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Castle Hills shows early literacy gains under CKLA; principal credits lesson internalization and coaching
Summary
Castle Hills Elementary reported growth in early literacy after implementing the CKLA curriculum and participating in an Early Literacy Leadership Academy; kindergarten and first‑grade benchmarks showed improvement, staff said.
Castle Hills Elementary reported measurable early‑literacy gains after implementing the Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) curriculum and participating in an Early Literacy Leadership Academy, the school’s principal and literacy coach told the Colonial School Board.
Why it matters: Board members were shown benchmark data staff say demonstrate progress in reducing the district’s most intensive early‑reading needs and raising the share of students at or above proficiency.
Katie Gutowski, the district literacy leader, said Castle Hills kindergarten students flagged as most intensive dropped from 55% below proficiency at the start of the year to 37% at midyear, while students rated proficient rose from 25% to 52%.
“Lesson internalization” and a schoolwide coaching rhythm — regular walk‑throughs, debriefs and targeted professional development tied to SchoolKit coaching — were credited by Carrie Campbell, Castle Hills principal, as the work driving improvement. Campbell said she participated in an Early Literacy Leadership academy and used that training to align coaching supports and school structures.
Literacy coach Sarah Beeman described a three‑week grade‑level rotation of observations and data debriefs that produce targeted feedback for teachers and grade‑level teams. Staff said the school now plans to strengthen PLCs and spread the approach into grades 3‑5.
District staff said CKLA is in year three for grades K‑2 and year two for grades 3‑5 across Colonial; Castle Hills’ results were cited as an example the state has asked to showcase. “We were able to decrease that number to 37% with a gain of a change of 18%,” Gutowski said of the kindergarten intensive group.
Ending: The board received updates on coaching and data practices and heard that Castle Hills will host other local schools and state visitors to demonstrate its literacy structures.
