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Most recent update from the State LAND Trust Office: (As of now, the JSD due date for the 2021-22 LAND Trust Plan is still March 26, 2021)

Due to unexpected challenges, the Final Report and Upcoming School Plan forms will not be available for a few more weeks. We will contact you as soon as we have a firm date for each.

Thank you for your patience. Please meet with your councils to prepare the Upcoming School Plan so it is ready for entry when the form is available. A school plan template and estimated funding for each school are available at https://www.schools.utah.gov/schoollandtrust/myschoolreports

The next Assistant Principal meetings will be held on March 18 (1:00-3:30pm) and March 23 (8:00-10:30am). All meetings will be held in-person at the JATC-S with a virtual session on March 23rd if needed. As a reminder you only need to attend one of the sessions offered per month. Both sessions will provide the same information. If you haven't had a chance to sign up please CLICK HERE and it will take you to the Google Doc. If you have any questions please call Nadine Page at 801.567.8182 (x88182). Thank you!

The date for the 2021 Jordan School District High School Graduation exercises is Thursday, June 3, 2021. Valley High School graduation exercises are scheduled for Wednesday, June 2, 2021. School graduation plans and times will vary from school to school.

Principals and Directors are encouraged to provide flexibility to parents or grandparents requesting the opportunity to attend the graduation ceremonies of family members.

Licensed employees are responsible for requesting a substitute through the Frontline Absence Management System (formerly AESOP), if applicable. In the blue “Notes to Administrator” box, the employee should add “graduation” along with his/her relationship to the graduate.

For additional assistance, please contact Juli Martin at juli.martin@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8219.

Special Calendar requests for the 2021-22 academic year are being collected at this time by the HR Department. If you have a licensed employee currently on a special calendar at your location, you will receive an email with a list of those employees along with instructions to follow. If you do not receive a Special Calendar Request email, there are no licensed employees at your location and you may disregard this information.

Please note that failure to submit a Special Calendar Request for a licensed employee on a special calendar, may cause an employee to be paid incorrectly. All questions regarding special calendar requests should be directed to Kim Richins, HR Senior Assistant, at kim.richins@jordandistrict.org or (801) 567-8220.

DATE:   
March 2, 2021

TO:  
School Psychologists, Elementary Counselors, and School Social Workers

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Fulvia Franco, Program Specialist – Guidance

SUBJECT:   
March School Psychologist, Elementary Counselor, and School Social Workers Meeting


A virtual meeting for school psychologists, elementary counselors, and school social workers has been scheduled for Friday, March 12, 2021, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Casey Pehrson, School Psychologist from Herriman High School, will provide us with a presentation on the Thrive and SELFIE programs she has developed.

Part-time Staff:  I would appreciate it if you could adjust your schedules in order to attend this meeting.

cc:
Principals

The Utah State Board of Education School and Student Safety Office has informed the District that regular fire evacuation drills (going outside) are to resume as of March 1, 2021. You can no longer substitute evacuation instruction in lieu of an actual exercise. Please practice Covid-19 safety precautions during all drills.

Questions, contact:  Lance Everill, Emergency Operations Manager 801-567-8623, lance.everill@jordandistrict.org

The 2021 School Safety Survey will be administered to building administrators, through Qualtrics, beginning April 12th and closing May 21st. Please schedule some time to complete this survey.

The School Safety Survey is the current method of gathering state-wide data on the implementation of best-practices, challenges, programs being used, innovations, and current issues in school safety. The topics include (but are not limited to) building security, law enforcement partnerships, school-based mental health efforts, student threat assessment, and prevention programs. The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) Safe and Healthy Schools Team will be sending out additional information and details in the next month.

DATE:    
Thursday, March 4, 2021

TO:    
All Principals

FROM:  
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
Kim Gibson, Licensed Administrator, Elementary
Wyatt Bentley, Licensed Administrator, Secondary

SUBJECT:  
Pedagogical Performance Assessment Parental Permission Forms


To become a teacher licensed by the State of Utah, student teachers, intern teachers, and teacher candidates must submit to a pedagogical performance assessment (PPA) (see R277-502-3-(4)).  A PPA assesses the basic competencies of all newly licensed Utah teachers regardless of their university preparation program, thus ensuring that all K-12 students have access to competent teachers.  The PPA requires the teacher candidate to submit the following:

  • A video of the teacher candidate providing instruction to students
  • Written commentaries and analysis of the instruction
  • Student artifacts and work samples from regular classroom activities

Whenever students are part of a video recording or their classroom work is given to a third party outside of the school district, we are required to obtain parent signed permission (see R277-487-3).  As of the date of this memo, there are two state-approved programs that provide a pedagogical performance assessment product:

  • ETS provides the PPAT
  • Pearson provides the edTPA

ETS uses their own permission form, which satisfies the requirement to obtain signed parent permission (sample copy attached with this memo).  Pearson, and perhaps other vendors that are eventually approved by the state, rely upon districts to use their own forms.  As such, a new Teacher Pedagogical Performance Assessment (PPA) for Pre-service Teacher Candidates parent permission form has been created to fill that need.  This form is attached with this memo and should be used unless the ETS form is being used.

