Schools

Pacifica School District Takes on Common Core By 'Transforming the Box'

"The adoption of the Common Core State Standards has simply been a positive reinforcement of our direction of educating all our students." — Pacifica School District Superintendent Wendy Tukloff

A message from Wendy Tukloff, Pacifica School District Superintendent:

Pacifica School District has fully embraced the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts and Mathematics.  

California is one of 46 states and the District of Columbia to adopt these standards with the goals of college and career readiness for all students.  Working with a team of experts across the nation, these standards are 1) research and evidence based, 2) aligned with college and work place expectations, 3) rigorous, and 4) internationally benchmarked.  

Find out what's happening in Pacificawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The CCSS expect students to engage deeply in a wide variety of informational and literary texts in ELA/Literacy and to be able to both know and do mathematics by solving a range of problems and engaging in key practices.  When we think of CCSS we think:  Fewer – Fewer standards; Higher – Higher levels of thinking; and Clearer – Clearer understanding of what students need to know and do. 

The CCSS represent a real shift in instructional intent and means profound changes in the way students learn and are assessed, in the way teachers teach, and in the way instructional leaders lead. This shift is in alignment with the District’s Strategic Plan that focuses on 21st Century Education, thus PSD has been making shifts since 2010.  The adoption of the CCSS has simply been a positive reinforcement of our direction of educating all our students. 

Find out what's happening in Pacificawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Professional development will be critical in ensuring support to our teachers and paraprofessionals.  The State has provided CCSS Implementation funding to support professional development, as well as the purchasing of instructional materials and technology over this year and next.  

As shared in last month’s article PSD is fortunate to be a partner in the North County Math Collaborative (NCMC) consisting of Jefferson Elementary, Jefferson Union High School, Brisbane, Bayshore, and Pacifica School Districts who received a Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) Grant for professional development in mathematics lead by the Silicon Valley Math Initiative (SVMI).  Although we have had a relationship with SVMI well over 10 years, we have only had the opportunity for select teachers to participate. This grant will allow for all teachers to participate and to work on the vertical alignment not only within our district but with the neighboring high school district.  

Additionally, we continue our work with Teachers College (TC) on balanced literacy for English Language Arts that has proven to be a strong alignment to the CCSS and the goals.

In closing, we are and will continue to work hard in educating our students. This shift in instruction is an exciting one that no longer asks educators to “think outside the box”; but to meet the needs of our different students living in these changing times to “transform the box!”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here