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Category: Middle School Action Required

Published on

DATE:
September 5, 2024

TO:
All Secondary Principals

FROM:
Steffany Ellsworth, Support Services Manager

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 9th. 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 2023-24 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 27, 2024. 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.

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, you may request access for them by emailing a request to ishelpdesk@jordandistrict.org.

Published on

DATE:
September 5th, 2024

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness

SUBJECT:
Employee Wellness Rep Training 9/18 & Last Call!

As a reminder, each school or department is invited to select an employee wellness representative! The Employee Wellness Representatives will support faculty/staff wellness efforts within your school or department. If you haven’t already, please nominate your Employee Wellness Representative for the 24-25 school year!

The first of two trainings for Employee Wellness Representatives will occur on 9/18 where each rep will be able to benefit from the following:

  • Time to plan the year with support from other Wellness Reps
  • Collect information about critical District resources to support your staff
  • Engage in personal wellness
  • Lunch will be served!

Please forward the attached invitation to your selected Employee Wellness Representative.

As a reminder, the cost of substitutes is covered by the school. One substitute is a worthwhile investment for improving wellness in your school or department!

Published on

DATE:
September 5th, 2024

TO:
 All Administrators

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness Consultant

SUBJECT:
Schedule Your School’s “Wellness Check-up!”

Student and Staff Wellness, as a pillar of the Board’s Strategic Plan, continues to be a priority in our District and schools. In support of this priority, the Wellness Team will be conducting “Wellness Check-Ups” to deeply understand the current wellness efforts of the hardworking people in JSD (like you!).

The Wellness Team wants to learn from you! We would like to stop by in person to let you show off your wellness work. This might include visits to wellness rooms, meeting staff members, hearing about curriculum offerings, understanding current needs and programs, or any other concern or celebration. Mostly, we’ll be admiring your hard work!

Our intention with Wellness Check-Ups is not to take a lot of time, or add anything to your plate, it is to more deeply understand our school’s efforts, needs, and goals. This will allow the Wellness Team to better advocate and support you in your work!

Calendar a time at this link or email McKinley Withers (mckinley.withers@jordandistrict.org, 801-567-8245) for alternative arrangements.

We look forward to learning from your school!

Published on

DATE:
August 29, 2024

TO:
Middle School Principals
High School Principals
Health, CTE, and Psychology Teachers

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Amanda Bollinger, Associate Administrator, Teaching & Learning

SUBJECT:
Required Law and Policy Training for Teaching Sex Ed Topics

Law and policy training is mandatory for all new or newly assigned educators of sex education topics and must be renewed every three years. All health and certain CTE, science, and psychology educators must complete this training. CTE, science, and psychology teachers should complete this training if they teach eligible courses like Child Development, Health Science, Medical Anatomy, Human Development, Genetics, or any course with instruction on sex education as defined in Utah Code 53G-10-403. The USBE offers a free online training which can be found on the health education webpage.

A list of courses the USBE staff believe require law and policy training can be found below. Principals, please direct the teachers who teach these courses to do the training.

Published on

DATE:
August 29, 2024

TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals
School Safety Specialists

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Matt Alvernaz, School Safety Coordinator

SUBJECT:
Monthly Drill Preparation (SECURE)

Our monthly drill preparation will be held on September 4th at 3:00 PM with a second session at 3:30 PM. This month we will be covering SECURE.  Each School Safety Specialist is expected to attend along with administrators assigned to oversee school safety.  All other administrators are welcomed to attend as well. The meeting is also opened to any staff who may be interested.

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 SECURE response protocol can be found in the Jordan School District Safety Manual on pages 8-11.  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.

Published on

DATE: 
August 29, 2024

TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals
Panorama Survey Coordinators
Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services

SUBJECT:
Panorama Student Feedback Survey Opt-In Report

Panorama (Early Warning System) and social-emotional surveys may only be administered to students whose parents have opted-in. Parents are asked to opt-in to the student feedback survey during the registration process. When the online registration process closes on Oct. 1 schools will manually enter the opt-in information into Skyward.

