Skip to content

DATE:     
September 7, 2016

TO:  
Elementary Principals
Secondary Principals

FROM:   
Administrators of Schools
Laura Finlinson, Administrator, Curriculum/Staff Development
Norman Emerson, Instructional Support Services/Fine Arts Consultant

SUBJECT:     
Ballet West 2016-17 Student In-Theater Presentations


Ballet West will once again be providing student in-theater presentations at the Capitol Theater during the 2016-17 school year as follows:

  • Madame Butterfly-November 8, 9, 10 (Grades 3-12)
  • The Nutcracker-November 30, December 1, 6, 7 (Grades 1-12)
  • Sleeping Beauty-February 14, 15, 22 (Grades K-12)
  • The Little Mermaid-March 30, 31 (Grades K-12)
  • The Green Table-April 12 (Grades 5-12)

Please note that November 10, December 6, and February 22 are field trip busing moratorium dates.

Although these performances are provided free of charge, Ballet West will not be subsidizing busing as they have in the past. However, all attendees may request a student/teacher workshop to supplement their attendance at a Ballet West student in-theater presentation.

To request a student in-theater presentation, please contact Verlene Jensen at 801-567-8296 or verlene.jensen@jordandistrict.org.

If you have not had the opportunity to attend and receive training on the changes in the Home & Hospital program, please attend one of the following forums:

Wed., Sept. 28th @ 9:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m.
Thurs., Sept. 29th @ 9:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m.

Each site has been asked to send an administrator to attend one of the sessions.

See flyer below.

Constitution Day commemorates the formation and signing of the U.S. Constitution by thirty-nine brave men on September 17, 1787.  Each school is required to, in some way, commemorate Constitution Day each year.
 
Secondary History Dept chairs have been emailed resources that may help teachers. For resources and ideas, principals and elementary teachers, please go to socialstudies.jordandistrict.org/resources/

Date:    
September 1, 2016

To:  
Traditional Secondary Principals

From:
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Heather Ellingson, Director of Accounting, Budgets, and Audits

Subject:  
Instrument Purchase and Repair


Effective the July 1, 2016, the purchase and repair of instruments will be the schools’ responsibility.  An additional $1,710 for middle schools and $5,700 for high schools has been added to the District equipment allocation.  Schools should use this allocation to purchase instruments.

Previously, schools were required to turn fees collected for instrument rentals into the District to be used for instrument repairs Districtwide.  Effective July 1, 2016, fees collected for instrument rental should be retained by the school to pay the costs of instrument repairs.

Based on these changes, schools should no longer submit requests to the District for instrument purchases or repair nor should they send in student fees collected for instrument rental.

DATE: 
August 31, 2016

TO:   
Secondary Principals
Secondary Media Specialists

FROM: 
Administrators of Schools
Laura Finlinson, Administrator, Curriculum/Staff Development
Norman Emerson, Instructional Support Services/Fine Arts Consultant

SUBJECT:   
Networking Meetings for Secondary Media Specialists


In order to prepare and train secondary library media assistants to effectively provide services to their schools and to build consistency across the District’s library programs, several networking meetings have been scheduled for the 2016-17 school year. The participation of your media specialists in these meetings is expected and appreciated.

The meetings will be held on the following dates from 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.:

  • September 29, 2016
  • October 26, 2016
  • November 30, 2016
  • January 25, 2017
  • February 23, 2017
  • March 3, 2017 (UELMA Conference)
  • April 26, 2017
  • May 17, 2017

Please feel free to contact Norman Emerson (801-567-8364) if further information is needed. Thank you for your continued support of the library media programs in Jordan District.

Please be aware of the many flu shot clinics that have been scheduled in our schools this fall (see attachment). English and Spanish versions are included, for schools to post for their communities. Employees are welcome at all of the clinics. Please also note the clinics scheduled for the District Office and for the ASB. Have a healthy year!

JSD Administrators and Administrative Assistants:

You will soon receive an email link to the Emergency Procedures and Contact Information 2016-17 manual (aka The Red Book).  Please take a moment to open it up and verify that your contact information is correct before we send it for printing.  If a correction is needed, please contact Peggy at ext.88753 or peggy.margetts@jordandistrict.org by end-of-day Friday, September 2nd.

You will receive your hard copy as soon as they are back from the printer.

Many thanks from the JSD Safety Team,
Paul Bergera, Auxiliary Services Staff Assistant
Lance Everill, Facility Operations Manager
Ron Boshard, Risk Management Coordinator
Peggy Margetts, Administrative Assistant

DATE:
August 31, 2016

TO:
Principals

FROM:
Administrators of Schools
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Clyde Mason, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:
An Upcoming Skylert Message:  2016 SAGE Individual Student Reports – Available in My Family Access


On September 7, 2016, the Communications Department will be sending out the following Skylert Message:

“Parents, if your student participated in 2016 SAGE assessments, her/his 2016 SAGE Individual Student Reports are available online within “My Family Access” under the “Report Card / Academic Progress” tab. Please contact your student’s school if you have questions about accessing or understanding your student’s 2016 SAGE Individual Student Reports.”        

Please be prepared to respond to parent questions regarding access to, and understanding of, the 2016 SAGE Individual Student Reports.

