On June 9, Newton Public Schools announced via press release the appointment of Jesse Krotick, M.Ed. in the newly created NPS position of Director of Mental Health and Well-Being, effective July 1. Mr. Krotick is presently the NPS Coordinator of Social Work and Social Emotional Learning for elementary schools, a…
Posts published by “Adam Bernstein”
Newton Public Schools (NPS) has named current employees as interim principals for Newton North and Newton South High Schools for the 2026-2027 academic year. Newton North HS Lisa Gilbert-Smith, M.Ed. will be the Interim Principal of Newton North High School. She is currently the Director of NPS’s METCO Program and…
The May 18 regular School Committee meeting focused on the Committee receiving updates from district and school-level department heads regarding curriculum and programming reviews for engineering and computer programs, athletic departments, as well as voting on allocating budget funds for Math and English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum materials. Fig City…
The April 29th School Committee meeting focused on the required annual decision by the district to opt-in or opt-out of the state’s School Choice program. This program allows Newton Public Schools (NPS) to open a specified number of student slots to students from other Massachusetts school districts. As she did…
The NPS Reflections Program at Williams Elementary School in Auburndale is moving to what will be the newly reconstructed Franklin Elementary school beginning in the 2027-2028 academic year. The program is described as being for students requiring “extensive content modifications and instructional methodology that integrates functional skills and substantial related…
After multiple meetings of discussion and debate, on April 6 the School Committee — including Mayor Marc Laredo — approved by unanimous vote one of the two budget proposals put forth by Superintendent Anna Nolin for the next school year (FY 2027). The approved budget of $314.5 million will increase…
On March 30, in the midst of several recent Newton Public Schools (NPS) budgeting meetings, Superintendent Anna Nolin and the School Committee held a special meeting with the State Legislators representing Newton: All are Newton residents except Rep. Lawn, who resides in Watertown. The one-hour meeting began with Dr. Nolin presenting…
The “carryforward” item within the Newton Public Schools (NPS) budget — the amount of cash unspent by NPS in the current year, which is then assumed to be expended in the next year’s budget — is a consistent source of confusion, taking much airtime during public budget meetings. NPS continues…
During March 9-16, the School Committee and NPS convened three public budget meetings to review detailed information from NPS departments regarding their budgetary methodologies and priorities. These meetings continued the dichotomy of the Superintendent, Mayor, and School Committee all acknowledging what they say is an improved budgeting process and working…
On March 2, the School Committee, including Mayor Marc Laredo, met with Superintendent Anna Nolin and NPS Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Liam Hurley in a public but unrecorded budget meeting at the Education Center. The meeting was also attended by Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education Ayesha Farag and observed…
The regularly scheduled February 2 School Committee meeting focused on the ongoing revisions to the Newton Public Schools (NPS) math curriculum. Ahead of the curriculum presentation, the School Committee approved proposed fee increases for various ancillary NPS programs such as musical instrument education, early-morning and after-school programs, and athletics. Increases…
The January 7 School Committee meeting was the first regularly scheduled biweekly meeting of the recently elected 2026-2027 School Committee, and it was led by new Chair Alicia Piedalue. In her regular update, Superintendent Anna Nolin highlighted the Kindergarten enrollment period starting on March 2 and requested families with children…