JFK principal says CKLA pilot boosted reading gains; school highlights attendance and family supports

Principal Jamieson told the Kingston City School District Board of Education that JFK Elementary's pilot of the Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) curriculum has produced measurable gains and that the school is expanding attendance and family-support efforts.

Jamieson told the board the school piloted CKLA in six classrooms across grade levels, including classes with English learners and students with individualized education programs, and reported increases on iReady diagnostics. "We started the year with 18% of our students on or above grade level; by the winter diagnostic we're up to 30%," Jamieson said. She also reported a drop in the share of students two or more grade levels below in ELA from 42% in the fall to 28% in the winter diagnostic. In math, Jamieson said pilot classrooms saw an increase from about 5% on or above grade level to about 15% by winter.

Jamieson described CKLA as a tier‑1, whole‑class curriculum that mixes a knowledge strand and a skills strand. She said teachers initially expressed concern about the program's rich vocabulary and time requirements but reported that students are using new vocabulary in everyday classroom conversation and showing diagnostic gains. The principal gave several examples from teacher reports and student work: students used virtual reality to view the pyramids and outer space tied to curriculum units, and teachers reported strong fall‑to‑winter score improvements in pilot classes.

Students also addressed the board. Fourth‑grade student Jasmine Smith told the board, "CKLA is interesting. It's a little harder, and I feel like you have more room to learn than last year." Another student, Dresden Smith, read original classroom poetry to illustrate the program's emphasis on writing and vocabulary.

Jamieson also described nonacademic supports connected to attendance and family engagement. JFK expanded a walking school bus from two days a week to five, with an average participation of about 20 students and peaks near 40 on high days. The school formed an attendance committee (instructional coach, social worker, nurse, teachers and teaching assistants) and implemented a scripted outreach protocol triggered after a student's third absence. Jamieson said the scripts are designed "to take all shame out of calling families and asking about absences" and to provide early supportive outreach before escalating to the district social worker.

Jamieson provided demographic context: about 317 students in 20 classes, with two looped classes; the school remains a Title I school with an estimated 74–79% of students economically disadvantaged. She credited staff and community partners for supporting TOPS afterschool programming that provides supervised homework help and enrichment to roughly 17 students currently enrolled in the program at JFK.

Board members praised the presentation and invited more details on implementation challenges. Jamieson said the primary constraint is the time commitment required by CKLA—kindergarten through second grade require roughly two hours daily for instruction when taught with fidelity—which requires balancing some other activities. District staff said they are working on schedules and administrator coordination to expand CKLA schoolwide next year while preserving valued extracurricular activities.

No board vote on adoption of districtwide CKLA occurred at the meeting; the presentation served as a school report and pilot update ahead of further district curriculum discussions.