Beachwood Schools Adopts New PreK-5 Literacy Curriculum

Beachwood Schools is adopting Benchmark Advance and Ready to Advance for preschool through fifth grade to align with Ohio’s science of reading standards. The Beachwood Board of Education approved the curriculum after a thorough review by a team of teachers and administrators.

The new curriculum is designed to help all students build strong reading and writing skills through systematic, research- based instruction.

“What attracted us to this program are the high-quality texts it provides for students,” says Dr. Linda LoGalbo, director of curriculum and instruction. “The texts are culturally affirming, engaging, and developmentally appropriate. We wanted to ensure students see themselves reflected in the literature they read.”

State guidelines require districts to choose from an approved list of literacy programs. Benchmark Advance will be used in kindergarten through fifth grade, while Ready to Advance will support preschool students. A key advantage, according to Dr. LoGalbo, is that the built-in assessments closely align with Ohio’s state tests and enable teachers to monitor students’ progress and provide targeted support.

The new curriculum will complement Beachwood’s existing Fundations phonics program. Lessons will focus on phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing. Multimodal and multisensory tools will help teachers tailor instruction to different learning styles, while resources for English learners and paired audiobooks will support emerging readers and students with reading challenges like dyslexia. Teachers will begin working with the new materials this school year, with full implementation planned for 2025-26.

“Our staff is excited about these new resources,” says Dr. LoGalbo. “At the end of the day, these are just tools. Our Beachwood curriculum is grounded in the work we do as educators.”