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Category: Middle School Action Required

Published on

DATE: 
Thursday, September 6, 2018

TO: 
All Principals

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

SUBJECT:
2018 SAGE Data Release on USBE Data Gateway

Beginning September 5, 2018, the 2017-18 SAGE proficiency and growth results were released on USBE’s Data Gateway for principals, schools, and districts to review.  Originally, USBE intended to release this data to the general public on September 13th; however, due to a glitch in the Data Gateway system, the 2018 SAGE data was made available to the public as of this morning.  The URL for the Data Gateway is https://datagateway.schools.utah.gov/. The login prompt is in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

SAGE science grades 6-8 data are not yet released on the Data Gateway pending ratification from the USBE. We expect this data to be released in mid-October.

We ask that principals log into the Data Gateway and review their school’s SAGE results so as to become familiar with what parents and other stakeholders can view and thus be able to answer their questions.

It is anticipated that USBE will release accountability data and school report cards in late November for principals, schools and districts to review. While the release date is still tentative, schools will likely have an opportunity to review their accountability data prior to public release.

If you need assistance navigating the Data Gateway or logging in, please contact Ben Jameson at 801-567-8243.

Published on

Principals and Administrative Assistants:

Attached is a template that can be filled out and given to each staff member that has completed the required suicide prevention training for 2018-19.

Published on

Principals and Administrative Assistants:

Attached is a template that can be used for your licensed staff to award the licensure points earned by attending the 2018-19 Safety and Wellness Forum. Each person in your building that attended the training this year will need to receive a certificate.

Published on

DATE:  
Friday, September 24, 2018

TO:   
All Principals

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

SUBJECT:   
2018-19 Required Testing Ethics Professional Development Procedures

Instructions, materials, and documentation forms for the required 2018-19 Testing Ethics professional development, are being sent to schools via the Jordan Administrative Memo (JAM). These materials will also be available online at http://assessments.jordandistrict.org/ethics/ . The four required procedures for completing this testing ethics professional development are listed on the “2018-19 Principal’s Test Ethics Checklist” form provided in the materials.

It is important that all school leaders, teachers, and paraprofessionals that assist with testing be reminded that the professional testing ethics required for all Federally-mandated assessments such as NAEP or State-mandated assessments such as RISE, Utah Aspire Plus, ACT, DIBELS benchmarks and progress monitoring, and WIDA Access, also apply to all District-mandated assessments such as benchmark tests, SLO assessments, and other District-created assessments including MasteryConnect® assessments. Students must not be given secured assessment questions as homework or discussion items. Any use of secured assessment questions for instruction, discussion, or homework compromises the validity and integrity of the assessment questions and constitutes a violation of professional testing ethics protocol.

Principals are to make sure that teachers as well as paraprofessionals that assist with testing understand that professional testing ethics must be followed when working with District-mandated as well as State- and Federally-mandated assessments. Principals are also to remind teachers and paraprofessionals that assist with testing that any potential disciplinary action specified for violating professional testing ethics on State- and Federally-mandated assessments, also applies to any violation of professional testing ethics on District-mandated assessments.

Published on

Utah schools are required to provide training to students that include education and awareness on safe technology utilization and digital citizenship.  To assist Utah schools to meet these requirements, the Utah office of the Attorney General partners with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Utah to provide annual NetSmartz Internet safety trainings in Utah's schools. These trainings are age-appropriate and are provided free of charge.

Please contact Jordan School District's Training Representative to schedule a training:
Josie Angerhofer
(385) 237-5067
Schedule online at: UtahNetSmartz.org

Published on

DATE:
Thursday, August 23, 2018

TO:
Elementary and Middle School Principals

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

SUBJECT:
Questar Nextera Fall Trainings for the New RISE Assessment

Please see attached memo for information and dates of the trainings. It is required that an administrative representative (principal or designee) and school testing coordinator attend one of these professional learning classes.

Published on
Emergency Drills REMINDER

Administrative Code R277-400-6 Emergency Preparedness Training for School Occupants requires all schools to conduct a fire drill within the first 10 days of the regular school year.

R277-400-7(b) requires schools to conduct an other emergency drill by no later than October 1.  Schools may elect to accomplish both drills on the same day, such as conducting a bomb threat drill, then sounding the fire alarm and evacuating.

Please remember to report all drills using the Report of Emergency Drills form on the Google Drive, at:  https://goo.gl/forms/vUWdOfdE33844MDI3

Have a great, and safe school year!

