Mount Alvernia Academy will host an Open House on November 7 from 8:30–10:30AM. As a two-time National Blue Ribbon School with a rich history spanning 98 years, the school is proud to offer a tradition of academic excellence in a nurturing and supportive environment. The Open House is an opportunity to…
Posts published in “Education”
As in 2023 and 2024, Dr. Anna Nolin met with Fig City News at the start of this school year for a lengthy discussion of academics, the district’s goals for the upcoming school year, and the current topics of interest to the community. The following interview has been edited for…
Jackson Walnut Park School is having an Open House Tuesday, December 9, 6PM – 6:30PM. Meet at the Student Center (55 Walnut Park, Newton). Please feel free to bring your kids!
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…
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…