Neighborhood Schools
(see also Analysis of Long Range Facilities Plan!)
Newton is more than a city – Newton consists of a multitude of small neighborhoods. This neighborhood based community is one of the things that many of us value most highly. Our neighborhoods are being eroded and this needs to be reversed.
The heart of every neighborhood is the elementary school. When I grew up I attended Hyde Elementary School. When the Hyde School was closed, part of Newton Highlands was lost forever. This is true each time we close a school or library. These public institutions, distributed evenly throughout our city provide a focal point for people to get to know each other in our increasingly disconnected world.
Over the past 30 years we have closed six elementary schools and two middle schools (later adding a new middle school). This has increased the average distance to an elementary school by 22% and to a middle school by 50% and doubled busing to middle school due to the close proximity of Brown and Oak Hill. While some damage has already been done, we need to reestablish the value and vision of neighborhood schools. We need to review our remaining assets and preserve those we still have. We need to resist the temptation to continue the trend of consolidation into fewer and larger schools. We need to resist the temptation to permanently sacrifice our public assets through sale when faced with temporary fluctuations in enrollment.
Middle School districts are a particular problem at the current time due to inopportune decisions made in the past.