Published on

Your Educational Support/ALS teacher specialist has sent you an email with a video that explains what's new this year.  After watching the video, please contact your teacher specialist if you have questions. Also please complete the simple google form. This is important because it lets our department know who to contact when we are trying to support your school.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-JJkld4koE44qQ557fg6EvZGj3JohPOQPrjjrLrEX-k/edit

Published on

DATE:  
July 17, 2018

TO:
All Principals

FROM:  
Administrators of Schools
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Planning and Student Services

SUBJECT:   
FTE and Enrollment Counts

FTE and staffing enrollment counts for the 2018-19 school year will occur on the dates listed below. As a reminder, student enrollment will be taken from Skyward and manual student counts are not needed for this process.

  • 1st Day A, B, C Tracks     Wednesday, July 25, 2018
  • 10th Day A, B, C Tracks     Wednesday, August 8, 2018
  • 1st Day D Track (A,B,C included)     Monday, August 13, 2018
  • 1st Day High School     Tuesday, August 21, 2018
  • 6th Day D Track (A,B,C included),     Wednesday, August 22, 2018
    1st Day Traditional (Elem. & MS)
  • 14th Day Traditional (all schools)     Tuesday, September 11, 2018
    All 10 day/no shows must be entered in by this date.
  • October 1, 2018
  • January 2, 2019

If there have been any changes to your FTE Staffing and Enrollment spreadsheet, please send an updated spreadsheet to Travis Hamblin in Planning and Student Services. Your staffing report and attendance combine to determine your FTE eligibility.

Questions regarding FTE and/or enrollment should be directed to Travis Hamblin or your Administrator of Schools.

Please staff conservatively.

Published on

DATE:     
July 9, 2018

TO: 
Principals
Head Financial Secretaries
Special Education Teachers (Resource and Cluster)
Speech-Language Pathologists

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

SUBJECT:  
Special Education Budget Allocations 2018-19

Please see attached memo and budget guidelines.

Published on

Due to so many of the administrative assignment changes and secretary retirements with subsequent shuffling of personnel, the Purchasing Department wants you to know we are doing our best to track everyone. We have a pretty comprehensive list based upon known retirements and the administrative assignment list released by HR. If there are other changes that have not been announced yet, please notify Kris Wishart in Purchasing of those.

There is no need to cancel cards and then reapply. All we need to know is the address, phone number, and new account code for your new location. We will just make the changes in the system and your card will operate the same as usual. This is important because US Bank uses your zip code at times to verify valid charges. If an incorrect zip code is given, the transaction is rejected.

In the future, please notify the Purchasing Department of any personnel changes as they occur of P-Card holders during the year.

Published on

DATE:   
May 24, 2018

TO: 
Principals
Elementary and Middle School Resource Team Leaders
High School Special Education Team Leaders

FROM: 
Laura Finlinson, Admin. of Curriculum/Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director of Special Education
Julie Brown, Program Specialist
Courtney Titus, Program Specialist

SUBJECT: 
Information Regarding Beginning of 2018-19 School Year

Please see attached memo.

Published on

DATE:    
May 15, 2018

TO:  
Principals
All Certified Special Education Staff

FROM: 
Laura Finlinson, Admin of Curriculum/Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director of Special Education
Julie Brown, Program Specialist
Courtney Titus, Program Specialist

SUBJECT: 
Year-End Checkout for Traditional Schools/Year-Round Schools

Please see attached memo.

Published on

DATE:   
Tuesday, May 15, 2018

TO: 
All Principals

FROM: 
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:
2018 UEPC School Climate Survey Results

The 2018 UEPC School Climate Reports are being prepared.  Before distributing these survey results, principals are required to agree to follow three directions regarding access to, and disclosure of, UEPC survey data:

  1. Table 6 in your school report provides a thumbnail sketch of all teachers at your school who had responses from at least 10 students and/or 10 parents. This table is for school administrators only.  Table 6 may NOT be viewed by or shared with any person beyond district leadership or your school administration.
  2. School reports include a results page for all teachers who received 10 or more evaluations from students and/or parents. Results pages with individual teachers’ Cactus IDs at the top of the page are NOT to be viewed by or distributed to persons other than the school administration or the teacher whose ID appears on the top of the page.
  3. No attempts are to be made to identify respondents or publicly publish information on particular individuals.

Principals are asked to please download, initial, and sign the attached document entitled Data Access and Disclosure Requirements.  Please return the initialed and signed copy to me via email or through District Mail.  Once the 2018-18 UEPC School Climate Survey becomes available and I have the signed Data Access and Disclosure Requirements form initialed and signed by you, I will send your school’s survey report to you via a MoveIT email file.

Once you receive your 2018 UEPC School Climate Survey Report, please distribute a copy of the results pages to each educator so that they may include it in the portfolio portion of their JPAS.

