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Category: Middle School Info

Published on

DATE:  
August 21, 2025

TO: 
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
BARK Content Monitoring and iBoss Search Monitoring

Now that school is back in session, here is a review of our district-wide content monitoring system which runs through a software/AI system called BARK. BARK monitors all students’ Google accounts across all JSD schools and levels. This is different from iBoss and Lanschool and does not detect student internet searches. Here is a summary of the notification protocols and procedures for this school year.

  • BARK uses an AI to scan student Gmail messages, Google chats, Google documents, and Google slides, regardless of the device or IP address that is used. As long as the student is logged in to and using their Jordan District Google account, the content can be monitored.
  • Notifications and alerts are categorized as non-severe, severe, and imminent.
  • Alerts are monitored primarily by Angie Rasmussen, JSD Student Safety and Wellness Specialist. Some alerts will require additional investigation at that level to determine the context and to filter out false positives.
  • Notifications are primarily sent via email from Angie Rasmussen. Urgent tips will be addressed through a phone call or text message. Email notifications often include administrators, counselors, and other mental health team members who are relevant to the situation–multiple team members are included to ensure follow-up for time-sensitive situations.
  • Notifications that are not considered emergencies or urgent will not be sent after 3pm on a school day to ensure that intervention is reasonable and timely for school personnel.
  • Content alerts are not monitored over the weekend or on days that students don’t attend, but emergency alerts will still be sent when immediate intervention is needed.
  • We will continue to receive after-hours imminent alerts and will continue to work with administrators when immediate intervention is required.

In addition to BARK monitoring students’ Google accounts, students’ Google and YouTube searches will be monitored through iBoss. Flagged searches will be managed by Infosystems, Matt Alvernaz, and Angie Rasmussen. School administrators will be notified if the search content indicates harm to self or others or anything else that may raise concern.

Should you have any questions, please reach out to Angie Rasmussen (angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org, ext. 88197) or McKinley Withers (mckinley.withers@jordandistrict.org, ext. 88245).

 

Published on

TO:
Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Amanda Bollinger, Associate Administrator, Teaching & Learning
Jared Covili, Consultant, Digital Learning, Teaching & Learning
Amy Lloyd, Consultant, K-12 Math,Teaching & Learning

Administrators, 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 COLLEGE CLASSES! This is called the STEM Endorsement Incentive Program (EIP).

Applications for the final 2024-25 reimbursement are now being accepted for teachers who completed STEM courses through June 30, 2025. The next round of reimbursements applications is due August 31, 2025 for teachers who completed STEM courses up through Summer 2025.

See the attached flyer and link to our EIP website for more information. If you have any questions, please reach out to the content consultant. We would love to talk to you!

STEM EIP Flyer August 2025

Published on

TO:
Principals

FROM: 
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Brandee Bergum, Secondary Language Arts Consultant

The first submission deadline for this year’s Secondary Literature Selection meetings is September 3, 2025. Any full length novel that a teacher would like to use in the classroom must be on the district’s approved list. Teachers may send submissions to the attention of Brandee Bergum in Teaching and Learning. Submission directions and forms can be found here: Secondary Literature Selection Process Our secondary approved lists can be found here: JSD Approved Literature Lists

Lit. Selection Dates 2025-26

Book Submission Deadline Middle School Meetings High School Meetings
Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025 Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025 Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025
Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025 Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026 Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026
Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026 Tuesday, March 3, 2026 Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Wednesday, March 4, 2026 Tuesday, April 28, 2026 Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Published on

DATE:  
August 18, 2025

TO: 
Elementary School Administrators
Middle School Administrators
High School Administrators

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Stacee Worthen, School Counselor Consultant

SUBJECT:  
School Counselor Training and Professional Development

School counselor trainings and professional development for the month of September.

Training & Professional Development Dates for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs (CSCP)

(9/3) CSCP Q1 In-Service Training, JATC-South, Auditorium

  • All School Counselors attend session 1 or 2
  • Session 1 -- 8:00 am - 10:00 am; Session 2 -- 10:15 am - 12:15 pm
  • Elementary School Counselors – Potential Change
  • Juniper Elementary School Auditorium
  • 8:00 am – 11:00 am

(9/9) Riverton Feeder Meeting

  • Riverton Feeder Counselors K-12
  • 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm

(9/12) CSCP SEP SEC PLC, JATC-South, Auditorium

  • Secondary School Counselors
  • 7:30 am - 9:00 am

(9/12) CSCP SEP ELEM PLC, JATC-South, Auditorium

  • Elementary School Counselors
  • 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

(9/16) Copper Hills Feeder Meeting, District Office, Room 129

  • Copper Hills Feeder Counselors K-12
  • 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

(9/17) CSCP New Counselor Training, District Office, Room 129

  • All New Counselors and Interns
  • 8:00 am - 11:00 am

(9/24) CSCP Counselor Collaborative Committee, District Office, Room 129

  • Only School Counselors appointed to this committee
  • 8:00 am - 11:30 am

If you have questions or need clarification, please reach out to Stacee Worthen, Counselor Consultant, at (801)567-8309.

