MAY 2026

Encouraging News on the Future of Ward

On Tuesday, May 26, 2026, Newton Chief Operating Officer Josh Morse led a city-wide meeting explaining the rationale behind his recommendation that Ward and Underwood remain separate schools rather than be consolidated. The School Committee is expected to vote on this recommendation in June. If approved, the next step would be a 12–18-month feasibility study process.

Some highlights from the presentation are below, though we encourage families to tune in to the School Committee meeting in June, when the presentation will be shared again, and/or watch the meeting recording once it becomes available.

• Based on current enrollment projections, a consolidated school would need to accommodate more than 600 students, making it larger than two of Newton’s four middle schools.

• The Underwood site is not large enough to support a building of that size.

• While the Ward site could physically accommodate a larger school building, the surrounding neighborhood streets are narrow and would create significant traffic and logistical challenges.

At this point, it appears likely that the Ward and Underwood building projects would move forward together as part of a future override package alongside other city building projects. While both projects could potentially happen simultaneously, the current expectation is that Ward would be renovated first, followed by Underwood.

Please know that a school building project of this scale takes many years, and there will be significant opportunities for community input and engagement throughout the process.

Assuming the School Committee approves the recommendation to keep the schools separate, the feasibility study process would begin this summer, with another community meeting anticipated in early September.

We will continue to keep families informed as more information becomes available. In the meantime, this is very encouraging news for our Ward community.