Date:              March 20, 2026

To:                        All Administrators

From:                 Dr. Chelsea Malouf, Literacy Director
Adrienne Kumik, Literacy Supervisor
Dr. Tiffany Hall, Executive Director
Teaching and Learning

Subject:          Academic Discussion Data Collection Event 2026!

Summary:

The district’s Strategic Plan for Student Achievement has a goal to increase student academic conversation—the opportunity to talk about thinking or demonstrate learning—to 50% of time in every classroom. This looks different grade to grade and content to content: what is important is that students are personally engaged in actively processing their learning.

Collecting Data

Earlier this year, we collected perspective data about academic discourse from teachers and administrators. We had a great response rate—thank you! It was great to see that academic discourse is being used intentionally throughout the district and valued for the increase seen in student engagement and learning.

We now need to collect data on the observed percentages of academic conversation in the classroom so we can report to the Board. We will be using an observation protocol that will collect information without any teacher identifiers. Information will be reported by elementary, middle, and high school levels.

Friday, March 27, 10:30 – 11:30: Training on the observation tool and protocol. Instructional coaches and district staff will be participating. Any school administrators who would like to participate are invited to join us in the board rooms.

Monday – Wednesday, March 30 – April 1: We will be strategically visiting classrooms across the district for 20-minute sessions. We plan to capture data from different grades, content areas, and times of day. Again, we would love to have site administrators join us for any time you have available to support the process.

Rationale: 

This will demonstrate instruction change as we move through the years of our strategic plan.

Expectations for Implementation: 

1. Communication
2. Teaching & Learning will send information to teachers. Please help us spread the word – and the assurance that this is NON-EVALUATIVE and anonymous data collection.
3. Collaboration: 
4. Dr. Chelsea Malouf
5. Adrienne Kumik
6. Tiffany Hall
7. Evaluation
8. Our objective is to capture a broad look at district wide data that we can replicate each year to track our progress on this instructional goal.

Keywords: Strategic Plan, academic discourse

Summary:

SLCSD must have parents on the Human Sexuality Committee. This committee reviews all materials used to teach health topics related to maturation, sexuality, relationships, etc. We would like to have 10 parents from throughout the district agree to be on the committee. We need to have names by May 1 so we can have them approved by the Board. A flier is available to share with parents (click here to download).

Rationale: 

State administrative code and district AP I-12: Human Sexuality Education indicate that we must have “at least as many parents as school employees” on the committee. We would like to have wide parent representation to review materials that will be used in Health classes.

Expectations for Implementation: 

1. Communication
2. Ask parent groups for volunteers to participate for the 2026-27 school year.
   1. There are up to  5 meetings a year, scheduled from 4:00 – 5:00PM (If there is not a program to review, the meeting is canceled.)
   1. Meetings are held in person, but parents can participate online.
3. Collaboration: 
4. Katie Lowery is available to help answer questions and talk with parents, 801-578-8208.
   
   
5. Evaluation
6. Please send names to katie.lowery@slcschools.org by May 1, 2026

Keywords: Human Sexuality, committee, health, state requirements

The Policy Project is pleased to announce the launch of the Focused Classroom Implementation Grants, a new funding opportunity supporting Utah schools implementing student device policies aligned with Utah Code 53G-7-227.

These implementation grants are designed to help schools move from policy adoption to effective practice by supporting tools, communication strategies, and student engagement efforts that strengthen focused learning environments.

Schools may request up to $5,000 per site, and LEAs may submit applications for multiple schools.

A central priority of this program is meaningful student engagement. We encourage applications that involve students as partners in implementation, feedback, and culture-building efforts.

Key Details

• Up to $5,000 per school site
• Flexible implementation timeline options
• Funding distributed upfront
• Applications due April 1, 2026
• Awards announced by May 1, 2026

Apply Here:

👉GRANT ANNOUNCEMENT

👉 APPLICATION LINK

Focused Classrooms Toolkit 

In cooperation with the Utah State Board of Education, The Policy Project developed the Focused Classrooms Toolkit, which includes model policies, communication resources, and implementation guidance to support local decision-making.

👉 TOOLKIT LINK

Please share this opportunity with school leaders who may benefit from implementation support.

We look forward to partnering with schools across Utah to support focused, engaging learning environments.

Lindsay Butrum, MPH

Policy Implementation Manager

thepolicyproject.org

773.865.5453

Greetings,

We’d like to make you aware of our latest free virtual online offerings that Ballet West is presenting for Students and Teachers.

We would be very grateful if you were to make the requests for your entire school and share the information and passwords with all your teachers. Or you could pass this message along to your teachers and they could fill out the requests individually. Your school is welcome to request access to all three offerings and keep them in your pocket for use throughout the remainder of the year.

To make this process as easy as possible, and to expedite your ability to gain the passwords you will need, please access the google form at this link to request access to the programs you’d like.

Click here to request passwords:

Virtual Offerings 2025-2026 – Google Request form

These programs provide resources and inspiration applicable for all art forms, Dance, Music, Drama and Visual Art! We would love to have these offered to your students throughout all grades. The links will be available through the end of this academic school year (2025-2026).

Through our Ballet West Student In-Theater Presentations, we bring some of the most beloved fairy tales to life. These lively and entertaining performances will provide proof that there’s more than one way to help our children understand how and why a classic fairy tale becomes a “classic.” These are narrated productions, and we have offerings in both English and Spanish versions with closed captioning. The offerings we have available include our In-theatre presentations of Beauty and the Beast, as well as Snow White. We are also pleased to offer an expanded version of our Ballet West for Children Lecture Demonstration, Ballet and The Sleeping Beauty. This virtual resource offers an exceptional opportunity for teachers to explore engaging material and easily incorporate it into classroom instruction.

 These offerings are offered free of charge and are reserved for teachers and their students exclusively and not the general public.

We will provide study guides, which include follow-up projects and activities which assist teachers in their efforts to incorporate the Utah State Core Curriculum, Life Skills, and Career and College readiness concepts, into their classrooms. These are available for all offerings, and we recommend these for all grades. Additionally, you may have received this email more than once, our intention is simply to ensure you have access to this important information.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you for your assistance.

 Best wishes,

Peter

Peter Christie Ballet West Director of Education and Outreach Office: 801-869-6911 | Cell: 801-898-5506 | Fax 801-359-3504 PChristie@BalletWest.org |balletwest.org  52 West 200 South, SLC, UT 84101

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