Underwood and Ward Update

Ward PTO Meeting

May 18, 2023

Background and Context - Why are we here?

NPS Facilities Goal: Planning for the Future

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• Ensure K-5 schools meet current educational needs and maintain favorable class sizes

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• Design and maintain up-to-date teaching and learning facilities

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• Identify Short and Long-term options and solutions for Underwood and Ward by December 2023, before Kindergarten registration for 2024-25 school year.

NPS Facilities Goal: Planning for the Future

Site & Facility Conditions

Educational Program

Enrollment & Number of Classrooms

Background and Context

• Underwood (1924) and Ward (1928) are the oldest and smallest elementary schools in Newton, and are slated for a comprehensive review to help address facility, educational, and enrollment challenges in each school.
• Underwood and Ward School buildings lack many of the spaces found in today's modern schools, and many spaces are inadequate to fully support the educational program.
• Simultaneously, the enrollment of both schools has dropped to levels that are beginning to impact students’ educational experience.

Background and Context

• In February 2020, an Underwood and Ward Task Force was formed to identify and present options to the School Committee and Superintendent on the future of both school buildings.

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• The Task Force had its first meeting in March 2020, just prior to the pandemic, when everything was put on hold.

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• In March 2023, Perkins Eastman Architects, was selected for the Underwood and Ward Facility and Enrollment Study to support and help guide the Task Force.

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• The Task Force is now reconvened and had their first meeting on

April 25, 2023.

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Task Force Mission & Guiding Principles

“The goal of this initiative is to employ a collaborative and transparent process with community stakeholders to examine and analyze a myriad of information about the Ward and Underwood Schools. This stakeholder team will collaborate to review relevant information, and identify feasible short and long-term options to preserve high quality instruction and positive learning conditions for all Ward and Underwood students and to address current challenges. Through this process, team members will evaluate possible facility and district solutions for the students, families, district, and community to ensure that the highest quality educational experience is delivered for current and future students in the Ward and Underwood School Districts.”

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Task Force Mission & Guiding Principles

“The results of this work will be to present short and long term options to the School Committee and Superintendent on the future of both school buildings by December of 2023.”

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DRAFT Underwood and Ward Mission and Guiding Principles

Guiding Principles

1. The process shall be transparent and collaborative and will include regular community updates with ample public dialogue. 

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• Documents shall be posted on the Newton Public Schools website to provide easy access to information as it becomes available. 

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• The target number of general education classrooms in any proposed solution should be in the range of 18-22, similar to other recently completed and planned elementary school projects.

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Guiding Principles

4. This initiative will consider several potential options including but not limited to:

• Renovation of both Schools.
• New construction for both Schools.
• Renovation of one school and new construction of the other.
• New construction for the Ward or Underwood Elementary School to be the new home for both schools, resulting in consolidation of the two schools.
• Redistricting Ward and Underwood Elementary School students into other elementary schools in the district.

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5. The educational program options and inadequate learning environments in these aging facilities are the primary driving factors for this initiative.

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Guiding Principles

6. Capital and operating costs will be one of many factors considered when determining the favorability of potential solutions.

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7. Newton’s tradition of neighborhood schools will be one of many factors considered as part of the context of the review and analysis process for proposed options.

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8. The study will present several options to the Newton School Committee, who will make the final decision in a formal public vote. Recommendations for both short and long term solutions will be presented.

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9. The impact of each scenario on transportation costs for both Newton Public Schools and families will be considered as part of the evaluation process.

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Task Force Membership

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• Two (2) Underwood staff

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• Two (2) Ward staff

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• Underwood parent/guardian

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• Ward parent/guardian

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• Three (3) School Committee members

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• Two (2) City Councilors

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• NPS Assistant Superintendent/CFO

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• Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education

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• NPS Director of Finance

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• NPS Director of Planning

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• NPS Director of Data Analysis & Enrollment Planning

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• Public Buildings Commissioner

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• City Chief Operating Officer

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Perkins Eastman Consultant Team

Educational Programmer

Principal in Charge / Project Manager

Facilities Assessment

Sub-consultants - HVAC, Plumbing, Accessibility, Structural, etc.

Timeline and Expectations

Internal Staff Meetings (staff & Perkins Eastman)

Bi-weekly

Task Force Meetings

Monthly on 2nd Tuesday of the month at 3:00 PM through Dec 2023

In-person and virtual meetings

Open to the public, presentations and minutes posted to webpage

Staff Updates

In-person and virtual, and online feedback

Community Meetings

In-person and virtual, and online feedback

School Committee Updates

City Council Updates

Timeline and expectations

Timeline and Expectations

Phase 1 - Spring 2023

• Existing conditions assessment - buildings, sites and space use
• Historic and projected enrollment review for both schools, individually and within the context of the district
• Understand facility needs to support the educational program
• Identify issues and opportunities

Phase 2 - Summer 2023

• Identify/develop strategies and options for consideration
• Research and data collection for various short and long term options

Phase 3 - Fall 2023

• Opportunities for Community input on findings
• Refine Options and complete Criteria Evaluation Matrix
• Present options to Superintendent and School Committee

