Hello Families of Ensign Eagles,

I know that the school district has reached out to you regarding our reopening plans for this year, but I wanted to do so personally too. This year we will be starting school on September 8^th as opposed to August 25^th as planned. Teachers will be working during this time, creating online lessons and planning for the year. These extra days without classroom instruction will also allow us to meet with individual students and families to assess the students, make sure everyone is feeling comfortable with the technology, hand out needed supplies, and start to get to know your scholar. We will be sharing out a plan for this time as soon as possible, I am just waiting for a final decision from the school board on how we will be proceeding. The board is meeting this Thursday to decide how we will begin school, if you have feelings about how the year should start, I would recommend reaching out to the board before Thursday. They can use all the input possible while making this extraordinarily difficult choice.

There have been a few issues with the registration letters. This is my fault and I apologize. You should be receiving your registration email today and a hard copy of the information will be mailed out to you either today or tomorrow. Please let me know if you do not have the needed information by early next week.

As we move forward with this unusual start to the school year please know that we are working hard to ensure that we improve our practice in the classroom and virtually. I am excited to see how we can utilize our new tools to engage students and provide them the education that they deserve and need. We are putting in the time and effort to ensure that this year is a great year for you and your student(s).

On a personal note I would like to say THANK YOU to the Ensign staff and community. This has been a summer unlike another and all the support that you have given our school and myself has made a huge difference. I have been constantly reminded of how lucky I am to get to work with you and your student(s). We truly have an amazing group of families, parents, and teachers at Ensign and you all make this school great! This will be a year of new learning for us all, but that what we do at Ensign, because “It’s always a great day to learn something new!”

Have a wonderful day!

Erik Jacobson

Principal, Ensign Elementary

Hello Ensign Families,

This year we will be holding many of our meetings virtually. In order to ensure a safe and secure environment for these meetings I will be using a sign up form for you to register for them and then send out a secure link to your email address. This will allow me to control who attends our meetings. If you are interested in participating in the following events please sign up on the form below:

New Student Orientation, August 12, at 6 pm.

Back to School Night, August 20, at 6 pm

Ensign Elementary School Online Meeting Sign Up

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Erik Jacobson

Principal, Ensign Elementary

Good Morning Ensign Families,

I cannot tell you how excited I am for this upcoming school year. We are facing an unprecedented situation, but we have the tools and knowledge needed to make sure that all students are receiving the education that they need and deserve. Whether we are at school in person or not will be determined by school district following the guidelines laid out in an email from Superintendent Madden. I have attached a copy of the information in this link:

2020.07.09 School Restart Summary for Parents (002).pdf 

Registration for the next school year will be open tomorrow, please complete the online registration process for your students at https://ensign.slcschools.org/academics/registration

This registration link is for all students, new members of our family and kindergarten included. If you are new to the school please register without a pin number. If you are in kindergarten and have completed a registration packet please fill out the registration form above. 

At Ensign we have developed a plan as a school to support your child’s academic and emotional growth. Please know that this plan is subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances, but I wanted to give you an overview of how we are planning to approach school this year.

Our education plan:

• Lesson plans will be communicated out to parents in advance and all resources will be available on Canvas or from the school via packets and pre-made supply bags.
• All students will receive the same instruction whether school is in dismissal or in person.
• Information and training on how to use Canvas, our learning management system, will be sent out to parents as it becomes available. All of our lessons and classroom information will be posted using Canvas.
• Every day we will have a school wide mindfulness activity in order to promote mental health and self-care, parents will be encouraged to participate in this with their students.
• All instruction will be available for parents on Canvas the day after the material was presented to the students through videos of the lesson and/or recordings of the teacher working through the task.
• All students will have daily interaction with their teacher and classmates in a structured environment.
• Students will continue to receive all their specials instruction on a consistent schedule based on the school’s master schedule.
• We will utilize a classroom schedule that will be communicated out before the start of the week and will consistent at home or at school.
  
  • This schedule will change daily based on specials classes and at teacher discretion but no more than what happens on an average school day.
  • Please know that we will do our best to stay consistent but learning is unpredictable, one day a lesson takes five minutes and on another day the same lesson could take a half hour and it is important to allow teachers to have flexibility in how they meet the needs of their students.
• When we do return to in person classes all safety procedures will be taught to students in advance.
  
  • I have started a committee of parents and teachers who will be creating our plan to keep students safe. Once we have this drafted I will hold a virtual meeting to go over the recommendations and take community input on the plan.
    • Please look for updates on this meeting in your email.

