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Hillside Elementary School

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Hillside Students Experience Life in a Revolutionary War Camp

Members of the Rehoboth Minutemen visited the school on Oct. 5 for a special lesson made possible by a Needham Education Foundation grant.

The crack of musket fire, the scent of a camp fire, the steady beat of a drum alerting soldiers to action—these are just some of the sights, sounds and smells Hillside Elementary School students experienced on Friday, Oct. 5 as they traveled back in time to the days of the American Revolution. Members of the Rehoboth Minutemen set up camp behind the school and offered students in grades 3-6 a close-up look at what life was like for a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Students moved in groups between six different stations, where they heard a military officer talk about his experience, saw the comparatively cramped quarters of the average soldier, held some of the medical tools from the late 1700s (from an old-fashioned hearing aid to false…

In this Article:

Hillside Elementary School and NEF Awards $46K in Spring Grants

Friday, July 13, 2012

Cricket Field Group To Continue Efforts

While the School Committee works on an MSBA application, neighbors hope to find alternative options for Hillside Elementary School and to raise awareness of the issue.

“Save Cricket Field” organizer Sue Owen said she was not surprised by the School Committee’s decision Tuesday evening not to remove the field as an option for a future Hillside School site. But Owen said she and others from the Cricket Field neighborhood plan to maintain their efforts to seek out alternatives and to convince the town that building on Cricket Field is not the way to go. “I think the School Committee is committed to going forward, to finding solutions for the problems at Hillside and Mitchell, and we in the Cricket Field community are also supportive of finding options,” Owen said after the meeting, held July 10 at Broadmeadow Elementary School. “I can see where the Hillside community might be fearful that their school could…

In this Article:

School Committee Takes No Action on Cricket Field, Hillside Elementary School, Cricket Field, and 5 more ›

Catherine Kurkjian

9:06 am on Sunday, July 15, 2012

The divisive environment that has been created from this situation seems to be unnecessary. Option 1A.2b is a viable option for building a new school at the Hillside location (PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY, Final Report 6 July 2012); hence, it is unclear to me why such an exorbitant amount of time and money continues to be expended considering Cricket Field. Option 1A.2a: Hillside ES ‐ New School (w/ …   more ›

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

School Committee Takes No Action on Cricket Field

Board members chose not to vote on Park and Rec's proposal to remove the property as a potential site for a future school and will move forward with the MSBA process.

The future of Cricket Field will remain uncertain for the time being, as the Needham School Committee decided Tuesday not to remove the park as an option for a future school site. But school officials also said their first choice would be to keep Hillside Elementary School at the current site, at 28 Glen Gary Rd.— echoing the sentiments expressed by several Hillside parents as well as a group of Cricket Field neighbors who want to save the park. “I think the Park and Recreation Commission’s vote was and is well-meaning and heartfelt and makes sense from their perspective,” Needham Public Schools Superintendent Dan Gutekanst said, referring to the commission’s June 11 vote to request the School Committee to remove Cricket Field as an option…

In this Article:

Cricket Field, Hillside Elementary School, Park & Rec Votes to Take Cricket Off the Table, and 7 more ›

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Residents Speak Out on Cricket Field Proposal

Area neighbors and Hillside parents presented concerns on both sides of the issue during the public comment portion of Tuesday's School Committee meeting.

Neighbors concerned about the possible use of Cricket Field as a site for a new Hillside Elementary School got a chance to speak out on the issue during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s School Committee meeting. But they weren’t the only ones with something to say. Parents from the Hillside School community also weighed in on the issue—asking the School Committee not to take Cricket Field off the table but to keep as many options as possible open for the future school building project. Elizabeth Bloom, a Nehoiden Street resident and Hillside parent, said she didn’t feel it was fair to take any options off the table. “It’s really just too early in the process,” she said. “It’s about more than what’s best for one particular area.” …

In this Article:

Cricket Field, Hillside Elementary School, Cricket Field Supporters Crowd School Committee Meeting, and 5 more ›

Doug Fox

12:21 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

There isn't much buildable land in Needham, so it would be a mistake to eliminate one of the few spaces available. We're going to have to get creative to solve our school crunch.   more ›

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Park & Rec Votes to Take Cricket Off the Table

The commission is requesting that the Needham School Committee remove Cricket Field as a possible future site for Hillside or Mitchell elementary schools.

