Brunswick Schools considering new English language arts curriculum

BRUNSWICK — The Brunswick school district is looking at a new English language arts curriculum for all grade levels for the next school year. Brunswick Schools staff members such as English language arts teachers, principals and intervention specialists presented the possible curriculum to the Board of Education on Tuesday night. The district's director of instruction and innovation, Pat Geschke, said staff were actively involved in selecting the proposed curriculum. "Our goal of the ELA curriculum adoption was to collaboratively identify an ELA curriculum that will meet the unique needs of our students, teachers and district in order to positively enhance student growth and achievement," he said, "(and) to provide our teachers with the necessary needed resources to deliver an equitable experience for all of our students across the district." The process started in December, he said. HMH Into Reading was selected for the elementary schools, McGraw Hill StudySync was chosen for the middle school and Savvas' myPerspectives was picked for the high school. Many staff members mentioned that the curriculum is accessible and works for all types of learners. Intervention Specialist Hayley Cajuste said it works for students of all backgrounds and creates a personalized pathway for students. "A lot of the time our middle school students, when they're not having that instant success, whether it's something small or something really big, we lose them," she said. "I don't want to lose them. I feel like this is going to keep them where they are." Third grade teacher Renee Cancilliere said with the curriculum, students will be able to learn key standards over and over again throughout the year instead of learning the standards once and moving on. "That kind of popped out at me," she said. "The reason is because this promotes retention of skills throughout the year and carries on throughout their education." Towslee Elementary School Principal Claire Trujillo said each elementary grade level would gain access to more than 500 titles, so there is something to meet each student's needs. The curriculum at the middle school and high school also offers a wide literary selection that engages students with different topics. Eighth grade teacher Dana Delnay said the units have classic novels, speeches, poems, graphic novels, modern literature and more. "There's going to be something truly for each kid," she said. "Whether you hate reading or love reading, I truly think next year there's going to be something for that." There will also be a program at the middle and high school level that students can write into, which will give them immediate feedback on their writing and check for plagiarism. Twelfth grade teacher Dawn Thompson said the program will allow students to immediately review their work, and it will show them their growth as a writer throughout the year. "They can assess and reflect, and go, 'Is this good enough?,' and maybe go back and revisit where a lot of our kids don't revisit all of their writing pieces right now," she said. The proposed curriculum will be available in the Board of Education office for community members to view over the next month, Geschke said. The Brunswick Board of Education will vote whether or not to approve the curriculum at the next board meeting in April. Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.