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Board adopts TCI Social Studies Alive as K–5 history/social science materials
Summary
After a year-long review and classroom pilots, the board unanimously approved TCI Social Studies Alive for K–5; trustees heard teacher and student pilot feedback and asked about prior materials adoption timelines and parent outreach.
The Jefferson School District board unanimously adopted TCI Social Studies Alive as the district’s state-approved K–5 history and social science instructional materials following a multi-stage review, pilot and consultation process.
Jessica Pace, the program director for teaching and learning, described a committee made up of TK–5 teachers from all 11 elementary schools that reviewed four state-approved programs, piloted two, and surveyed 183 students in pilot classrooms. The committee used the California History–Social Science framework and district adoption criteria emphasizing English-learner supports, inquiry-based projects and integration with the district’s Clever platform and Benchmark Advance ELA materials.
Teacher feedback cited grab-and-go lessons, strong online resources and engaging hands-on activities—one example described a gold-mining center that captured student interest. Pace said the previous publisher, Scott Foresman, was adopted in 2007 and that pandemic delays extended the time between adoptions. She told trustees the district aims for a roughly eight-year adoption cycle but is dependent on state framework release and publisher timelines.
Trustees asked whether teachers could supplement materials and how parents were informed; Pace said teachers would use adopted materials as the foundation and district collaborative teams would consider supplementary, grade-level decisions, and that outreach included multilingual letters, open-house displays and an online survey (with low parent response to date). After discussion, a trustee moved to adopt the recommended materials and the board approved the motion by voice vote.
