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Category: Middle School Info

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Principals,
Please share the following information and attached flyer with any faculty that may be interested.

Dear Colleague:

Are you interested in shaping the future of Utah education?
Join us for the 2023-2024 BYU Education Policy Institute.

Engaging in education policy is crucial if you are interested in. . .

  • Contributing your perspective, experience, and expertise to better informed and inclusive policies
  • Improving educational outcomes
  • Addressing societal challenges, such as poverty, unemployment, social mobility
  • Promoting equity and inclusivity
  • Fostering innovation and adaptability
  • Ensuring accountability and transparency
  • Influencing resource allocation

Together we are empowered to make a difference!

See the attached flyer for details and registration information.

I hope to have you join us.

Bryan Bowles
Professor, Educational Leadership & Foundations
Brigham Young University

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DATE:  
May 24, 2023

TO: 
Principals
Assistant Principals

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

SUBJECT:
Panorama – Wrapping up the current year

What to expect over the summer: Shortly after the end of the current school year, Panorama will “freeze” the data in the platform to show the final data from the 2022-2023 school year. Our nightly downloads stop a few weeks after the last day of school to account for the data in your SIS being finalized. If you are running school or district professional development over the summer, you’ll be able to review data from 2022-2023 and revise support notes. Please note that the platform does not support summer school sessions and that data will not appear in Student Success.

Best practices to wrap up the current year: This article on Panorama Academy contains recommendations and guidance for how you and your users can effectively wrap up the 2022-2023 school year.

Back to School: This article on Panorama Academy will help you prepare for back-to-school in Panorama. On or about August 14th Panorama will begin downloading student data, after that date, rosters will be displayed. At the beginning of the year rosters will change frequently.

Have questions? Find answers to frequently asked questions related to our process to close out the school year and prepare for the new one here. And of course, you can always reach out to your Panorama team with any additional questions!

As a reminder: Panorama operates on FERPA. Therefore, students graduating, moving schools, or withdrawing will not be in Panorama in the fall. To ensure that you have all the data you feel like you need it is strongly suggested that you save/print your current years data on or before June 12, 2023.

Resources:

Please reach out to Travis Hamblin @ travis.hamblin@jordandistrict.org for any training or program needs.

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The first submission deadline for next year’s Secondary Literature Selection meetings is September 6, 2023. Any full length novel that a teacher would like to use in the classroom needs to be on the district’s approved list. Teachers may send submissions now or at the beginning of the school year before September 6. Submission directions and forms can be found here: Secondary Literature Selection Process Our secondary approved lists can be found here: JSD Approved Literature Lists.

See the attachment for Lit. Selection Dates 2023-24 for Committee A and Committee B.

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Throughout the summer, Spencer Campbell, Principal at Kelsey Peak Middle School, will provide weekly virtual workshops for administrators on using Google tools to increase productivity and efficiency. The schedule of topics is listed below, along with the Zoom link and agenda. He will answer questions in the live session; timestamped recordings will be available in a shared drive folder afterward.

What: Google Training for Administrators and Admin Assistants
When: Tuesday from 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. (Except the week of the fourth)

Schedule:
June 6th, 10-11 (Tuesday) Gmail/Chrome Add to Calendar
June 13th, 10-11 (Tuesday) Google Calendar Add to Calendar
June 27th, 10-11 (Tuesday) Drive/Docs Add to Calendar
July 6th, 10-1 (Thursday) Forms/Sheets Add to Calendar
July 11th, 10-11 (Tuesday) Chat/Sidebars/Contacts Add to Calendar
July 18th, 10-11 (Tuesday) Keep/Tasks/Reminders Add to Calendar
July 25th, 10-11 (Tuesday) Chrome Extensions and AI tools Add to Calendar

Who: All administrators looking for productivity tips and time-saving tools using Google Workspace.
Where: Zoom https://uetn-org.zoom.us/j/89395769701 Passcode 221862
Agenda: Click Here (Zoom link is included on the agenda)

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Google has limited the amount of cloud storage that is allocated to the district. As a result of this change, Google Photos for Jordan School District Google accounts will be discontinued this summer. This does not affect the use of Google Photos with a personal account.

To determine if this affects you, go to google.com or mail.google.com on a district device and log in with your Jordan School District credentials. Click on the “waffle” icon in the top, right corner of the screen, then select “Photos” from the available applications. If you find photos and want to keep them, you will need to move those photos to a different account or location.

