At St. Joan of Arc, we continually evaluate and refine our curriculum to ensure our instruction reflects the latest educational research and best practices. Following a thorough review of our current practices, we identified an opportunity to strengthen our ELA program through the implementation of a comprehensive curriculum that creates a unified learning experience and supports student growth across grades K–5. This new curriculum builds on the strong foundation already in place while enhancing instruction with evidence-based practices that support every learner.

This fall, students in kindergarten through fifth grade will begin using Amplify CKLA (Core Knowledge Language Arts) as their new English Language Arts curriculum Amplify CKLA is a nationally recognized literacy curriculum built on the Science of Reading—the most comprehensive body of research on how children learn to read. This evidence-based program provides explicit instruction in phonics, vocabulary, language comprehension, reading fluency, and writing while building the background knowledge students need to become strong, confident readers.

What this means for our students…

With Amplify CKLA, students will benefit from:

• Research-based reading instruction that builds strong foundational literacy skills from K through 5.
• Daily writing instruction integrated with reading to strengthen communication, comprehension, and critical thinking.
• Knowledge-rich, high-quality literature that builds vocabulary, background knowledge, and a lifelong love of reading.

AND our students will continue to receive explicit phonics instruction that helps students develop the skills needed to become fluent, independent readers as they have been.

Our students will continue to benefit from:

• Personalized learning that includes targeted intervention through our WIN program to ensure every student receives the support or enrichment they need.
• Ongoing assessments with iReady and other benchmark tools that allow teachers to monitor progress and provide individualized instruction throughout the year.

At St. Joan of Arc, academic excellence is one of our highest priorities. Adopting Amplify CKLA reflects our continued commitment to investing in innovative, evidence-based instructional practices that help every child grow as a reader, writer, thinker, and lifelong learner. As we move forward, we will continue to integrate Thinking Maps throughout our classrooms and invest in ongoing professional development to keep our teachers equipped with the most current, research-based strategies to help every student grow and succeed.

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