Grade level class sizes have been key numbers as the Newton School District transitions from four to two elementary schools. Newton School District Superintendent Tom Messenger says some of the biggest classes in the district have been 220 to 225 students. Now at the elementary level, each grade has 175 to 200 students at most.

“When you have a class going out that has 220 kids and the kindergarten class coming in has 180, that difference adds up in a big hurry at $7,000 per student”

Messenger says Individual classroom sizes at the elementary level are capped at 20 students in kindergarten and 1st grade, and 25 students for 2nd, 3rd…and 4th grades.

“When you look before the significant decline in enrollment, we were exceeding some of those numbers in classes at the height of Newton’s population.”

In 2026-2027, after renovations to Thomas Jefferson and Aurora Heights elementaries, those will be the only facilities used. Woodrow Wilson and Emerson Hough will close. Listen to Newton School Superintendent Tom Messenger talk more about this transition on today’s Greater Newton Area Chamber of Commerce Let’s Talk Newton.