Cambridge City Council Unanimously Passes $268 Million Cambridge Public Schools Budget for Fiscal Year 2025
Includes Historical $1 Million Investment in Aligned Elementary Literacy Curriculum
Cambridge Public Schools (CPS) is delighted to announce that next school year,
for the first time ever, CPS will implement an aligned literacy curriculum in all of its 12 elementary schools from first to fifth grade. This investment marks a critical step towards closing the persistent gaps in reading outcomes that exist between student demographic groups, and reinforces the district’s commitment to providing a top tier educational experience to all. The Cambridge City Council unanimously approved the district’s $268 million budget on May 8, 2024.
“We are incredibly excited about the implementation of the new, aligned literacy curriculum for our elementary students,” said Superintendent Victoria L. Greer. “A research-based, robust curriculum will have a significant impact, challenging our students and supporting each of them while ensuring that they gain the knowledge and skills needed to support their growth and learning.
After a thorough selection process involving a cross-section of educators, instructional coaches, administrators and interdisciplinary leaders, CPS chose to adopt the
Amplify CKLA (2nd Edition) curriculum. Amplify CKLA is a top-rated, knowledge-building curriculum that is explicitly and systematically designed around the science of reading and writing. Units are engaging, rigorous and research-based, building a wealth of interdisciplinary knowledge and vocabulary to support students’ long-term success - in literacy and across content areas.
“We are confident that this curriculum adoption will support all CPS scholars in meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations,” said Emily Bryan, Director of ELA/Literacy. “The curriculum provides the tools and resources needed to empower each of our scholars to be independent, creative, and critically-conscious readers, writers, speakers, and learners, especially for those who are furthest from justice. Prior to launching the curriculum in September, the ELA Department will continue to work alongside literacy coaches, educators and interdisciplinary leaders to design professional learning opportunities, and to align the content of the curriculum to CPS instructional minutes, program models, and expectations for culturally and linguistically sustaining instruction.”
In addition to the robust implementation of the new curriculum, beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, CPS will embed an additional 30 minutes of learning time into the school day for all of the district’s elementary and middle schools.