The Survey window is August 30-September 20, 2024. The following information is provided to inform and assist you as you administer student surveys:

  • The list of students who may take the survey (opted-in) will be provided to Panorama prior to the administration of the survey by Student Services. Only opted-in students will be able to log in and take the survey.
  • Schools should print out the list of students who have opted-in and provide teachers with the list of students in their classes that have opted-in. The registration opt-in information can be accessed through Skyward using this data mining report.
  • Using the list provided to them by the main office, teachers will be able to manage the administration of the survey. Using the opt-in list, teachers will be able to identify why students may not be able to log in and take the survey.
  • If there are students wishing to take the survey and they are on the opted-in list, but are having log-in issues – the school survey coordinator should contact Panorama directly for assistance at support+utahjordan@panoramaed.com. Student Services does not have the ability to manage access to surveys.
  • Students may choose to not take the survey even though their parents have opted them into the survey. Student feedback surveys administered through Panorama are never required and are always optional.
  • Parents/Guardians should always be informed/notified regarding the administration of any survey.

Survey coordinators and administrators should view the Administering Panorama Survey presentation for information, instructions, and guidance regarding the student feedback surveys. Other Panorama information may be found on the Student Serves website here.

Should you have any questions please reach out to Travis Hamblin (travis.hamblin@jordandistrict.org) or Michelle Reyes (michelle.reyes@jordandistrict.org).

Published on

TO:
Middle and High School Administrators

FROM:
Chris Richards Khong, Associate Administrator of Teaching and Learning

As announced to the AP community, the AP Program is accelerating the transition to digital testing to ensure the continued security of AP Exams. All schools must administer these 28 AP Exams digitally. Late-testing exams in these subjects, if offered by the school, are also in digital format.

For the full list of exams going digital, hybrid, and staying paper-pencil, please visit the main announcement page link listed on the resource page attached to this JAM message.

Overview webinars will be held on Thursday, September 12th and Monday, September 15th, 2024. Registration information for webinars is located on the resource page attached to this JAM message.

Action required: Please make certain your AP Coordinator and AP teachers have this exam information and the resources attached to this JAM message.

Published on

DATE:
August 22, 2024

TO:  
Teaching & Learning Consultants
Secondary & Elementary Assistant Principals

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

SUBJECT: 
Safe School Hearing Committee 2024-2025

District Safe School Hearings are essential to a student’s due process. Safe School Hearings are held weekly and are chaired by the Student Support Consultant, Sharon Jensen, and consists of a committee made up of school and district administrators.

Please find your Safe School Hearing Committee assignment(s) at this LINK

Should you have any questions or conflicts regarding your committee assignment(s), contact Janie Hyde, Administrative Assistant, Student Support Services. 801-567-8326.

 

Published on

DATE:    
August 22, 2024

TO: 
Building Principals
Elementary Administrative Assistants
Secondary Registrars
Secondary Attendance Secretaries

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

SUBJECT:  
2024-25 Preparations for Done.0 and 10-Day Drops

As mentioned in a previous memo, 2024-25 Preparations for Done.0 and 10-Day Drops, processing for 10-day drops may begin on September 3 and 4. Planning & Enrollment will begin preparing “Done.0” FTE allocation recommendations for Cabinet shortly thereafter. Please note the following tasks that MUST BE COMPLETED BY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2024.

Administrators:

  • Ensuring hiring totals are updated on your school’s Enrollment Dashboard. Each year, once Done.0 has been issued, multiple schools require adjustments due to forgetting to update hiring totals. This impacts the availability of funds to address critical needs throughout the District. If hiring totals are not accurate on the Dashboard AND in Skyward, the school may need to fund positions through alternative budgets.
  • Ensure that hiring does not exceed the 2.0 allocation issued in February 2024. Even if enrollment has increased above projections, schools are not authorized to hire above 2.0 without the express consent of the Superintendent and Cabinet.
  • Hiring also should not exceed qualified FTE totals based on enrollment as of Day 10.
  • ELEMENTARY: Many schools have not recorded hiring for their BTS instructor. Total FTE for the position should be entered in column E of row 33; budgets paying for that FTE should be recorded in row 76.

