The Verona Area School District (VASD) Board of Education approved Amplify Science as the new K-5 science curriculum during a meeting on Monday, Feb. 23.
According to its website, Amplify Science is a K-8 science curriculum that blends hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities and interactive digital tools to empower students to think, read, write and argue like real scientists. It is currently implemented at the middle school (6-8) level in the VASD.
A team of seven teachers, instructional coaches and leaders in multilingual programming and technology met nine times between September and February to explore different science curricula in response to gaps in student data. For example, fourth grade Forward results showed an overall decrease in science proficiency from the 2023-24 to 2024-25 school year.
Staff responses to a K-5 instructional resource survey identified the following priorities for selecting a new science curriculum:
All resources available in Spanish
Curriculum aligned to the standards
Real life connections to draw on students’ interests
An interaction and explorative instructional design
Disciplinary literacy knowledge and skills
The curriculum team then identified a list of components to analyze six different curricular resources, with the final consensus landing on Amplify Science. Students who piloted the curriculum described it as “fun” and said they “learned a lot.”
Executive Director of Academic Services Amy Engelkins thanked the curriculum team for their dedication and thoughtful approach.
“It’s a blind vote, and yet everybody made the exact same recommendation, which makes it feel like this is a really good fit for our students,” she said.
There will be professional learning days this summer to help K-5 teachers implement the new curriculum. Ongoing support throughout the school year is available through Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and late-start Mondays.