Category: Parent Square

Welcome back from mid-spring recess! Nothing says 4-day week like a block schedule and end-of-year testing. You can check out our block schedule for this Thursday and Friday here. For more information on the purpose and things we get out of testing, check out this post here.

Memory Books are Going Fast!

This week is our PTSA’s final Memory Book Sales Drive. All students who purchase a memory book before Friday the 28th will be entered into a drawing. Prizes include candy, Chick-Fil-A, Target and Nike gift cards, and a pair of AirPods. 

The Main Office will keep an updated list of students who have purchased their books on the glass this week. If your student’s name is on the list, they are in the drawing. If not, purchase their book in the Main Office or on Skyward. There are a limited number of unsold books available. Once we are sold out, we cannot order more. The drawing will be held on April 1st.

How Does Buying a Memory Book Support the School/PTSA?

Did you know that the PTSA’s Memory Book funds all of their programs? The PTSA provides our students and teachers with programs and support that make our school great. They provide grants to teachers who want to innovate in their classrooms, socials and spirit nights for our students, meals for our teachers when they need to work extended hours, and so much more. Their programs would not be possible without Memory Book sales.

April is flying by! Now that we’re getting closer to the end of the year, there are a few things coming up to note:

No School on Friday, April 21 or Monday, April 24

Friday is a professional development day for teachers, and Monday is Mid-Spring Recess.

Memory Book Purchases

There are a limited number of extra memory books. If you haven’t already purchased one, you can do so in the main office, or on Skyward under Fee Management.

Resources for Parents

Parenting is hard! There are many resources to help. One resource the district has partnered with is ParentGuidance.org. They offer free virtual courses on a variety of topics such as anxiety, depression, bullying and more. They also offer free coaching with trained professionals who can give you feedback and ideas on your specific situation. 

School Community Council Meeting

We’ll be meeting tonight at 4 pm for our final community council meeting of the year. Feel free to join us!

End of the year testing update:

Dear Parents/Guardians,

End of the year testing is approaching.  The assessments that your child will be given are determined by the grade they are currently in.  Our 7^th and 8^th grade students will take the RISE Assessment, and our 9^th grade students will take the Utah Aspire +.

RISE Assessment (grades 7^th and 8^th):

Subjects Tested: English Language Arts (ELA), Science, Math, Writing (only assessed in grade 8)

Assessment dates: 4/27-5/12- Teachers administering the RISE assessment are given a window to complete the assessment.  It is up to the individual teacher as to when they will be giving their assessment within the window. 

How testing data is used: This assessment is based on state standards and gives teachers immediate feedback as to how students are doing.  Teachers can use the RISE assessment as a grade in Skyward if the grade helps the student.  If the grade on the RISE assessment will lower a student’s grade in the class, then the RISE assessment cannot be used for a student’s grade in Skyward.  Because this assessment covers the class’s standards, many classes choose to use it in place of a class final.  In the event of extenuating circumstances that prevent a child from participating in the assessment, teachers can give an alternative assignment (usually an end of year review of all standards for the course) and the student may still have to take a final for the course depending on the course expectations. In such cases, the student will remain in the classroom and work on an alternative assignment while their class tests. 

Utah ASPIRE + (grade 9):

Subjects Tested: English, Reading, Math, and Science

Assessment Dates: 4/27 and 4/28- Students will follow a block schedule to take this exam.

English Test: will be taken in ELA 

Reading Test: will be taken in World Geography

Math Test: will be taken in Math

Science Test: will be taken in Science

How assessment data is used: This exam (if all 4 sections are taken) will give students and parents a predictive ACT score and helps evaluate secondary program preparedness.  This exam is written by the same company as ACT, and serves as a great practice for students that will be taking the ACT their junior year.  Results are sent to parents over the summer.  ACT can be used as a college entrance exam, and many programs use ACT scores to determine a student’s college scholarship eligibility. 

