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District plans to fold fifth grade into elementary ELA curriculum; review team to evaluate resources
Summary
The curriculum committee reviewed steps to add fifth grade into the K–4 Amplify CKLA ELA program, including a review team, scheduling considerations, and a timeline that will include staff previews, public viewing and board action.
Heather Isaacson, curriculum and instruction program administrator, told the West Bend School District Curriculum Committee on Feb. 11 that the district plans to fold fifth grade into the elementary English language arts program as fifth grade returns to elementary buildings.
Isaacson said the district previously implemented Amplify CKLA for grades K–4 after an Act 20–guided process and site visits. She said a 2023–24 program analysis identified needs including curriculum alignment for K–5, a robust assessment system with standardized formative and summative assessments, expanded literacy instructional time, support schedules, resource-specific professional development, and collaborative PLC work.
To address those needs the district will convene a review team that includes fifth-grade ELA teachers, special education staff, literacy specialists across elementary and middle levels, curriculum administrators and a fourth-grade ELA representative. Isaacson described a timeline of internal staff preview (including a PD day on Feb. 17), followed by public viewing and survey, a return to the curriculum committee, and then a board review and recommendation.
Board members asked about scheduling and instruction time. Isaacson said intermediate schools currently run bell-to-bell schedules with class periods of about 45–48 minutes and noted literacy blocks that include writing typically require around 60 minutes or more; moving fifth grade into elementary buildings “opens up pathways for different schedules,” she said, and schedule redesign is a longer-term consideration.
Isaacson said the district will consider grades K–6 in future phases but is focused on fifth grade now to provide a seamless transition for the current fourth-grade cohort. No formal vote was held; the presentation outlined the review process and next steps for staff and public engagement.
