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Summary: 

SLCSD educators are required to have an ESL Endorsement if they were hired after 2001-02. New employees must complete their endorsement by the end of their fourth year of employment. Registration for the next cohort opened on Monday, January 13 and closes on April 1. The registration is in KickUp, which is found in Clever. Click on the "Learning" tab and browse for "ESL Endorsement Cohort 8." The first class will begin on April 7. 

Information about the ESL Endorsement and schedule is available on the ESL Endorsement Information page on the SLCSD website. Teachers have received this information through district email. 

Endorsement Information 

SLCSD offers an ESL Endorsement program to our educators. The courses are 3-unit graduate-level offered through SUU. Each term is 12 weeks long. Courses are facilitated in the SLCSD Canvas and are asynchronous. The district pays for the instructor and has built the materials into the course, so the only cost for the employee is the credit posting fee of $72. SLCSD has two different endorsement options: FULL and SLCSD Modified.

  • The full endorsement is six (6) courses, 18 units. This endorsement is placed on the Utah Teaching License and will stay current as long as the license is current.
  • The modified endorsement is only available to educators with specific teaching positions. This endorsement is only valid in SLCSD and does not attach to the state teaching license. 

Who needs which endorsement?
 

  • Full Utah ESL Endorsement: Elementary teachers, core content secondary teachers (science, mathematics, ELA, Social Studies), and academic coaches in core areas are required to have the full ESL Endorsement.
  • SLCSD Modified Endorsement: Secondary elective teachers, administrators, and other educators can complete the entire endorsement or an SLCSD Modified Endorsement (1-3 classes, depending on position).
  • All educators are welcome to complete the entire credential.
  • Educators may also complete the endorsement by earning a passing score on the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Praxis Exam (5362). A passing score on this assessment will complete the endorsement. An ESL endorsement application must be submitted to USBE with the score report.  If employees have already taken one of the courses listed in the endorsement within the last 10 years with a grade of C or better, they do not need to take that course again. If there is a question about whether or not a course can be used, USBE must make that determination as they are the granting agency.  Questions?  Contact Dr. Tiffany Hall (Tiffany.Hall@slcschools.org)

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CSTAG (Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines) is a critical component of school safety. Every school has at least one trained administrator, but we encourage everyone to get trained. If you have not yet been to CSTAG training or if it's been more than 3 years since you attended a training, please consider joining our next training session on February 21. For more information or to register, please use this link: https://forms.office.com/r/0ZxQfKMMQX

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Due to the change of USBE’s competency-based systems and at the direction of USBE leadership, the Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Fine Arts teams were tasked with identifying natural alignments between CTE arts-based courses and the Fine Arts courses, endorsements, and core standards.

A multi-month alignment review identified significant overlap between the CTE arts-based standards and the Fine Art state core standards. Based on these findings, the following CTE courses may now grant Fine Arts Credit on a case-by-case basis, depending on student needs:

  • Commercial Art 1/2/3
  • Commercial Photo 1/2/3
  • Digital Illustration, Digital Media 1/2/Advanced
  • Digital Media Capstone
  • Graphic Print Design 1/2/3

CTE educator requirements: to grant this credit, CTE educators must have a secondary license and one of the following CTE endorsements:

CTE endorsements will be updated on July 1, 2025. CTE will offer different options to fulfill the requirements for the Associate Level of each endorsement. Fine arts teachers cannot be scheduled to teach these courses until they have the appropriate endorsements.

Resulting changes for students: this change provides our students with greater flexibility in fulfilling their

graduation requirements and allows them to explore their interests in both Fine Arts and Career and Technical Education – for these courses, credit can be granted depending on the student’s needs.

No other CTE courses are eligible for Fine Arts graduation credit. 

Questions? Laura deShazo, CTE Director

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Welcome back to school and to a fresh new year in 2025.  We hope you all enjoyed your winter break and are looking forward to the second half of the school year.  We are excited to share with you this month’s attendance focused email to LEAs across Utah to hopefully increase awareness of the resources available to LEAs from the Utah State Board of Education and also to share helpful information for you to distribute to other attendance leads in your LEA. 

