Hagerstown, MD (December 1, 2022) - Washington County Public Schools (WCPS) is seeking feedback from the community regarding a new curriculum resource. The WCPS Division of Curriculum recommends purchasing Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts® (CKLA). CKLA will be the primary resource for English Language Arts (ELA) instruction for students in grades pre-k through five. CKLA was selected as a finalist in the summer of 2022 and was subsequently chosen as the preferred resource after being piloted by 30 elementary teachers during the first marking period of the 2022-2023 school year.  

What is Amplify CKLA?
Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts® (CKLA) is a unique core curriculum in ELA for grades PreK through five that’s grounded in the Science of Reading and combines rich, diverse content knowledge in history, science, literature, and the arts with systematic research-based foundational skills instruction.  Amplify CKLA earned the top rating by EdReports, an independent curriculum review nonprofit.  Amplify CKLA is currently being used in over 38,000 classrooms across 49 states.  

How can I learn more about the Science of Reading and Amplify CKLA?
To learn more about the Science of Reading and the CKLA resource, WCPS has set up three information nights.  Each session will be held from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

• December 12, 2022: Clear Spring Elementary 
• December 14, 2022: Ruth Ann Monroe Primary School 
• December 15, 2022: Rockland Woods Elementary School 

At the information nights, parents, guardians, and community members will have the opportunity to review the resources, which includes core content, digital resources, home/school connections, etc. WCPS staff will provide an overview of the resources and be available to answer questions. These information nights are open to all Washington County community members.

In addition to the parent nights, a demo account has been set up for parents, guardians, and community members to review the CKLA resources. The demo account information is below.

Site: learning.amplify.com (then select "Login with Amplify")

Teacher Account 
Username: [email protected] 
Password: Amplify1-wcps1 

Student Account 
Username: [email protected] 
Password: Amplify1-wcps1

Parents, guardians, and community members can submit feedback here. For additional questions, please contact Carly Pumphrey, Supervisor of ELA and Social Studies, at [email protected].