Pascack Valley Schools to Employ Regional Curriculum

Teachers and administrators in the Pascack Valley Regional Curriculum Office have completed a new K-8 social studies curriculum which is set to be implemented in Hillsdale, River Vale, Woodcliff Lake and Montvale schools starting next year, Pascack Valley Regional Schools Superintendent P. Erik Gundersen said Monday.

The new curriculum incorporates material in the new Common Core standards for social studies, and also connects to the new standards for language arts via nonfiction reading assignments, according to Regional Director of Curriculum Barry Bachenheimer.

The curriculum was backwards designed from standardized tests to ensure students know everything they need. It also uses performance assessments to mark students' progress instead of formal tests, he said.

The Regional Curriculum Office was created last year with the goal of better coordinating the curricula and staff development used by the four K-8 sending districts and the high schools.

In addition to the new social studies curriculum, the regional office also set up a new "academy" for teachers and administrators in all the Pascack Valley districts to teach each other about useful techniques and tools, created a mentor program for new teachers and organized cross-district meetings of teachers in the same subjects.

"It was a really successful first year," Bachenheimer said.

The regional office already has plans for next year. In addition to working with the K-8 districts to implement the new social studies curriculum, they will be starting work on a new science curriculum to meet the new standards which are currently in the process of being approved, according to Bachenheimer. 

They also plan to continue the teacher mentor and academy programs, he said. In October, Pascack Valley Regional Schools will be hosting a large teaching workshop. It will be free for teachers in the four sending districts, and they will charge teachers from outside to help recoup some costs.

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