If you have any questions, you can call the Information Systems Help Desk at 801-567-8737.

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The following are new administrative assignments:

  • New Assignments and Transfers effective July 1, 2023:
    • Bryan Veazie, principal at Copper Hills High appointed the District Athletics and Activities Director (new) at the District Office.
    • Rae Garrison, principal at West Jordan Middle appointed principal at Copper Hills High, replacing Bryan Veazie.
    • Eric Price, principal at Fort Herriman Middle appointed principal at West Jordan Middle, replacing Rae Garrison.
    • Glen Richins, assistant principal at Herriman High appointed principal at Fort Herriman Middle, replacing Eric Price.
    • Sonja Burton Juarez, principal at JATC-South assigned principal at JATC-North & South Campuses.
    • Brady Bartholomew, assistant principal at Mountain Ridge High assigned assistant principal at Riverton High, replacing Matt Tranter.
    • Marni Davis, assistant principal at West Hills Middle assigned assistant principal at Riverton High, replacing Dave Tilby.
    • Russell Stephenson, administrative intern at Joel P. Jensen Middle and Oquirrh Hills Middle appointed assistant principal at West Hills Middle, replacing Marni Davis.
    • Brittany Andersen, administrative intern at Copper Hills High appointed assistant principal at Copper Hills High, replacing Rich Price.
    • Jentry Johnson, assistant principal at Mountain Ridge High assigned assistant principal at Herriman High, replacing Julie Scherzinger who was announced previously.
    • Jane Harward, consultant in the Teaching & Learning Department assigned assistant principal at Mountain Ridge High, replacing Jentry Johnson.
    • Raimee Jensen, assistant principal at Hidden Valley Middle assigned assistant principal at West Jordan Middle, replacing Georgia Wing.
    • Tyler Jones, assistant principal at Valley High assigned assistant principal at Hidden Valley Middle, replacing Raimee Jensen.
    • Jack Pay, administrative intern at Sunset Ridge Middle and West Hills Middle appointed assistant principal at Valley High, replacing Tyler Jones.
    • Chris Titus, principal at JATC-North assigned assistant principal at Herriman High, replacing Glen Richins.
    • Stewart Hudnall, assistant principal at Bingham High assigned assistant principal at JATC-North & South Campuses.
    • Vaega Toilolo, administrative intern at Bingham High appointed assistant principal at Bingham High, replacing Stewart Hudnall.
    • Michelle Love-Day, consultant in Language & Culture Services appointed Director of the Department of Language & Culture Services.
    • Ami Shah, consultant in Equity, Diversity & Inclusion appointed Officer in Equity, Diversity & Inclusion.
  • New Secondary Administrative Intern Assignments effective July 1, 2023:
    • Britnee Eng, teacher at West Jordan High assigned administrative intern at Herriman High.
    • Kirt Davis, teacher at Riverton High assigned administrative intern at West Jordan High.
    • Austin Howarth, teacher at Scott M. Matheson Junior High in Granite School District assigned administrative intern at Riverton High.
    • Katelyn Jenson, teacher at Riverton High assigned administrative intern at Copper Hills High.
    • Julianna Wing, CTE Coordinator at Herriman High assigned administrative intern at Bingham High.
    • Kyrstin Wingert, teacher specialist at South Hills Middle assigned administrative intern at Mountain Ridge High.
    • Karen Moore, instructional coach at West Jordan Middle assigned administrative intern at Joel P Jensen Middle.
    • Annie Orton, instructional coach at Olympus High in Granite School District assigned administrative intern at Copper Mountain Middle and Mountain Creek Middle.
    • Ethan Walsh, teacher at Mountain View High in Alpine School District assigned administrative intern at Sunset Ridge Middle and West Jordan Middle.
    • Samantha Robinson, instructional coach at Corner Canyon High in Canyons School District assigned administrative intern at West Hills Middle and Oquirrh Hills Middle.
  • New Elementary Administrative Intern Assignment effective July 1, 2023:
    • Kasey Dahl, teacher at Mountain Shadows Elementary assigned administrative intern at Ridge View Elementary, replacing Tim McConnell who is resigning.

