North’s math department is considering major changes as teachers pilot new curriculum in Newton’s first district-wide curriculum audit in 25 years.
The shift has introduced new materials, teaching approaches, and classroom dynamics for students across Math 1–3 courses.
Superintendent Anna Nolin, who launched the audit added that the curriculum review aims to evaluate the district’s curriculum and ensure alignment with updated standards, emerging technology, and potential AI tools for teachers.
“Good districts audit their curriculum regularly in order to see if they are meeting current state or federal standards, and if there are any new developments in that subject area in terms of technology curriculum,” said Nolin.
According to Nolin, 33.4% percent of Newton teachers are five years away from retirement, while 49% are considered “most experienced” in teacher contracts, making it challenging for incoming educators to build trusted resources on their own without district support.
“We are just encouraging everyone to try out the new things so they can make judgments on how that is supporting students,” said Letourneau. “For some teachers, those may feel familiar; for others, they may feel new.”
Math and PEHW are the first subjects at North undergoing the process, with pilot units introduced this school year.
According to the curriculum review page of the NPS website, each curriculum audit follows a five-year cycle. Year one consists of a self-study that evaluates current materials and identifies areas for growth. In year two, teachers implement pilot units—units that test new resources in the classroom—while years three through five focus on teacher training, monitoring, and refining the finalized curriculum.
Across the first semester, teachers in Math 1–3 are piloting two curricular resources: College Preparatory Mathematics (CPM), which highlights collaboration and student-driven problem solving, and Carnegie Learning, which offers a more guided structure. The pilot units span topics from functions for freshmen to exponential and logarithmic relationships for juniors.
According to North math department head Jennifer Letourneau, the goal is to determine which resource best supports learning for Newton’s teachers and students. At the end of the semester, students will complete feedback forms, which—alongside teacher input—will help shape the district’s final decision.
“Throughout the process, the consistent message we have been sending out is that the teachers’ voice has to be the loudest,” said Jennifer Shore, district director of mathematics PK–12.
Shore added that any program the district chooses will serve as a framework, ensuring state-aligned coverage while allowing teachers flexibility to bring in their own materials and instructional approaches.
Teachers across the department are participating in the pilot. The Newtonite reached out to many math teachers, all of whom declined to comment on the record.
Students at North have various reactions to the new materials.
“I feel like CPM e-books are pretty helpful, especially for homework because there is homework help,” said sophomore Nicholas Welstead.
Sophomore Lilia Rosenthal said, “I feel like it (the new curriculum) isn’t getting taught very thoroughly, and I feel like the teachers having a more in-depth knowledge before teaching it would be beneficial.”
Nolin added that all teachers involved in pilot programs received professional development directly from the curriculum providers and participated in district alignment meetings. Once a resource is chosen, teachers will receive additional paid training over the summer.
Principal Henry Turner added that both district and school administrators have provided ongoing support as the pilot unfolds.
“Teachers have gotten duty release to adapt to their pilot work. We’ve given them meeting time to work on it, and from the district level, they have gotten release time to do professional development as well,” said Turner.
While Math and PEHW move through their pilot year, English and History have begun phase one—the self-study—of their curriculum audit processes. Science will be the final department at North to begin the cycle.
Nolin added that curriculum audits are already in action at the middle school level and the deployment of an updated, district-aligned curriculum can be expected for the 2027-2028 school year.
