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Category: Teaching and Learning

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Dear Salt Lake School District Team,

We hope this message finds you well. We are writing to provide guidance regarding HB 77 – Flag Display Amendments, which was recently passed by the Utah Legislature and will take effect May 7, 2025. This legislation outlines specific regulations regarding which flags may be displayed on or within government property, including public school campuses.

For years, Salt Lake City School District has been known for our commitment to fostering an inclusive and welcoming environment for all students and staff, and we remain committed to this goal and the values underlying that commitment. We also appreciate the pride and passion many of our students and staff feel in their beliefs and causes. While this law imposes certain limitations, we will continue to foster school environments where all students feel seen, supported, and valued.  In order to understand and implement this legislation, we are providing the following protocols for our schools.

Key Provisions of HB 77

HB 77 defines “display” as placing a flag in a prominent location where the flag is easily visible. A “flag” is defined as a usually rectangular piece of fabric with a specific design that symbolizes a location, government entity, or cause.

To ensure district-wide compliance, please note the following flags are permitted for display:

  • The official United States Flag
  • The official Utah State Flag
  • The current and official flag of another country, state, or political subdivision (e.g., another school district or city)
  • A flag that represents a city, municipality, county, or other political subdivision within Utah
  • A flag representing a branch, unit, or division of the U.S. military
  • The National League of Families POW/MIA flag
  • A flag that represents a recognized Indian tribe
  • An officially licensed college or university flag
  • A historic version of the U.S., Utah, or other state/national flags
  • An official public school flag
  • An official flag of the U.S. Olympic/Paralympic Committee, International Olympic/Paralympic Committee, or a specific Olympiad/Paralympiad that occurred or will occur
  • A flag of an organization authorized to use space within a public school, during the time they are using the space

We understand that some of you may feel inclined to demonstrate your support for various causes, groups, and beliefs by displaying items that do not meet the definition of flag and thus do not violate the new law. While we support you in your goal of signaling a welcome environment, there is additional information that you should consider in displaying items. In addition to HB 77, the Utah State Board of Education (“USBE”) issued a letter on April 10,2025, reminding educators of Utah Admin. Code R277-217(25), Educator Standards, that states that an educator may not “through instruction, materials, or symbols . . . endorse promote, or disparage” a particular viewpoint. The letter also indicated how the public may report violations of this section. We are providing you with this information not as a threat of district action, but as an awareness that USBE, as the licensing authority for Utah educators, has indicated that compliance with these rules and laws is not only expected but vital.  

Action Steps for Schools

  • Review all flags currently displayed in your school or on your school property, including in classrooms, hallways, and offices.
  • Remove any flags that do not fall within the categories listed above by the end of school onMay 6, 2025, to ensure full compliance with the law upon its effective date.
  • When in doubt, please consult with the General Counsel before displaying a new flag to confirm it meets the legal criteria.
  • Ensure that flags displayed during temporary use by authorized organizations are removed promptly after their use of the space ends. 

The Office of the State Auditor is tasked with overseeing compliance with this legislation and may impose fines for violations. As such, we must be diligent and proactive to ensure our flag displays align with this new legislation.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter and for your continued leadership in ensuring our schools remain compliant, welcoming, and student-centered.

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Summary:
 

In 2020-21, the district provided Newsela, a K-12 online instructional content platform offering articles at five different reading levels with quizzes and writing prompts, to all schools to support online learning while we were remote. We continued to provide Newsela using ESSER funds through the end of the 2024-25 school year. Newsela is a supplement to core materials.
 

Our district-wide contract expires at the end of this year. If you would like to continue using Newsela at your school, the cost is:
 

If you have questions about usage at your school, please click here to see your school’s use and which teachers are using the program so you can speak with them about it.
 

If you would like to continue with the program at your school, there is an order form on Tab 3. The district will place one order to get the legacy partner discount. If you do not want to continue with Newsela, please indicate “decline” to stop any further follow-up.
 

Expectations for Implementation:
 

  1. Communication:
    If you are going to purchase Newsela, please fill out the order form by MAY 16, 2025.
     
  2. Collaboration:
    Tiffany Hall, 801-578-8406

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Summary: 

We are excited to announce that the Science Materials Committee has completed a review of available curriculum and resources to adopt for grades 6-8. After reviewing all the submitted programs, the committee has selected two finalists. There will be a public open house for any educators or parents interested in previewing the materials.
 

