leader’s Role in Students’ Mathematics Achievement Through the Lens of Complexity Theory”

Applicant:  Emma Bullock

The project has been approved by the District Research Review Committee.  The applicant has been directed to contact you to discuss the extent of the project and to obtain your permission to participate in the study.  If you have questions or concerns relating to participation, please contact Clyde Mason at 567-8243.

Thank you for your assistance.

The JSD Surplus Warehouse is up and running.  We want to thank the schools and departments who have been diligent in turning in their paperwork.  We currently have an auction and reallocation on PublicSurplus.com for those who maybe looking for items for your school/department.

We also have made a few time frame changes to the Surplus Guidelines we sent out.  The changes are as follows:

  1.  After surplus items have been picked up and processed, all items deemed usable for schools will go on the PublicSurplus.com website for reallocation.  Items on reallocation are available for only schools to view. All surplus items will be on reallocation for (2) weeks; they then will roll over into auction on PublicSurplus.com. To access reallocation items you will use your login and password that you created from the link we sent you previously.  If you do not know if you have a login or have forgotten it please contact the Surplus Warehouse. They can tell you your login but they do not have access to your password unless you sent it in.  If you are interested in looking at an item for your school, you may view them Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.or by appointment. Please contact the Surplus Warehouse at (801) 567-8709 to schedule an appointment.

If there are any questions, please contact Corie Fuller, Karen Barnes or Kris Wishart in Fixed Assets/Surplus Warehouse.

Utah Juvenile Court:  Education Court Report:  Please follow the attached guidelines when completing the requests for student information.  The suggested student record should be attached in response.
NOTE:  (Please do not create any information that does not already exist in response to the request and avoid providing any opinions if requested)

DATE:        
April 6, 2016

TO:    
Principals

FROM:  
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Clyde Mason, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:
Research Project


The Research Review Committee has reviewed a research project in which your school may be asked to participate.

Project Title:  “Teacher Use of Reason and Research in Education”

Applicant:  Louis Nadelson

The project has been approved by the District Research Review Committee.  The applicant has been directed to contact you to discuss the extent of the project and to obtain your permission to conduct the study at your school.  If you have questions or concerns relating to participation, please contact Clyde Mason at 567-8243.

Thank you for your assistance.

All teachers should have received an individual SLO Folder. If there are questions regarding the SLO Folders or teachers have not received one, please contact Holly Allen holly.allen@jordandistrict.org or 801- 567-8115.  The included SLO FAQ document will be sent to all teachers. Please review the document as you can. If you have questions, or if you would like to arrange for someone to help at your school, please contact Shelley Nordick, shelley.nordick@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8110.

DATE:
April 22, 2016

TO:
High School Principals
High School Registrars

FROM:     
Administrators of Schools
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent of Schools
Luann Leavitt, Consultant for Planning and Student Services

SUBJECT:    
Graduation Verification Involving a Name Change


This is to provide some guidance to Registrars when a patron who has graduated from a Jordan School District school and after graduation had their name changed through the courts.  In this type of situation, the original Transcript is not to be altered if the name change occurred after the student graduated from a Jordan District school.

A legal court order is required to issue the attached verification that indicates the date it was filed with the courts and has a Judges signature.

The following steps should be taken when this above request is made:

  • Complete to the attached Graduation Verification when a “Name Change” request is made for a student who has graduated from Jordan School District and the original Transcript indicates a different name.
  • Keep a copy of the court order and the issued Graduation Verification Form with the original transcript. These two records will remain with the official transcript permanently.
  • In Skyward, pull up the student’s original name. In the Profile screen, enter the new name into the “Other Name” Field as it is shown on the court documents that were provided.
  • When Graduation Verification phone calls come into the schools, if the name provided is not found in an original search, perform an Advanced Search using the new name provided and search the “Other Name” field to ensure all possible names were searched before we either confirm or deny that a student attended or graduated from a Jordan School District school. (This is a daily procedural change from what has been done in the past.)

If the student is a current student and has not yet graduated, the Skyward system may be updated upon receipt of the court order indicating the name change.  This documentation is to be kept in the Student’s Cum Folder.  Please contact Planning & Student Services with any questions.  Thank you.

DATE:   
April 6, 2016

TO:         
Principals

FROM:  
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curric./Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director of Special Education
Julie Brown, Program Specialist

SUBJECT:  
LEA Training Final Session


The last LEA training session for 2015-16 will be held on Wednesday, April 20, 2016, at 1:00 PM in the ASB Auditorium. We will only have one session but in a larger venue. The purpose of this session will be to give you, as the LEA, and any other staff that you wish to attend, time to review your school data as it relates to students with disabilities. We will also briefly review the goals and objectives of the State Improvement Plan (SIP) for Students with Disabilities.

