The May 11 School Committee meeting ran four hours, which Supt. Nolin jokingly referred to as “The Superbowl of Curriculum,” complete with a “7th-inning stretch.” It included three departmental curricular reviews, a public hearing on School Choice, and updates from the Superintendent. Key votes were deferred to the next meeting.
Curriculum recommendations
Several Newton Public Schools (NPS) directors of content areas presented on the status of departmental curricular review cycles. Committee Members talked throughout the evening of the need to balance the community’s urgency around refreshing curricular materials with expectations around how many new curricular pieces the teachers, especially elementary school teachers, would need to learn how to use in a given year. This article provides highlights and will be updated with detailed reports later.
English/Language Arts: Presented by David Kloker with support from Gina Flanagan. Recommendations included:
- Grades 6-12:
- Teacher-created bespoke curriculum, to be created during 2026-27 school year and fully adopted fall 2027. Identify the best units that are currently being done across the district and have them be a menu for teachers across the schools.
- Create new units for extended informational texts and connections to the speaking and listening standards for Grades 6-8. This would include expectations of vertical articulation of text complexity as well as expectations in vocabulary, grammar, mechanics, usage, and spelling and common writing assessments across schools. It would be designed to ensure that all levels of ELA classes at the high school are addressing grade-level standards.
- Embed ELA teacher leaders at middle-school level.
- Grades K-2 Early Literacy:
- Replace Fundations phonics curriculum with UFLI curriculum and supplemental materials for handwriting and spelling starting in fall 2026.
Social Studies: Presented by Eva Hughes with support from Gina Flanagan. Recommendations included:
- Grades K-2: Children Discovering Justice curriculum to be piloted in 2027-28 school year.
- Grades 3-5: Investigating History curriculum to be piloted in 2027-28 school year.
- Grades 6-7: Create systemwide expectations for implementing Investigating History Curriculum, already in sporadic use, which would include essential units, core content, common assessments, and pacing guidelines, differentiation materials, and language supports.
- Grade 8 Civics:
- Create a shared curriculum framework including landmark Supreme Court cases and state and local government
- Refine the Civic Action Project and make it more comparable across schools.
- High School: District-wide scope and sequence for Grades 9-11.
- Grades K-8: Embed social studies teacher leaders into each school.
There was no discussion of why only one social studies curriculum was being recommended for piloting at Grades K-8, and no established curriculum pilot for high school, in contrast with multiple curriculum pilots in other content areas.
Math: Presented by Gina Flanagan with support from Jen Letourneau and Jen Shore. Recommendations included:
- Grades K-5: Adopt Amplify Desmos.
- Grades 6-8: Continue with Amplify Desmos, condensing the units that are currently being taught in Grades 6-8 into Grades 6-7, with Desmos’s Integrated Math I being used for Grade 8 instead of Grade 9.
- Grades 9-12: Develop a custom-built unified Integrated Math curriculum for Integrated Math II and III courses.
- Regarding implementation of Desmos: The use of paper vs. computer is currently being left up to teachers, but it seems to be subject to the full screen-time review that is being done at all school levels.
- The vote regarding math curriculum was tabled until the May 18 meeting to allow for community reactions.
Public Hearing on Inter-District School Choice
Prior to the regular School Committee meeting, a special public hearing on School Choice was scheduled for 6PM. Only one person, former School Committee Member Margie Ross Decter, spoke during the scheduled public hearing, and she argued against participating in the inter-district School Choice program because she believes the known financial incentive is not great enough to offset the potential financial risk. She said, “Kids are not like passengers on a bus,” and additional students have additional needs, so unless NPS truly has excess capacity and case loads for support staff are especially low, NPS would end up needing to budget too much money for additional services to offset the $5,000 gain per student, which would also be taken away from neighboring districts.
The curriculum updates and questions went on long enough that the vote on School Choice was tabled to the May 18 meeting.
Superintendent Updates
Supt. Nolin provided these updates:
- Bowen Elementary School will have an interim principal for next year.
- NPS has initiated a partnership with Boston Drone School for an elective course at both high schools.
- NPS was awarded a grant from the Governor to create three new Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs: Medical assisting, dental assisting, and information technology systems. This grant is meant for startup costs in areas where local industry leaders have said there are hiring shortages. The grant includes money for staff, training, and equipment, as well as for facilities upgrades to the outer buildings at NSHS. It is designed to cover costs associated with starting the program, with ongoing expenses after startup likely funded from state appropriations.
- Student Assessments:
- MCAS is underway.
- ACCESS, the annual assessment for English Learners has just wrapped up.
- Formative assessments for Middle School math placement were administered last week, and scores and placement will be available to parents next week in Aspen (see FAQ).
- City funding requests are in process with the City Council:
- $500,000 for contractually required Kindergarten aides
- Burr Elementary School roof repair (planned to be completed this summer)
- Security cameras for Underwood Elementary School
- LED lighting project for Day Middle School
- Extended School Year program:
- Families whose students qualify and were assessed at below grade-level benchmarks have been notified regarding which summer programs they are eligible for, and staff has been hired.
- Newton North High School Principal Search
- Four candidates for the interim position have been identified.
- In most districts, superintendents name interim principals, but because of the complexity of Newton North, the search will have a Superintendent Advisory Committee (SAC) including the Vice Principal and members of the School Council and PTO.
- The Permanent Position will be posted in September.
First day of school will be Wednesday, September 2, 2026 – the first time ever that it will be before Labor Day. For the elementary and middle schools, that will be an early release day because it is a normal Wednesday, not because it is the first day of school. Preschool will start on September 8.
See NewTV’s video of the meeting.
