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Category: Middle School Action Required

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.

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning

The district-wide professional development day is on August 13th, 2024.

All licensed personnel are required to select and attend a keynote speaker in the morning and are required to attend a corresponding session to their assignment in the afternoon.

Please remind your teachers to sign up for a keynote ASAP if they haven’t already.

Please contact your AOS if questions arise about teachers with unique assignments. Administrators who are NOT hosting at a particular location should be in attendance with teachers. Divide your administrative team accordingly.

To register for a morning keynote:

  1. Please choose a speaker and then register for a keynote speaker using this link. Keynote speakers are NOT content specific. The topics and location information for each keynote speaker are included in the registration information.

Review Your Assigned Afternoon Grade Level/Content Area Schedule

  1. Please review the following flyer to see the lineup of presenters at your content area location. The afternoon breakout sessions on August 13th, ARE specific to content area and grade level. You do not need to pre-register for the afternoon breakouts. You will have time to eat lunch and transition to your content location after the morning keynote.

 

Published on

DATE:
July 18, 2024

TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals

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

SUBJECT:
Early Warning System – Panorama Users by Role

Panorama, the District’s Early Warning System (HB84), will begin nightly data downloads for the 2024-25 school year during the first week of August 2024. To ensure that all the appropriate permissions are activated users by role must be validated by each school.

There are two (2) roles that must be identified:

  1. Administrative Roles:
    a.   Have access to all students throughout the school
    b.   See all discipline information (number, type, and action of each consequence)
    c.   Receive reports about their school and district
    d.   Typically, the principal, assistant principal(s), school counselors, school psychologists, and clinical support staff have this access. The administrator may choose others that receive this access (special education team leaders, student trackers, athletic directors, etc.)
  2. Survey Coordinator Roles:
    a.   Receive reports about the school
    b.   Have access to all students throughout the school
    c.   Should NOT be the school principal
    d.   Coordinate survey administration and messaging

Using the 2024-25 Panorama Administrators and Survey Coordinators sheet select your school, list the names of the users (first and last name), select the role, and enter the users district email address. Schools should enter this information prior to August 1, 2024 to ensure seamless use at the beginning of the school year.

Schools who wish to have their faculty activated should email Travis Hamblin (travis.hamblin@jordandistrict.org).

Published on

DATE:
July 18, 2024

TO:
Secondary Principals
Secondary Assistant Principals
Secondary Attendance Secretaries
Secondary Registrars

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

SUBJECT:
Assigning Discipline Officers and Counselors for New-to-School Secondary Students (2024-25)

Each year in August, Information Systems runs a utility to assign secondary students a discipline officer and a counselor in Skyward.

Counselors must be active on each school’s Staff screen in order to be assigned to students. In order to be assigned as a discipline officer, an individual must:

  1. Be a District-appointed administrator or administrative intern. Individuals completing internship hours through an assignment by Human Resources who have not been officially appointed as an administrative intern by the District should not be assigned as discipline officers.
  2. Have the “Discipline Officer” box marked on their individual profile on the school’s “Staff” screen.

This utility will be run in early August to update all students enrolled at that point in time. After the initial utility has been run, Information Systems cannot easily “mass assign” discipline officers or counselors for schools. The utility, if run later in the year, would overwrite any custom assignments made by the school. In order for certain processes to successfully run in Skyward, however, discipline officers and counselors must be assigned for students who enroll after the utility has been run. This should be done as part of the registration process. An individual with responsibility for entering the student into Skyward should verify that the “Entity Info” screen has an appropriate individual assigned under ‘Discipline Officer”, “Counselor”, and “Advisor”. This process will need to be completed for students who are new to the District and for those who are transferring from another District location. Making this a part of the enrollment process will help ensure that discipline can be reported and processed accurately.

For the 2024-25 school year, information on the alphabet assignments for assistant principals and counselors will be taken from the school’s update to the Assistant Principal Directory. In order for the utility to be run in a timely manner, schools should complete updates to the directory by July 31, 2024. The directory can be updated at
this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GIy82OtQIsQ4ul40HcWhfRatxB6NNmKzDNQlddOX5m0/ 

Questions on entering discipline officers may be directed to the help desk in Information Systems at x88737. General questions on recording discipline may be directed to Caleb Olson in Planning & Enrollment at x88251.