Individual school data was provided at a prior principal meeting and will be available in an electronic format for you to save onto your computer. You will then have a series of guiding questions that you can use to look for trends and patterns as well as make some preliminary plans for the future.

If you plan to attend, please send an RSVP email to Lisa Robinson (lisa.robinson@jordandistrict.org) so data and space can be prepared to accommodate you and your guests.

LEA Training Session
Data review for Students with Disabilities
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
1:00 PM  (1 session only)
ASB Auditorium

 

 

SLO2016 Folders for Secondary Teachers

Secondary teachers will be receiving their SLO2016 folders which are an important part of the student growth portion of the educator evaluation. The folder will contain tutorials, student growth Excel templates (that are also available online), and a turn-in folder. The curriculum consultants will be glad to help provide training or support to you or your staff through this process. Training opportunities at the District level will also be available closer to the deadline. Deadlines for SLO data collection are included in the District’s testing bulletin.

Please direct your questions or concerns to any of the following individuals:
Holly Allen 801-567-8115
Clyde Mason 801-567-8243
Shelley Nordick 801-567-8110

 

Motivating Good Attendance All Year Long

Attendance Awareness Month 2016 Kickoff Webinar

Click on this link to register:  https://events-na1.adobeconnect.com/content/connect/c1/17179333/en/events/event/shared/1312244105/event_landing.html?sco-id=2149249425&_charset_=utf-8

Tuesday, April 12, 2016
2-3:30 ET
11-12:30 PT

Interested in the latest strategies for leveraging positive messaging to prevent and reduce chronic absence? Join us for our April 12th webinar featuring the new Ad Council campaign from the US Department of Education, California Attorney General Kamala Harris's Positive Parent Messaging toolkit, low-cost, scalable approaches from Harvard Professor Todd Rogers and tips for teachers from the Parent Teacher Home Visit Project.

Attendance Works will also unveil its 2016 Count Us In toolkit to help communities plan for September Attendance Awareness Month. We invite new communities to launch Attendance Awareness Month in September as a step towards a year-round Attendance Awareness Campaign. Our special guests and toolkit offer many ideas to help you plan your activities in the fall, and to develop tools and messaging to keep up a steady drumbeat about the importance of attendance throughout the course of an entire school year.

 

DATE:
March 15, 2016

TO:
All Principals
All Secondary Assistant Principals
All Attendance Secretaries

FROM:
Administrators of Schools
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum & Staff Development
G. Norma Villar, Consultant, Student Intervention Services

SUBJECT:
Policy AS90 Suspensions


District policy AS90 requires a suspension of 45 school days for students found guilty of a second offense possession or first offense distribution. As of March 31, 2016, there are 45 school days remaining in the 2015-16 school year. Students in violation of this policy should be suspended for the remainder of this year. Suspended students are not allowed to participate in any school activities, including end-of-the-year events. Seniors will not be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies, but will be allowed to pick up their diploma the following day.

Please inform your students' parents that the 45-day suspensions after March 31, 2016 will carry over into the 2016-17 school year. This office will send a list to all assistant principals next fall identifying students who have remaining days of suspension.

Questions regarding policy AS90 should be directed to: G. Norma Villar, Consusltant, Student Intervention Services, 801-567-8187.

 

DATE:
March 24, 2016

TO:
All Principals and Directors

FROM:
June LeMaster, Ph.D., Administrator, Human Resources
Travis Hamblin, Administrator, Licensed
Brent Burge, Administrator, Classified

SUBJECT:
Employee Attendance at Relative's Graduation Exercises


For the past several years, Jordan School District high school graduations have been scheduled off-campus and starting times have varied considerably.  This year, high school graduation exercises are on Thursday, June 2nd.

Principals and Directors are encouraged to direct parents or grandparents who may wish to attend these graduations, but who are scheduled to work in their own locations to District Policy DP335 NEG.  This policy specifically states: "Personal leave shall not be taken during the first five days and last five days that students are in school except...to attend to personal or business matters which require the employee's attendance and scheduling is beyond the employee's control."

Since graduation scheduling is beyond the employee's control, it is the expectation that immediate supervisors will cooperate and provide employees who may fall into this category, an opportunity to attend graduation ceremonies of family members.

Employees are responsible for requesting a substitute through the AESOP system, if applicable.  In the “Notes to Administrator” box, the employee should add graduation along with his/her relationship to the graduate.

Any questions should be directed to the appropriate Administrator of Schools.

Cc:  Administrators of Schools

JL/am