Celebration/Success Stories Ideas 

It is essential in our attendance work that we focus on the positive and celebrate successes we are having at the LEA level and at the school level.  Here are some ideas from LEAs in our state who are focusing on attendance. 

One of the action steps Ogden School District is focusing on is using data to identify groups of students who they are able to impact related to attendance. Specific schools are piloting a "Moveable Middle" meeting where collaborative teams meet to review attendance data every 4-6 weeks. Parents/guardians are sent specific messaging based on data criteria sharing the impact of attendance and progress being made with the student's specific rate of attendance. At one of their schools, the team has identified a 10% improvement in the target students based on mid-term and term attendance rates. This is not only with the group identified in the "Moveable Middle" meetings but also in other subgroups. As a district, they will continue to refine their data analysis process to move to a district-wide implementation.  Way to be an example of using data to drive attendance decisions! 

Early Light Academy has created a focus on attendance messaging in their schoolwide monthly newsletter.  They are holding attendance meetings with chronically absent students, families, and staff.  As well as focusing on Tier 1 incentives for students and classes with greater than 95% attendance.  We are grateful for their example of focusing on the positive and making sure to be consistent with attendance messaging! 

Attendance Webinar

We hope you will join us on January 14, 2025 at 10:30am for our first attendance webinar for 2025.  We are looking forward to sharing with you what resources USBE has to offer in regard to attendance.  We will also hear from Murray School District who has worked really hard to improve attendance across their LEA and has shown a lot of progress. They will give a lot of practical information for all schools.  We hope you will let all of your schools know about this opportunity to learn more about attendance in Utah!  The flier can be found here if you would like more information. 

Winter Messaging Ideas

Here are some helpful resources from Attendance Works on sending out messages during the winter months.

A Winter Messaging Toolkit: Stay the Course

Parent Engagement Ideas 

Here are some ideas on how you can engage with families to have discussions around attendance: home visits, special events, in-person family conferences, virtual family conferences, regular phone calls home, robocalls, automated text messages, manual text messages, letters home, attendance focused family night, digital newsletters, emails, engagement during pick-up and drop-off, dedicated communication app, etc. 

Helpful Articles/Podcasts

Schools and Families: Unite to Get Students Back into the Attendance Habit 

10 Facts about Attendance

Request for Information 

Murray School District has been analyzing their attendance data and the correlation between attendance and transportation.  They are wondering if any other LEA in Utah has noticed any of the following: 

*Gaps in busing distance dependent on measuring point (example: 1.9 miles to the school from the leasing office, but the student actually lives farther away) 

*Unsafe busing routes due to crime/unsafe neighborhoods

*Other busing/transportation barriers and gaps

If you have any questions or information you would like to share with Murray, please reach out to Brittany Roller at broller@murrayschools.org

Upcoming Dates/Information 

January-March 2025- The Utah Legislative Session will start on January 21st and run through March 21st.  Watch for updates on legislation surrounding education. 

February 4 & 12 2025- Engagement and Attendance Cohorts Collaboration Meetings 

*If your LEA is interested in joining an attendance cohort starting next school year, please contact us and we can give you more information.

We appreciate all you do. Please let us know how we can best support you and your schools. 

USBE Attendance Specialists 

https://www.schools.utah.gov/prevention/absenteeismtruancyprevention

Megan Menlove

Attendance Support Specialist

Utah State Board of Education

megan.menlove@schools.utah.gov

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Please take a minute to review the following information pertaining to accepting donations.

Letting your donors know how much you appreciate their gift is not enough. We need to comply with IRS regulations regarding tax deductible donations. The Salt Lake Education Foundation and Development Office will send thank-you letters/receipts for each donation that your school receives.