Because this exam will take place during 2 block schedule days, all classes will be held including those classes that are not tested subjects.  Students who are unable to participate in the assessment due to extenuating circumstances will stay in their classroom during testing, and no classroom instruction will take place.  In such cases, students will NOT be allowed to use computers, phones, or any other technology in order to keep the testing environment secure.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out to your students’ counselor!

Today was our 9th grade Industry Tour, and we want to send a huge thank you to our partners in the community for hosting our students at their businesses. It’s a great hands-on chance to see what the future can hold. We also want to thank our chaperones and counseling center team for making this happen. 

9th Grade BHS Class Officer Elections

It’s time to vote for next year’s Bingham High School class officers. Only current South Jordan Middle School 9th graders can vote in the 2023-2024 Sophomore Class Elections. Every vote is individually verified. Please vote for up to 2 candidates for Sophomore Office. Voting will close on Friday, April 14th at 12:00 P.M. 

South Jordan Sophomore elections – https://forms.gle/Mq5Ny88DJ8xuUaRz7

Campaign videos will be available on Instagram @BinghamHigh soon. This link and information can also be found in students’ Snow Leopard Canvas Course.

School Community Council Meeting

Our last community council meeting of the year will be held on Monday, April 17th at 4 pm in the main office conference room. The agenda for the meeting can be found on our community council page of the school website.

Mental Health Tips

We’re seeing more and more students with needs for mental health support. In an effort to put resources into the hands of parents, we’re going to start including mental health tips, look-fors, and resources in our Skylerts whenever possible. If you have topics you’d like us to address, please let us know.
For this week, we’re going to link you to the most recent Supercast about the Cook Center for Human Connection. It’s a great launchpad to a wide variety of free, well-vetted resources that can help parents and students with so many of the things kids face today. Check out the Supercast here.

Tuesday, April 4th will be our third virtual day for students due to poor current road conditions and expected heavy snow accumulation throughout the day. Please stay home and stay safe. The official email from the district will answer the majority of questions. For SoJo specifically, here’s what you need to know:

• Your teachers will be communicating expectations for what to do, but it will largely be continuing current work or enrichment activities, and not necessarily new work.
• Teachers will be available to answer questions via Zoom using these Zoom links from 10 am until 12 pm. They will also be monitoring email during that time.
• No school lunch will be served, and the building will be closed to the public. If you have questions, email is the go-to, as staff won’t be able to get to the building to answer phones.
• Decisions on evening activities will be made by 1 pm tomorrow. The district will send out an additional Skylert once that has been determined.

That’s it for now. We’ll send out any additional information as needed. We’ll see everyone back in-person on Wednesday!

Welcome back from Spring Break, and to the start of our fourth and final quarter of the year. We have a variety of exciting things that happen over the next few months, and our regular end-of-year testing for all students that will happen in late April. AP students will also be having their AP tests this month. For those AP students, please know that students are NOT excused for the entire day of the test – only for the periods during the test.

9th Grade Industry Tour, April 10th

9th grade parents, we are very excited for our upcoming Industry Tour on Monday, April 10th. We had an overwhelming response for parents willing to chaperone. Those parents that indicated they were willing to chaperone will be receiving a phone call from the Counseling Center as to whether or not we need you. So please check your voicemails. And thanks for your willingness to help!

Jordan Education Foundation Challenge Run

Saturday, May 13, 2023
Start Time: 9:00 AM
Veteran’s Memorial Park
(8030 South 1825 West in West Jordan)

Cost per person is $20

​THE JEF CHALLENGE OBSTACLE RUN is a family-friendly fundraising obstacle course run open to all ages and created to make a difference in Jordan District Classrooms.  Sponsored by local businesses and Jordan Education Foundation, 100% of proceeds go directly toward Classroom Grants benefiting students & teachers in Jordan District. 

The Challenge Race is open to the community and fun for all ages with teachers, students and family members from all 68 schools participating.  We couldn’t have more fun helping such a great cause!