Ward Strengths and Challenges Exercise

Enrollment Projections

• 5 year projections published yearly in Enrollment Analysis Report
• Methodology uses historical enrollment to project future enrollment
• Main purpose is to guide planning
• For the following school year: to help plan for staffing/number of classrooms
• For future years: to identify trends both districtwide and by school
• Preliminary enrollment data is utilized throughout the spring and summer to plan for any shifts for the upcoming school year
• Planning assumptions are re-evaluated and adjusted based on preliminary enrollment data

Enrollment Analysis for UWD-Ward Task Force

• More detailed analysis of enrollment for both schools is a major charge of the Task Force
• “...this initiative will focus on studying the current and projected student enrollment, the physical facilities and sites, as well as the current and ideal education programs”(Task Force Mission Statement)
• This entails analyzing both historical and projected enrollment for both schools in more detail

5-Year Enrollment Projections: Elementary

• Elementary: -377 students (-7.5%)
• Assumes decreasing K classes in 3 of the next 5 years

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Why is elementary enrollment projected to decline districtwide?

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• Largest contributing factor is the declining number of births for Newton residents

Source: Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health, Vital Statistics (obtained through NESDEC) *Kindergarten class is projected

Enrollment projections nationwide

• Declining enrollment is not unique to Newton
• US Department of Education 10 year projections PK-12 (2020-2030):
• Massachusetts: -4.5%
• Northeast: -6.2%
• South: -2.4%
• West: -6.5%
• Midwest: -3.8%
• Nationwide: -4.3%

Accuracy of projections

• Typical variance for district and level projections is within +/-2%
• COVID resulted in larger negative variances (enrollment below projection)

Projected ranges utilizing historical variances: Underwood total

*Projections for 2028-2032 include estimates for students not yet born. These years utilize estimated births from NESDEC, which stabilize due to

the estimation methodology.

8-12 classrooms/year

Projected ranges utilizing historical variances: Underwood K

*Projections for 2028-2032 include estimates for students not yet born. These years utilize estimated births from NESDEC, which stabilize due to

the estimation methodology.

1-2 classrooms/year

Projected ranges utilizing historical variances: Ward total

*Projections for 2028-2032 include estimates for students not yet born. These years utilize estimated births from NESDEC, which stabilize due to

the estimation methodology.

6-12 classrooms per year

Projected ranges utilizing historical variances: Ward total

1-2 classrooms per year

*Projections for 2028-2032 include estimates for students not yet born. These years utilize estimated births from NESDEC, which stabilize due to

the estimation methodology.

Why isn’t enrollment growing at Ward and Underwood?

• Decline in number of births (impacts all elementary schools)
• No large-scale development in either Underwood or Ward districts
• Non NPS school enrollment was consistent in both school districts for many years, and both saw an increase in recent years
• A return to pre-pandemic levels of non NPS school enrollment in either school does not change the general trend of declining or stabilizing enrollment

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Enrollment in non NPS schools for Underwood

• Increased in the Underwood district beginning in 2020-2021 (distributed K-5)
• A return to pre-pandemic levels of approximately 15% is an increase of 9 students at Underwood (average 1.5 students per grade)

Enrollment in non NPS schools for Ward

• Increased in the Ward district beginning in 2019-2020 (distributed K-5)
• A return to pre-pandemic levels of approximately 30% is an increase of 43 students at Ward (average 7 students per grade)

Educational Program -

Strengths & Challenges of Small Schools

• Potential for small class sizes, strong sense of community (+)
• Challenges of “right sizing” classrooms–potential for sizes markedly lower or higher than district average
• Partial FTEs for specials makes scheduling difficult; scheduling driven by staffing. Challenges of hiring and retaining qualified staff with partial FTEs
• Limited social opportunities
• Flexible grouping challenges, limited cohort clusters for academic/programmatic purposes
• Staff teaming by grade level; annual changes in team composition

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18 classrooms = 3 classrooms/grade - this configuration better supports the educational plan, staffing, scheduling and social and emotional well-being of staff, students and families, while also allowing for enrollment fluctuations.

New and Planned K-5 Schools in Newton

• Angier 2015* – 24 classrooms
• Zervas 2017 – 24 classrooms
• Cabot 2019* – 24 classrooms
• Lincoln-Eliot (fall ‘25) - 18 + 2 classrooms (in design)
• Countryside* (fall ’27) - 21+2 classrooms (in feasibility)
• Franklin (fall ‘27 or ’29) - 18+2 classrooms proposed (feasibility)
• Horace Mann - 18 classrooms (in feasibility, on hold)

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*MSBA funding - Angier and Cabot were partially funded by the State. Countryside is anticipated to be partially funded by the State.

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Feedback and questions?

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Information will be posted on:

Underwood and Ward Schools Study Webpage

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Questions and feedback can be sent to:

npsunderwoodwardstudy@newton.k12.ma.us

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Sign up for Email Updates on:

Underwood and Ward Schools Study Webpage

Upcoming Meetings

• School Committee: May 22, 2023, 6:30 PM

- Update and review Task Force Mission & Guiding Principles

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• Task Force Meeting: May 23, 3:00 PM, Ed Center

- Enrollment & Educational Program

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• Underwood PTO Meeting: June 6, 2023, at Underwood

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• Task Force Meeting: June 13, 3:00 PM

- Existing Site & Facility Conditions

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