Glenshire Elementary highlights new math program and classroom talk strategies

Glenshire Elementary Principal Rachel Cuddlin told the Tahoe‑Truckee Unified School District board on Jan. 8 that the school is rolling out two district‑aligned initiatives this year: academic discourse strategies and a new math curriculum, Eureka Math Squared.

Cuddlin said teachers across grades TK–5 piloted the curriculum last year and committed to site agreements that emphasize student talk time and lesson fidelity. “Every single one of our teachers opened that book. Every single one of our teachers piloted it,” she said, describing staff work to align classroom talk strategies with the new lessons.

The principal said the school set an initial, modest goal of a 4% gain in math when piloting the program; staff exceeded it, reporting a 6% gain last year. Cuddlin said the school’s target for the current year is 75% proficiency on the CAST assessment.

Why it matters: The showcase illustrated how a coordinated approach to instruction—curriculum adoption plus structured student talk—can drive measurable gains in elementary math performance, and the board used the presentation to observe classroom strategies it may see during school visits.

Teachers and staff who presented described the Eureka lesson structure and how it supports academic discourse. Assistant principal (referred to in the presentation as) Mr. Mohagan summarized the four parts of a daily lesson—fluency, launch, learn and land—and classroom teachers showed videos of students using sentence frames and partner talk to explain strategies.

Ally Cook (fluency lead) described short, purposeful warmups such as green light/red light and “equal or not equal” that spiral key standards and segue into lesson objectives. Becky Wright (land component) said the final discussion and the exit ticket help teachers identify misconceptions and guide next‑day fluency choices. Presenters said teachers use exit ticket data to decide whether to reteach, review in the morning, or move forward.

Presenters described intervention and acceleration supports: a small‑group intervention led by a part‑time teacher (identified in the presentation as Miss Beatty) that repeated fluency practice and used the program’s remediation materials to support students who needed extra practice. Presenters said kindergarten and several other grade‑level assessments showed strong early results; Cuddlin reported that “95%–100%” of kindergartners met or exceeded the first unit assessment.

Board members thanked the staff for the demonstration and asked for a copy of the slide deck; Superintendent Kramer and multiple trustees praised the videos and the emphasis on student confidence and engagement.

The presentation was framed as a school showcase (agenda item 9.1) and did not include a formal board action. The board will visit another school (Tahoe Lake Elementary) at its Jan. 22 meeting and continue school spotlights.