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North Andover middle school adopts Edge Gems math curriculum; committee suspends rules for spring professional development
Summary
After a multi‑month review and pilot, the North Andover School Committee voted April 7 to adopt Edge Gems as the middle‑school math curriculum and approved developer‑provided professional development in April and May. Year‑one materials are priced at $50,411; ongoing annual costs estimated at about $40,000.
The North Andover School Committee voted April 7 to adopt Edge Gems as the district’s middle‑school math curriculum, suspending the committee’s normal timing rules so teachers could receive developer‑provided professional development before summer.
Mr. Will Clark, who led the district’s curriculum review, told the committee teachers piloted materials and visited other districts before narrowing 14 candidates to three finalists. He said all nine standard math teachers and multiple special education teachers participated in the selection and that teacher and student feedback strongly favored Edge Gems. Clark requested the committee approve adoption on first read to secure April 29 and May 13 PD sessions from the vendor. “I am respectfully requesting that you consider suspending your rules and hold a vote on adopting Edge Gems tonight,” Clark told the committee.
The committee agreed, noting the value of front‑loading professional learning. The motion to suspend the rules passed unanimously, and the committee then voted to adopt Edge Gems as presented.
Edge Gems’s design features two‑day lessons with a planned built‑in differentiation day every four instructional days, teacher and student digital resources (including QR‑linked tutorials), and units that district staff said better sequence expressions and equations for sixth grade. Clark said the program scored highly on independent reviews and that teachers praised its partner work, “math gems” practice tasks, and built‑in differentiation.
The administration provided a quote of $50,411 for year‑one consumable student workbooks and teacher materials; recurring annual costs were estimated at about $40,000. Committee members confirmed funds are available in the district’s curriculum materials budget for FY27.
Committee members said they expect an implementation period and noted it can take several years to see measurable test‑score gains. The superintendent and curriculum staff said they will monitor implementation and report back in subsequent years. The committee’s vote authorizes immediate purchase of materials and scheduling of vendor PD to prepare teachers for a fall launch.
Action taken: the School Committee suspended the typical first‑read timeline and voted unanimously to adopt Edge Gems and to schedule vendor PD in April and May. The committee recorded the year‑one cost as $50,411 and estimated recurring costs at about $40,000 per year.
