Urbana School District announces curriculum materials, reveal sixth grade building plans
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — The Urbana School District #118 met Tuesday evening, and announced several details on the new sixth grade center and English and Spanish materials.
Urbana School District has adopted Amplify materials for K-5 English Language Arts and Spanish Language Arts and HMH materials for the 6-8 ELA. The district has committed to the programs for five years.
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The decision came after several months of discussion, including publisher presentations for both HMH and Amplify in December, and reviews of both materials by staff in January.
Both sets of materials scored well on Edreports.org ratings, district officials noted. Teachers who gave feedback said both curriculum packages had pros and cons, but agreed they needed something.
“We need to come together and make sure that we’re focusing on our students’ needs,” Tonya Dieken, the Director of Curriculum and Student Learning said at the meeting. “Where is the learning struggling, and how do we move it forward?”
The district will release the decision for the new 6-8 SLA as well as 9-12 ELA and SLA materials by next week.
The Board of Education also released proposed floor designs for the Sixth Grade Center expansion.
Dr. Jennifer Ivory-Tatum, the district superintendent said students will be a part of Urbana Middle School and still go back and forth from the buildings for electives and other classes.
“Just because they’re in the building, these kids will be interacting a lot with students maybe from some sports activites, maybe enrichment activities,” Ivory-Tatum said.
The Board also instructed Ivory-Tatum to create a naming committee to come up with an official name for the sixth grade building.
According to board officials, the cost for the sixth grade center is around $24 million and they plan for the school to be open by Fall 2025.
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The Urbana School District will hear input on two different boundary plans for at the end of the month. The study sessions for the boundary plans are on Feb. 28 and 29 from 5:30-7 p.m. in Urbana HS Commons. Child care and Spanish and French translators will be available.
The boundary plans are scheduled to release to the public Feb. 23, district officials said.
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