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School leaders announce CKLA adoption, MCAS guidance and early-childhood hire
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Saba-Maguire and elementary director Catherine Pavao announced that Dartmouth Public Schools selected CKLA as the district's new elementary ELA curriculum and noted the district will continue to administer MCAS despite recent state changes. The committee was also told Stephanie Riccardi will start as Early Childhood Director in February.
At the Jan. 6 meeting Superintendent Dr. Saba-Maguire and Catherine Pavao, Director of Teaching and Learning for elementary grades, announced districtwide curriculum and staffing actions. Pavao said the district has chosen CKLA (Core Knowledge Language Arts) as the new elementary ELA literacy curriculum.
Dr. Saba-Maguire said that while passing MCAS is no longer a state graduation requirement, school districts are still legally required to administer the state-wide test and that the district’s graduation requirements remain aligned with state and federal requirements. She also announced staffing updates: the Early Childhood Director Screening Committee recommended a candidate and Dr. Saba-Maguire said Stephanie Riccardi will start in February as the district’s Early Childhood Director; the district also has two principal postings open.
Why it matters: curriculum adoption sets classroom instruction and materials for the coming years and MCAS administration affects assessments and reporting obligations. The Early Childhood Director hire fills an administrative position the district said is important for early-learning programming.
The committee asked that MCAS and curriculum topics be discussed in more depth at future meetings; the superintendent said a teaching-and-learning staff member will address MCAS in greater detail at a future committee meeting.
