Cloverdale board approves ELA, social studies textbooks

CLOVERDALE — Textbooks still remain integral to the curriculum at Cloverdale Schools. However, online content has become more of a focus as supplements to learning in and out of the classroom.

Curriculum Director Cathy Ames gave a brief update to the Cloverdale School Board Monday evening about where Cloverdale Schools expects to be with its textbook model going forward.

Ames gave overviews of three digital learning platforms which will be used in the social studies curriculum, but could be or already is used in different areas.

Newsela is a platform for online education which provides different texts for use with English language arts, social studies and science. While it will now be used primarily for social studies classes in the primary grades, Newsela can also be a supplement to the other areas.

Savvas Learning Company, formerly known as Pearson K12 Learning, will be used in grades 4-8 for social studies. It is currently used in science curricula but offers content in all three areas.

Meanwhile, McGraw Hill Education supplemental content will be used in social studies learning in grades 9-12.

Ames said that all three programs are intended as part of creating a blended learning environment with physical textbooks. Cloverdale Schools provides one-to-one in which all students have a Chromebook, and these programs can link with Google Classroom.

The board approved purchasing English/language arts textbooks for Cloverdale Elementary School and Cloverdale Middle School, as well as adopting social studies textbooks throughout the corporation.

In other business:

• The board approved receipt of an Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER II) grant of more than $78,000. ESSER II is a secondary stimulus and emergency COVID-19 relief funding stream authorized under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act.

Superintendent Greg Linton said the aim of the fund is to help schools recoup learning opportunities lost due to the pandemic, and to leverage “hard-fought gains” made by teachers and administrators to keep students learning.

• The board approved handbooks for each of Cloverdale’s three schools.

• The board approved extending administrator contracts by one year. Linton emphasized that there would be no changes to salaries or benefits.

• The board approved establishing an after-school tutoring program at Cloverdale Elementary School and Cloverdale Middle School for the 2021-22 school year. Linton said the program would be covered by the ESSER II grant.

• The board approved continuing a summer food service program. Linton said the program would be for Cloverdale students only, and that the corporation would be reimbursed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Students and their families will be able to pick up a week’s worth of food on June 9, June 16, June 23, June 30, July 14, July 21 and July 28.

The board also recognized Cloverdale Schools’ Students of the Month:

• Cloverdale Elementary School: Kinley Fidler

• Cloverdale Middle School: Colby Sinclair

• Cloverdale High School: Kiara Boyd

The board also approved the following personnel report:

• Resignations: Cindy Pettit - CES/CMS cafeteria; and Kathy Salter - CMS instructional assistant;

• Employment: Brandy Anderson - corporation deputy treasurer (part time); Morgan Barley - CES developmental preschool teacher; Dana Lorenze and Karl Turk - CHS summer school teachers; Holly Ford and Debbie Atwood - summer bus cleaning (part time); Linda Collins and Mandy Cross - summer painting; and Robin Hallam and Brenda Mowery - summer custodial cleaning (part time);

• Retirements: Doug Wokoun - CHS language arts teacher; and Jami Sipe - CHS Spanish teacher.

• Coaching:

— Resignations: Andy Tyler - varsity cross country coach; and Chris Kaufman - CHS head wrestling coach;

— Employment: John Cartmell - CMS head football coach.

Along with Linton, the entire board was present for the meeting. After the regular meeting’s conclusion, the board went into executive session.

The next regular meeting of the Cloverdale School Board is scheduled for Monday, June 14 at 7 p.m. in the Cloverdale Middle School Media Center.