District proposes Project Arrow middle‑school ELA refresh; board asked to consider resource purchases

District curriculum leaders presented a multi‑year revision to middle‑school Project Arrow English Language Arts intended to align advanced ELA coursework with the state’s Illinois Comprehensive Literacy Plan and the district’s CommonLit 360 adoption for standard courses. "We began our pilot 2.0 building on the work of our standard ELA course revision with CommonLit 360," a curriculum lead said.

The proposed materials included leveraging the district’s existing site license for CommonLit 360, adopting three whole‑class novels across grades (The Giver for grade 6, 12 Angry Men for grade 7 and Antigone for grade 8 where appropriate), and adopting a morphology‑based vocabulary series (Vocabulary from Classical Roots) with two bound student books per grade. The team estimated the one‑time cost to purchase class novels and student vocabulary books at about $115,000; a supplemental refresh of book‑club titles for grade 7 was estimated at roughly $18,000.

Teachers who piloted the new units reported positive classroom engagement, and the curriculum team emphasized alignment to vertical pathways (elementary Project Arrow through high‑school advanced coursework) and to in‑district equity goals. "We wanted to incorporate common sixth‑grade experiences," one teacher said, explaining choices to combine CommonLit units with selected whole‑class novels to ease transitions for students entering middle school Project Arrow.

Next steps: course changes and resource lists are open for public comment ahead of a June 8 board vote the district requested; copies of supplemental materials are available at the central office for review.