District outlines CKLA pilot under 'next-generation' standards; students showcase cross-curricular gingerbread project

Kingston City School District staff told the board they are using a curriculum-audit process grounded in New York State's culturally responsive framework and the state's move from Common Core to next-generation standards to guide elementary English language arts adoptions.

Presenters described a multi-step process that included a curriculum council of roughly 40 K–5 teachers and support staff, professional development on the science of reading, demonstrations by curriculum vendors and classroom walkthroughs in 22 classrooms with CKLA (Core Knowledge Language Arts) specialists. Staff said the audit tool used is a comprehensive "CRS scorecard" (described in the presentation as a New York University–linked rubric) and that the pilot and scorecard helped identify which curriculum to trial in kindergarten through second grade this year.

District presenters described CKLA's "sounds-first" approach for early grades, focusing initially on language and the 44 sounds of English before moving to letters and phonics instruction; they said the instruction shifts by approximately third grade from"learning to read" to "reading to learn," with vocabulary and background knowledge becoming central. Staff noted criteria used to evaluate curricula: alignment with state standards, cultural responsiveness, learning objectives clarity, rigor, multilingual resources, developmental appropriateness and digital accessibility. Presenters said the process will culminate with a curriculum adoption form and a final approval brought to the board.

The board also heard a student presentation from the JWB team that district staff said was explicitly aligned with the culturally responsive framework. Students and teachers described a three-week gingerbread-house project used to teach math (area, volume, decimals, graphing), science (states of matter, mixtures and solutions), ELA (history of gingerbread, narrative structure) and engineering/design (construction, measurement). Teachers leading the project described rotating stations in which students sketched floor plans, computed areas and volumes, recorded physical properties of frosting samples, built mixtures and created bar graphs; several students presented their work to the board.

Board members praised the project and the teachers involved. Trustee comments noted the project had been done in these classrooms for years and that it demonstrated cross-school alignment and student engagement.