The Jefferson City School District will have many changes in the 2020-21 school year, including COVID-19-related safety precautions and new curriculum.
JC Schools staff revised the curriculum in 14 secondary classes and added new curriculum for 11 classes for the 2020-21 school year.
The elementary revised courses include Art, Health, Music, Physical Education and School Counseling; the middle school revised courses include Art, Choir, Physical Education and School Counseling; and the high school revised courses include Chorale, Concert Choir, English III, English IV and School Counseling.
The new curriculum for secondary classes includes AP Chemistry, Astronomy I and II, Drawing I and II, Environmental Science, Geoscience, Introduction to Art, Painting I and II and Senior Studio.
These classes have new curriculum so it is consistent for each class no matter whose teaching it. Before, the curriculum was different depending on the teacher, Chief of Learning Shelby Scarbrough said.
"We want to make sure that regardless of the teacher, regardless the building, there's consistency in what you are learning," Scarbrough said.
The curriculum follows a "Rigorous Curriculum Design" model.
"It focuses on taking our standards that we have to make sure our students are learning, as well as adding rigor and relevance pieces and having assessments," Scarbrough said.
Once the curriculum is created, the district purchases resources that align to it.
Scarbrough said she is gathering feedback from staff on what they learned through using Launch, a virtual learning program, during summer school. She plans to use this feedback to determine how to develop the district's own virtual programming and how to use more technology in day-to-day instruction, she said.
To determine re-entry plans, district leaders and building administrators are using the results from surveys sent to families and staff and guidelines from the Cole County Health Department, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, CDC, and Missouri School Board Association.
The district will send the re-entry plans to families and staff Wednesday, Communications Director Ryan Burns said.
District leaders will outline district-wide expectations, and building administrators will execute the plans for their buildings, Scarbrough said.
"We know every building is going to be different," she said.