LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – The Lafayette Parish School System is making a nearly $4 million investment into elementary and middle schools in the district.

From Alice Boucher to Woodvale and every elementary school in between, campuses will be getting all new textbooks and workbooks for their English curriculum this upcoming school year.

The upgrade puts a top tier program in our schools. 

After three years of the Journeys curriculum, the LPSS will be moving elementary students from a tier three to a tier one Core Knowledge Language Arts program.

The board voted unanimously passing a motion for nearly $4 million of general fund money to pay for the curriculum.

 “We had the opportunity to move into a CKLA and a Guidebook tier one curriculum to give more rigorous and aligned instruction to our students,“ Irma Trosclair, LPSS Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, said.

Trosclair says even with the upgrades, classroom success isn’t guaranteed, it’s a three-part process.

“You have the high-quality curriculum, then you have to have high-quality teaching, and that comes as a result of high-quality professional development,“ she explained.

Principal Stephanie Robin at S.J. Montgomery is excited to implement the new curriculum at her school.

So much so, she, along with her administrative team, wrote a letter to their board member asking to approve CKLA.

 “It’s very important that all students across our district have the opportunity to participate in a curriculum that is approved by the state of Louisiana as a tier one curriculum,“ the principal said.

J.W. Faulk, Carencro Heights, and Alice Boucher Elementary already have the CKLA curriculum.

The remaining 22 elementary schools will join the club, including Baranco and Billeaud.

Trosclair says the district is currently working on getting the curriculum in the hands of teachers prior to the start of next school year.