On August 21, 2025, the School Committee held its annual summer retreat at the Newton Education Center. All Committee Members — including Mayor Ruthanne Fuller — were present at the meeting, with the exception of Committee Members Rajeev Parlikar (Ward 1) and Barry Greenstein (Ward 8). They were joined by Newton Public…
Posts published in “Education”
In 1904, Newton hired a progressive superintendent, Frank Spaulding who believed public schools should “provide educational opportunities adapted to the individual needs of every boy and girl from four to eighteen years of age.” He sought class sizes of no more than 25 pupils so teachers could do individual work…
Newton’s Recycling Center Swap Shop is hosting a Give-Away event for NPS teachers at the Swap Shop (Recycling Center) at Rumsford Avenue on Friday September 12 and Saturday, September 13, 7:30AM-1:30PM. The Swap Shop volunteers say: “Welcome back, all Newton Educator and Support Staff who teach the Expanded and Core Curriculum!…
Fig City News recently spoke with School Committee member Barry Greenstein, who announced in an Op-Ed last month that he is stepping down from the Committee due to his family moving out of Newton. Originally aimed to be an “exit interview” similar to that with Chris Brezski, touching on many…
In colonial Newton, the public school mission was clear: protect children against Satan by teaching them to read the Bible. After the Civil War, the school day still began with devotional activities, but there were more demands on the curriculum. The government wanted civics and heroic American history to unite…
This past school year saw extensive, and at times heated, political debate and discussion over Newton Public Schools (NPS) budgetary priorities. How do these numbers and spending categories shape what students and educators do every day? Fig City News interviewed Principal Kim Lysaght of Brown Middle School, who discussed how…
Forty-eight years before women had the right to vote, they were serving on Newton’s School Committee. The Massachusetts constitution limited voting to men but omitted the word “male” as a qualification for elective office. Women noticed. Suffragists began working to get women elected (by men) onto school committees. They thought…
In 1844, the first state school for teachers and its instructor, Unitarian Reverend Cyrus Pierce, moved to West Newton after Lexington “welched on its financial agreement” to house the school. A wealthy supporter of Horace Mann purchased the Fuller house for the school. Teaching schools were an experiment that the…
On April 2nd, the School Committee correctly approved Superintendent Nolin’s recommended Level Service Plus budget proposal – a compromise plan to maintain our schools’ quality amid rising costs. Mayor Fuller’s current allocation of $293 million, however, falls up to $4.5 million short of this bare minimum budget. It is imperative that the…
The next span of Newton school history was marked by the growth of private schools; issues of governance, equity and curriculum; and the beginnings of teachers organizing. By 1763, Newton had two full-time school masters and four one-room, 14 ft x 16 ft schoolhouses for a population of 1,306. The…
Tight school budgets, outdated school buildings, and uncontested School Committee elections: When did these issues begin? Fig City News dug into archives and discovered a history of Newton’s schools dating back to the 17th century rife with issues that vex us to this day: funding, teacher pay, curriculum, governance, school…
We are, yet again, at a crossroads regarding the funding of Newton’s schools. We can choose to take the path identified by Mayor Fuller and continue to sacrifice both academic excellence and equity on the altar of perceived fiscal prudence. Or we can take the path outlined by Superintendent Nolin…