MMSD trustees hear wide-ranging update on middle‑school math, CTE expansion and arts programming

Madison Metropolitan School District leaders and principals updated the Board of Education’s Instruction Work Group on middle‑school instruction on math, career and technical education and the arts, describing districtwide initiatives aimed at increasing access and aligning grade‑level learning.

The presentations emphasized how the district’s strategic goals and investments support grade‑level standards, with staff pointing to recent gains in students taking algebra or higher while in middle school, expansion of middle‑school CTE courses and new arts residencies across schools.

Cindy Green, a district staff member who opened the evening’s presentation, told the board that the session would “start with an update on mathematics and an update on middle school programming.” She introduced a team of central‑office and school leaders who described work intended to lift student outcomes and expand programming choices.

Nardhumbaya, the district’s middle‑school CTE specialist, said the district’s CTE audit in 2021 found programs concentrated at a handful of schools and created an equity gap. “Our goal is to make sure that we have middle school CTE at all the middle schools,” she said, outlining an expansion that district staff said will include…