Category: Community Council

Present: Curtis Jenson (CJ), Kennedy Murdock (KM), Michelle Hollist (MH), Lindsay Branca (LB), Emily Barrow (EB)

Meeting Opens at 4:04 PM.

Approved Minutes for Feb 2nd. 

Review Proposed Land Trust 

• CJ went over the 2 goals for South Jordan Middle’s plan. 
• MH and LB signed and voted to pass it. For absent members an email vote will be sent out.

Honors Classes

• SCC would like to keep honors classes going in all levels.

Standard Based Grading

• All teachers will be using the same grading system as they have been using during the current year.
• South Jordan Middle will continue to evolve to Stand Based Grading as guided by Jordan School District 

The meeting adjourned at 5:16 PM.

–Kennedy Murdock 

South Jordan Middle

SCC Secretary

Meeting Time: 4 pm

Location: Main Office Conference Room, South Jordan Middle School

Agenda Items:

• Review Proposed Land Trust and TSSA Plans
• Vote on Land Trust Plan
• Update from Counseling Center
• Other topics as proposed by the council

Counseling Center Updates

• Completed 2000 student meetings
• J Tech Expo upcoming
• Introduced “selfie method” for seventh graders on self-care

Budget and Funding

• Discussed $40,000 budget carryover
• Voted to move half an FTE from TSSA to Land Trust
• Reviewed draft plan for next year’s student support

School Initiatives

• Discussed safe walking routes and parking lot improvements
• Reviewed new digital hall pass system
• Explored Prowl student scheduling system
• Student Support Goals
• Targeting students with lower academic performance
• Considering adding instructional coaches
• Focusing on improving student growth and grades

Key Discussion Points

• Classroom management strategies
• Instructional coaching benefits
• Digital system improvements for student tracking

Next Steps

• Finalize Land Trust plan
• Review digital hall pass system
• Schedule next meeting for March 10th

• Safe Walking Routes
• Addendum to 2024-25 Plan
• Draft of 2025-26 Plan
• Feedback on Digital Hall Pass Limits
• Other Topics Proposed by Council, As Time Allows

South Jordan Middle School Community Council

Present: Curtis Jenson (CJ), Jessica Tenny (JT),, Lynsey Allred (LA) , Michelle Hollist (MH), Sara Nichols (SN), Melanie Pew (MP)

Meeting Open at 4:09 PM. 

Minutes for 10/17/24 approved.

CJ Covered school safety–Prevention Plan. Talked about walking paths. Ambassadors need a more defined role in the school. Safety of protables–need peepholes for safety. Verify without keypads are part of the lock/unlock system.

CJ covered Digital Citizenship. No set curriculum from the district. Different classes address some of the different aspects. CJ will attend a meeting about Digital Teaching and Learning Grant later this month.

Currently using Land Trust for

• 1 FTE for Math/ELA/Science
• 0.5 for SpEd (Math Resource)
• 0.625 FTE for counselor support better ratios

Priorities for next year regarding Land Trust and TSSA.

• CJ will send out a draft with proposed plans for next year. Will be voted on at next meeting.
• Focus to help support students needing more growth
• Reduce class sizes
• Extra counselor

CJ gave Citizenship Grading overview: Rubric in place on Canvas. Communication to parents has not been extensive.

CJ went over new cell phone. Overall it has been amazing.

MP gave a brief summary of PCCRs, Safe UT, Multicultural club is growing, Registration coming up.

–Lynsey Allred

South Jordan Middle

SCC Secretary

1. School Safety

2. Digital Citizenship

3. Priorities for next year’s trust land plan (please see this link for the data that Principal Jenson shared at our last jmeeting: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14jfykudTWBF215JXTxiSLHZl4OoXFBDVol0gUOKD-Kg/edit?usp=sharing)

4. New citizenship grading

5. Cell phone policy 

South Jordan Middle School Community Council

Present: Curtis Jenson (CJ), Jennifer Ngatuvai (JN), Kennedy Murdock (KM) , Michele Hollist, Tracy Miller (TM), Sara Nichols (SN), Kelly Graham(KG), Lindsay Branca (LB)

Meeting Open at 4:09 PM. 

Voted for Chair and Vice Chair and all in favor for Michele (chair) and Jennifer (vice chair).

KG Review what Counseling Center has covered this year that include College Week, Empathy Lessons, Registration, 4 year plan for 8th graders, PCCRS, Safe UT, and College Tours. 

CJ review plans for Land Trust and TSSA from last year. 

CJ went over safe walking routes 

CJ reviewed parking lot 

Honors class feedback initially from the council is that honors offers a step between ALPS and honors and regular. Committee feedback is that honors is a good option, but the class should actually be different. They suggested we focus on all honors classes more on writing over the number of books being read. 

Question about why our honor roll threshold is higher than in most places. 3.667 is an A- average. 3.5 is between a B+ and A- average. 

Meeting adjourned at 5:45 PM.

We will meet in the South Jordan Middle School Main Office Conference Room at 4 pm on Thursday, October 4th. The agenda is as follows:

1. Elect a chair/vice chair
2. Review rules of order, council roles and responsibilities
3. Review Land Trust and TSSA Plans for last year and this year
4. Discuss any identified needs with our safe walking routes
5. Update/celebrations on parking lot reconfiguration
6. Discuss any concerns/ideas from the council or community
   • Update on Math Acceleration Options
   • Feedback on Honors Discussion for ELA
   • District Personal Electronics Policy

Attendees:

• Curtis Jenson, Principal
• Kennedy Murdock, Teacher (observer)
• Jennifer Ngatuvai, Parent
• Sara Nichols, Parent
• Lindsey Branca, Parent
• Stephanie Rich, Teacher
• Marilyn Richards, JSD Board Member
• Tracy Miller, JSD Board President

Minutes

• The group discussed the approved parking lot renovation project starting this summer.
• Implementing new math software (ALEKS) to provide adaptive homework was discussed, with plans to start in 7th grade and apply for a grant to fund it.
• Changes to the math curriculum and scheduling were mentioned.
• The school’s land trust and TSA budgets and spending plans were reviewed and approved.
• Improving the student checkout process using the intercom system instead of notes was brought up.

• Parking Lot Renovations
• New Math Software
• Land Trust and TSSA Plan Approvals
• School Check-Out Procedures