Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum at East EPO

  • The EPO ensures major curriculum work ranging from adoption and adaptation to creation of original curriculum in all subject areas and the East faculty has been engaged in extensive curriculum writing and revision since the summer of 2015. During this time, all East teachers have been trained in the Understanding by Design (UbD) model and have developed curriculum for every content area and every course offered as part of East’s academic program, with more in development for new courses being offered in 2023-2024.

    Our course catalog continues to be adjusted based on student interests, needs, and to increase access to diverse opportunities for our scholars, and new curriculum continues to be written accordingly each year.  In some cases, curriculum has been through several iterations as new learning and capacity building has occurred and as curriculum writers have continuously adapted and revised curriculum in both minor and major ways based on experience and reflections from enacting the curriculum as well as the changing tides of new learning standards and developments in the field.  As McTighe shares, “Regular reviews of curriculum against design standards enhance curricular quality, leading to deeper learning.  Concomitant reviews of student work in professional learning communities inform needed adjustments to curriculum and instruction so that students learning is maximized.” (McTighe, 2020)  We are proud of this continuous movement between the written curriculum and the enacted curriculum and our ongoing revisions as we work toward a version of our curriculum that is tightly aligned with our mission and challenging standards, that yields success for all of our scholars both in high school and beyond, and that can be shared more widely to support the success of educators and scholars beyond the walls of East.

    Our long-term goal is a guaranteed and viable curriculum that is written, enacted, learned, and supported across all content areas and that has been refined and adapted to meet our highest standards for quality and inclusivity, including 

    • the prevalence of best practices; 
    • vertical alignment toward transfer goals that intentionally and successfully prepare scholars to be independent thinkers in college, career and life; and
    • opportunities for all scholars to see themselves and have a voice in the curriculum. 

    We are well on our way to having a fully-developed version of our curriculum yielding success for all scholars at East and that can be shared more widely to support the success of educators and scholars beyond. We also continue to examine the inclusivity of our units and make revisions to ensure that each unit is aligned with our original vision of cultural relevance and responsiveness as well as our evolving understanding of culturally sustaining education.  Additionally, we will continue to consider ways in which to further invite our scholars and parents into curriculum conversations and leverage their insights and understandings in elevating our curriculum. 

    Please find below our Academic Handbook for the 2023-2024 school year and Course Overviews available through the menu of links to the left.