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Mill Creek committee moves Savvas My World Interactive for grades 6–8 to April board meeting
Summary
Curriculum staff presented a multi-vendor pilot that led to a recommendation to adopt Savvas My World Interactive as the district’s sixth- through eighth-grade social studies resource; teachers cited online interactive features, multilingual supports and a college-career-civic framework as reasons to prefer it.
Mill Creek Township School District curriculum staff recommended that the district adopt Savvas My World Interactive for sixth- through eighth-grade social studies and the Instruction and Student Services Committee voted to forward the recommendation to the full school board for final action.
The recommendation was presented April 7 by a curriculum staff member who said the district’s current middle‑school social studies resource is “extremely outdated” and that the department piloted four vendors — HMH, McGraw Hill, Savvas and History Alive — before selecting Savvas based on teacher feedback and online features. The presenter said pilot teachers appreciated interactive primary sources, embedded videos and a built‑in “3C” framework for college, career and civic life that aligns with the district’s portrait of a graduate.
The presenter told the committee that Savvas’s online resources can be read aloud and translated into about 70 languages, and that the publisher will provide any print updates released during the seven‑year contract period at no additional charge. “They said when they decide to update, they will provide that with us free of charge,” the presenter said.
Teachers who piloted the program reported high engagement among students and pointed to interactive features such as clickable primary‑source annotations, mini‑games and longer inquiry projects. Committee members asked about practical concerns: the size of the printed textbook (the district plans to maintain classroom sets so students do not carry books home), the length of some whole‑group readings and the fact that the most recent print update is 2019. The presenter said Savvas’s online content is updated continuously and teachers can select and print only the workbook pages they need.
The Instruction committee approved a motion to forward items 3.01–3.06, including the social studies recommendation, to the board meeting at the end of April. The committee chair made the motion and it carried by voice vote; committee members did not record a roll‑call tally in the committee minutes.
If the board approves the contract, the presenter said teachers will receive manuals in May, student resources will be delivered before the next school year and Savvas will provide one full day of in‑person training over the summer plus embedded professional development during the year.
The committee listed the social studies resource recommendation among six action items forwarded to the April board meeting; the formal contract language and final pricing are available on BoardDocs.
