Newport planners review charter school request on Summer Street
Newport planners weighed a charter-school request for 167 Summer Street, where Cornerstone wants grades K-3 in a residential zone.
Newport planners put a charter-school proposal at 167 Summer Street before the Planning Board on June 24, asking for non-binding review and comment under RSA 674:54. Summit Literacy, LLC filed the request for a tuition-free chartered public school for grades K through 3 in the Rural and Single-Family Residential Zone, a step that did not decide the project but gave the board a chance to flag how the use would fit the neighborhood and town land-use rules.
Cornerstone Chartered Public School plans to open there in fall 2026 with kindergarten through third grade for the 2026-2027 school year, then add one grade a year until it reaches grade 8. The New Hampshire Board of Education approved its charter on January 9, 2025. Cornerstone's application period for 2026-2027 ran from Dec. 1 through Feb. 28, with a blind lottery by April 15 if applications exceeded available spaces.
The school request landed alongside a broader land-use conversation. Timothy Josephson of the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission was scheduled to present updated chapters for Newport’s revised master plan. Work on the revised master plan was already underway in March and April, and the Newport Conservation Commission submitted comments and corrected draft material for the land use and natural resource sections. On March 2, Vice Chair Kessler urged development of a master plan to guide growth, support grant applications and clarify fundraising priorities.
UVLSRPC is a public, nonprofit association of 31 member municipalities in two states and five counties, and it has a $1.2 million U.S. Department of Transportation Thriving Communities Program grant for technical assistance, planning and capacity building. Newport’s Planning Board also listed a review of its meeting schedule for the coming year, and the board normally meets on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Office Selectmen’s Room. The agenda further set the annual joint meeting of all land-use boards for Sept. 30, 2026 at 6 p.m. in the Bar Harbor Room at the La Valley Family Community Center.
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