Every elementary student in Salem-Keizer Public Schools will learn to read from a new curriculum when classes begin in September, the culmination of an $11 million investment that had 330 teachers in training at West Salem High School on Aug. 25.
The district chose HMH Into Reading, a structured literacy program from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt that aligns with the "science of reading" approach. It will replace the current curriculum at all 42 Salem-Keizer elementary schools, Salem Reporter reported.
Students in grades 1-5 start Wednesday, Sept. 9. Kindergartners phase in beginning Monday, Sept. 14, with all kindergarten students attending by Wednesday, Sept. 16.
Why the change
Superintendent Andrea Castañeda has made early literacy a central priority since taking office. The district's strategic plan, "Climbing Together," names third-grade literacy as a board goal and calls for adopting high-quality curricula by 2027.
"We are proposing a series of bold new investments that keep students at the center, alongside significant, unavoidable reductions," Castañeda said when the school board adopted its $1.12 billion budget on June 9.
That budget explicitly funds the literacy push through two channels: the new curriculum materials and professional development, plus "deblending" many kindergarten and first-grade classrooms.
Deblending separates combined K-1 rooms into single-grade classrooms so teachers can focus reading instruction on one developmental stage.
What's different in the classroom
Into Reading uses a structured literacy approach, teaching phonics, decoding and language comprehension in a systematic sequence rather than relying on context-based reading strategies.
The Reading League, an independent national nonprofit, gave the program its highest alignment score in 71 of 75 evaluated practices across word recognition, language comprehension, reading comprehension, writing and assessment.
The program is used by more than 4.5 million students nationwide and is approved in 34 states.
Training didn't start this week. In January, Salem-Keizer closed elementary schools for a day of staff training focused on structured literacy, using materials from CORE.
The price tag
The $11 million cost sits within a district budget shaped by declining enrollment. Salem-Keizer now serves roughly 35,000 students, down from more than 40,000 a few years ago. The district's strategic plan describes high-quality instructional materials as "one of the most powerful levers for improving student learning, particularly when paired with effective teaching and support systems."
How the $11 million breaks down between materials, training and ongoing support has not been publicly detailed.
Classes resume for grades 1-5 on Sept. 9, with the new reading program in place from day one.
