The Arab World Studies Notebook, a supplemental text funded by Saudi Arabia, was widely used in Newton high school history courses until 2012. PENS was instrumental in the removal of the Notebook from Newton classes.
Because the NPS announced the Notebook's removal from the curriculum several years ago, we considered removing this section to focus on more timely matters. However, the local newspaper Jewish Advocate published a letter defending the Notebook as late as October, 2014, the same year that investigators found that it had not been removed as promised but was still in use in at least one classroom through the 2013-2014 academic year.
Therefore we will leave this section standing so that visitors can read for themselves the chapters used in Newton schools as well as criticisms of the Notebook by educational, community, and religious groups.
Below are Notebook chapters we know were used in Newton schools through at least 2012. Other chapters may have been used as well.
The next page (Reviews of the Arab World Studies Notebook) contains some reviews of the Notebook published in past years.
All material can be downloaded or read online, and has been checked for viruses and malware.
Sections of the Arab World Studies Notebook used in Newton Public Schools (links included)
Arab Contributions to Civilization (annotated)