Natomas Unified approves funding for new science curriculum
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The Natomas Unified School District voted 5-0 on April 6 in favor of adopting a new science curriculum for grades K-12 which will be used for the next eight years.
The whole process of choosing a new curriculum began in the fall of 2019, but the process was paused as a result of school closures due to COVID-19. The process of deciding a new curriculum continued in May of 2021 as schools began to reopen.
Some of the requirements the district had for the new curriculum is that it showcased real-life, natural occurrences, it was hands-on and engaging and it was accessible, differentiated and reflective of the district’s diversity.
Around 1,000 students and 40 teachers participated in the pilot of the new science curriculum as well as 118 families who went to meetings relating to the new curriculum and 90 families who provided written feedback about the new science curriculum.
TK-5 students will be served with a curriculum from Twig Science which will cost the district 1,775,000 dollars.
6-8 students will be served with curriculum from TCI which will cost the district a total of 590,000 dollars.
High school physics curriculum will be supplied from STEMScopes, https://stemscopes.com/ which will cost the district 347,000 dollars.
High school biology curriculum will be supplied from Carolina Biological which will cost the district a total of 188,000 dollars and the AP Biology curriculum will be supplied from SAVVAS Learning which will cost the district a total of 22,000 dollars.
High school chemistry curriculum will be supplied from Discovery Education and will cost the district a total of 120,000 dollars and the college prep and advanced chemistry will cost a total of 52,000 dollars.
The district was close between Twig Science and McGraw Hill for elementary curriculum, but chose Twig Science due to a tiebreaker which saw students supporting Twig Science more and Twig Science providing more diversity in the textbook.
An additional 200,000 dollars is to be used for training for teachers with the new curriculum within the next two school years.
All new curriculum which was approved will be in schools by the fall of the 2022-23 school year.
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