Dear Needham Families:

Allow me to share the following updates and reminders:  

•  5th Annual Needham Diversity Summit  In collaboration with the Needham Schools, Needham's 5th Annual Diversity Summit is scheduled for this Saturday, November 19th at Pollard from 8:30 a.m. - 3:00. The summit will bring together community leaders, friends, neighbors, and students for an event designed to explore, foster, strengthen, and celebrate Needham's diversity of socioeconomic status, race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, ethnic identity, age, immigration status, and ability.  This annual event aims to create a network of people committed to creating an equitable and welcoming town, and to challenging its residents to think in new ways about our evolving community.  For more information, including registration:  Needham Diversity Initiative 5.0

•  New Elementary School! Full Day Kindergarten! A huge thank you to the Needham Community for voting last week to support the design, development, and construction of a new elementary school on Central Avenue to replace Hillside.  We are completely energized and excited by the opportunity the new school creates for the Hillside community in particular and all the schools within Needham because of the planned implementation of Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) when the new school opens.  The School Committee recently decided to implement FDK in each elementary school in September of 2019.  Please read more about the plan for FDK here:  Full Day Kindergarten in Needham

•  Needham Education Foundation - Teacher Appreciation Please consider contributing to the NEF by sending a Teacher Appreciation Card.  In this way you will help the NEF provide funds for innovative school programing, and you will thank a teacher or staff member for his/her work with your child.  More information here:  NEF

•  Twitter:  Snow Day Updates  Setting up and managing a Twitter account is simple and will allow you a quick, easy, and fun way to stay connected to school news and events.  I tweet the first notification about weather-related school closings or delays on Twitter. It's the quickest and simplest way to stay informed and updated about important school news.  For more info:  https://twitter.com/@NPS_Supt  

•  Student Achievements  Congratulations are in order for the two Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (MASS) Academic Excellence Award honorees, Michael Liu and Sarah Rosenberg, both NHS seniors.  Michael and Sarah were honored at a recent School Committee meeting for their superb commitment to learning and academic excellence.  They clearly represent our core values around Scholarship and Personal Growth!  At the School Committee meeting both seniors expressed their deep appreciation for their parents' support and to all of the Needham teachers who have guided and assisted them over the years. Congratulations, Michael and Sarah!

Kudos also to the Needham High Girls' Swim and Dive Team for being honored with the prestigious Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Sportsmanship Award presented to the team that exemplifies good spirit, fair play, maturity, discipline, and leadership. 
Whether in the pool, in the classroom, on the field, or on the stage, our students are talented, mature, hardworking, and poised. 
Needham families and the teachers and coaches who have guided them should rightly be proud!

•  Happy Thanksgiving!  Finally, let me wish you and your families a peaceful and restful Thanksgiving holiday.  We are fortunate to live, work, and learn in an amazing community like Needham that values children, and we are especially blessed to be citizens in a vibrant country that serves, however imperfectly, as a model of democracy, inclusion, and justice to the rest of a sometimes weary world.  I know I am grateful to work with a talented staff, committed parents, and the exceptional young people of Needham - all of whom inspire civility, peace, and hope.  Happy Thanksgiving!

As always, you can be in touch with me via phone (781.455.0400, x203) or email: dan_gutekanst@needham.k12.ma.us

Sincerely,

Dan Gutekanst
Superintendent of Schools