John Ward Elementary School
John Ward School is the smallest of the 15 public elementaries in Newton. Its 247 students come primarily from the Chestnut Hill and Newton Centre neighborhoods. After 5th grade, Ward students go to Bigelow Middle School, and then to Newton North High School. Construction of the building was begun in 1927 and finished in time for the start of the 1928 school year. The school has been enlarged twice, in 1950 and 1954. The school was named for one of Newton's earliest settlers, John Ward, a farmer who was born in 1626 and died in 1708. He was a civic leader and the city's first representative to the Massachusetts Legislature. Deacon John Ward, a descendent whose portrait hangs in the school library, willed a portion of the land the school sits on to the city in 1911. Ward is one of only a few Newton schools not facing a space crunch. According a 2007 report by a School Committee consultant, Ward is under capacity by 79 students. Its peak enrollment of 506 came in 1971, though school space standards and requirements have changed considerably in the last three decades.
Version 5.2 last modified by / on 11/15/2008 at 05:22