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Category: High Schools

Published on

DATE:     
Thursday, March 11, 2021

TO:   
All Schools

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

SUBJECT:
2020-21 USBE School Climate Survey Links

Jordan School District will be administering the USBE-mandated school climate survey this year in place of the stakeholder survey that has been administered in previous years.  The school climate survey window opens Wednesday, March 17th and closes on Friday, May 7th.  Surveys are administered to all students in grades K-12, parents, school employees and school resource officers (SROs).

To prepare for, and conduct, the 2020-21 USBE school climate survey, please make sure the following activities are completed for each of surveys:

Student Survey
There are three student surveys: One for students in grades K-2, grades 3-5 and grades 6-12.  Links to the student surveys have been sent to each school tech to load onto computers.

Principals are asked to disseminate the USBE School Climate Survey Teacher Script attached with this memo to their teachers.  After the survey window opens, schools should provide time during the school day for students to take the survey.  Principals may consider designating a homeroom class as the time that students take the school climate survey.

Here are the links to the student surveys:

Grades K-2: https://jordandistrict.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bkFAb5FGBOS57vM

Grades 3-5: https://jordandistrict.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3J1c88baiWNlJMa

Grades 6-12: https://jordandistrict.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0uHAKmyjO8NKZPo

Adult Survey
After the survey window opens, individual licensed faculty, classified staff, and administrators will receive an email from the district with a link inviting them to participate in the school climate survey.  Principals may consider notifying teacher and staff that such an email will be forthcoming.  Principals are also encouraged to provide time in a faculty meeting for employees to take the survey.

A Skylert will be sent to parents inviting them to take the school climate survey.  Principals are encouraged to post the adult survey link on school websites and send out reminder Skylerts inviting parents to take the survey.

Please note that there is a Spanish version of the adult survey available.  Respondents simply click on the English box in the upper right corner of the survey and select Spanish instead.

Here is the link to the adult survey: https://jordandistrict.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cGvnQbMjvtfjifA

Please see the JAM dated February 25th for survey administration details, the length of the survey, parental opt out forms and the school climate survey question items.

Please contact Ben Jameson at 801-567-8243 or ben.jameson@jordandistrict.org with questions.

Published on

DATE: 
March 11, 2021

TO:    
Principals
Assistant Principals
Attendance Secretaries
Financial Secretaries

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

SUBJECT:   
Accepting and/or Denying Late Enrollment Permit Applications

Permit applications submitted after the third (3rd) Friday of February for the following school year or any permit for the current school year must be determined by the “adjusted capacity” of the school. The adjusted capacity is the total number of students who could be served in a school if each teacher were to have a class size based on the staffing ratio for each grade level (§53G-6-401).  Late enrollment permit acceptance is determined by the staffing ratio as follows:

  • Elementary schools use the student to teacher ratio for each grade level to determine if there is space available.
  • Secondary schools use the student to teacher ratio for each core class within each grade level to determine if space is available.

Schools must use the following standards for accepting and/or rejecting an application (§53G-6-403):

The standards for accepting or rejecting an application for enrollment may include:

  1. For an elementary, the capacity of the grade level;
  2. Not offering, or having capacity in, an elementary or secondary special education or other special program the student requires;
  3. Maintenance of reduced class sizes (Title I, or school trust money used to reduce class sizes);
  4. Willingness of prospective students to comply with district policies; and
  5. Giving priority to intradistrict transfers over interdistrict transfers.

The standards for accepting or rejecting an application for enrollment may NOT include:

  1. Previous academic achievement;
  2. Athletic or other extracurricular ability;
  3. The fact that the student requires special education services for which space is available;
  4. Proficiency in the English language; or
  5. Previous disciplinary proceedings, except as follows:
    1. There has been a serious infraction of the law of school rules;
    2. The student has been guilty of chronic misbehavior which would, if it were to continue after the student was admitted:
      1. Endanger persons or property;
      2. Cause serious disruptions in the school; or
      3. Place unreasonable burdens on school staff.

Using the waitlist in PowerSchool and the standards listed above, permit applications are granted (seated) by the school on a first-come, first-served basis for the entire school year.

Regardless of acceptance or denial, all applications submitted from December 1 to February 19 must be notified of the status of their application by April 2. Applications submitted after February 21 must be notified within two weeks. All applications are notified of their waitlist position when their permit application is processed. While this should satisfy the notification requirements, schools may desire to send an additional notification if they do not plan to accept any permits. Please contact Caleb at x88251 should you have any questions.

Published on

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

Published on

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!

Published on

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.

Published on

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.

Published on

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

Published on

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

Published on

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.

Published on

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.

Published on

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.

Published on

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

Published on

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.

Published on

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.

Published on

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.

Published on

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