The Deptford Township School District is looking to make major enhancements to their academic programs, security and more in the new year.
When it comes to promoting and honing academic achievements for students, one of the new things it’s introducing is a new ELA (English Language Arts) curriculum, called the CKLA program which is short for Core Knowledge Language Arts, to grades 3 to 5.
This is already in use for students in kindergarten through the second grade, says Superintendent Kevin Kanauss. It aims for students to build their reading and writing skills alongside history, science, and literature content to help them better understand these concepts.
“We want to increase instructional coaching staff for our teachers,” Kanauss said. “We also want to launch elementary STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) initiatives, strengthen high school academy pathways (including Teacher Academy),
“Expand course offerings at the high school, including AP and college courses,” he added, “Expand social work supports for grades K through 12 and renew Renaissance for assessments and resources for teachers and students for continued assessment-to-instruction alignment.”
For security, the district aims to add security vestibules to both Central Early Childhood Center and Good Intent Elementary School. They also want to install vape detectors at Deptford Middle School and Deptford High School, along with providing security and operations personnel with the tools they need to succeed.
“We aim to create a budget for the 2026-2027 school year that is fiscally responsible for the taxpayers and community,” Kanauss said. “We hope to bring back and repurpose some certificated positions that were trimmed from the current school year budget to assist students and schools.”
The district also hopes to better its communication with the community. They will continue the family forums, which the school board has been doing for the past year now. These forums invite families with students in the district to provide input on a number of topics, such as transportation or school security.
The next one will be scheduled in January and will discuss the potential impacts of new housing developments being constructed.
“We’ll release ‘Board of Education Round-Up’ with information on any open-ended topics or questions presented at the board meeting,” Kanauss said.
“For our facilities, we’ll continue to explore solutions to parking, buses, and parent-drop off at each school.”
