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DATE:    
October 10, 2024

TO:  
Administrators
Administrative Assistants

FROM: 
June LeMaster, Administrator, Human Resources
Brent Burge, Human Resource Administrator, ESP

SUBJECT: 
2024 Thanksgiving Critical Day Annual/Personal Leave Lottery Request


If you are a contracted employee and need to take Annual/Personal Leave before or after Thanksgiving on a “Critical Day” 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 Critical Days Window
Thanksgiving Recess

(Licensed)

Nov. 27-29, 2024 Nov. 26 and Dec. 2, 2024 Oct. 14 – Oct. 24, 2024
Thanksgiving Recess

(ESP)

Nov. 28-29, 2024 Nov. 26 and Dec. 2, 2024 Oct. 15 – Oct. 25, 2024

Licensed Annual/Personal Leave Taken on a Critical Day 2024-2025

ESP Annual/Personal Leave Taken on a Critical Day 2024-2025

DATE:  
October 10, 2024

TO: 
Principals
All Special Educators and Related Service Providers

FROM:  
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education

SUBJECT: 
Important Deadline--Please Read Immediately
SCRAM Data Due by the end of day Friday, November 8, 2024
Updating SCRAM for December 1 Funding Count


Special Education Resource and SCSC Team Leaders will soon receive a SCRAM report via District Mail with all students who are currently receiving services through your school’s special education program(s). All team members and service providers need to verify each student on this list as either correct, changed, exited/moved, and/or incomplete. Since only one copy is being sent per “team” (i.e., Resource and SCSC), it is important that resource teams, SCSC teams, SLPs, Guidance Specialists and other itinerant providers work together to check and complete the requested information. It is important to verify every student.

Special education funding and, therefore, school staffing/assistant allocations, etc. are contingent upon the accuracy of this data. Your timely and accurate response is critical! Thank you for all your efforts to get us the correct information in a very short time period.

All Corrections and SCRAM reports are Due: By 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 8, 2024. Please see the attached Memo for information and instructions.

TO:
School & District Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching & Learning


Helping Students Thrive, Not Just Survive: Keynote speakers include Kenneth Ginsburg and Vijay Gupta - content is aimed at supporting students. Registration is $75. Reserve your spot today!

TO:
School Administrators
School Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Katie Bastian, Director of Nutrition Services


JSD Nutrition Services has purchased local apples from Pyne Farms in Santaquin, Utah to celebrate this day with our district. Check out the YouTube link below for a great 3-minute Pyne Farm tour video and to learn about apples.

This year, Apple Crunch Day falls during National School Lunch Week! The theme for this year is "School Lunch Pirates...Find Your Treasure". Attached are some fun handouts about apples that incorporate the pirate theme.

Touch base with your school's kitchen manager to brainstorm how you would like to serve the apples in your school. We hope you enjoy this celebration!

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent


A new policy, AA453 Use of Personal Electronic and Communication Devices, commonly referred to as the "cell phone policy" will take effect on Tuesday, October 29. Please take time to review the policy with your administrative team. More information will be provided at principal meeting on October 15th. Please contact your AOS with any questions.

 AA453 Use of Personal Electronic and Communication Devices

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent


The following professional development days have been added to this year's calendar.

2024-25 School Year Calendar

Professional Development Day (No Students Attend)
Friday, November 8, 2024
Friday, March 14, 2025

All employees should work in the building on these days. As you are planning Professional Development in your schools and departments please plan as follows: Principal-Directed School Level Professional Development will be held in the morning hours and optional District-Level Professional Development may begin at 1:00 pm.

Please provide these dates to your employees.
If you have any questions please contact your Administrator of Schools.

DATE: 
October 3, 2024

TO: 
All Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
Parent Mental Health Series Offering


Administrators,

Jordan District has partnered with the Cook Center for Human Connection to offer ongoing mental health education for parents and caregivers. This partnership includes FREE access to frequent live, virtual educational sessions on rotating topics. It also includes access to a library of recorded sessions and resources for each topic that is covered. Sessions are offered in both Spanish and English at 5pm and 7pm.

