Eureka Math

August 25, 2014

Dear Highline families,

 

As many of you know, Highline Academy has been looking to make a switch in math curriculum . While Saxon had positives, it did not have the rigor our students deserve, nor was it aligned to the Common Core. I am excited to announce that the elementary staff has chosen a new curriculum, one that is fully aligned to the Common Core. This curriculum is Eureka math and is the best fit for our students because it is designed to develop real world application and problem solving mathematical skills in all students. Throughout this year, and in the years to come, you should see your student developing not only number sense but becoming independent problem solvers.

Eureka focuses on a different skill set than Saxon. As a result, we deemed it necessary to give all of our elementary students a pre-assessment to ensure that students were placed in a class best suited to challenge and close gaps that may exist. Gaps may exist based on the transition to a new curriculum built off of more rigorous standards. We used a diagnostic, i-Ready, to create our math performance groups this year. The i-Ready pre-assessment gives us a snapshot of how students perform on grade-level Common Core related skills. We have attached your student’s i-Ready data for you to review.  Our goal is, as it always has been, to ensure that we are meeting the need of and challenging all students. Through using both Eureka and i-Ready, we are confident that we will be able to grow a mathematician in all of our students.

Eureka will look very different than Saxon did. For example,students will be using workbooks and will no longer have text books. Additionally, some of the problem solving strategies may be new to both you and your student. Because of this, we have planned several parent information nights throughout the year; we hope you will be able to join us on September 18th from 6-7pm to learn what Eureka looks like in your child’s classroom.

 

Finally, as we make this transition, I welcome your feedback and look forward to partnering with you in developing a math program that meets the needs of all of our students.

 

Your partner in education,

 

Kali Garofoli

Principal

Highline Academy Charter School