All courses in Newton Public Schools are rigorous learning environments which center the skills described in the Portrait of a Learner, and provide scaffolding as needed to help students to:
Foster intellectual curiosity and develop independent learner strategies.
Connect concepts to their lives and the larger world/society.
Think creatively and critically to develop arguments and solve problems.
The curriculum level (CP, ACP, Honors/AP) represent the depth and complexity of tasks required to meet course expectations.
CP: Meeting course expectations requires proficiency with the content and skills that comprise the priority state standards.
ACP: Meeting course expectations requires proficiency with an increased skill depth and content complexity relative to the priority state standards, and across additional indicators from the state standards.
H: Meeting course expectations requires proficiency with an increased skill depth and content complexity relative to the priority state standards, and across the majority of additional indicators from the state standards.
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.