Leonardtown, MD — For the first time in well over a decade the St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS) will be purchasing new U.S. History and Spanish textbooks. The U.S. History text books for 8th and 9th graders are 13 years old and the Spanish textbooks are16 years old.
During the administration of Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano, there had been some discussion about eliminating new textbook purchases in favor of tablets and e-books. The decision at the June 10 school board meeting represented a hybrid in which updates of existing textbooks will be purchased but there also will be online resources from the books’ publishers for both teachers and students.
The 8th and 9th grade History textbooks are being purchased from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and cost $111,976.70 for the 8th grade and $130,925.20 for the 9th grade. The Spanish textbooks are from EMC Publishing for $107,037.
In addition to the history textbook, each student will receive a license for their own interactive online edition. That online edition provides student access to multimedia classroom activities with videos, primary sources and maps.
Spanish students in levels 1-3 will also receive a license for their own e-book. Teachers will receive a variety of online resources to supplement the printed material.
Committees for both the History and Spanish textbooks were formed earlier this year to review the options. The chosen textbooks were then put on display at the county libraries, but there was no citizen feedback.
At the board meeting the supervisors and teachers for the two disciplines expressed delight at finally getting updated textbooks. Student School Board Member Sarita Lee said she was especially excited about the online resources and Board Vice President Rita Weaver agreed. Board member Cathy Allen said she liked the “blended learning” opportunities with the print and online editions.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com