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Pennridge plans to host curriculum maps in-house, rolls out donated STEM+M labs and summer training
Summary
District officials told the committee they will move curriculum maps off an external vendor to an in-house solution to save about $22,000 per year and detailed plans to install a donated STEM+M program (materials valued at ~$1.5 million) with lab installation and teacher training over June–July.
Pennridge School District’s curriculum office told the committee it will move its curriculum maps from a contracted platform (Atlas) to an in‑house, community‑facing format to reduce ongoing costs and maintain public transparency.
The curriculum director said the district currently pays roughly $22,000 per year for the Atlas service and can reproduce the maps internally without losing transparency or pedagogical detail. Staff plan to download existing Atlas maps, post community-facing PDFs on the district website, and update maps annually during the curriculum review cycle.
Separately, the district outlined implementation of STEM+M — a curriculum and lab package the district will receive through a donation. Staff said partners will complete lab outfitting and begin installations in June and July, followed by on-site professional development for grade-seven STEM teachers. The materials were described as donated and valued in the meeting at approximately $1.5 million; administrators said the donation will not cost the district money to acquire the equipment.
District instructional coaches and teachers who visited a model site in Virginia reported positively on student-driven, station-based learning and recommended summer trainings for teachers who will run the labs. The administration said the STEM+M rollout is intended to expand hands-on STEM and manufacturing pathways for middle-grade students and to include regional teacher training opportunities.
The curriculum committee noted the next steps: detailed floor-plan approvals, limited on-site outfitting, coordination with facilities for any needed upgrades (for example, kitchen or cafeteria changes at receiving schools), and scheduling of summer professional development. The committee also set follow-up meetings to continue planning and to post obsolete-book lists for community review.
No formal board action was required at the committee meeting; staff will return with installation timelines and any facility requests if capital work is needed.