The review committee included science teachers from grades 6-8, parents, and content area specialists.
 

  • What:  Science Programs for 6-8th Grades Open House
  • When:  Monday, May 5, 2025, from 3:00-7:00 PM
  • Where:  Riley Elementary School, 1410 South 800 West
  • Why:   Materials under recommendation from the 6-8 Science Materials Committee will be available to the public for viewing. After the open house, the cost of both programs will be scored and a final decision on one program will be made. It is anticipated that the materials will be in classrooms at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year.
     

Expectations for Implementation:


1.  Communication:

  • The information has been sent to all 6th grade teachers and middle school science teachers.
  • The district will send this information to parents.

2.  Collaboration:

  • Candace Penrod, District Science Supervisor, 801-578-8301

3.  Timeline:
 

  • The Open House will be held on Monday, May 5, 2025.

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Hello Administrators,

It is time to order Eureka Math materials for the 2025-26 school year. Just like last year, the district will pay 50% of the cost for K, 1st and 2nd grade student consumable materials. Licenses for Eureka inSync, which includes Equip, are $5.25. Information about ordering inSync licenses will be coming in a later email.

 K-5 English and Spanish student materials are organized in three types of workbooks.

  1. The Learn workbooks contain Application Problems, Problem Sets, Templates, and Exit Tickets.
  2. The Practice workbooks contain Sprints and Fluencies.
  3. The Succeed workbooks contains Additional Problems for Homework and printed Homework Helpers.
  4. Schools can purchase just the Learn and Practice books together or the Learn, Practice and Succeed books together.
  5.  

6th grade English and Spanish materials follow the Learn, Practice, Succeed organization but are compiled in a single workbook for each of the 6th grade modules. 

Follow the instructions below to complete the attached Eureka Math Buy Guides 2025-2026.  Email completed Buying Guides to Morgan Crossley by Monday April 28, 2025. Morgan will place your order. Your math coach is ready to help gather the ordering information to make this a quick process.

Instructions For Completing Eureka Math Buy Guides

  1. Open and save the attached Eureka Math Buy Guide Excel workbook. Make sure to save the Buying Guide with your school name in the title.
  2. There are 5 tabs for school use in the workbook. 4 tabs are for student materials. These are grouped K-2 English, K-2 Spanish, 3-6 English and 3-6 Spanish. The 5th tab is for Teacher Editions. It is unlikely you need to buy additional TEs but a tab is included for your convenience.
  3. K-5 Student Workbooks can be purchased in two ways: Learn and Practice or Learn, Practice, and Succeed (which contains the additional problems for homework and printed homework helpers). Type in the quantity needed for your incoming students and the price will calculate automatically.
  4. 6th grade Student Workbooks are only available organized in a Learn, Practice, Succeed workbook for each module in the year. Type in the quantity needed for your incoming students and the price will calculate automatically.
  5. A Eureka Math Homework Helpersdigital license is free for every student with a Student Workbook purchase and for the classroom teachers. Add the number of grade level students and the number of grade level teachers (include your general education, resource, behavior support, academic support, diagnostic K, diagnostic 1st grade teachers, and Dual Language teachers at the appropriate grade level) and enter it in the quantity box.
  6. The Eureka Digital Suite for Teachers is a free, 12-month, online subscription. Order one for every teacher (include your general education, Pre-K, resource, behavior support, academic support, diagnostic K, diagnostic 1st grade teachers, and Dual Language teachers at the appropriate grade level) and every administrator in your building. The order line for the Digital Suite is on the Student K-2 English page and the Student 3-6 English page. Teachers and administrators should only be counted once and not on both pages.
  7. Provide the school’s budget account number to be charged 50% of your order for K- 2nd grade student consumables and the school’s budget account number to pay the full amount of 3rd - 6th grade student consumables and Teacher Editions.
  8. Click in the School Information Entry Field box to activate the drop-down arrow. Use the drop down to select your school’s information.
  9. Repeat this process for the other pages in the workbook, as necessary.

