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Category: Middle School Action Required

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In planning school calendars for 2019-20 please remember to not schedule any school activities for March 24, 2020 in order for employees and community members to attend their local Caucus'. Secondary schools, you may be asked to host the local Caucus Night. More information will be given as we get closer to this event. Thank you!

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Principals:  Please post in your school and send the attached flyer to each School Community Council member, all parents are invited to attend.

Jordan Parent University
New Schools, New Adventures!
Thursday, April 11, 2019
7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
South Hills Middle – 13508 S 4000 W, Riverton

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DATE:  
Thursday, February 28, 2019

TO: 
All Principals

FROM:  
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
2019 UEPC School Climate Survey Reminder

We are half way through the 2019 UEPC School Climate Survey administration window.  The survey window is scheduled to close on Friday, March 15, 2019.  Many schools have had great response rates thus far, but there are still some who have not notified parents of the survey and have not given students or faculty/staff an opportunity to take the survey.

Principals are asked to do the following, if they have not already done so:

  • Please notify parents of the school climate survey as soon as possible. Send out a link with the attached sample parent letter (please edit as you see appropriate) via Skylert and post the link on your school’s website.  You may need to send out several reminders between now and the close of the survey window.  In the past, the district’s response rate from parents has reached only 12%.  In order for us to get a healthy response rate from parents, they need as much notice as possible with a few friendly reminders to take the survey for schools.
  • Please schedule a time in which your faculty and staff can take the survey, perhaps during a faculty meeting.
  • Please work with your teachers to ensure that every student second grade and up has a time scheduled during the school day in which they may take the survey.

Principals may check their response rates for each stakeholder survey by clicking on the links below.  Please see the response rates as of Monday, February 25, 2019, attached with this memo.

Response Rate Links:

Faculty/Staff Responses:

https://uepc.co1.qualtrics.com/results/public/dWVwYy1VUl85TnN2ZTc5NE1MNUJZUUEtNWMwYWQ5MDIyNmNjZGIwMDEzNzU0MTY3 - /pages/Page_7ed374a9-bc68-4d7d-b2e2-306bbc1b8a33

Parent Responses:

https://uepc.co1.qualtrics.com/results/public/dWVwYy1VUl85TnN2ZTc5NE1MNUJZUUEtNWM2MmViMjc0ZjBkNWIwMDEzODliYmUz - /pages/Page_932e5fd6-d0b3-4b85-99ba-52154455f84d

Student Responses:

https://uepc.co1.qualtrics.com/results/public/dWVwYy1VUl85TnN2ZTc5NE1MNUJZUUEtNWM2MmVlMTZjMzdmNDQwMDBkZDc3ZDAy - /pages/Page_7205b01b-4d07-4bb9-8f89-4a3d6d6f3108

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) posted a rule in the Federal Register requiring small drone owners to display the FAA-issued registration number on an outside surface of the aircraft. Owners and operators may no longer place or write registration numbers in an interior compartment. The rule is effective on February 25. The markings must be in place for any flight after that date.

When the FAA first required registration of small drones in 2015, the agency mandated that the registration marking be readily accessible and maintained in readable condition. The rule granted some flexibility by permitting the marking to be placed in an enclosed compartment, such as a battery case, if it could be accessed without the use of tools.

Subsequently, law enforcement officials and the FAA’s interagency security partners have expressed concerns about the risk a concealed explosive device might pose to first responders upon opening a compartment to find a drone’s registration number. The FAA believes this action will enhance safety and security by allowing a person to view the unique identifier directly without handling the drone.

This interim final rule does not change the original acceptable methods of external marking, nor does it specify a particular external surface on which the registration number must be placed. The requirement is that it can be seen upon visual inspection of the aircraft’s exterior.

The FAA has issued this requirement as an Interim Final Rule—a rule that takes effect while also inviting public comment. The FAA issues interim final rules when delaying implementation of the rule would be impractical, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. In this case, the agency has determined the importance of mitigating the risk to first responders outweighs the minimal inconvenience this change may impose on small drone owners, and justifies implementation without a prior public comment period.

The FAA will consider comments from the public on this Interim Final Rule, and will then review any submissions to determine if the provisions of the ultimate Final Rule should be changed. The 30-day comment period will end on March 15, 2019. To submit comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for “RIN 2120-AL32.”

As Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao promised last month, the FAA also posted proposed new rules to let drones fly routinely at night and over people, and to further integrate them safely into the nation’s airspace. The comment period for these proposals is now open and ends on April 15.

