Jordan School District
What's happening in Work Based Learning? We are thrilled to announce that Nathan Shields and Corie Johnson have been honored as recipients of the UACTE New Teacher of the Year award in their respective divisions! Read on to check it out! Here's what else is inside:
Join us for a special Wit & Wisdom afternoon where a panel of teachers from every grade level will share how they are finding success and making Wit & Wisdom work in their classroom. There will be time for questions and all teachers who attend this training will receive a stipend of $150.00. We look forward to seeing you there!
Payroll Due: March 4
View Your Paycheck: March 21
Payday: March 25
Professional Development Day - March 14
All contracted employees must record a leave day if not in attendance
Grade Transmittal Day - March 31
All 206, 242 & 245 employees must record a leave day if not in attendance
Spring Recess:
Traditional, 206 day contracts - April 1 - 4
242, 245 contracts - April 3 - 4
Critical Days - March 28 & April 7
As per DP335(B) and DP335 NEG: Licensed & ESP employees who have not been approved by HumanResources for using an annual/personal day on Critical Days may be docked (licensed $161 or ESP 40% oftheir daily rate) unless the leave reason is listed as an exception in policy. If applicable, the reason & thepolicy exception must be written in the time off description box. View the Critical Days FAQ here.
Sub Payroll Deadlines
Pay Period: Feb. 18 - 28
Due: March 3
Payday: March 10
Pay Period: March 3 - 13
Due:March 14
Payday:March 25
SCHOOLS: Please ensure Subs are verified weekly
True Time Deadlines
Pay Period: Feb. 3 - March 2
EMPLOYEES: Please submit your timesheets at the end of each work week
APPROVERS: Please ensure you are approving time sheets weekly for accuracyImportant
Utah's own Major League Rugby Club, the Utah Warriors, is offering a discounted rate for all eight Utah Warriors Rugby home games for all Jordan School District employees. Home games are held at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.
The Blomquist Hale Newsletter for the quarter has arrived. In this issue, you will find articles on:
Stay Connected - Many people long for the magic they first experienced early on in their relationship. After time, things evolve and change. Once the kids and career come, there is not much time to do the same things you did early on in the relationship that made it wonderful. It’s easy to get bogged down by our infinite to do lists. Modern day life is hectic. It seems we pride ourselves on how busy we are; we wear being overwhelmed like a badge of honor. In all of the busyness and stress, we often put ourselves and our relationships on the back burner. We then somehow feel surprised that we are disconnected from our partners.
The “Trifecta” of Dating - It is imperative to spend some time enjoying each other’s company with minimal distractions and disruptions. It’s about doing small things often and prioritizing time spent together. How frequently you have a date night is completely dependent on what works best in your relationship. Ideally every week for 2 hours would be great, but if you don’t have the time or resources to make this happen then every couple of weeks or once a month is just fine. The point here is that you make it happen.
If you are a contracted employee (Benefit eligible) and need to take Annual/Personal Leave on a Critical Day before or after 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.
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 |
| Spring Recess Licensed | April 1-4, 2025 | March 28 and April 7, 2025 | Feb. 16 – Feb. 26, 2025 |
| Spring Recess ESP | April 3-4, 2025 | March 28 and April 7, 2025 | Feb. 18 – Feb. 28, 2025 |
Licensed employees resigning/retiring at the end of the current contract year, who give official early notification in SKYWARD – EMPLOYEE ACCESS, will be eligible for a tiered incentive. To qualify, notification must be submitted on or before the following dates:
The incentive will be paid on the last regular paycheck. Notifications of resignation/retirement received after the dates listed above will not qualify for an incentive. The official District “Notice of Resignation” form is found in Skyward Employee Access under “Task Processes”. Please see District policy DP318 for more detailed information regarding resignations. If you do not know your Skyward username or password please contact the Help Desk at 801-567-8737.
Licensed employees who do not submit an official “Notice of Resignation” form in Skyward Employee Access with at least thirty (30) calendar days’ written notice WILL BE FINED $500, which will be deducted from their final check. Informing your principal/school administrator either verbally or in writing is not sufficient. See District Policy DP318 – Resignations - Licensed.
School/District Administrators must submit an official “Notice of Resignation” form in Skyward Employee Access with at least sixty (60) calendar days’ written notice WILL BE FINED $500 in accordance with District Policy DP318A – Resignations-Administrators.
This year, the annual Teacher Transfer Fair is open to all CURRENT JSD teacher/educators AND student teachers, interns and those on a 1-year agreement. This event is for current Jordan School District teachers/educators seeking a new teaching/assignment opportunity! The transfer fair will be combined for both elementary and secondary teachers/educators.
