Kinnelon staff preview five‑year strategic plan and new curriculum, unveil parent portal and device rollout

David Mango, superintendent of the Kinnelon School District, and district curriculum staff laid out academic and technology changes the district plans to implement over the next five years, including a new K–5 ELA adoption, expanded early literacy screening and a July 1 launch of a new student information system with a parent portal.

Mango said the district will present a strategic action plan covering 2024–2029 to the board next week, calling it “the strategic plan action plan, which is a 5 year plan.” The plan, he said, synthesizes work from multiple forums and will guide priorities such as early childhood, curriculum alignment and course expansion.

Mrs. Thomas, director of curriculum and instruction, described a slate of curriculum moves at the elementary level. “We have selected a program. It’s called Into Reading,” she said, identifying Houghton Mifflin as the vendor and adding that teachers examined samples and will receive training when materials arrive later this year. Thomas also said the district will use DIBELS as a benchmark and early dyslexia screener for all second graders and will introduce the ESI kindergarten screener to inform class placement.

The district plans to reduce a heavily spiraled math approach at K–5 in favor of focused foundational skill instruction and to expand enrichment opportunities after successful pilots at Stony Brook and Keele, Thomas said. She also announced world‑language instruction will expand to K–2 next year, with Spanish in grades 3–4 and French in grade 5.

Technology and communications were addressed by Mrs. Trombetta, the district’s director of education and platforms (effective July 1). Trombetta said the district launched a new website platform two weeks earlier (noted in the presentation as “Bridal Site”) with a consolidated, filterable calendar and per‑school Google Calendar sync. She also described a ‘Cult Connect’ dashboard to track district goals and said the student information system is migrating from Encore to Real Time with a planned July 1 rollout. “When that takes place, you will receive a hard copy mailed home with the parent portal information,” Trombetta said, adding that a phone app and portal will let families see attendance, grades and correspondence.

Trombetta outlined device changes: the district is phasing in touchscreen Acer devices for grades that previously used PRM Chromebooks and will cycle older devices down to younger grades. She said an Acer student‑repair program will be offered as an elective and about 30 high‑school students have expressed interest.

Why it matters: the moves combine curriculum changes (new ELA resources and literacy screening), scheduling and course changes intended to strengthen foundational skills with technology upgrades meant to centralize family access to schedules, grades and communications. Parents will receive paper schedule copies during the transition to the new SIS, the district said.

District officials said many details remain subject to board approval and implementation planning; Mango noted the action plan will be presented at the upcoming May public meeting and curriculum revisions will be posted online after board approval.