Grafton School Committee OKs Grafton High School program of studies for 2025–26

The Grafton School Committee voted to approve the Grafton High School program of studies for the 2025–26 school year after a presentation by Grafton Public Schools staff outlining new and revised course offerings.

The program of studies includes course deletions, new elective options and schedule changes. Tracy Kalo, who presented the packet with Sharon Buckley, told the committee, "This program of studies would not be a reality if it were not for Sharon Buckley." Kalo and Buckley described several curriculum updates and a pilot teaching-assistant program at the high school.

Why it matters: The program of studies determines what classes students can select next year and shapes staffing and scheduling decisions. The committee’s approval enables counselors and school staff to proceed with student registration and scheduling under the revised course list.

Key changes and details provided by staff: - Business and computer science: Four long-unused courses were removed and some courses reworked. Business Studies and Business Applications have been converted from full-year to semester courses to allow students to gain a foundation and then pursue semester-long topics such as advertising or Accounting I. The presentation said advertising will be co-taught with video production so students can develop TV commercials and publicity campaigns. - Entrepreneurship: A new entrepreneurship course will let students develop a business as an end product of the class, the presenter said. - Teaching Assistant pilot: "We piloted it in the fall, and we had 3 students who committed to working with teachers in the classroom," staff said. TAs in the pilot help with student questions, tutoring and small-group instruction; the course is currently graded pass/fail and requires an application and teacher recommendation. Academic support staff will mentor TAs. - English: Adventure Literature will be reframed as Nature Literature; a new course, Literary Global Perspectives, is planned for 2026–27. Staff said the new course would examine how literature reflects social and political structures and might include an optional field trip tied to the geography studied. - Mathematics and science: The district will retire several legacy course labels (for example, Advanced Algebra with Financial Applications will be replaced by Algebra/Geometry 3), adjust course descriptions and add an "Engineering Essentials" course tied to Project Lead The Way curriculum the district plans to adopt. - World language: The district plans to discontinue Latin; the presentation also described a possible reduction of French at the high school if enrollment does not support separate sections, leaving Spanish as the primary high‑school language offering unless demand changes. - Wellness: District staff said DESE no longer requires a fitness test, and the district will count three semesters of physical education plus one semester of health to meet the state’s wellness requirement.

Committee questions and clarifications focused on prerequisites for the new business sequencing, whether the TA program could expand to middle school, the pass/fail grading choice for the TA pilot and how the new Literary Global Perspectives course would select a destination for the optional trip. Staff said TA candidates must typically have earned a B or better in the course they wish to assist in and must obtain teacher recommendations. On the pass/fail question, staff said the TA was placed under the community-service option for the pilot year but noted an independent-study or graded option could be explored in the future.

Vote: A committee member made a motion "to approve the program of studies for 2025–26 as presented," the motion was seconded, and the chair called the vote. "All those in favor, aye," and the motion carried.

What’s next: With committee approval, the high school will finalize course schedules and registration materials for students. Staff said they will continue to monitor enrollment for courses that remain on the list but may not run if there are insufficient student requests.