The Core Knowledge movement is an educational reform based on the premise that a grade-by-grade core of common learning is necessary to ensure a sound and fair elementary education. The movement was started by Professor E. D. Hirsch, Jr., author of Cultural Literacy and The Schools We Need, and is based on a large body of research in cognitive psychology, as well as a careful examination of several of the world's fairest and most effective school systems. Professor Hirsch has argued that, for the sake of academic excellence, greater fairness and higher literacy, early schooling should provide a solid, specific, shared core curriculum in order to help children establish strong foundations of knowledge. Currently, hundreds of schools and thousands of dedicated educators are participating in this school reform movement throughout the United States.

At a Core Knowledge school, the Core Knowledge Sequence represents the common ground upon which a faculty meets and collaborates to teach a sequenced, coherent curriculum. In this cumulative curriculum, the knowledge and skills learned each year become the students' foundation for learning in subsequent years. (Source: The Core Knowledge Foundation)

The program is now offered at these PVUSD schools:

• Boulder Creek Elementary School
• Campo Bello Elementary School
• Eagle Ridge Elementary School
• Grayhawk Elementary School
• Pinnacle Peak Elementary School
• Sunset Canyon Elementary School
• Wildfire Elementary School
• Mountain Trail Middle School