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October 31, 2025
The Sunnyvale School District (SSD) has officially launched a crucial curriculum pilot process for kindergarten through 5th-grade English Language Arts (ELA), English Language Development (ELD), and Spanish Language Arts (SLA). This teacher-driven effort, which started this week, aims to select new, high-quality materials to best support all of Sunnyvale's diverse learners, with a focus on implementing practices based on the Science of Reading.
The goal is to recommend a new curriculum to the Board of Trustees by June 2026 for adoption and implementation in the 2026-2027 school year.
A team of dedicated pilot teachers from across the district is leading this comprehensive review. The process is designed to be thorough and thoughtful, while sticking to a focused timeline:
- Pilot Launch (October 28): Teachers met to establish a shared understanding of effective literacy instruction, including the Science of Reading and ELD best practices. They also reviewed and provided input on the rubric that will be used to evaluate all curriculum options.
- Curriculum Selection (Early November): Pilot teachers will attend a two-day curriculum fair to review materials from 10 publishing companies. Using the agreed-upon rubric, they will narrow the selection down to three curricula for classroom piloting.
- Classroom Pilots (November 2025 – April 2026): Each of the three selected curricula will be implemented in pilot classrooms for approximately six weeks to test their effectiveness with students.
- Feedback and Data Review: The pilot process will incorporate student data (assessments), feedback from students, staff, and educational partners, as well as the pilot teachers' direct experience using the curriculum.
- Parents and Families will have the opportunity to preview the curricula and provide feedback to the pilot team to consider. Dates will be shared in the future.
- Recommendation: The pilot team will deliberate and build consensus to recommend the final ELA, ELD, and SLA curriculum to the Board of Trustees in June 2026.
This work represents a significant commitment from our teachers to ensure equitable and effective instruction for all students, particularly as the district works to address stagnant growth in literacy, especially among English Learners, Hispanic students, and others. We look forward to sharing more updates as we go through this process.