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Category: Other Administrators

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We want to make sure we are able to meet the needs of our growing Languages in our District. As our numbers grow, our procedure has to change to better utilize the staff we have. Please share this with your Administrative assistants and reach out to Nicole in LCS for any questions.

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April showers will bring us May flowers (at least that's the hope)! A lot is happening in April -- testing season is upon us, we finish up the month of Ramadan, earth day, and Easter will soon be here. Our days are getting longer and we will soon see those flowers begin to crawl out from their winter hibernation. Hopefully, our very snowy winter will give our valley some much needed hydration and life this summer (without too much flooding). We at LCS hope you and your loved ones can enjoy the sun and the holidays this April!

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

ELLevation Tips and Tricks
Create your own dashboard or add a new tile to your current dashboard. Dashboards allow you to quickly access the most relevant and important data in Ellevation all in one place, and a Dashboard Tile is a bite-sized representation of key data about your ML students. When you first log in to ELLevation, you see our district's main dashboard, and all the different information squares are the tiles. You can create a Tile from any Student List configuration, and you can arrange one or more Tiles on a Dashboard to see relevant data points all in one place. You can customize your own ELLevation Dashboard with the Tiles of data that are relevant to you. Simply click the link or scan the QR code below for step-by-step instructions and videos to walk you through this process. Make sure you are logged into ELLevation before clicking or scanning so that it takes you straight to the help page!

Teaching Strategies Supporting Newcomers
As intimidating as it may be for teachers to have students new to the country with no English, imagine how scary it is for your new student. Here are a few things you can do to help your newcomers feel welcome:

  • Expect culture shock and a silent period for the student (a period where no talking happens at all).
  • Know that a smile, kind tone, and welcoming body language from you and other students go such a long way in helping your new student feel welcome.
  • Give them flashcards with survival words/phrases (with a translation in their home language, if possible). Things like asking for the bathroom or needing a drink or food can help them navigate their new experience.
  • At the secondary level, work with all the student's teachers to develop similar greetings, goodbyes, and other phrases to use with the child. This helps them to understand the language more quickly and feel secure. When they know what to expect, it is one less thing they need to worry about in their new environment.
  • Give them time to process what is being said and to respond. Use visuals whenever possible and repeat new language when possible.
  • Talk to your new student one-on-one every day. Repeat the same phrase so that they learn it more quickly.

Culture Corner
The "Racial Justice Challenge" organized by the YWCA begins April 17th. The challenge runs through the month of April to help raise awareness of systemic racism. It is "designed to create dedicated time and space to build more effective social justice habits, particularly those dealing with issues of race, power, privilege, and leadership. The Challenge works to foster personal reflection, encourage social responsibility, and motivate participants to identify and act on ways to dismantle racism and other forms of discrimination. Daily challenge activities (reading an article, listening to a podcast, reflecting on personal experience, etc.) are posted in the Challenge app and website, allowing participants to connect with one another, discover how racial and social injustice impact our community, and identify ways to dismantle racism and other forms of discrimination."

Reflective Questions

  • How does my identity shape my thinking, values, and understanding of the world?
  • How do my student's identities shape their thinking, values, and understanding of the world?
  • Where might our understandings conflict?
  • What learning have I done this year to better understand myself, my teaching, and my students?

ELD Lead Celebration
April Winegar is a teacher and ELD lead at WJHS. She is passionate about teaching, and works hard to implement programs that support the MLs at her school. She started up a Task Force long before we began doing it district-wide. She has a New ELD Lead folder with great information that she shares with new ELD Leads to guide them in their role. She goes above and beyond to promote and recruit students for the Seal of Biliteracy, and she is always striving to improve the ELD culture school-wide. But most of all, her students know she cares. She is always smiling, always willing to help, and one of the kindest people you will ever meet.

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Please see the attached Memo for details on checking your end of year SCRAM report with your team, and getting everything returned by Monday, May 1, 2023.

Team leaders will be receiving the SCRAM Report for your school through District Mail and should use the established communication system already developed to work with each other so all have a chance to check the report.

Don't forget that all graduating seniors need an exit SCRAM, as well as any student not returning to our district, by the end of the school year.

If you have any questions, please contact the teacher specialist over your school or Jen Warkentine at 801-567-8207.

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Outstanding Education Support Professional Award Applications are now open!