Published on

TO:
School Principals
Admin Assistants

FROM:
Paul Bergera, Director of Transportation

The MyView Parent app has not been updated for the 2025-26 school year. We hope to have it operating by Monday, August 25, 2025. Let parents know, if they call, that this is being taken care of and to please have patience with the Transportation Department.

Thank you!

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
Jordan School District Cabinet Members

This is a mandatory 2-day in-person training for all administrators. To be held at JATC-S. Mark your calendar now and more information will be shared at a later date.

Published on

TO:
Principals

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent

All new principals and new SCC Chairs need to attend one of the SCC Trainings for this year. Two trainings will be held in a Zoom format. For specific questions or topics you would like to have covered, please submit them through email to Nadine Page (nadine.page@jordandistrict.org) before the meeting dates. For any other questions contact Nadine Page, nadine.page@jordandistrict.org or 801.567.8182 (x88182).

November 6, 2025 - 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting     LINK

November 13, 2025 - 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting     LINK

Published on

DATE:    
August 14, 2025

TO:  
Principals
Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Jordan School District Nurses

SUBJECT:  
Immunization Policy and Guidelines, Skyward and USIIS Inservice

Jordan School District Nurses will be conducting this inservice on:

Friday, September 19, 2025
9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
ASB (Auxiliary Services Building), PDC Room 101

This inservice is open to all office staff and administrators. If you are involved with new student registration this inservice will be of benefit to you.

Class size is limited. Please contact your school nurse if you are planning to attend. See attached nurse assignment list for 2025-26.

 

Published on

TO:
All Administrators
All Admin Assistants

FROM:
Sarah Palmer, Director of Payroll

Regarding All Licensed and ESP Employees

  • Aug. 20-26 - Elementary Schools
  • Aug. 19-25 - Secondary Schools
  • Aug. 19-25 - District Offices & Auxiliary Services

Per District policy, annual or personal leave days may not be used during the first five days of school, unless the leave reason is listed in policy as an exception. If any of the exceptions do apply, you must provide both the leave reason and the policy exception in the time off description. If these exceptions are not applicable, yur annual or personal leave day will be changed to a no-pay day as per policy.

7. Annual leave shall not be taken during the first five (5) days that students are in school except under the following conditions:

  1. To attend the wedding of a near relative including child, father, mother, brother, sister, grandchild, grandparents or same or one's spouse or any other person who is a member of the same household as the employee.
  2. To attend to personal or business matters which require the employee's attendance and scheduling is beyond the employee's control.
  3. First year employees who notify their supervisor in writing that they are ill.

 

Published on

TO:
All Administrators
All Admin Assistants

FROM:
Sarah Palmer, Director of Payroll

Regarding All Licensed Employees
Aug. 11 - Aug. 18

Remember that teachers may not take annual/personal leave days during the six (6) days of contract time not involving students before school starts. However, they may, through correlation with the principal, arrange to exchange of of these days for another non-contract day.

Published on

DATE:   
Thursday, August 14, 2025

TO:  
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:   
Record of August 12th Professional Learning Day Attendees

School administrators may access a Tableau dashboard that contains a record of all educators who signed in using the QR codes for the morning keynote sessions during the August 12th professional learning day. The dashboard may be accessed here. Administrators may also filter the list by conference location.

For questions about this dashboard, please refer to Ben Jameson in Assessment, Research & Accountability.

Published on

TO:
Administrators

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

In order to make the most of the available features in our Districtwide Canva deployment, we’re going to be migrating to a new Canva structure in the next two weeks. No content will be lost; as part of this migration you’ll be added to one or more new Canva teams, corresponding to the school(s) with which you’re associated (or a “Staff & Admin” team, for staff not based at a school).

There’s no action to take at this time. Once the migration occurs, we’ll contact you again with next steps.

Here’s what you need to know:
We’ll re-label our existing district team to “Archive: Jordan School District”. You’ll always be able to access this content by toggling between teams. You’ll also be able to access your new school-based team by toggling in the same way. See the attached guide for information on switching between teams.

We’ll recommend you copy your content from this Archive team over to your new school-based team. You’ll get the best Canva features in these new teams, and will best able to collaborate in your school team with the students and staff associated with that school. Click here for instructions on how to copy Canva content to your new team, but keep in mind you won’t be able to copy content to your new teams until after the migration.

If you have any questions, please contact Jared Covili, jared.covili@jordandistrict.org.

Published on

TO:
New Principals within Jordan District

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent

The following has been sent by the State LAND Trust office. Please review the information.

