Vandalia School Board Hears District Curriculum Updates at Monthly Meeting

Members of the Vandalia School Board got to hear about progress made and updates with curriculum across the district as part of its monthly meeting on Thursday evening. Curriculum Coach Rachel Schaal discussed vertical alignment work with English Language Arts and Math in the district. Schaal gave an overview of how staff has worked together to narrow down standards needed at the various grades in order to have students ready for the next grade level and would have questions that they would be able to ask students to show that those standards have been met at the grade levels. With work ongoing, Schaal says she is looking forward to having data from the vertical alignment work to share with the board next year. Special Education Program Coordinator Keri Buscher updated board members on work that will lead to a five year professional development plan. Buscher said there needs to be a path or plan to meet students needs with her hope to have special education teachers to be specialized in one area such as English 1 or English 2 and so on that would mirror more of how the general education teachers are specialized in classes and areas. Also during her time, Buscher relayed to the board that she had worked with VCHS Principal Randy Protz and they will be looking to bring back Adaptive PE for special education students. Reports on ongoing work with the Elementary and Junior High Schools were also given as part of the curriculum updates. And we will hear about those Monday on Newscenter.