Jordan Employee Memos

In our continuing efforts to partner with parents for the academic success of students, Jordan School District is providing parents with access to Canvas to observe their student’s progress. Canvas is the Learning Management System being used throughout the district.

We hope that this resource will:

• Provide parents with more specific information about their student’s curricula, so they have better insight into the work that teachers and students are doing in the classroom.
• Provide more meaningful information that may be used to improve conversations concerning academic progress between parents and students.

When parents access Canvas, they will be able to see:

• course syllabus
• course assignments
• feedback on assignments (if appropriate)
• grades on individual assignments

IMPORTANT: The total grade in Canvas may be different than the term grade in Skyward. Skyward will continue to be the official record for student grades and all official Jordan School District communication. Parents should continue to use Skyward to monitor their student’s progress in each of the courses.

Attention JSD Educators,

The new high school in Herriman will open in August, 2019 and is now accepting applications for the following positions (Phase A):

• Athletic Director
• Media Specialist
• Student Body Officer Advisor
• CTE Coordinator (To begin January 15, 2019)
• Head Counselor (To begin January 15, 2019)

Multiple Department Chair positions.

• Fine Arts
• Business
• Family and Consumer Science
• Performing Arts
• Science
• Social Studies
• Skills and Technology
• World Languages
• Driver's Education
• Health
• Physical Education

The following positions have been filled at the principal’s discretion:

• Special Education Team Lead
• Dept. Chair – Language Arts
• Dept. Chair – Mathematics
• Dept. Chair – Music

Additional compensated work for certain positions may be required prior to the beginning of the contract year.

​JSD educators interested in applying for the positions listed above ​must submit ​an application​ using Skyward "Employee Access".  Please see the attached tutorial for application instructions.  External applications will be accepted after JSD educators have been give first consideration.

For information regarding a position advertising schedule, position descriptions and instructions on how to apply, visit the Work At Jordan Job Postings at the New Schools page.

For assistance in accessing Skyward Employee Access, please contact the Help Desk at 801-567-8737.  For questions regarding positions at the new high school, please contact principal Mike Kochevar at michael.kochevar@jordandistrict.org.

• How to Apply at Jordan School District 

Experts say the single best way to avoid the flu is to get the flu shot as soon as you can. The ideal time is early fall. Here is the 2018 Jordan School District flu shot clinic schedule.

• 2018 Flu Shot Clinic Schedule 

Get your family moving together and track your daily activity with PEHP’s ‘Workout Warrior.’ It’s a great way to have fun, be healthy and be entered in a prize drawing for an Amazon gift card.

• Sept. 2018 PEHP Workout Warrior Flyer 

• 3rd-5th Fractions Progressions JSD online course: Sept. 6 - Nov. 28
• K-2nd Addition and Subtraction Progressions course: Monday, Sept. 10 - Monday, Sept. 24
• 3rd-6th Multiplication and Division Progressions: Monday, Sept. 10 - Monday, Sept. 24 
• K-6 Word Problems: Monday, Oct. 1 - Monday, Oct. 15
• UVU Elementary Mathematics Endorsement Information Meeting: Oct. 2
• UVU Elementary Mathematics Endorsement Application Due

Please be aware of the upcoming professional development opportunities in language and visual arts. Register on JPLS for any of the following:

• ‘Depth of Knowledge’ – Sept. 11 or Nov. 7, 2018, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• ‘Socratic Seminar’ – Sept. 12 or Nov. 15, 2018, 4 – 6 p.m.
• ‘Using An AP Approach to Teach Writing’ – Sept. 19 or Nov. 28, 2018, 4 – 6 p.m.

Would you like help writing a grant for your classroom? This is your chance to be part of a grant-writing workshop at Sunset Ridge Middle School.

• Register for Grant Writing 101
• Add to Grant Writing 101 to your Google Calendar

Ballet West will again be presenting in-theater presentations for students from grades 1-12. If you are interested in having your class attend one of the performances, please contact Verlene Jensen at 801-567-8296.

Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events

• Disaster Response – How do people respond to disasters and high stress events.
  • There are three stages
    1. Denial
       1. You must move past this stage very quickly.
    2. Deliberation
       1. Process information and decide what to do.
          • Having a prior plan will help.
            • Mental script and practice
       2. Try to stay calm.
          • Willpower
          • Combat breathing
          • Shift your emotion
          • Stay fit
    3. Decisive Moment
       1. You must act quickly!
• Active Shooter Events
  • Active shooter as defined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is an individual actively engaged in killing, or the attempt to kill, people in a confined and populated area.
  • The “Shooter”
    • No set profile
    • Typically an avenger mindset
    • Some broadcast of event
    • Approximately a 50% chance they are connected to the place the event occurs.
  • Location
    • Occur at places of commerce over 50% of the time.
    • Schools represent about 25%, even though these events are often thought of as a school-based event.
  • Number of Deaths
    • Two driving factors
      1. How quickly do police respond and confront the attacker.
         • On average it will take law enforcement at least 3 minutes to respond.
      2. How quickly can the attacker locate and target potential victims.
         • Crowded room vs. empty room
• Civilian Response
  • Move past Denial to Deliberation as quickly as possible.
    • Don’t deny that what you’re hearing may be gunshots.
    • Do not “Hide & Hope” or play dead, these are not effective strategies.
  • Deliberation
    • Avoid the situation ASAP
      • Be aware of your surroundings
      • Know your exit options
      • Call 911
    • Deny access to your location
      • Lock the door and barricade it.
        • The heavier the better, doorstops, etc.
      • Turn out the lights.
      • Get out of sight.
    • Defend yourself if necessary
      • You have a legal right to defend yourself when someone is trying to hurt or kill you.
      • Fight hard, your and other’s lives will depend on it.
      • If possible, position yourself where you can surprise the attacker.
      • If you have a weapon use it. If not, grab the attacker’s weapon or hands.
        • Hands are dangerous
        • You are not helpless!
        • What you do matters!
• When the Police arrive
  • Follow commands.
  • Show your empty hands.
  • Do not move until told to do so.

