Newton South has one of the most comprehensive academic programs of any high school in the Commonwealth. Each course is crafted to provide students with the opportunity to engage creatively, problem solve, and grow. Our school is continuing to build course structures that support the mental health of our students while promoting equity in our educational offerings as an actively anti-racist school. We are committed to increasing
access and equity for all students by dismantling course structures where implicit bias results in inadvertently sorting students by race, gender, and/or socio-economic status. It is our hope that by examining the above we will provide more students access to a challenging and enriching curriculum of their choice to best prepare them for the future ahead.

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.