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Dartmouth schools report curriculum pilots, new IEP form and info nights
Summary
District staff outlined K–5 literacy and secondary curriculum pilots and said the new DESE IEP form must be implemented by Thanksgiving; an IEP information night is scheduled for Sept. 26 and the district's SEPAC will meet Oct. 15.
Superintendent June Saba-Maguire and curriculum staff told the Dartmouth School Committee on Sept. 23 that the district is running multiple curriculum pilots and preparing to implement a new special-education IEP form issued by the state.
Catherine Pavao said K–5 literacy pilots are ongoing with the expectation the district will recommend a single K–5 literacy program for districtwide implementation at the start of the 2025–2026 school year. Pavao also said third- and fourth-grade teachers are participating in a Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) social-studies pilot. Ross Thibault reported secondary-level pilots, including a math pilot at Dartmouth High School, Carnegie Learning professional development for staff, a Spanish world-language pilot, and a science pilot at Dartmouth Middle School.
Staff highlighted the district's prior participation in the Playbook Initiative, describing it as an anti-hate/anti-bias program that trains high school students to be "upstanders" rather than bystanders; the district plans to apply again.
On special education, staff said DESE has released a new IEP form and districts must begin implementing it by Thanksgiving 2024. The district scheduled an information night for parents on Sept. 26 at 6:00 p.m. in the DHS library media center (also available via Zoom). The first Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC) meeting of the year is set for Oct. 15 at 6:00 p.m. at the Quinn School. Committee members were told MCAS results will be released publicly the next day and that the district will present results at a future meeting.
The committee's discussion focused on pilots and implementation timelines; staff did not request immediate committee action on any curriculum adoptions at the Sept. 23 meeting.
