Academics

Department Requirements

The Newton School Committee sets requirements for graduation at Newton North and Newton South High Schools. Beginning in 2022-2023, students must earn a minimum of 243 credits in order to graduate and meet the requirements listed below. In addition to the subjects listed below, students, especially those planning to continue their formal education after high school, are strongly advised to study world languages.

English	48 credits
Science	24 credits
History and Social Science	36 credits
Mathematics	24 credits
Fine, Performing & Technical Arts Art, Business, Family & Consumer Science, Media Arts, Music, Drama, Speech, Computer Programming, Journalism, and Technical Education	12 credits
Wellness	15 credits

 

The remaining 84 credits required to get to 243 can be earned through electives or other course offerings.

Credits

Credits are assigned to courses depending on the frequency of meetings and preparation required.

3x per week courses	2021-2022 and prior	2022-2023 and beyond
Full year courses	5.0 credits	12.0 credits
Semester courses	2.5 credits	6.0 credits
Non-Wellness quarter courses	1.25 credits	3.0 credits
Wellness quarter courses	1.0 credits	3.0 credits
Teach Assistants Peer Tutors Independent Studies	2.5/1.25/0.625 (based on length of course)	6.0/3.0/1.5 (based on length of course)

All courses, minimum credit, and graduation requirements listed in the Program of Studies reflect the new credit system. Courses that meet fewer than 3 blocks per week will be awarded prorated credit. Students will be required to take a minimum of 72 credits, although juniors and seniors who are committed to extra-curricular activities are allowed to enroll in a minimum of 66 credits with Dean approval. These activities must be supervised by faculty/staff, be connected to the curriculum, and have a definite product or concluding performance. Examples of such activities include interscholastic school sports, school publications, theater (directing, acting or tech crew), science/math teams, Model UN, Mock Trial, speech team, school supervised community service, school supervised tutoring, and summer school. Students should see their guidance counselor for more information about taking 66 credits along with extra-curricular activities.

MCAS Graduation Requirement

In addition to the requirements set by the Newton School Committee, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts requires that students seeking to earn a high school diploma must earn their competency determination in English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, and Science and Technology/Engineering. This is earned through the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, or MCAS.

The Science MCAS is taken in grade 9 and the ELA and Math MCAS are taken in grade 10. Students who do not pass the MCAS tests may retake these tests in future school years. Students may also be able to earn their competency determination through an alternate assessment.

For more information about MCAS graduation requirements, please visit the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s website here: https://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/graduation.html.

Our school is committed to building course structures that support the mental health of our students and that promote equity in our educational offerings as an actively anti-racist school. 

Multi-Level Courses

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 South 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 because they:

• 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 inadvertently sorting 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 South 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 department chair.

Course Levels

College Preparatory (CP)

Students working at the college preparatory level are progressing towards greater independence as they tackle content through inquiry, problem solving, critical thinking and reading and writing. In some courses, co-teaching might allow for more individualized attention as students develop these skills.

Advanced College Preparatory (ACP)

Students working at the Advanced College Preparatory level generally approach content with a solid degree of independence through inquiry, problem solving and critical thinking skills.

The SAM option in ACP courses enables students who are still developing the skills necessary to succeed in an ACP class the opportunity to take an ACP class. The goal of this program is to allow students to Stretch intellectually, Aim for excellence and Make progress (SAM).

Honors (H)

At the Honors level, students not only approach course content independently, but use their inquiry, problem solving, and critical thinking skills to explore associated topics and themes beyond the scope of the Advanced College Preparatory curriculum.

No Level (N)

Courses designated as “No Level” will receive standard letter grades. Other than those taken in the ninth grade, grades in “No Level” classes will be included in a student’s GPA.

Pass-Fail (P-F)

Classes designated as “Pass-Fail” will receive a grade of a P, F, or, in some cases, A. Pass-Fail courses are not included in a student’s GPA calculation.