Progress made over the last month on the addition and renovations at Newton’s Aurora Heights Elementary School will be discussed tomorrow. Another construction update with representatives of the school district and Graphite Construction Group of Des Moines on the $12,895,000 project is scheduled for Wednesday. The last construction update meeting was December 11th. 

Newton’s Aurora Heights and Thomas Jefferson Elementary Schools are getting additions and renovations as the district transitions from four to two elementary schools. When the projects are completed, both schools will be capable of handling up to 500 pre-kindergarten through 4th grade students. The District’s two other elementary schools, Emerson Hough and Woodrow Wilson, will close after the 2025-2026 school year due to a longstanding trend of declining enrollment. Newton had 2,628 students when this school year began, which is down 65 students from the first day of school in August 2023.