Winter break in the Newton School District begins in one week. While Newton students will get some time off, workers renovating and working on an addition at Aurora Heights Elementary school will stay on the job. Newton School Superintendent Tom Messinger says that means work will be going on uninterrupted until it’s completed.

“With no students and nothing going on in that building, from the district’s point of view, that construction project can continue on through the winter, spring, and first part of the summer.”

Graphite Construction Group is handling the addition and renovations at Newton’s Aurora Heights Elementary School. The Des Moines company submitted the low bid of $12,895,000. Aurora Heights and Thomas Jefferson Elementary Schools are being equipped to handle up to 500 pre-kindergarten through 4th grade students, as part of a transition from four elementary schools to two next fall, due to a continual decline in enrollment. Thomas Jefferson’s addition and renovations, which have basically been completed, cost the Newton School District just over $5,378,000.