Dozens of Penfield Central School District educators took time from their summer vacation to return to the classroom for curriculum writing and professional development, all in an effort to prepare for the upcoming school year.

The sessions were led by a team of curriculum integration Teacher on Special Assignments (TOSAs), including Samantha Yelle, K-5 Humanities Curriculum Integration Specialist; Sara Panebianco, K-5 Humanities Curriculum Integration Specialist; Mary Callahan, K-12 Curriculum Integration Specialist; Dr. Quiana Joseph-Muhammad, K-12 Curriculum Integration Specialist; and Kumba Sankoh, Director of Curriculum and Student Supports.

At the K-2 grade level, teachers from across the District attended sessions focused on the Superkids Program or Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), which is being piloted this year. Both programs are focused on literacy and English Language Arts.

A full-day training introduced teachers to the components of the CKLA program, the research behind the curriculum, and the resources that will be available throughout the pilot phrase.

Teachers also attended a two-hour training that shared updates and changes from the 2017 version of Superkids to the 2026 version to help prepare them for the year. 

“At these trainings teachers are showing their commitment to implementing a program that is grounded in the science of reading to best support student learning,” said Yelle.

For grades 3 through 5, 12 teachers worked on curriculum updates, including revising components of 95 Percent Core Phonics and creating additional resources for Tier 2 instruction. Each grade level integrated two texts from Dr. Gholdy Muhammad's Genius and Joy into their units and strengthened comprehension and priority standard resources. They also updated the 2026-27 pacing guide.

“It is very beneficial to have teachers come together from different schools. Teachers are able to share their thoughts on how the past year went and where adjustments can be made to support instruction in the upcoming school year,” Yelle added. “Additionally, teachers have an opportunity to share resources and strategies to support instruction across the grade level. It is always inspiring to see how invested teachers are in implementing a strong curriculum for all students.”

Twenty-five middle and high school teachers also engaged in revising or creating units using the Understanding by Design (UbD) model as part of their ELA Curriculum Review Cycle work. UbD prompts educators to first identify student outcomes or desired learning. Then, teachers work backwards to plan activities, materials, and assessments that help align instruction and learning of the desired outcomes. 

Teachers worked to anchor their UbD units to the NYS Next Generation ELA Standards (with an intentional focus on priority standards), the NYS Portrait of a Graduate, and Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s Five Pursuits. They also updated common formative and summative assessments that they will use to monitor and reflect as a team on student progress.  

“This will allow teachers to engage in real-time, collective responsiveness to student strengths and areas of need, as well as to reflect on the effectiveness of the new UbDs and make any necessary adjustments,” Callahan explained. 

Callahan said the sessions also created opportunities to begin to examine vertical alignment across grade levels to ensure an increasingly sophisticated demonstration of ELA skills and understandings of humanities-related themes/concepts.  

“As facilitators, we found this time with teachers to be incredibly beneficial and a unique opportunity for in-depth collaboration. It felt like a mini-retreat, where we got to know each other better and engage in meaningful dialogue to conscientiously complete the tasks,” said Callahan. “This work sometimes requires teams to sort through some tough questions to bring all the moving parts together, but the mutual commitment to building upon best practices and strengthening the units yielded fruitful results.”

She said that teacher feedback was highly positive, as well; in a feedback survey, teachers described the curriculum writing sessions as productive, collaborative, and impactful.

“They appreciated having the time to really dig in and work through the complexities together, and they are looking forward to future opportunities to further shape the curriculum,” she said.