Schools adopt new Journeys English language curriculum
Date: 7/11/2012
July 11, 2012By Debbie Gardner
debbieg@thereminder.comWEST SPRINGFIELD — Students in first through fifth grade will find a new approach to learning language arts skills waiting for them when they return to class this fall.
School Superintendent Dr. Russell Johnston said West Springfield Public Schools recently invested in the Journeys English language arts curriculum from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
The new program was purchased through an inter-departmental transfer of $350,000 between the Human Resources and School Departments; the Town Council recently approved the transfer.
Johnston said the new curriculum, which emphasizes more non-fiction reading, analytical texts, persuasive writing and expository writing, is a good fit for the new skills teachers will need to encourage under both the federal Common Core and the Massachusetts Frameworks guidelines.
"Our teachers are well-trained in providing reading and writing skills, but they [didn't] have the materials necessary, especially with the advent of the Common Core [standards]," Johnston said.
The new curriculum will ensure all teachers at each grade level across the district are teaching the same themed lessons, allowing for "a more robust dialog about teaching and what is working" for students, he explained. The standardized curriculum will also make it easier for special education teachers taking students out of classes for extra help, as all students in a grade level will be working on the same vocabulary and text at the same time.
Johnston said the schools conducted a professional development day for first through fifth grade teachers using the Journeys curriculum on June 21.
"It went exceedingly well. They will be ready to implement [the program] on the first day of school," Johnston said.
He said the department had planned to purchase the Journeys program, and had actually received the materials, before the council approved the funds transfer to cover the cost.
"The mayor asked us to find something we could pull out of this year's funds to save money [in] next year's school choice revolving fund," Johnston said. "We were already on track to make the [Journeys] purchase and what the transfer does [is] allow us to have a fully level-service budget for next year, and that is fantastic for the school department."
