Some course additions and new resources are planned for East Aurora School District 131 next school year.
The district recently approved new course materials for some high school math courses, and is planning for a middle school Spanish language arts pilot and new advanced high school welding class to start next school year.
For the new math resource — which will be used for the district’s Algebra 1, Geometry and Algebra 2 courses — a high school math pilot committee vetted products, ensuring they aligned with state standards and the College Board’s Pre-AP framework and provided differentiated and bilingual resources for students, a district memo said.
After narrowing the options, the resource was piloted in classrooms and evaluated, per the district memo. The resource from Savvas enVision was recommended by 14 out of 18 survey respondents.
The purchase of the new materials — set to come in at just under $350,000 — was approved by the district’s school board at its regular meeting on Monday.
Also under consideration at East Aurora School District are two new courses: a middle school Spanish language arts class set to be piloted next year, and a new advanced welding course for high school students. Both were discussed at the East Aurora school board’s Curriculum Committee meeting on Monday.
For the middle school Spanish language arts pilot, Marisol Flores, a language acquisition coordinator at East Aurora, explained at the meeting that the majority of fifth-graders are coming from the district’s dual language program, and will thus have the opportunity to take this course to “continue their biliteracy” into middle school. Students who are eligible for full-time Transitional Bilingual Education, or TBE, services in middle school will also be served through this course.
The course is intended to increase Spanish proficiency by combining world language standards and Spanish language arts standards, according to Anne Castellanos, the district’s world language coordinator. She noted that, through the course, students will learn grammar and culture as well as reading, writing, listening and speaking, while also gaining literacy skills like word recognition, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
This, then, aims to prepare students for future high school courses, according to Castellanos.
So, the district looked at the curriculum, and is now recommending the purchase of a resource for the new course — Anecdotas from One Way Education. District staff said at the meeting that current teachers have been provided with physical copies and online access so they can familiarize themselves with the new materials.
The district is also looking to add a new course for high school students: Welding III.
At Monday’s Curriculum Committee meeting, East Aurora High School Principal Jennifer Mitchell explained that this new course is meant to help further establish a career pathway in welding.
The class would enable students to gain specialized skills needed for employment after graduation or for further post-secondary training, a memo from the district said, and would also provide students with opportunities to teach other students in the district’s introductory welding course.
East Aurora High School Assistant Principal Jackie Stone said that the district has had a strong welding program for the past few years, and indicated that the new course would not require additional space or staff.
It would be a yearlong course, according to a district presentation, open to students in grades 10, 11 and 12 who have completed Welding I and II. Students who complete the course would earn dual credit through Waubonsee Community College.
The proposed new welding course is set to come for final approval at the school board’s May 4 meeting.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
