You may have heard that beginning in the 2026-27 school year, Belmont Middle School will no longer offer Challenger Geometry. For the last several years, Challenger Geometry has been offered as part of an accelerated Math pathway wherein students were provided one hour of instruction per week to support mastery of the 10th grade Math standards for Geometry. After many discussions with and feedback from parents, students, and teachers, we have considered the efficacy of the program and no longer consider it to be in the best interest of student learning in terms of students’ content knowledge and skills as well as their preparedness for further advanced coursework in High School.
If your child previously completed Challenger Geometry, or if you have an 8th grader currently enrolled in Challenger Geometry, the district will follow our school committee policy to ensure that students meet Competency Determinations as outlined by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. In addition, students will have a record of completion for Challenger Geometry that may be used as a prerequisite for advanced coursework in High School.
Season’s Greetings to Our Belmont Community,
As we enter the holiday season, we wish all of our families and community members a happy and healthy holiday.
This memo provides an update on the Grade 7–12 Mathematics Placement Process in Belmont Public Schools.
We are grateful to families, students, and staff who have shared feedback about math placement. We continue to listen carefully and thoughtfully consider all perspectives as we refine our process.
Our mathematics educators regularly reflect on instructional practices and review placement criteria to ensure decisions are fair, appropriate, and supportive of student success. At this time, in addition to the input we have from families, we are gathering feedback from educators across the district. We will share the updated math placement process and criteria during the first week of January 2026.
In addition, we work closely with our assessment partners to confirm that we are using tools effectively when making placement decisions.
Two of the assessment tools we currently use have offered the following guidance:
MDTP (Mathematics Diagnostic Testing Project) recommends that districts rely on their math education experts to set placement criteria—particularly when placements differ from the state-recommended math sequence or involve students accelerating or bypassing courses. MDTP also advises reviewing student performance across key topic areas to confirm that prerequisite skills and knowledge are firmly in place.
i-Ready recommends that when using overall scale scores to inform placement, districts consider both a student’s current grade level and their scale score–equivalent grade. i-Ready also emphasizes the importance of reviewing domain-specific scores to ensure students are adequately prepared in all areas of mathematics.
We appreciate the continued partnership of our families and community as we work to support all students in their mathematical learning and growth.
Warm regards,
Belmont Public Schools