District support staff are among the unsung heroes of the Jordan School District. Each year Jordan District school principals and department heads are invited to nominate one non-teaching/support staff employee for recognition.

All full-time Jordan School District Education Support Professional employees are eligible. Past winners of this award are not eligible for nomination. One nomination per department/school will be considered. Please make sure the Nominee's Department Head or Principal has approved this nomination.

Nominations will be accepted until 11:59 pm, Monday, April 17, 2023.

Nomination form can be found on the JEF website or by clicking this link: 2023 Outstanding Education Support Professional Nomination Form

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On Thursday, April 20, 2023, at 10:15 a.m. a million Utahns will “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” in the annual Great Utah ShakeOut Earthquake Drill.

All schools are encouraged to participate in this drill, or to conduct an earthquake drill sometime in the month of April.  This is an opportunity to incorporate emergency preparedness in classroom lessons and to include proper ways to protect oneself during an earthquake.

Schools can register to participate in the Great Utah ShakeOut, at: www.ShakeOut.org/Utah.  After registering your school, you can also review the “PLAN YOUR DRILL” section at the bottom left of the Webpage.

Please review the Jordan School District Incident Command Manual - Earthquake Action Plan and Standard Operating Guidelines for planning, drilling and responding to an earthquake.  The manual is located in the JSD Incident Command Folder on Google Drive, link: Incident Command Folder.   Bookmark for future reference.

Please plan and prepare to take part in this statewide earthquake drill.  Remember to report your drill and related meetings using the Jordan School District, link: 2022-23 REPORT EMERGENCY - DRILLS, ACTUAL EVENTS, or MEETINGS on Google Drive.  Bookmark for future reporting.

Please contact the JSD Emergency Operations Manager Lance Everill with questions, etc.:    Office 801-567-8623, lance.everill@jordandistrict.org

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The following are new administrative assignments:

New Assignments effective July 1, 2023:

  • Julie Scherzinger, assistant principal at Herriman High appointed CTE consultant in the Career & Technical Education department.
  • Michael Trimmell, principal at Riverside Elementary appointed consultant in the Special Education department.
  • Amanda Edwards, principal at Bastian Elementary appointed principal at Riverside Elementary.
  • Jessica Stowe, assistant principal at Heartland Elementary appointed principal at Bastian Elementary.

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Every student deserves to be taught by an accomplished teacher. National Board Certification was designed to develop, retain and recognize accomplished teachers and to generate ongoing improvement in schools nationwide. It’s the highest certification a teacher may obtain in addition to being the most respected one.

Perks for teachers:

  • Jordan District will pay NBCTs a stipend of $2,400 per year
  • USBE offers grants through TSSP funds to cover costs
  • USBE provides classroom teacher bonus for NBCT: $1,000 for classroom teacher, $2,000 for Title 1 classroom teachers.
  • USBE Educator Incentive Programs
  • NBPTS Support

Teachers who have gone through the Board certification process say that it is the most valuable and transformative professional development they have ever received. The opportunity to connect professional learning with classroom practice brings to life a teacher’s experience, helping them reflect on individual student learning needs.

Contact Amy Wood with questions: amy.wood@jordandistrict.org

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Click below to complete the end-of-year Digital Teaching & Learning Survey from USBE. This survey will help us determine technology needs for the 2023-2024 school year. The survey is due by 4/28/23.

USBE Survey Link

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The Leading School Summit will include administrators from across the state who are looking to strengthen the impact of digital learning and PCBL in their schools. This is a FREE conference, so sign up today!

Click HERE for more information and to register.

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As you plan your April 21st, PD day, let Language and Culture services help you in filling in areas of conversation you need for your ML learners and climate and culture of your school. We have 3 different PD's to chose from. Your school can select all three or just one. You can have grade levels join together or individually. We hope we can be a resource for you and your school. Please RSVP by clicking HERE

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DATE: 
March 9, 2023

TO:  
All Administrators

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

SUBJECT: 
Wellness Accelerator Event

You and your staff are invited to a Wellness Accelerator Event at JATC South Auditorium on April 14th, from 1:30-3:30.

The 2023 Wellness Accelerator is an opportunity to learn from passionate educators like you. There will be a variety of topics covered through brief, prepared table-top discussions from educators around Jordan District on strategies for student and staff wellness. Participants should plan on walking away with practical ways to enhance wellness for yourself and others!