Pursuant to Utah Code §51-4-2(2)(a), all public funds shall be deposited within three banking days after receipt. This rule applies to ALL funds, including funds received from fundraisers (note that cash above $50 must be deposited same day).

Monetary Donations:

  1. Checks payable to the school or district: Deposit them at Chase Bank as you normally would. Forward copies of the checks, the summary of cash received for that day’s deposit, and a Development Deposit Form to Jeanette.Hartley@slcschools.org.  In the description of the deposit form, please list the fund 21 account number. A thank-you letter/receipt on district letterhead will be mailed to each donor.
  2. Checks payable to the Salt Lake Education Foundation: Deposit them at Zions Bank in the foundation’s account. Please contact Jeanette.Hartley@slcschools.org for the account number. The only difference in the process is you will deposit them at Zions Bank, and you will email a Foundation Deposit Form (instead of a Development Deposit Form) along with copies of the checks and bank receipt to Jeanette.Hartley@slcschools.org. In the description of the deposit form, please list the fund 21 account number of where you want the funds to be transferred. A thank-you letter/receipt on foundation letterhead will be mailed to each donor. The foundation will transfer the funds to your school’s fund 21 account in the month following the date of deposit.
  3. Cash: You may deposit cash at either bank. Please follow the same instructions as when you deposit checks, using the appropriate deposit form, and list the donor’s address on the deposit form as it will not be listed on a check. Use a Development Deposit Form (when the deposit was at Chase Bank) or a Foundation Deposit Form (when the deposit was at Zions Bank). If a donor’s address is listed on the form, a thank-you letter/receipt will be mailed to the donor.

Please be aware that not all funds collected from fundraising efforts are donations. For more information, see Is It a Donation? If there are goods or services given in exchange for a contribution, the amount should be listed in the “Other Revenue” column found in the “Split Gift” section of the Development and Foundation Deposit Forms.

Gifts In-Kind:

The Gift-in-Kind Donation Form should be given to donors who give non-cash items (such as school supplies or auction items). It is the responsibility of the donor to list the value of their donation on the form. After the form is received by the foundation, a thank-you letter/receipt will be mailed to the donor that may be used for tax deduction purposes.

The forms may be found on the foundation’s website at https://www.saltlakeeducationfoundation.org/.  For assistance, please contact:

Jeanette Hartley

Jeanette.Hartley@slcschools.org

Phone: 801-578-8270

Elizabeth Moran

Elizabeth.Moran@slcschools.org

Phone: 801-578-8258

As a reminder, Board Policy F-1 details our deposit procedures and Board Policy C-6 details our donation procedures.

Process After Funds Have Been Deposited:

It is essential that any gift received by the foundation is used for its intended purpose to ensure compliance with donor intent. Funds deposited in the foundation’s account at Zions Bank are tracked in Blackbaud software, which is designed for nonprofits, in categories that correspond with the purposes of the donations.

  1. Elementary and Middle Schools: Funds for elementary and middle schools are transferred to applicable school accounts held in fund 21 following the foundation’s month-end reconciliation. Funds for classrooms are placed in grade-level accounts, not in accounts for individual teachers. Elementary and middle school administrators and secretaries may see their balances and account activity in BusinessPlus.
  2. High Schools: Funds donated to the foundation for high schools are held in the foundation’s account and are transferred to high schools upon request. A check is sent to the school.
  3. Grants: If the funds received by the foundation were a result of a grant in which the foundation’s 501(c)(3) number was used and require oversight and/or reporting, then those funds remain in the foundation’s account, maintained by the Development Office.

Thank you for your support in ensuring that we comply with the acceptance of donations procedures.

James E. Yapias

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This communication is to update you about the school, school leadership, and district grant-seeking support system, which must be used by your faculty and staff or anyone who is seeking grant funding. This procedure went into effect on April 18, 2018. This procedure aims to increase site and department support, collaboration of resources, and student achievement through a streamlined process. The link to the Grant Pre-Application Approval Worksheet is https://apex.slcschools.org/apex/r/slcsd/grant-application.

