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Verona board approves HMH elementary literacy program after yearlong review
Summary
After a multi-month pilot and committee review, the Verona Board of Education voted to adopt HMH’s K–5 literacy program, citing alignment with New Jersey’s revised 2023 standards, expanded assessments and a planned summer/fall rollout with teacher professional development.
The Verona Board of Education voted June 12 to adopt HMH’s elementary literacy program for grades K–5, following a presentation and pilot review led by Julia Peters.
Julia Peters, who led the district’s program review, told the board the committee selected HMH because it aligns with the New Jersey student learning standards (revised in 2023), provides a balance of whole-group and small-group instruction and includes integrated assessments designed to make data actionable for teachers. "We began this process back in the fall," Peters said, describing teacher surveys, classroom visits and a pilot that concluded this spring.
The board’s supporting members highlighted features the committee favored: authentic and diverse texts, decodable readers for foundational skills, and an online platform that integrates MAP Growth data to help teachers group students and target instruction. Peters outlined a rollout plan: ordering and distributing print materials this summer, administrator professional development in summer, and teacher training in fall followed by ongoing coaching into the winter and spring.
Board members asked about implementation details. Peters said HMH’s grouping and small‑group tools will support differentiated instruction across general-education and resource classrooms, and that parent preview sessions will allow families to see module materials before school begins. "HMH offers a robust foundational skills program... and we'll be utilizing these resources together," she said.
The board approved the education agenda items that included the literacy adoption (education items B1–B6). Supporters, including board member Mister Walker, said they expect the program to improve instructional consistency: "I think the HMH thing is gonna be a win for the district big time," he said.
Next steps: the district will complete material orders over the summer, conduct administrator training, make some online materials available to teachers before the fall and continue collecting assessment data (HMH + MAP Growth + Acadience) to monitor fidelity and student outcomes. The committee also plans to use grade-level planning time and administrative monitoring to refine implementation.
