There were 740 English Learner (EL) students in October 2025 compared to 764 EL students in October 2024. Of the 740 ELs this year, 506 are elementary students (11% of the total elementary population) and 234 are secondary students (4% of the total secondary population), similar to last year. The percentage of students receiving special education services this school year has remained consistent with last year at 17.8%. If preschool students are included in the total, the percentage of students receiving special education services is the same as last year at 18%. Special education students enrolled in out-of-district special education schools total 120 students based on the October 2025 Student Services Report, which includes 94 out of district placements and 26 agreements. This is an increase of 11 students from last year. The Newton Early Childhood Program (NECP) enrolled 161 preschool children in integrated early childhood classrooms or in therapeutic services as of October 1, 2025; enrollment typically increases during the course of the year. The preschool moved into their new building at 687 Watertown Street in January 2023 and has capacity for expansion in the future. Including preschool and outplaced students, the district’s full PK-12+ enrollment totals just over 11,600 students.
Future Enrollment Projection Methodology
The enrollment projections are typically prepared by combining the current year’s official enrollment as reported on October 1, 2025, to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with other available demographic data for Newton. A model of five-year average cohort survival ratios is applied to the current enrollment data (in grades one through twelve). The projections are calculated on an individual school and grade basis and then aggregated into system-wide projections. Adjusted three-year averages are used for kindergarten. For the cohort survival ratio methodology, a cohort is defined as a group of students in a specific grade level who are at a specific school or are all going to the same school in the next year. To calculate the cohort survival ratio for a particular grade level in a particular year, the number of students enrolled in the cohort for the current year is divided by the number of students in that cohort from the prior year. These cohort survival ratios for each grade level and school in Newton for the past five years are averaged to calculate the five-year average cohort survival ratio for each grade level and school. These ratios are then applied to this year’s current resident enrollment at each grade and school to calculate the projections for the next five years. Non-resident students are not included in the cohort for the cohort survival ratio calculation but are added to the total projection for the next five years after the cohort survival ratio is applied to the current year’s enrollment. For example, assuming that the five-year average cohort survival ratio for Bowen, Memorial-Spaulding, and Zervas grade 5 students moving on to grade 6 at Oak Hill is 0.97 and there are 232 resident students in this group, the cohort calculation would yield 225 (232 x 0.97) students. Eight current non-resident students would be added to this total, resulting in a final projection of 233 students for students entering the 6th grade at Oak Hill next year.
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