Published on

DATE:
Thursday, July 18, 2024

TO:
All School Administrators
District Department Directors/Consultants

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

SUBJECT:
2024-25 Required Testing Ethics Professional Development Procedures for Education Support Professionals

For the 2024-25 school year, administrators will need to conduct a training for all licensed educators as well as any education support professionals (ESPs) who will assist with district-, state- or federally-mandated testing on the state’s testing ethics policy. All licensed educators will need to be trained on the policy. Administrators will want to consider including computer lab assistants who function as the school’s test coordinator, any classroom aides that assist with testing, literacy aides who assist with Acadience Reading or Math testing or progress monitoring, or any office staff that assist test coordinators with district-, state- or federally-mandated testing.

The three required procedures for completing this testing ethics professional development are listed on the “2024-25 Principal’s Testing Ethics Checklist for ESPs” form, which is due to Assessment, Research & Accountability by Friday, September 20, 2024.

As has been done in the past, administrators may provide the testing ethics training themselves using the Google slide deck linked in this memo. Alternatively, administrators may show the YouTube video linked below to school personnel. The video provides the same information as the slide deck. Once school personnel have been trained, either by a school administrator or using the video, they are required to sign the “2024-25 Standard Test Administration and Testing Ethics Policy Training Signature Form.” Administrators are asked to keep these signed forms on file at the school.

There are several materials attached with this memo for your use:

  • 2024-25 Principal’s Testing Ethics Checklist – This form needs to be filled out and sent to Assessment, Research & Accountability by Friday, September 20, 2024.
  • Testing Ethics Presentation, 2024-25 – This is the slide deck if administrators choose to present the training in-person.
    2024-25 Standard Test Administration and Testing Ethics Policy – This document should be distributed to every licensed educator as well as any ESPs that assist with district-, state- or federally-mandated testing.
  • Testing Ethics Video – This is the training video that may be used in lieu of a school administrator providing the training, though it is still recommended that school personnel view the video together. The video may also be found at this YouTube link.
  • Standard Test Administration and Testing Ethics Training Signature Form, 2024-25 – Administrators should retain a signed copy of this form for all licensed educators as well as any ESPs who assist with district-, state- or federally-mandated testing.
  • Testing Ethics Policy FAQ – Administrators should distribute this FAQ document to all licensed educators and any ESPs that assist with district-, state- or federally mandated testing.

Please contact Ben Jameson or Gaylene Miller in Assessment, Research & Accountability with any questions.

Published on

TO:
Administrators
Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Steffany Ellsworth, Support Services Manager in Information Systems

Introducing ParentSquare: Our New Communication Platform Launching July 1st!

We are excited to announce the launch of our new school communication platform, ParentSquare, which will be available July 1st! Does this mean that Skylert is no longer available? That’s correct, Skylert will no longer be accessible after June 30, 2024. The good news is that ParentSquare is capable of so much more!

See the document below for all the exciting details!

 

Published on

DATE:
June 13, 2024 

TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals

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

SUBJECT:
UPDATED: HB182 Compliance Regarding Surveys and Preferred Pronoun Use

Utah Code §53E-9-203 prohibits schools and school employees from administering any “psychological or psychiatric examination, test, or treatment, or any survey, analysis or evaluation” (emphasis added) where the purpose is to cause a student to identify information in one of the following eight areas:

  1. political affiliations or, except as provided under Section 53G-10-202 or rules of the state board, political philosophies;
  2. mental or psychological problems;
  3. sexual behavior, orientation, or attitudes;
  4. illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior;
  5. critical appraisals of individuals with whom the student or family member has close family relationships;
  6. religious affiliations or beliefs;
  7. legally recognized privileged and analogous relationships, such as those with lawyers, medical personnel, or ministers; and
  8. income, except as required by law.

HB 182, which passed in the 2024 Utah legislative session and takes effect on July 1, 2024, amends the third item in this list to read as follows (emphasis added):

  1. sexual behavior, orientation, gender identity, or attitudes;

To ensure compliance with HB 182 after July 1, 2024, the following guidance for “beginning-of-year” activities or documents should be noted and communicated to staff:

  • Students should not be asked or otherwise surveyed (including questions on “About Me” or “Getting to Know You”-style assignments and activities) as to their sexual or gender identity or preferred pronouns.
  • Documents or disclosure statements that include this type of survey question about gender identity or preferred pronouns should not be approved by administrators when conducting annual reviews and approvals as required by District Policy AA 432 - Student Attendance and Teacher Disclosure Statements. 