The Challenge begins at 9 am, Saturday, May 13th and ends with a fun family festival with lots of free giveaways.  You can participate in any one of the events (Obstacle Run, Festival, Fundraising) or in all three!

​For more details and to register online, visit: www.jefchallenge.org OR
https://runsignup.com/Race/UT/WestJordan/TheChallengeObstacleRace

We are closing in on the end of 3rd quarter (March 24th), so make sure you take a moment to check Skyward and avoid any last-minute surprises. We are also thrilled to be celebrating inclusion week, where we go out of our way to celebrate the inclusion of those with special needs in our school. Today was Jersey Day, and here’s the schedule for the rest of the week if you’d like to participate:

• Monday: Jersey Day
• Tuesday: Superhero/Disney Day
• Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday (wear mismatched or wacky clothes)
• Thursday: Luau Day
• Friday: St. Patrick’s Day (wear green)

Memory Pictures for Spring Sports

Pictures for spring sports will be taken during PROWL this Thursday. There are no retakes. If you miss that day and want to be in the sports collage, you can email your candid pictures to sojoyearbook@gmail.com by the 17th of March.

9th Grade Industry Tour Permission Forms Due March 17th

9th graders, remember that your permission form for the Industry Tour is due to your Geography teacher by Friday, March 17th. If your 9th grader was absent from Geography class on Monday, March 13th and needs the information about the Industry Tour, please have them go to their Snow Leopard 9 on Canvas to learn about the different locations and fill out the Google Form. Extra copies of the permission form are available in the Counseling Center.
Student Sweeper jobs are available at South Jordan Middle School. You must be at least  14 years old. Apply here!

It’s going to be a busy week for our 8th and 9th grade students, so make sure you’re aware and prepared for BHS registration and the 8th grade job shadow.

Bingham High School Registration on Wednesday

If you’re a 9th grader headed to Bingham next year, the BHS counselors will be visiting your science classes on Wednesday to help you register. If you have any questions beforehand, please reach out to the counseling center at Bingham High School.

8th Grade Job Shadow on Thursday

If you’re an 8th grade student, don’t forget that our job shadow takes place on Thursday. Students will spend the day out shadowing someone and should have this already all arranged. The job shadow will take the place of all 7 classes on that day, so no other work will be assigned or missed. Have a great time, and we can’t wait to hear how it goes!

9th Grade Industry Tour in April

The Industry Tour is an opportunity for our 9th graders to visit one of our various locations to tour the business, listen to a presentation, and learn more about that industry. 9th graders will earn the privilege of attending the Industry Tour by getting final grades of all Honors (H) and / or Satisfactory (S) in Citizenship for 2nd and 3rd quarter.

Reminder: BHS Sophomore Orientation is COMING UP! 

Bingham High School’s Sophomore Orientation is Thursday, March 2nd at 6:00 PM in the BHS Auditorium – you don’t want to miss it!

Below is some additional information…

• There are two parts to Sophomore Orientation. The first part is from 6:00 – 7:00 PM in the auditorium and will include a presentation mixed with performances by some of Bingham’s elite performing groups. The second part will be the Activities Fair in the cafeteria, which gives incoming students the chance to learn more about various classes, sports, and clubs that Bingham offers. The Activities Fair will begin at 7:00 and go until 8:00 in the cafeteria 
• Topics covered in the presentation include registration and scheduling information, graduate requirements, and BHS administration & counselor introductions!

For those students and parents unable to make Sophomore Orientation, the information presented will be on the Bingham Counseling website following the orientation. 

If you have any questions, please call the Bingham Counseling Center at 801-256-5120. 

Current 9th graders will be completing Course Requests for 10th grade on Wednesday, March 8th, in the students’ science classes. If you want to view what is being presented, check out the slideshow below.

NOTE: You must be logged into a jordandistrict.org email address to view the slideshow, so have your student pull it up on their Chromebook.