Admin Assistants / Attendance Secretaries / Registrars

  • Work with teachers to try to generate accurate attendance for the first ten days. At the secondary level, if a single teachers does not record a student absence during the first ten days, Skyward will not identify the student as continuously absent.
    • The “Suspect or Questionable Attendance Report” (located in Office > Attendance . Reports > Verification Reports) may be beneficial in identifying teachers who are not accurately recording attendance. Run the report for a specific day of school and select the “Validate Limited Student Presence” option. This will identify students who have been marked absent in most periods but have a small number of periods where the student was marked present. The report will also identify the teacher who may not have accurately recorded attendance.
  • Review the previous memo on 10-Day drops, 2024-25 Preparations for Done.0 and 10-Day Drops, and be ready to run reports, withdraw students, and report completion of drops.

Published on

DATE:  
August 22, 2024

TO:  
Principals
Assistant Principals
Safety Personnel
School Safety Specialists

FROM:  
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Matt Alvernaz, School Safety Coordinator

SUBJECT: 
SRP/Incident Command Training – Administrators/School Safety Specialists

To ensure current and best practices in school safety are implemented uniformly across the district, training in both the Incident Command System and Standard Response Protocols is required annually. This training is required for all principals, assistant principals, district administrators, district safety personnel and assigned school safety specialists. This is an opportunity to receive the most up-to-date instruction and gain clarity on how both systems work cohesively to improve safety for students, staff, and guests. Trainings will be held on:

  • Thursday, September 5th, 2024 from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM at JATC South
  • Wednesday, September 11th, 2024 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at JATC South
  • Wednesday, October 9th, 2024 from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM at JATC South
  • Tuesday, October 15th, 2024 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at JATC South

Please sign up for one of the training sessions using this link.

Should you have any questions please contact Matt Alvernaz, the District Safety Coordinator, at matt.alvernaz@jordandistrict.org or by phone at (801)567-8623.

Published on

DATE:  
August 15, 2024

TO:  
All Principals

FROM:  
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education

SUBJECT: 
Providing a Consistent Space for Itinerant Service Providers

As the school year begins, please be mindful that the itinerant service providers assigned to your school require a consistent and viable space to work with the students that they are assigned to in your school. These service providers include OTs, PTs, Hearing & Vision, etc. The services that these professionals provide are required by students’ IEPs and 504 plans and aid in students being able to engage more effectively in instruction and other related activities. These providers serve students in multiple schools each day and have very tight schedules. If they are required to spend time locating a space to serve students each time they arrive at a school, or if they are unexpectedly moved from a space, it can greatly affect their ability to provide these required services to each of the students that they are assigned to.

Please be sure to work with your itinerant service providers at the start of the school year to identify a consistent viable space where they can serve the students at your school. If you need to change that space during the school year, please notify the itinerant service providers well in advance.

Also, as you plan for the year and additional staff to your school, please keep in mind that Speech Language Therapists are an integral part of your faculty and need space to work with small groups and individual students.

We appreciate your support in these efforts.

Published on

DATE: 
August 12, 2024

TO:   
Principals
Assistant Principals

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Michelle Reyes, Truancy Prevention Specialist

SUBJECT:   
Free Attendance Campaign Banners, Stickers and Back to School Attendance Resources

Back to school is the ideal time to convey the right message about attendance to families, students, and the community. Attendance messaging aids in building the habit and culture of attendance by helping everyone understand why going to school every day is important. The Student Services Department has developed materials for your use to promote attendance in a positive way this school year using the campaign slogan: Be Present, Be Powerful.

Banners, posters, stickers, tracking calendars, and attendance pledge templates are available in English and Spanish here. Back to School Night is a great opportunity to share positive messages with families about attendance.

Student Services has ordered 24, 4’ X 8’, outdoor mesh banners and 2,000 vinyl stickers that are immediately available, free of charge to interested schools. Due to limited supplies, they will be first come, first served using this google sheet. Schools may request 1 banner and up to 100 stickers each until supplies are gone. If you miss the sign up or would like to order more, you can find links to order your own banners and stickers for a very reasonable price on the bottom of the google order sheet.

September is National Attendance Awareness Month. Watch for more information/ideas in an upcoming JAM memo.

Should you have questions or need assistance with attendance, please contact Michelle Reyes @ michelle.reyes@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8205.