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DATE:   
February 4, 2019

TO:  
Principals
Resource Team Leaders

FROM: 
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education

SUBJECT:  
Projected Caseload Process for 2019-2020 Resource Allocations

Based on administrative recommendations, the hiring window has been moved up to meet the increasing demands caused by teacher shortages, particularly in specific job categories. To address this advanced timeline, the Special Education Department will be creating a 1.5 allocation until updated data can be ascertained. Projections and staffing allocations will be made similar to what was done last year. This method should make the workload on special education teachers and team leaders much easier. Please read through this information carefully. Based on updated information, data may be updated by the end of February. If you have any questions, please contact your assigned teacher specialist.

Caseload Information

  • No mid-year SCRAM report will be required. Please continue to send in SCRAM changes as they occur throughout the year. You will still be completing an End-of-Year SCRAM report.
  • Your December 1 SCRAM report will be used as the baseline for next year’s caseload estimate.
  • A 3-year average of incoming students to your school has been calculated to provide an estimate of incoming students in the youngest grade at your school. This number was added to your December 1 SCRAM numbers.
  • The number of students leaving your school in the exiting grade has been calculated. This number was subtracted from your December 1 SCRAM numbers.
  • Finally, we’ve maintained a trend line (for some schools since the 2002-03 SY) that shows estimated caseload versus actual caseloads on Oct. 1 and Dec. 1 SCRAM. We will use this trend line to make adjustments to estimates as needed.
  • All allocations will be conservative and may be re-evaluated at the end of this school year or after the Oct. 1 2019 count has been finalized.

Timeline

  • Initial allocations of certified special education FTE will be provided to the Human Resources Department in time for your 2.0 FTE Allocation.
  • Each Principal will receive a letter outlining their estimated caseload numbers for 2019-20 and the projected resource FTE allocation for 2019-20.
  • We will only be sending the allocation letter to each school’s principal.

Requests for Resource Instructional Assistants

In April, we will send a packet of information to each Resource and Support Class team to request instructional assistants for 2019-20. This will include a regular resource assistant allocation and the information needed to request Critical Needs Instructional Assistants. This timeline should allow your teams to have a better idea of which students with additional staffing needs will be attending your school for 2019-20.

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Please see the parent brochure (available in English and Spanish) regarding the Utah Aspire Plus test for 9-10th graders. School administrators are encouraged to distribute these flyers in whatever appropriate manner you deem necessary.

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DATE:   
Thursday, February 14, 2019

TO:  
All Principals

FROM: 
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
2019 UEPC School Climate Survey Response Rate Links

Principals are encouraged to use the following links to monitor the response rates for the student, parent and faculty/staff UEPC School Climate Surveys.

As a reminder, all students second grade and up should have time scheduled during the school day to take the school climate survey. Depending on your technology configuration, some schools may need to schedule computer labs to help facilitate the student survey administration.

Principals should provide time during a faculty meeting as necessary for faculty and staff members to take the survey as well.

Finally, principals should notify parents of the option to take the survey via Skylerts, parent newsletters, social media, or by any other communication means available. Parents will likely need several reminders. In addition, it is recommended that schools provide computers and/or a survey link for parents to take the survey while attending spring parent conferences.

Response Rate Links:

Faculty/Staff Responses:
https://uepc.co1.qualtrics.com/results/public/dWVwYy1VUl85TnN2ZTc5NE1MNUJZUUEtNWMwYWQ5MDIyNmNjZGIwMDEzNzU0MTY3 - /pages/Page_7ed374a9-bc68-4d7d-b2e2-306bbc1b8a33

Parent Responses:
https://uepc.co1.qualtrics.com/results/public/dWVwYy1VUl85TnN2ZTc5NE1MNUJZUUEtNWM2MmViMjc0ZjBkNWIwMDEzODliYmUz - /pages/Page_932e5fd6-d0b3-4b85-99ba-52154455f84d

Student Responses:
https://uepc.co1.qualtrics.com/results/public/dWVwYy1VUl85TnN2ZTc5NE1MNUJZUUEtNWM2MmVlMTZjMzdmNDQwMDBkZDc3ZDAy - /pages/Page_7205b01b-4d07-4bb9-8f89-4a3d6d6f3108

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Teachers who qualify may submit an application through USBE's Educator Licensing website to receive this annual stipend. Any teachers with specific questions regarding the TSSP application or process may contact USBE directly or Jill Lisonbee in HR at 801-567-8227. Administrators may view a document found on the AdminOnly site for additional information regarding this program: http://workatjordan.org/files/Teacher-Salary-Supplement-Program-TSSP.pdf

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DATE: 
Thursday, January 31, 2019

TO: 
All Principals

FROM:   
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 
2019 UEPC School Climate Survey – Preparation and Administration Details

Please see attached memo with details.

