After almost four years of observation, selection, review and implementation, the school department has selected a new elementary literacy curriculum. At the Feb. 3 School Committee meeting, Carmen Williams, assistant superintendent for instruction and innovation, and Director of Literacy Lisa Messina announced that ARC Core will be taught in all classrooms at the five schools by next fall.
There were two guiding principles across the selection process, Messina said: Finding a comprehensive, culturally responsive program offering high literacy levels for all students, and streamlining resources for more coherent instruction.
Messina said the integrated phonics component of ARC Core was key. Although each of the pilot programs offered many benefits for learning, integrating phonics rather than teaching it separately, as has been done in Needham for several years, was a more comprehensive and streamlined approach.
Williams began her presentation by praising the School Committee. “You all made a significant commitment to equity through policy,” she said. “A lot of people talk the talk but they don’t always walk the walk. You all have walked with us on this journey of literacy. You’ve been in our classrooms, you’ve interviewed our teachers, you’ve talked to our students, you’ve looked at materials, you have been committed and you’ve asked us really hard questions — and you’ve held us accountable as you should. You create the conditions for us to do this amazing work.”
She also highlighted the value of the “Portrait of a Needham Graduate.”
“Dr. Gutekanst has set a clear vision for equity … and is not relenting even though this is a political mess. There are states where equity is not welcome, and he stands strong in that.”
The process, she said, was unlike any other they’ve done in the past. “We completely created an equity-based process that was about inclusion, voice, data.”
Messina began by looking at 20 programs and selecting 12 to bring to elementary teachers and coaches. Of those 12, teachers selected six to pilot in the first year. In May, ARC Core, Collaborative Classroom and Fishtank moved to the next round. This year, teachers were all asked to select one of the three to pilot in order to make the final selection.
“We made a really strong decision to make sure that we had programs in our classrooms that we were confident would meet our needs and take us forward,” said Williams. “And we didn’t want to invest in programs any longer that we were not moving forward.”
This is why, in December, it was decided that Fishtank would no longer be considered. She said they were still very glad they piloted it because the lessons they learned were relevant to the final decision.
“We learned a lot by engaging in the practices and really thinking about a knowledge-building curriculum while keeping a separate phonics-building program,” Messina said. “It just lacked in some areas that were essential to us, like the writing.”
She said one of the most important things they learned was that keeping phonics separate made it challenging to integrate the different practices. She also said she is glad they did not rush the process. “I think had we (rushed), we would have Fishtank as our program because it was very promising and accessible. And I think in the end, we’ve really landed in a great spot for Needham, but it took a lot.”
With ARC and Collaborative Classroom remaining as 2026 began, the literacy team put the programs under a microscope to evaluate their qualities based on Needham’s goals of maintaining areas of strength and disrupting educational inequities. “And when we asked ourselves that question,” said Messina, “ARC is the most promising program for the Needham Public Schools at this time.”
Elements that made ARC stand out in a close contest were the integration of reading, writing, phonics and content, or knowledge building. It has four units, each with clearly stated learning goals. “It just really brings the coherence front and center for teachers and students,” said Messina. She said it also offers greater opportunities for alignment with social studies and science, a strong and thorough assessment system that gives teachers clear next steps for each student, and balances knowledge-building with independent reading based on student choice.
“We think this is really going to help us move the needle on how a day is shaped in the elementary world,” said Messina. “(It) hits all the goals we have here in Needham for literacy.”
Messina said she did not want to make a decision until she had seen the potential “winner” implemented in classrooms that were further along in adoption of the curriculum. So on Jan. 22, she and 17 Needham staff members spent the day in one of the town of Reading’s elementary schools. The district is four years into teaching ARC. The team was granted full access to classrooms and opportunities to speak openly with teachers and students.
“Student engagement has been huge in their district,” she said. “What kindergartners were able to do in the fourth year of ARC was pretty incredible.”
Meredith Friend, a first-grade teacher at Broadmeadow who has been in the district for 18 years and whose children attend Mitchell school, testified to her own experience piloting ARC. She said the hands-on materials, the diverse and relatable books, and the opportunities for young students to feel a sense of ownership were a few of the things that drew her to the program.
“That has felt like a huge part of the engagement piece that my first graders have really been able to get excited about: ownership of materials,” she said. “That first-grade mode of ‘It’s mine now,’ versus centers and exploration.” She also said the phonics component really hooked them. “They were able to see themselves as readers and writers and not just the practice of a skill and a concept, master it and move on.”
Like Needham, Reading transitioned from the combination of FUNdations, Units of Study and Heggerty. The district also uses Illustrative Math and DIBELS as a screener.
Messina and Williams both stressed that the critical next steps will be bringing teachers and coaches up to speed and feeling confident with the new curriculum and materials. “We need to continue to devote time and resources to supporting the implementation of this tool,” said Messina. “Programs don’t teach kids, teachers do with these tools. We must continue to strengthen our multi-tiered system of support to make sure ARC is the foundation for the whole ecosystem working together to meet the needs of all students. We have to continue to invest in resources to strengthen our Tier II and Tier III interventions. But this is a huge step.”
“Today we celebrate a huge closing to our pilot process,” she said. “Now we continue into the second phase of the work of really developing deep understanding of this program, committing to data practices to ensure that we are making significant growth and progress for our underserved students, and trying to figure out how to have fun doing it.”
During public comment, three members of the Needham Literacy Coalition made brief comments to thank teachers, staff, school committee members and administrators for their work. Coalition members were very vocal throughout the curriculum-selection process and especially during the pilot, putting pressure on the district to abandon the existing curriculum and replace it before completing its review.
“We wish to express our sincere appreciation to the district leadership, Needham public school staff, members of school committee for your dedication to ensuring that all students in grades K-5 receive instruction through a research-backed literacy curriculum and we commend your thoughtful leadership, diligent efforts and steadfast commitment to advancing literacy outcomes and supporting the academic success of every student,” read Melissa Rotman on behalf of the coalition. “Thank you so much.”
The announcement of the new literacy curriculum comes just days after the state Senate passed legislation to create a new statewide standard requiring districts to use evidence-based curriculum to teach reading and literacy to students from kindergarten to third grade. Needham was ahead of the curve, and is 100% in compliance.
Williams said she is so grateful the district took the initiative in 2022 to do its own research and collect its own data and “didn’t wait for a mandate to do what’s best for our kids. I think that’s an important message.”
She reiterated that the fertile environment enabled them to be successful. “I don’t take for granted that we were set up to succeed,” she said. “Our students will win again because everyone worked together.”
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