Superintendent’s Message

Superintendent Meghan K. Dunn
mdunn6@schools.nyc.gov

Dear District 13 Community,

Happy New Year! 2024 brings renewed opportunity to strengthen our collaboration across District 13 and launch a new, exciting literacy curriculum. In May 2023, Chancellor Banks announced NYC Reads across New York City Public Schools (NYCPS). NYC Reads tasked Superintendents and school communities to work together to identify an evidenced based literacy curriculum to be implemented in the 2024/2025 school year. The image to the right details our journey as a district over the past six months to choose Expeditionary Learning (EL) as the new literacy curriculum for District 13. You can visit the District 13 website (www.d13brooklyn.com) to view this information more in depth.

There were many steps that led to this decision. District 13 conducted focus groups and surveyed parents, students, teachers and school leaders on styles of learning and what they look for in curricula. The District Team and school leaders visited schools currently implementing different curricula and spoke with leaders and teachers about their experiences. In addition, we invited publishers to present their curricula to the District Team and school leaders, allowing us to review and determine the closest alignment to our shared values and beliefs. We want to thank all the members of the District 13 Community who participated in our curricular selection process. We value your input.

After careful consideration and discussion, District 13 chose Expeditionary Learning as a rich concept based curriculum that will encourage critical thinking and a love of reading and writing. To learn about EL, you can start by accessing a video overview of the curriculum here. Then, you can begin your exploration of EL via a demo of the program here.

Beginning this month, school leaders and teachers will embark on an extensive series of professional learning sessions to develop expertise in Expeditionary Learning supported by both NYCPS and District 13. The District 13 Team will be working with school leaders and teachers to unpack the Expeditionary Learning curriculum in preparation for teaching a unit of EL in the Spring Semester, launching the full curriculum starting in September 2024.

Our goal is to foster proficiency and a love of reading and writing in all District 13 students giving them every opportunity for future success.

In partnership,

Meghan Dunn

Superintendent Community School District 13

New York City Public Schools