Please come prepared with:
Come explore your options in JORDAN SCHOOL DISTRICT!
Teacher Transfer Process for Licensed Staff
Through the month of February, current JSD licensed teachers and educators may view transfer opportunities for the 2025-26 school year. If you are interested in transferring to another school location within the District, we encourage you to attend the Teacher/Educator Transfer Fair on February 24, 2025 at Bingham High School.
You can also choose to submit a transfer request through the Teacher/Educator Transfer Request located in Skyward Employee Access. Each Monday during February, a Teacher/Educator Transfer Request Report will be emailed to Principals, listing all interested licensed teachers and educators requesting a transfer for the upcoming school year.
Beginning March 1, current JSD teachers and educators can view openings for the 2025-26 school year at employment.jordandistrict.org and must apply through Frontline. Please note that transfer requests will be accepted until August 1, 2025.
For more information, please refer to Policy DP304 NEG – Teacher Transfers.
Let URS help you understand your benefits and plan a bright future. Whether you're age 20 or 90, whether you have three months or 30 years until retirement... This is for you.
Come learn about your URS benefits. Open to ALL full and part-time employees. Each session will cover URS savings plans along with Tier 1 and Tier 2 pension systems. All sessions will be from 4 – 5:30 p.m. and held in the media center.
Hi, I'm Utah's First Lady Abby Cox. I'm so excited for the Wellness Day coming up on Feb. 7 for Jordan School District.
I am so proud of all of our teachers who have put in the work all year long. You're about halfway, but it's more important to take care of your wellness so that you can be the best you can be for your kids.
Make sure that you're taking care of yourself. You're getting the rest you need. You're getting all the things that you need to be the best teacher you can be for these kiddos as we finish out the year.
We're so proud of everything that you do. You are making a huge difference in the lives of our children. Thank you so much and good luck.
Check out the links below for the latest updates from Teaching & Learning for February. Learn Tips and Tricks, Sign Up for Upcoming PD, and Learn about Important Updates from the T & L team.
The JSD Work Based Learning team has been tasked with helping students discover and explore careers at an earlier age. In response, we have created nine 30 minute Career Exploration lessons that coincide with the CTE Career Spotlight posters located near each school's lunch room.
Each lesson plan includes a slide deck with videos for class discussion and an activity that can be presented by school counselors, teachers, or aides during rotations. Lessons can be accessed at cte.jordandistrict.org under the Educators tab, and will be updated each year with additional careers. Please reach out to jennifer.price2@jordandistirct.org if you need help with implementing these lessons or with career readiness activities at the elementary level, we are happy to help.
The Teaching, Leading, Learning Instructional Leadership Conference is a national-quality conference event that will inspire K-12 educators (in any discipline). Learn from the best in the field, connect with peers, and leave with actionable ideas!
The conference will be held on March 20 & 21 at the Utah Valley Convention Center. Principals and Teacher Leaders are invited to attend. Please see the accompanying flyer for the great line-up of speakers and for additional details!
Heart Smart Habits
Listen to your heart this February—or at least, read about it in this month’s Health Insights. From the benefits of meatless protein to advice on handling stress, this newsletter comes packed with tips for boosting your heart’s health.
Eating a diet with a higher ratio of plant-based protein to animal-based protein may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD), according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard. According to the researchers, these risk reductions are likely driven by the replacement of red and processed meats with plant proteins.
“The average American eats a 1:3 plant to animal protein ratio. Our findings suggest a ratio of at least 1:2 is much more effective in preventing CVD. For CHD prevention, a ratio of 1:1.3 or higher should come from plants,” said lead author Andrea Glenn.
For questions about this article, please contact the Population Health team at wellness@moreton.com. If you have any other questions, please contact Jordan Insurance Services at 801-567-8146 or insurance@jordandistrict.org.
Blomquist Hale has two workshops coming up in February. See attached for the workshop flyers and details outlined below.
To register for any of our upcoming workshops, please visit our website at blomquisthale.com/workshops/.
Throughout February we will highlight some of our dedicated Jordan School District CTE educators, CTSO’s, local industry leaders, and share some of our amazing CTE student stories.
Follow along as Jordan CTE celebrates CTE Month 2025.
Sponsored by the Utah State Board of Education and the Utah Association for Career and Technical Education.
Beginning with the 2025 summative assessments, RISE ELA and math question items will be presented to students in a cluster format, similar to the RISE Science assessment. Cluster questions will appear in summative assessments for all grade levels in both content areas. Beginning Feb. 18, cluster questions will also be available on the RISE Benchmarks for both ELA and math.
