News Flash

YEAR IN REVIEW — PROGRESS MARKS 2025

MIDDLETOWN, RI (DECEMBER 29, 2025) – The Year 2025 was one of progress for Middletown.

Whether with education, public safety, development and more, the community continued to  push the ball down the field aggressively without losing what makes Middletown special.

Nowhere was this more true than in the schools, where students and teachers made huge strides across the board.

Unfortunately, the news to start the year on this front wasn’t ideal. Word from upstate was there would be $660,000 less in educational aid heading Middletown’s way.

But instead of letting the shortfall devolve into finger pointing and fracturing the Town Council and School Committee, officials pulled together to find common solutions.

Ultimately, the schools were able to secure a 4 percent budget increase for Fiscal 2026 without impacts on classroom teaching and learning.

All this was happening while Middletown’s schools were earning praise and positivity.

In April, Rhode Island Department of Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green  and staff visited the district and were visibly moved at the impacts the schools were having on the lives of students.

She was particularly complimentary of the initiative to have every teacher certified with Multilingual Learners (MLL), a huge undertaking spearheaded by the School Committee under the guidance of Superintendent Billy Niemeyer.

Kudos for the district, its students and staff continued to roll in through the end of the calendar year. 

One major compliment was the jump in standardized testing scores across the district, something attributed to the increased rigor and focus on bottom-line results.

Another was news that every school in Middletown had achieved “Three Star” status with RIDE accountability reports, with Aquidneck School earning “Four Stars” on a five star scale. It is believed to be the first time since the star system was implemented that Middletown’s schools have each attained at least a “Three Star” return.

While proud of the results, Niemeyer and others reiterated it was no time to let up and there was more work to be done.

“There’s a lot to be proud of in 2025,” the Superintendent Niemeyer said. “We made a number of promises and we’re working to deliver on each of them. We want to deliver the best quality, well rounded education we can, not only for our college-bound students, but those who go into the military and our workforce. The numbers show we’re moving in the right direction, but we’re about more than numbers.”

“I’ve said it before, but all the credit goes to our teachers and staff,” School Committee Chair Greg Huet said. “They’re the ones who are making this happen and creating a real difference in the lives of our students, all of our students.”

Striving towards efficiency, the town and schools continued to embrace the shared services model. 

This was true through the combination of finance offices under Marc Tanguay and maintenance overseen by Shared Facilities Director Ed Collins.

Through the finance and maintenance work, new efficiencies were realized and there was better collaboration across the board.

“It’s something a lot of people don’t really see or think about, but it’s these types of improvements that have a lasting impact on Middletown,” council President Paul M. Rodrigues said. “I know from where I sit, it’s been good to see and the change its made, stretching each dollar even further. We owe that to our taxpayers and will continue to find ways to improve our efficiencies.”

“With the combined services agreements, we’re starting to fire on all cylinders,” Town Administrator Shawn J. Brown said. “This is something we’ve been looking to do for years and it’s the way of the corporate world and we should be striving for the same.”

Growth & Development

It’s not uncommon to hear people say Middletown is growing and evolving.

This was true with the schools — as well as the community itself.

In June, the schools and the School Building Committee hosted a wildly successful groundbreaking for the new Middletown Middle High School at 1225 Aquidneck Ave. 

The event drew rave reviews from attendees, who especially liked how Middletown weaved appearances by dignitaries like Infante-Green and Gov. Dan McKee with local leaders and young students who would be attending the new building just north of the existing Gaudet Middle School.

Since then, work has progressed steadily “on time and on budget,” with concrete and steel in place, elevator shafts built and other milestones hit successfully. A grand opening for the new building remains on target for the opening of the 2027-2028 school year. 

The news was similar for efforts to relocate the Middletown Public Library to 110 Enterprise Center behind Town Hall. 

US Senator Gabe Amo spoke warmly about the impact his local library had on his growth and development as a youngster in Pawtucket, applauding Middletown for its foresight and wisdom investing in the new space in remarks during a wall-breaking ceremony in October. The new facility is expected to open at the end of the summer of 2026.

Importantly, with the approval of the $94 million budget for Fiscal 2026 over the summer, the price of the new school and library work was built into the town’s finances moving forward. That means residents won’t see any spikes in their tax bills as a result of the cost of both projects.

Always on the lookout for new tax revenues, hearings on the proposed Middletown Center project sparked discussion across the community. 

Many questioned the wisdom of developing the 15 underutilized acres at 600-740 West Main Road for a mixed residential-commercial-open space project. Others said it was time for the community to capitalize on the site in the center of the town that hasn’t generated a nickel in taxes since the World War II era.

Middletown Center was working its way through the public review before the Town Council when developers asked to pause the process in September. The project has been in limbo, with no news since.

On the other hand, Middletown and Newport continued to flirt with the idea of combining school systems in some form through the end of the year. 

While no clear answers emerged from a sit-down between municipal officials from both communities, they pledged to continue to the conversation to see where regionalization might lead.

During a meeting in November, local leaders applauded State Senator Louis P. DiPalma and State Reps. Terri Cortvriend and Alex Finkelman for their efforts to secure an additional 1 percent in the state’s Hotel Tax for Middletown. The move was seen as another way to generate new revenues for the community without costing local taxpayers.

By the end of the year, Middletown also finalized the installation of new LED streetlights. That program was expected to save taxpayers at least $200,000 a year and be more energy efficient. 

