Abington High School Updates Program of Studies for 2025-2026
Curriculum changes reflect evolving educational needs and state frameworks
ABINGTON - January 28 - Abington High School has approved changes to its Program of Studies for the 2025-2026 school year, including updates to art, business, math, and health curricula.
The revisions, presented by Principal Jonathan Bourne at the Jan. 28 school committee meeting, aim to align courses with current educational standards and student needs.
"These new course changes reflect some of those changes in topics as well as some additional updates to courses," Bourne said.
In the art department, the current drawing and painting elective will be split into two separate courses. This change is designed to allow students to focus more deeply on their preferred medium.
The business department will open up class availability based on recommendations rather than prerequisites, making courses accessible to more students.
Significant changes were made to the math curriculum, reflecting efforts to address post-COVID learning gaps. Bourne explained that more complex topics have been moved earlier in students' math experiences.
"By and large for most of the algebra one courses now that is why those changes were made," he said.
The pre-calculus course has also been updated to reflect changes in prior algebra studies. Additionally, a senior math class will be moved to the appendix and replaced with a discrete math course.
Bourne described discrete math as "much more kind of project-based math and logic." He added, "It's really quite fascinating."
Health courses have been revised to align with recently updated Massachusetts curriculum frameworks for health and wellness. These changes affect the freshman health requirement and courses such as Life 101 and Mind Body Spirit.
The school committee also approved changes to the competency determination language for high school students, following the November 2024 vote to remove the MCAS test as the sole determinant for graduation.
Under the new policy, students must successfully complete ninth and tenth grade English courses, Algebra 1 and Geometry, and a laboratory science course to meet the competency determination.
Superintendent Dr. Felicia Moschella clarified, "Any student that has to date, including this year, earned a competency determination by any test, including the November retest, has met their competency determination."
Students will still be required to take at least one MCAS test in science, math, and English during their high school career.
In other business, the school committee addressed budget challenges for the upcoming fiscal year. The district received an increase of about $200,000 in Chapter 70 funding from the state, which Moschella described as "less than overwhelming."
The district presented a level service budget with a 5.53% increase, totaling $1.7 million. This budget maintains current staffing levels but removes previously proposed new positions and an additional school bus.
"We have made no changes to our special education program with other districts at this time," Moschella said, noting that the district remains conservative in its special education budget estimates.
The proposed budget increase includes:
- $1,286,351 for contractual obligations
- $329,012 for special education programs with other districts
- $110,276 for other school services
Moschella indicated that $112,285 for instructional materials and $240,000 for student and staff laptop replacements would be covered through the town's capital plan.
The superintendent emphasized that budget discussions with town officials are ongoing, and the final budget may change before the April town meeting.
Other items discussed at the meeting included:
- Approval of a policy allowing therapy and emotional support dogs in schools
- Updates to background check procedures for employees and volunteers
- The search process for a new Woodsdale Elementary School principal
The next school committee meeting is scheduled for Feb. 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the library.