For RISE ELA, students will be presented with reading passages and will be required to answer several sections or clusters of questions that are both related to the passages and to each other. For example, a student will be asked to identify a main idea from the story in one question. Then another question will ask students to select sentences from the passage that support their answer to the first question. In addition, students will be presented with a variety of question types, including multiple choice, multi-selection, sentence selections, drop-down menus, tables, timelines, etc.
Similarly for RISE math, students will be presented with a math task accompanied by several sections or clusters of questions. Question items may be multiple choice, multi-select, drop-down menus, inputting numbers or equations, drag and drop, graphing/plotting, etc.
For a sample of how question items will work, please refer to the Training Tests on the RISE Portal. Please see these step-by-step instructions for accessing the Training Tests.
Teachers are strongly encouraged to set apart some instructional time to allow students to practice this new question format by using the Training Tests in the RISE Portal. Teachers are also encouraged to administer the RISE Benchmarks to students. There are several benefits to administering the RISE Benchmarks, besides just practicing how to use the testing platform:
For questions about the RISE assessment, please contact Ben Jameson or Kassidy Towery in Assessment, Research & Accountability.
The Utah Aspire Plus testing window is from March 3 - May 9, 2025. Each school determines their own testing schedule within this window.
As testing is nearly underway, please make sure you complete the yearly Utah Aspire Plus test administration training. Only teachers who will administer the Utah Aspire Plus test need to be trained. For your reference, here is a link to the Testing Ethics Policy.
Your school is responsible for making sure you get trained in the Utah Aspire Plus test administration. Should your school administrators choose to hold a training at your school, this fulfills the training requirement. There are two other training options available:
Utah Aspire Plus Canvas Course
The Utah Aspire Plus test administration training requirement can be fulfilled by completing the Canvas course online. All teachers in grades 9-10 have been added to the course, should you choose this method. (If you did not receive the course invitation and are involved in this test administration, you can self-enroll in the course by clicking the link above.) If you received a course invitation and you are not involved in testing, please disregard.
Zoom Utah Aspire Plus Training
Teachers can attend one of the virtual Utah Aspire Plus trainings through Zoom to fulfill the training requirement.
Here is the Zoom link for these trainings:
uetn-org.zoom.us/j/5266134800
Meeting ID: 526 613 4800
Please check with your school administrators to see which training they would like you to complete.
For questions about Utah Aspire Plus testing or training, please contact Kassidy Towery in Assessment, Research & Accountability at kassidy.towery@jordandistrict.org.
The RISE summative testing window this year is from April 7 - May 30, 2025. RISE passwords get reset each year, so please be sure to log in and reset your password for this year at utahrise.org.
As testing is getting closer, please make sure you complete the yearly RISE test administration training. Many teachers only use the RISE systems once a year, so yearly training on how it all works is needed. Only teachers who will administer the RISE test need to be trained. For your reference, here is a link to the Testing Ethics Policy.
Your school is responsible for making sure you get trained in RISE test administration. Should your school administrators choose to hold a training at your school, this fulfills the training requirement.
RISE Canvas Course
The RISE test administration training requirement can be fulfilled by completing the Canvas course online. You can self-enroll in the course by using the link above.
Zoom RISE Training
Teachers can attend one of the Zoom RISE trainings to fulfill the training requirement.
Here is the Zoom link for these trainings:
uetn-org.zoom.us/j/5266134800
Meeting ID: 526 613 4800
Please check with your school administrators to see which training they would like you to complete.
For questions about RISE testing or training, please contact Kassidy Towery in Assessment, Research & Accountability at kassidy.towery@jordandistrict.org.
NEW License Renewal Instructions for All Jordan School District Educators
This document outlines the steps necessary to renew an educator license with the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) in order to maintain employment with the Jordan School District. If your current educator license is set to expire on June 30, 2025. Please review the following instructions carefully to ensure a seamless renewal process.
Basic Steps for License Renewal For Educators with 5+ Years of Experience
Educators holding a Professional Educator License with experience in a Utah public school district or charter for the past five years will find the renewal process streamlined. You are not required to complete the license renewal form or obtain an administrator’s signature. However, you must complete the following:
Basic Steps for License Renewal For Educators with Less Than 5 Years of Experience
If you have not worked for all of the previous five years, you must follow the additional steps below:
Important Notes
Should you have questions please contact Human Resources at 801-567-8150 or hr@jordandistrict.org.
