Monday is the first day of classes for the 2025-2026 school year for most schools in Jasper County. The Newton, Baxter, PCM, and Colfax-Mingo school districts will have students in classrooms. Newton Christian School and Sully Christian also start the new school year Monday. The Lynnville-Sully School District will begin the 2025-2026 school year Tuesday. 

Due to ongoing construction on the west driveway and south parking lot at Newton’s Thomas Jefferson Elementary, parents dropping off students in the morning are restricted to using the new north entrance only. After school, students normally picked up at Thomas Jefferson will be bused to the nearby Administration Building for pick-up. That’s also how student pick-up was handled at the end of the last school year. But Thomas Jefferson Elementary Principal Jolene Comer says there is one difference now.

“One nice thing this year, because of some changes to the transportation system, we don’t have to change our school hours. We had to dismiss a little early in the spring to accommodate that. This year we don’t have to do that. So we will be dismissed at our typical time of 3:15p.m.”

If the weather cooperates, Comer believes the driveway and parking lot projects could be wrapped up in four to six weeks.