A new school start time and pick-up routine for students at Newton’s Thomas Jefferson Elementary School will begin on April 15th. Newton School Superintendent Tom Messenger told the school board during their meeting Monday night that the school’s northside driveway will begin to be restructured at that time, and will last through the remaining six weeks of the school year. To accommodate this, the start time for the school day will be moved up 15 minutes, with doors opening at 7:25 in the morning and classes starting at 7:50 a.m. The change allows for no lost instructional time, as students will be bused after school to the school administration building for pick-up. Starting on April 15th, Thomas Jefferson Elementary will dismiss just before 3 p.m. Each grade level will be put on a different bus, and taken to the Administration Building. This is where parents can pick up their students. Principal Jolene Comer noted there will be no changes impacting the building’s preschool students. She’s asking parents to look at the long term benefits of the short-term disruption.

“A little bit of inconvenience will allow us to have a fully new, functional north side and parent drop off pick-up process. So a temporary problem and a long term great solution.” 

Thomas Jefferson Elementary has been kept open this year and will stay open next school year while the renovation and addition are completed. The school along with Aurora Heights Elementary are being improved and enlarged to accommodate up to 500 students, as the Newton School District moves from three to two elementary schools in 2026-2027.