CNS News | September 2025

We hope the start of the 2025-26 school year has been a smooth and successful one for everyone in our community. Citizens for Needham Schools (CNS) continues to provide accurate, timely, and relevant information to help families and residents understand school-related issues and make informed choices. To help us better meet the needs of the community as they relate to Needham Public Schools (NPS), please take a few minutes to complete the survey found below.

With so many important upcoming projects in Needham and the Needham Public Schools, including the Pollard building project, we are working to expand our audience. Please forward this newsletter to neighbors and friends who might be interested, particularly those with young children who may not yet be in the NPS system, so that they can join our mailing list.

Joanie Daly, Co-Chair

Abigail Hays, Co-Chair

Rebecca Bembery-Rainey

Elizabeth Bresnahan

April Crawford

Stefanie Forman

Keith LaFace

Jennifer Leonard-Schaffstein

Kara Williams

Sasha Yampolsky

Community Engagement Survey

CNS believes that communication and collaboration between educators and community members are essential to providing high-quality, innovative education to Needham students. CNS facilitates this by making school-related news and information available to the Needham community and by meeting regularly with school committee members to provide input from a broad range of students, families, and community members.

We are interested in learning from the community about what is important to you. We invite you to fill out our brief survey to provide feedback for us. Please complete the survey by October 10, 2025.

Pollard Middle School Building Project

The biggest topic of discussion in town right now is the Pollard Middle School building project. CNS continues to provide updated information about the project through our School Committee summaries. The latest update is from the September 2nd School Committee meeting summary on our website.

For real-time updates, follow the town's Pollard project website and sign up for their weekly email updates. Their FAQ page includes the answers to many of the most pressing questions about the project.

We encourage the community to learn more and share their opinions and ideas at any of the upcoming public meetings and tours.