The Needham Park and Recreation Commission voted this week to take Cricket Field off the table as an option for a future school site. Though the issue only recently came to light for neighbors, who flooded a School Committee meeting on June 5 to show their concern, the commission has been aware of the proposal since Park and Recreation Director Patty Carey saw the field mentioned in a report to the Permanent Public Building Committee in March and has been following the process closely since then, member Tom Jacob said. The commission submitted a letter to the School Committee earlier this month outlining some of their concerns. “It’s actually been on our agenda every meeting since we found out about it,” Jacob said of the issue. Though it …

In this Article:

Cricket Field, Cricket Field Supporters Crowd School Committee Meeting, Hillside Elementary School, and 3 more ›

Louise Miller

8:55 pm on Sunday, June 17, 2012

I completely agree with the Park and Recreation Commission.   more ›

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Cricket Field Supporters Crowd School Committee Meeting

Neighbors are concerned about the possible future use of Cricket Field for an elementary school site to address needs at Hillside and Mitchell schools.

About 100 Needham residents—some wearing green-and-white T-shirts reading “Save Cricket Field”—showed up to the School Committee meeting Tuesday evening to hear about options for Needham Public Schools’ Hillside and Mitchell elementary schools, including one that would build a new Hillside school on Cricket Field. Despite being told that it was not the time for public comment, residents made it clear they were not happy with the proposal—which is one of about three main options being considered in what School Committee chairwoman Heidi Black called “the very, very, very early stage” of the planning process. Several people called out or shouted unanswered questions throughout the presentation by architecture firm Dore & Whittier, which was …

In this Article:

Hillside Elementary School, Mitchell School, Cricket Field, and 5 more ›

Catherine Kurkjian

9:09 pm on Tuesday, June 12, 2012

I think the Cricket Field neighborhood is a group of people who are frustrated with School Committee procedures that allowed the Board to disregard their concerns. There is no other Needham school surrounded by traffic on all three sides and in such close proximity to residential homes. I do not live in the Cricket Field neighborhood but having such a limited buffer zone between an elementary …   more ›

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

School Committee Reorganizes for 2012-13

Susan Neckes joined the board following the April 10 Town Election, and a new chair and vice chair were named.

Updated Wednesday, April 25 at 4 p.m. with a correction and additional information about the Hillside and Mitchell projects. Meeting for the first time since the April 10 Town Election, the Needham Public Schools School Committee on Tuesday, April 24 welcomed newly elected member Susan Neckes to the board and reorganized their positions. Neckes replaces Bill Paulson, who chose not to seek a second term. The School Committee got down to business right away by voting on who would become the chairperson. Heidi Black was selected unanimously, moving over from her slot as vice chairwoman, while Joseph Barnes was chosen to be the new vice chairman. Black’s first public comments as chairwoman were to thank her predecessor, Marianne Cooley. “I’ve …

In this Article:

Hillside Elementary School, Mitchell School, Committee Considers Possible Options for Hillside, Mitchell Schools, and 1 more ›

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Hillside Students Raising Funds for UNICEF Tap Project [VIDEO]

Local second and fourth graders visited Needham restaurants last week to share their message about water conservation and needs around the world

Wearing bright blue shirts and singing “Water, Water” (to the tune of the Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar”), Hillside Elementary School students visited restaurants around Needham last week in an effort to raise awareness about water conservation and the UNICEF Tap Project. The second and fourth graders, teaming up through the school’s Buddy Project, dropped by Not Your Average Joe’s, Abbott’s Frozen Custard and 19 other local businesses to ask for their help in collecting money during World Water Week, March 20-26. The students explained the importance of water conservation and left buckets to collect money from restaurant patrons that will help support the UNICEF Tap Project and provide clean drinking water to people all over the world. For weeks…

In this Article:

Hillside Elementary School, Not Your Average Joe's, Abbott's Frozen Custard, and 16 more ›

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Hillside Second Graders Explore China Through Art

Needham Cultural Council grant helped bring program to Needham.

  • SCHOOLS
  • Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Paintings, pottery and works of art opened a window onto Chinese culture for Hillside second graders during Art Quest on Feb. 8. Art Quest is an eye-opening program that teaches important life skills in observation, communication and creative thinking by challenging students to answer questions about art. A complement to the social studies curriculum, the Art Quest workshops at Hillside encouraged students to draw on personal experience and their knowledge of China to make observations about a variety of Chinese art forms. The program is supported in part by a grant from the Needham Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

In this Article:

Hillside Elementary School

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