Darien schools outline curriculum transparency push, expand K‑3 literacy work and EduPlanet rollout

Superintendent Amy Adley told the Darien Board of Education on March 5 that the district is expanding public access to curriculum information through the EduPlanet platform and is prioritizing K‑3 literacy work while planning follow‑up supports for older cohorts.

Why it matters: The board is seeking more transparency about what students study and how they are assessed. Administrators said publishing course overviews will help parents plan and will be paired with department‑level updates to explain changes and resource lists.

Adley said the district has posted Stage 1 curriculum overviews on EduPlanet and is populating them as revisions are completed. "EduPlan, it should replace a course, a course handbook," Adley said, adding Stage 1 provides course descriptions and alignment to standards. She said Stage 2 and 3—containing more detailed assessments and teacher materials—are not being published for privacy and assessment‑integrity reasons.

Administrators described K‑3 literacy as an urgent priority. Adley said the district has formed a pre‑K through 12 steering committee and will connect K‑3 shifts to middle‑ and high‑school curriculum so current upper‑grade students who lacked earlier interventions are supported. "We anticipate the next focus area of our work will be to think about some of the shifts that we're making K‑3 and how does that impact the 6‑12 experience," she said.

Board members asked for more tangible materials for parents, such as course syllabi or lists of core texts. Adley said EduPlanet contains a resources section in Stage 1 intended to list core resources; teachers retain professional discretion to add materials for their classes. Department chairs will present curriculum updates at future curriculum committee meetings so board members and the public can review details and ask discipline‑specific questions.

Administrators described additional curriculum work: development of play‑based learning units for pre‑K and kindergarten (to be shown to the board on March 5), expansion of job‑embedded professional learning, and continued implementation of a district MTSS (multi‑tiered system of supports) framework. Adley said roughly 40% of the district's curriculum projects budgeted for the year are complete and that administrators prefer iterative summer and in‑year development to allow quality review.

The board requested clearer timelines and milestones for curriculum writing and publication; Adley said she would aim for further progress before the April budget cycle and noted some adjustments are staff‑initiated based on staffing and instructional needs.

Ending: Administrators said they will continue publishing Stage 1 materials as units are finalized, present play‑based examples to the board in March and provide department‑level updates at curriculum committee meetings to address board and parent questions.