Email the completed Eureka Math Buying Guides to morgan.crossley@slcschools.org  by 5:00 p.m. Monday April 28, 2025. Morgan can also be reached at 801-578-8256 to answer ordering questions. We really appreciate early orders and will process them as soon as they are received.  Ther Eureka Math Guide can be found here.

Please let me know if you have questions.

Thank you!

Holley McIntosh

Holley McIntosh, M.Ed. (she/her/hers)

Administrator-Mathematics Supervisor

Salt Lake City School District 

MESA Supervisor, MathCounts Supervisor

Office: (801) 578-8295

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Stakeholder Feedback Surveys

SLCSD stakeholders will begin to receive notices of their access to the stakeholder survey. All surveys must be completed by May 2. Please encourage everyone to participate.

In case any questions arise, here is the information you should know:

  1. This survey is OPTIONAL, no one should feel compelled to take it. However, it is incredibly useful feedback, and we strongly encourage all our stakeholders to participate.
  2. This survey is CONFIDENTIAL, and participants should be encouraged to complete it at a time and location where they feel comfortable giving honest feedback.
  3. Survey links will be sent out to adults via EMAIL. If they do not see the link, they should check junk/spam folders or reach out to jeffrey.lutz@slcschools.org.
  4. Students can access the survey through Clever. To increase response rates, we encourage you to work with your teachers to provide time for students to do their surveys while they’re in school.
    1. Students may see more than one survey when the go into Clever. There is the USBE Stakeholder Survey and the Teacher Feedback Survey. Please encourage them to complete BOTH.
     Parents/Students
  5. A student must have been enrolled for at least 40 days to receive a survey.
  6. Students and parents will be asked to provide feedback on each individual course/teacher they have as well as the administrators in their building.
    1. They may skip any sections they wish
    2. Parents with multiple children in the district may receive separate survey emails for each child.
  7. Class information is pulled from PowerSchool so if a student is in an afterschool program or a class that they know by a different name than what is in PowerSchool, please help them determine which class that is (i.e. After School might be Chess Club).

Alli Martin, Ed.D. (she/her/hers)

Director of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and Prevention Services

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Dear Team:

We are writing to inform you of the finalized school start and end times for the upcoming academic year. Given that this has been a topic of considerable interest and discussion in recent years, we wanted to ensure you had this information in advance, anticipating that questions may arise from members of our community.

We are solidifying a two-tier schedule where every school follows either the Tier 1 start and end times or the Tier 2 start and end times.  These tiers specify the bell schedule for each school as well as early dismissal times and Fridays as early dismissal days.  The two tiers’ bell schedules are presented below.

Bell Schedule Overview:

  1. Tier 1: 8:00 AM – 2:30 PM
    Early Dismissal: 1:30 PM
    1. Schools:
      (18 Elementary) Ensign, Emerson, Rose Park, Liberty, Franklin, Meadowlark, North Star, Edison, Indian Hills, Washington, Nibley Park, Mountain View, Whittier, Newman, Parkview, Backman, Uintah, Escalante
      (5 Middle) Bryant, Clayton, Glendale, Hillside, Northwest

       
  2. Tier 2: 8:45 AM – 3:15 PM
    Early Dismissal: 2:15 PM
    1. Schools:
      (5 Elementary) Bonneville, Wasatch, Beacon Heights, Dilworth, Highland Park
      (6 High Schools) East, Highland, West, SCORE, Innovations, Horizonte

       

Key Considerations for Implementation:

  1. SLCSE-Bryant Middle School Schedule Adjustment:
    SLCSE-Bryant Middle School will transition to Tier 1. This change resolves a key audit finding related to wait times for students at West High School.
  2. Universal Tier Assignment for All Schools:
    Regardless of current transportation needs, all schools will be assigned to either Tier 1 or Tier 2. This is essential, as transportation services must be available for any student who may require it, including those that may be subject to an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
  3. Aligned Early Dismissal Times:
    Early dismissal dates and times have been adjusted across schools to align with transportation schedules. This alignment will help minimize disruptions to instructional time, ensuring greater efficiency and continuity in the learning process.

We anticipate that seven schools will be adjusting their bell schedules for the upcoming year. SLCSE-Bryant Middle School will transition to the Tier 1 bell schedule, while Uintah, Bonneville, and Escalante will be placed on a designated tier. Meadowlark and North Star will have a revised early release time, and Rose Park Elementary will shift its early release day to Fridays instead of Wednesdays.

