As the 2025-26 school year begins today, St. Patrick’s Catholic School Principal in Perry highlights new programs that will be apart of the curriculum.

Principal Kandice Patillo tells Raccoon Valley Radio that the institution is implementing a new reading program as the school is making the transition from the Wonders curriculum to Amplify. 

Patillo explains that the school thoroughly researched various reading programs and that ultimately staff landed on choosing Amplify, based on what they believe will be beneficial to the student’s engagement with the content, the knowledge of how to read, and then to develop those skills, and she states that the program was highly recommended by the state of Iowa. Patillo thinks that St. Patrick’s Catholic School is in a good position to succeed with the program.

“I’m really excited about it. I previewed a lot of the material myself and I do think the kids are just genuinely going to enjoy it as well. Looking into the next school year too, we’re starting to take a look at our math, but reading is kind of the big one for us.”

Patillo reveals that the school is working on potential changes for science and social studies at the Diocesan level, as many of the Diocesan schools in Iowa are starting to get the teachers on the same page by using a similar curricular resource to compare notes.