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GMSD committee recommends McGraw Hill for K–5 and Savvas for grades 6–8 in science adoption; high‑school choice pending
Summary
The Germantown Municipal School District science textbook adoption committee recommended McGraw Hill’s Tennessee Science for K–5 and Savvas (Elevate Science) for grades 6–8; the high‑school adoption remained under review with a final recommendation due before the board’s business meeting.
A district adoption committee for Germantown Municipal School District recommended new instructional materials for K–8 science and said the high‑school selections will be finalized later this week.
Miss Abel, presenting the April 15 report to the full board during the GMSD budget and work session, said a 10‑teacher committee (five elementary, two middle and three high school teachers) plus three parent reviewers recommended McGraw Hill’s Tennessee Science for kindergarten through grade 5 and Savvas (Elevate Science) for grades 6 through 8. The high‑school committee narrowed options to three publishers and asked for a few additional days to finalize recommendations; staff said those final choices would be posted before the board’s business meeting and purchase quotes provided for approval.
Why this matters: The state‑certified high‑quality instructional materials (HQIM) adoption will guide classroom resources for the next eight years, affect textbook procurement schedules and trigger purchases that the district wants delivered before next school year.
Committee rationale Miss Abel told the board the committee prioritized alignment and readability for younger students and age‑appropriate rigor for middle school. For K–5 the committee favored McGraw Hill because it offers leveled readers, Lexile‑aligned texts and pacing that supports embedding literacy standards into early grades. For grades 6–8 the committee selected Savvas/Elevate Science for stronger content‑rich text, technical reading supports and age‑appropriate simulations and data analysis.
Miss Ledford, math and science supervisor, and Ethan Constant, high‑school science supervisor, were cited for organizing committee work. Miss Abel said the committee used state preview links and a rubric‑based process; she also noted the state made the vetted publisher list available and districts select from that list rather than soliciting materials outside the approved menu.
High‑school materials and timeline High‑school selections were not finalized on April 15. Miss Abel said the high‑school committee narrowed choices to three very similar options and wanted additional time to compare resource packages and ancillary supports. She said the committee will finalize recommendations by Thursday and that the staff would include quotes and purchase details in the packet for the board’s business meeting so materials could be ordered and available to teachers by early July.
Public review and next steps Miss Abel told the board that preview links are publicly available on the Tennessee Department of Education site and that three community reviewers participated in the public review window. The district will present the full adoption package and purchase quotes at the upcoming business meeting for formal board action.
Ending Board members thanked the committee and supervisors for the work and noted that final high‑school recommendations will be posted along with the purchase quotes before the board’s next business meeting.
