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Category: Middle Schools

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Principals:

Please share the attached flyers with your School Community Council members. One flyer contains dates for Jordan School District trainings. The other is provided by USBE and has the list of the trainings they are offering. As a reminder, new principals and new chairs are required to attend one of these trainings. A video will be available for training purposes if needed.

 

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DATE:  
Thursday, August 29, 2019

TO:     
All Principals

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

SUBJECT:    
Utah Compose Rostering Delay

We received word from USBE that Utah Compose is not yet ready for classroom use.  They asked us to disseminate the following message to all educators that could potentially use Utah Compose:

USBE was notified by Measurement Inc. that the Utah Compose upload is continuing slowly. Courses and students continue to be added but users will still see incomplete class rosters and/or missing courses. All courses and students will be loaded by Monday, September 2. In an effort to expedite the upload process, all school and district administrative functions have been suspended until the teacher and student accounts are complete. No school or LEA-level reports will be available until that time. Thank you for your patience. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact Kim Rathke kim.rathke@schools.utah.gov

We have sent this information to teachers as well. Please contact Ben Jameson or Kim Rathke at USBE with any questions or concerns you may have. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

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National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Regional Conference & Exposition - October 16-18, 2019 in Salt Lake City

Connect with colleagues in the math education community, share knowledge, and learn about the resources, tools, and classroom best practices you can use to enhance your teaching and drive student success.

Whether you're a Pre-K to Grade 12 classroom teacher, math coach, administrator, math teacher educator, preservice teacher, or math specialist, this is your unique opportunity to access superior math resources right on your doorstep.

Early Bird registration ends September 11, 2019. Get a discount for groups of 5 or larger.

https://www.nctm.org/saltlakecity2019/?ref=button

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DATE:
August 27, 2019

TO:  
All Principals (Traditional)

FROM:
HR Administrators

SUBJECT:   
School FTE Audit Reports 2019-20

As promised, this year the School FTE Audit Reports may be completed electronically!

The HR administrators are excited to offer an electronic school audit report to all principals, which eliminates the required in-person appointments of the past.  However, in-person appointments will also be made available to new and experienced principals who prefer to review these reports in-person with an HR administrator. Instructions for both processes are outlined below:

Electronic FTE Audit Process:

  • September 1 - 13, 2019 – Complete the Payroll audit which is necessary to ensure contracted employees are paid correctly. HR will enter any changes from the Payroll audit and will prepare the School FTE Audit Reports by location.
  • September 25, 2019 – HR will share with administration and administrative assistant the School FTE Audit Reports via Google Sheets to be reviewed with the administrative assistant, nutrition manager, and head custodians respectively. These reports will include verification of faculty/staff, FTE, budget codes and a list of employees with associate level licenses (underqualified).   Please refer to the “Instructions” sheet for assistance in completing the audit.
  • October 4, 2019 – DUE DATE for the FTE School Audit Reports to be completed for HR to process. Please email an HR administrator when you have completed your audit.  HR then forwards this information to the Utah State Board of Education.  All completed documents for underqualified teachers should be scanned and emailed to an HR administrator by the due date.
  • Resources are available on the AdminOnly site to assist you in completing the audit. Resources include Temporary Employment Agreements and Letter of Authorization forms for underqualified teachers.
  • THE BEST NEWS OF ALL – All corrections made on the School FTE Audit Report will be made by HR upon return. Change forms will not be required; however, new hires not listed on the report will require the submission of a hire sheet to HR.

In-person FTE Audit Process:

  • Complete steps 1 and 2 above. This includes making any changes to the audit Google Sheet prior to the audit appointment.
  • September 30 through October 4, 2019 are the in-person audit appointments with the HR administrators. The time necessary for each appointment will depend on the school level for which you are assigned. Principals may schedule an in-person audit appointment at any time by clicking the following link: https://jordanschooldistricthr.setmore.com/resourcebookingpage/ra7401561145687524

We are hopeful the electronic version of the School FTE Audit Report process will be an improvement for you and your staff.  Please feel free to share any feedback regarding this process with an HR administrator.  We will consider all suggestions and work to improve this process for future use.