In addition to this plan we will also be changing how we hold Back to School Night, Kindergarten Orientation, and for the first time we will be holding a new student orientation, which will be open to all Ensign if you’d like to attend. These events will be held live virtually with videos of the orientations posted to our website. If you would like to participate live in any of these events please fill out the form that is linked below to receive a secure link to the meeting:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=iFl4W1nRVkKZxmR0oGlvEyAMllgxiMZCnrJcRRMipxxUQjkxNDZKNzhZTFdIS1E3TFlBTE1FNDlUSS4u

Kindergarten Orientation: July 29^th from 6 pm to 7 pm

New Student Orientation: August 12^th from 6 pm to 7 pm

Back to School Night: August 20^th from 6 pm to 7 pm

The district will be offering online Canvas training for families before the start of the school year. Notices of these events will be sent out to you when they are scheduled.

As we move forward in these interesting times please know that Ensign welcomes your feedback and concerns. We need to work together to make sure our students get the education that they deserve and to do this it takes a community. I value your thoughts and input and try to incorporate it into all my planning. Please do not hesitate to reach out, we are all here to help and are sincerely missing our students, our community is what makes Ensign great! We can come out of this stronger than before because as you know, at Ensign Elementary it is always a great day to learn something new!

Erik Jacobson

Principal, Ensign Elementary

These are the books that have just been announced as the Salt Lake City School District's twenty books for the annual Battle of the Books.  This event each March is when schools meet with a team of four students to answer quiz questions about the books.  Let Ms. Parkinson know if you would like to join a book club she is organizing to read as many of the books as possible, and to prepare to compete next spring!  The club will be open to next year's 4-6 grade students. The books are available if you look at the collections on Sora.  

To see photos of teachers, staff and students at the April 2020 parade, go to the top menu, under Our School, the bottom choice is Photo Galleries.

Click here for Mr. Jacobson with the morning announcements and Pledge of Allegience:https://shorts.flipgrid.com/watch/8876882807751676

Turn your volume up and click here!    https://shorts.flipgrid.com/watch/8629948784050721

March 13, 2020

Hello Ensign Eagles,

This afternoon Gov. Herbert announced that all schools will be dismissed for the next two weeks in order to prevent the community spread of COVID-19. Please see the attached press release from the Governor.

This is going to have a huge impact on our school and community, so we are working hard to ensure that your student will be able to continue their studies over this dismissal period. On Monday and Tuesday teachers will be at the school planning lessons for all students. We will notify you when your student's work is ready early next week. In order to practice social distancing please do not come to the school until you have heard from us. We will have resources, such as laptops and internet hotspots, available for those of you who need it.

The school district will also be releasing a plan to provide food for students who are in need, details on this program will be sent out soon. 

I will do my best to keep you updated as we progress through this challenge. The best location for information regarding the school will be on slcschools.org.  The district will be continually updating the website with the plan moving forward. 

Please know that we are working hard to keep everyone healthy and learning. Even when we aren't in a classroom, it is always a great day to learn something new!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Erik Jacobson

Principal, Ensign Elementary

Gov.Herbert

UTAH SCHOOL SPIRIT WEEK

· We have all made it through our first week of school dismissal. It is now time for Utah schools to show our Utah School Spirit. Please join SLCSD schools by participating in Utah School Spirit Week online!

· Post a selfie using #utahschoolspirit and tag your school or district on Twitter/Instagram. We want to hear from students, teachers, parents, administrators, and community members. Have fun!

o Monday, March 23 – Crazy Sock Day. The crazier the better!

o Tuesday, March 24 – What Ya Readin’? Take a picture with the book you are reading.

o Wednesday, March 25 – Pajama Day. Post your coziest shot!

o Thursday, March 26 – Terrific Teacher Day. Post a message to a teacher that you miss.

o Friday, March 27 – School Spirit Day. Wear your school colors or spirit wear

Click here to view in full size:  Fall Library News

Please click here for the application to our Extended Learning Program: ELP Applications Now Open 

Students at Ensign Elementary School have enjoyed a double dose of dance this month.  The Repertory Dance Theater dancers performed in an assembly for the entire school, matching their dance moves to whatever the announcer requested.  At the end of the performance, students were invited to join in the performance both in the audience and on stage.

Individual K-3 classes have also been invited to learn and move with the RDT pedagogy program.  Lynne Larson, assistant adjunct professor at the University of Utah, and RDT education director, says the program teaches life skills such as:  creative thinking, team work, cooperation, group movement, and how to think outside the box.  It is also part of the state core curriculum.  “It uses their imagination,” said Kristin Adams, a 2^nd grade teacher at Ensign.  “Every time, they really enjoy it.”  Lots of smiles and laughter coming from the students prove her point.

Please take a look at this diagram of parking and drop-off locations.

Parking Diagram 2018