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Board approves 29 curriculum maps and six-year curriculum resource commitments
Summary
The Shawnee Heights Board approved 29 curriculum maps covering elementary through high school coursework and authorized multi-year purchases of classroom and counseling resources, including a six-year license commitment for career-exploration software and counselor tools.
The Shawnee Heights Board of Education approved 29 curriculum maps and a set of curriculum resources intended to support those maps during the board’s action items. Board members were presented with examples of units across elementary, middle and high school, counseling domains, and expanded career-technical (AG) pathways.
District staff said the 29 maps approved at the meeting bring the district’s total completed maps to 177 and that the district anticipates more than 400 maps when the multi-year review is finished. The approved maps include elementary counseling maps (Pre-K–6), middle school revisions (including edits to eighth-grade English Language Arts and added short-story units), and 10 agricultural pathway classes tied to a new greenhouse program developed by teachers Jacqueline Collins and Sarah Gillespie.
Staff also requested board approval to purchase classroom and counseling resources to support the new maps. Major items discussed included a six-year license commitment to Xello (career-exploration software) for elementary through high school, CharacterStrong (K–6 character curriculum), Counselor Compass materials for counselors to use in small-group and tiered interventions, and high-school novels and AG textbooks tied to the newly approved maps. Staff said the district will use textbook funds and that some purchases require up-front multi-year commitments to lock in pricing and avoid annual increases.
Board members asked about pilot evaluations, cost timing and whether any products would be piloted for a single year. Staff said one product will be piloted for one year; most others were vetted and staff recommended a multi-year license to lock current pricing. The board approved the curriculum maps (motion by Stacy; second by Rosa; vote 6–0) and the curriculum resources (motion by Rocky; second by Rosa; vote 6–0).
Documents presented with the maps included sample unit-level outcomes such as executive functioning and goal-setting at lower grades, career interest inventories, and social-emotional units that address bullying, substance misuse (including fentanyl), depression and suicide awareness. Staff described how counselors use tiered programming (Tier 1 classroom lessons supported by Tier 2 small-group interventions) and how the CharacterStrong materials are intended to bridge classroom instruction and counselor-led interventions.
Board members and staff also discussed the district’s greenhouse program and AG pathway logistics: the AG sequence contains multiple year-long classes, two teachers share teaching across a ten-course rotation, and not all AG courses will be offered every year; course offerings will rotate based on staffing and student interest.
