Newton's Oak Hill Middle School Construction To Begin This Fall

NEWTON, MA —Newton is edging closer to constructing an addition onto the Oak Hill Middle School to add three permanent classrooms. The move is an effort to address an uptick in enrollment there.

The City Council last week approved the $2.5 million project, which means work work will start this fall. The project also includes a reconfiguration of some interior space to provide more flexible use of the gym and cafeteria, according to Mayor Ruthanne Fuller.

The original school, which was built in 1936, was closed in 1984, because of declining school enrollment in Newton. The building was rented to the Solomon Schecter Day School as a Montessori school. When the city's enrollment began to grow again, the school was re-opened as the Oak Hill Middle School in 1997 with 614 students. In 1997, the west side of the building was demolished and a new addition was constructed to replace the older one, according to the school's website. In 2018, the school served 614 students. The year before that 639, according to the school's most recent report card with the state.

Current enrollment is at 632 students, according to the district, but predicted rising enrollment from the feeder elementary schools, means it is projected to rise to 674 in 2021 and above 700 students shortly after.

Oak Hill is seeing increased enrollment primarily because of the expansion of the new Zervas Elementary School which feeds into this middle school, according to the city.

Crews will fence off the construction site and and have safety officers on site during construction, which will take place during school days.

The project proposes a new single story, 5,000 square foot addition on the southwest corner of the existing school and fronting on Wheeler Road. The addition includes three classrooms to accommodate 75 additional students as well as two small group and individualized learning spaces, toilets and support space.

The existing building will be modified to connect the existing facility and the new addition, and also includes required building code and accessibility upgrades.

Check out this link for details on the more than $2 million project.