Kingston School Committee Elects Keith Vice Chair, Adopts New K-5 Reading Curriculum

KINGSTON — June 1, 2026 — Kingston School Committee reorganizes, adopts McGraw-Hill Wonders as new K-5 reading program. The committee unanimously elected Jesse Keith as vice chair and Sheila Vaughn as secretary at its June 1 meeting, completing a reorganization begun at a prior session. Curriculum Director Dr. Clifford announced that the district's teacher-led K-5 curriculum council selected McGraw-Hill Wonders as the new ELA program, to be paired with OG Plus phonics instruction — both partially funded by a PRISM grant with a June 30 expenditure deadline. The middle school will adopt EL Education and the preschool Open Up Resources under the same grant. End-of-year DIBELS early literacy data showed Kingston at 79 percent of students meeting benchmark, up from 66 percent in the fall, with grades 1 and 2 reaching 83 percent against an 80 percent goal; third grade finished at 72 percent, prompting a summer training plan for all third-grade teachers. STAR reading comprehension scores rose to 60 percent — up from 53 percent in 2024 — against a long-term target of 70 percent, while MCAS reading stood at 46 percent last year.