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Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC)

Why is this training needed? During and immediately after every mass-trauma event the civilian population regularly brings up two items:

1. Those that want to help don’t have the training to help.
2. Those that have the training to help don’t have the equipment to help.

Class Agenda

Until Help Arrives:

• You Make a Difference
  • Steps you can take when responding to a life-threatening situation
  • Different reactions you may have in a stressful situation
  • Importance of practice and rehearsal to improve your response to a life-threatening situation

Stop the bleeding:

• Recognize life-threatening bleeding
  • Steps to control bleeding
  • Apply steady pressure
  • Tourniquets
  • Chest seals
  • Wound packing

Bleeding Control/Mass Trauma Kits

If you want to build better relationships with all of your students, take a minute to look at our Culturally Responsive Teaching series on PD Bites.

• Modules Available
  • CRT: Creating a Classroom Where Everyone Feels Welcome
  • CRT: Culturally Responsive Teaching Matters!
  • CRT: Culture - Yours, Mine, and Ours
  • CRT: Being Seen as an Individual - Luxury or Right?
  • CRT: Got Privilege?
  • CRT: Equity Literacy
• PD Bytes
  • Self enroll in PD Bites
  • Request invitation to PD Bites

The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) will be holding focus groups in September in preparation for revising the rules governing educator preparation programs, both traditional and alternative, in instructional license areas (e.g. elementary, secondary, special education...).

Focus groups will be held in the evenings to help facilitate teacher participation.  Most of the meetings will be at the USBE office in downtown Salt Lake City. Funding for mileage and substitute teachers will be available to participants that are required to travel more than 50 miles for the meeting.  More details will be provided to participants. The makeup of each focus group will be primarily centered on one or two specific license areas. In order to be selected for a particular focus group, an individual must meet the specific criteria for that focus group.

In order to simplify the process for selecting participants, please complete the survey if you are interested in participating. The survey will remain open until 5:00 p.m. Monday, August 27.

The dates and times of the focus groups are:

• School Principals and Assistant Principals; 5 -7 p.m. Wednesday, September 19, 2018 at USBE (note: the topic is teacher preparation)
• Early Childhood Education and Elementary; 5 -7 p.m. Thursday, September 20, 2018 at USBE
• Special Education (early childhood and K-12) and Deaf Education; 5 -7 p.m. Friday, September 21, 2018 at USBE
• First-year teachers only (any license area); 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, September 25, 2018 at USBE
• Secondary and CTE; 5 -7 p.m. Thursday, September 26, 2018 at USBE
• First-year teachers only (any license area); 4 -6 p.m. Friday September 28, 2018 at Nebo School District

Check out the PEHP flyer for more information on the Soup-er Challenge.

• PEHP September 2018 Wellness Challenge 

Take a look at the Aug. 2018 issue of the Be Well newsletter, provided by EMI Health. The theme for the month is "Embrace Variety."  Stories include:

• Give your lunch a makeover
• Why diversify exercise?
• Exercise and personality
• Checkup time
• Vaccines for preteens and teens
• Do you like change?
• Q: Anxiety or panic?
• Stretch your entertainment dollars
• 6ways to save on flights
• Mystery weight gain

Aug. 2018 Be Well Volume 38, Number 8 

Check out the PEHP Wellness Workout Warrior and Wellness Challenge flyers for more information.

• Aug. 2018 PEHP Flyers 

If you find a USB stick on the floor or in a parking lot, don’t plug it in.  A new study has found that most people who pick up a USB stick they found will plug it into a computer.

Researchers from Google and the University of Illinois and University of Michigan stated, "The security community has long held the belief that users can be socially engineered into picking up and plugging in seemingly lost USB flash drives they find. Unfortunately, whether driven by altruistic motives or human curiosity, the user unknowingly opens their organization to an internal attack when they connect the drive – a physical Trojan horse."

The drives may contain files, applications or other items that may harm your computer, the network or other district devices. Researchers believe an attacker would have no problem spreading malware in an organization by simply dropping an infected USB drive in a public place.

For more info, please check out an article on The Register.

As we are preparing schools and classrooms in advance of students coming for the new school year, it is important keep safety in mind.

Use ladders safely. Don't stand on tables or chairs. Lift heavy objects by bending your knees and keeping your back straight to prevent back injuries. For very heavy objects, ask for assistance. Stage your classrooms so they are not only stimulating for students, but are also safe and functional.

Here are some common safety violations to avoid when setting up your classroom.

• Common Safety Violations 

Jordan School District has new PD modules, delivery options and contests. Please review the following to see what’s new.

Kim Lloyd, Special Education Director in Box Elder School District, has been appointed Special Education Director in Jordan School District effective July 1, 2018.

McKinley Withers, School Counselor at Valley High School, has been appointed Health and Wellness Specialist in Jordan School District effective July 1, 2018.

Congratulations!