Skip to content

Category: Other Administrators

Published on

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,

Published on

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.

Published on

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

Published on

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.

Published on

Dear Principals,

As we have talked about reading classes and reading instruction, there has been interest from many schools in having teachers more fully trained in the Science of Reading, or LETRS training. 

Over the past month, Lexia (the company who provides the LETRS training) has released a new training geared specifically for students in grades 4-8, Lexia Aspire. (Lexia Aspire Website) There are several benefits to this training including:

  • The course is web based and self-directed
  • The suggested timeline is 29 weeks; however, it could be completed sooner depending on how fast the teacher works through the material
  • The cost for the training is $600 per teacher versus $800 + materials per teacher

The one drawback at this time is that we are unsure how Lexia Aspire will be integrated into the Secondary Literacy Interventionist Endorsement (the new Reading Endorsement). Together with other districts, we are working with USBE through this process; however, we won’t know the answer until later this year.

I have started the Lexia Aspire training, and it is something I wish I would have had as a Language Arts teacher. Not only does this program provide the foundational knowledge for why the Science of Reading is important; it also provides practical application that teachers can integrate into their instruction and classrooms now. 

Feel free to share this information with any Reading or Language Arts teachers who may be interested in the Lexia Aspire training. We’re hopeful that the training will be beneficial toward an endorsement but, at the very least, it is excellent reading instruction training. If you would like to consider paying for this training for your teachers, please contact me.  

Brandee Bergum
Secondary Language Arts Consultant
brandee.bergum@jordandistrict.org

Published on
During the opening administrators conference in August, the Teaching and Learning administrators introduced the "Educator Contractual Responsibilities Yearly Checklist” as a tool to use with your teachers. This list of 20 responsibilities was generated from the essential functions and qualifications listed in the Jordan School District Licensed Job Description. To make this more meaningful as a growth tool for teachers and administrators, we are working on building scales for each responsibility that would help educators identify exactly what it means to successfully meet expectations.
I have included a link to a Google Form below. We would love to hear what administrators think each responsibility really means and what it looks like when educators successfully meet the intended expectation for each one. We know you are all busy, so we don’t expect you to provide feedback for each indicator. To help save you time, the responsibilities have been grouped into four categories, and we are asking that you click on at one category and just do as much as you can.
Please feel free to forward this email to your assistant principals. Since we are just gathering information at this point, we aren’t ready for coaches and teachers to start worrying about what this is and how it might be used, so we would appreciate it if you don’t forward this outside of you admin team.
We are grateful for any time you can give to this to help us develop a tool that helps all of us improve our practice in order to provide the best education for students and a working environment where every educator can thrive!
Thank you!!!

Published on

March is here, which means St. Patrick's day, spring, and (hopefully) warmer temps. It is also Women's History Month, which began the week of March 8th, after President Jimmy Carter declared it Women's History Week. Then, in 1987 congress passed Public Law 100-9, designating March as “Women’s History Month.”

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

Culture Corner
St. Patrick's day is coming up. Remember that many of your ML students may not know the holiday or why they celebrate in class (if you plan on doing this). Teaching about the holiday, informing parents about your plans, and giving them some information about the day is incredibly helpful to those students and their families who have never celebrated.

Teaching Strategies Small Groups

  • Why? More time to talk encourages oral language growth (speaking & listening). It gives students a small, safe group to practice with Builds classroom community.
  • For Success - Teach students how to work in small groups. Assign roles so they know what to do. Give sentence stems for language support (bonus points for helping them practice saying those things out loud in the hallway). Guiding questions or printed out steps can help guide them.

Reflective Questions
At this point in the year, what have I learned about: my students’ lives, families, and past experiences? my colleagues? my school community? my local community? myself?

What more do I want to learn as we end 3rd quarter (March 24) and move into 4th?

ELLevation Tips and Tricks
You can use the Student List to make targeted instructional recommendations for students who meet specific criteria. To batch recommend Activities for multiple students at once from the Student List, found in the full newsletter below.

ELD Lead Celebration
Melanie Nixon is both the coach and ELD Lead at Mountain Point Elementary. She has established great relationships with both teachers and students. Not only does she know what is happening at her school, she knows students by name. She is a great resource for teachers who need language and culture support for MLs as she helps teachers with RtI, language strategies and data. Melanie is very organized and on top of things and the MLs at Mountain Point are lucky to have her as an advocate.

Published on

We are moving closer to the launch date for the new Brightly/Asset Essential work order system which will be replacing Sprocket effective April 3rd, 2023, we ask that you continue to use Sprocket until that date.

Most of our custodians and administrative assistants have had the opportunity to attend a training for the new system.

Please notify those who were unable to attend any of the scheduled trainings of these additional opportunities.

3/14/2023   
Principal Meeting – time certain during breakout sessions

3/21/2023  
Make up Training Date – ASB Presentation Room    2-4 pm
Open to Custodian and Administrative Assistants

3/28/2023 
Make up Training Date – ASB Presentation Room    9-11 am
Open to Custodian and Administrative Assistants

We appreciate your support as we work toward a smooth transition. If you have any question please reach out to our Brightly Team:

Teresa Lyon  :  801-567-8876  :  teresa.lyon@jordandistrict.org
Judy Bird  :  801-567-8625  :  judy.bird@jordandistrict.org
Jeff Beesley  :  801-567-8876  :  jeffrey.beesley@jordandistrict.org

Published on

Greetings!