Published on

DATE:  
Thursday, January 31, 2019

TO: 
Middle School Principals
High School Principals

FROM:   
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 
Utah Aspire Plus Updates and Reminders

In an effort to provide timely updates and reminders as we transition to a new state-mandated 9th and 10th grade summative assessment, we want to provide the following information to school administrators.  Principals are asked to please pass this information on to test coordinators, ELA, math, and science teachers, resource teachers, and any other pertinent personnel who will be involved with the 2019 administration of the Utah Aspire Plus Summative test.

Updates and Reminders:

  • School administrator, test coordinator and teacher accounts on PearsonAccessNext, the admin site for Utah Aspire Plus, went live on Monday, January 28th. If you did not get an account notification email, please call or email the Evaluation, Research & Accountability Department.
  • Question samplers for each of the four subtests (English, reading, math and science) are now available on the Utah Aspire Plus resource website: http://utah.pearsonaccessnext.com/question-samplers/. It is strongly encouraged that every 9th and 10th grade student has had the opportunity to go through the question samplers.
  • USBE’s new parental opt in policy where a parent, with signed permission, may opt to have their child’s Utah Aspire Plus score be used in place of a course requirement will not be available this year. We do not expect to see any scores for the Utah Aspire Plus test until the fall of 2019, rendering the opt in impossible.
  • It is recommended that school administrators help parents, students and community members understand that the Utah Aspire Plus is essentially free practice for the ACT. Individual student reports will provide a predictive score for the ACT and their student’s college readiness.  Like the ACT, parents will also have access to a parent portal where they can drill deeper into their student’s performance on the Utah Aspire Plus and access resources to help their student prepare for the ACT.  ACT’s own research has shown that students perform better on the ACT if they take it more than once.  Therefore, taking the Utah Aspire Plus, which is an ACT product, will have a positive impact on students’ future ACT performance.
  • USBE has set the dates of February 4-8, 2019, as the week schools should test the new system and ensure the installed testing software is working. Details on how to do this system check will be available to testing coordinators and school administrators during the Utah Aspire Plus trainings (Jan. 28th and 30th).  Please work with your school techs and test coordinators to accomplish this task.
  • Please remember that once a subtest has been started, it must be finished in one sitting. School testing schedules should allow for this.  If a student has to stop a test for any reason (they get sick, a parent checks them out, etc.), it is unlikely that he/she will be able to finish the subtest.
  • The Utah Aspire Plus is a grade specific, end-of-level test, which means that all 9th grade students must take the 9th grade test and all 10th grade students must take the 10th grade test. For instance, an 8th grader in a 9th grade math class will not be eligible to take the Utah Aspire Plus test.  In addition, the RISE and Utah Aspire tests cannot be taken in the same room.
  • Blueprints for the Utah Aspire Plus test have recently been released. They can be found on the Evaluation, Research & Accountability Department’s website.  They are also attached with this JAM memo.
  • Middle School Principals: Because you will be implementing two brand new summative assessments with completely different admin sites, we are recommending that middle schools, where possible, have a RISE test coordinator and a separate Utah Aspire Plus test coordinator to help ease the learning curve and workload.

For more information and additional resources for the Utah Aspire Plus Summative test, please visit the Evaluation, Research & Accountability Department’s website: http://assessments.jordandistrict.org/assessments/utah-aspire-plus/

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DATE: 
January 31, 2019

TO: 
All Principals

FROM: 
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:    
RISE Summative and Utah Aspire Plus Summative Help Sessions for Resource Teachers and EL Leads

A member of the Evaluation, Research & Accountability Department will be available at the following dates, times and locations to assist resource teachers and EL leads as they input student accommodations into the RISE Nextera admin system and the Utah Aspire Plus PearsonAccessNext system.

In addition, school test coordinators may also come to these help sessions if they require assistance.

Date: Time: Location:
Monday, Feb. 4, 2019  

 

3:00 – 5:00 pm

  

 

PDC 101
Monday, Feb. 11, 2019
Monday, Feb. 25, 2019
Monday, Mar. 4, 2019
Monday, Mar. 11, 2019

School principals and department heads are asked to provide this information to all school test coordinators as well as special educators and EL leads that will be involved in RISE or Utah Aspire Plus Summative testing.

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As a follow up to the memo sent in JAM on December 20, 2018, we want to clarify that all schools have received their allotted classroom TECC kits. As indicated in the memo, the due date for distribution of classroom TECC kits and the submittal of Your School’s TECC Kit Assignment Sheet, which is sent to Judy Bird in Facility Services, was Friday, January 11, 2019. Thank you to those schools that have distributed the classroom TECC kits and have submitted the TECC Kit Assignment Sheet to Judy Bird.

In addition, you have also been asked to schedule and complete your TECC hands-on training with your local fire agency. Schools should not be holding classroom TECC kits until the training has been completed. Contact information to schedule hands-on training is provided below.

Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Fire Department Contacts for Hands-on Training:

Bluffdale, Herriman and Riverton:
Unified Fire Authority - Bret Fossum, 801-310-6262, efossum@unifiedfire.org

South Jordan FD - Jim Ladle, 801-842-4097, jladle@sjc.utah.gov

West Jordan FD - Wyatt Jones, 801-652-4054, wyatt.jones@westjordan.utah.gov

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Principals:  Please post in your school and send the attached flyer to each School Community Council member, all parents are invited to attend.

Jordan Parent University
Legislative Forum
Thursday, February 7, 2019
7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Joel P Jensen Middle - 8105 S 3200 W, West Jordan

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Middle School Principals:

As decided in the Middle School Credit Committee and Middle School Principal meetings, and approved by the JSD Board of Education, the following wording must be included on your registration cards:

*For alternative options to these courses, please see your counselor by (date).

For any questions please contact Mike Anderson at 801-567-8167. Thank you!

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The ADD and TECC presentations will be available for viewing  by those that have not been able to attend or view the training previously. This is for administration substitutes and licensed personnel. Principals, please give this information to any teacher who has not yet completed this training.

Monday, January 14, 2019
8:30 a.m.
District Office, Room 129

Thank you for your help.

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DATE:
Thursday, January 10, 2019

TO: 
All Principals

FROM: 
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 
2019 WIDA Testing

The 2019 administration of the WIDA Access 2.0 for students receiving ELL services has begun. Testing will run through March 8, 2019. Because the WIDA assesses English language proficiency, the data gleaned from this assessment will have value for school administrators and teachers as they make instructional decisions to support the learning of EL students. In addition, the results of the WIDA assessment play a factor in the new School Accountability Report Card system.

With this in mind, here are a few helpful hints and reminders for the 2019 WIDA administration:

  • The Evaluation, Research & Accountability Department will be sending one (or more) of four teams to your school to administer the WIDA following the schedule attached to this memo.
  • When possible, try to schedule a hardwired computer lab for WIDA testing. At times, wireless networks are less than reliable with some test sections like the speaking subtest.
  • Try to limit the number of announcements over the intercom during testing.
  • When possible, please arrange to have your school technician present on the day of testing in case there are any technology glitches.
  • Your Test Coordinator should enter students’ accommodations on the test schedule that has been shared with them via Google Drive. This is the only way for our WIDA testers to know what students should have which accommodations.
  • Please work with your ESL teachers/ELL leads to provide students an opportunity to interact with the testing interface and take some practice tests. Sample test items can be found at: https://wbte.drcedirect.com/WIDA/portals/wida.
  • Please encourage students to take the test. While state law allows parents to opt students out of the WIDA, the Federal Every Student Succeeds Act does not.

As in the past, WIDA results will be distributed to schools in the spring and will be available on the Data Gateway later in the summer.

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All Principals:

Thank you for your past and present participation and assistance with the JSD Teacher Transfer Fair Events. This is an important event for teachers and for you as you fill vacancies at your school location.  A special thanks to Jim Birch and his administrative team for volunteering to host the first Teacher Transfer Fair in 2019.

The first JSD Teacher Transfer Fair in 2019 is scheduled as follows:
Date:  Monday, January 14, 2019
Time:  12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m.
Location:  West Jordan High School - Gymnasium
Enter at the northeast end of West Jordan High School

Both Elementary and Secondary Schools will be participating.

As previously discussed, there will be a separate area available for conducting interviews.  This interview area is in addition to the tables, where interviews have been conducted in the past.

If you are unable to attend this event, please assign another administrator to take the lead, as all schools must be represented.  You should also notify your respective AOS.

HR will be communicating the details of the Teacher Transfer Fair to teachers soon via JEM and would appreciate your assistance. Please remind all educators attending the Teacher Transfer Fair to wear their JSD ID badge, which will allow them entrance into the fair.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you at the 2019 Teacher Transfer Fair at West Jordan High.

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DATE:  
Thursday, December 6, 2018

TO:   
Elementary School Principals
Middle School Principals

FROM: 
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
Annual RISE Summative Administration Training for Test Coordinators and Administrators

To prepare for the 2019 end-of-year Utah Aspire Plus Summative tests, principals, or their administrative designees, and school test coordinators are asked to attend one of six training sessions. Please see memo below for more information and dates of the trainings.

 

 

Published on

DATE:
Thursday, December 6, 2018

TO:  
High School Principals
Middle School Principals

FROM:  
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 
Annual Utah Aspire Plus Summative Administration Training for Test Coordinators and Administrators

To prepare for the 2019 end-of-year Utah Aspire Plus Summative tests, principals, or their administrative designees, and school test coordinators are asked to attend one of six training sessions. Please see memo below for more information and dates of the trainings.