Parents and caregivers can register to attend ANY of the 30+ mental health topic live sessions or access the content asynchronously.

We invite you to share the attached October Session Calendar with your school community and to review the session descriptions.

We hope that this can be a helpful resource for your schools and communities!

 

TO:
All Administrators
Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Brian King, Ph.D., Assistant Director of Special Education
Mike Trimmell, Ed.D., Special Education Administrator


Please see the attached newsletter.

DATE:   
October 1, 2024

TO:    
Principals
Special Education Providers

FROM:      
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Mike Trimmell, Ed.D., Special Education Administrator

SUBJECT:   
Transcription Services for the Visually Impaired


We have three amazing transcriptionists that support teachers that have students who are visually impaired. Their main role is to transcribe assignments into braille and enlarge text for general education and special education teachers that have visually impaired students in their classrooms.

To be able to support transcription services we ask that assignments be given to the transcriptionists 2 weeks in advance. This is the minimum time needed to transcribe work. Some assignments may take longer depending on the amount of graphics, which require a lot of reproducing and labeling. As an example, a language arts assignment with no graphics may only take 1 to 2 hours to transcribe, where a science or history assignment may take up to 10 hours to transcribe if there are maps or graphics.

The process of transcribing an assignment includes typing the assignment into a braille program, proofreading it, formatting it according to braille rules, embossing it, and then adding tactile graphics and labels if needed. Please note that a due date is also required for the transcriptionists to begin working on the assignment. To provide FAPE, students with visual impairments are guaranteed to have their assignments the same time as the rest of the class, which requires careful planning on both the part of the teacher and the transcriber.

Please contact Suzanne Miller for all braille transcription at Suzanne.miller@jordandistrict or 801-567-8662.

DATE:     
October 1, 2024

TO:  
School Psychologists and School Psychology Interns

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

SUBJECT:  
October School Psychologist Guidance Meeting


A meeting for school psychologists and school psychology interns has been scheduled for Friday, October 11, 2024 from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Auxiliary Services Building (7905 South Redwood Road). Brad Lundahl, Ph.D., Associate Professor at the University of Utah in the Department of Social Work, will provide us with a presentation on Motivational Interviewing.

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

cc:
Principals

The following are new administrative assignments:

Assignments effective October 7, 2024:

  • Kimberly Andersen, assistant principal at Westland Elementary appointed principal at Butterfield Canyon Elementary.
  • Lauren Nalder, teacher specialist in Teaching & Learning appointed assistant principal at Westland Elementary.

TO:
All Administrators
All Office Staff

FROM:
Steffany Ellsworth, Support Services Manager


We are excited to announce our annual Utah Skyward User Conference! The conference is scheduled for Wednesday, November 6th at Jordan School District Auxiliary Services Building. Please see the attached agenda for additional details.

This conference is an opportunity to learn about Skyward directly from the source as most sessions are presented by Skyward staff. There are some fantastic sessions being offered this year, including Data Mining for Beginners, Data Mining for Advanced Users, Admin Bootcamp, Skyward Tips & Tricks, Grade Analysis, and Qmlativ Business sessions.

During these sessions, you’re welcome to ask questions. However, if you have an issue that may take more time to resolve, we suggest you call our help desk for additional support.

We hope you make the most out of this year's conference by discovering fresh insights, learning valuable tips and tricks, getting your questions answered, and exploring new possibilities within Skyward. If you have any questions about attending the conference, please feel free to call the help desk at ext. 88737.