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Spring has arrived, and with it comes a sense of renewal and hope for a brighter future. As we move into the month of May, we have much to look forward to in our schools and within our community. Enjoy our newsletter as you learn about Asian and Pacific Island Heritage Month, gain some teaching tools to assist students in reading in a different language other than their native language, and celebrate our bilingual psychologists with us.

The full newsletter can be found at the link below. Stories include:

Student Monitoring - After students score proficient on their WIDA test, they are monitored for four years. If you have any students in monitoring, you will be asked to complete a monitoring form each quarter for them. This quick check-in allows you to communicate any concerns you might have with students who have exited EL services but who continue to be monitored for four years after their exit date. When you log into ELLevation, you will see a red flag above the "Monitoring" tab on your screen. This tells you how many forms you need to complete, and when you click, it will take you to your unfinished forms. Make sure you complete these before the year ends!

Immersive Reader in Canvas - The Immersive Reader is an add-on in Canvas that students can set up to help them understand your Canvas content. Immersive Reader will do the following:

  • Translate text (show students how to do this--they'll have to adjust each time they open immersive reader) If they click a word, a picture will pop up
  • They can adjust font size, background color, and have it highlight line-by-line reading.
  • It will read text to them, can speed or slow audio, change audio to male/female voice, and has different dialects or accents students can choose.
  • Here are the instructions for students to add it the Immersive Reader button to their Canvas page. It might be helpful to walk them through it by doing it on your own:
  • Go to "Account" on left side of Canvas screen. Click "settings"
  • Scroll down to the list of "Feature Options"
  • Click the red X next to "Microsoft immersive reader," click "enabled," and turn it to a green check.
  • Bonus: Students can also turn on auto-captions for Canvas Media in the "Feature Options" list

Culture Corner - May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, a time to celebrate and recognize the contributions and achievements of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. This month is an opportunity to learn about the rich history, diverse cultures, and significant contributions that AAPI individuals and communities have made throughout our country's history. It's a time to reflect on the challenges faced by AAPI people, including discrimination and racism, and to promote inclusivity, understanding, and respect for all individuals, regardless of their background. As a district community, let's take this month to celebrate the AAPI heritage and continue to work towards a more inclusive and equitable society.

Reflective Questions - As we end the year, think about the following:

  • How can I build a stronger community that encourages and engages ALL students in my classroom?
  • What went well this year? What do I want to improve?
  • How can I use ELLevation in August to help me prepare for the new group of students I will teach?
  • What can I do for me this summer that helps me decompress and relax after my busy teaching year?
  • What can I plan for next year to help me support my and my student's social and emotional health as the year goes on?

Celebrating our Bilingual Psychs this year! - We have 747 ML's in our district who have IEP's. To help with testing, we have two wonderful bilingual psychologists working nonstop to help test our multilingual students throughout the district. Monica Amador and Angie Mar Velez Matias have had their busiest year yet trying to get students tested for special ed services.
They've tested nearly 300 students this year between the two of them. They do new student referrals and re-evals for students from out of district, state, or country. They are a valuable connection between Special Ed and Language and Culture, and we couldn't do it without them!

Published on

DATE: 
Thursday, May 11, 2023

TO:  
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
State Testing Reminders

The following are friendly reminders from the state’s testing ethics policy:

  • “Utah LEAs and Licensed Utah educators may use a student’s score from a statewide assessment to improve the student’s academic grade for or demonstrate the student’s competency within a relevant course.”
  • “Licensed Utah educators shall ensure that:
    • “Students are not penalized who have been exempted by a parent from a statewide assessment
    • “Students aren’t provided a nonacademic award for participating in or performing well on a statewide assessment
    • “Students are provided an alternate learning activity if they are exempted by a parent from a statewide assessment”

The following additional guidance may help address specific questions that arise from the part of the state’s testing ethics policy quoted above:

  • Using a student’s score from a state assessment can only improve a student’s grade – not hurt it.
  • Educators may not use a student’s score on a state assessment to determine an overall grade for the course. It can be used in conjunction with other evidence to help determine a student’s overall grade.
  • Educators may not assign participation points on students’ grades for taking a state assessment.
  • The alternate learning activity for students whose parents have opted them out of taking the state assessment can be an alternate assessment. That said, using a student’s score on the alternate assessment or activity on a student’s grade can only improve the student’s grade – not hurt it.