Additionally, staff should be reminded that HB182 also establishes a requirement that any survey related to an early warning system (i.e. Panorama), social emotional learning question, or the school climate system requires parental OPT-IN during registration at the beginning of the school year, adding an additional clearance step to the prohibitions listed above. The opt-in information is included in summer registration materials for District-sponsored surveys.

 

Published on

DATE:       
June 6, 2024

TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals

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

SUBJECT:   
Monthly Drill Schedule

This schedule is designed so that our district will remain in compliance with state regulations. The design is set up so the district can help prepare and support each of your schools throughout the year to better implement these drills. This schedule is to be followed throughout the district.

Secondary schools are required FOUR (4) evacuations a year. You may do more if desired.

Elementary schools are required to conduct an evacuation EVERY OTHER MONTH. These evacuations can follow any drill and DO NOT have to be in conjunction with a fire drill. Due to this regulation and the mandated fire drill after winter break, an evacuation drill will need to be conducted in both December and January in order to remain in compliance. This applies only to elementary schools.

It is important to make sure your location reports all drills, actual emergencies, and related planning and debrief meetings for this school year using the Google Form, 2024-25 REPORT EMERGENCY - DRILLS, ACTUAL EVENTS, or MEETINGS.  Please include all related details.

Two virtual Drill Preparation trainings will be held back-to-back on the first Wednesday of each month at 3:00 PM and again at 3:30 PM. The ZOOM LINK will remain the same for each session throughout the year. School Safety Specialists and Administrators over safety are expected to attend. Other administrators or interested employees are always welcome as well.

MONTH DRILL TYPE NOTES
August Fire First 10 days of school
September Secure
October Lockdown Evacuation required for elementary schools
November Shelter
December Hold Evacuation required for elementary schools
January Fire First 10 days of school after winter break
February Secure
March Lockdown Evacuation required for elementary schools
April Earthquake Great Shakeout. Evacuation is optional
May Drill of Choice Choose whichever drill appropriate for your school

If there are any questions, concerns, or conflicts please contact the District Safety Coordinator Matt Alvernaz at matt.alvernaz@jordandistrict.org or by phone at (801) 567-8623.

Published on

DATE:  
June 6, 2024

TO:    
Principals
Assistant Principals

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

SUBJECT:   
School Safety Specialists

53G-8-701.6 which requires each school to designate a school safety specialist from the employees of the campus was updated this last legislative session. The intent of the memo below is to assist in the process of determining who will fill this role at your school. Please take note of what needs to be done to select the individual needed.

Published on

DATE:  
June 6, 2024

TO:   
Principals
Assistant Principals

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

SUBJECT:
Incident Action Plans

Beginning the 2024-25 school year schools are required to create an action plan for each new incident of bullying.

Each action plan must include:

  • A communication plan to keep each parent updated on the implementation of the plan;
  • For the victim of the incident and in direct coordination with the student’s parent:
    • A tailored response that addresses the student’s needs;
    • Accommodations the student may need for decreased exposure or interactions with the offender;
    • Notification of the consequences and plan to address the behavior of the offender;
    • Supportive measures to preserve the student’s access to educational services and opportunities; and
    • Access to other resources the parent requests for the student.
  • For the student who caused the incident and in direct coordination with the student’s parent:
    • A range of tailored and appropriate consequences, with a reasonable effort to preserve access to educational services and activities;
    • A process to determine and provide resources for the underlying cause of the incident;
    • Supportive measures to preserve educational access while protecting the safety and well-being of other students; and
    • A process to remove the student from school.

The action plan may not require the victim to change their educational schedule or placement; or participation is a school sponsored sport, club, or activity. (§53G-9-605.5)

This memo is intended to provide notification only. Resources and training will be provided in the fall regarding action plans and other prevention efforts to help implement and manage this new requirement.

Published on

TO:
All Principals

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Amanda Bollinger, Staff Assistant in Teaching & Learning

As principals plan their building schedules they should prioritize attendance for building coaches on these dates. Please share the finalized schedule with current instructional coaches, BYU/UVU facilitators, Title I coaches, digital coaches, and those employees who have been given coaching assignments for the 2024-2025 school year. The ICI will continue to offer assigned coaches job embedded professional development and options to earn the coaching endorsement during the contract day.

Principals, please mark your calendars to attend the Kickoff and Closing sessions with your coach(es).