Throughout the year as growth and development continued, many noted how the overall look of the community was maturing. 

Whether it was the new mini storage facility next to the Middletown Police Station, the BankNewport branch at Two-Mile Corner or Gold’s Wine & Spirits, the town’s design standards implemented in 2006 were truly beginning to leave their mark.

The main architect of those standards — Town Planner Ronald M. Wolanski — was recognized by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council for his work and dedication to Middletown. Wolanski received the RIPEC Robert M. Goodrich Distinguished Public Service Award, which recognizes an outstanding local employee.

Proposed revisions to the town’s comprehensive plan worked their way through the review process. The goal of the volunteer committee overseeing the revisions was to make the comprehensive plan easier to use, read and understand.

Quietly, the town continued its march towards being as transparent and open as possible for the public.

This included pushing out hundreds of posts on MiddletownRI.gov and close to 5,000 through the town’s social media channels. All told, this content provided more than 5.2 million impressions, or 14,300 plus a day.

The look and feel of the town’s website was also updated in early 2025, drawing positive reviews for its ease of navigation and positive reflection of the community.

The town also mails its monthly Middletown Today newsletter to registered voters 55 plus as well as offering live and taped access to Town Council, Planning Board and many other municipal meetings.

Public Safety

One of the main priorities of any municipality is to provide a safe place for people to live, work and play.

There was significant news on this front in Middletown.

Early in the year, Jason Ryan was promoted as the community’s new police chief, taking over for a retiring Anthony Pesare, who capped a 40-year career in law enforcement. Middletown native Clifford McGregor was named as major and the department’s second in command.

A widely applauded decision to promote from within the force, Ryan had been the department’s  deputy chief for years before taking over as the town’s top cop.

As one of his first moves, Ryan doubled down on the town’s efforts to make Middletown an even safer place to drive, walk and ride highlighted by an aggressive anti-speeding campaign.

Enhanced stop signs were installed in several areas as part of this effort along with more visible enforcement on Middletown’s busiest roads.

School zone safety cameras went live in late November to help reduce speeding by Forest Avenue, Gaudet Middle and St. George’s schools. Before enforcement was rolled out, the town initiated a wide ranging public information campaign so everyone was aware of the changes.

The town also continues to work on securing school zone safety cameras by its other buildings as well as red light cameras at prominent intersections across the community.

At the Fire Department, Battalion Chief Robert McCall was selected as the new chief, replacing James Peplau, who left for a federal job in Boston.

A widely popular pick, firefighters and local leaders applauded the selection of McCall, saying it was good to see someone from within the department take over.

McCall was quick to help move Middletown Fire forward, assisting with the design of a couple new fire trucks, reestablishing the department’s open house in October and other measures. 

From Day 1, McCall has said he wants Middletown Fire to be the community’s department and he — and the rest of the force — welcome input and suggestions about how to improve.

On a parallel track, local emergency and social service providers have been meeting regularly since early in the year at the Situation Table.

The goal of the confidential discussions has been to get help to those who most need it from those in a position to know, with several success stories already in place.

The Town Council also took an aggressive approach to assisting those struggling heading into the holiday season. 

Launching the Middletown Meals Community Challenge for the first time ever, the council asked those who could donate to give a list of “high need” items supplied by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center.

If 250 items were raised each week, the council pledged to match the donations with 250 of their own, with the drive yielding extremely positive results and spurring a friendly competition between town departments.

Recreation

By all measures, the summer of 2025 was among the best in recent memory.

Awesome weather almost every day from start to finish, the beach reported a record take of more than $2.5 million, a new high mark ever for Middletown.

Opening the season, it was announced piping plovers had nested on the beach, marking the 23rd consecutive season for the threatened shorebirds have returned to the Sachuest Point Road summertime hotspot.

The volunteer Beach Commission and town itself continued to look into ways to preserve and protect Second Beach.

Among the suggestions included not removing stones from the beach to smooth the sandy surface, an issue in the summer of 2024, but not 2025.

New Jersey based consultants also offered several other recommendations such as relocating snow fencing across several pathways in the off season. The goal was to catch and keep as much sand on the beach as possible, a recommendation followed by the Beach Commission.

The town also contracted to have a 700-square-foot addition to the deck at the Second Beach pavilion, work slated to be wrapped up before Memorial Day 2026. This was the latest project to help update and improve the beach for summertime visitors.

Addressing a long-standing item, the town entered into maintenance agreements for a number of the state rights-of-way to the water. The aim was to make sure each were open, accessible and usable.

For another year, Middletown was named a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, a show of its commitment to the environment.

The town also continued its work with the Newport County YMCA to bring pickleball courts to John Clarke Park across the corporate headquarters for BankNewport.

Importantly, playground renovations to Howland and Linden parks were completed for the first time in more than a decade, projects that were both well received when completed.

“When you’re in the middle of the year, it’s hard to focus on everything that’s going on,” Operations & Facility Manager Will Cronin said. “But when you step back and look at it, we covered a lot of ground in 2025 and we want to keep that momentum going into 2026.”

Document Link: https://mdl.town/NYCU-YIR-2025

About Middletown

The Town of Middletown is a vibrant municipality located on Aquidneck Island, known for its scenic beauty, historic landmarks, diverse economy and strong sense of community. For more information about all we have to offer, visit MiddletownRI.gov online.

Media Contact

Matt Sheley

Public Affairs Officer

401-842-6543

msheley@middletownri.gov