The Oyster Bay-East Norwich Board of Education said at its Feb. 4 meeting that the district has begun to implement changes to its literacy and grammar standards.
Theodore Roosevelt School principal Devra Small said the new curriculum is currently taught in the school’s kindergarten and first-grade classrooms, and it will be rolled out in the second through fifth grades in the future.
James H. Vernon School principal Anastasia Smith said the school offers literacy programs for additional help to third through fifth-grade students.
Small said the elementary students have improved in areas the district has focused on recently, like phonemics.
“The work we’re doing is paying off,” Small said.
Small said the district created a committee of teachers spanning different grade levels and subject areas last spring. She said the group honed in on areas for improvement and used the organization Literacy Matters to address them.
Small said the committee established month-by-month plans for each grade level and established grammar standards that comply with the state’s expectations of the organization.
Small said the kindergarten and first-grade classes began the curriculum this year.
The second and third grades are expected to start theirs next year, and by the 2027-2028 school year, the fourth and fifth grades will implement a total of four units of new curriculum as well. Smith said the curriculum will eventually be expanded to the sixth grade as well.
“We wanted every grade to have access to professional development and the best of reading practices,” Small said.
She said while the plan begins with the school’s youngest students, yearly adjustments will be made to every grade level as needed while the new standards are rolled out.
Smith said there are current programs implemented for Vernon students to enhance their literacy skills this year. The “Fundations” program is for third graders, and the “Just Words” program supports fourth through sixth grade students.
Smith said the programs focus on “phonics, fluency, vocabulary, handwriting, and spelling—all essential skills for building a strong foundation in reading and writing.”
Small said Roosevelt School’s reading data has improved in recent years.
Small said according to the school’s iReady Reading Data, in the fall of 2023, 16% of students showed literacy below their grade level, while in the fall of 2024, that percentage decreased to 12%.
The number of students reading at or above their reading level increased, rising from 23% in the fall of 2023 to 33% in the fall of 2024, she said.
In addition to revising the elementary schools’ literacy curriculum, the schools have expanded learning opportunities and community outreach.
Smith said Vernon’s sixth-grade students have shown improvement in the state math assessment, with 29% of last year’s students scoring a Level 4, the highest level.
Additionally, the principals said the schools have expanded community programming with parent workshops, student showcases and student-led food and clothing drives.
Students have completed “project-based learning” at both Roosevelt and Vernon, they said.
Small and Smith said the schools have benefited from the district’s recent improvement bond. The new learning spaces “enhance the student learning experience,” Small said.
Superintendent Francesco Ianni said the bond’s next construction project at Vernon, which includes a new athletic center, is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Read More: Oyster Bay schools talk regionalization, bond updates
