CNS News | February 2024

We are now more than halfway through the school year and continue to regularly provide the community with short digestible information regarding the Needham Public Schools. We post biweekly notices for upcoming School Committee meetings and links to our meeting summaries on our Facebook page and website. We invite you to follow us for these timely updates!

Please reach out to any CNS board member if you have ideas or questions. We can also be reached by e-mail at cnsneedham@gmail.com 

Joanie Daly & Abigail Hays, CNS Co-Chairs

2023-2024 CNS Board Members

Joanie Daly, Co-Chair

Abigail Hays, Co-Chair

Elizabeth Bresnahan

Amy Chan

April Crawford

Karen Hodys

Keith LaFace

Frederica Lalonde

Jennifer Leonard-Schaffstein

Kara Williams

Pollard Middle School Building Project Update

In December 2023, Needham was accepted into the Massachusetts Building Authority’s (MSBA) Eligibility Period, the first step in securing partial State funding for the Pollard Middle School Building Project. The MSBA reimbursed approximately 20% of the Sunita Williams Elementary School Project Costs. Similar reimbursement for the Pollard project equates to over $60 million in state funding as the current estimated total project cost is $315 million. The Pollard project and MSBA update were discussed extensively at the December 12 School Committee Meeting (click to read the CNS summary)

Goals of the Project:

• Address Pollard’s significant infrastructure and programmatic space needs
• Bring Grades 6-8 back together in one school, allowing for expanded opportunities for students and more efficient middle school staffing and operations, while maintaining the benefits of the current 6th grade experience
• Renovating Pollard first will allow High Rock School to be used by Mitchell students during the future rebuilding of Mitchell School
• High Rock can then be turned into a 6th elementary school, adding elementary classroom capacity.

Next Steps:

• May 2024: Town Meeting vote to fund a Pollard Feasibility Study
• October-November 2026: Town Meeting Vote to fund detailed design and construction; town-wide debt exclusion override vote
• June 2028: Construction begins
• September 2031: New Pollard Middle School opens for Grade 6-8.

Interested in learning more about the Pollard Middle School Building Project?

• Attend the School Committee Open House at Pollard Middle School on April 27.
• Participate in upcoming School Committee Forums about the Project
• Email questions to schoolcommittee@needham.k12.ma.us

Emery Grover Project Update

The Emery Grover Project is moving along nicely and a detailed update was discussed at the January 2nd School Committee Meeting (click to read the CNS summary). The existing brickwork required more extensive repairs than expected which will delay the opening of the building until after the start of the 2024-2025 School year. The administrative staff will remain at Hillside School until Emery Grover is ready for occupancy.