Link for ordering Banners
Link for ordering Stickers

Published on

DATE:   
August 5, 2024

TO:  
All Administrators

FROM:   
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness

SUBJECT:  
2024-25 Employee Wellness Representatives

As a reminder, each school or department is invited to select an employee wellness representative! The Educator Wellness Representatives will support faculty/staff wellness efforts within your schools.

Action Items for administrators: If you haven’t already, please nominate your Educator Wellness Representative for the 24-25 school year!

Educator Wellness Representatives Duties include:

  • Will attend bi-annual in person training on 9/18/24 & 1/8/25
    • **Schools will need to cover the cost of the sub**
  • Promote wellness initiatives at the District and school level
  • Lead and support faculty/staff wellness efforts at your school throughout the year
  • Maintain a connection with District Wellness Specialists
  • Model educator wellness for the school community

Steps to having an educator wellness rep for your school or department:

  • Consider the following:
    1. Reps must be a licensed, non-administrative staff member. We highly recommend using a non-mental health team staff member. Also, we recommend they work with a leadership team or social committee at your school.
    2. Principals may work with their current reps to see if they’re interested in doing this important work again for the upcoming school year.
  • Principal nominates ONE educator wellness representative for each school using this form.
  • Support your wellness rep throughout the year as the work to enhance your school or department!

Published on

DATE:      
August 5, 2024

TO:  
All administrators

FROM:  
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness Consultant

SUBJECT:
Beginning of Year SafeUT Reminders

Administrators,

As a reminder, SafeUT tips will continue to be sent through the Dashboard to all individuals assigned. If staff members would like to make any changes to their settings (such as text message notifications) or there are needed updates to your school’s dashboard, please inform Angie Rasmussen or McKinley Withers.

In addition, it is essential that ALL SafeUT tips are “closed” and that the SafeUT Dashboard for each school is up to date for the following reasons:

  • When the tip is not closed, the issue appears to not have been addressed or handled.
  • The legislature and USBE can review this data as part of funding decisions.
  • It allows SafeUT to improve how tips are distributed.

Here is a step-by-step information sheet that includes this process with images.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Angie Rasmussen at angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org

Published on

TO:
Administrators
Directors

FROM:
June LeMaster, Administrator Human Resources
Jane Olsen, Recruiting, Licensing & Hiring in Human Resources

Reserve your Job Fair Table!

Please see the documents below for all of the information!

Published on

DATE:  
August 8, 2024

TO: 
Principals
Administrative Assistants
Attendance Secretaries
Registrars

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

SUBJECT: 
Reporting Completion of 10-Day Accounting

Students who are registered to a District school and have not attended (or been marked absent with a valid excuse) for ten consecutive school days at any point in the school year must be withdrawn from membership. This is particularly important during the first ten days of the school year so that our enrollment calculations and reporting is accurate.

Accurate enrollment counts are used to generate future projections. Projection totals are needed very soon after ten-day adjustments are completed. To assist in preparing projections, we are asking all schools to report the completion of their 10-day drops on a Google Sheet as soon as these drops are processed. Only the staff member responsible for processing the drops should indicate completion status. The Google Sheet is available at this link and will be emailed to attendance staff again close to the 10th day of school.

10 day drops for high schools may be processed at the end of the day on September 3, 2024. Elementary (Grades K-6) and middle school may process drops at the end of the day on September 4, 2024.

Guidelines for how to process these drops are available at the links below:

Published on

TO:
Middle & High Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Chris Richards Khong, Associate Administrator of Teaching and Learning

As announced to the AP community, the AP Program is accelerating the transition to digital testing to ensure the continued security of AP Exams. All schools must administer these 28 AP Exams digitally. Late-testing exams in these subjects, if offered by the school, are also in digital format.

For the full list of exams going digital, hybrid, and staying paper-pencil, please visit the main announcement page link listed on the resource page attached to this JAM message.

Overview webinars will be held on Thursday, September 12th and Monday, September 15th, 2024. Registration information for webinars is located on the resource page attached to this JAM message.

Action required: Please make certain your AP Coordinator and AP teachers have this exam information and the resources attached to this JAM message.

