David Fleishman breaks the news..
April 17, 2015
Dear Newton Community,
As many of you are aware, we are in an exciting time of facilities renovations and expansion within the Newton Public Schools. The Angier School will be completed in December with Zervas and Cabot not far behind.
I want to make you aware of some exciting news related to our facilities planning. The Mayor has signed a letter of intent to acquire the Aquinas School and property on Jackson Street, subject to approval and a vote to fund the purchase from the Board of Aldermen. I believe this would be an incredible asset for our system. Aquinas is a property with a school building that, with some modifications, will be a terrific facility for our district. There is also significant parking and land included in the acquisition.
If this purchase is approved by the Board of Aldermen and School Committee, our plans for facilities renovations and expansion would be updated to include the following:
- The Aquinas School would be renovated and include the addition of an elementary school sized gym. When completed, Lincoln-Eliot will move to Aquinas. We expect this to occur by September 2019. After Lincoln-Eliot moves to Aquinas, the old Lincoln-Eliot would become the swing space for our system.
- The Aquinas property can also accommodate a unified preschool program. The preschool would likely be able to occupy Aquinas as early as September, although this would still need to be confirmed.
- Horace Mann would move into the newly renovated Carr School in September 2019, which is the time that Cabot students will move from Carr into a newly renovated or rebuilt Cabot School. The Horace Mann building would transition to become a community center and location for Parks & Recreation programming in 2019.
Please understand that our Student Assignment Working Group will continue their work while being mindful of these planned changes. We will keep you well informed on the work of that group as well as the progress and timeframe of the exciting changes resulting from the Aquinas purchase, if it is approved by the Board.
I am grateful to Mayor Warren and his team for working with us to address our facilities and capacity issues. Their support is most appreciated and will make a huge difference for generations of Newton students.
I hope you have a wonderful vacation week.
Sincerely,
David Fleishman
Superintendent of Schools
It’s not April 1 again, is it???
It’s about time.
@ Gail said.
“Ambassador to Israel to purchase Aquinas School”
What, and no housing ?!!!
Where are we going to put the families with children to fill this expanded school space? 😉
Well done Doug.
This is a great idea. The details of the transitional plans described can be argued, but this purchase helps to compensate for the short-sighted sale of other Newton school properties in the past.
Sounds like a good, useful and well thought out plan.
After it’s done as swing space, we’ll sell off Lincoln-Elliot to a developer to create luxury condos… oh, wait. Maybe that’s not a great idea.
What does he plan to use it for? The school population does not appear to need it.
One use I would highly recommend is the relocation of the Senior Center with expand space and parking.
Sounds like a good plan. Great news.
Maybe Cabot School doesn’t need that expansion now.?
They are only a quarter mile apart from each other.
A home run for the City.
It is about time.
Congratulations on making the deal. Biggest and best move made by the Administration.
Mayor Warren and his staff and everyone who worked on this should be proud.
Wow this is definitely a great move by the city! Amy Sangiolo’s persistence evidently paid off. http://village14.com/newton-ma/2014/12/aquinas-up-for-grabs-your-vision/#comment-51970
Too bad the $40 million for 170 seats at Zervas is already spent. 🙂
@Steve: Thanks for the shout-out but I was active back in 2010 too, when I approached the realtor and got some folks from the Administration to go on a tour – I think twice – but definitely with Bob Rooney, Stephanie Gilman and Josh Morse.
I remember a meeting with the Mayor when he first got elected and I made 3 asks. He’s met two – I’ll have to remind him about the 3rd!
Thank you Mayor Warren and the entire Administration. This is a great accomplishment!!
Somebody pinch me! Did I dream this column last December? Applause to Mayor Warren! Best use of my tax dollars ever. Will there be state monies involved?
I was happy to read in the email that the plan for H-M is specifically a multi-generational community center.
Couldn’t question 1 override money be used to purchase Aquinas? Remember, the question asked if money should be spent on other capital expenses to address student enrollment – Aquinas does that. If we were to scale the Zervas project back to a renovation/ expansion for $10 million, then the remaining money could be used to purchase Aquinas and still have something left over for renovating other schools in the system. Imagine if we could get all this done without needing another override.
Can somebody please put my mind at ease by defining a “unified pre-school program?” Please tell me we are not looking at making it a city-wide program and unleasing all those vehicles onto the streets.
I second everyone else’s excitement. So many advantages to this. Thank you Mayor Warren and all who worked on this, and also to the Sisters of Saint Joseph for being willing to come to an agreement with the city that will preserve this building for much needed school space. And I love the idea of a multi-generational community center at Horace Mann eventually.
@Marie Jackson: “Unified pre-school” means both special needs and typical students mixed together. This is already how the preschool in the Education Building on Walnut Street works. But the preschool is very cramped for space, as are the administration offices. This will allow the preschool a comfortable amount of space and let the Education building have more space.
What Julia and Amy and so many others said.
I just spoke to School Committee Chairman Matt Hills who is very excited about this news. He said it brings “all sorts of new opportunities and flexibility” to the long-range facilities plan.
@Dan, thank you for that info. Up until now, I thought that the word being used for what you described was inclusive. So this is new eduspeak?
Where is the Aquinas property?
https://www.google.com/maps/place/15+Walnut+Park,+Newton,+MA+02458/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e382a06a94b271:0x6a2a614749cc4017?sa=X&ei=r44xVeXVKJHdsAS2hYGYAw&ved=0CB0Q8gEwAA
Marie, I don’t think unified or inclusive is the best term for the preschool. As it currently exists at 100 Walnut Street, it is called NECP aka the Newton Early Childhood Program. There are over 300 students, it’s bursting at the seams and they have 2 classes over at Lincoln-Eliot. 15 years ago, when my son was a student at NECP, he spent 2 years at 100 Walnut St, and one year at Peirce. It’s been a goal for a long time to get the entire preschool under one roof. This is excellent news.
Jo-Louise, thanks for clarifying. I didn’t know the preschool was split at the present time. The term “unified” is used for special-needs sports teams that have typical participants as well – I thought this might be that use of the term.
Greg, I am glad the city is making this acquisition. I asked the superintendent about doing this two years ago during the series of public meetings addressing the override. Given the opening, closing, renovating, expanding etc. of so many facilities, does anyone know what the net gain in capacity this will generate at the elementary school level?
Thank you also, JoLouise. We moved here for J’s First Grade year, so I have been woefully unaware of the pre-K and K situation. To clarify, because I neglected to mention it earlier, I am also very happy about this acquisition, and agree that it is a step in the right direction.
This is fantastic news for the City and I commend Mayor Warren for getting it done. I am particularly happy for the Horace Mann community which was not slated to get a nicer facility until 2030 when they were to be moved to Carr… this speeds it up by 11 years. (For those not familiar with Horace Mann, some refer to it is “the Hurricane Katrina school”)
This will unify the two pre-school programs of integrated (inclusive) classes into one facility. How’s that for wrapping up all the terms into one sentence?
The previous timeline for the renovation/rebuilding of the L-E and H-M facilities left another generation or two of elementary students in inadequate space, and this completely changes that. At last our elementary students will have adequate, updated, and healthy learning spaces. I’m thrilled for both school communities and for the city! The additional community space will be a huge asset to all residents for years to come.