Who should attend? You! Jordan School District administrators, school leaders, and staff committed to SEL/wellness initiatives (substitutes can be provided upon request) are invited to attend.

Review the attached flyer and share with those that would benefit from attending.

Please contact McKinley Withers (mckinley.withers@jordandistrict.org) for additional information and questions.

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We are excited to announce our in-person, Jordan School District Special Education Transition Fair for 2023 and would love for you to join us! There will be over twenty community resources attending to help answer any post-secondary questions for our students and families.

The Transition Fair will be held on Monday, April 10, 2023 from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. at the Jordan School District Auxiliary Services building (7905 South Redwood Road, West Jordan, UT 84088).

We hope that you will be able to attend! For questions please contact Ashley Calhoun Transition Specialist at 801-567-8208 or ashley.calhoun@jordandistrict.org,

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Criminals are getting more and more creative and bold and are finding new ways to try to steal freight from our schools.

One of our schools had an incident recently after receiving several boxes through UPS from Apple Computers. The boxes legitimately belonged to the school, and all shipping labels had the school name on them. An unidentified woman came in shortly after the delivery claiming she was instructed by the freight company to pick up her items from the school. She had a printout of tracking numbers that matched the computers! Long story short, the school did not give her their computers even after she threatened to get the police involved. If this ever happens at one of your schools or locations, yes, call the police!

Please watch for this or similar situations to happen at your location. The picture below is what the fraudster tried to provide to the school as “proof” the boxes were hers. Note that she is not showing the “entire email”, and there is no reference to Apple or UPS with a legitimate looking email address.

If in doubt, please contact Purchasing, as we may have additional shipping or tracking information from the vendors or can help you obtain it to verify that a shipment belongs to your school or department and not a person coming in off the street. We also recommend locking unopened freight in a room until it can be opened or distributed, and not in easy reach of those coming into the building.

Stay aware and stay safe! Please contact Purchasing if you need assistance or have questions on receiving freight or if you need help legitimizing claims such as this.

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DATE:
March 9, 2023

TO:  
All Administrators

FROM:  
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness
Angie Rasmussen, Student Safety & Wellness Specialist

SUBJECT:  
Management of SafeUT and BARK Monitoring Tips

SafeUT alerts - After hours, holidays, and weekends
SafeUT may still send text and email alerts after hours or during blackout periods when they are deemed urgent. Most tips and alerts are deemed as non-urgent and are batched for 7am the next school day.

When a text/email alert is received after school hours or on a weekend, it should be addressed as soon as reasonably possible. In some cases, SafeUT will call the District’s on-call contact, through Health and Wellness, to obtain information immediately. When SafeUT contacts the after-hours staff member it will be logged in the disposition notes in SafeUT for schools to address the next school day. SafeUT may still send urgent alerts to schools after hours or during blackout periods without contacting the on-call staff. These alerts are managed by the school.

BARK after-hours alerts
A BARK content monitoring alert that comes in after 3pm will not be forwarded to school staff until the next school day if it is non-urgent. Urgent notifications that come in after 3pm are sent to the Student Safety & Wellness Specialist, Angie Rasmussen for triage.

Documentation and closing SafeUT tips
It is essential to assign, document interventions, and close each SafeUT tip. This effectively communicates the status of the tip to all parties involved. Here are some helpful tools for this process:

All school administrators are set up in the SafeUt dashboard to receive alerts. If you are not getting SafeUT emails check your SPAM. There is an email filter in place to ensure that SafeUT alerts are not sent to SPAM. If you have checked your SPAM folder and are still not getting notifications, please email Angie Rasmussen.

Should you have any questions please reach out to Angie Rasmussen at angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org

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The date for the Jordan School District High School Graduation exercises is Thursday, June 1, 2023. Valley High School graduation exercises are scheduled for Wednesday, May 31, 2023. School graduation plans and times will vary from school to school.

Principals and Directors are encouraged to provide flexibility to parents or grandparents requesting the opportunity to attend the graduation ceremonies of family members.

Licensed employees are responsible for requesting a substitute through the Frontline Absence Management System, if applicable. In the blue “Notes to Administrator” box, the employee should add “graduation” along with his/her relationship to the graduate.

For additional assistance, please contact the Sub Office at 801-567-8219.