Curriculum & Instruction
Welcome
Dr. Christina Torres
Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction
Mt. Pleasant Cottage School UFSD
1075 Broadway, Pleasantville, N.Y. 10570
ctorres@mpcsny.org
(914) 769-0456
The district understands the importance of a rigorous curriculum and that our high needs students require a wide range of curricular options.
Our elementary unit offers intense phonetic instruction through programs like Orton Gillingham, iLit, and Successmaker. Each allows us to track progress and identify areas of deficit through data. We also value ways to embed whole-child approaches directly into instruction. Our related service providers are trained in Orton practices in order to directly support academic strategies in session. Also, we work with a cross-curricular, theme-based model that allows for the reiteration of concepts through the various content areas.
Our middle and high school curricula focus intently on differentiated instruction and use assessment aligned directly with state standards and assessments. We offer a host of curricula that target life, work, and transition skills for our alternately assessed population, including Attainment, Unique, and the use of communication symbols when necessary.
Our goal with curriculum is to ensure every student gets the exposure and opportunity to practice the essential skills to transition successfully to post-secondary education, training, or employment.
Welcome to the Mount Pleasant Cottage School UFSD curriculum page. On our district website under the heading of “Atlas Login” you will find a curriculum map of all subjects grades K-12.
A curriculum map is a tool for organizing what the Mount Pleasant Cottage School UFSD expects students to know and be able to do in each subject each year. The map (created by Rubicon Atlas) lists the main topics, essential questions, content, and skills for each subject at each grade level. As you can imagine, a two-dimensional map cannot capture the rich, multi-dimensional curriculum we teach. We are also committed to having our students engage in active learning through field trips, virtual field trips and guest speakers.
Not only do we have a consistent essential district curriculum that is aligned with New York State Standards and Common Core Learning Standards, but in addition, our teachers differentiate curriculum and instruction and make adjustments based on student needs. Our teachers collaborate weekly in multi-disciplinary Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to develop different and multiple ways to integrate their curriculum. Note, too, that some content extends beyond one year, as many concepts and skills need to be reinforced and practiced continually in a spiraled approach.
Our curriculum maps and lesson plans are collaboratively created by our teachers, who spend many hours reaching consensus about the curriculum that is essential for our students to learn. As a result, the content of our maps include and often exceed state standards. We revise our curriculum as appropriate and update our lesson plans and maps. These tools are a springboard for discussion about student learning and teaching practices. Our lesson plans and curriculum maps continue to raise important questions and present answers about teaching and learning as we continually improve our practice.