The Shawnee Heights School District board approved K–12 math curriculum maps and adopted Envision as the district's primary K'12 math resource, voting unanimously during its meeting.

The board approved a set of curriculum maps aligned to Kansas state standards and voted to adopt a six-year Envision license for core K'6 math instruction. The board also approved separate vendor materials for high-school elective math courses (Pearson for statistics, Cengage for trigonometry, and Bedford, Freeman & Worth for calculus) and authorized use of special-education funds to purchase a supplemental SPED resource for the high school.

Board members and teachers said the new maps and resources are intended to increase rigor, provide parent-facing materials, and expand language access. "Envision has that, and that was in this geometry unit. So my students 'they said that the test seemed harder, but they said that they felt like they were more prepared," Melissa Dennison, a fourth-grade teacher at Tecumseh North and member of the curriculum committee, said. "They said that they liked it better than what they had." Rosa Cavazos, board member, praised the district's teacher engagement in the review process: "Having your teachers here and talking about it ' they're committed to it from kindergarten to ' senior year, I think just speaks volumes."

Why it matters: The adoption covers core K'12 instruction and includes professional development intended to support classroom implementation. Presenters said the curriculum maps packet ran more than 800 pages and consisted of roughly 30 math-specific maps; later in the meeting staff noted the board has approved over 200 curriculum maps districtwide in the current adoption cycle.

Discussion and supporting details

Presenters emphasized that the Kansas state standards were the foundation for the maps and described how the district's committees worked grade-by-grade to sequence skills from kindergarten through high school, including pathways for honors, intervention, and special-education classroom settings. Elementary, middle and high school teachers participated in subcommittees and piloted sample units; one fourth-grade teacher reported piloting a geometry unit and finding Envision more rigorous and better aligned to state assessment expectations than the district's prior elementary resource.

The board heard that the Envision adoption is structured as a six-year license and includes training and online materials. District staff said the elementary implementation will include teacher manuals in print and student consumables in print, complemented by online access for students; for high school algebra 1, geometry and algebra 2 the district will provide classroom sets of textbooks. The adoption also includes parent-facing guides and digital accessibility features; staff said some digital components can present content in multiple languages.

Special-education consideration

Staff said the district is not purchasing elementary-level SPED supplements upfront because the SPED subcommittee wants to experience Envision before committing to a long-term purchase. In the meantime the district will use SPED funds to buy SuccessMaker as a supplement in elementary special-education classrooms and will reassess after implementation.

Training and rollout

District staff described a professional-development plan that includes a three-day training series spread across the school year, additional asynchronous modules for coaches, and summer preparation for August classroom rollout. Secondary teachers had earlier preview access to training modules and digital integration with Canvas.

Board action

The board approved the curriculum maps and the resource adoption by unanimous votes. Board members moved and seconded the motions on the record and the tally for each vote was 7-0 in favor.

What's next

Staff will implement the professional-development schedule over the summer and fall, distribute teacher guides and consumables, and the SPED subcommittee will reconvene during the year to determine whether to adopt an elementary SPED supplement long-term.