Peoria Unified board approves new K–12 social studies textbooks after yearlong selection process

Peoria Unified School District’s governing board voted Thursday to adopt new history and social sciences textbooks for both K–8 and 9–12, following a multi‑month review by a 24‑member K–8 committee and a separate high‑school panel.

The board approved the K–8 recommendation — Savvas Learning’s My World Interactive Social Studies with the Savvas Realize platform (copyright 2026) — and approved high‑school adoptions that include Savvas (core Arizona and U.S. history, economics and government), Bedford, Freeman & Worth (AP courses) and Teachers’ Curriculum Institute (geography). The board’s roll calls for both items recorded unanimous ayes from members present.

Why it mattered: District leaders and the selection committees said the new materials align to the updated Arizona standards, offer more digital and teacher supports than the district’s 2003 resources and are designed to reduce platform training burdens by matching tools already used in math and science. Dr. Teresa Hernandez, chief academic support officer and the adoption presenter, told the board the committee’s work prioritized “consistency, continuity and capacity” so teachers and students would not need to learn another platform.

What the committees did: The textbook-selection process ran from December through April and…