Thank you for your time and assistance.

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SUU is hosting a writing conference on Sept. 19-20th that will cover creative non-fiction and essay writing. This is a great opportunity for you to offer TSSA funds to teachers who would like to participate. Information on the conference will be sent out to ELA Department Chairs on Friday.

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Payroll Rosters have been updated. There are multiple tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet. Administrative assistants should select the roster that best suits their needs. Please replace the old rosters with these new ones. If you have questions or suggestions please contact the Payroll Department.

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DATE:
August 22, 2019

TO:
All Principals

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

SUBJECT:
1st Day Enrollment vs. the Estimate
All Schools, traditional and YRE

Please see memo below.

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DATE:
August 22, 2019

TO:
District Administration

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

SUBJECT:
1st Day Enrollment vs. the Estimate
Year-round Schools, Tracks A, B, C & D
(based on August 21, 2019 count)

Please see memo below.

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As we start the 2019-20 school year, schools are preparing to keep a clean and healthy environment.  The District does not supply hand sanitizer or disinfectant wipes.  These products often contain alcohol or bleach and may cause skin and eye irritation or injury, intoxication, illness, and may be flammable.  Schools that purchase or receive donations of these items are advised to take the following precautions:

  • Obtain non-toxic products if possible
  • Keep hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes locked up, inaccessible to students
  • Obtain a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) from the manufacturer; usually by Googling the name brand, product SDS
  • Keep the SDS on file and readily available for proper handling, protective equipment advisory, first aid, and other safety information
  • Use these products with staff supervision
  • Be aware of allergies and sensitivities

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An institute held over 6 days throughout the school year for elementary and secondary mathematics educators with strong content knowledge who are working in positions that involve leadership and coaching.
Application Due: August 30, 2019

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District Policy regarding hours of work (DP343 NEG) has two changes for Classified Employees. Nothing else has changed for comp time except:

  • Comp time will only be tracked in Skyward’s Employee Access, not by any other mechanism or on paper (trade time is not comp time, and is not tracked in Employee Access). Instructions on how to enter comp time in Employee Access are attached.
  • Comp time will be used during the next two successive pay periods.

Classified now reads as follows:

Classified employees who fall under the guidelines of the Fair Labor Standards Act (personnel included on the classified master salary schedule) must be paid at one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a work week or receive compensatory time off during the two successive pay periods (first to last day of the month in which work is done) at the rate of one and one-half times the actual overtime worked during any workweek. Only compensatory time will be considered hours worked for the purpose of calculating the 40-hour work week. All compensatory time earned must be pre-approved by the appropriate director, principal or supervisor. The tracking of such earning and using of compensatory time will be done through Skyward Employee Access. 

Employees and supervisors should work together in a professional and reasonable manner when dealing with comp time and trade time.

 

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The passage of SB149 created the Teacher and Student Success Act (TSSA) for the purpose of improving school performance and student academic achievement. As one of the TSSA requirements, our JSD Board of Education has adopted a Student Success Framework with guidelines for each school to follow in developing a TSSA Plan. Plans are due on September 30, 2019. Your school allocation was sent to you as an additional item in the August 15, 2019 edition of the Jordan Administrative Memo (JAM).

To begin using your school’s TSSA funds, each principal will need to complete their TSSA plan Google Sheet created by the Teaching & Learning department. Completion of the School Planning Tool will ensure compliance with TSSA requirements. Here is a list with links to each school’s plan.

Each plan should include a goal using indicator(s) from the USBE Accountability system. USBE success criteria for the TSSA program requires schools to demonstrate a 1% increase in total points. Plans must address a school goal through at least one of the three priorities in JSD Board Framework:

  • coaching,
  • professional development, and
  • school-based initiatives.

You may use this checklist to guide your planning.

Optional work sessions will also be held to provide principals with support for the planning process. Bring a device.

