“With our curriculum director Cheryl Scrivner, we’ve really done a good job implementing (the material) at the lower levels and putting those pieces in play,” he said. “So as the kids grow, they come into that piece and they don’t miss any gaps. All the gaps are filled, so the kids aren’t losing any ground.”
The idea of having a common curriculum is to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare students for college and employment.
Parents were told that their children will also have to meet an accepted reading standard known as the Third Grade Reading Guarantee. While a student may advance in class in other subjects, they won’t advance past third grade reading until they pass the proficiency test.
Kindergarten teacher Carolyn Melampy said her students will be expected to write an opinion essay, a narrative essay and an informative piece by the time they finish kindergarten. She said the opinion essay is new for this school year, because of the new common core curriculum requirements.
Parents Natalie and Robert McIntosh, of Madison Twp., had no doubts that their kindergarten son was in good hands and would be able to make the transition to the new standards.
“It’s exciting to be a part of it. Not only to be the first class, but to have a teacher like Mrs. Melampy that’s been at the school for so many years. She’s just amazing,” said Natalie McIntosh.
Melampy said the new common core curriculum feels just as new to the teachers as it does the parents, but she said she’s been able to adjust as the school year has gone on so far.
“It’s definitely causing us to look and see what part that we do that is already fitting into the new curriculum, and ask what part are we lacking,” she said. “There’s a lot of work, but we’re doing a lot of professional development on it, and meeting as a team.”
About the Author