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District narrows reading program choices; staff plan training and classroom review
Summary
South Orangetown Central School District assistant superintendent provided an update on a review of three candidate reading programs, next steps for teacher review and training schedules, and plans for phonics and morphology training hours.
Assistant Superintendent Mr. Arrieta gave the South Orangetown Central School District Board of Education a brief update on a multi-stage review of elementary reading materials, saying the district’s evaluation is moving from vendor demonstrations to teacher-led reviews and training.
“Tonight is very, brief. No slides,” Mr. Arrieta said as he opened the update. He told the board that teams of teachers at Cottage Lane and William O’Sheafer had reviewed materials from three vendors after seeing vendor presentations the prior week and that principals at LaVelle, Schaefer and Cottage Lane are developing a schedule to circulate materials so more teachers can examine them.
The update said the three vendors under consideration are ARC, Arts & Letters, and Amplify CKLA. The administration plans to give additional teachers time during team meetings to examine materials, post questions and—where possible—speak with teachers at other schools already using the programs via site visits or Zoom calls.
On training logistics, Mr. Arrieta said district staff met with representatives from the vendor IMSC to plan building-level training schedules at Schaefer and Cottage Lane. He said building administrators and coaches will be responsible for rolling training out in those two schools and for building local capacity so new hires and teachers new to the curriculum can be mentored.
Board members asked for details about training hours and flexibility. Mr. Arrieta said the phonics training is 30 hours, and the morphology/word-study program also requires 30 hours. He described options for teachers who cannot complete training during the school day, saying the vendor offers evening and weekend sessions and that the district had circulated a survey about staff availability.
“We can’t force anyone to do anything at night or on the weekends or even during the summer,” Mr. Arrieta said, noting the district is trying to complete as much training as possible before summer while acknowledging end-of-year scheduling challenges.
On onboarding new hires, Mr. Arrieta said teacher preparation programs provide some background in the science of reading but not necessarily training in a particular vendor’s program; the district expects to pair new teachers with mentors and make vendor trainings available through the summer and early fall.
Board members requested the administration provide a schedule for training and clarity on how coaches and team leaders will support teachers who need additional help. Mr. Arrieta said the principals and curriculum office were finalizing schedules and that he expected a confirmed plan by early next week.
Why it matters: The board is evaluating a districtwide adoption that would become the district’s reading-and-writing program. Staff said once a decision is made the chosen program would be the district’s core curriculum and the district will provide the associated training and mentoring.
What’s next: The district will circulate materials to additional teachers for review, arrange peer conversations or visits, finalize training schedules and return to the board with implementation details.
