Summit School District officials are in the midst of updating a number of curriculums spanning from preschool to high school as part of its regular curriculum cycle process. 

The current changes, presented during a Feb. 15 board of education meeting, are aimed at ensuring classrooms are meeting both district goals and state education standards. 

According to K-12 Literacy Coordinator Shannon Adam, a review committee is currently looking at updates to preschool math, kindergarten through fifth grade fine arts and kindergarten through 12th grade social studies. Current budget allocations call for roughly $510,000 in spending to cover these curriculum areas. 

At the preschool level, the district is looking to shift to an updated learning program for math. Adam said the move is “following in the footsteps” of new math materials approved for K-5 students last year aimed at better supporting dual-language learners. 

For fine arts courses aimed at kindergarten through fifth grade, Adam said officials are considering ways to bolster funding after a review found that the district is spending $1 to $2 per student on fine arts instruction. 

“With the minimum budgets, (teachers) have found it really hard to upkeep instruments, replace anything that’s broken” and pay for special art supplies such as paints, sketchbooks, glaze and clay, Adam said. 

Social studies updates will be focused on sixth through eighth grade and are aimed at making standards “more student centered and student active,” Adam said. A major push will be expanding dual-language instruction for humanities courses. 

“Currently, we only have dual language humanities at the sixth grade level, but we are building that up to the seventh grade level and then onto eighth grade,” Adam said. 

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Other updates will help ensure the district is in-line with state social studies standards approved by the Colorado Department of Education in 2022 to be implemented by districts by the 2024-25 school year. 

Curriculum adjustments for ninth through 12th grade students at the high school level will be extended into next school year, Adam said, adding that Summit High School administrators wanted more time for a more comprehensive review and update for their curriculum cycle. 

“They’re really prioritizing, ‘How do we get more representation, demographically, in our upper-level classes,'” Adam said. 

That includes reviewing what defines an upper-level class, whether it be a partnered program with Colorado Mountain College, advanced placement class or course offered as part of the International Baccalaureate Programme. 

District leaders said they were glad to see expansion of dual-language opportunities in core courses, something that board members Dr. Gayle Jones Westerberg called it “so much more meaningful” than just being offered in specialized classes. 

Adam said social studies has been “a pretty tricky content area for dual-language,” adding, “What we are finding is there are little vendors right now who are producing dual-language resources and content for social studies.”

“But we are finding some breakthroughs with that,” she continued. 

Board member Julie Shapiro said she remains wholeheartedly supportive of curriculum updates to better align with state standards, in particular for teachings on the Holocaust and other genocides to ensure students are “understanding history.”

Adam said social studies as a curriculum has been more marginalized than others in Colorado but that robust standards and support for teaching is essential “to make more globally aware citizens and students at Summit School District.”

District leaders also signaled that increasing per-student funding for fine arts would need to be a larger discussion, with board member Vanessa Agee questioning if “something has to give if you’re taking away from other things.”

“I think it is something for us to consider at a leadership level all the way around,” Adam responded. “Where can we provide more opportunity in the budget to be more supportive in our arts program and our arts classrooms.”