Please remember that your UEPC School Climate Survey Report may include potentially sensitive information as a result of opinions and comments expressed by survey respondents.  Make certain you carefully follow the above requirements when sharing this information and use great discretion when doing so.

Please contact Ben Jameson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability with any questions or concerns.

Published on

Principals:

The fourth and final notification of expiring licenses was sent to 224 licensed employees on April 20, 2018. This final letter serves as a notification of termination if they choose not to complete the process by June 30, 2018. We requested your assistance in notifying the employees, securing their signature and returning the form to HR by May 11, 2018.

To date, HR has received 102 of the 224 letters sent out to licensed employees with expiring licenses. According to CACTUS, there are 113 educators that have not yet completed their license renewal, 19 of which have not yet begun their background check process. Principals will be receiving an email with status details for those educators in their building who still haven’t completed the license renewal process.

If educators still have questions after reviewing the instructions contained in previous notifications, they should contact Jill or Stacy immediately for assistance.

  • Stacy 801-567-8215 (Elementary)
  • Jill 801-567-8227 (Secondary)

Please provide encouragement to your educators to act quickly to avoid termination, as licensure is a condition of employment. HR needs the form returned by all who received it regardless of their current renewal status. Thank you in advance for encouraging those in your building with expiring licenses to take care of this as soon as possible.

Published on

DATE: 
May 9, 2018

TO: 
All Principals, Administrative Assistants, and Custodians

FROM: 
Scott Thomas, Administrator of Auxiliary Services
Paul Bergera, Staff Assistant of Auxiliary Services
Dave Rostrom, Director of Facilities Services
Sandi Abplanalp, Facility Systems Coordinator

SUBJECT:    
Summer Card Access Scheduling

With the end of the school year rapidly approaching, the need to re-evaluate current access levels of your staff may be necessary.  Employees with 24/7 access will remain the same, however, access may need to be altered for your teachers, staff and sweepers.  Please be aware that if teachers retain their current access levels during summer months their badge will allow them access into the building regardless of whether or not the building has been disarmed.  If your sweepers will be working days, let Sandi Abplanalp know what hours they are authorized to have access.

Please note that District Maintenance workers and District delivery drivers’ access will remain the same (7:00 am-5:00 pm). Please contact Sandi and let her know what days the building will be closed so their access can be removed.

Time zones assigned to the doors will be removed after the last bell on the last day of school. If you want your main door left open or have summer programs running during the summer months, contact Sandi to adjust the schedule.   You will be receiving a report which includes a list of employees with access to your building and their access times and passes.  If you have employees that will not be returning in the fall, please collect their badges as part of their final check out and return them to Sandi in the Facilities Services Department.  If an employee is transferring, email Sandi their names and new locations as soon as possible so she can assign them to their new location.  Please account for all of the lockout/unlock cards, portable passes, recess passes, office passes, elevator passes and substitute passes that are listed in this report.

Please be aware that employees with extended building access will revert back to regular access when the school year ends (with the exception of the head administrative assistants and custodians) and a new Building/Card Access-Administrator Authorization form will need to be submitted when the new school year begins.  Please call Sandi with any questions or concerns.

Sandi Abplanalp
Jordan School District
Facility Systems Coordinator
801-567-8616
sandi.abplanalp@jordandistrict.org

Cc: 
Jordan School District Cabinet Members

Published on

DATE:     
Thursday, May 3, 2018

TO:  
All Principals

FROM:   
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
Michael Heaps, Director of Information Systems

SUBJECT:
AAPPL Testing Issue using Chromebooks

We are finding that the connection to the LTI AAPPL server using Chromebooks isn’t stable enough to support voice recording during the AAPPL speaking test without removing some of the network filtering. To test with fewer filtering restrictions requires that a special Google account and login be created. Since these special logins allow students access they wouldn’t normally have, the responsibility of schools and teachers to maintain network security and safety for students will be heightened.

What this means for schools and teachers is that students using a Chromebook will need to be logged in with xxxlang@my.jordandistrict.org (where xxx is the school number) whenever an AAPPL test is being administered on a Chromebook. We do NOT want the user name and password for xxxlang@my.jordandistrict.org to be given to students. Otherwise, students would have access to certain websites that would normally be blocked. This means that the teachers will have to log into that account for every Chromebook that a student will use to complete an AAPPL test.

We ask that principals speak with their dual language immersion and foreign language teachers about this issue and request that they log into the xxxlang@my.jordandistrict.org account themselves rather than having students log in.

For the future, the IS department is working on a more permanent and secure solution.

Please contact Ben Jameson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability at 801-567-8243 or ben.jameson@jordandistrict.org or Michael Heaps in Information Systems at 801-567-8271 or Michael.heaps@jordandistrict.org with any questions or concerns.