In the school's needs assessment survey the issue of curriculum has been a recurring concern in terms of the lack of easily accessable curriculum information. Our SACS visiting team, in their report on their interim visit, also identified curriculum development as a possible area for school improvement. In 2003 the Board adopted curriculum development linked with staff development as the main focus for our school improvement plan.

The Georgetown International Academy in 2003 began a major curriculum review with a view to both upgrading the existing curriculum and making curriculum information more available to the entire school community. After an initial curriculum workshop held in the fall of 2003 GIA staff by consensus opted for the adoption of a standards based curriculum together with an "Understanding by design" approach to unit lesson planning. In the summer of 2004 several members of staff also attended AERO and ASCD Understanding by Design workshops.

In 2004-2005 the GIA teaching staff, after spending some time looking at standards already developed and available, adopted the curriculum standards already developed by AERO as working standards. (The standards on this web site are therefore basically AERO standards with very few modifications.) It is hoped that the easy access now provided via the web to these curriculum standards will aid students and parents in understanding and relating unit lesson plans to our educational goals.

The further development of these standards as appropriate for the Georgetown International Academy is now being carried out as the main thrust and focus of the school's improvement plan.