Principals:

The course catalog committee will be recommencing on September 26th. If you would like to add a new course to the Jordan District Secondary Course Catalog, please complete the “Secondary Course Request Application” and submit it to the Course Catalog Committee for review through the established audit process for Jordan School District. The final Course Catalog Committee meeting will be held on Monday, November 21st at 1:00 p.m. If possible, please have all new course request applications submitted to Holly Bell before that time. If requests are not received by then, there is no guarantee that we will be able to complete an out-of-committee audit in time to have the course approved and included in the printed edition of the 2017-2018 Secondary Course Catalog.

Included is a file attachment for the committee calendar:
The Secondary Course Request Application link is as follows: http://jordandistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/fgen_Secondary_Course_Request_Application.pdf

It may also be located on the Jordan District website, under Resources/Forms and Documents/General, or at the following link:  jordandistrict.org/resources/forms/general/

Important SLO Information

Because of changes to the law, SAGE scores may no longer be used as the SLO rating for teachers. Therefore, all classroom teachers will need to use SLOs. An email message will be sent to all JSD educators with preliminary guidelines for the SLO process as described below:

The 2016-2017 Secondary SLOs will be available to secondary teachers throughout the year and can be administered by quarter, by semester, or, in some cases, by standard. Scores for both pre-test and post-test should be entered into Mastery Connect as soon as students have completed the tests.

Elementary teachers will have the option of using math, reading, or writing to measure student growth. Teachers may select their SLO subject now and give the pre-test for only that subject or teachers may give more than one pre-test and report the one with the highest rating. It is recommended that pre-tests be given within the first three weeks of school.

The process for reporting SLO ratings will be similar to last year; however, teachers will not be required to turn scores into folders. Before the end of the first quarter, you will each receive a spreadsheet similar to the ones you got last year. Instructions will accompany your spreadsheet. For now, please record any SLO pre-test data in Mastery Connect so that you will be able to transfer it once your post-tests are completed.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact one of Curriculum’s content administrators.

CONTENT AREA CONTACT NUMBER
Elementary Language Arts Becky Gerber 88087
Secondary Language Arts Mindy Dummer 88152
Math Wendy Harmon 88377
Social Studies Pam Su’a 88320
Science Jane Harward 88169
Fine Arts – Dance/Theater Robyn Bishop 88129
Fine Arts - Music Norm Emerson 88364
Fine Arts – Visual Arts Mindy Dummer 88152
CTE Sonja Ferrifino 75959
General Questions Shelley Nordick 88110

In order to be consistent with Federal reporting guidelines, the threshold for coding purchases to equipment (object 730) or computer equipment (731) is increasing to $5,000.  Effective immediately, all purchases where a single item is less than $5,000 should be coded to 610 (supplies) or new object code 650 (technology supplies).  This change does not alter the purchasing threshold of required quotes for a single item >$1,000 or a group of items >$2,000 nor does it impact the items requiring asset tags.

The 2016-17 year will be a transition year.  Please do not change purchase orders already in Skyward or submit journal entries for past purchases.  Current budgets have not been modified.  Please code the purchases to the correct account, regardless of budget.  Schools will be able to transfer budget between equipment and supplies in December and June.  District departments and grant programs may make budget revisions in January to reflect current requirements.

Please contact Heather Ellingson (ext. 88388) with any questions.

DATE:  
August 15, 2016

TO:  
All Principals
All Special Education Staff

FROM: 
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curric./Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director of Special Education
Julie Brown, Program Specialist

SUBJECT:  
Mandatory Special Education Training


In lieu of the Special Education Opening Inservice, the Special Education department has developed compliance training for all special education staff. All elementary and all provisional staff will attend a half-day training. There are 4 sessions available to help disperse the number of staff that will be out of the building. Substitutes may be requested using budget code 1292.  Special educators are responsible for arranging coverage. Registration will be through JPLS. Middle and high school career staff will be trained together by Feeder system during a Friday morning PLC to minimize staff being out of the building. The dates, times, and locations for all trainings are below.

All Elementary and Provisional Staff:
September 7, 2016      8:00 a. m. -11:00 a. m.      JATC South Auditorium
September 7, 2016      12:30 p. m. -3:30 p. m.      JATC South Auditorium
September 8, 2016      8:00 a. m. -11:00 a. m.      JATC South Auditorium
September 8, 2016      12:30 p. m. -3:30 p. m.      JATC South Auditorium

September 9, 2016      7:00 a. m. -8:15 a. m.
Bingham Feeder  -  BHS   Room E204
Herriman Feeder  -  HHS   Room 1403
West Jordan Feeder  -  WJHS Room E27

September 16, 2016    7:00 a. m. -8:15 a. m.
Copper Hills Feeder  -  CHHS Room 2702
Riverton Feeder  -  RHS    Room 2305

DATE:  
August 15, 2016

TO:   
Secondary Principals
Secondary School Registrars

FROM:  
Administrator of Schools
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent of Schools
Luann Leavitt, Planning and Student Services
Steven Harwood, Information Systems

SUBJECT:  
Dropout Report for the 2015-16 School Year – State Reporting Deadline


See attached memo. The requested updates need to be completed and back to Planning & Student Services in the electronic format through “Move it” by October 1, 2016.