Date Time Location
September 4, 2019 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. D.O. Room 129.
September 5, 2019 8:00 - 11:00 a.m. D.O. Room 129

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The Utah Council for the Social Studies annual fall conference will be held Saturday, Nov. 2 at South Jordan Middle School, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.  Registration is through Eventbrite at this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ucss-2019-conference-tickets-68293697287  Registration options include: Individual registration $30, You & a friend $50, Social studies department or grade level team $100. Lane change credit will be given and breakfast and lunch provided.

The keynote speaker is a former POW, held in a Vietnamese prison. For details on other sessions, see attached flyer.

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District level resources for Blended and Digital Learning will be provided to each school through a Google shared folder named "Blended Learning (school name)." Access to the folders will be sent to each school administrator within the next week. The folder will include resources to support your digital learning efforts. The Blended and Digital Learning team would like to support school efforts to build the technology capacity of teachers through the Center for STEM and Digital Learning, the Trending Classrooms Badging program, and the Digital Teacher Leader program. Information regarding these programs will be included in the folder.

If you have any questions please contact Ross Menlove. ross.menlove@jordandistrict.org

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DATE:   
August 20, 2019

TO:  
All Principals
All Special Education Staff

FROM:  
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Brian King, Principal, River’s Edge

SUBJECT:   
A.S.P.E.N. Training for all Special Education Staff 2019-2020

A.S.P.E.N. training will continue to be required for all licensed special education teachers, SLPs, school psychologists, elementary school counselors, and for all instructional assistants in SEB and Autism self-contained support classrooms during the 2019-2020 school year. A.S.P.E.N. is a positive, preventative, and proactive approach to managing aggressive student behavior.

Although not required, instructional assistants working in any other special education setting may choose to attend at the discretion of their building administrator.

Those who participated in A.S.P.E.N. training during the 2018-2019 school year do not need to take the full course, but should instead plan on taking an ASPEN re-certification class.

If you have more than one teacher or instructional assistant that needs to attend, please consider having them attend on separate days in order to maintain adequate coverage in your school. The Special Education Department will cover the costs of substitutes for licensed special education teachers under budget code 1292. Instructional assistants will be asked to use True Time to record their typical workday hours on the day of the training. Any additional hours spent in the training above their typical workday will need to be recorded on a time sheet. Staff should register for a training session through JPLS.

Mandt training will continue to be required at Kauri Sue Hamilton and River’s Edge School and staff at these schools will not need to attend A.S.P.E.N. Others wishing to keep their Mandt training current may do so; however, participation is not mandatory and teachers and instructional assistants will not be compensated for their attendance. A Mandt training schedule will be forthcoming.

A.S.P.E.N. training dates and times are attached to this memo.

For questions, contact:
Daveed Goodrich at daveed.goodrich@jordandistrict.org or
Cassidy Hansen at cassidy.hansen@jordandistrict.org

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Attention Administrators:

One of the key responsibilities of the Purchasing Department is to help the District work as efficiently as possible and control our expenses. We are pleased to announce that we will be transitioning our Amazon Business account to an Amazon Business Prime account.

For those of you that use Amazon Business now for your purchasing needs, not much will change. In fact, for some of you the change will be nearly unrecognizable. Currently some schools or departments have one user pay for one Amazon Prime account of $127/year to order from. With this change any authorized person (set-up and authorized by your administrator) in the building can access Amazon Business Prime and get free two-day shipping at no cost.

Initially, the number of authorized users will be limited to 5 at elementary schools, 10 at middle schools, 20 at high schools, and 2 at each district department. This can be increased later if desired by the administrator. Of course, these accounts should only be used for business purposes and not personal use. Purchasing will pick up the Amazon Business Prime annual fee for the entire district, saving thousands of dollars in prime account fees and shipping costs each year.

Administrators will have the ability to approve or decline purchases and/or delegate approval to their custom workflow of staff. Detailed emails will be sent out and Kris Wishart in Purchasing will be contacting each school/department for initial set-up of users and workflow.

Stay tuned for more news on this as we go forward. Secondary schools and District departments will begin the process very shortly. Elementary schools will follow after things settle down some.