[Superintendent's Update] Superintendent's Summer Update

[Needham Public Schools Superintendent's Update]

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/2014-2015SchoolStartandEndTimes.pdf
]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 at needham.k12.ma.us ]dan_gutekanst at needham.k12.ma.us
781.455.0400, ext. 203

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