We are anticipating a HIGH volume of substitute requests for the following dates: March 22nd, March 23rd, and March 24th. To increase coverage for those absences we ask that teachers who will be absent any of the above listed dates, enter their absences AS SOON AS POSSIBLE in Skyward and Frontline.

Thanks!

Published on

March 1, 2023

Clearing out & Closing School EARS Budgets (program 5336)

School Administrators:

As you are aware the EARS grant is not a guarantee and is determined on a year to year basis. Please take some time to review your school’s spending, for the 2023/24 school year, to ensure you are covered using all of your other funding sources.

The following information will help you finalize your EARS funding for the current school year: 

CLEARING OUT:
ALL teachers and aides that are being paid for through your 5336 EARS budget will need to be moved to another program for next school year.

  • It will be your responsibility to transition them over to another program after their final paycheck for this school year.
  • Your options could be School Land trust or TSSA

CLOSING:
Program 5336 will have a NO MORE NEW/ADDITIONAL SPENDING date of April 15, 2023. (Personnel already being paid will continue until the end of the 2022-23 school year.)

  • It will be your responsibility to make sure that all your purchases will be cleared by this time. Do NOT open a PO on April 14th to secure $$ for spending.
  • It will also be your responsibility to MOVE MONEY to program 5336, from one of your other programs, if you have overspent.

We hope to procure this money next year to help you continue supporting our “At Risk” students. More information regarding this funding will be available during the early months of next school year and will be disseminated in a timely manner.

Thank you,

Michelle Love-Day

Published on

If you are a contracted employee and need to take Annual/Personal Leave before or after the mid-spring recess for any reason not listed in policy DP335NEG or DP335B, you must submit a request as follows:

How to Request
During the window, the employee must send the request through email. Please include your name, school, position, and the date you are requesting the leave. Requests left on voicemail or over the phone will NOT be accepted.

Licensed employees submit their request to licensedpersonalleave@jordandistrict.org

Education Support Professionals submit their request to classifiedpersonalleave@jordandistrict.org

The employee will receive an email confirmation within two working days after submitting the request. If the employee does not receive a confirmation email, then Human Resources has NOT received your request and your leave will not be approved.

School Holiday Date of Holiday Window
Mid-Spring Recess April 24, 2023 Mar. 10 – Mar. 20, 2023

Annual/Personal Leave Taken Before or After a Holiday 2022-2023

Published on

DATE: 
February 27, 2023

TO:  
School Psychologists and School Psychology Interns

FROM:  
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Fulvia Franco, Program Specialist – Guidance

SUBJECT:  
March School Psychologist and School Psychology Interns Meeting

A school psychologist meeting has been scheduled for Friday, March 10, 2023, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the auditorium at the Jordan School District Auxiliary Services Building (7905 South Redwood Road). Terisa Gabrielsen, Ph.D., BYU professor, will provide us with a presentation on Demystifying Identification of Nuanced Autism in Females in School Settings.

Part-time Staff: I would appreciate it if you could adjust your schedules in order to attend this meeting.

cc:       Principals

Published on

JORDAN SCHOOL DISTRICT is offering Elementary and Secondary paid administrative internship openings for the 2023-24 academic year. Applications are open now through February 28, 2023 at midnight.

Please refer to the details below:

  • Applicants must select level of preference (elementary, middle or high) and submit only one application.
  • Selected applicants will be interviewed.
  • Assignments are for 1-year only, with no guarantee of a permanent administrative position.
  • Internal applicants, if selected, will be treated as an employee on a leave of absence for the current school year. Internal applicants chosen as an administrative intern will have the right to return to a comparable licensed position at the end of the internship.
  • Applicants must:
    • 1) be enrolled in a university administrative/leadership program, OR
    • 2) have a current in state or out-of-state administrative license, OR
    • 3) be in the JSD Administrative Pool
  • Administrative Interns are paid on a teacher salary schedule – 187-day contract plus 20 additional days for elementary and 10 additional days for secondary. A night stipend will be added according to level assignments.
  • Assignment locations are to be determined.

If you are interested in a full time, paid Administrative Internship Position, click HERE to apply!

Click HERE for a Frontline application tutorial.

 

Published on

The Jordan Ethnic Advisory Committee is pleased to announce a Parent, Guardian, and Student Open House event at JATC South, which will take place on March 1st, from 5 - 6:30 p.m. The purpose of this event is to provide a platform for families to share their ideas with administration and teachers, and to engage in meaningful dialogue about the challenges and opportunities facing our students.

Through this event, we hope to foster a sense of community and collaboration, and to work together to build a stronger, more inclusive school environment for all students.

To that end, we would like you to extend an invitation to school communities electronically, and to personally invite four families to participate in this open house. Principals will receive paper invitations in District mail.

We would be honored to have schools support in this initiative, and we believe that your participation will have a positive impact on our district as a whole.

Thank you for your time and consideration. If you have any questions or concerns, please email jeac@jordandistrict.org.

Published on

KSL News Radio and Cyprus Credit Union are honoring Utah Teachers! Now more than ever, we recognize the incredible ways that educators go above and beyond every day.

Once each month, a lucky featured teacher will be picked at random to receive a:
$500 Visa gift card from Cyprus Credit Union
Season tickets to Hale Centre Theatre
$250 gift card to Harmon's

Nominate a teacher now by clicking on the Teacher Tribute Wall

CYPRUS CREDIT UNION - YOUR FUTURE IS OUR FUTURE - HARMONS NEIGHBORHOOD GROCER HALE CENTRE THEATRE KSL NEWSRADIO 102.7FM