Teachers would have to be trained in the new curriculum, which D'Alessandro said would help improve students' scores on the state's standardized assessment tests.

D'Alessandro has also proposed an early-grade literacy program for the new school modeled on programs at other schools in Cambridge. Her plan also calls for a major emphasis on improving technology education, which has lagged at the Fletcher and Maynard.

And all teaching positions at Fletcher and Maynard would be vacated; teachers would have to reapply to teach at the merged school.

However, these teachers would be guaranteed a job somewhere in the school district.

The plan would also open the school to the siblings of current students.

This provision aims to address an objection of some minority parents whose children have been bussed to other schools in the district to meet racial quotas.

District officials expect about 350 students in the merged school next fall. They said they were not sure how many siblings to expect.

Currently, there are 385 students enrolled at the Fletcher and Maynard. But that number will decrease due to normal attrition over the summer, said Lenora M. Jennings, the district's executive director for student achievement and accountability.