VENTURA : Schools to Expand Morals Curriculum

Deciding that their first-year experiment with teaching moral values was a success, Ventura school officials have expanded the program to all schools in the district.

And to make the new curriculum more effective, the district has settled upon a districtwide lesson plan to teach the same character trait in every school each month.

For example, in September, all schools in the Ventura Unified School District will teach students about the value of responsibility.

Most of the district’s schools began last year to incorporate lessons on moral values into their classroom instruction.

But all of the schools were on different schedules. While one school was teaching about the importance of good sportsmanship, another was focusing on honesty.

School officials hope that setting a uniform lesson plan will encourage parents and community groups to work with the district in teaching moral values, Assistant Supt. Pat Chandler said.

Parents who have students at different schools will find it easier to focus on discussing moral values with their children if each school teaches the same values at the same time, she said.

The district has also asked a local ministers’ group to integrate the moral-values curriculum into their lessons, through sermons or religious school.

“We hope that kind of focus will have more of an impact than doing whatever strikes our fancy every month,” Chandler said.

The lesson plan is as follows: September, responsibility; October, courtesy; November, cooperation; December, kindness; January, honesty; February, respect; March, sportsmanship; April, punctuality; May, self-control.

The five schools on a year-round calendar will focus on punctuality during August instead of April, when those schools are on vacation.