School LAND Trust Training for NEW Principals

The School Children’s Trust (SCT) team has developed a new training resource specifically designed for principals in their first year of implementing the School LAND Trust (SLT) Program. The training covers the following topics:

  • Trust System Overview
  • School Community Council (SCC) Responsibilities
  • Council Membership Requirements
  • Council Election Requirements
  • Rules of Order & Procedure
  • General Program Timeline
  • SLT Reporting Website Account Setup

COURSE LINK

Published on

TO:
Administrative Assistants

FROM:
School Nurses

For the 2025-26 school year, all medication training and sign ups will be done through canvas. Everyone in the district has a canvas account through your district email. Attached are some simple instructions on how to sign up using the links below.

If you are a new staff member to giving medications in our district please register for the In-person Medication class.

If you are a returning staff member that has done in-person training in our district in the past you can sign up for the online medication training.

You must sign up using the links in this email. If you need help, contact your nurse.

As a note, we have added an additional section of this training that includes some reminders for the health room and treating common injuries/conditions seen in the health room. This part also has to be completed in order to receive your certificate. As a friendly reminder, be sure to view the video in its entirety before taking the quiz.

Please make sure to print your completion certificate for your school nurse to sign.

Please forward to any staff that need to complete the training.

 

Published on

TO:
All Principals
All Admin Assistants

FROM:
Kurt Prusse, Director of Purchasing

As the new school year begins, we would like to inform you about several new items in the Central Warehouse. You can find them in the Storehouse Catalog on the Purchasing Website.

They include the following:

Microphones & Battery Pack
5600500 (EA)  AUDIO ENHANCEMENT LI-ION BATTERY PACK 3.7V 700 MA FOR XD MIC AUDIO   ENH-XD-5001   $22.88
5600505 (EA)  AUDIO ENHANCEMENT XD HANDHELD MIC BUNDLE FOR XD TEACHER BOX AUDIO   ENH-ST-XD-9052   $246.88
5600510 (EA)  AUDIO ENHANCEMENT XD TEACHER BOX W/TEACHER PENDANT MIC AUDIO   ENH-ST-XD-9025    $244.60

Golf Sized Pencils
5106945 (BX)  PENCIL GOLF SIZED   72 PER BOX     $6.80

Traffic & PE Cones
5400381 (EA)  CONE TRAFFIC ORANGE 28" WITH REFLECTIVE COLLAR, 3 LB    $19.00
5400382 (EA)  CONE TRAFFIC ORANGE 12", 2 LB  (P.E. RELATED)                          $7.90

Epson Ink & Maintenance Box
5600100 (EA)  EPSON C6000/5000 INK BLACK                                   T08C120       $106.00
5600110 (EA)  EPSON AM-C6000/5000 INK CYAN                               T08C220       $150.00
5600120 (EA)  EPSON AM-C6000/5000 INK MAGENTA                      T08C320       $150.00
5600130 (EA)  EPSON AM-C6000/5000 INK YELLOW                          T08C420       $150.00
5600150 (EA)  EPSON MAINTENANCE BOX AM-C4000/5000/6000   C12C937181   $69.00
5600200 (EA)  EPSON AM-C4000 INK BLACK                                      T08D120      $114.00
5600210 (EA)  EPSON AM-C4000 INK CYAN                                        T08D220       $172.00
5600220 (EA)  EPSON AM-C4000 INK MAGENTA                               T08D320       $172.00
5600230 (EA)  EPSON AM-C4000 INK YELLOW                                   T08D420       $172.00
5600250 (EA)  EPSON C21000 INK BLACK                                           T02Y120         $84.00
5600260 (EA)  EPSON C21000 INK CYAN                                            T02Y220       $192.00
5600270 (EA)  EPSON C21000 INK MAGENTA                                    T02Y320       $192.00
5600280 (EA)  EPSON C21000 INK YELLOW                                       T02Y420       $192.00

Published on

DATE:    
August 7, 2025

TO: 
Principals
Assistant Principals

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

SUBJECT:  
School Safety Update – Internal Classroom Door Locks

The Department of Public Safety recently updated the School Safety Administrative Rule (R698-13) regarding internal classroom and instructional area doors. The rule now reads (new/updated language is underlined):

R698-13-6 Internal Clasroom Door Locks.

  • School classrooms and other instruction areas must have doors equipped with locks that allow them to be securely locked when occupied by students.
  • A school shall install an internal lock on each classroom or instructional area door that complies with the International Fire Code Section 1010.2.8. Locking arrangements in educational occupancies, as incorporated as part of the State Fire Code in Section 15A-5-103.
  • A classroom or instructional area door, shall remain locked, in a closed or fully open position, while school is in session.
  • Magnets or other methods to circumvent door locks may not be used to prevent the door from being locked and latched while school is in session.

Please direct any questions you may have to Matt Alvernaz (matt.alvernaz@jordandistrict.org) or ext. 88623.