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District expands STEM, arts and civics programs with grant-funded curricula
Summary
Superintendent and administrators outlined a multi-level expansion of STEM, Project Lead The Way, democratic knowledge curriculum, creative arts lab and UDL professional development funded largely by grants.
District leaders told the North Brookfield School Committee they are phasing in several new and expanded programs for the coming school year, many supported by state and external grants rather than the local budget. Administrators said the initiatives include a Project Lead The Way pathway at the high school, expanded elementary Project Lead The Way launch classes, a middle-school and high-school STEM sequence, an eighth-grade Democratic Knowledge Project curriculum, a Creative Action and Thinking (CAT) lab, and year-two work with Novak Education on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) professional development.
The committee heard that incoming freshmen will take Project Lead The Way’s IED course, elementary grades will extend Project Lead The Way launch to additional grades, and the district plans to have STEM instruction in K–5 by the end of the next school year. Superintendent McCormick said much of this curriculum was funded through grants and named Project Lead The Way and state grant sources as contributors, reducing pressure on the local budget.
Administrators said the Democratic Knowledge Project (DKP) — an eighth-grade civics and service-learning curriculum — will begin after training later in September. The CAT lab, which launched last year, will enter its second year and expand music programming and student-created media. Novak Education’s UDL consulting will enter year two and focus on instructional coaching and in-classroom feedback for teachers; staff said UDL work is financed through grants.
Special-education and federal grant work also was discussed: the district submitted entitlement grant applications for Title I, II and IV, and edits to those submissions were made with a September 30 deadline for finalization. The special-education director said the IDEA (special education grant fund code 240) and early childhood grants were submitted and the district is waiting for state approval.
Committee members asked about timeline and fidelity of implementation; administrators said training and instructional coaching are scheduled for the early weeks of the school year and that staff will monitor grant drawdowns more closely this year to support budgeting. No formal votes were taken; the update was informational and focused on implementation planning.
