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Holliston School Committee approves three‑year contract for Amplify CKLA after multi‑year ELA review
Summary
After a two‑year district review and classroom pilots, the Holliston School Committee voted to approve a three‑year contract for Amplify CKLA for K–5 ELA instruction, citing systematic phonics, built‑in scaffolds for multilingual learners and unit‑based knowledge building; the contract was listed at roughly $358,350.
The Holliston School Committee voted May 14 to approve a three‑year contract with Amplify to adopt Amplify CKLA as the district’s K–5 English‑language arts curriculum. Committee members approved the contract by voice vote after a presentation from the district curriculum team and questions about funding and implementation.
The curriculum team told the committee that Amplify CKLA (third edition) scored highly in curated reviews and was the unanimous teacher recommendation after classroom pilots. The team said CKLA offers explicit, systematic phonics instruction, decodable readers, grade‑level text selection and knowledge units that build content across years in science and social studies.
“We felt this resource eliminates the search for supplemental materials and gives teachers explicit, scaffolded supports for multilingual learners,” said a curriculum lead, summarizing the committee’s recommendation. Teachers involved in the pilot reported stronger student engagement and increased home conversations about reading.
District presenters showed intervention and assessment data used during the review: elementary intervention teams reported serving about 105 students cumulatively this year at Placentino (about 60 currently receiving services, roughly 30 students exited from intervention and 13 later qualified for IEPs) and approximately 113 students touched by math interventions (about 65 currently served, 32 exited, nine referred to IEPs). The team said mid‑year I‑Ready snapshots from January 2026 showed gains in phonics and math domains and highlighted median growth figures for students receiving intervention.
Committee members asked detailed budget questions before the vote. The administration said funding for the purchase and initial materials will come from three sources already approved or awarded: capital funding the committee approved at town meeting ($275,000), Prism grant funds allocated for materials (~$97,200), and a small remaining balance for first‑year professional development. The three‑year contract figure presented to the committee was $358,359.54; presenters said remaining PD planning would be finalized after the vote and could include a mix of publisher and SchoolKit (external coach) support.
A motion to approve the three‑year contract was made and seconded; the committee approved the motion by voice vote. The meeting record does not include a roll‑call tally.
What happens next: the administration said it will finalize a detailed implementation and professional‑development plan, distribute teacher materials as soon as possible and work with SchoolKit and the publisher on year‑one launch sessions. The district also said it is pursuing continuation Prism funding to support year‑two coaching and implementation activities, with results due in June.
The vote concluded a public curriculum review process that included staff surveys, classroom walkthroughs, pilot implementations of two programs (Wonders and Amplify CKLA), feedback from students and families who participated in pilots, and consultation through the DESE‑aligned Prism/SchoolKit support. The committee’s action authorizes the contract purchase and signals the district’s multi‑year move to a research‑aligned approach to foundational reading instruction.