TO:  
Administrators
Administrative Assistants

FROM: 
June LeMaster, Administrator, Human Resources
Brent Burge, Human Resource Administrator, ESP


Department Administrators:

The FTE Audit process is critical in ensuring employees are paid accurately and from the appropriate budgets. Like last year, the FTE Audit will be electronic. Below is the process we will follow for the audits:

Electronic FTE Audit Process:

  • October 1, 2024 – HR will share with directors and administrative assistants the FTE Audit Report via Google Sheets. Please review the report with your administrative assistant. The report will include verification of faculty/staff, FTE, title and budget code(s). Please refer to the “Instructions” sheet in the document for assistance in completing the audit.
  • October 14, 2024 – DUE DATE for the FTE Audit Report to be completed for HR to process. Check the “yellow” box on the front page to indicate audit completion.
  • THE BEST NEWS OF ALL – All corrections made on the 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 Frontline.
  • If you are interested in meeting with HR to review/assist with your audit, please contact Brent Burge (88224) to schedule an appointment. We ask that you review the audit and come prepared to the meeting with needed changes to your audit.

Reminder to all School Administrators:
FTE Audits will transition to the HR Dashboard districtwide following the FTE audits and by October 15th.

DATE:
September 25, 2024

TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals
School Safety Specialists

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Matt Alvernaz, School Safety Coordinator

SUBJECT:
Monthly Drill Preparation (LOCKDOWN)


Our monthly drill preparation will be held on October 2nd at 3:00 PM with a second session at 3:30 PM. This month we will be covering LOCKDOWN.  Each School Safety Specialist is expected to attend along with administrators assigned to oversee school safety.  All other administrators are welcome to attend as well. The meeting is also open to any staff who may be interested.

After each monthly training all school staff should be trained by the administrator over school safety and the School Safety Specialist. After being trained each month, teachers should educate their students on each safety drill. Additionally, schools should communicate with their patrons regarding Standard Response Protocol(s) (SRP) and the drill being conducted each month. Videos, handouts, and other resources can be found at the link(s) below.

Information regarding the LOCKDOWN response protocol can be found in the Jordan School District Safety Manual on pages 12-14.  We will discuss how to implement and execute the drill.  This will be an opportunity to ask questions and share ideas amongst the schools.

We will be holding this meeting over ZOOM so please join using this link.

DATE:
September 19, 2024

TO:
All Administrators & Threat Assessment Teams

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

SUBJECT:
Reminder: Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) Workshop Dates


CSTAG training consists of two (2) training levels and both levels must be completed by all administrators and threat assessment team members. The CSTAG Level 2 workshop is for all who have completed the Level 1 training (the six (6) hour web-based training from Navigate360). This workshop will build upon your knowledge of threat assessment by providing practical application and implementation of the CSTAG process in your school.

The Level 2 workshop will:

  1. Review CSTAG level 1
  2. Focus on implementation and use of the threat assessment process
  3. Focus on sustainable ways to use CSTAG in your school
  4. Review and training on the decision tree
  5. Review the CSTAG forms and best practices for documentation
  6. Practice using real-world scenarios

If you have already completed level two (2), we are offering a new training opportunity, CSTAG level three (3)!

Here is a reminder of the remaining training offered for this school year:

**CSTAG Level 2**
Friday, December 6th, Virtual session (Zoom) only, (1-3pm)
Friday, February 28th, DO Room 129, (8am-10am)
Friday, May 2nd, DO Room 129, (1pm-3pm)

**CSTAG Level 3: Practical Use**
For those CSTAG team members who have completed levels 1 and 2 and would like a refresher and deeper dive into using threat assessment in your schools. Bring your questions so we can solve all your CSTAG problems!
Friday, October 18th, In-Person, DO Room 129 (8am-10am) (RESCHEDULED FROM Friday, September 20th)
Friday, December 6th, Virtual Session (Zoom) only, (8am-10am)
Friday, February 28th, DO Room 129, (1pm-3pm)
Friday, May 2nd, DO Room 129, (8am-10am)

Register for all sessions on Canvas (https://pd.jordandistrict.org/).

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

 

TO:
All Administrators
All Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Steffany Ellsworth, Support Services Manager


The Skyward finance system will be unavailable for yearly maintenance on Wednesday, October 2, at 4:00 pm. This process will log you out of Web Finance and you will not be able to log in while we are running these year-end processes. If you have access to PaC, please logout before 4:00 pm. This process is expected to take one hour, at which time the system will be restored.