White Plains teachers sharpen Arts & Letters instruction during Eastview workshop

About 20 teachers spent several days this week strengthening their understanding of the White Plains City School District’s Arts & Letters curriculum during a professional learning workshop organized by the Staff Development Center.

The sessions – led by teachers Karen Cook and Jeannette Castilla at Eastview Middle School – focused on helping educators deepen their understanding of the curriculum’s instructional resources and assessments as they prepare for the 2026-27 school year. 

The district uses the Great Minds Arts & Letters curriculum in its elementary schools, with sixth grade joining the program for the first time this year. Built on the Science of Reading, the curriculum integrates reading, writing, speaking and listening through knowledge-rich modules that connect English Language Arts with subjects such as science, history and the arts.

Thursday’s session centered on assessments and how they inform classroom instruction. Teachers explored how module assessments measure the knowledge and skills students develop throughout each unit while providing educators with valuable feedback to refine their teaching.

“We adopted this curriculum last year for our ELA, for reading and writing, and this course is to just kind of take a deeper look into the resources,” said Aminah Kapadia, a first-grade teacher at Ridgeway School. 

“Some of us used it for a year, while some of my colleagues are going to be using it for the first time this year, so it’s giving them an opportunity to become familiar with the material and plan accordingly,” Ms. Kapadia said. “Since I’ve taught it for a year, I’m looking at it through a different lens because last year I didn’t know what I didn’t know.”

She said the workshop allows teachers to study the curriculum more comprehensively while becoming more efficient in using its instructional tools and embedded assessments.

Each Arts & Letters module includes a series of assessments that help prepare students for an end-of-module performance task, often centered on writing. 

Throughout the workshop, participants examined how those assessments align with classroom instruction and support students’ growth in reading comprehension, vocabulary, critical thinking and writing.

By collaborating with colleagues, analyzing curriculum resources and sharing best practices, teachers left with strategies to make the most of the curriculum’s flexible, knowledge-building approach and help every student succeed throughout the coming school year.