A new school year is always accompanied by a healthy dose of excitement. That’s especially true in Huntington UFSD as district executives and building and department leaders strive to keep the forward academic momentum that has been building over the past several years going.
“We are working on many initiatives,” said Beth McCoy, Huntington’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. The district’s 4,600 students can look forward to the teachers and programs remaining on the cutting edge of educational innovation.
Among the new initiatives for 2018/19 are:
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Beth McCoy.
Curriculum Implementation
- K-6: Sanford Harmony social and emotional learning program to support new state mental health regulations
- K-5: OHM science program to support state science learning standards
“We are looking forward to the implementation of this new hands-on and digital science curriculum that will provide our elementary scientists with authentic, problem solving experiences and discoveries,” Ms. McCoy said.
- Grade 7: New math curriculum to support a double period of instruction every other day
“Our students will have an opportunity for additional group learning activities, games and center work with this extended instruction every other day,” Ms. McCoy said. “We are looking forward to further expanding the mathematical minds of our middle school students.”
- New Virtual Enterprise course and room and course at Huntington High School
- New Literary Fantasy and Science Fiction elective course at Huntington High School
- Establishment of district-wide “makerspaces”
Instructional Software Expansion
- K-6: BrainPop coding extension
- K-6: Raz Plus
- Secondary (7-12): NewsELA
Expansion of Intervention Supports
- Primary: Double Dose Fundations (reading and spelling program)
- Intermediate: Leveled literacy intervention
- J. Taylor Finley Middle School: New curriculum for ELA Lab
There is so much more that is also underway in the district. Besides the makerspaces that are springing up around the district, Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School has augmented its and developed an innovation lab where really neat projects are being pursued.
The district will be transitioning to the state’s Next Generation Standards in English language arts and math and to updated state science standards along with a new social studies framework.
A mental health component has been added to the K-12 health curriculum and will be rolled out this year.
The district is also looking to expand the internship program at Huntington High School.
District executives said they are also acutely aware that while new resources are carefully vetted and have the potential to provide for deeper student engagement, those resources don’t teach students; teachers do. So the district intends to provide its faculty with even more meaningful professional development classes and workshops throughout 2018-19.