Unionville‑Chadds Ford teachers recommend Fahrenheit 451 as 8th‑grade core text; Tom Sawyer to remain optional

Two 8th‑grade teachers told the Curriculum, Instruction & Technology committee on May 13 that they want Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 added as a whole‑class text in the district’s new core creative writing course and in honors creative writing.

"We would love to add Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury to our course in honors and in core," Kristen Light said, explaining the book would be taught at the end of the year as a unit that pulls together the district’s six traits of writing. Honeybeth Cropp said the pair would use the graphic‑novel edition to introduce students to the plot and language before moving to the full text: "we could do the first part using the graphic novel to draw them in… and then transition to the regular text."

The presenters said The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, previously used as a common text, will remain available as a book‑club selection but not as the required whole‑class read because of concerns about language and suitability. Light and Cropp argued Fahrenheit 451 supports district writing objectives, connects to the portrait of a graduate and often appears on AP exam reading lists.

Board members confirmed Fahrenheit 451 is already an option in the middle‑school dystopian book club and welcomed the scaffolded approach; one member noted students who had chosen the text "have really enjoyed reading Fahrenheit" and that discussions had been "super rich." Speaker 2 told the committee the full text set will be available for community review and that the adoption will be a voting item at the June board meeting.

Next steps: community members may review the proposed class sets before the June vote; the committee did not take a formal vote on May 13.