ATLAS refers to a general teaching philosophy that emphasizes using different teaching styles and various alternative assessments, like portfolios and exhibitions, in addition to traditional tests.

Core Knowledge is a standardized curriculum put out by a national organization that will customize its programs to the specific state standards.

The Literacy Collaborative is a reading program for the early grades. And NetSchools will focus on using computers and the Internet in middle school classrooms.

D'Alessandro said she believes the changes in curriculum will improve test scores at the merged school. Fletcher and Maynard students generally score below district averages on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), the Commonwealth's battery of standardized tests.

"I think the reason our test scores were low is because our curriculum wasn't aligned" with the test, D'Alessandro said.

Though some other schools in the district currently use these programs, except for NetSchools, no school uses all of them.

At a meeting last week school committee members questioned whether the four components could be combined.

"It is not going to look like other schools in the district," said Valerie Spriggs, another district administrator.