Newton North has a commitment to opportunity, access, and excellence for all students. The scope and sequence of courses in each department has been designed to support these overarching goals. Courses include an articulation of content and skills that can be developed and learned within a developmentally appropriate community of learners at each grade level. The curriculum is designed to support the continuous academic, social and skill development growth for all students. A core value at North is that all students are appropriately challenged and supported both in terms of the work in individual classes and more broadly across a student’s schedule. As students consider their course load, we support them in finding an appropriate level of stretch and balance within their classes. Teachers consider this placement philosophy when making course level recommendations.
College Prep (CP) - In a College Prep course, students are expected to:
Engage with content and practices related to the subject area with support and structure
Manage both short-term and long-term assignments with support
Make connections in their learning using structures designed to build independence
Access and utilize support within a smaller cohort and a smaller student-to-adult ratio
Advanced College Prep (ACP) - In an Advanced College Prep course, students are expected to:
Engage with content and practices related to the subject area with increasing independence
Manage both short-term and long-term assignments
Synthesize content within the course
Honors (H) - In an Honors course, students are expected to:
Engage with content and practices related to the subject area at a deep level
Manage both short-term and long-term assignments independently
Synthesize content across courses and subject areas
Work at an accelerated pace
Engage in self-assessment and self-reflection on a regular basis
Advanced Placement courses, which are all offered at the Honors Curriculum Level, prepare students for the Advanced Placement examinations that are given in May.
Note: Courses may be offered with multiple curriculum levels in the same room at the same time.
A multi-level course is a single classroom with the same teacher(s) in which students are enrolled in more than one level of the course (College Prep, Advanced College Prep, Honors).
While there are some classes that have run as multi-level courses for many years and are well known to students, Newton North may make the decision to run other multi-level courses after registration occurs in order to meet our student requests and address equity concerns.
We believe in the power of multi-level courses which:
Provide a rich experience for students within a diverse learning community.
Increase access and equity for all students by dismantling structures where implicit bias results in a sorting of students by race, gender, and/or socioeconomic status based on the subject area and level.
Provide students with access to support and opportunity for challenge in the same learning community.
Allow Newton North to offer classes that may not have enough enrollment to run as single-level classes.
Students should sign up for courses and levels that meet their need for support and challenge. If a student has specific concerns about multi-level courses, they may speak to the appropriate department chair.