 

 

Published on

TO:
Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Jared Covili, Consultant in Teaching & Learning

Leadership in Personalized and Digital Learning Academy 2023-2024

The LPDL Academy is designed specifically for administrators to lead schools toward blended and digital learning through research-based content and job-embedded experiences. Upon completion, you may receive USBE's Educational Technology Endorsement.

The LPDL Academy will follow the blended-learning model; online course expectations in Canvas, five face-to-face meetings, completion of a digital implementation roadmap, and consultations as needed. As a participant, your school will receive professional development grant money to build the capacity of teachers and leaders, $5000 per school.

The face-to-face sessions will primarily be held at the ASB in Room 112 from 8:00 am - noon on the dates listed below. Mark your calendar and look for the Canvas course invite coming soon. If you have questions, please contact Jared Covili, Digital Teaching & Learning Consultant, at  801-567-8191 or jared.covili@jordandistrict.org 

Sign up today at: https://bit.ly/jordanLPDL

Session 1: Blended Learning

Wednesday, September 11, 2024 

  • Session focuses on personalized learning models (competency-based, blended, etc), digital leadership, and an introspective look at you as a digital leader.

Session 2: Culture & Change Management

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

  • Session focuses on understanding school leadership and cultural interactions, a framework for leading school change, and engaging stakeholders.

Session 3: Shifting Teaching & Learning
Wednesday,  November 14, 2024

  • Session focuses on personalized learning and teaching, supporting all students, and the leader's role in observing and evaluating.

Session 4: Human Capacity and Professional Learning

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

  • Session focuses on effective elements of professional learning, digital learning competencies, distributed leadership, and professional learning models

Session 5: Systems for Transforming to Personalized and Digital Learning

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

  • Session focuses on technology and infrastructure systems, devices, budgets, learning spaces, and rethinking current structures to facilitate change.

Published on

DATE:
Thursday, August 1, 2024

TO:
Middle and High School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:
Summative Testing Changes for 2024-25

Principals are asked to share the following information with their Utah Aspire Plus and RISE tested teachers.

With the change in the ELA core approved by the Utah State Board of Education in recent months, the state’s summative assessments will need to reflect those changes. The changes to RISE and the Utah Aspire Plus are highlighted below:

Utah Aspire Plus

  • The English subtest will no longer be administered. Only the Reading, Math and Science subtests will be administered.
  • Scores will be delayed as the state will need to undergo a standard setting process because of this change. This means that teachers will not have access to Utah Aspire Plus scores when students complete testing. No grade incentive will be possible for the 2024-25 school year for any of the subtests because part of the standard setting process includes the predicted ACT scores, which requires scores from all of the subtests. We expect to receive scores sometime in the fall of 2025.

RISE

  • The ELA RISE assessment and the RISE Writing assessment (5th and 8th grades only) will also be revised according to the new ELA core. We do not expect scores for these assessments to be available either due to the necessity of a standard setting process. No grade incentive will be possible for the 2024-25 school year for these two assessments, though they may still be used for RISE Math and Science.
  • RISE Writing benchmarks will also be suspended for just the 2024-25 school year. USBE is working to field test new RISE Writing benchmarks, but they will not be available until the 2025-26 school year.
  • The Listening and Editing benchmarks will be permanently removed from the RISE system beginning with the 2024-25 school year.

For questions about these changes, please contact Ben Jameson in Assessment, Research & Accountability.

Published on

DATE:   
July 1, 2024

TO:   
Principals
Special Education Teachers (Preschool and School-Age) Speech-Language Pathologists

FROM: 
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education

SUBJECT:   
Extended Year Special Educator Stipends 2024-25

The legislation allows a specific group of special educators to work up to 5 additional days for a $200/day stipend (plus applicable benefits). The Bill applies to Special Education Teachers (Preschool and School- Age) and Speech-Language Pathologists only (Speech-Language Technicians are not included). The number of days and stipend amount are based upon the educators assigned FTE equivalent. Please note that eligible staff will only be allowed to work these days two weeks before the first contract day of the 2024-25 school year and two weeks after the last contract day of the 2024-25 school year, not during vacation periods (e.g., holiday recess, Spring Break, etc.). Please see attached memo for more information.