Franklin Elementary
August 2025 Project Update
Good Morning Franklin School Community,
After 3 years and hundreds of meetings to advance and refine the design for the new Franklin School, I have some great news to share.
Yesterday, we opened bids from prequalified general contractors who submitted proposals to construct the new Franklin School. This followed many months of marketing the project to hundreds of trade and general contractors throughout New England.
I am pleased to announce that J&J Contractors out of Billerica will be partnering with our team to construct the new Franklin School. J&J has plenty of public education construction experience, and you can see some of their projects here.
In addition to their ample school construction experience, J&J is the general contractor building the new Cooper Center in Newtonville. The timing of the two projects works well, and the team we’ve been working with over the last year and a half on the Cooper Center, will be partnering with us on the Franklin School Project.
With this milestone, I am pleased to say that not only do we have an incredible partner in J&J, but the Franklin School Project bids were very favorable, and we are both on schedule and under budget.
We have already begun the process of coordinating the beginning steps of the construction process. You will see us mobilize and get construction fences and gates installed in the coming weeks.
I would like to express my deep appreciation for the volunteers on the School Building and Design Review Committees, our City Council, the residents and neighbors, Principal Mark Chitty and his staff, and of course Mayor Fuller. The design process is long and tedious, but we will break ground shortly on a transformative project for the Franklin School and the neighborhood.
I will keep you posted as the project advances.
Have a great weekend!
Josh Morse
Public Buildings Commissioner
Public Buildings Department
City of Newton
The Franklin School project will build a new school on the field adjacent to the existing school building. The Franklin project is being designed with a geo-thermal heating and cooling system. The project is anticipated to be completed by February of 2027.
In May of 2020, Statements of Interest (SOI) were submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for both Franklin Elementary School and Countryside Elementary School. Though the Franklin School project was not selected by the MSBA to move forward at this time, both the City of Newton Capital Improvement Plan and the Newton Public School's Long Range Facilities Plan include a major capital improvement project to address the school's facility needs.
The Franklin School Project is currently paused while awaiting project funding. Pre-feasibility planning was completed over this past year, and the goal is to begin the feasibility design phase in a few months provided project funding is approved.
As part of the pre-feasibility work, HMFH Architects gathered and documented existing building and site conditions, reviewed enrollment data, developed a preliminary space program and needs assessment. Educational Planner, David Stephen, led a staff visioning session in September to begin to gather staff input and feedback. Preliminary conceptual designs and School Building Committee meeting materials and recordings can be found on the Franklin Elementary School Project webpage of the Newton Public Buildings website. Project information can also be found below. This project is anticipated to be completed in the summer of 2027.