City Recommends Separate Ward, Underwood Rebuilds
Newton's School Committee heard a recommendation to keep Ward and Underwood elementary schools as separate buildings rather than merge them.
School Committee · Meeting of June 1, 2026
Newton's School Committee heard a recommendation to keep Ward and Underwood elementary schools as separate buildings rather than merge them. City Chief Operating Officer Josh Morris said a consolidated school could need capacity for roughly 660 students, making it the largest elementary school in Newton's history, while the capital-cost difference between one consolidated building and two separate schools was only about $17.64 per homeowner annually. Parents separately pressed the committee over the district's new Math Pathways test after just one of 173 Bigelow Middle School seventh graders qualified for accelerated math, versus 10 to 15 students at each of the other three middle schools.
"Bigelow had one," said parent Sarah Karivanova. "Bigelow had one." The committee approved its consent agenda 8-0 with one member absent and rated Superintendent Anna Nolan "exemplary" in her annual evaluation.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 3,918 words
Source: the School Committee meeting of June 1, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.
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