2024-2025 Elementary Instructional Coaching Institute Schedule

2024-25 Secondary Instructional Coaching Institute Schedule

Published on

TO:
Elementary Principals

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Amanda Bollinger, Staff Assistant in Teaching & Learning

FALL Mentor Training will be available online through Canvas August 5 - September 6. Mentor Training will be provided to new mentors based on administrator recommendation. After checking with potential mentors, please complete the Google Form by Friday, August 30, to add names of mentors you would like to have complete mentor training. We have a limited number of seats. Educators will be added first come, first served. You may add up to three mentors per form. Teachers will get paid $150 stipend for completing the mentor Canvas training.

You can access a list of currently trained mentors on your school’s mentor list shared with you via Google sheets and your school coaching plan. If you need help accessing your mentor list, please contact your district coaching specialist.

Google Form Link

Published on

DATE:  
May 9, 2024

TO:  
Principals
All Certified Special Education Staff

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

SUBJECT:   
Year-End Checkout for Special Education

The items listed below need attention as you prepare to close out the 2023-24 school year. Any questions or concerns that arise should be directed to your school’s Teacher Specialist for clarification.

Published on

DATE: 
May 16, 2024

TO:   
Principals
Assistant Principals

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

SUBJECT: 
End of Year SafeUT Reminders

Throughout the summer SafeUT tips will continue to be sent through the Dashboard to all individuals assigned. If there are any needed changes to SafeUt settings over the summer please contact Angie Rasmussen or McKinley Withers. Issues and tips received through SafeUT should continue to be addressed throughout the summer.

It is critical that ALL SafeUT tips are “closed” in a timely manner and your schools SafeUt Dashboard is up to date because:

  • When tips are not closed, it appears that the school did not address or respond to the concern.
  • The data is used for funding decisions.
  • SafeUT uses the feedback to improve how tips are distributed which impacts our work.

Use these steps to close SafeUt tips:

  1. Document in the School Assessment area. MUST select at least one option under each category.
    1. Choose a student action taken for the student that was involved in the tip.
    2. If there was a threat claimed in the tip, was it verified?
    3. Click Save Information.
  2. Document the texter information (this is the information for the individual of concern which is not always the tipster).
    1. Select gender and age range.
    2. Click Save Information.
  3. Add a Disposition Note
    1. There must be at least one (1) disposition note entered prior to closing the tip. This could be about who was involved, what happened, and/or how the tip was resolved.
    2. Click Add Note to save.
  4. Close the Tip (click “Close the Tip” in the upper right corner)
    1. A drop box will appear and you choose the best option from the list and then click close.
    2. Once the tip is closed it will be removed from the school list.

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:
Elementary Principals

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Amanda Bollinger, Staff Assistant in Teaching & Learning

Admin, please share this information with your teachers.

Many of your teachers are pursuing a STEM endorsement (see our EIP website for a full list of endorsements) USBE WILL REIMBURSE THEM FOR THEIR EDUCATION! This is called the STEM Endorsement Incentive Program (EIP). See the attached flyer and link to our EIP website for more information.

The next round of reimbursement applications is due May 29th, 2024 for teachers who completed STEM courses in Winter 2023/Spring 2024. If you have any questions, please reach out to the content consultant. We would love to talk to you!

Published on

DATE:
May 9, 2024

TO:
Principals
Elementary Administrative Assistants
Secondary Attendance Secretaries

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

SUBJECT:
Entering Attendance in Skyward for the Last Six (6) Days of the School Year

Please see the attached memo.

 

Published on

DATE:
May 9, 2024

TO: 
Principals
Elementary Administrative Assistants
Secondary School Registrars

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

SUBJECT:
Permanent Records - Transfer Processes and Procedures

Please see the attached memo.

Published on

TO:
Administrators

FROM:
Paul Bergera, Director of Transportation

School Administrators,

I received the following letter from State Risk Management. State Risk is witnessing a major increase in reported accidents in and around school bus zones. Regretfully, Jordan School District has experienced several accidents in and around school bus zones this school year. The letter highlights the importance of dedicated school bus zones being used solely for the purpose of school buses and also emphasizes the importance of keeping bus zones free from all vehicles other than school buses. Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Jordan School District is more than willing to provide personnel and resources to you as you develop your school's safety plan. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to Matt Alvernaz, JSD School Safety Coordinator, at matt.alvernaz@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8623 or Brandon Conti, JSD Risk Management Coordinator, at brandon.conti@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8876. Thank you for your continued cooperation and support.