A closer look at curriculum

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Dr. Michael Curtin, recently hosted a virtual town hall event to share information on each grade level with the school community and to answer any questions.

At the elementary level, the focus is on writing and reasoning when it comes to science.

“This is to help teach them to think like a scientist,” Dr. Curtin said. “The BMPRSS teachers looked at the curriculum in the elementary school and consider how it could be improved.”

The district is planning to introduce science notebooks to the younger students. When doing their science work, students will use the notebooks to ask questions, answer questions and write down what they observe.

At the Middle School, in grades six and seven, students are being introduced to coding. They are learning the basics through a simple block coding program.

“Students are learning a programming language,” Dr. Curtin said, adding that they will then have an opportunity to take more advanced coding classes at the high school level.

At Blind Brook High School, Dr. Curtin said, the focus is on grading and assessments. 

“We are looking at how grades can be construed,” Dr. Curtin said. “What do we believe about grades.”

In addition, Dr. Curtin explained how the district has become a member of the Tri-State Consortium, a group that works with one another to improve the work each does.

Every three years, he explained, a group of teachers is invited to visit another school in the consortium for an in-depth study of how the school functions. Dr. Curtin said he recently had an opportunity to visit the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District for three days and learned how they implement critical thinking skills in their classroom. He said more than 20 Blind Brook teachers have been trained in the program and will begin to visit other school districts in the fall.

Attendees were asked to take a brief, anonymous survey during the event to gain an understanding of how they feel the district is doing and where it can improve. 

Results showed that the community feels the district does a good job at supporting students’ growth mindset and improvements could be made in written and spoken communication. Among the thing attendees felt the most important was developing creative and critical thinkers.

Guests were encouraged to ask questions. Some of the items of parent/guardian interest were knowing how the district was addressing student use of AI, whether or not students still had classes in which they read and discussed a book and if the district will continue to host community forums on other topics.

“We began these [town halls] last year as a way to connect with the community,” Dr. Curtin said. “I do think it’s important.”