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Beginning July 2023, Skylert will have an updated look! From the new interface you can create templates, view the success rate of recent broadcasts, quickly access favorite broadcasts, and create one message to go out via phone, email, and text. Take a sneak peek at the new Skylert!

Skylert: New User Interface

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DATE:  
May 5, 2023

TO:  
All Principals and Directors

FROM:   
June LeMaster, Ph.D., Administrator of Human Resources
Brent Burge, Human Resource Administrator

SUBJECT: 
Education Support Professionals (Non-Exempt) Employee Overtime Reminder

Please see the memo below.

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Beginning May 22, 2023, the Custodial Department will be launching a new process to both hire and train sweepers for every school. A comprehensive training on the new process will be held at 8:30 am on May 17, 2023 at the Transportation facility. It is essential that Head Custodians attend this training to become familiar with this new and improved process. Without this training, schools will not be able to hire sweepers until the Head Custodian has completed the training.

Your Support is very much appreciated.

Steven Peart
Director of Custodial/Energy Services

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The administration of the Jordan School District, in consultation with the Board of Education and employee groups, is pleased to begin observance of the official state holiday for the Juneteenth National Freedom Day. This year, Juneteenth National Freedom Day will be observed on Monday, June 19, 2023. District offices and locations will be closed on this day. This change will impact the current year calendar for contracted and hourly employees on 242- and 245-day contracts, as well as CTE Coordinators on 207-day contracts.

Utah Code 63G-1-301(1)(f) outlines the scheduling of Juneteenth in Utah:
(f)(i) The Juneteenth National Freedom Day holiday is on June 19, if that day is a Monday.
(ii) If June 19 is on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, the Juneteenth National Freedom Day holiday is on the immediately preceding Monday.
(iii) If June 19 is on a Saturday or Sunday, the Juneteenth National Freedom Day holiday is on the immediately following Monday.

Updated employee calendars may be accessed at https://planning.jordandistrict.org/calendars/. Employees should direct questions to their immediate supervisors.

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DATE:
Thursday, May 4, 2023

TO:
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:
2023 Raw WIDA Access Results Available in WIDA AMS

________________________________________________________________________________

The 2023 WIDA Access raw results are now available in DRC Insight. These reports are based on students who completed WIDA testing in your school this year, but they do not include students who will be enrolled in schools for the 2023-24 school year (i.e., incoming 7th and 10th graders). Many schools need these results as soon as possible so that they can finish building their ESL Study Skills classes into their master schedule. Evaluation, Research & Accountability is working to provide this information, based on your projected enrollment for the 2023-24 school year.

In the meantime, school administrators with accounts (contact JoLynn Snelgrove if you need an account at jolynn.snelgrove@jordandistrict.org) and test coordinators may access 2023 WIDA Access results for students who tested in your school using the following steps:

  1. Login to DRC Insight (WIDA AMS): https://www.drcedirect.com/all/eca-portal-v2-ui/ - /login/WIDA
  2. Click on the My Applications tab on the top left. Then click on Report Delivery under Scoring and Reporting: 
  3. Click on the Test Results tab:
  4. Click on each drop-down menu so that it looks like the screenshot below (make sure your school name appears under the School drop-down menu), then click Download Reports:
  5. Confirm your reports download by clicking on Download Reports again:

The report will download an Excel CSV file. Columns H and I contain the student names. Columns AY-BE contain the language proficiency level.

Validated and cleaned results will be published on Tableau viewer accounts in the next week or two. Printed individual student reports (ISRs) will be delivered to schools when they become available later in May.

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

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National School Nurse Day was established to foster a better understanding of the role of school nurses in the educational setting.

Administrators: How do you celebrate National School Nurses Day? Please help our School Nurses know that they are loved and appreciated for all they do for you and our students!

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22,000 students responded to the winter Panorama SEL Survey and reflected on belonging, self-management, social awareness, emotion regulation, and self-efficacy. The attached document highlights the results for the District. You may access your school's results directly in the Panorama dashboard. See the District highlights attached. 

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Effective May 3, 2023, Utah law now prohibits individuals convicted of child abuse or who have pled guilty or no contest to child abuse from submitting an affidavit for home school to an LEA. In order to comply with this update to the law, a revision to the District's home school affidavit has been prepared and is attached. While schools should not process home school affidavits, any school who keeps copies of the affidavit on hand for patrons should discard previous versions.