Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Curriculum topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board hears curriculum updates: new elementary ELA programs and IB course companion
Summary
District leaders presented proposed elementary English language arts programs (Functional Phonics and Morphology; Arts and Letters) and an IB global politics course companion; materials will be available for community review over the summer and return to the board for final approval in August.
Minnetonka School District staff updated the board June 26 on two proposed elementary English language arts programs and an International Baccalaureate course resource for high school.
Dr. Steve Urbanski, director of instruction, and Alyssa Rutherford, literacy coordinator, said the district completed a multi‑year pilot and recommends adopting two elementary programs: Functional Phonics and Morphology to address decoding skills, and Arts and Letters to target comprehension, vocabulary and writing. Rutherford led K–5 pilots and told the board the selection process involved teacher teams and two years of testing.
The high school recommendation is an IB global politics course companion endorsed by the International Baccalaureate Organization; staff said teachers attend IB and AP summer training and the companion material aligns the course to IB expectations.
Why it matters: the programs are intended to realign materials with updated standards and to support literacy development across K–5. Staff said both programs have been successful in district pilots and other districts are adopting the same curricula.
Board members asked how community members can review materials. Urbanski and Rutherford said the full digital materials will be available this week at the district service center reception desk with computer access and logins for community members to review at length; staff also said materials will be available online for preview. The board will receive final adoption materials in August; staff said they will keep additional pilots underway at the secondary level (including Spanish and Chinese immersion, secondary ELA and social studies pilots) and make further recommendations in the coming year.
No formal vote was taken; the presentation was informational and the resources will be posted for community review this summer ahead of an August adoption vote.
