Prior to the opening of the Salisbury Township School Board curriculum and technology meeting Jan. 30 at Harry S Truman Elementary School, students passed out salads with a homemade honey and mustard dressing and water to the attendees as part of a wellness initiative they learned from the Kellyn Foundation.

The Kellyn Foundation focuses on wellness and healthy eating and started the “Eat Real Foods” and “The Classroom as a Garden” programs at HST in 2016.

Through the program, students in elementary school have learned the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, as well as the importance of eating healthy overall.

Fourth grade students at HST helped plant a vegetable garden, learning the importance of planting, harvesting and consuming food in its basic, unprocessed state.

HST Principal Zachary Brem thanked the students, parents, STSD board and the Kellyn Foundation for their interest in helping the students and contributions to the program.

Chef Bill Casaceli from the foundation also thanked HST faculty, students, parents and the STSD board for the opportunity to come to the school district.

In other business, German teachers Karen McGuinness from Salisbury Middle School and Krista Spradlin from Salisbury High School, discussed the importance of an improvement to the outdated textbooks being used in the classrooms.

According to the teachers, the current textbooks are no longer relevant, have been in use for a long period of time and do not teach proper conversational German. The new text and workbooks, written by Ernst Klett Buchverlag, are completely written in German, will work through all levels of the language and encompass the capability of teaching digitally and grading in real-time.

The goal of the teachers through the use of the updated instructional tools presented, is to “immerse” the students in the German language and allow for the students to speak only in German for at least 90 percent of class time.

“There aren’t enough opportunities for speaking and containing the speech, allowing the students to listen to their dialogue,” Spradlin said.

In other business, the handbook for gifted students has been completed, according to Director of Special Education Tracey Jacobi. The project was several years in the making and the work of several different staff members before coming to rest with Jacobi.

In her presentation, Jacobi said the handbook outlines several different tiers of testing for students beginning with students in the elementary level from second grade and following through to the high school.

“The philosophy of gifted education is to enhance the achievement of the gifted learners by identifying their talents and promoting exploration of interests through deeper study.

“The district is going to strive to engage the students in three different ways; self-contained seminars, diversity and richness and in the most natural of settings,” according to Jacobi.

Students who are identified as gifted, through reviews, testing and evaluation and with parental consent and who meet the guidelines of Chapter 16 of the Pennsylvania School Code and require specially designed instruction will receive additional instructional gifted services.

Students at the elementary level receive approximately two hours of gifted services each week.

Middle school students have an opportunity to participate in two gifted seminars per cycle and seventh and eighth grade students identified as gifted will be offered accelerated math classes.

At the high school levels, students recognized as gifted have the opportunity for individualized studies and advanced placement courses.

SHS Assistant Principal Brian Muschlitz presented changes to the curriculum for the 2017-2018 school year.

According to Muschlitz, an advanced placement course will be offered in computer science and honors chemistry and physics courses will be offered for dual enrollment at Seton Hall University. Keystone Exams, continued Muschlitz, will no longer be required for graduation.

Electives including a DIY, 3D printing, advanced computer, web page design, ancient and classical empires, economics, psychology and “Rebels, Robbers and Rogues,” have been added to the curriculum. Students choosing specific electives will have to meet prerequisites to take the courses. Prerequisites are in the studies of photography, music, algebra, biology and English.

More specifically, the music production elective will require a course in beginning piano, allowing students the opportunity to learn how to read music and English ninth and 10th grade classes will require summer reading projects.

Students wishing to enroll in Algebra I will have to attain a score of 70 percent or higher in the Pennsylvania Value Added Assessment System testing at the eighth grade level.

AP Biology students will need to have completed the anatomy and physiology or an honors anatomy course.

Muschlitz said because elective courses are rotated, courses dropped for the 2017-2018 school year will be added into the curriculum for the 2018-2019 school year.

Fuini-Hetten said the district is looking at ways to improve not only student assessment scores but also processes in the classroom. Going forward, the district will continue to examine and extend resources from each building to improve the student’s learning experience.

In order to achieve the success of their students, Brem and Western Salisbury Elementary Principal Grace Hartman said the district reviewed student usage of the calculators being used in the classroom and on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests and determined the calculators in use were not adequate for students in the third and fourth grade and have updated the calculators. The old calculators will be used by first and second grade students.

The CUBES Math Strategy, continued Hartman, is being used by both elementary schools and the middle school and assists students in solving math problems through circling the important numbers in the problem, underlining important words, boxing the math action words, evaluating the steps to take and solving and checking.

The faculty at the elementary schools is also examining several other strategies to allow students to improve scores in math and be more comfortable with testing.

Salisbury Middle School Principal Ken Parliman said he meets with the math department every other Monday to review practices and determine how to help students succeed in math testing and the additional word problems on the new tests. CUBES and Understanding Problem Solving Check are both being utilized at SMS.

UPS Check permits students to work in groups while studying and dissecting the math problem at hand, allowing discussion of the problem and promoting critical thinking.

Fuini-Hetten said she “appreciated the principals’ efforts as instructional leaders in their departments” and their examination of what the district needed to do to improve the opportunities for success for the students.