We trust that these adjustments will positively impact our schools and the wider community. If you have any questions or would like further clarification, please do not hesitate to reach out.

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Dear Team,

As we approach the summer months, we want to share some important information about our summer work schedule. During this period, our workweek will shift to four 10-hour days. This schedule provides a great opportunity for extended weekends while maintaining productivity.

Please keep in mind that if you need to take time off, PTO must be used for any hours not worked. Working only five hours in a day will not be considered a full workday. If you need to adjust your schedule, please coordinate with your supervisor to ensure coverage and compliance with our policy.

We appreciate your dedication and commitment, and we hope this schedule allows you to enjoy a bit more flexibility during the summer months. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thank you for all that you do!

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25-26 SEL Curriculum requests

In order to support the Board priority of Social Emotional Learning, we offer SEL curriculum to each school who wants to use it to teach SEL skills to their students. As a school leader, you may choose to use other methods to teach these skills. Please think through your options and decide what will work best for your staff and your students then complete this form by April 22 to communicate how your school will support SEL instruction in the 25-26 school year.

Teaching SEL to every student is not optional! Regardless of the method, it is an expectation that every student in our district will receive direct instruction in SEL skills and that they will experience our Signature Practices every day. Please work with your Area Director if you need support making this happen.

Before continuing to the form, familiarize yourself with the three programs available through district funding:

  1. Inner Explorer - Inner Explorer programs are audio-guided and require no training or preparation from school staff. The “press play” format allows school communities to easily implement and maintain a daily mindfulness practice on any device. Our practices build on traditional Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) framework, utilizing daily mindfulness as the foundation and creates foundational support across all aspects of a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS). Additionally, Inner Explorer programs are approved by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and recommended as one of the top ten programs for increasing executive function by Brain Futures.
  2. Move This World - This platform is designed to ignite a powerful transformation in students, teachers, and families, empowering them to embrace and implement essential social emotional skills that transcend the boundaries of traditional education. Their dynamic, participatory approach to Student and Educator wellness, merges the esteemed CASEL core competencies with evidence-based research and the visionary expertise of a team of educators, innovators, and mental health experts.
  3. Second Step - Committee for Children’s research-based Second Step® programs give teachers an easy-to-implement, engaging way to teach social-emotional skills and concepts. Second Step programs are designed to help children thrive and be more successful in school—ultimately setting them up to be thoughtful and productive adults.

Mindfulness Practice Program | Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Inner Explorer is a completely reliable mindfulness practice program. Get rid of anxiety and bring peace of mind with our 5-10 minutes audio practice.

web1.innerexplorer.org

Move This World: Social Emotional Learning Company

Move This World is the leader in social emotional learning (SEL) for PreK-12 schools to help students better engage & express themselves.

www.movethisworld.com

Social-Emotional Learning for PreK-12

Discover Second Step, an evidence-based social-emotional learning curriculum that fosters students' emotional intelligence, empathy, and problem-solving skills.

www.secondstep.org

In solidarity,

Alli 

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We are excited to share our SLS Summer Learning Series with you! Throughout this summer, we want to support you with learning opportunities addressing the needs we are seeing in our schools. Each session is optional, but we would love to get an idea of how many folks to expect, so please register via Kickup asap.

SLS Summer Learning Series 

Time: 2:00PM – 4:00PM Location: District office, room 1016 

Date Title Description Facilitator 
June 19 Supporting students with habitual disruptive behaviors This session will focus on understanding the process to support students with habitual disruptive behaviors including using your SSC, creating/evaluating behavior plans, and accessing district supports. Alli Martin
June 25 Addressing bullying Learn how state law has changed the way we document and address allegations of bullying. This session will focus on developing practical SEL skills and tools to improve school climate. Alli Martin
July 9 S-3/discipline processes  New admin are highly encouraged to attend! We will review guidance for log entries vs incidents and practices around S-3 violations. Alli Martin
July 16  De-escalation and trauma-informed discipline  This session will focus on how trauma impacts student behavior and how to develop restorative disciplinary practices that lead to positive behavioral change. Alli Martin

Please reach out if you have any questions.

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