Roundtable discussion highlights county’s new curricula

BROWNSVILLE, Tenn. — A group of teachers, parents and state officials gathered at Haywood Elementary School for a roundtable discussion about the county’s new curricula.

Recently, Haywood County Schools implemented a new English Language Arts curriculum for kindergarten through second grade.

The program provides teachers with instructional materials, which are standardized across the county.

“They used to spend hours planning, now they’re not. They used to not be able to collaborate, now they can,” LearnZillion customer success manager Kathren Montani said.

“We’re seeing major growth in the district. We’re seeing equitable opportunities for all students, and we’re seeing teachers who can really focus on the most important things and why they got into the profession,” said Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn.

This is part of a campaign by the Knowledge Matters group, who advocates for a general knowledge based teaching rather than a narrow focus on aspects, like reading or writing.

Schwinn says the current administration is looking around the state to find programs they might be able to implement statewide.

“We’ve got a big literacy bill that will be moving forward, that focuses on high quality materials for every child, making sure every teacher is prepared and making sure we support implementation,” Schwinn said.

Teachers at county schools said the program has allowed them to refocus their teaching efforts.

“We’re able to not focus so much on what we’re doing, but we’re able to look into how we’re doing what we really need to do,” said Haywood Middle School assistant principal Nichole Johnson.

The school liked the new curriculum so much that they expanded it to third grade last year, and they do not plan on stopping.

The Knowledge Matters campaign will make a stop in Haywood County, as well as Putnam and Sumner Counties in Middle Tennessee.