Thank you for your collaboration efforts on grant submissions. Using the Grant Pre-Application Approval Worksheet helps the district and foundation have a clear, shared plan based on school improvement and community needs. Most importantly, it allows us to communicate effectively and efficiently with stakeholders.

Process:

School administrators will be notified before a grant is submitted and will be able to have questions answered and pre-approve the grant application. The foundation will also be notified to ensure compliance with our C-6 Fundraising Policy and 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.

The pre-submission approval process:

  • Approval by impacted schools/departments (15 business days before the grant application is due)
  • Approval by the foundation director (10 business days before the grant application is due) All local, state, business/corporate, and foundation grants less than $100,000
  • Approval by the superintendent (10 business days before the grant application is due) All federal grants
  • All local, state, business/corporate, and foundation grants $100,000 or greater
  • Approval by additional district personnel as required by the foundation director.

If you have questions about the Grant Pre-Application Approval Worksheet, contact me at James.Yapias@slcschools.org or 801.578.8561.

Sincerely,

James E. Yapias

GRANT PRE-APPLICATION APPROVAL INSTRUCTIONS

Requester:Automatically populated with the employee logged in making the grant request.
Requester Department:Automatically populated based on the employee logged in making the grant request.
Name of Grant Opportunity:What is the name of the grant?
Funding Type:Select (Local, State, Federal, Business/Corporate, Foundation)
Program Focus:Special Event, Enhancement, Afterschool, or Other.
Program Title:What is the title of the program?
Amount Requesting:What is the dollar amount that you are requesting?
Matching Funds:What is the commitment from the school or department as it relates todollar amount?
Will this grant require us to provide student data?If yes, you will need to complete a student request form on the information technology website. https://apex.slcschools.org/apex/r/slcsd/data-external-research-requests
Date Grant Application is Due:Please enter the date the grant application is due.
Proposed Implementation:When do you plan to implement the program?
Which Departments will you need support from?Please check all applicable boxes. This will help the foundation director get approvals when support is required.
Required Support:Type of support you will need to ensure that the program is successful.
Program Summary:Write a brief summary of the scope of the program/project.
Contact Information of Funder:Name, address, phone/fax number, and email.

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We want to ensure that you are aware of the expectations for the chilly time of the school year.   Please reach out to your community and communicate to parents that students should be dressed and prepared for the cold weather with the following items: warm coats, sweaters/ hoodies, boots, hats, scarves, mittens/gloves, etc. Please ensure that these items are marked in case they are misplaced or lost. Students should come prepared to go outside, get some fresh air, and exercise outdoors daily.  The exceptions to going out daily are listed below:

Morning:

  • Inside morning in the gym, IF there is significant rainfall or snowfall. (IF students will be getting wet outside.)
  • Inside morning in the gym, IF the temperature is below 20 degrees.
  • Students sitting on their pockets, not running around, playing sports, etc.
  • Inside mornings are from (List the time for your school)________ to ensure our outside-duty teachers are in the gym to help supervise.

Recess:

  • Teacher/Grade Level Discretion
  • Inside recess IF the temperature is below 20 degrees. Recess time is held inside the classroom.

Lunch Recess:

  • Admin/Office Discretion
  • Inside lunch recess, IF there is significant rainfall or snowfall (If students will be getting wet outside), recess time is held inside the classroom.
  • Inside lunch recess, IF the temperature is below 20 degrees, recess time is held inside the classroom.

Please reach out if you have any questions or need further information.  Thank you for all that you do for the children of our district.

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Good morning, School Improvement Leaders or Designees,

This email is only going out to LEA leaders on our School Improvement Listserv. Please feel free to share this information with your schools.

The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) School Improvement Team, in partnership with WestEd, is excited to invite school leaders and their LEA supervisor to apply for personalized, customized change leadership coaching. LEA's and principals are encouraged to include assistant principals, interns, instructional coaches and anyone else they deem interested to attend. The program is optional and will provide individual coaching for leaders that will enhance your leadership as well as impact the growth, proficiency and achievement of students.

