Graduation Requirements
Students must complete both local graduation requirements and earn a competency determination in specific subjects to earn a high school diploma. The methods for obtaining both are outlined below.
Local Graduation Requirements
The Newton School Committee sets graduation requirements for the Newton Public Schools. 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)
- Life Science (12 credits)
- Physical Science (12 credits)
- History and Social Sciences (24 credits)
- United States History (12 credits)
- Mathematics (24 credits)
- Fine, Performing, & Technical Arts (12 credits)
- Can be any combination of the following: Business, Family & Consumer Science, Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Computer Programming, Journalism, and Technical Education.
- Wellness (15 credits)
- 6 credits in 9th grade and 3 credits each in grades 10-12.
- Electives / Other Course Offerings (84 credits)
Credits
Credits are assigned to courses depending on the frequency of meeting and preparation required. For courses that meet three times a week, the following number of credits are awarded upon successful completion:
- Full-year (FY), 12 credits
- Semester (S1 or S2), 6 credits
- Quarter (Q1, Q2, Q3, or Q4), 3 credits
Teaching Assistant, Peer Tutor, and Independent Study courses award half the credit based on the length above. For example, a full-year TA awards 6 credits instead of 12.
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 final 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.
Competency Determination
In November 2024, Massachusetts voters passed a ballot initiative that removed MCAS as the sole method for obtaining competency determination (CD). Earning a CD in each applicable subject is still a requirement to obtain a high school diploma but this now must be earned through local coursework and mastery certified by the district. Students must complete local graduation requirements as outlined in the Program of Studies/Opportunities course catalog and earn CDs in all relevant subjects to earn a high school diploma.
In May 2025, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education established that students must both satisfactorily complete coursework and earn mastery in each subject area originally assessed on MCAS. The School Committee passed the following outlining how these components can be earned in Newton high schools:
| Subject | Satisfactorily Complete Coursework | Mastery |
|---|---|---|
| ELA | 24 credits in high school level ELA coursework | Passing a final assessment, capstone project/portfolio, or benchmark assessment that has been identified by the department as assessing at least half of the priority standards at or above the grade 10 level |
| Math | 24 credits in high school level math coursework, 12 of which need to be at least at the Math 2 level | Passing a final assessment, capstone project/portfolio, or benchmark assessment that has been identified by the department as assessing at least half of the priority standards at or above the Math 2 level |
| Science | One year (12 credits) of any of the following: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Technology/Engineering | Passing a final assessment, capstone project/portfolio, or benchmark assessment that has been identified by the department as assessing at least half of the priority standards in one of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, or Technology/Engineering |
| United States History | 12 credits in courses that meet the US History local graduation requirement | Passing a final assessment, capstone project/portfolio, or benchmark assessment that has been identified by the department as assessing at least half of the priority standards in United States History (including the AP U.S. History Exam offered by the College Board) |
MCAS
While no longer a graduation requirement, students must take the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests in three subjects by the end of Grade 10:
- Science (Biology or Physics, first offered June of Grade 9)
- English Language Arts (taken March of Grade 10)
- Mathematics (taken May of Grade 10)
MassCore
Adopted by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in 2007 and amended in 2018, MassCore is a state-recommended program of study intended to align high school coursework with college and workforce expectations. The program of studies includes the successful completion of four units of English, four units of mathematics, three units of a lab-based science, three units of history, two units of the same foreign language, one unit of the arts, and five additional “core” courses. A computer science course that includes rigorous mathematical or scientific concepts and aligns with the 2016 Digital Literacy and Computer Science Framework can substitute for either a mathematics course or a laboratory science course.