Shannon Findlay, K–5 English language arts curriculum coordinator, told the Walpole School Committee on Jan. 9 that the district adopted the Into Reading literacy curriculum for kindergarten through fifth grade and is now in its first year of classroom implementation.

Findlay said the curriculum, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), emphasizes both “knowledge building and strategy instruction” and pairs the district’s existing Foundations phonics program with Into Reading’s materials to address language comprehension across grades K–5. She said teachers use a mix of shared reading, text sets and unit “knowledge maps” and that each lesson ends with student reflection and goal setting.

The update matters because the district chose the program after a spring curriculum review and is now deploying professional learning to put the program into classrooms. “We have partnered with HMH … to provide in‑person professional learning opportunities,” Findlay said, describing demo lessons in teachers’ classrooms and district‑wide debriefs. She said two in‑person HMH days occurred in the fall and additional HMH training is scheduled for Jan. 17 and a follow up day in March.

Findlay described how the district is keeping its existing assessment landscape while evaluating Into Reading’s assessments. K–3 early literacy screening will remain I‑Ready and DIBELS; I‑Ready will continue in grades 4–5 as the district’s diagnostic tool. Foundations unit assessments remain in use to track phonics progress. Findlay said the district will “keep our other assessment landscape status quo” as staff determine what the new curriculum’s digital and print assessments add to their information.

She also outlined the district’s implementation supports: an implementation team with a grade‑level representative from each elementary school, on‑demand coaching through a tool called Coachly, and coaching cycles that typically last three to four weeks to target teacher‑identified student objectives. Findlay said roughly half of teachers used a choice board during December professional learning — some opting to plan units together, others to observe demo lessons.

On writing, Findlay said Into Reading provides structures for text‑based responses and longer writing tasks. To establish a baseline for instructional planning, the district administered a K–5 informational writing assessment this fall; teacher teams analyzed results during a Dec. 13 professional day to identify strengths and gaps and to shape future professional development.

Findlay said the district is collecting teacher feedback via Google Forms and implementation‑team meetings, and plans to survey students this winter and spring with assistance from Tom Reeves to gather student perspective on implementation. She emphasized continued classroom coaching and collaboration with district leaders and neighboring districts that have adopted Into Reading.

Findlay closed by noting preliminary summer research and development projects for teacher work and additional professional development needs for next school year.

Findlay’s remarks were technical and implementation‑focused; the committee asked no substantive policy questions during the presentation. The committee received the report for information and no formal vote on the curriculum itself was recorded at the Jan. 9 meeting.

Ending: The district will report back to the committee with winter assessment data after the current assessment window (through Jan. 17) and with further updates after the planned March HMH training.