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District discontinues ELA pilot for grades 1–2; plans broader review in 2026
Summary
The Summit district told the Board the grade 1–2 pilot of a new ELA curriculum will be discontinued for 2025–26 and the district will search for a new K–5 ELA program in 2026; staff also discussed a revised teacher-observation schedule and summer programming for multilingual learners.
The district announced at the May 13 meeting that it will discontinue the pilot of a new English-language-arts curriculum in grades 1 and 2 for the 2025–26 school year, continue the program in grades 3–5 for now, and launch a full search for a new ELA program in 2026.
Heather Rocco, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, reported that the district piloted a new ELA program in grades 1 and 2 during 2024–25 and implemented new curriculum in grades 3–5. "After thorough evaluation and classroom observations with principals, the district has decided to discontinue the pilot in grades 1 and 2 for the 2025–26 school year, reverting to the current K–2 ELA curriculum while continuing and monitoring the program in grades 3–5," the education-services report said.
The education committee said communication to teachers about the change will follow and that the district will conduct a broader search in 2026 to find a program that better fits the district’s needs.
Committee members also reported progress on professional development planning for 2025–26, describing a model that balances building-based training and sustained, year-long professional learning communities aligned with teacher and school goals.
The district also described adjustments to the teacher-observation process. Human-resources director Rob Gardella applied for — and received — statewide approval to alter the district’s observation schedule, allowing immediate implementation of fewer required observations: the revised schedule requires two 20-minute observations annually for tenured teachers and three 20-minute observations for non-tenured teachers, with administrators able to conduct additional observations as needed. The committee reported the tally of completed observations in the transcript as "17 52"; the report did not clarify the intended numeric total.
Summer programming for multilingual learners will continue at the high school as a Title III-funded program with beginner and advanced options; the teacher leading the program has been identified and dates were being finalized at the time of the meeting.
Board members and committee participants asked for additional detail and data; staff said more communication to teachers will follow as plans are finalized.