The program is from March 2025 to December 2025 and will include a mutually agreed upon on site, virtual, and on demand instruction, modeling, mentoring, feedback, and support to assist the school (principal and LEA supervisor are required and may also include assistant principals, instructional coach, intern) with change leadership.

Priority will be given to Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) Low Performing Student Group schools followed by CSI-Low Graduation Rate and CSI-Low Performance schools and then by schools with ATSI and TSI designation. The only schools not eligible for this program are Elevate schools.

The objectives of the program are to build leadership capacity to lead change to improve student outcomes through one or more of the following areas of leadership:

  • Data-Informed Teaching
  • Collaborative Teams with a Focus on Efficacy
  • High Leverage Strategies for Instruction
  • Fearless Assessment: Meaningful Assessments as the Heart of Feedback and Instruction
  • Fearless Classrooms
  • Effective Use of Time and Schedules
  • Culturally Responsive, yes! But Whose Culture are We Responding To
  • High Quality Student Data and Effective Analysis

The selected participants will collaboratively build and plan a personalized coaching plan with a WestEd coach.

If interested or you would like to find out more information about this opportunity, please register to attend a virtual informational kickoff meeting on January 27th (3:45 - 5:30 PM) and January 28th (9:30-11:30 AM) that will be facilitated by WestED. 

Participants will need to register to attend and should plan to attend both sessions. To register, please click on this link.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to Dr. Gregory Firn (gregory.firn@schools.utah.gov) if you have any questions.

Krista Hotelling

School Improvement Specialist

Utah State Board of Education

801-538-7932

krista.hotelling@schools.utah.gov

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Dear Administrators,

I hope this finds you well. I’d like to kindly remind you of Board Policy G-10, which applies to all district facilities, and ask that this be communicated regularly to your staff to avoid any confusion or issues going forward.

Key Points of Board Policy G-10:

  1. Facilities Staff are the only district personnel authorized to perform maintenance, repairs, or alterations in and around school buildings.
  2. Teachers, staff, and administrators are explicitly prohibited from making any alterations, changes, or maintenance to rooms, spaces, or district facilities.
  3. Unauthorized Changes Will Be Restored:
    • If alterations or changes are discovered, the Facilities team will restore the affected area to its prior condition.
    • Costs for restoration (including materials, paint, and labor) will be charged back to the school.

It’s important to understand that repeated issues or further unauthorized alterations may result in additional costs to the school and responsible staff.

To avoid disruptions, please ensure all staff are aware of this policy and remind them that requests for any changes or maintenance must go through the proper channels by contacting the Facilities Department within Auxiliary Services. We appreciate your cooperation and support as we work together to maintain safe, efficient, and consistent learning environments across the district. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

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What: The Utah Code Annotated 53G-9-606 requires the state board to create a model policy on bullying, cyber-bullying, hazing, abusive conduct, and retaliation. Due to legislative and rule changes (H.B. 84 (2024) and R277-613) the current model policy requires updating. We are asking for volunteers to participate in a workgroup to provide feedback on the updated model policy. We are looking for a sample of 10 members throughout the state of Utah to represent LEAs. You can volunteer using this form. Volunteers will be notified whether or not they are selected to join this workgroup.

Who: Ideal candidates include superintendents, charter school directors, building administrators, and policy analysts.

When: Starting in January 2025

  • 2-3 virtual meetings (90 minutes each)
  • Exact dates will be determined based on participant availability

      

Action: Please complete the Model Policy Workgroup Volunteer Form if you would like to volunteer.

Information: For more information, please contact Becca Rae. 

Thank you, 

Ryan Bartlett, Ph.D.

Director of Strategic Communications

Utah State Board of Education

ryan.bartlett@schools.utah.gov

605.201.7950

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