New teachers will help create new curriculum developed around an elective ‘wheel’

Published in the January 6 – 19, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Staff Report

The Morgan Hill Unified School District announced its “inaugural team” of 6th-grade teachers making the move to middle school in the 2016-2017 school year.

Britton Middle School teachers are Tirina Barnes, Valerie Brown, Jewel Knofler, Melissa Moralez, Kelly Parker, Kerry Richards and Nathan Winchell.
Martin Murphy Middle School are Roya Gillani, Kelly Herrell, Michelle Kopari, David Martinez and DarrenMcDonald.

At the Aug. 4 board meeting, the board of trustees approved grade level configurations to be implemented for the 2016-2017 school year.

Prior to the decision, 18 community forums were held and advice from the curriculum council, parents and teachers was given to design the new program. The work looked at what the day will look like for 6th graders and the number of teachers a student will have during the day.

“These teachers exhibit a pioneer spirit in their enthusiasm to plan, collaborate, and create a model middle school program,” said Superintendent Steve Betando. “This spring they will begin working with their new administrators and site teams at their new schools. We are exceptionally proud of all of our teachers and principals who are willing to take on this new endeavor.”

These educators will also help to create new curriculum developed around an elective “wheel,” according to the MHUSD. This structure will allow a greater variety of elective choices for 6th-grade students at the middle schools. New Physical Education/Wellness classes will incorporate social emotional support related to the transition from elementary to secondary school to help students make the transition as seamless as possible.

Along with an elective wheel and new Physical Education/Wellness classes, math will also get an upgrade with new core curriculum aligned all the way through high school. Science is going deeper with Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) emphasizing science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts that students should master in preparation for college and careers.

All grade levels will be continuing study for a new ELA/ELD (English Language Arts/ English Language Development) adoption slated for pilots next year.

“We are excited to have so many of our education experts volunteer for the transition and bring their excitement about the new configuration and the curriculum specialization opportunities that it presents,” Betando said. “By identifying the teacher teams now, we are better able to foster teamwork, alignment, and early collaboration to make the program that much better. Teachers will begin meeting and collaborating after the holidays and will be receiving curriculum development support as we move along this process.”

Early next year as school district monitors enrollment numbers, it will fill remaining teacher spots on the 6th-grade teams to complete the process.

The second group of teachers that will be joining the teams will be in place early enough in the year to also participate in the collaboration process.