U-46 curriculum leaders presented a multi‑content adoption to expand and revise middle school electives ahead of the 2026–27 school year, including a required sixth‑grade Spanish language arts course for students in dual language programs, new career and technical education offerings, a larger fine arts menu, year‑long elective rotations and an AVID 6 elective.

Celia Banks (director of curriculum and instruction) opened the work‑session presentation and said the package complements prior adoptions for sixth‑grade literacy, math, science and social studies and is intended to give students "voice and choice" as they enter middle school. Mario Pisania (Spanish language arts lead) described the proposed sixth‑grade ALE course (Arte del lenguaje en español) as required for dual language sixth graders and said the allocation places social studies and Spanish language arts in Spanish while math is taught in English. He said the committee reviewed more than 200 resources and recommended 118, with professional learning planned in May and August 2026.

Career and technical education coordinators proposed new semester courses including Mix Inc. (entrepreneurship and e‑commerce simulations), two Culinary Arts courses to replace broader FACS offerings, and Project Lead the Way Medical Detectives as a hands‑on biomedical introduction. Doreen Roberts presented curriculum resource recommendations and initial consumables costs for these CTE electives.

Fine arts coordinators proposed new year‑long choir levels with a leveled structure, new visual art semester courses (Graphic Artistry, Artistic Vision), dance courses (Dance Conservatory, World Dance Exploration), and theater courses (Broadway Bound, Here We Come Hollywood) with associated resource and consumable budgets. Jamie Geraldo said presentational and resource training will include half‑day curriculum unpacking and additional resource training where needed.

The proposal also included two year‑long rotation options for sixth and seventh graders—Explore Justice, Design & Enterprise (Art Exploration, Civic Justice, Design & Modeling, Intro to Business) and Explore Voices, Vision & Vocation (Be a Star, Career Exploration, Computer Technology, Human Development)—each organized as four nine‑week modules. Beth McKinney described AVID 6 as a year‑long elective to provide earlier access to AVID skills (organization, inquiry, collaboration) with no additional building subscription cost because of existing district AVID memberships.

Administrators said the curriculum would be rolled out districtwide in 2026–27, existing semester electives would be phased out as new offerings come online, and staffing and assignments would be handled through normal enrollment‑based protocols. Board members asked about staffing and whether the district has certified teachers for the expanded arts and CTE offerings; presenters said recruitment and some itinerant staffing models are planned. The board did not take a vote; the package was presented for consideration and planned implementation in 2026–27.

Ending note: district staff said they will evaluate offerings based on enrollment, assessments and teacher feedback and return with data to inform future course offerings and resource allocations.