East Ramapo district outlines move to ‘science of reading,’ expands K–12 summer programs

Interim Superintendent Anthony DeCarlo said the East Ramapo Central School District will align its core literacy instruction with state guidance on research-based reading instruction and expand summer learning opportunities for students.

"As the state of New York has said to all school districts starting September, we have to really look at research based instruction when it comes to core literacy," DeCarlo said at the district's Superintendents' Corner session. He said the district is preparing teachers and materials to follow the "science of reading."

District assistant superintendents described steps to implement the guidance across grades and student groups. An assistant superintendent for multilingual education said the department has provided professional development, acquired new curriculum intended to represent students culturally in texts, and begun training teachers at elementary and secondary levels. "We have been working with our teachers to ensure that they have the best professional development out there, to ensure that they're supporting our students, especially our English language learners," the assistant superintendent said.

Officials said the district will redesign Tier 1 core instruction so that Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports are available in general education classrooms and that a multi-tier system of support (MTSS) plan will outline programs and services at Tiers 1–3. The assistant superintendent for multilingual education emphasized that students with disabilities "will have access to the same curriculum that all students have access to." Another assistant superintendent stressed the importance of consistent instruction across schools so the district can "compare apples to apples" when monitoring student progress.

The district announced K–12 summer programs, including a kindergarten "jump start," six-week academies running Monday through Thursday, transportation to and from programs, free meals, high-school summer school, and a Regents preparation program. Officials said enrollment information and flyers would be released in the coming weeks and that some programs will operate on a first-come, first-served basis.

DeCarlo and staff also connected the planned instructional changes to the district's ongoing budget discussions. "We are in the midst of having a budget conversation, we're gonna need additional monies that go towards the kind of programs that we are gonna be offering as a part of Science to Reading, and then of course the staff that help support that," DeCarlo said.

District leaders framed next steps as professional development, curriculum rollout, MTSS documentation, and summer program enrollment; no formal board action or vote was recorded during this session.