Dear Needham Families: I hope your family has had an opportunity to enjoy our beautiful New England summer! I typically do not send updates over the summer months, but I am so pleased with several exciting initiatives and activity in the schools, I thought I would share a few brief updates: • Mitchell and Hillside Two major construction initiatives involving our oldest and most crowded elementary schools are underway. Four new Mitchell modular classrooms are under construction and will be ready for students in September. The new classrooms will provide much needed space for the school and help to relieve overcrowding and program constraints. On July 30th, the Massachusetts School Building Authority Board (MSBA) is scheduled to vote to move a Hillside Elementary School renovation/construction project forward into the next phase of planning. This is a significant accomplishment and an important next step required to design an appropriate school facility that will meet the needs of our students. Thanks to Needham's School Committee and the Permanent Public Building Committee (PPBC) for their incredible leadership around both school projects! • Personalized Learning: iPads for High Rock Since May the High Rock and Needham Public Schools technology staff have been hard at work planning for the implementation of iPads in the 6th grade. We are very excited about the launch of this initiative designed to support student growth, learning, and achievement at High Rock. This summer much work has been accomplished to ensure the school's infrastructure is prepared and teachers have taken their iPads home for the summer to learn more about how they will integrate them into classroom instruction. In August and throughout the coming year, teachers will receive further training and professional development to ensure they can support and provide the best educational experience for High Rock's students. The technology staff is preparing for August when iPads will be distributed and parents will receive information and instructions about the program. Principal Downey and her staff are also outlining and preparing family information sessions for the upcoming school year designed to provide support and assistance to parents and students as we launch this ambitious and exciting learning program. This is the first time we have asked parents to partner with us on such an important learning and technology initiative, and we appreciate your support and patience as we move forward. Updated information about the program can be found here: [ http://rwd1.needham.k12.ma.us/media_and_technology/iPad%20initiative ]iPads for High Rock • Elementary Program and Schedule Each elementary school has completed a new master schedule that incorporates additional instructional time as well as new programming in Wellness, Spanish, and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math). Teachers and directors have been working over the summer to design programs and lessons that will enrich the learning experience for each elementary student. There is a lot of energy and enthusiasm building as we approach a new school year! Click here for new school start times: [ http://rwd1.needham.k12.ma.us/superintendent/documents/2014-2015SchoolStarta... ]2014-15 School Start Times. • Staffing By the end of the summer our Human Resource Director, Dr. Tom Campbell, anticipates we will have hired almost 70 new teachers. New elementary programming and secondary enrollment needs account for about 30 of those positions, and the remainder are folks we will hire to replace retiring teachers and those who have moved out of state or are starting new careers. Dr. Campbell and I are are particularly pleased with the quality of new teachers, including the five new elementary Spanish teachers we have hired. All of the new teachers bring a combination of great experience, solid academic credentials, energy, and a fresh perspective to teaching and learning. I am eager for you to meet our new professional staff in the fall. • Twitter Throughout summer and into the new school year I will periodically "tweet" school news and information. Please follow me on Twitter:  [ https://twitter.com/@NPS_Supt ]https://twitter.com/@NPS_Supt   My wife Karen and I look forward to a few more long weekends visiting our daughters in Washington, DC and New York. I hope you, too, will find some time to enjoy family and friends. Thanks for your ongoing support as I lead the Needham Schools. Sincerely, Dan Gutekanst, Ed.D. Superintendent [ mailto:dan_gutekanst@needham.k12.ma.us ]dan_gutekanst@needham.k12.ma.us 781.455.0400, ext. 203