All permission forms for a pedagogical performance assessment should be kept, either physically or digitally, on file by the school for three years.

For any questions about teacher candidate licensure or pedagogical performance assessments, please contact Wyatt Bentley at 801-567-8215 or wyatt.bentley@jordandistrict.org or Kim Gibson at 801-567-8216 or kim.gibson@jordandistrict.org   For any questions about permission forms or student data privacy, please contact Ben Jameson at 801-567-8243 or ben.jameson@jordandistrict.org.

The following are new administrative assignments:

New Assignments effective as soon as possible:

  • Staci Moore, assistant principal at Jordan Ridge and Majestic Elementary appointed assistant principal at Majestic Elementary.
  • Jayme Gandara, Facilitator in Provo School District appointed assistant principal at Jordan Ridge and South Jordan Elementary.
  • Kimberly Ranney, assistant principal at Rose Creek and South Jordan Elementary appointed assistant principal at Rose Creek Elementary.
  • Jared Covili, Product Manager/Instructor at Utah Education Network appointed Consultant, Digital Teaching and Learning.

The  ESPIC (Educational Support Personnel Improvement Committee) is looking for courses that would be appropriate and effective for ESP professional learning. We are seeking your input regarding skills and knowledge that would be helpful for various ESP job categories. We would appreciate you taking 10-20 minutes to complete this survey. Survey link: https://jordandistrict.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b44jgy9K3VEMqx0

The Utah Department of Health as issued an updated State Public Health Order.  The School Manual and School Manual Summary have also been updated.

Utah Department of Health School Manual

This information can also be found by clicking HERE and going to Moving Forward at Jordan District.

Jordan Education Foundation requests each of the (7) Jordan School District High School Principals, in collaboration with their counselors and staff, to select one senior student who has overcome a significant personal hardship, shown marked improvement in academic success, and has made a commitment to continue their education beyond high school to receive a $2,000.00 scholarship to the university, college, or trade school of their choice.

Principals: Please call Steven Hall (801-567-8261) at the Foundation with any questions.

One of the board rule requirements of being able to use LEA-specific licenses (Formerly known as letters of authorization) is that we post the percentage of the different types of licenses that are used in the individual schools. Chad Margetts has worked behind the scenes to help us get this requirement fulfilled. (Thank you, Chad!!) You may notice an additional link at the bottom of your school website “Educator Licensing”. This link will take you to the HR website with some additional licensing information including the required information on LEA-Specific licenses.

Short video with additional information.

Reduction In Staff (RIS) resources for administrators are included below.  Please contact an HR administrator and/or your respective AOS with any questions.

  1. District Policy : Reduction In Licensed Staff - DP327 NEG

This policy includes a link to the RIS Guidelines (RIS Rubric Criteria for Teachers and Counselors)

  1. Reduction In Staff Licensed Employee Request Form

By February 26, 2021, principal are to submit their RIS recommendation(s) to their Administrator of Schools and the Administrator of Human Resources for approval. However, if additional time is needed, please contact your AOS and respective HR Administrator. Once RIS requests are approved, principals will then receive a letter from an HR administrator for each approved RIS, which will prompt principals to meet with the RIS’d employee, complete the Right To Return Form, obtain signatures and return this form to the respective HR administrator.

      • https://employment.jordandistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/34/RIS-Request-2017-fillable-2.pdf

This is a reminder that there are plenty of Chromebooks available for temporary loan. If you are in need while waiting for an existing order to be fulfilled, or for any other reason, please contact Mark Sowa. Keep in mind, these will still be loaner machines that will need to be returned at the end of the school year.

Similarly, the Loaner Kajeet Program has many devices still available. If a student has Internet access concerns (such as slow Internet, or too many people in the home trying to share limited bandwidth, or even student travel that would necessitate mobile Internet access), these could be solved with an additional point of Internet access. If you believe any of your students could benefit from having  Kajeet devices at no cost to the school or students, please contact Mark Sowa to make arrangements for a loan.

Mark can be reached at mark.sowa@jordandistrict.org, or at 801-567-8392.

DATE:   
Thursday, February 25, 2021

TO: 
All Principals

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

SUBJECT: 
USBE School Climate Survey


Please see the attached memo and documents that are mentioned in the memo.