Today, a colleague asked what the best elementary school in Newton is.
What should I tell him? Why?
What’s the best elementary school in Newton?
by Sean Roche | Feb 29, 2012 | Newton | 17 comments
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Today, a colleague asked what the best elementary school in Newton is.
What should I tell him? Why?
Crazy Divers: Men be like...
drivers man be like
Homeschooling 😉
after having kids go through to high school, it’s pretty clear that kids in all our elementary schools get what they need by middle school/high school to do very very well.
that said, a principal can make the atmosphere of school really special: the ones I’m most familiar with are all excellent, and I would enroll a kid of mine (if I had on that age) at either Angier, Zervas or Mason-Rice in a heartbeat. Not to say that the rest aren’t also excellent–the results speak to that–but I haven’t been inside them or met the principal.
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I’m not going to pick a favorite, but I’ve got a general footnote. Some years back, I was part of the Newton Compost Committee which was formed by Mayor Mann to oversee the operation of the City’s Municipal Compost Program at Rumford Avenue.
One side thing we did was to put on demonstration projects at all the elementary and at some of the middle schools. I was deeply impressed by the dedication and quality of all the teachers at every school we went to and this seemed to hold true for both young and older teachers. They obviously loved what they were doing and were very good at connecting with the kids. The kids were animated, enthusiastic and eager to learn. There was real combustion there that I didn’t always experience when I was a student at Hyde School during the 1940’s.
I was always a pleasure to put on one of these demonstration projects. I just wish the schools themselves were in better condition. I had been away from Newton for more than 30 years and was shocked to see just how badly deteriorated some of them were. I remember when Zervas was a brand new, state of the art school. It looked sadly neglected by the late 90’s.
My 3 siblings and I went to Mason Rice when it was still a fairly new school. It was a wonderful experience for the 4 of us.
My 3 children also went to Mason Rice. The Principal, Mark Springer, is one of the finest principals I’ve ever encountered anywhere. Really, he should have been able to move up in the system to at least a middle school or even one of the high schools. He’s THAT good. Most of the teachers at Mason Rice are also excellent. But like many of our schools, the building is showing its age.
As to what you should tell your colleague, Sean. I think I’d remind him that MCAS has dumbed down our school system so much, that he should seriously consider private school. It kills me to say that, because Newton used to have one of the top public school systems in the country. But without a clearly defined mission to return our schools to greatness; the lack of proper funding; and the impact of standardized testing, I would take a different route if I had young children now.
I don’t know how one can answer this, given that most parents only have direct experience with one school, or if they move at some point, perhaps two.
Best at what? Best MCAS scores? Best staff? Best class size? Best facility? Best playground? Best library?
Mike-Within the educational profession, moving from a position as an elementary principal to that of a MS or HS isn’t considered “moving up”. If a principal at any level actually moves up, s/he moves to a central administration position. For example, Joe Russo, who was previously an elementary principal, moved to an assistant superintendent position, as did Cindy Bergan, who held administrative positions at NN. Cindy’s and Joe’s positions are equal in status (and both are fabulous!). How one moves up in an educational structure is often misunderstood. When I left my kindergarten position to teach 5th grade, I was surprised to hear that a number of parents thought that I’d received a promotion. I had to laugh.
Greg – I didn’t mean to highjack your thread, but wanted to make sure this concept is clearly understood. I’m convinced that one of the reasons we’ve spent over $300m on the two HS’s while the elementary buildings are a disgrace is a lack of understanding about the academic foundation that the elementary schools provide. This foundation leads to HS students who achieve in a more public square (awards, defined leadership positions, advanced courses).
The staff in the four Newton elementary schools in which I’ve held some position or other were dedicated, skillful, caring, and knowledgeable. However, I must also mention that I’ve taught in 7 elementary schools in 3 communities in my 39 years of teaching, and there was one common thread to each experience – each of the seven buildings presented significant obstacles to providing the best education to its students.
@Jane: It’s Sean’s thread and feel free to highjack it. Lord knows he has on occasion!
Jane– For an elementary school principal though, would they not consider it more of a professional challenge, more prestigious, to run a high school?
In Mark Springer’s case for example, I watched this guy turn Mason-Rice around in his first year there, and run a great school for many years. [I’m only singling him out, because he’s so outstanding]. But during that time Newton South went through 3 or 4 principals; all the search committees; all the interviews; all the time and money spent… when in fact we had a principal within the system who could have stepped right in and done a great job. So I totally get what you’re saying about how the system works. But I guess what I’m saying is that it doesn’t work well.
Mike-Being a principal at each of the 3 levels involves a different skill set, so a great HS principal may very well be a terrible elementary principal and vice versa. As an elementary teacher, I would not be happy with a principal who knew nothing about what I did in my class, budgetary needs, facility needs, the developmental level of the students, curriculum and instruction, etc.
Being a principal at any level is one of the most difficult positions in the profession. An elementary school in Newton has had a similar experience with principal turnover as NS, and it’s taken several years of searching for an appropriate candidate for other elementary schools. There’s just a much smaller pool of candidates for these positions than there was 20-25 years ago. When the system doesn’t work well, that’s the problem.
Jane and Greg,
I’ve always hated the notion that a comment thread got “hijacked.” Conversations start, they wander off-topic, maybe they return, maybe they don’t.
Conversate/hijack away.
Sean-thanks. Nice of you to say, but I just wanted to make sure that my meandering wasn’t an issue for you.
I had the privilege of being on the search committee for Superintendent of Schools. Mark Springer was on that committee, and I have the utmost respect for him. I agree with Jane, that just because you are a fabulous elementary school principal, moving on to a middle school or high school is not a promotion. If you love what you do and are excellent at developing your staff, and have expertise in the developmental stages of your student population, you might not want to be moved to another level. There is no salary increase from elementary to middle school. A seasoned, well liked principal, no matter how awesome she/he is, moving to another level requires a new learning curve, mentoring, etc. Transfer of skills from elementary to middle are important, but require different areas of expertise. I coordinate a program that runs in all 21 schools in Newton, from the preschool to high school. I can’t declare that any one elementary is better than another. Take a look at staff turnover at the school, and you might gain some insight into which schools are the best.
I am a fan of MCAS, but agree with ‘Not a fan of MCAS’ – staff turnover and principal are good things to look at. But your kid is the most important thing.
From what I’ve seen and personal experience, parents are happy with a school, when their kids are happy in a school.
Friends in the classroom; a sporty, artistic or bookish atmosphere; etc. A good school can be a bad match for some kids, for example a great school might overwhelm a shy child, who would be happier in a smaller OK school with smaller class sizes.
For an incisive, well-written description of the pluses and minuses of the Newton Schools, there really is no better source than http://www.greatnewtonschools.org.
I mean, IMHO, emphasis on “humble”
Thank you all!
Ward is the best elementary school in the city, hands down. Ranks highest in MCAS scores every year, has the smallest student body, and the most engaged PTO. Everybody who sends their kids there loves it.
It’s been many years since this thread began, and schools may have changed since then…how would you answer this question now? I’ve got two young kids and am considering a move to Newton so would love to hear people’s opinions about the elementary schools and the pros and cons of each.
– David